In the City Lord's Hall.
Everyone watched as the bronze eye flickered on and off, quickly surpassing Xing Tian Gang's limit, for the seventh time.
Seven deaths.
Seven encounters with great terror.
Li Shuang was still persevering.
Xing Tian Gang couldn't help but murmur, "Li... she might really be about to initiate a perfect advancement."
A silence fell over the hall, and everyone watched the bronze eye in silence.
In the sky.
The eighth five-colored lightning tribulation gathered again.
Li Shuang's expression was calm.
She had already "died" seven times.
She had also come to understand that this was probably the Heaven's Dao's final test.
Testing if she was worthy of undertaking the final challenge.
However.
Knowing was one thing.
The great terror between life and death was not something that could be suppressed simply by knowing about it.
Each time.
She truly experienced the complete annihilation of her soul.
She couldn't help but wonder. If the Calamity of All Things truly began, would she also end up with nothing but the annihilation of her soul?
At this moment.
The Taishang Forgetting Emotions Technique completely failed. Fear, dread, and despair—these emotions could simply not be removed.
The repeated annihilation of her soul, the recurring despair and fear, accumulated little by little, weighing heavily on Li Shuang's heart.
Now.
She had reached the eighth time.
Li Shuang didn't know how much longer the Heaven's Dao would test her, but as she looked at the five-colored tribulation in the sky, a smile actually appeared at the corner of her lips.
Did it want to use such fear to shake her Dao heart?
How interesting!
The Heaven's Dao wanted to make her waver, but wasn't this repeated five-colored tribulation also a form of tempering?
The Heaven's Dao wanted to test her heart.
She would use this opportunity to refine her heart.
Li Shuang looked up at the sky, the lightning tribulation was terrifying, but that round moon still existed eternally.
Her first level of the Samsara Art had already reached perfection.
She had also acquired the second level of the Samsara Art.
However.
The second level of the Samsara Art required cultivation after advancing to the Integration Stage. Therefore, Li Shuang possessed the secret manual but had not yet cultivated it.
Now.
As she looked at the round moon in the sky, she felt a strange sensation.
She felt...
She seemed to be able to cultivate the second level of the Samsara Art!
The current her.
Was in a peculiar state, somewhat like an Integration Stage, yet not quite.
To put it in the words of Ye Zhaozhao's world, she had found a bug!
The second level of the Samsara Art was called Transference!
This level required visualizing the Underworld River, forging the soul with karmic fire, and refining the spiritual essence with Yin wind! Cultivating to a certain degree would grant a divine ability called Samsara Divine Light.
And to visualize the Underworld River.
One needed to be in a state of facing death to find life.
Like life, like death.
Before life and death, there would be a chance to gaze upon the Underworld River.
Li Shuang had been somewhat bewildered before.
What did "like life, like death" mean?
But now.
She suddenly understood.
Hadn't she just experienced such a state seven times?
It was such a pity that she hadn't thought of using that state to visualize the Underworld River during those previous seven times!
Li Shuang looked at the sky, her expression growing serious.
This time.
She would grasp the state of "like life, like death" and naturally enter the second level of the Rebirth Art.
She dared to cultivate through life and death, rather than fearing her own soul being scattered, partly because of the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
Such a wondrous item as the Heaven and Earth Furnace would always react when she truly encountered a fatal crisis.
And now.
The Heaven and Earth Furnace had been silent throughout.
This proved that what she was experiencing was not a true life-and-death crisis.
This was a test given by the Heaven's Dao, and also an opportunity bestowed by the Heaven's Dao!
The eighth Calamity of All Things!
Li Shuang first resisted desperately.
This Heaven's Dao test seemed to make her forget some of her methods, ensuring that her end was death every time.
However.
These five-colored lightning tribulations couldn't be wasted either; she could use them to familiarize herself with the true Calamity of All Things.
When she could finally resist no longer.
Li Shuang calmly welcomed the final bolt of lightning, and then, she once again experienced that state of being between life and death.
She felt as if her consciousness was completely gone for a moment, her soul body seemingly drifting aimlessly in the air, about to be dragged into the underworld.
This extreme fear made her tremble all over.
There was fear.
But surprisingly!
There was also a hint of excitement.
At the moment she was about to fall into the underworld, Li Shuang struggled to maintain a clear consciousness, trying to look deep into the underworld.
Legend has it.
Deep in the underworld, there was a river of rebirth.
Also called the Underworld River.
This river was the necessary path for all departed souls.
Crossing this path meant transitioning from this life to the next.
And those who could visualize the Underworld River would be able to wield immense divine power with its strength.
Li Shuang struggled to peer into it, but the time her consciousness drifted was too short, and her consciousness quickly fully recovered.
In the sky.
The ninth five-colored lightning tribulation began to gather.
Li Shuang's eyes sparkled.
This Heaven's Dao test... shouldn't end too quickly, right?
Give her a few more chances, and she would definitely be able to visualize this legendary Underworld River!
Perhaps Li Shuang's gaze was too eager; the five-colored lightning tribulation in the sky seemed to pause for a moment.
However, the next instant.
Bolts of lightning still fell madly.
Li Shuang breathed a sigh of relief.
There's still more!
It's not over yet!
This time.
Between life and death, Li Shuang saw the Underworld River more clearly.
Next time.
Her gaze towards the sky grew even more eager!
Again!
Soon!
Soon!
She was about to succeed!
In the City Lord's Hall.
The bronze eye was still flickering on and off.
Yu Jin couldn't help but say, "This is the tenth time already. Is this Heaven's Dao test endless? How much longer will it take?"
It wasn't that she was talking about this Heaven's Dao!
A test was a test.
Mainly, Li Shuang's bronze eye flickering on and off like that was very scary.
Xing Tian Gang let out a wry smile, "There's no knowing. I only reached the seventh time before, overcome by fear, I gave up on perfect advancement."
Logically speaking.
Fear would progressively intensify.
By the seventh level, that viscous, night-like fear was already unbearable for him.
But Li Shuang... she had actually persevered to the tenth time.
Was she truly...
Not affected at all?
The eleventh Calamity of All Things began.
Li Shuang even had a smile on her face.
Last time.
The results had been very encouraging. She had already seen the beginning of the River of Rebirth.
This time.
She was sure to succeed!
"Hurry up." Li Shuang even urged.
The five-colored lightning paused for a longer time, seemingly questioning its existence.
However.
Under Li Shuang's repeated urging, the tribulation lightning still fell.
Li Shuang went through the motions and returned to the state between life and death.
This time.
Her goal was clear. Last time, she had already seen the starting point of the Underworld River. This time, she only needed to look a little further, just a little bit further...
Crossing the starting point of the Underworld River, in an instant, Li Shuang saw an incredibly vast river.
On the river.
Countless departed souls were struggling to cross!
It truly was!
The Underworld River!
A smile appeared on Li Shuang's lips.
She had actually, truly visualized the Underworld River.