The notion of the Cocoon of Finality and Aeons being fake immortal cultivators felt ridiculous, but acceptable. This world's temporal dimension is inherently flawed. This flaw extending to the Aeons is not surprising.
I looked at my Divinity and compared it to their statuses. Mine felt complete; theirs felt incomplete. They emitted the intensity of their respective cultivation realms, yet they also lacked several key aspects of it.
The Cocoon of Finality, for example.
It is not karma-less.
Isolation of karma is the core of Void Refinement Realm. It is the mandatory requirement for the breakthrough. Being able to step on this realm without doing this leads to an extremely flawed power. The Cocoon did not exhibit signs of being that weak, however.
It is weaker than my Void Refinement Realm power, but it is not weak to the point a Divine Transformation Realm can beat it. I could also sense a trace of an even higher-leveled power from it, which I suspect is at the level of Dao.
I relished in this feeling of omniscience until I heard a voice.
"Have you seen enough..?"
I snapped back to reality. The stunning Tuna appeared in front of me like the wind. Her star-like irises looked at me with a hint of teasing.
"Thirty years. Do you know what it means?"
I sensed a hint of danger from her words… and I already know why.
It's all about being drained dry.
"Good. I have your word!"
"...I haven't agreed to it yet?"
"You have no choice this time."
She did not let me speak further.
Rumble-!
The brewing heavenly tribulations interrupted us. The overwhelming amounts of spiritual qi from Earth and Moon alone is comparable to an eighth grade spirit vein. It is a trifle for it to form a Divine Transformation Realm Tribulation.
"You made me work overtime. We'll do it for five years!"
"Alright, alright."
At this point, I knew I couldn't escape this fate. Thirty years passed and the Tuna only got smarter. Too bad her smarts are used in lewd things…
Not that I complain.
I glanced at the forming tribulation above. It did not differ from the prior tribulations. Heavenly flames taking the shapes of True Spirits, Heavenly Winds that can tear dimensions with ease, and the infamous Eighty-One Death Heralding Thunder Tribulation consisted of the first three phases. The final one is the Endless Reincarnation Spring, the high-level version of Heart Demon Tribulations.
"We updated the protective formation ten years ago. It's already in the seventh grade." Kiana spoke beside me. "So, make it eight years."
"..."
Why do I have a feeling my "debt" will reach up to ten years?
*****
A lot of things happened in the last thirty years. The Wushi Dao Sect's Nascent Soul Realm powerhouses rose from eleven to twenty-one, making it the most powerful holy land throughout Earth. These are people who can affect the entire solar system with a single strike.
The overall atmosphere of immortal cultivation remained uncorrupted by opportunistic individuals. Hei Xuanyuan's existence was one thing. The Sect's strength as well as the overwhelming power shown by the Sect Master intimidated them all. Nobody dared to be underhanded at all. The ones who thought they could get away were suddenly arrested.
All in all, the Earth of 2062 is leagues ahead of the Earth in 2015.
"Tsk, tsk. Is this the next realm? It's so…"
Sin Mal attempted to observe closely at the Heavenly Tribulation beyond Earth, only for her spiritual consciousness to bounce back. Her mind suffered a backlash. Her thoughts became sluggish for a moment.
Silence pervaded her residence. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed her saliva. Her sluggish thoughts did not help in her chaotic thoughts.
Sin Mal's heterochromatic eyes glanced at the dazzling Sun. It held hints of what she first saw fifty years ago; the same beautiful light that slowly captivated her. Its brilliance is fully unleashed now.
"...beautiful."
It wasn't just Sin Mal who got disturbed by the Heavenly Tribulation. Everyone who hasn't entered full seclusion left their residences and glanced at the Heavenly Tribulation with amazement and trepidation. The panic died down as soon as they saw the protective formation shielding them from the outside world.
As for Mars and Phosphorus, they also have their own, standalone sixth-grade formations. They also have their own "supervisors", namely Vita and Leylah. Both of them awakened high grade spirit roots and reached the Nascent Soul Realm.
The one who brought them along is none other than Kiana. Things became extremely simple once the literal incarnate of the Cocoon talked to them.
With Shi Tian on one side and Kiana on the other, the entire solar system is in their unilateral control. Power made things simple.
Fwooosh-!
Rumble-!
Sou-!
…
For three months, all they saw were the devastating attacks caused by the tribulations. Observing them is an opportunity, as if the Dao itself was there. Several uninhabited dwarf planets on the Oort Cloud got obliterated instantly, though they were restored by Kiana's Finality power. The other major planets, however, are protected from direct harm.
There is already progress of turning them all into colonies—training grounds of sorts. Mercury's close proximity with the Sun is suitable for practicing Fire and Yang-based techniques.
Venus' atmosphere is harsh enough to temper physical bodies and further Blade Mantra 2.0's practice.
Jupiter's gaseous environment is suitable for wind-based techniques as well as unique forging methods.
Neptune's coldness can be used as a special training ground for ice-based techniques, physical body tempering, growing ice-type spiritual plants, and so on.
One-by-one, Earth's cultivators began to fall into sudden enlightenment. The number of people observing the terrifying tribulation decreased as time went by.
Finally, by the end of the third month, the three tangible tribulations ended.
'This should be enough. The early stage will be faster.'
Shi Tian looked at the spiritual essences he obtained from the tribulation. He did not let a single ounce of it go uncollected by his [Chaos Furnace]. He was particularly strict about his cultivation speed.
Earth's isolation will last for two thousand years at most. He had to hack his way through the Divine Transformation Realm and step into the realm of karma-less. That was the safest option he determined—one that allows him to face off against the Aeons head-on.
'Ultimate grade Spirit Root… Three hundred years at most. I can reach the pinnacle of Divine Transformation Realm at that time. Then…'
Shi Tian cut his thoughts off. He already sensed the power of the Endless Reincarnation Spring manifesting around him.
'..I can lead this story to an ending I like.'