Immediately, from the thunderclouds in the heavens, tens of thousands of layers of lightning descended once more, mercilessly bombarding the crimson figure within the colossal crater.
This caused everyone in the nearby region to be so startled their scalps went numb, directly prostrating themselves in worship, believing the heavens were descending infinite punishment to chastise them.
Soon, they discovered the myriad layers of lightning were concentrated deep within the mountain range, suspecting a cultivator was undergoing tribulation, and a tribulation for a major realm breakthrough at that, one of no ordinary scale.
A long time passed. After a night, when the lightning had dissipated and the dark clouds had scattered, the people of the nearby region cautiously approached.
They discovered a hundred-li stretch of mountains had been utterly destroyed, with towering peaks all collapsed into nothingness.
They marveled at the power of the one undergoing tribulation; it must be someone of extremely profound cultivation, possibly even a supreme expert aiming for the Saint Treasury Realm. Otherwise, they could not have faced such a powerful heavenly tribulation bombardment.
Group after group of people came and went, yet no one discovered the crimson figure within the giant crater.
Finally, after a day and a night had passed, as the morning sun rose in the east, a group of students brought by an elder from a cultivation academy to observe the tribulation site appeared.
Most were quite young rising stars, basically around twenty years old, with the youngest even being only fifteen or sixteen, yet their cultivation had at least reached the Demi-God level.
There were even several with slightly outstanding talent who had just barely reached the Divine Transformation Realm.
"Everyone, look carefully. Judging by the scale of the tribulation before us, as expected, this is the heavenly tribulation for advancing to the Saint Treasury Realm, covering a radius of a hundred li, extremely powerful. Moreover, it's not an ordinary Saint Treasury Realm tribulation; it's most likely the great tribulation of a peerless genius advancing to the Saint Treasury Realm," the leading elder spoke, explaining to the many disciples of the cultivation academy.
He also let them know that on the path of cultivation, every step must be solid. Otherwise, such a terrifying heavenly tribulation would likely be unbearable even for an ordinary Saint, resulting in certain death.
Of course, if one could survive such a fearsome Saint Treasury Realm tribulation, once they advanced, their strength would inevitably be far greater than that of an ordinary newly-advanced Saint.
The elder encouraged them, saying that as long as they diligently cultivated, one day they would all have the qualification to stand among their ranks.
This caused the many students to burn with fervor, wishing they too could reach this step, become Saints, and thereby gain the right to participate in the younger generation's battles for supremacy across the Eight Realms, bringing glory to the academy.
The elder watched, not without satisfaction.
Although the Saint Treasury Realm was still very distant for these current students—even if some among them had stepped into the Divine Transformation Realm early—to smoothly transcend the mundane and enter the sacred, to set foot in the Saint Treasury Realm, would still require a considerable accumulation of time.
And it wasn't guaranteed they could enter; they would also need opportunities and the like. Otherwise, perhaps for their entire lives they could only linger at the threshold of the Saint Realm.
He thought of himself and sighed helplessly. Wasn't he just such a person...
"Elder, everyone, look! There's a figure down in the giant crater. Is it the one who underwent the tribulation?"
Suddenly, a youth exclaimed, pointing towards the depths of a giant crater spanning ten li, where a charred figure was faintly visible.
Everyone was shocked.
The leading elder was a powerful cultivator at the Demi-Saint level. Following the youth's pointing finger, he indeed saw a figure standing there quietly, utterly motionless, as if lifeless.
The Demi-Saint elder immediately rebuked, "Xia Ye, do not point at others so casually. It is taboo."
Indeed, the cultivation world was one of survival of the fittest. Although many rules had been established nowadays, regulating that cultivators could not kill wantonly, pointing at someone like this, especially a cultivator suspected of having survived a powerful Saint tribulation, was tantamount to an affront.
The other party could completely use this as a reason to attack.
