Chapter 481: The Four Trials
Huff, puff—
The black substance was crazily absorbing the thunder, but Yun Zhonghe could feel it—this little power from the Chaos Divine Stone couldn’t possibly swallow such a massive energy.
The black net started to become partially saturated, even cracking, yet it still barely held onto the torrent of thunder.
At this moment, Yun Zhonghe couldn’t care less about the bizarre scene before him. Questions about how this black substance could absorb thunder would have to wait for another day.
Yun Zhonghe seized a glimmer of opportunity and began summoning all the other black Spiritual Pearls from his Sea of Consciousness.
It was like manipulating Spiritual Energy—these black substances sprung into action.
But activating them all at once was a bit tricky; Yun Zhonghe wasn’t quite adept enough to manage that. He could only gradually draw out the power of the second-tier Chaos Divine Stones from his Sea of Consciousness, urgently patching up the black net that was already beginning to crack.
“Wow, his Chaos Divine Stone power has such an effect… no wonder…”
Not too far away, Xing Bu narrowed her eyes. There was surprise in her gaze, but not too much—she looked like she was lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Xue Yunjian stared with slightly dazed eyes, feeling incredibly tense.
Even though the black net had been patched up, it quickly became saturated again, heating up and turning red from the thunder’s battering.
At any moment, it could all come crashing down.
Yun Zhonghe gritted his teeth, veins popping on his forehead, his whole body trembling as he fought like a valiant warrior to keep the black net from collapsing.
Clearly, even with all the first and second-tier Chaos Divine Stone powers working together, it was a tough battle.
And the thunder was getting increasingly ferocious, with bolts of electricity splintering into thick electric snakes that slithered toward Yun Zhonghe.
His face changed slightly. With so many electric snakes gnawing at him, even with all those buffs, it was bound to hurt like a bad breakup.
Let’s just say it wouldn’t cost him his life.
But while enduring the pain, Yun Zhonghe also had to maintain the stability of the black net; a moment of relaxation, and the net would burst open, drowning him in the chaos like a soggy noodle.
“Darn it…”
Yun Zhonghe cursed inwardly, feeling it was all a bit unfair.
The difficulty of this trial was off the charts; it was as if they weren’t planning on letting anyone pass!
He realized the challenge was too much, but there was no one to complain to.
What if there was a fourth or even a fifth wave coming? If there were more trials, he really had no strategy left.
Yun Zhonghe steeled his resolve. He decided to go all in on this wave—everything on the line! He would fight through it all, and if there were more challenges afterward, he would just drop out.
So, all the third-tier Chaos Divine Stone powers shot out from his Sea of Consciousness, patching up the black net even further, making it bigger and denser.
Tensile strength up!
Absorption power up!
The force of the thunder washing over him weakened a little.
At the same time, Yun Zhonghe’s one hundred and eighty Spiritual Pearls began to buzz, their powerful Spiritual Energy holding up the black net.
Hold on!
Hang in there!
Yun Zhonghe kept his eyes fixed on the black net, constantly funneling his Spiritual Energy to keep it steady, praying it could hold just a bit longer.
Boom!
A massive roar echoed as the Azure Dragon avatar surged once more, unleashing even more thunder.
Yun Zhonghe let out a painful cry: “Ughhh…”
His Sea of Consciousness trembled violently, all the Spiritual Pearls shaking as if they might explode at any moment.
Yun Zhonghe’s Spiritual Energy reached its limit, feeling like he might just collapse.
Worse yet, the black net began to partially disintegrate, and the torrent of thunder burst through the gaps, crashing down on Yun Zhonghe, making him bleed like a piñata at a kid’s birthday party.
“Master!”
Xue Yunjian exclaimed, rushing forward to shield Yun Zhonghe from a bolt of thunder.
Even just this leaking thunder pushed her to her limits.
Both person and sword gritted their teeth.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths…
The thunder began to weaken!
Xing Bu’s eyes flickered, “Hang in there, my friend, we’re almost finished!”
But her voice wouldn’t reach Yun Zhonghe’s heart.
I can’t take it anymore… I just want to give up…
But he had already made it this far; just a little longer…
With the Azure Dragon’s power, he could grow even stronger and protect them…
Grinding his teeth, Yun Zhonghe mustered his last bit of strength and clenched his jaw tight.
Finally, after holding on for three more breaths, the thunder finally stopped.
“Phew…”
Yun Zhonghe gasped for breath as the restraints on him dissipated, feeling utterly drained, he collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.
Xue Yunjian also got jolted back and turned into her Spiritual Sword form, slightly scorched.
At this moment, the Azure Dragon avatar above stared down at Yun Zhonghe for a moment and suddenly roared at the sky.
Please, no more…
Yun Zhonghe forced his eyes open, looking up to see the massive dragon swooping its tail, slowly shrinking and transforming into a ball of azure light drifting down from the sky.
Xing Bu cheered, “Quick, catch that ball of azure light!”
Yun Zhonghe understood—he had passed the trial!
But strangely enough, he felt he lacked the energy to accept that azure light.
He couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly. Had he just passed and then collapsed for nothing?
Just then, the black net unexpectedly began to move on its own.
What was once battered and tattered abruptly vibrated fiercely, seemingly filled with vitality, and suddenly expanded, like a giant mouth ready to gobble up that ball of azure light.
The net enveloped the azure light, then swiftly shrunk back into Yun Zhonghe’s Sea of Consciousness.
His mind whirled for a moment.
Inside his Sea of Consciousness floated a black pearl crackling with azure lightning.
So, this counted as successfully receiving the power of the Azure Dragon!
Yun Zhonghe finally let out a breath of relief.
Although the process was grueling, he had at least accomplished his goal.
With the confirmation of the Azure Dragon’s power, Yun Zhonghe had no more energy to ponder the details. He lay on the ground for a long while, absorbing the universal Spiritual Energy while patching himself up.
Fortunately, this was the Secret Realm; even without popping pills, this universal Spiritual Energy could repair his injuries without any lingering side effects.
Xing Bu floated over slowly, a smile on her face: “Not easy, huh? Good thing the Azure Dragon didn’t give you a fifth trial; otherwise, you would have been toast!”
Yun Zhonghe huffed, glancing at her with a glare, saying nothing.
It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that he was able to muster enough strength to stand up.
His first priority was to check on Xue Yunjian’s condition.
Focusing intently, he sensed that Xue Yunjian was in a deep sleep; even when he infused her with abundant Spiritual Energy through their bond, she remained unresponsive.
She had overextended herself and would probably need some time to recover before waking up.
“Thank you, I owe you one.”
Only with Xue Yunjian unconscious did Yun Zhonghe allow himself a smile, his gaze softening.
After all, if she had been awake, she would have definitely been a handful, teasing and flirting with him.
But this time, he really couldn’t do without her.
