141: The Calamity of the Metal Element!

Time arrived at October 25, 2030.

There were only two months left until the arrival of the Red-level Secret Realm.

Calculating by the speed of three Blue-level Secret Realms appearing per day, the moment the 343rd Blue-level Secret Realm appeared, that would be the moment the Red-level Secret Realm arrived.

Before then, Zhang Sheng had only one goal: to elevate his own strength to the extreme!

...

Inside the secret chamber, Zhang Sheng sat cross-legged, adjusting his mind and body to their Peak.

With a slight movement of his thoughts, circles of moon blades, as thin as silver hairs, appeared out of thin air before him, emitting a piercing cold light. The sharp aura permeated the air, as if even space were about to be sliced apart.

He voluntarily removed all physical defenses, forcibly suppressing his body's instinct to heal, and used his powerful Mental Energy to control these miniature moon blades, precisely beginning to destroy his own cells!

At the same time, the "Nine Tribulations Secret Codex - Divine Breath Chapter" operated at full capacity, the mysterious power contained within the Cultivation Technique immediately surging toward the wounded areas, repairing the damaged body.

"Cultivation Technique: 'Nine Tribulations Secret Codex - Divine Breath Chapter' (Beginner: 17/100)"

Just like when he cultivated the previous two volumes of the secret codex, he wanted to use this near-self-mutilating method to push this Cultivation Technique to the Perfected State!

The moment the Cultivation Technique reached Perfection, a vast torrent of comprehension surged into Zhang Sheng's Sea of Consciousness.

The first tribulation of the "Nine Tribulations Secret Codex - Divine Breath Chapter" — officially initiated!

What Zhang Sheng chose was the Metal Element Spiritual Qi!

This tribulation was the Metal Spirit Tribulation!

And the Moon Slash Spell he was Proficient in was precisely a perfectly compatible Tier 2 Metal-type Spell!

Countless miniature moon blades, condensed from the Moon Slash Spell, danced around Zhang Sheng like a silver swarm of bees.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze as sharp as a knife. Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively manipulated the moon blades and, with the force of thunder, slashed at his own feet!

Immediately after, his legs!

blood essence pills flowed into his mouth like water, transforming into boundless vitality!

Destruction happened in an instant!

Rebirth was happening simultaneously!

Under the tempering and stimulation of the Metal Element Spiritual Qi, his cells were crazily destroying and reorganizing!

The speed of this destruction and Rebirth was more than a hundred times faster than when he experienced the nine tribulations of life and death in the Qi Sea Realm!

The level of danger had skyrocketed!

But Zhang Sheng was fearless! The Cultivation Technique at the Perfected State was his greatest reliance!

From his feet, calves, thighs, waist, hips, torso... right up to his head!

In a very short time, Zhang Sheng's body underwent a complete destruction and Nirvana Rebirth at the cellular level!

The first tribulation of the Divine Breath Realm — the Metal Spirit Tribulation, from beginning to end, actually took less than ten minutes!

When the dust settled, Zhang Sheng's Mental Energy swept through his internal organs. Although his life level had not ascended, he could clearly perceive that in the chaotic Spiritual Qi of the environment, the portion belonging to the Metal Element Spiritual Qi had become exceptionally active, as if it could directly resonate with him.

The speed at which the "Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art" operated automatically had increased by nearly ten percent!

Do not underestimate this ten percent!

This meant his Spiritual Qi recovery speed had increased by ten percent, and it also meant the efficiency of condensing spirit suns in his Qi Sea Dantian had also increased by a full ten percent!

Zhang Sheng's figure flickered, and he appeared high above the villa.

He focused his energy, raised his hand, and pointed forward:

"Hah!"

Spiritual Qi surged, and an unprecedentedly huge moon blade instantly condensed into shape!

The thirty-meter-diameter behemoth spanned the air, its entire body flowing with a cold metallic luster. The blade was clearly engraved with ferocious wolf-like patterns, emitting cold light and an imposing aura.

If one had not seen the process of the Spell condensing with their own eyes, anyone would have mistaken it for a powerful Tier 2 Spiritual Artifact!

The Realm of the "Moon Slash" Spell had not changed, but the volume of the condensed moon blade was already ten times what it was before!

Zhang Sheng clearly felt the unique affinity between himself and the Metal Element Spiritual Qi.

It was this affinity that granted him doubled power when casting Metal-type Spells!

Looking inward, his newborn cells were still in a highly active state.

Zhang Sheng understood that it would take at least half a month for this body, tempered by the Metal Tribulation, to fully stabilize.

"I can only wait for half a month before cultivating the Wood Element Tribulation," he thought.

Now, conventional Spell cultivation had limited impact on the improvement of his strength.