Immediately, the Demi-Saint elder cupped his fists towards the charred figure deep in the giant crater and said solemnly, "Senior, this junior meant no offense. Please do not take offense."
In the cultivation world, those who achieve more are considered teachers. Even though the elder was already over eight hundred years old, not far from the thousand-year lifespan of the Divine Transformation Realm, and appeared as an old man, he still had to respectfully address the other as 'Senior'.
Within the giant crater, the charred figure remained motionless, as if it hadn't heard.
He lowered his head, looking at his own hands, seemingly muttering to himself, "Not dead?"
He was none other than Ye Chen!
In the Ruler War, he had experienced the greatest crisis of his life, facing the nine Forbidden Zone Rulers of the Life Forbidden Zones alone. In the end, several super Sovereigns of the alien race had even arrived, no less powerful than the Forbidden Zone Rulers, launching the most terrifying encirclement and slaughter against him.
In that battle, he ultimately did not use the two supreme Emperor's weapons, the Futu Emperor's Halberd and the Emperor Star, all to test the upper limits of his own strength.
Historically, he had somewhat underestimated himself.
After unleashing his full power, relying on his Eternal Sovereign combat prowess, he surpassed even the combat strength of ordinary Eighth Heaven peerless Sovereigns.
He even believed that, facing other peerless Sovereigns in a life-or-death battle, he had the strength to kill them.
Moreover, he had placed himself in a genuine life-and-death peril, hoping to break through his current shackles, to transcend his present state and advance further.
That battle was hailed as the Ruler War, earth-shattering and unprecedented.
In the history of the Primordial Heaven Realm, it was one of the extremely few, countable on one's fingers, most terrifying confrontations.
The nine Forbidden Zone Rulers of the Life Forbidden Zones had come!
Several super existences of the alien race had also come, all at the level of Forbidden Zone Rulers.
More than ten top-tier existences.
It could be called the most terrifying killing array!
Without using supreme Emperor's weapons, even someone as powerful as Ye Chen was plunged into a terrifying, nine-deaths-one-life situation, narrowly escaping death.
Even his Chaos Saint Body was on the verge of being shattered.
Because the enemies he faced were simply too terrifying.
But in the Ruler War, Ye Chen also displayed unprecedented, fearsome combat power, successively slaying three Forbidden Zone Rulers and one alien super Demon Monarch.
Subsequently, in the ensuing great battle, he successively killed another Forbidden Zone Ruler and another alien Ruler-level Sovereign.
In that battle, a full six super Sovereign-level existences were slain by him—a glorious, illustrious achievement that could be recorded in the annals of history across the Myriad Realms and Eight Domains.
Of course, in the Ruler War, powerful as he was, even after displaying all his strongest methods, his form and spirit were still shattered time and again, repeatedly brought to the brink of death.
In the final ultimate collision, the remaining five Forbidden Zone Rulers were nearly annihilated in form and spirit, and the two alien Ruler-level Sovereigns suffered the same, receiving the most terrible injuries.
Ye Chen was also the same. Without using supreme Emperor's weapons, after exhausting all his means, he still ended up on the verge of perishing.
Because that battle was too tragic, unprecedented, ranking among the most terrifying great battles Ye Chen had ever faced in his life—countable on one's fingers—where he was pushed to the edge of life and death multiple times.
It was only him—one of the extremely few, countable on one's fingers, Eternal Sovereigns throughout history, moreover one who had advanced from an Eternal Quasi-Sovereign, perfected in all aspects, a chaos cultivator, possessing a Primordial Universe—who could possibly survive facing so many Ruler-level powerhouses alone.
After the Ruler War, his form and spirit were nearly completely shattered, his origin exhausted, repeatedly teetering on the brink of death, his aura completely extinguished. This was why the Forbidden Zone Rulers and the terrifying alien Sovereigns, despite multiple searches, were still unable to discover his existence.
In the end, it took a full thirty years for him to successfully endure and recover.