Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao

Once he advanced to the Eternal River Tier, Ling Han was confident that he would be unrivaled among those at the same cultivation level.

Moreover, his Godly bones would also advance another level and allow him to inscribe Level 15 formations. When 10 identical formations were activated together, his battle prowess would definitely soar to the early stage of the consummate level—of course, this was only if he chose the most powerful Level 15 formations. Otherwise, the 10 formations might only raise his battle prowess to the middle stage of the high extreme.

However, there was only half a year for him to prepare, and thus he most likely didn’t have enough time to grasp a new formation to inscribe onto his Godly bones.

He would advance to the Eternal River Tier first before worrying about this.

He was already trailing Gu Daoyi, and he definitely couldn’t slip even further behind.

Moreover, many king tiers had only suppressed their cultivation and not broken through in order to fight for the opportunity at the Sunken Abyss Valley. Now that they didn’t need to hold back anymore, it was easy to imagine that there would be an explosive increase of new Eternal River Tier elites.

Long Xiangyue, Second in the World, and Hong Ma were all examples of this.

Ling Han took his leave from the Tranquil Heart Saint’s courtyard. He had received acknowledgment from the Tranquil Heart Saint, and thus he could seek him out and ask for guidance if he had any questions about formations. Of course, the Saint wouldn’t offer guidance every time Ling Han had a question. This would depend on whether the Saint had the time, and also whether he was in the mood.

Ling Han immediately entered the Black Tower after arriving back at his residence. He then started to cultivate in seclusion so that he could strive toward the Eternal River Tier.

In reality, he had already accumulated enough Origin Power. The only thing he was missing now was comprehension.

He started to earnestly comprehend dao under the Reincarnation Tree.

Countless realizations surfaced in his mind—the universe playing out a scene of birth and destruction and a scene of chaos to order. Countless heavenly bodies dazzled in his mind, their radiance brilliant and unparalleled.

Advancing from the Heavenly Body Tier to the Eternal River Tier was a significant step.

A Heavenly Body Tier cultivator could only wield at most five heavenly bodies. Moreover, this was only if they advanced to the pinnacle level. However, Eternal River Tier elites would be in control of limitless possibilities.

How many heavenly bodies could a silver river hold?

Innumerable!

Thus, after advancing to the Eternal River Tier, those at the early stage of the low extreme would possess four heavenly bodies. Meanwhile, those at the middle stage would possess at least 10, those at the late stage would possess at least 20, and those at the peak stage would possess at least 40. Only after forming 100 heavenly bodies would one be considered to reach the medium extreme. The high extreme would require 1000 heavenly bodies, while the consummate level would require 10,000 heavenly bodies.

Theoretically speaking, Eternal River Tier elites could form countless heavenly bodies. Thus, it was even possible that they could surpass the power of Saints.

This was because a cultivator would have reached the peak stage of the consummate level after forming 100,000 heavenly bodies. At that time, they would have the right to attempt breaking through to the Genesis Tier. However, breaking through to the Genesis Tier wasn’t reliant on the number of heavenly bodies alone. In addition to this, one would also need to comprehend the power of construction.

If one couldn’t comprehend this, then it would be useless even if they formed 1,000,000 heavenly bodies.

It was because of this that there were the strange occurrences of Eternal River Tier elites possessing more power than Genesis Tier Saints.

Of course, these Eternal River Tier elites would only be more powerful than low-level Saints. This was because the power of Saints was still derived from the heavenly bodies inside their silver river. From the base of 100,000 heavenly bodies, they could surge forward and form 500,000 or even 1,000,000 heavenly bodies.

However, power wasn’t the most important benchmark when considering the strength of a Saint. Rather, it was their grasp of the power of construction.

If a Saint constructed a world, they would be the ruler of that world. Thus, what use would it be regardless of how powerful their opponent was? They wouldn’t be able to wield their strength at all!

Thus, starting from the Genesis Tier, the power of Regulations would be superior to just power alone. This was because Saints, to some extent, represented heaven and earth.

One might possess extraordinary power, but could they be more powerful than the heavens?

In fact, it was regarding the power of Regulations where the Immortal Realm and Netherworld started to diverge. The former comprehended the power of construction, while the latter comprehended the power of destruction. These were juxtaposing powers, and they were like black to white and fire to water.

Ling Han continued to experience all kinds of comprehensions. The sounds of dao were reverberating inside his body, and his Godly bones clanked as if in reply.

