As the spear dissipated, Klaus felt a surge of power flow through him, and the potency of the Lotus flower continued to rise. The runes that entered his body were small, but their power far surpassed the previous lightning. Klaus could sense it—this energy was elevating him to new heights.
“This is good,” Klaus muttered to himself, his lips curling into a mischievous grin. “At this rate, I’ll be able to raise the Lotus’s power with this tribulation.”
He glanced up at the swirling clouds, which were still forming ominously above him. “If this is the best you’ve got,” he taunted, “then the heavens really are blind,” Klaus smirked, though deep down, he knew this was far from over.
And he was right.
The heavens rumbled once more, and suddenly, spear after spear of lightning began shooting down at him in rapid succession. The sky was filled with streaks of electric fury, each one targeting Klaus with deadly precision.
But Klaus remained unfazed. He stood his ground, watching the spears enter his 400-meter ice domain one by one. As soon as they did, they froze in place, unable to penetrate further. The cold was so potent that even the powerful lightning was stopped in its tracks.
The frozen spears disintegrated into sparkling runes, which drifted toward Klaus and his Lotus flower, merging seamlessly with their power. No matter how fast or powerful the spears were, the moment they entered the icy domain, they were rendered powerless, unable to get within 100 meters of Klaus.
He felt a sense of calm wash over him as he observed the storm’s fury being neutralized by the sheer might of his Lotus flower. Each failed spear only made him stronger. Each shattered bolt raises his energy to greater heights.
Klaus smirked a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “Seems like you’ve underestimated me,” he whispered, confidently addressing the heavens. The tribulation was still raging, but Klaus knew he was turning it into his greatest triumph.
For the first time, Klaus felt truly in control, and he wasn’t going to let the heavens stop his rise without a fight.
Spears continued to rain down from the sky, but they were powerless against the Lotus flower’s protection. Klaus racked his brain, searching for the perfect name for the second ability of the Lotus. After a moment of thought, a smirk crossed his lips. “I’ll call it Absolute Ice Domain.”
The clouds began to churn ominously as if the heavens sensed the threat. From their depths, enormous lightning spears, each 50 meters long and 5 inches thick, started to emerge.
“Now, it’s starting,” Klaus muttered to himself. But at that moment, a flood of new information entered his mind, making him smile.
He raised a finger towards the looming spears. The Ice Lotus spun faster, and Klaus felt his Star Qi being rapidly drained. Yet, the Lotus continued spinning, undeterred.
As the spears hurtled towards him, a powerful beam of ice shot out from the Lotus flower, obliterating them in a flash. But even as the first wave was destroyed, more spears began forming, threatening to overwhelm him.
This time, however, Klaus didn’t panic. Now that he had mastered the two abilities of the Lotus flower, he felt a newfound confidence.
“Come at me, suckers!” he shouted. He activated the Absolute Ice Domain, and his Star Qi surged, freezing the surrounding 400 meters even further. Every spear that entered the domain halted mid-air and shattered into glowing runes, which Klaus and the Lotus absorbed.
Klaus felt stronger with each burst of lightning ruins that entered his body. The battle wasn’t over, but now he knew—he had what it took to stand against the heavens themselves.
At least, that’s what Klaus was thinking. In truth, he was far from truly challenging the heavens. He had survived this long only because even the heavens were bound by rules. Without those rules, he would have been dead long ago.
He wouldn’t have stood a chance if these spears had come at him during his first tribulation. But now, with his growing strength, he had the power to survive. Still, survival didn’t mean absolute control. Even within the rules, there were loopholes, and Klaus was just beginning to encounter them.
Yet, the heavens also underestimated him. Klaus had cultivated the first form of the Star Diagram, reshaping his bone structure into something rare and extraordinary. His bones were now a treasure so valuable that even gods would covet them. In that sense, he was a heaven-defying existence.
He could fight across realms, a feat possible only because of his unusual nature as a paragon. Someone like him wasn’t meant to conform to the standards of ordinary people. He was meant to break the rules, to live outside them. Killing opponents five or six realms above him felt perfectly natural for someone of his status.
The heavens knew this, and they were doing everything possible to stop him. But Klaus was prepared this time—both physically and mentally. His last tribulation had nearly killed him, and he had no intention of letting that happen again.
“These idiots really want me dead,” Klaus muttered as he sensed the growing power of the spears. They were now entering the 100-meter radius of his Absolute Ice Domain.
