Chapter 466 Fourth stage of the Heavenly tribulation realm
The horizon stretched wide, revealing the Whispering Wasteland in its full expanse. Thin, tall trees, like gaunt sentinels, dotted the wasteland.
Each tree swayed gently, bending and stretching in its own unique way. It was as if they were communicating their myriad emotions to the occasional cultivator that dared tread their territory. Every so often, strange voices would waft through the air, their utterings incomprehensible, vanishing before one could grasp their meaning.
As Zhan Chen entered the Whispering Wasteland, he couldn't shake the sensation of unseen eyes scrutinizing him. He looked around, trying to find the source of this strange feeling.
"This place is slightly odd," Zhan Chen murmured. His low voice appeared loud in the silent eerie atmosphere.
"Husband, this place has many souls caged in the trees of the Whispering Wasteland. Typically, a soul vanishes into the world when a cultivator below the Martial Ascension realm perishes. But that common logic does not apply here. Due to its mysterious nature, the central area of the Whispering wasterland considered a forbidden land. Even the sages had perished there, whenever they dared to venture deeper", Shui Liying spoke.
"Even the sages! What kind of secret is this place hiding?", an intrigued expression appeared on Zhan Chen's face.
"I don't know the details. But each of the forbidden land is very dangerous for us cultivators. There is a reason why these places called as forbidden lands", Shui Liying spoke solemnly.
"I have choose this place because cultivators would stay away from this eerie land in the night. There are very weak souls caged in the outskirt area. So, there is almost no danger if you face your tribulation here", she further added.
"The mysteries of the cultivation world never ceases to amaze me. Years of our cultivation, yet we know only a tiny fraction of the cultivation world's knowledge", Zhan Chen spoke while looking at the Whispering wasterland.
Shui Liying nodded her head, her eyes distant. "Indeed, the true world is very vast and beyond our imagination. Even with my Law glimpse realm cultivation, I am not yet eligible to explore many places in the Central land", Shui Liying added.
"So, husband, you should take one step at a time. Stay away from danger and focus on your cultivation. You are extremely talented. As long as you keep patience, you can definitely reach the peak of the Central land", Shui Liying spoke.
"I understand. You don't have to worry. I will not venture into the forbidden lands only because of my curiousity", Zhan Chen spoke.
Shui Liying looked around and found a place where the density of the trees were less. "Husband, this place seem suitable for your cultivation", she pointed towards a nearby area inside the Whispering wasterland.
"Okay, I will cultivate there", Zhan Chen replied. He flew downward after leaving Shui Liying's flying treasure. Shui Liying stashed away her flying treasure and followed Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen sat cross legged on the ground with his eyes closed. He cleared all the stray thoughts from his mind and tried to focus on his cultivation.
The starry sky got covered by pitch black cloud in no time. Loud rumbling could be heard as thunder cackled in the pitch black sky time to time.
"This intensity! It is almost like the final tribulation of the Heavenly tribulation realm", Shui Liying muttered to herself. There was both shock and worry on her face as she looked towards Zhan Chen.
"Husband, you have to stay strong. The heavenly tribulation is getting more outrageous with improvement in your cultivation stage", Shui Liying murmured.
It took almost an hour for the cloud to completely condense. A dazzling bolt of lightening descended towards Zhan Chen after the cloud completely condensed.
Zhan Chen was fully prepared with his sword this time. "Mountain splitting slash", he swung his hand and launched a big slash towards the descending lightning bolt. The lightning bolt got cut in half with Zhan Chen's ferocious attack. The lightning bolt turned into pure essence of heaven as they reached Zhan Chen.
'What a strong attack. Not only the tribulation is getting stronger but husband also increasing in strength exponentially', Shui Liying thought to herself. She kept watching as the second lightning bolt descended towards Zhan Chen.
This time the lightning bolt changed colour and Shui Liying felt palpitation in her heart despite being an emperor realm expert. 'Purple thunderbolt turns blue. It is the skyfire thunderbolt!", she murmured to herself. Her expression turned grim as she looked towards Zhan Chen.
Compared to the panick in Shui Liying's heart, Zhan Chen was completely calm. 'Trying to stop me! Not going to happen', he thought to himself. A frightening sword aura came out from his body as he opened his eyes. n(-o(-v.(e-)l(-b-(I)/n
"Hum", the sword lying by his side buzzed on it's own as if it was trying to acknowledge the prestige of Zhan Chen. "This is Sword heart!", Shui Liying fell into a stupor for a moment. She watched with an incredulous expression as Zhan Chen dealt with the Skyfire thunderbolt with absolute ease.
'I can't beleive it. Mastering sword heart means the birth of a new sword emperor. Husband is only a third stage tribulation realm expert. How did he do it', she thought to herself.
She watched in surprise and amazement as Zhan Chen dealt with the second thunderboltwith absolute ease. The mighty heaven could sense Zhan Chen's fighting spirit as it sent a much fiercer looking Skyfire thunderbolt towards Zhan Chen. "Sky splitting slash", Zhan Chen sent a twelve feet slash towards the sky in response.
His attack was extremely sharp as it cut the Skyfire thunderbolt in two and zoomed towards the dark cloud above. To Shui Liying's surprise, the slash cut through the first layer of cloud before dissipating in the air.
After sending two Skyfire thunderbolts, the heaven seemed to mellowed down a little. It only sent an ordinary thunderbolt as the last trial of Zhan Chen. 'How shrewd', Zhan Chen could only curse inside his mind as he dealt with the final thunderbolt. The more threatening and fiercer the thunderbolt was, the more heavenly essence it contained. While Zhan Chen was hoping for a more ferocious thunderbolt, the heaven played a joke with him.
Although Zhan Chen felt indignant, he could somehow underst the dilemma of the heaven. The amount of heavenly essence in the world was limited. If it kept using it on a third stage tribulation realm cultivator without getting any result, it was only wasting it's limited valuable resource.
Zhan Chen placed his sword by his side and closed his eyes. The divine yinyang diagram on his dantian operated on it's own as it greedily absorbed the pure heavenly essence in the surrounding.
While he was busy cultivating, he was unaware that a change had occured inside the diagram world in his soul. A slender beauty who was sleeping in his diagram world opened her eyes when Zhan Chen used the Sword heart for the first time.
The slender beauty had a bewitching face and raven black hair. She was wearing black clothes which exposed her beautiful navel area. Her body had a strange blue luster. When she opened her eyes, it seemed like the world had lost its brilliance for a moment.
The most eye-catching thing about her was her eyes. Unlike human eyes, her eyes were ink black in colour. A cultivator would think he was entering into a quagmire of no return, if he looked into the beautiful girl's eyes.