Chapter 560: Fifth Dimensional Divine Tribulation

The demon invasion had caused immense damage to the human race.

Meng Chuan naturally wished to eliminate the leaders who instigated the war: Emperor Peng, Emperor Xinghe, and Lady Xuanyue. Emperor Xinghe and Lady Xuanyue would be relatively easy to kill, but Emperor Peng would be the most difficult to deal with. Meng Chuan had already devised a plan for Emperor Peng.

"It took Emperor Peng about a year to travel from the Tianfeng River System back to the Sanwan River System," Meng Chuan mused. "Its journey primarily relies on the innate abilities of the Golden-winged Great Peng. It's difficult to exceed those limits; even if it broke through to the Fourth Tribulation Stage, its speed would only increase by three to five times at most. Yet, it's now moving over ten times faster."

"It must be Palace Lord Xueyu transporting it," Meng Chuan concluded.

"I'll continue cultivating," Meng Chuan decided. "The time to act will be when I reach the Fifth Tribulation Stage of the Essence Soul." He resumed refining and modifying the array on Mount Qianshan.

His mental cultivation and realm were already sufficient, but the Fifth Tribulation of the Essence Soul had not yet descended.

He feared that if he were to confront Emperor Peng, the Essence Soul Tribulation might descend at a critical moment, catching him completely off guard.

Therefore, he had to wait.

Time passed quickly. A year and a half had flown by since he returned to his home, the Sanwan River System.

The Sanwan River System also contained numerous chaotic caverns. Meng Chuan chose a super-large one as his long-term cultivation spot, treating the chaotic cavern's influence on his mind as a form of mental training.

"Hmm?"

Meng Chuan, who was meditating deep within the chaotic cavern, suddenly sensed that the Heavenly Tribulation was about to descend within a breath.

He immediately took a step.

Time stopped.

Meng Chuan quickly flew through the stopped time, and the Heavenly Tribulation also paused its descent, allowing him to reach the void outside the chaotic cavern.

With a flick of his hand, the Imprisoning Demon Prison appeared beside him. He immediately entered it, and the prison then concealed itself and vanished from sight.

"Come on."

Inside the Imprisoning Demon Prison, Meng Chuan sat cross-legged as time resumed its flow.

More than a year had passed since his return to his homeland. Combined with his cultivation in the Cangyuan Realm and the chaotic cavern, approximately eighty years had passed in total. During these eighty years, Meng Chuan had already overcome the first three tribulations of the Body Tribulation, one per year. According to the shortest possible timeframe, the Fourth Body Tribulation wouldn't arrive for at least another twenty years.

In fact, the Body Tribulation provided very little enhancement to Meng Chuan's strength.

When he was a perfected Primordial Emperor, he already rivaled a Fifth Tribulation stage cultivator. Successfully passing the first three tribulations had minimal impact on his physical body, and his overall strength increased by less than ten percent.

"Boom."

The Fifth Tribulation of the Essence Soul descended.

His true body in his homeland, his essence soul clone guarding the Demon Saint Passage, his outer realm true body in the chaotic cavern, and his essence soul clone on Mount Qianshan — all of them were plunged into the Essence Soul Tribulation.

If it had been the Fifth Body Tribulation, Meng Chuan would have been confident. This was because the Body Tribulation only tested the physical body, and a body cultivated with the ultimate supreme arts of an Emperor was certainly capable of withstanding the test.

However, for the Fifth Essence Soul Tribulation, Meng Chuan was not so confident.

This was because the Essence Soul Tribulation primarily tested the mind!

The mind was a different matter. Even if one believed their mental cultivation was high enough, they might not necessarily withstand the Essence Soul Tribulation.

Among Tribulation Realm experts, Essence Soul Tribulation cultivators were quite common at the First and Second Tribulation stages. However, their numbers became increasingly scarce at higher levels. For instance, among Sixth Tribulation experts, seven or eight out of ten were Body Tribulation cultivators.

"The Essence Soul Tribulation," Meng Chuan murmured as he waited.

He had prepared thoroughly for this tribulation.

He had even gone to great lengths to refine a World Secret Treasure, a unique artifact for Essence Soul Tribulation cultivators.

The "Essence Soul World" inherently manifests from illusion, but a World Secret Treasure makes it more "real," amplifying its influence on the real world by several times. Consequently, the power of the Essence Soul World and one's overall combat strength would naturally increase manifold.

"Whoosh."

Inside Meng Chuan's Sea of Consciousness.

A scroll hovered, and Meng Chuan's essence soul sat cross-legged upon it.

This scroll was the World Secret Treasure.

"Boom." The Essence Soul Tribulation descended, rushing into Meng Chuan's essence soul.

The scroll and his essence soul were one, jointly resisting the Essence Soul Tribulation, significantly weakening its power.

Yuanchu Mountain, Dongtian Pavilion.

"Meng Chuan, Meng Chuan!"

Qin Wu arrived in the backyard, beaming with joy, but he didn't see Meng Chuan. This left him puzzled. "Where is he?"

"Creak." A distant door opened, and Meng Chuan emerged.

"Meng Chuan," Qin Wu said with a smile as he approached. But gradually, his smile faded, and he looked at Meng Chuan with a serious expression.

At that moment, Meng Chuan's eyes were full of exhaustion. He forced a faint smile. "I just passed the Fifth Essence Soul Tribulation."

