Chapter 765 Dinghai Daojun

The might of this divine ability surpassed even the Abyssal Sea-Converging Sword Qi Slash by a margin. Unfortunately, the Black Emperor had only recently broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, and had yet to fully master this technique.

At this moment, the Black Emperor risked unleashing this Pure Yang divine ability. Not only was its power merely 70 percent of its peak strength, but it also caused the half-cultivated divine art to collapse into utter failure. Henceforth, he would have to spend 6 100 years to recommence its cultivation.

However, the Black Emperor was supremely confident. He believed that for both sides locked in stalemate, this divine ability would be sufficient to completely shatter the balance.

"Be careful."

Seeing the Profound Serpent’s Void-Piercing Judgment Light strike toward him, Eldrin’s expression shifted abruptly.

With a flick of his sleeve, he unfurled a Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, meeting the Black Emperor's assault head-on.

Lyra and Qing Ji reacted with lightning speed, summoning treasures like the 2 Extremes Treasure Lotus and the Orange Gold Glazed Armor to fly forth, determined to block this strike that the Black Emperor was hell-bent on landing.

The Profound Serpent Void-Piercing Radiance truly possessed boundless might, successively shattering Eldrin's 2 Polarities Divine Aegis and 2 Quasi-Pure Yang Spiritual Treasures.

Fortunately, it too had its limits and failed to breach the Mountain Protection Grand Formation.

"Damn it!"

His sure-kill strike had failed to land, causing the Black Emperor's countenance to shift dramatically.

Just as he was about to stop at nothing to obstruct Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) from achieving enlightenment once more, the breakthrough at the core of the water vein finally reached its conclusion.

A heavenly soul, radiant as a golden sun, descended and merged into the sea of consciousness of Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name).

"Bzzzz—"

As the Heaven, Earth, and Human souls returned to their positions, Maris the Sea Steader's (Person Name) primordial spirit finally took form once more, and a wisp of Pure Yang Qi (Spiritual Root) was thus conceived.

An indescribable pressure erupted with the shockwave, stirring astonishing waves at the bottom of the Dragon Transformation Pool.

It is done.

The 3 people including Eldrin (Person Name) felt a surge of joy in their hearts, unconsciously releasing a heavy sigh of relief.

The group turned to look and saw that within the cave abode, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name), clad in a cyan robe, was striding out from its depths.

At this moment, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) stood tall and slender, his appearance seeming no more than 20-7 or 20-8 years of age. Yet, crowned with a diadem forged of azure gold, he exuded an incomparably noble and majestic aura.

Dao Monarch, the Realm of Human Dao Monarchs!

The expressions of those present varied greatly, each face etched with complex emotions.

Once a True Monarch, the return of his heavenly soul had elevated his status to a realm beyond compare.

Even the supremely arrogant Black Emperor could not help but cast aside his look of contempt when facing Maris the Sea Steader, who had broken through to the realm of a Dao Lord.

Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) strode through the void, the Sea-Calming Pearl (Magic Treasure) above his head stilling the churning waters of the Dragon Ascension Pool (Location) as if he were a supremely revered Daoist immortal monarch stepping forth.

He gazed at the Black Emperor, his eyes devoid of emotion as he inquired coldly, "Your Excellency, do you still intend to obstruct this venerable 1’s path to enlightenment?"

"Hmph!"

The Black Emperor glanced at the tribulation clouds gradually gathering in the heavens. The heavenly tribulation had already descended, and he could no longer intervene. To do so would incur the wrath of the heavens and summon the Divine Soul Thunder Tribulation upon himself.

At this thought, he cast another glance at the Calm Sea Divine Pearl above Maris the Sea Steader’s head, then let out a cold snort. With a single step, he tore through the void and departed.

Watching the Black Emperor depart, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) clasped his hands toward Eldrin (Person Name) and the other 2, his expression turning gravely solemn. "It seems I have underestimated the tribulation of the primordial spirit," he said with profound gravity.

"If not for the 3 of you shielding me, this old man would have surely met his end here today."

"With 8 100 years of friendship between us, why stand on such ceremony?" Eldrin shook his head, gazing at the tribulation clouds gathering overhead. "Let us focus on surviving the heavenly lightning first."

"Very well."

Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) nodded with a trace of delight as he weathered this Divine Soul Heavenly Tribulation.

