Chapter 1131: Huge Change at the Swamp
A few breaths later, clustered lightning arcs cracked down. Before Ye Mo could react, dozens of bolts, twice as large as before, struck him. Terrified, he immediately deployed his octagonal cauldron and Zi Xu. Despite this, more than ten bolts still hit him, one as thick as a man's arm. Ye Mo spat blood; he was severely injured, every inch of his body aching. This divine tribulation was relentless; he knew that without the octagonal cauldron, or if he'd used it too late, he would have died.
This wave contained 63 lightning bolts, and there were seven waves in total. Ye Mo used the Three Birth Chant to absorb the bolts while using his octagonal cauldron and Zi Xu to deflect the intense strikes. However, the sheer number of bolts overwhelmed him. Even the octagonal cauldron rattled and swayed, its images flickering and fading. He was losing control, but the Three Birth Chant's power surged, allowing him to devour the lightning ever faster.
Ten waves had already passed, and he anticipated an eleventh. He deployed formation flags, drawing most of the lightning into his lightning storage formation. Fortunately, he had ample pills and the octagonal cauldron to aid him. Although heavily injured, his foundation remained intact. Once he completely refined the lightning, he would largely recover.
Simultaneously, Ye Mo felt his power steadily rising, nearing a breakthrough to the Hollow Spirit state.
With a rumble, the final nine bolts descended. Seeing their size—that of a lower leg—he knew he couldn't withstand them directly. Instantly, he used Zi Xu to block one, directed three into the storage formation, let the octagonal cauldron intercept two more, and absorbed the remaining three.
These bolts were far stronger than the previous ones. The ground shook violently, but Ye Mo persevered, absorbing lightning and bolstering his power.
Before he could finish, large patches of cloud appeared, but unlike before, they were black, not rainbow-hued. He desperately needed spirit chi; tens of millions of spirit stones were insufficient.
As he absorbed the black spirit clouds, his power surged. After consuming them all, he roared, ascending into the air as his essence spirit formed—a faint shadow, but a sign of his drastically increased strength. He had reached Hollow Spirit state. Just as he was about to consolidate his power, he sensed a tremor in his lightning storage formation.
Disaster struck! It was about to explode! Without hesitation, Ye Mo retreated into the Golden Page World, knowing he lacked the time to absorb the contained lightning. Despite his improved formation skills, the sheer quantity of stored bolts was overwhelming, and it was on the verge of detonation.
Rumble!
The instant Ye Mo entered the Golden Page World, the formation exploded with a terrifying blast, causing the space beneath the impact to collapse. He'd thrown out a surveillance formation disk, but it was instantly obliterated.
Witnessing 63 lightning bolts, each the size of a grown man's arm, strike Ye Mo, the cultivators gasped. Never had they seen such a terrifying divine tribulation—a relentless assault meant to kill, not test. They wondered what transgression could provoke such heavenly wrath. The cultivator was certainly doomed, they thought.
Yet, another nine bolts fell, clearly the final wave, each the size of a lower leg, comparable to the immortal ascension tribulation of a Truth Realization state cultivator. It was the most fearsome divine tribulation they had ever witnessed.
“That senior actually survived the 63 bolts! Incredible!” one cultivator exclaimed.
Clearly, this last wave was a consequence of his survival. The sight alone was horrifying; none present felt capable of facing such a tribulation, yet some believed he would live, given his survival of the previous onslaught.
Another wave of rumbling shook the earth, continuing relentlessly. The tremors intensified.
“What's happening?” some cultivators asked, receiving no answer.
“Look! There's an eddy in the center of the swamp!” a cultivator shouted, pointing a few kilometers away.
The eddy grew larger and larger.
“Wait... the ground beneath us is crumbling!” A cultivator finally grasped the situation. The earth beneath some cultivators began to give way.
Panic ensued; stronger cultivators deployed their magic artifacts to escape, while weaker ones were swept away. Even those in the air felt a growing suction force.
“The swamp is sinking...” a cultivator realized the horrifying truth.
The swamp rapidly collapsed into the earth with immense force. The earth trembled violently. Cultivators on flying artifacts fled, fearing being pulled down. Such power would kill even Hollow Spirit state cultivators. Swamp spirit beasts also fled in terror, cultivators and beasts alike scrambling for their lives.
Three days later, the swamp had vanished completely, leaving behind a vast valley. Spirit herbs and spirit chi were scarce.
Two days later, Ye Mo remained in the Golden Page World, certain that no explosion could affect it. He began consolidating his Hollow Spirit state power.
Near the Herb King spirit range and Bitter Bamboo, his power solidified rapidly. He discovered that, as a Hollow Spirit state cultivator, he absorbed spirit chi with terrifying efficiency, especially using the Three Birth Chant. He was surprised; others used spirit stones or spirit gathering formations, but his cultivation was only truly effective near the Herb King spirit range; spirit stones alone yielded little progress.
He realized the need to acquire more spirit ranges; this one would likely be depleted within three to five years.
Ye Mo immersed himself in cultivation, time slipping by unnoticed. Two months later, he reached the Hollow Spirit state, level one, middle stage. He deployed a surveillance disk, sighing at the swift passage of time during cultivation.