Time to Get Serious!
Tang Lan activated the Undying Seal Technique, first converting the pressure into vital energy.
Then, he circulated the Nine Yang Divine Art, skillfully redirecting and neutralizing the pressure.
Immediately, he surged up another ten steps!
🔹 "DONG—!"
🔹 Vajra Indestructible Physique!
His physical endurance increased tenfold, allowing him to soar from the 65th step to the 89th step in one go!
Although it seemed like just 24 more steps,
The exponential increase in pressure at higher levels made each additional step a qualitative breakthrough.
And then—
🔹 "WOOOM—!"
🔹 Vajra Indestructible Divine Art!
In addition to another tenfold boost to his body,
This defensive-focused technique thrived in environments like this.
His movements became so fast that he left afterimages,
Blazing past the 100th step and stopping at the 115th!
—This meant he had already completed the Black-Level Six Trials' goal.
—And this was under the pressure of 3× Sea God's Light.
Below—
Dai Mubai and the others stared in disbelief.
They always knew their Sect Master was a monster,
But only now did they realize just how inhuman he was!
The most absurd part?
🔹 Tang Lan actually SAT DOWN on the 115th step!
Though he didn't appear to be cultivating,
Everyone familiar with him knew that his Nine Yang Divine Art trained passively on its own!
At the 12th step,
Jing Ling's face twitched uncontrollably,
His entire worldview crumbling.
This was ridiculous!
The gap—
Couldn't possibly be this vast, right?!
But for Tang Lan, this was perfectly logical.
Otherwise, how else could a mere Rank 60 Soul Emperor fight a Title Douluo?
Both Vajra Indestructible Physique and Vajra Indestructible Divine Art consumed a tremendous amount of energy,
But—
🔹 His energy recovery was absurdly fast.
🔹 His spiritual power was already a hundred times greater than others at his level.
🔹 And his Undying Seal Technique continuously converted external pressure into life force.
The pressure itself was feeding him energy, offsetting a large portion of his consumption.
With his current reserves,
He could easily last here for half a day.
Tang Lan analyzed—
If he activated:
🔹 Blue Silver Life Domain
🔹 Black Hole Domain
🔹 All of his Soul Bones
He could probably push beyond the 250th step.
With a slight margin of error, he estimated his true limit to be around 260 steps.
At first glance, this seemed close to 333 steps.
But—
🔹 Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Shui Bing'er also had to climb with him.
There was no way they could make it on their own.
So—
🔹 He would have to bear a portion of their burden as well.
🔹 Even with a year of training, they might still fall short.
"It looks like the key to success lies in spiritual power."
"I'll visit 'West Sister' (Bo Saixi) tonight for training—
—And bring up that matter."
With this thought,
Tang Lan tossed a storage ring downward.
From it—
🔹 20 Tang Sect disciples suddenly appeared, looking around in confusion.
Before they could react—
🔹 20 spiritual information orbs descended, instantly filling their minds with knowledge.
Once they understood the situation,
They each found a step and started training.
Most landed around the 8th and 9th steps,
But one disciple stood out—sitting at the 12th step alongside Jing Ling.
Tang Lan noted this in his mind.
Then—
He closed his eyes, focusing inward.
He gazed into his dantian, observing the "gel-like substance" swirling within.
Having recently come into contact with the Sea God's Divine Power,
He noticed that—
🔹 It shared a common source with his own spiritual energy.
🔹 But its "quality" was on a significantly higher level.
By analyzing it deeply,
He realized that aside from the vast oceanic energy of the Sea God,
🔹 There was another component—
🔹 A special, "lively" essence interwoven within it.
As someone with Ultimate Soul Attributes,
He immediately understood—
🔹 This was Soul Power.
Divine Power = Spiritual Energy + Soul Power.
The reason why his own energy was still in a "gel-like" state—
🔹 Was because it lacked the fusion of Soul Power.
While traveling to Sea God Island,
He had already tried merging his Soul Power into his Spiritual Energy.
The result?
Failure.
