Chapter 613: Ghost Lord of Ink

Meng Chuan flipped his hand and retrieved the Eight Tribulation Realm secret treasure he had prepared: the 'Heart of Boundlessness.'

The dark brown heart floated in the hall on the ninth floor of the Eternal Tower, rhythmically expanding and contracting. "Thump! Thump! Thump!" The sound of its beating echoed through the hall, making Meng Chuan uncomfortable, even without a master controlling it.

"Teleport," Meng Chuan activated the item teleportation ability through the Eternal Tower branch.

Any Eternal Tower branch could teleport items.

The bounty itself didn't require Meng Chuan to pay anything. However, teleporting items across distant river domains cost 'one hundred square units.'

Yet, both Meng Chuan and Teng Jiuyu of the Starry Sky Realm, the other party in the transaction, chose to teleport via the Eternal Tower. Firstly, it was safe, with no worries about information leakage. Secondly, the items would be authenticated by the Eternal Tower, eliminating concerns about fakes.

Of course, this was only for item teleportation; teleporting cultivators cost significantly more.

"Once the bounty is accepted, the item must be delivered within one hour, according to the rules." Meng Chuan sat cross-legged and waited. No one dared to accept a bounty and not deliver the item, as breaking the transaction rules would result in severe punishment from the Eternal Tower.

Time slowly passed.

After nearly half an hour, Meng Chuan felt the void distort, and an item appeared out of thin air.

"It's here," Meng Chuan suppressed his excitement, watching with anticipation.

The Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand was a stone roughly the size of a fingertip.

At first glance, it appeared to be a stone with many distorted patterns on its surface, resembling ripples created by wind blowing across a lake. When viewed with the naked eye, it even subtly seemed as if these ripples were moving.

"These ripples aren't moving; spacetime itself is distorting and changing," Meng Chuan quickly confirmed.

The small stone remained suspended there, and the shifting spacetime made it appear to be moving.

"Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand? It looks so ordinary," Meng Chuan observed. "It just has many similarities with the Primal Stone."

The Primal Stone was perfectly round.

Using his Primordial Spirit power to apply microscopic vision, a tiny particle could be seen larger than a sun. Yet, when observing the surface of the Primal Stone, it still appeared perfectly smooth.

"This Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand resembles the Primal Stone so much, and also possesses 'eternal' properties. However, its surface has ripple patterns, and the more it's magnified, the more complex these patterns become." Meng Chuan watched, unable to feel the 'Ninth Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Punishment Power' contained within the Thunder Sand, but he grew fonder of its surface patterns the more he looked.

Just as some mortals loved flowers and plants, others loved cats and dogs.

As a Tribulation Realm mighty figure who mastered the thunder rule, Meng Chuan instinctively liked these ripple patterns, finding them more beautiful than any scroll in the world.

"Magnify."

Meng Chuan examined the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand with his microscopic vision. "Good, the patterns aren't too numerous. If I magnify it to the size of a ten-thousand-li star, the smallest patterns would be like strands of hair."

Though seemingly numerous at first glance, Meng Chuan, as a mighty figure of his caliber, could memorize all these patterns after a single viewing.

"If I continue to magnify it, the surface of the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand also appears very round and smooth, just like the Primal Stone. So, superficially, the only differences from the Primal Stone are the added ripple patterns and a change in color." Meng Chuan was slightly perplexed, as his abilities only allowed him to discern these few distinctions.

"Send it home." Meng Chuan stopped thinking and immediately left Thousand Mountain Star, returning to Cangyuan Realm through the River of Spacetime within moments.

Once the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand arrived in Cangyuan Realm, Meng Chuan didn't immediately begin refining it.

Instead, he first drew.

Within the grotto-heaven where the Grand Heavenly Hall was located, Meng Chuan's Primordial Spirit world enveloped the entire space.

"Whoosh—"

A vast sheet of paper materialized from thin air. At Meng Chuan's current cultivation level, his Primordial Spirit world could condense ordinary illusory objects into reality.

The paper floated in the air, countless patterns being drawn upon it. The drawing was completed in moments.

"It was so easily drawn, and ordinary paper can hold it." Meng Chuan was slightly puzzled. He waved his hand, putting away the giant sheet of paper in mid-air. He vaguely felt that his cultivation level was still too low, and there was too much about the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand's uniqueness that he couldn't fully comprehend.

"Now, let's begin refining the World Secret Treasure."

Meng Chuan sat cross-legged on the grass. He first took out a pot of fruit wine and drank a couple of sips, feeling his Primordial Spirit clear considerably, before unleashing his Primordial Spirit world.

A giant scroll enveloped the entire grotto-heaven; this scroll *was* his Primordial Spirit world.

However, the current scroll was not very compatible with his Primordial Spirit world.

A scroll at the Five Tribulation Realm level was no longer highly compatible with a Primordial Spirit world based on the 'thunder rule.'

"Go."

Meng Chuan threw out the piece of Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand.

The Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand flew into the scroll, landing in the center of the scroll world, immediately triggering a disturbance in the thunder world. Thunder rumbled, and the single piece of Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand transformed into a mountain, serving as its foundation.

It was a thunder mountain!

"As expected of the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand." Meng Chuan's eyes lit up. Refining a 'World Secret Treasure' was fundamentally different from other secret treasures; it was based on the illusory Primordial Spirit world, seeking perfect compatibility.

