William's Seven-Colored Heavenly Golden Core stabilized after a few minutes, but his aura continued to bear down on his friends, too strong for them to so much as lift a finger.
He mobilized his Spirit Qi to suppress his aura as much as possible, but it still wasn't able to do anything to help him. Only after following the System's instructions and upgrading his Stealth Talent to SS-Rank could he finally conceal the majority of his aura, making his unfathomable Golden Core Cultivation only seem a little overbearing to the others.
"Sorry." William scratched his head and apologized. He hadn't expected his aura to burst forth like that, much less create such a scene. He spent an additional fifteen thousand Points to push the Stealth Talent to SSR-Rank, which completely suppressed his aura for the time being.
I don't know what I'm going to do when I reach the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. Hopefully that Alchemist can help me out. William sighed internally.
He spent the remaining four hundred thousand stored Spirit Qi to begin his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm immediately. He didn't bother leaving his friends or anything of the sort, since the Tribulations had just about reached the limit of what they could achieve and he had the ability to protect them in the worst-case scenario.
Another patch of thick, red clouds formed overhead and were hidden from view by the underground Cultivation Site. It was a Superior Tribulation whose strength had already reached the Tribulation Transcendence Realm and was steadily climbing to the peak.
If you can't reach the Ascension Realm, you can't hurt me! William scoffed at the Heavens' feeble attempt to strike him down.
He stared directly into the sky with a calm smile while the first Lightning Bolt formed. There was no pressure at all. Not a bit!
The Lightning Bolt fell on his body harmlessly, dispersing into the surroundings and approaching his friends, only to be stopped by a casual wall of Plant-reinforced Earth. Sensing that it had no effect on William, the Tribulation subsided moments later, while the World sent energy to refine William and restore him to his peak.
Surprisingly, there was no reward for surviving the Heavenly Tribulations like before. He even realized that he hadn't received the reward for surviving the Ultimate Tribulation earlier that day. The only positive was that his Attention didn't increase like before.
When he asked the System why he wasn't receiving rewards, it told him that the Tribulations hadn't ended yet, so he could only sigh and continue enduring lightning strikes from the second Tribulation. He returned to the Cultivation Site where the Tribulation couldn't see him, allowing the clouds to fully disperse before checking his new status.
———
INFO: ( - )
-Name: William
-Race: Human
-Birth Age: 21
-Real Age: 364
-Lifespan: 3600 Years
-Cultivation: Nascent Soul 1 (0/1000000)
-Heavenly Mark: Heaven's Aura, ???
STATUS: ( - )
-Health: 3m/3m
-Mana: 1820/9800
-No. Only resources generated by the mental farm can be stored here.
William nodded. It made sense, but he felt it was a bit stingy of the System. This warehouse was huge, and he wouldn't have to worry about items being stolen from this space like he would his Space Rings and the Starmetal Safe.
-Stingy? You must be talking about yourself.
...
-Have you seen how your Gold Spending habits are? Unless it can earn you countless times more money, you won't spend your Gold on anything!
I buy food with it too.
-Oh, you mean a necessary resource for your survival? What a surprise!
William couldn't put up with the System's bullying anymore and ignored it, instead focusing on the silver apple. He reached out and grabbed the item, which this time didn't disappear from his grasp. As he opened his mouth to take a bite, the System sent another message that he almost ignored until he spotted the last bit of the sentence out of the corner of his eye.
-Upgrade the Order Affinity to X-Rank to safely consume. Consumption now will result in combustion and instant death.
William felt a chill down his spine. If he hadn't read the System's message last minute, there would probably be pieces of him spread across the entire farm.
Why is it instant death? It's just a fruit, is it poisonous?
-The level of Mana in your body cannot handle the fruit's effects.
That's obvious, but why can't I handle it?
-Request requires 500 Potential Points. Yes/No?
Fine...
-Your Order Mana cannot handle the presence of a Law, there are too many levels in between that need to be bridged first. Only when you have control over a Territory can you begin comprehending the Primary Law of Order.
So I wasted my time then? I can't upgrade the Order Element now, my Soul Strength is too...
William realized his mistake. His Soul Strength had improved by leaps and bounds, could he possibly handle the Order Element's effects now?
He exited the mental space and informed Yuming, the only one currently not Cultivating, that he was going out for a little bit. The man nodded simply, sensing that William had no intention of bringing the group along for now.
It was better for them to Cultivate more anyway, otherwise they'd never catch up to William's unbelievable breakthrough speed. Well... they probably still wouldn't catch up, but at least the gap wouldn't be as large.
William flew through the tunnel away from the Cultivation Site, instigating the original Superior Tribulation to once more rain down from above. He flew past the Revista Faction members, outside the City, and tunneled deep underground and placed Tier 6 Concealment Arrays until the Superior Tribulation could no longer sense him.
Once all the preparations were complete, William sent a simple request to the System while carrying a hint of nervousness. The foreboding feeling returned, but he could sense that it wouldn't spell instant death this time.
System, it's time to upgrade the Order Element. Let's start with D-Rank.