"Brother, you've advanced?" Little You had been worried for days, her only recourse being to stay by Lei Dong's side constantly. If it weren't for the fact that his condition seemed to be improving, the anxious Little You would have nearly prepared to infuse her Natal Ghost Qi into him.

Yet, she never anticipated that when Lei Dong opened his eyes, the powerful and majestic aura emanating from him would already be utterly comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

This filled Little You with both shock and joy.

"Girl, you worried for me." Lei Dong chuckled lightly, ruffling her fine hair and feeling refreshed to his core. With a casual swing of his fist, a burst of energy caused the very space around them to tremble slightly.

"Yes, I advanced. But it seems something is still missing... ah, the Heavenly Tribulation. Why didn't the Heavenly Tribulation appear?" Lei Dong pondered with slight confusion; usually, the moment a Nascent Soul was condensed, the Heavenly Tribulation would descend.

The principle was straightforward: cultivation is an act against the Heavens, defying the will of the world. As long as one exists between Heaven and Earth, even within secondary spaces like grotto-heavens or blessed lands, the arrival of the Heavenly Tribulation cannot be shielded. The so-called Heavenly Tribulation is, in essence, a form of law, the will of the cosmos designed to purge life forms that do not adhere to its regulations. Take humans, for instance; without cultivation, they might live a mere century or so, and lifting a few hundred catties would be their physical limit.

However, humans learn and imitate cultivation techniques from other species, constantly breaking through their limits, becoming immensely powerful, and extending their lifespans by hundreds or even thousands of years. This fundamentally disrupts the natural cycle of life for the human species. Consequently, as cultivators continually surpass their own boundaries, the Heavenly Tribulation—representing the will of the Heavens and Earth—descends to purge and punish those individuals who violate the rules.

It was rumored that when humans first began cultivating, fewer than one in a hundred managed to successfully pass the Heavenly Tribulation; countless predecessors perished in regret before its might. Fortunately, with the accumulation of human experience and accumulated knowledge over time, many methods and insights for dealing with the Heavenly Tribulation have emerged, greatly increasing the success rate.

"The Arena automatically shields certain laws related to universal will, such as the Heavenly Tribulation," the cold voice of the Arena Spirit sounded while Lei Dong was still bewildered. "When the Master forged the Fair Arena, one purpose was to avoid excessive human warfare and self-destruction, thus attempting to confine conflict to the individual level. Shielding the Heavenly Tribulation was also an attempt by the Master, who lamented how often humans fell innocently to its wrath. The Master spent nearly a thousand years and exhausted countless materials just to barely complete this semi-finished formation capable of shielding the Heavenly Lightning from cultivators advancing below the Spirit Transformation stage. Advancing to the Spirit Transformation or Body Integration stages generates celestial phenomena too immense to be shielded."

Lei Dong was somewhat dumbfounded. Reaching the Nascent Soul stage had already felt quite arduous and a source of considerable self-satisfaction. But hearing the Spirit's explanation, he felt like he was truly a frog in a well.

The history of the Nine Provinces World was too long; from the recorded Primordial Era to the present, it spanned at least tens of millions of years. The number of great powers similar to the Demon Emperor who had emerged during that time was simply incalculable.

The last great war in the Ancient Era, which involved the Three Realms, Six Domains, and Nine Provinces, destroyed countless inheritances and records, leaving history fragmented and indistinct.

In truth, whether it was the Primordial Era, the Ancient Era, or even the Late Antiquity period, numerous extraordinarily powerful humans had arisen within the vast torrent of history. Of course, the standards varied slightly across different eras.

It was said that in the Primordial Era, the world's spiritual energy was so abundant that every breath felt like pure energy flooding the abdomen. Powerful divine beasts were not mere legends; they occupied territories and reigned supreme. These formidable beasts were rumored to possess the strength of the Spirit Transformation stage upon reaching adulthood, and with diligent effort, advancing to the Body Integration stage was not uncommon. This was due to the fact that divine beasts were creatures born from the creation of the world itself, nurtured by the primordial chaos energy—true darlings of the cosmos. The resources in the Nine Provinces World were at their absolute peak then; treasures born from chaos and celestial artifacts could be dug up with a simple mining pick.

Yet, the humans of the Primordial Era seemed to have lived hard lives. At that time, humanity was still in a state of ignorant immaturity, existing in tribal units, living almost as semi-savages. Despite the profusion of spiritual energy, even chaos energy, the humans of that age did not know how to cultivate; at best, they passively benefited from the ambient spiritual energy.

Thus, humanity generally occupied the lower-middle tiers of the food chain.

Later, it was said that tens of thousands of extraterritorial Celestial Demons descended from the heavens, ravenously plundering the incredibly rare resources. Unfortunately, although the Demon Race numbered in the tens of thousands, the native inhabitants of the Nine Provinces World were not easily subdued. At that time, creatures like divine beasts, lesser divine beasts, the Giant Clan, and various special life forms born from the five elemental energies all possessed formidable combat prowess.