In this half month, besides his body passively refining Spiritual Qi to nourish itself, the only thing Zhang Sheng could improve was his weapon!

That Tier 2 Low Grade dragon horn crushing gold spear could no longer bear his terrifying power at this moment.

He needed a stronger, more compatible Spiritual Artifact!

Hou Wu had already prepared the necessary Spiritual Materials for Artifact Refining.

Zhang Sheng possessed the Perfected State Tier 2 general-purpose Artifact Refining technique, "Barlin Artifact Refining Technique," and even the "Spear Soul Refining Form" technique he had previously obtained for specializing in spear-shaped Spiritual Artifacts.

Everything was ready.

The main material for this spear refining was very similar to the recipe for the previous dragon horn crushing gold spear, with only one key difference: the core "dragon horn" was replaced with "Swift Dragon horn."

With another thought, a huge ball of dark blue flame appeared out of thin air, and the scorching high temperature instantly swept across the entire valley, startling countless flying birds into fleeing in panic.

Refining a Tier 2 Spiritual Artifact caused too much of a commotion, and this secluded valley was the perfect place.

Various Spiritual Materials flew out of the storage ring one after another.

When Zhang Sheng took out a piece of material called "Obsidian Gold," his Divine Sense moved slightly, and he was actually able to clearly "touch" a unique power contained within it.

That was not pure Metal Element Spiritual Qi, but a more Origin-like characteristic representing the "extreme sharpness of gold," mysterious and profound.

"It seems this is the perceptual transformation brought about by experiencing the Metal Element Tribulation," he instantly understood.

In his mind, the essence of "Spear Soul Refining Form" and the techniques of "Barlin Artifact Refining Technique" merged perfectly.

The first refining began!

The Spiritual Materials melted, merged, shaped, injected with Spiritual Qi, and engraved with runes in the blue flames...

However, the first refining — failed!

Two hours later, a nine-foot-nine-inch dark gold long spear finally took shape in the blue flames and floated before Zhang Sheng!

It was a success!

Zhang Sheng reached out and grasped the spear body; it was heavy in his hand, weighing a full 3,300 catties.

The shape of the spear was nine-tenths similar to the original version, and the quality had also reached Tier 2 Low Grade.

"Store!" The long spear was put into the storage ring.

But this was far from his goal.

The talent panel updated quietly:

"Skill: Spear Soul Refining Form (Beginner: 96/100)"

"Skill: Refining dragon horn crushing gold spear (Beginner: 62/100)"

The third time he refined it, when the blue flames dissipated, a long spear with more brilliant spiritual light and stronger pressure fell into Zhang Sheng's hand — Tier 2 Medium Grade, dragon horn crushing gold spear!

"Not bad!" A flash of light appeared in Zhang Sheng's eyes, and he muttered happily, "Unfortunately, this is still not enough!"

...

In southern Huaxia, deep within a karst landscape, was a space observation base.

Several giant radio telescopes with diameters of hundreds of meters, like silent giants, pointed toward the deep firmament.

"Big Head, is it really necessary to stare at this broken screen all day and night?" Li Hu scratched his hair irritably, complaining to the young man at the adjacent workstation. "Looking at it every day! Looking at it every year! Haven't you gotten tired of looking at this vast space? With this time, wouldn't it be better for both of us to Cultivate more? Others have already rushed to the Divine Breath Realm, but we are still stuck in the Qi Sea Realm!"

The young man he called "Big Head" was named Song Haidong, who got the nickname because his head circumference was significantly larger than the average person's.

He was already used to Li Hu's grumbling, his gaze still locked firmly on his monitoring screen, not even turning his head.

Seeing that he didn't respond, Li Hu simply stood up and leaned over, looking left and right to make sure no one was there, and lowered his voice: "I'm telling you, Big Head, wake up! We are the dumbest ones in the whole base! Look at these empty workstations... everyone has run away! Those who resigned have resigned, those who transferred to logistics have transferred, and those with connections are trying their best to join the crusade team; some even pulled strings to get into the 'Sword of Order'!"

"Only the two of us are unlucky. We are young, and the probability of Awakening a Talent should not be low, but we just don't have that luck! This damn heaven is too unfair!"

"Also, Haidong, last time I passed by the director's office, I could see clearly through the door crack, our director, he shuts the door all day long and is inside Cultivating! He doesn't care about these messy things in the station at all! Observation? Hah, I guess he forgot long ago..."

Before he could finish speaking!

Song Haidong, who had been silent and staring at the screen, had his expression change drastically. He stood up abruptly, his voice filled with unprecedented urgency and horror:

"Li Hu! Quick! Contact the director immediately! Something huge has happened!!!"