Ryuzaki Haruto stood under the darkening sky.
He was ten years old. He had just slaughtered a Dragon Prince, defied a Quasi-Supreme, and eaten his enemy's arm.
And now, the Heavens wanted him dead.
RUMBLE.
Massive black clouds swirled above the Golden Palace, crackling with purple lightning. The pressure was heavy enough to crush a mountain.
"This is bad," Ryuzaki Kenshin frowned, looking up. "It's the Sacred Body's Tribulation."
Ordinary cultivators didn't face tribulation when breaking into the Divine Bridge Realm. But the Ancient Sacred Body was a defiance of natural order. Every major breakthrough was a battle against the will of the world.
"Everyone! Protect the Divine Son!" Kenshin shouted.
Dozens of Ryuzaki Elders flared their Saint-level auras, preparing to form a protective barrier.
"Grandpa," Haruto's voice cut through the noise. It was calm, steady, and utterly confident.
"No need."
Haruto floated into the sky, his white robes fluttering in the storm winds.
"It's just a little lightning. Nothing to worry about. Let me handle it alone."
"What?!" Kenshin stopped. "Haruto, this is Heavenly Punishment! One slip and you turn to ash!"
Haruto smiled. "If the Heavens want to punish me, let them try."
CRACK-BOOM!
A torrent of purple lightning descended like a waterfall. It was deafening, blinding, and terrifying.
Haruto didn't dodge. He spread his arms wide.
[Hell Furnace]!
The pitch-black crucible materialised above him, expanding to the size of a house. It opened its maw and swallowed the lightning torrent whole.
ZRRRT!
Haruto's body trembled. Electricity coursed through his veins, burning away impurities and tempering his golden blood.
Behind him, the phantom of the Golden Divine Elephant roared, inhaling the thunder as if it were air.
"Ten Thousand Lightning Tribulations will forge my Immortal Body!"
Haruto laughed. He wasn't enduring the tribulation; he was eating it.
RUMBLE.
More lightning fell. Bolt after bolt struck his body, only to be absorbed by the Hell Furnace and converted into pure energy.
Inside his body, the Giant Elephant Particles began to wake up.
41,000... 45,000... 50,000 Particles!
Total Strength: 500 Million Kin!
The guests watched with their mouths open.
"He... he's using Heavenly Tribulation to cultivate?" "Is he even human?" "I feel like I'll never catch up to him in this lifetime..."
A young prodigy from the Date Clan slumped in his chair, his Dao Heart shattering. What was the point of cultivating if monsters like this existed?
After an hour, the storm clouds realised they couldn't kill him and began to disperse.
"Disperse!"
Haruto waved his hand. The Divine Elephant roared, blowing the remaining clouds away with a single breath.
Sunlight returned to the Ryuzaki Domain.
Haruto floated down, glowing with newfound power.
Cultivation: Divine Bridge Realm (Late Stage).
He had skipped the Early and Middle stages entirely. At ten years old, he was already at a level that most geniuses reached in their twenties.
"Not bad," Haruto muttered, inspecting his body. "My strength has reached 500 Million Kin. And the Supreme Bone seems to like lightning too."
The bone in his chest was humming, hungry for more. It was a bottomless pit of resources.
"Reincarnation really is an art," Haruto sighed. "If I were born in a poor family, I'd starve to death trying to feed this body."
The Feast
With the tribulation over, the banquet resumed.
The smell of roasted meat filled the air. The massive arm of the Nether Dragon—a Quasi-Supreme being—was perfectly cooked, glistening with golden oil.
"Brother Haruto! Eat!"
Minamoto Ruri ran over, holding a plate with a massive chunk of dragon steak. Her face was smeared with grease, but her eyes were shining.
"It's super yummy! And it makes my body feel hot!"
"Thank you," Haruto nodded, taking the plate. He ate elegantly, unlike the savage little princess.
As soon as the meat hit his stomach, it turned into pure essence. The Supreme Bone devoured it greedily.
"This Quasi-Supreme meat is good stuff," Haruto thought. "I need to find more Dragons to eat."
Somewhere in the Ancestral Dragon Nest, the remaining dragons shuddered without knowing why.
As he ate, Haruto checked his System Panel.
[Next Sign-In Location: The Supreme Yuantian Secret Realm.]
"Yuantian Secret Realm..." Haruto mused. "That's where the Yuan Emperor's inheritance is."
He remembered Prince Seiryu (Xiao Chen). The protagonist had bullied him in the lower realm.
"I wonder if Xiao Chen will be there. Is he still worth harvesting?"
Haruto stood up, walking to the edge of the floating island. He looked out at the vast expanse of the Empire of Yamato.
His tenth birthday was over. His seclusion was over.
It was time to enter the world.
"I hope this era won't be too boring," Haruto sighed, looking at the clouds.
"There is a certain loneliness in being invincible."
END OF VOLUME 1: THE BIRTHDAY BANQUET ARC.