"Second, the acquired poison must fully merge and transform into innate poison."

"Finally, the most crucial step!" The Frostblade Immortal sighed heavily, his gaze solemn. "She must endure another heavenly thunder tribulation, like the one you faced yesterday. By all accounts, that was the weakest form of heavenly thunder."

"But..."

His eyes fell upon Ji Lin, flickering with pity. "Asking a newly ascended Divine Transformation cultivator like Ji Lin to withstand thunder capable of obliterating a Star Aperture Realm deity is sheer fantasy!"

"It would be like an egg striking a rock!"

"This is why, since the fall of the Innate Poison God three hundred millennia ago, no true innate poison physique has emerged. Even acquired poison physiques are rarer than fingers on one hand, and all perished before reaching maturity."

"Ji Lin's current condition..."

"She has at most a year left. There is another option—to place her in eternal slumber. But what difference is there between that and death?"

"Disciple, think carefully. She must face the heavenly thunder alone. If you interfere, its power will double. The power of the Cycle Graveyard is finite—it may block one strike, but not necessarily a second."

"Moreover, yesterday's thunder was only the first of the contract."

"The true heavenly tribulation consists of three strikes, each more terrifying than the last..."

Ye Chen fell into deep contemplation.

Heavenly thunder!

He had experienced it twice. The first was during the alchemy tribulation in Danxu Town when refining an Emperor Realm pill—its power equivalent only to a mid-stage Emperor Realm strike. Kunlun Void was a lower martial world with limited heavenly law, capping at the combined Dao Realm's might.

But the Spirit Martial Continent was different!

This was an upper martial world where heavenly thunder rivaled the full-force strike of a Void Transcendence Saint. Unless he possessed saintly cultivation, resistance was impossible.

As for the second time...

It was the heavenly punishment for violating a heavenly contract. Three thunder strikes—the first equivalent to a third-layer Star Aperture Realm strike, the second to a sixth-layer, and the third nearing the ninth-layer!

Three heavenly thunder strikes!

Throughout history, those who survived could be counted on one hand!

At his current strength, without the Cycle Graveyard's aid, death was certain!

"No!"

"Ji Lin is Siqing's sister. She helped me so much in the past—I won't let her become a living corpse!"

"What's heavenly thunder? I've shattered two tribulations already—a third means nothing!" Ye Chen's gaze hardened as he looked at the Frostblade Immortal and the six divine buddhas and sovereigns. "Masters, since the Innate Poison God succeeded, there must be a method."

"Could there be..."

"A powerful array to weaken the thunder?"

"An array?" The Frostblade Immortal frowned. "Arrays could work, but..."

The Eternal Blood Demon Array?

The Heaven-Surveying Earth-Inquiring Array?

The Universe-Sealing Demon Array?

...

None would suffice!

Their power was insufficient to withstand heavenly thunder.

Unless a peerless expert presided over them—at least a Star Aperture Realm deity. But such experts were more likely to kick you when you're down than lend aid. The cost of their assistance would rival a divine artifact!

Divine artifacts!

A single divine artifact's value exceeded ten spacetime weapons!

Ye Chen couldn't afford it. Neither could they.

"An array!"

"Grave Keeper, I've just recalled something!" The Nine Dances Sovereign suddenly spoke. "In Kunlun Void's resource-scarce past, arrays often drew power from mountain and earth veins. Such arrays could transcend realms to resist powerful enemies."

"Like the Universe Dragon Array!"

"Deployed by Chaos Unity Realm cultivators, it could briefly withstand a ninth-layer Combined Dao Sovereign's attack!"

The Universe Dragon Array!

Ye Chen's eyes lit up.

Back then, leading Kunlun Void and Spirit City's factions, he gathered ninety Divine Transformation cultivators to form this array, barely holding off a late-stage Divine King Realm Blood Spirit clansman. Only the intervention of a Soul Clan Combined Dao elder shattered it.

"Feasible!"

"The Spirit Martial Continent's mountains and earth veins contain dragon pulses."

"Dragon pulses nurture earth qi, forming earth dragons. If we can connect the dragon pulse's earth qi with an array, supplemented by spacetime weapons and Combined Dao artifacts, we might withstand the thunder!"

Ye Chen's mind raced.

Such heaven-and-earth-powered arrays were exceedingly rare. Fortunately, Kunlun Void's ancient Star Aperture experts left behind such legacies.

His plan: eight spacetime weapons occupying the eight trigrams, fifty Combined Dao artifacts forming the Five Elements Grand Array. After dual weakening, the thunder's power might drop to the Chaos Unity Realm level.

Then...

He could use the Cycle Graveyard to mask his aura, entering the array to endure the thunder for Ji Lin. Once he helped her fully merge the Thousand Demon Ginseng, she would awaken with an innate poison physique!

"This method..."

"Isn't impossible, but the risks are extreme!"

"The slightest misstep could mean your demise, Grave Keeper!" The Frostblade Immortal spoke after a long silence. He wanted to dissuade him but found no grounds.

"Demise?"

"The heavenly law can't claim me!"

"Nor can the grand dao—nothing in this world can take my life!"

Ye Chen stared at the unconscious Ji Lin, his voice resolute. "I will never let my people become living corpses. Never. This array will be deployed!"

The Frostblade Immortal looked up, studying Ye Chen with unfamiliar eyes.

This disciple...

Was too stubborn, stubborn to the point of obsession!

In Ye Chen's eyes, nothing was impossible, no obstacle insurmountable.

And in truth, he had repeatedly forged miracles.