Although the Divine Soul Thunder Tribulation was formidable, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) held the Sea-Calming Pearl (Magic Treasure) in hand, granting him immense confidence in overcoming the lightning calamity.

He sat cross-legged in the void, consecutively summoning several superior-grade spiritual treasures to withstand the heavenly tribulation. The initial lightning strikes were overcome with effortless ease, barely depleting his magical power.

This was far more powerful than what the Featherflight Pavilion Master had faced back then. To withstand the first 6 heavenly tribulations, the Pavilion Master had not only destroyed 9 superior-grade spirit treasures but also exhausted a full 50 percent of his magic power.

The primary reason was that Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) possessed a Lifebound Pure Yang Spiritual Treasure (Magic Treasure) to refine his magic power in advance, further enhanced by the Sea-Calming Secret Force (Cultivation Technique) he had comprehended through the Enlightenment Blossom (Spiritual Herb).

With such compounding effects, the disparity in the potency of their spiritual power was immense. A single unit of Maris the Sea Steader’s spiritual power was equivalent to 3 units of the Featherflight Pavilion Master’s. As a result, the expenditure required to activate a spirit treasure was naturally far lower for Maris than for the Pavilion Master.

To return to our story, it was not until the sixth heavenly tribulation strike that Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) finally summoned the ancestral Black Tortoise’s shell to block the blow.

He was unwilling to damage this supreme-grade defensive spirit treasure, so he merely used it to block 1 lightning tribulation before storing it away. Then, he activated the Sea-Calming Pearl to withstand the remaining 3 bolts of heavenly thunder.

As the heavenly tribulation concluded, a rain of 7-colored immortal liquid showered from the heavens, restoring Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) to his peak condition.

"Hahaha! This old man has finally weathered the lightning tribulation."

After arduous cultivation for thousands of years, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) had finally broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and he couldn't help but feel tears welling up in his eyes.

Eldrin (Person Name) also broke into a smile, unable to resist cupping his hands in salute as he said, "Congratulations, fellow Daoist. With this breakthrough to the Pure Yang Realm, your future prospects are bound to be limitless."

"You flatter me."

Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) couldn't help stroking his beard with a chuckle, a flicker of delight flashing between his brows.

To put it in perspective, Maris the Sea Steader was merely 3,500-some years old—over a 1000 years younger than Lord Dorian had been when he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage at just over 5,000 years of age.

Having achieved the Soul Formation Realm at such a young age, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name)'s future path would undoubtedly be 1 of boundless radiance.

He still had 3 opportunities to extend his lifespan. Given that a Soul Formation cultivator's natural longevity was 10 1000 years, if he used the Nirvana Immortal Apricot to prolong his life, he could theoretically reach the maximum lifespan limit of 40 1000 years.

This was a full 40,000 years of lifespan! So long as he didn't meet an untimely demise midway, even if he couldn't achieve full immortality, he'd still have a 30 to 40 percent chance of cultivating to the Half-Immortal Realm. He could become a foundational pillar of the human race, just like the current master of the Dao Palace.

Of course, the Violet Realm had endured countless calamities over tens of thousands of years. Every millennium witnessed the fall of multiple Nascent Soul Dao Lords, and should anomalies arise during the Abyssal Cataclysm, the number of fallen Dao Lords would only grow greater.

Thus, Dao Lords who could live past 10,000 years were already exceedingly rare. As for human Primordial Spirits who survived beyond 20,000 years, even if they weren't demigods, they stood as pillars of heaven at least at the Primordial Spirit, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm). Their numbers were so few they could be counted on both hands.

In any case, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) managed to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm before reaching 4 1000 years of age, using 2 fewer Life-Extending Opportunities than Saint Lord Dorian (Person Name). This undoubtedly paved a much smoother path for her future cultivation journey.

This was also a testament to Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name)’s immense fortune. Blessed with a superior Dao Body and the successive inheritance of 2 legacy treasures from the Eastern Sea Azure Dragon, he achieved a feat no ordinary cultivator could—breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm at such an early stage.

Suppressing the joy of his breakthrough, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) glanced at the Dragon Transformation Pond before him and could not help but sigh softly:

"Although I have successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul realm this time, I've severely depleted the spiritual essence of this Dragon Transformation Pool, cutting short its opportunity to advance to the sixth rank."

"This karma carries such immense weight that in the future, this old man must still restore the water veins here. Otherwise, I will likely face another tribulation."