But Klaus remained unfazed. He calmly circulated his Star Qi, pumping more energy into the Lotus flower. His Star Qi reserves felt endless, so he kept feeding the Lotus, increasing its power with every moment.
The spears continued to approach, more powerful than ever before, but Klaus only smirked. He was ready. The heavens could throw everything they had at him, and he would face it head-on. His body was stronger than ever, his mind sharper, and the power of the Lotus flower at his command was unmatched.
As the spears closed in, Klaus’s confidence surged. This time, he wasn’t just fighting to survive. He was fighting to win.
“Is that the best you’ve got?” Klaus shouted, a mocking grin spreading across his face. He wasn’t sure if the heavens could hear him, but after learning about karma from the senior in his soul sea, he knew one thing: the heavens were always listening.
Though the heavens were supposed to be impartial, Klaus knew better. When it came to him, they were anything but fair. A paragon and the heavens were natural enemies. The rules were the only thing keeping them in check, and Klaus’s one advantage was that he could grow outside those rules. While the heavens were bound, he was free to thrive.
“Bring your worst! These spears are weak!” Klaus taunted again, his voice brimming with defiance.
The heavens responded.
From the swirling clouds above, the tip of a dark-coated spear began to emerge. The moment it appeared, the sky rumbled, and an oppressive pressure descended on the forest. The force was so great that everything within a 10 km radius was flattened. Trees splintered, and the creatures in the area were crushed into a paste by the sheer weight of the heavens’ wrath.
Klaus felt the pressure too—his feet felt as though they were sinking into the earth—but he remained calm.
“Brat, do you want to get stronger?” the senior’s voice echoed from within his soul sea.
“Isn’t that obvious, senior? I’ll do whatever it takes to get stronger. My mother… she’s been smiling a lot more lately, and I want to keep it that way forever. Screw the heavens, I need the strength to protect her,” Klaus replied with conviction.
“Good… good. I like that attitude,” the senior said approvingly, though his tone darkened. “But be warned—if we continue down this path, you will accumulate more karma.”
“To hell with karma! I’m all in. We either go all out or we go home,” Klaus declared, his energy flaring.
“Very well,” the senior said, “I’ll transmit a skill to you. I will also create an isolated space within your soul sea, sealed from your consciousness. Anything stored there will be hidden from the heavens. But there are some downsides.”
“What downsides?” Klaus asked.
“Your soul sea will shrink temporarily, limiting the amount of Star Qi you can channel. However, once you survive this tribulation, it will return to normal. The only question is whether you can endure until then.”
Klaus smirked. “What exactly are we about to do?”
“We’re going to steal the tribulation, dummy. Are you ready to defy the heavens even more?”
Klaus’s grin grew wicked. “Minion, today we steal the tribulation.”
“Brat, who are you calling a minion?” the senior growled.
“Senior, let’s focus. A massive lightning spear is about to strike me any second now,” Klaus reminded him with a laugh.
“Fine. Brace yourself.”
Klaus suddenly felt his soul sea surge, then begin to shrink. Moments later, he sensed a section of it slip out of his control, only for the connection to return just as quickly.
Curious, he accessed the newly sealed space and was shocked to find a sprawling field of green grass stretching about 3 km wide. “Senior, what is this place?”
“That depends on what you want to call it,” the senior explained. “Many call it Soul Space or Sealed Space. Those with powerful soul seas can create spaces like this to store things they don’t want others—especially the heavens—to find.”
Klaus’s grin widened. “Then I’ll call it Tribulation Prison. Now, let’s start stealing some lightning.”
“Good. I’ll transmit the technique to you now.” An orb of light flew from the first ice door within his soul sea and merged with Klaus’s forehead. As the knowledge flowed into him, Klaus smiled, his gaze fixed on the terrifying spear descending toward him.
Klaus was ready. It was time to steal the power of the heavens themselves. The skies roared as a massive, 100-meter-long spear of energy descended toward him with terrifying force. The ground beneath his feet trembled violently, cracks forming as if the earth itself was afraid.
Klaus could feel his feet sinking into the ground, but he remained unfazed, a confident smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. As the spear hurtled closer, now within a kilometer of him, Klaus calmly formed a series of hand seals. A dark orb shot out from the center of his forehead, pulsating with power as it ascended.
The orb exploded into a swirling black vortex, expanding rapidly above him.
“Come on, enter, idiot,” Klaus said with a grin as the colossal spear collided with the black hole. Without a trace of resistance, the mighty weapon of the heavens was sucked into the vortex and vanished into nothingness.