"The Fifth Essence Soul Tribulation?" Qin Wu exclaimed in astonishment. "You've reached the Fifth Tribulation Stage of the Essence Soul?"

"I thought I had prepared enough and that my mental cultivation was decent, but I still suffered greatly," Meng Chuan said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"What did you encounter during your Essence Soul Tribulation?" Qin Wu asked.

According to sect records, each Essence Soul Tribulation cultivator encountered a different Heavenly Tribulation, as it targeted the cultivator's mental weaknesses. The later the stage, the more terrifying it became, and an Essence Soul Tribulation could not be delayed. This was why there were fewer top-tier Essence Soul Tribulation experts than Body Tribulation experts.

"What did I encounter?" Meng Chuan murmured softly. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Qin Wu repeated, puzzled.

"My consciousness entered a void," Meng Chuan explained. "There was nothing there. I couldn't see any scenery, hear any sounds, or sense any rules or profundities. I only knew that an incredibly long time had passed. Was it a million years? A hundred million years? Or even longer? I truly don't know how long it was."

Meng Chuan's eyes were filled with profound exhaustion.

Even though he had endured hardships since childhood, sharpening his mind like a blade capable of cutting through all obstacles, and even overcoming the chaotic cavern's influence on his mind.

But time...

In the face of time, everything slowly faded into emptiness.

Endlessly tormented by solitude, Meng Chuan could only keep recalling the emotional moments of his life, thinking of his father, mother, wife, and many others waiting for him. But he was simply too tired.

Truly too tired.

"I made it through," Meng Chuan said with a self-mocking smile. "In the past, I always thought that life could transcend time. But only after truly experiencing time did I realize my cultivation was still insufficient. If this Essence Soul Tribulation had lasted twice or ten times longer, I probably would have lost consciousness completely and utterly collapsed."

Only by truly experiencing it could he grasp the terror of time.

"From what you're saying, that sounds like a true prison of time," Qin Wu said, somewhat shaken. "No sight, no sound, nothing at all, and time with seemingly no end. I ask myself, I definitely wouldn't be able to endure that."

"Fortunately, the Sixth Essence Soul Tribulation is still very far off for me," Meng Chuan said.

His cultivation realm was still quite a distance from the Sixth Tribulation Stage.

He still had ample time to accumulate experience, constantly refine himself, and improve.

"I have 110,000 years of lifespan, plenty of time to cultivate my mind." Meng Chuan decided to dedicate more effort to mental cultivation.

If his mind were lacking,

Even if he managed to reach the Sixth Tribulation Stage, he might not necessarily withstand the Sixth Essence Soul Tribulation when it descended.

His lifespan was very long. After becoming a Primordial Emperor and passing through three Body Tribulations and five Essence Soul Tribulations, his lifespan had slowly increased from 100,000 to 110,000 years.

Mount Qianshan.

Deep within the sprawling mountain range, inside a cave dwelling.

Meng Chuan sat cross-legged in the quiet room, surrounded by transparent pearls. These were the "Thirteen Universe Pearls," a Seventh Tribulation Secret Treasure, and the most suitable item for Meng Chuan from Ancestor Cangyuan's treasure vault.

The Thirteen Universe Pearls, a Seventh Tribulation Secret Treasure that fused the profundities of time and space, allowed Meng Chuan to fully unleash his abilities.

Within Ancestor Cangyuan's treasury, they were exchanged for 3,200 units of outer-realm origin crystals. In terms of value, they were twice as expensive as Senior Pang Ming's Seventh Tribulation Gourd. Outside, such a treasure would be incredibly difficult to acquire.

"It's almost time," Meng Chuan murmured. With a flip of his hand, the Imprisoning Demon Prison appeared in his palm.

Inside the Imprisoning Demon Prison lay the corpse of an Eight-headed Star-Devouring Serpent, with the Demon Slaying Blade currently impaled in its body.

Meng Chuan had carried the Demon Slaying Blade with him for over a thousand years of cultivation, constantly nurturing it. As Meng Chuan grew, so did the blade. It was arguably the divine weapon most attuned to him, even surpassing the Blood Blade Disk, which he refined as his natal weapon. After all, it was a divine weapon he had nurtured and cultivated since his weaker days. Meng Chuan had also used the profundities of the Infinite Blade as the core for the Demon Slaying Blade's growth.

The Demon Slaying Blade had also ascended to the Tribulation-level divine weapon tier. It required sufficient external power to accelerate its growth, and the flesh and blood of this Eight-headed Star-Devouring Serpent's corpse were more than enough for the blade to devour.

"The Demon Slaying Blade has also reached the Fifth Tribulation Stage," Meng Chuan sensed. Nearly half of the Eight-headed Star-Devouring Serpent's flesh and blood had been devoured, and the Demon Slaying Blade was now fully satiated.

Although it was a Fifth Tribulation Secret Treasure, through long-term nurturing and cultivation, this Demon Slaying Blade, in Meng Chuan's hands, possessed greater power than an ordinary Sixth Tribulation Secret Treasure.

All the various treasures for close-quarters combat and long-range attacks were already prepared.

"It's time to set off and find Emperor Peng," Meng Chuan declared. He rose, and with a flip of his hand, the Demon Slaying Blade appeared. He slid it into its sheath, fastened it to his waist, and immediately exited the quiet room.