For others, a Six Tribulation Realm domain-type secret treasure was worth hundreds of square units.

For Primordial Spirit Six Tribulation Realm cultivators, their own World Secret Treasure was as important as an Eight Tribulation Realm secret treasure.

Eight Tribulation Realm secret treasures possessed immense power, allowing one to traverse the River of Spacetime and comprehend its profound mysteries.

While a World Secret Treasure's combat enhancement wasn't comparable to an 'Eight Tribulation Realm secret treasure,' its ability to perfectly integrate with the Primordial Spirit world made the Primordial Spirit more stable, greatly increasing the chances of successfully 'passing a tribulation.' This alone was enough to make Primordial Spirit Tribulation Realm cultivators devote all their efforts to refining one. It was the only external object of great use for a Primordial Spirit Tribulation Realm cultivator when 'undergoing tribulation.'

Every Primordial Spirit Tribulation Realm cultivator would pour their heart and soul into refining one.

"Heart of Boundlessness."

Within the Starry Sky Realm, Teng Jiuyu observed the expanding and contracting heart in his hand in his grotto-dwelling. After a long observation, he pressed the heart to his chest.

The dark brown heart merged with his skin, replacing Teng Jiuyu's original heart. The original heart dissipated into energy, and his entire physical body began to integrate with the dark brown heart.

"Buzz."

Teng Jiuyu himself became ethereal.

"With my current cultivation, relying on this Heart of Boundlessness, I can barely maintain the 'Boundless Body'?" Teng Jiuyu's eyes burned with fervor. "I bought correctly, I bought correctly! This truly is a different application of the Boundless lineage. My hope of comprehending the Seven Tribulation Realm has increased by a few points."

He was the strongest current cultivator in the 'Starry Sky Realm,' a higher life world. In terms of talent, he could rank among the top ten in the Starry Sky Realm's long history. He achieved Emperor completion and entered the Tribulation Realm after eight hundred years of cultivation, reached the Five Tribulation Realm in over five thousand years, and the Six Tribulation Realm in twenty thousand years. Even the Emperor of the Starry Sky Realm greatly valued him and looked forward to him reaching the Seven Tribulation Realm.

From a lifespan perspective, Teng Jiuyu had a chance to attempt the Seven Tribulation Realm.

In the twenty-sixth year after Meng Chuan obtained the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand, within the Grand Heavenly Hall grotto-heaven.

"Success."

Meng Chuan sat cross-legged on a majestic mountain. Countless bolts of lightning struck this mountain, radiating terrifying power.

This mountain was not an original peak of the Grand Heavenly Hall grotto-heaven, but the 'Thunder Mountain' manifested from his Primordial Spirit world.

"The entire Thunder Mountain has completely manifested as a tangible entity?" Meng Chuan marveled. "And its power is greater than I expected. It seems related to the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand."

According to previous information, Meng Chuan had estimated that with a World Secret Treasure, he should be able to manifest 'lightning' externally!

Just like Primordial Spirit Six Tribulation Realm cultivators who practiced fire rules could release 'flames' from their Primordial Spirit worlds, these flames would incinerate everything around them with immense power, serving as one of their trump cards.

Meng Chuan had originally thought he would be able to unleash lightning bolts to strike in all directions. Unexpectedly, an entire thunder mountain manifested externally. This was clearly related to the Nine Tribulation Thunder Sand.

"My Primordial Spirit is indeed much more stable than before," Meng Chuan felt. With an incredibly compatible vessel for his Primordial Spirit world, it became much more stable. In the future, it would have much stronger resilience against heavenly tribulation attacks, increasing his chances of successfully undergoing tribulation.

Although...

He might not even need the World Secret Treasure; his spiritual cultivation alone might be enough to successfully pass the Sixth Heavenly Tribulation.

But before undergoing tribulation, no one could be sure.

Therefore, the more prepared one was, the better.

"With the World Secret Treasure refined, next, I need to find a way to improve my spiritual cultivation." Meng Chuan knew his time was tight and couldn't afford to waste any.

In the second year after Meng Chuan successfully refined his World Secret Treasure, Fusui once again sent cultivators into Demonic Mountain.

"Lord Ghost Ink, I will now lead you all inside," Fusui said politely.

Lord Ghost Ink stood to the side, maintaining a slight distance from Fusui and the other nine Five Tribulation Realm cultivators. He simply acknowledged the statement.

"Buzz."

As Fusui performed a secret technique to open the entrance.

The entire surrounding spacetime trembled. One could see the dark void rippling and twisting, and the distorted darkness quickly engulfed Fusui, the eight Five Tribulation Realm cultivators, and Lord Ghost Ink.

At the moment of engulfment, Lord Ghost Ink was subjected to an invisible repulsion, forcefully ejected, while Fusui and the eight Five Tribulation Realm cultivators were drawn inside.

"Hmm?" Lord Ghost Ink looked around; Fusui and the others had all vanished.

"I was excluded, that feeling of being rejected by spacetime..." Lord Ghost Ink frowned slightly. "Such a sophisticated method of controlling spacetime is too advanced. The owner of this relic would likely disdain merely imitating 'Demonic Mountain,' so it's highly probable that this *is* Demonic Mountain."

"It's really Demonic Mountain?"

At that moment, Lord Ghost Ink felt a complex mix of emotions, and distress.

He knew the legendary place was right before him, yet he couldn't enter!