Chapter 507: Hibernation (Part 2)

In the dim outer void, on a stellar fragment invisible to the naked eye, Meng Chuan sat cross-legged within his cave mansion's courtyard. Above the courtyard stretched the vast, boundless void.

Before Meng Chuan lay a fist-sized gray stone, faintly shimmering with a crystalline luster. Liquidized outer void primal energy streamed from the stone, merging into Meng Chuan's body and being continuously absorbed.

This was an 'Outer Void Primal Stone'.

Outer Void Primal Stones are solid forms of outer void primal energy, but they contain many impurities. In contrast, 'Outer Void Primal Crystals' are entirely free of impurities. One Outer Void Primal Crystal is worth tens of thousands of times its equivalent volume in Outer Void Primal Stones. Naturally, the purity of Outer Void Primal Stones also varies.

"Fang Chang is only a Venerable, after all, so he has no urgent need for Outer Void Primal Stones," Meng Chuan mused. "His more than eight hundred Outer Void Primal Stones combined are still far less valuable than a single Outer Void Primal Crystal." Meanwhile, within his Dantian space, the dark Chaotic Hole ceaselessly devoured the outer void primal energy with astonishing speed.

"Breaking through with Outer Void Primal Stones is truly effortless," he thought. "The Outer Void Primal Stones allow me to absorb at will; it's only my Dantian that absorbs slowly."

The gray stone before Meng Chuan grew increasingly dim until it finally crumbled. With a thought, another Outer Void Primal Stone appeared in its place.

It took a full six days, and the absorption of over a thousand Outer Void Primal Stones — an amount equivalent to half an Outer Void Primal Crystal's worth of primal energy — for the breakthrough to be fully accomplished.

"To break through from the early stage of the Chaotic Hole realm to the middle stage, the amount of energy consumed is truly astonishing," Meng Chuan continued. "If I had slowly absorbed the sparse outer void primal energy from the external world, it would have taken at least ten years. But now, it was accomplished in just six days." Meng Chuan keenly felt the importance of Outer Void Primal Stones. "No wonder all Tribulation Realm Grandmasters make sure to stock up on Outer Void Primal Crystals."

As life forms grow stronger and ascend to higher levels, their demand for energy becomes increasingly immense.

Grandmasters of the Seventh and Eighth Tribulation Realms wield inconceivable abilities: crushing suns with a single hand, or striding through the past and future. To attain such unimaginable power and become such 'life forms,' one naturally requires colossal amounts of primal energy for their life breakthroughs. Otherwise, relying on slow absorption would be futile; a Seventh Tribulation Grandmaster aspiring to the Eighth Tribulation Realm wouldn't absorb enough energy even if they exhausted their entire lifespan!

Outer Void Primal Stones and Outer Void Primal Crystals also represent another layer of limitation. To advance far on the 'Tribulation Realm' path, there are naturally many obstacles.

"Back in my homeworld, my Cloud Mist Dragon Snake movement technique had already reached the late stage of the Cavern Heaven realm," Meng Chuan mused to himself. "My accumulation in the Light Phase, Yin-Yang Phase, and Splitting Wave Phase was already profound. In just over five years since arriving in the outer void, my Infinite Saber has reached the middle stage of the Cavern Heaven realm."

"Now that I've reached the middle stage of the Chaotic Hole realm, both my Chaotic Hole True Essence and Chaotic Hole Domain have become even more potent," Meng Chuan remarked, feeling a touch of astonishment.

At the initial attainment of the Chaotic Hole realm, from all perspectives, he was only slightly inferior to a newly ascended Emperor. Meng Chuan could distinctly feel the progress brought by this realm breakthrough. His power had more than doubled!

At this rate, if he were to reach the 'Chaotic Hole realm completion' in the future, he might be only slightly inferior to an Emperor...