🔹 Soul Power and Spiritual Energy were fundamentally two different substances.
🔹 They refused to blend together.
How could they be fused?
Tang Lan thought back—
🔹 In the original story, Xiao Wu was able to merge her soul and body within the Sea God's Light.
That was why he had challenged his physical limits without using soul skills or domains.
He wanted to test this hypothesis.
As the pressure of the Sea God's Light increased,
🔹 His spiritual energy became more active.
🔹 And it even began to naturally absorb and integrate Soul Power!
However—
🔹 The process was painfully slow.
After a rough estimation—
🔹 Given his vast Soul Power reserves, this fusion process would take…
🔹 A hundred years to complete.
Tang Lan smirked.
He had found the right path, hadn't he?
"No wonder ordinary people can hardly become gods."
Without special means, how could spiritual power and soul power possibly merge?
Even if someone discovered a method, without the Sea God's Light aiding them,
It would take over a thousand years—far beyond what any human could endure.
Tang Lan thought about the Sea God and Angel God, both of whom had ascended through faith power.
So—
🔹 Tang Lan accessed the small amount of faith power stored in his Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.
It worked like a catalyst.
Before, in the oppressive pressure of the Sea God's Light,
Spiritual power and soul power had barely started merging—like two unwilling partners.
But now—
With the introduction of faith power,
It was like applying oil to a rusty mechanism—
Everything slid into place in an instant!
The smooth sensation was so satisfying,
It felt even better than when he himself reached the peak!
But unfortunately—
This pleasure was short-lived.
In just one second—
🔹 All the faith power he had painstakingly accumulated was gone.
🔹 And the fusion progress had only increased by 0.1%.
The process slowed back to a snail's pace,
Leaving Tang Lan extremely frustrated yet powerless to change it.
"When I return, I need to accelerate my influence."
"A nationwide autograph tour… That has to happen."
"I need to cultivate… my own legion of brain-dead fans."
"No—devout believers."
Without resources, even a skilled housewife can't cook a meal.
For now—
🔹 Tang Lan could only focus fully on training, slightly improving his fusion efficiency.
In the blink of an eye—
🔹 The sun set beyond the horizon, and stars filled the sky.
At the top of the staircase,
🔹 A new figure appeared.
She wore glasses, looking refined and scholarly.
Her rosy cheeks sat atop a plump and well-endowed figure.
"I am Shelley, the High Priestess's head maid."
"The High Priestess has summoned you to the temple to study spiritual power techniques."
After speaking—
🔹 She turned around and left without explaining how he should ascend.
Fly up from the side?
Forget it!
🔹 Every area outside the staircase was enveloped in an exponentially stronger version of the Sea God's Light.
Even Tang Lan would struggle immensely if he attempted to force his way through.
Since his body couldn't pass through—
🔹 Tang Lan simply closed his eyes.
The next moment—
🔹 His soul separated from his body, instantly relieving all physical pressure.
Not only was the oppressive weight gone,
🔹 The Sea God's Light now felt warm and nourishing, gently strengthening his soul.
"So, the Sea God's Light has this effect too?"
No wonder Bo Saixi's spiritual power was so terrifying—
🔹 Being bathed in the Sea God's Light for over a century would naturally make her immensely powerful.
Tang Lan began ascending.
The nourishing effect of the Sea God's Light intensified with each step.
However—
🔹 This wasn't entirely beneficial.
It was like absorbing an overpowered soul ring—
🔹 If the energy entered too quickly, it could overwhelm and destroy the host.
Even for Tang Lan,
🔹 The risk of having his soul torn apart forced him to stop at the 500th step.
But—
Tang Lan had a special advantage!
Even without his physical body,
🔹 His domains could still be activated!
🔹 "Soul Spirit Domain!"
🔹 "Undying Essence!"
🔹 "Soul Teleportation!"
In an instant—
🔹 Tang Lan blinked forward, instantly arriving at the top of the stairs.
He now stood—
🔹 Before the Sea God's Hall.
Effortlessly.
(End of Chapter)