Molting the Mortal Coil

Chapter 1043: Seventh

Standing at the center of the horrific field, Sage was bathed in arcs of bright silver electricity. Yet, it wasnt all as it seemed. The column of lightning connected Sage to the sky, but due to its speed, it would be hard to notice that the lightning had originated from below and not above. The silver arcs crawled over the black cloud, slowly increasing in volume as the bolt continued to connect Sage to the sky. Then a deep violet colored bolt cut right through the thick field of silver and fell down upon him. It shot down through the silvery bolts like a train riding a rail, smashing directly onto Sages body.

Only, Sage was already moving before the bolt started descending. His left hand was still pointed up at the sky, releasing the stream of silver lightning towards the sky while his right had drawn backwards. As the bolt fell he clawed at the air once more, meeting the violet lightning with the explosion formed in his palm. Yet, that was far from the only methods hed used. The column of Spirit Power and explosive gas were just not enough and so they were changed out for the effects of the Advancing Infernal Manual. The Infernal Qi running through the Parasitic Roots did not actually make them any stronger, they did the opposite, in fact, becoming weaker. The change to the roots and the formation they were sustaining actually just to better support the law energy that was thrumming all around him.

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He had been facing this tribulation with the full support of the Law of Change this whole time, using it to empower his attacks and defenses. The Jade Mantle changed from armor to exoskeleton, the Collapsing Sun transformed the air into force, it was just too easy to infuse it into anything. Or at least thats how it was in concept. As Sage continued to grow accustomed to its power, he realized that the more drastically something changed, the easier it was for the law to affect it. The Infernal Qi was constantly trying to corrupt all those around it, making it a perfect medium for the Law.

In addition to becoming filled with Infernal Qi, the Parasitic Roots had also shifted their positions to change the Formation Array from a mere sensory array to something supportive. They had no confirmation on how to resist or fight against the Heavenly Tribulation, so they could only make a guess. The new formation was not sensory, and instead the Converting Soul Formation. The same one used to turn a poison into a soul affecting miasma in Icefire Valley. The Infernal Qi in the Parasitic Roots would corrupt those exposed to their energy, but a Heavenly Tribulation was no person. The way the Infernal Qi worked was already mysterious, so they took a leap and altered the formation in the hope it could give them a boost. At the very least, being in such an environment would boost Sages own strength.

Sage had poured the vial of blood into his mouth while the Parasitic Roots around him were transforming. The blood was from a criminal in the Inner World. They had committed many murders of common folk so it was confirmed they were quite evil. Ever since hed acquired the Cursed Embrace there were people that were tasked with finding and collecting the blood of such terrible people. The more evil in the blood, the more powerful the technique made him. Drinking the blood of others created only a temporary boost, but it also circumvented the weakness of the technique. Others might have trouble collecting such blood, but Sage had a whole planet. There was no need for them to encourage people to be more evil or allow them to go uncaptured so they grew even worse. There was already a large enough population that truly evil folks showed up every now and then.

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Even if it appeared that the violet bolt had shot clean through the silver one and used it as a path, those silvery arcs were Silver Yin Lightning. This Heavenly Material was something of a paradox as it was Yin oriented. Lightning and Fire were traditionally Yang oriented, and known for cleansing evil and dark things, but the Silver Yin Lightning was dark in nature. Sage flooded the sky with the Silver Yin Lightning, tainting the whole area with evil energy. The Infernal Qi charged Parasitic Roots as well as the Silver Yin Lightning in the air were there to charge the place with evil energy. These two things as well as a final third component, a vial of blood, were all used to empower the Order of Bloods Cursed Embrace. The passive technique that, once learned, was always in effect. The formation and lightning were both working to saturate the area with evil and so they created a greater concentration of Law energy to empower Sage as he resisted the seventh bolt.

When Sage was struck by the violet lightning, the last of the Jade Mantle disintegrated. Most of the energy was consumed to enhance his strength and the very last of it took one final blow before crumbling into motes of dust. The remaining energy of the bolt rampaged through his body, many times more energy than before. He took much more damage than he had from the previous bolts and there was far from enough time for him to recover from all of it before the next one fell. In fact, he wasnt too worried about how much the seventh bolt injured him. He already had the example of the Lionheart Immortal, the Dragoon that had become immortal and triumphed over the tribulation. That bug man had experienced a bunch of other lives and comprehended a law that allowed him to break through many times in a row. That Dragoon had none of the crazy techniques and methods that Sage did. Sage was also sure he didnt comprehend a Core Law like himself.

On the other hand, perhaps the greater difficulty that Sage was facing was because of the Core Law. He had no idea how many lightning bolts were in this tribulation, and if they kept on getting stronger how many could he survive?

Unfortunately, the seventh did not seem to be the last. With how much damage he sustained and the loss of the Jade Mantle, Sage changed tactics again. There was something of a flash and an even greater torrent of lightning flooded the area. The tiny human body of Sage was suddenly replaced by something far more immense. Blue, silver, violet. Three different colors of lightning rippled through the clearing as shapes in the crackling energy became apparent. With the power of the Master Seal, Sage took the complete form of the Cloud Swallowing Thunder Eel, the blue arcs of lightning being the outlines of his body. The Silver Yin Lightning filled his insides as he used it to empower himself and resist those violet arcs that were now crawling over the blue bolts that made up his body.

The ten foot tall eel head made of lightning twisted upwards, aiming towards the sky and opening its mouth to spray Silver Yin Lightning up towards the sky, resisting the eighth bolt that was already falling upon him.