Chapter 1300 Tribulation [1]

Whenever signs of a heavenly tribulation appeared, it almost always represented the same thing: advancement.

There were naturally exceptions.

The birth of certain Divine treasures, extraordinary natural phenomena, or similarly heaven-defying existences could sometimes attract a tribulation of their own, but those situations were exceedingly rare.

Most of the time, a heavenly tribulation descended because an individual was attempting to cross an important boundary in power.

Lily was already at the absolute peak of Rank Four. The only boundary left for her to cross was Rank Five.

If Lily successfully endured the approaching tribulation, Michael would gain another Demigod-level undead.

This naturally filled him with anticipation.

Lily's foundation was already frightening before reaching Rank Five. Her race as an Ancient Giant gave her an enormous natural advantage in physical strength and vitality.

Her Grade had also reached Epic ★★★, placing her far beyond what she had been only several days earlier, and her accumulation at Rank Four had become equally enormous.

If all of that foundation erupted during her advancement, there was a possibility she would not simply enter the earliest stage of Rank Five.

If Lily could use her accumulated power to stabilize herself somewhere within the late early levels of Rank Five, Michael believed her actual combat ability should be enough to compete with other mid-level Demigods without much difficulty.

If the advancement pushed her even further, her strength would become considerably more terrifying.

Even if she could not truly defeat a late-stage Demigod, Michael believed she might at least possess enough strength to contend with one and protect herself.

That alone would be extremely impressive.

The difference between levels became increasingly significant at higher Ranks. Being capable of fighting above one's own level after becoming a Demigod was nowhere near as simple as doing the same thing at Rank One or Rank Two.

Unfortunately, all those possibilities depended on one thing.

She first had to survive.

Michael's anticipation was accompanied by an equally strong sense of worry as his attention remained fixed on the gathering tribulation. He understood very well that heavenly tribulations were not ceremonial obstacles that merely existed to announce an advancement.

They could fail, and the consequences varied depending on how badly someone failed.

The best outcome was relatively manageable. Lily could survive the tribulation but fail to complete the advancement properly, damaging her foundation in the process. Her accumulated power might be lost, and attempting another breakthrough could become significantly more difficult.

That possibility did not frighten Michael much. For almost anyone else, severe foundation damage could cripple their future.

For Michael, it was a problem that could potentially be repaired. He could search for sufficiently precious treasures and use his Talent to merge suitable ones with her, slowly rebuilding and strengthening what had been lost.

It would be expensive and troublesome, but expensive and troublesome were problems Michael could solve.

There was another possible outcome he could not solve nearly as easily.

Death.

A heavenly tribulation did not care how much potential someone possessed. If Lily failed badly enough and could not withstand its power, she could simply be destroyed.

Infinite Evolution could strengthen her and allow her to attempt breaking through to Rank Five again, but it could not help her once there was nothing left to save.

This was the real reason for Michael's worries.

The sky above Lily darkened. What had initially been faint fluctuations rapidly became something far more tangible as vast amounts of energy gathered overhead.

Clouds began forming. Layer after layer accumulated until the sky above the island appeared almost completely sealed.

The pressure continued increasing.

Lily's enormous body remained at the center of it all. The aura emanating from her had already surpassed what Michael remembered from several days earlier, yet it was still climbing as the accumulated power inside her awakened alongside her consciousness.

Michael remained some distance away. Anticipation and concern mixed together as he watched the tribulation continue taking shape.

If everything went well, then by the time those clouds disappeared, his legion would possess another true Demigod.

"Fortunately, I have the Mausoleum to let my undead advance in. Otherwise it would have been hard to find a suitable location."

If Michael were to classify secret realms, he'd call one group those which could not withstand a tribulation, epic grade, and the other those which could, legendary grade. Coincidentally, it also matched the two stages his storage world had been through.

When it was still only Epic grade, called the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten, experiencing a scene like this one would have been impossible, since it simply wouldn't have worked.

Only once out of the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten would one be able to face their tribulation. At most, one could use the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten to hide from it.

Once the treasure evolved, that limitation disappeared. Not only did the space within the treasure grow so vast it could rival large countries back in his past life, it also had a will of its own.

Though this will was still growing and hadn't awakened, had it existed already and the space been as large as it now was, the treasure wouldn't have been any inferior to the Aurora realm.

Aurora was a large realm, though, so it wasn't fair to compare the two directly.

Set against smaller realms, the Mausoleum of Endless Dominion wasn't inferior at all.

All this showed why it remained one of Michael's greatest treasures, and one of his greatest secrets.

Looking at the gathering clouds, Michael could tell the tribulation would not descend immediately. The amount of energy accumulating above the island was enormous, and it continued increasing without showing any signs of stopping.

At this rate, the preparation alone could take hours. It might even take days before the first true strike descended.

With nothing he could do except wait, Michael unexpectedly felt a trace of longing.

He wondered when it would finally be his turn.

Michael had already witnessed more than one heavenly tribulation, yet the one belonging to his own advancement remained somewhere in the future.