After an unknown amount of time, a small river suddenly appeared inside his Dantian. However, it wasn’t water that was flowing through this river. Rather, it was the light of the galaxy.

This was an Eternal River!

His five heavenly bodies were immediately absorbed into this river. They continued to glow in the Eternal River, and they more so expanded a whopping 100 times in size.

This signified that his reserves for Origin Power had expanded one-hundred-fold!

He was immediately struck by an intense feeling of hunger. This wasn’t hunger from his stomach, but rather hunger from his heavenly bodies.

They were far too empty, and they needed to be fed. Moreover, their food was none other than Origin Power.

Ling Han hurriedly retrieved and ingested a large number of Great Amplification Pills. If they weren’t fed enough Origin Power, these heavenly bodies would start to extract energy from his life force. If his life force were completely consumed, he would be sucked dry and turn into a corpse.

With a single mouthful, he ingested over 50 Great Amplification Pills. Only then did his feeling of intense hunger start to subside. After ingesting another dozen or so pills, he finally felt half-full.

He now needed to face heavenly tribulation.

Ling Han exited the Black Tower. In fact, he didn’t know how long he had cultivated in seclusion for. If it had been in excess of half a year, then he would have no choice but to accept his bad luck.

He strode out of the academy and awaited the arrival of his heavenly tribulation in a barren desert.

Boom!

Dark clouds formed overhead, arcs of brilliant lightning flashing within them.

“Come!” Ling Han was naturally unafraid. This was only an ordinary heavenly tribulation, and it was far from powerful enough to faze him.

He actively shattered his Godly bones so that they could be tempered by heavenly tribulation. At the same time, he observed the might of heavenly tribulation so that he could improve his grasp of heaven’s might.

The heaven’s might of this heavenly tribulation… was actually weaker than the previous time!

Ling Han couldn’t help but sigh in emotion. A twofold heavenly tribulation was truly terrifying. He definitely, definitely didn’t want to experience it again.

Half a day passed, and Ling Han circulated a drop of Indestructible True Fluid. This allowed him to rapidly recover. His Godly bones were smooth and crystal-like, and the formation patterns that were inscribed on them also started to reappear. These formation patterns had already become a part of his body. Unless he actively abandoned them, they would reappear with a single thought.

“I’ve… finally broken through to the Eternal River Tier!” A smile stretched across his face. Hu Niu had once said that she would wait several hundred years for him. By the looks of it, she hadn’t been exaggerating. He would indeed need to cultivate for several hundred years before he had the right to open the barrier to the Celestial Realm.

He returned to his residence, where Empress Luan Xing and Jiuyao were both waiting for him. He exchanged a glance with Empress Luan Xing, and a smile instantly appeared on both of their faces.

They had both broken through to the Eternal River Tier.

“Congratulations, Master! Congratulations, Missus!” Jiuyao said.

Ling Han nodded in acknowledgment, and said, “Your cultivation level hasn’t lagged behind, either. Not bad.”

The Star Sand Martial Arts Academy was extremely difficult to enter. However, after entering it, one would be provided with an astonishing amount of resources. With a Saint looking over them, what kind of natural treasures couldn’t they obtain? Moreover, there was also the Hardship Alchemy Saint who had achieved his dao through alchemy, a Saint who was obsessed with refining pills. Each of the nine campuses would receive a fair share of the Godly medicines that he provided.

Jiuyao was already nearing the late stage of the low extreme of the Heavenly Body Tier. His advance was astounding. Of course, this was also because he was sufficiently talented in cultivation. Otherwise, just alchemical pills alone wouldn’t have been enough.

“What day is it? When is the competition between the new disciples?” Ling Han asked.

“Master, you’ve exited seclusion at just the right time. There are still around 15 days until the competition begins, and we’re preparing to head off in two days’ time,” Jiuyao replied.

Ling Han nodded in reply. What a coincidental timing.

Elites like them might need to undergo comprehension for several years if they were to come across a slightly challenging barrier. However, his advance this time had been surprisingly quick and smooth. It was because of this that he had been able to complete his advance in just half a year’s time. If he had come across any barriers, he would have needed several more years to break through.

“Many people are unhappy with the previous ranking, and they’re all fired up to prove themselves in this upcoming competition between new disciples,” Empress Luan Xing said.

Ling Han nodded upon hearing this. Fighting spirit burned in his eyes, and he said, “This time, I’m going to defeat Gu Daoyi fair and square!”