Although they fought independently without unified command, they inflicted heavy losses upon the Demon Race, forcing a chaotic retreat. This seemed merely an interlude in the Primordial Era. But within a few tens of thousands of years, the defeated Demon Race returned, this time with overwhelming force. The pure-blooded Demon Race alone numbered in the millions, and the subjugated races allied with them swelled the ranks to billions, even tens of billions.

There were hundreds of Demon Sky Fortresses, each soaring ten thousand feet high, capable of blotting out the sun and sky.

A protracted, epoch-spanning war commenced, drawing the curtain on the Ancient Era. The course of the war was incredibly complex, as it endured for an immense duration. Lei Dong only knew that later, the Demon Race's sworn enemy, the Immortal Race, arrived with their allies.

The three factions fought bitterly, constantly drawing in vassal races as cannon fodder and seeking to sway members from the opposing camps. It was rumored that the Primordial Giant Clan, due to their simple-mindedness, were manipulated by the Immortal Race and became the most tragic fodder.

However, it seemed humanity learned much during this war—not through seeking knowledge, but through coercion. Because humans were forced to participate, not as main forces, but as expendable cannon fodder. Some learned the cultivation techniques of the Immortal Race, others those of the Demon Race, and techniques from various other species as well.

Through countless years of reproduction, transformation, and imitation, humanity gradually developed its own unique system of cultivation.

Therefore, against this backdrop of extreme complexity and vast stretches of time, the number of astonishingly brilliant predecessors and great powers that emerged is something no one can tally.

Just like the great power who refined the Fair Arena, Ding Fei, was one such figure. And the wondrous grotto-heaven and blessed land Lei Dong obtained was likely also forged by some unknown predecessor.

Those great predecessors possessed profound understanding of the laws of Heaven and Earth, contributing silently to humanity. Reflecting on this, Lei Dong felt deep respect and dared not remain complacent merely because he had reached the Nascent Soul stage. Compared to these figures, Lei Dong knew he still had a long way to go, especially since, up to this point, he was merely a beneficiary. Whether it was the Chaos Tower, the grotto-heaven, or even this Fair Arena that drew him in, Lei Dong was profiting from the blessings left behind by past masters.

Since there was no Heavenly Tribulation, Lei Dong also let out a sigh of relief. Although he believed he had some measure of confidence against it, being battered by lightning bolts was ultimately no pleasant experience.

With that settled, only the current situation remained. Newly advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, Lei Dong felt several times stronger than when he was at the peak of the Golden Core stage. The immense power contained within his body filled him with confidence. Furthermore, the injuries sustained during his fierce battle with the Black Winged Demon King had completely healed after absorbing the essence of life. Lei Dong certainly didn't consider himself an ordinary cultivator who had just advanced.

Staring intently at Xuan Yuanzi, his gaze was decidedly unfriendly. "Xuan Yuanzi, my relationship with your Grand Purity Sect is fraught with grievances. However, I am a person who values rules and reason. I clearly understand that this world operates on the principle of the weak serving the strong. Therefore, hatred and enmity—everything is empty talk in the face of absolute strength."

"You surnamed Lei brat, don't think that just because you've reached the Nascent Soul stage and teamed up with this Middle-Tier Ghost King, you can defeat this Daoist Master." Xuan Yuanzi had been waiting for the result during these past days. While he was filled with envy and jealousy over Lei Dong's good fortune and advancement, in essence, he genuinely wished Lei Dong had failed to absorb the essence. Otherwise, he would currently have to face a purer Demon King—one far more powerful, cunning, and ferocious.

Xuan Yuanzi was no fool; he wouldn't assume that the Demon Race, which had dominated for so many years, would be easy to deal with.

"Xuan Yuanzi, stop putting on such a brave front," Little You said dismissively. "You’ve repeatedly forced the use of secret arts and suffered backlash; how much of your peak fighting strength do you even have left?"

"Hmph, even if this Daoist Master only has three or four tenths of his power left, dealing with two mere juniors like you is still a simple matter," Xuan Yuanzi stated calmly, which was indeed his true assessment. During the month Lei Dong spent absorbing the Demon King's spirit essence, Xuan Yuanzi had neglected his healing, firstly to prevent any unforeseen incidents that might allow these two juniors or the Demon King to launch a surprise attack. Secondly, he believed that even with only a fraction of his strength remaining, he was far beyond what these two juniors could contend with.

It was akin to a Nascent Soul cultivator with only a few tenths of their power facing two early to mid-stage Golden Core cultivators—it wouldn't require much effort at all.

Lei Dong stopped exchanging empty words with him and directly summoned his most prized treasure, the (Ming Yan You Gui Fan - Gloomy Flame Ghost Banner). Sweeping his divine sense across it, he gauged the number of residual ghosts at around three hundred thousand. He didn't rush, instead taking out one top-grade Soul Nurturing Pagoda after another, beginning to refine the ghosts at an unhurried pace.

…… (To be continued)