Chapter 1496: Thunderstruck Wood

Revered Rednote had taken the tactic of threatening the entire Longshan family to force Longshan Yin to remain in his faction’s territory for his breakthrough. On the other hand, the Longshan patriarch was perfectly willing to play into this as he wanted to kill all of his clan’s enemies in one fell swoop. He was even willing to go down in a blaze of mutual destruction with them.

Both sides knew the other’s plans and neither was willing to give way. The final victory would go to whoever had made more arrangements and was stronger.

For the moment, it appeared that Revered Rednote held the upper hand since he’d had the Three Brahmas infiltrate Dragonmountain Clime. Longshan Yin was wholly unaware that the Three Brahmas stood with the Longshan’s greatest enemy.

Revered Rednote had also recruited Big Dragon Cong of Bigdragon Clime, but likewise, he didn’t know who Longshan Yan had brought to help his family.

……

A surging thunder tribulation exploded outward and covered Dragonmountain Clime. It targeted only Longshan Yin, but everything within that world was blanketed by a suffocating force. Even Revered Rednote didn’t dare ambush Longshan Yin at this time.

While Longshan Yin would be a Void World King upon the conclusion of his tribulation, he would also be gravely injured. That was when the true battle would begin. If Revered Rednote devoured a Void World King’s core essence, he would also stand a chance of reaching these heights!

“He’s about to break through.” Lu Yun suddenly arrived next to Longshan Yan.

“Greetings to—” The young man was prevented from bowing as Lu Yun’s hand kept him upright.

“Don’t move if you don’t want your father’s carefully laid plans to go to waste,” Lu Yun said calmly. Though his voice spread in all directions, only Longshan Yan could hear him.

No one else could even see that there was another person next to Longshan Yan. Since Lu Yun had truly grasped the cultivation levels of the fourth realm, he could manipulate this world’s power as he would.

Longshan Yan snapped his mouth shut, not daring to say anything else.

“I can help you break through to World Manifest by using your father’s heavenly tribulation,” Lu Yun suddenly offered.

Longshan Yan’s eyes bulged with surprise. Lu Yun slapped a talisman onto him before he could respond.

The young man trembled—his long-stagnant cultivation level suddenly surged and smashed a frustrating bottleneck that’d plagued him to smithereens! He broke through to World Manifest in the next second!

It was too easy for a Nihil World Sovereign to help a true nihil cultivator ascend. The thunder tribulation that would’ve formed for Longshan Yan dispersed with a single disapproving thought from Lu Yun.

“Ah, so I see!” Another glimpse of comprehension dawned in his mind.

Last time Lu Yun visited the fourth realm, She Nong and the prisoners of the Hadal Hell had told him that there were no cultivation levels here. The bigger one was, the more power one contained and the stronger one was.

But upon his second visit, he discovered that there were six major cultivation levels to be found. Despite that, it wasn’t a discovery that contradicted what they’d told him.

Denizens of the fourth realm cultivated “nothing”, so from a certain perspective, the six cultivation levels did indeed not exist. Out of nothing came something—they were all derived from the level of “nothing”.

Lu Yun hadn’t experienced the intricacies of the fourth realm then, so the others hadn’t bothered with details of this. For his repeat visit, he quickly mentioned “World Manifest” and “Nihil World Sovereign”—terms that prompted further explanations from She Nong.

However, the snake still didn’t mention “out of nothing came something” or “nothing”. Lu Yun had to experience some things for himself.

And now, he’d finally grasped everything. If he once more expanded his body to his limits, he would transform into “nothing” and his cultivation level of Nihil World Sovereign and associated strength would no longer exist.

Of course, those who thought of the fourth realm in terms of cultivation levels would still see that Lu Yun was a Nihil World Sovereign when they looked at him.

After comprehending “nothing”, Lu Yun’s mentality underwent another shift and he became more attuned to the fourth realm.

“Nihil World Sovereign… Nihil World Sovereign… is the peak of ‘nothing’. Therefore, what comes after is beyond ‘nothing’.” Lu Yun took a deep breath, having guessed that there must be more cultivation levels to come. He couldn’t see them, no matter what he tried. Perhaps the Tome of Life and Death was at that level, but he himself was still too weak to harness that power.

One thing he was certain of, and that was the Tome of Life and Death exceeded the existence of “nothing”!

Not even Lu Yun had anticipated that he would increase his understanding of the realm after helping Longshan Yan break through to World Manifest. If it wasn’t for this, he would’ve thought that She Nong and the Bridge of Forgetfulness were lying to him. He’d swing back around and take them to task for it.

But now, he was actually thankful to She Nong. Strength was easily obtained in the fourth realm, but an increase in cultivation level was exceedingly hard.

……

Longshan Yan’s strength grew in leaps and bounds after he ascended, reaching unfathomable heights. He was a stunning genius to begin with; his potential was displayed to the utmost after Lu Yun helped him.

There were three subdivisions when it came to World Manifest—minor, major, and true.

Thanks to the great one, he’d skipped right past minor and stabilized in major World Manifest!

His cultivation level was flawless and perfect; even his combat arts and cultivation methods had undergone a complete reorganization. Lu Yun was using Longshan Yan as a laboratory rat to test his own cultivation level.

Should I go back and help She Nong and the Bridge of Forgetfulness too? Lu Yun gave up on the thought after brief contemplation.

The Bridge of Forgetfulness was one thing since it was a treasure that Tianqi had made in the human dao hell. It’d stumbled into the fourth realm by happenstance and become a living being. It didn’t have a foundation in the fourth realm.

As for She Nong… his potential was leagues apart compared to Longshan Yan. Even if Lu Yun used his own cultivation level to enhance She Nong’s, the latter wouldn’t reach Longshan Yan’s heaven-defying levels.

A heavenly tribulation roared through the sky, battering Longshan Yin. He seemed to want to suffer grave injuries as he thrust himself into the terrifying black lightning, allowing himself to be struck with abandon.

A strange energy blossomed from his body at the same time, slowly absorbing the heavenly thunder’s power. No one else noticed it, but it didn’t escape Lu Yun’s senses.

“He has a segment of Thunderstruck Wood inside of him! That’s the source of his confidence!” Lu Yun agitated with excitement when he detected the presence of the wood. “When he survives this tribulation, I want that wood,” he murmured to himself.

A smile appeared on Longshan Yan’s face. It was normal that a Nihil World Sovereign wanted something. If the heavyweight had continued to not ask for anything, Longshan Yan would start to worry that he’d become the great one’s cannon fodder and would have to die in his stead.

That was seriously a lot of gobbledegook about the cultivation levels.