Chapter 27 Lightning Crucible
During these hundred years, a lot had changed. Aliyah had reached the second stage of the Essence Core realm. She used a combination of Lunar and Stellar attributed essence to fill the sigils in her cells. Her bloodline purity had reached a stage where it could rival the current Queen and Matriarch of the Noxcor Clan. She was hailed as the greatest Empress in the long history of the Empire by its citizens. In these hundred years, most of the corrupt Noble Houses had been either demoted or lost their titles. With the discount that Azrael gave her, she quickly strengthened her armies and expanded the borders. The Twilight Empire had almost tripled in size. Now, she was focusing on consolidating her territories.
Azrael and Lily were still in the first stage of the Paragon Core realm and were about to break through to the second stage. The Twin Dragon Chamber of Commerce had become really famous in the Central Continent. Almost every town and city had a branch. It had become overwhelming for Azrael because he was the only one who could make their signature products with 100% purity.
To remedy this, they would hold auctions every 6 months in every branch for these products and hired Alchemist, Blacksmiths, and Rune Masters to make regular products. Azrael was working on developing formations that could make pills with 100% purity by themselves so that their chamber of commerce could work even after he and Lily returned. They had signed Dwarven Builders Inc. as their exclusive construction company and got many discounts from them. They were now looking to expand into the rest of the continents. They also bought land for the academy almost the same size as the original Empire before its expansion under the guise of buying it for building their main headquarters. Construction would start in a few years after the designs were finalized.
For their breakthroughs, Azrael wanted a location similar to Mt.Ascension. He also had an idea that he wanted to try. There was a huge mountain in the center of the land where the academy would be built. He wanted to turn that mountain into a huge reserve battery for the future academy. He covered the whole mountain with different formations. At the base were three huge 6-star Energy Gathering Formations, one for each kind. Once activated they would provide energy for the rest of the formation. The rest of the formations included Energy Trapping Formations, Energy Conversion Formations, Energy Refining Formations, Energy Devouring Formations, Energy Storage Formations, and Fortification Formations. All of them were peak 6-Star Formations. Azrael and Lily would undergo their lightning tribulations on this mountain. The formations on the mountain would fortify it so that it isn't destroyed. Then they would devour, trap, refine, store, and convert the energy from the residual lightning and the Energy Gathering Formations. This stored energy could later be used to power the academy in times of emergencies. They could also build training rooms with it. The lightning would also slowly forge the mountain into a weapon. He named it the Lightning Crucible.
It was time for Azrael and Lily to finally break through to the second stage of the Paragon Core realm. They had been suppressing themselves to make their foundations as firm as possible. Their cores had grown from the size of a single grain of salt to the size of a ping pong ball. They both used a teleportation formation to reach the Lightning Crucible. This was the first time Lily was seeing this mountain. Azrael briefly introduced all the formations and their functions. They made their way to the peak, where there were two elevated platforms with meditation mats on them. The platforms were connected with every formation and were designed to increase their efficiency. Both of them sat on a mat and stopped suppressing themselves. Dark clouds gathered above them but there were no flashes of electricity in them as if they were waiting for something. Azrael and Lily conveyed their intentions of getting struck by lightning and immediately lightning started flashing in the clouds.
A bolt of lightning struck them and exposed their cores. The formations on the mountain activated with a slight humming. Bolts of lightning that were light purple-gold in color started striking them. Unlike the tribulations they faced before, the lightning this time didn't just target their cores, it targeted their whole beings. The bolts of lightning would strike their cores and the cores would transmit them to every single cell in their body. The lighting wasn't just condensing their cores, it was also tempering their body, soul, and energy. After 81 bolts of lightning had struck them both they stopped. Azrael and Lily were confused as to what was going on. They looked at the clouds to see if they were dispersing but were shocked because the clouds were condensing instead. They realized that they would have to go through 80 more sets with 81 bolts each to successfully pass this tribulation. While the clouds were condensing, Azrael had an idea so crazy that he wasn't sure if it was even possible.
Azrael PoV,
As the clouds were condensing, I focused on my body. The worlds in my cells were absorbing the lightning as if it were the greatest delicacy ever. I don't know why but it reminded me of the Noctis Cellula Sgillum. What if I tweaked the technique to make it compatible with other energies? I glanced at the sky to check how much time I had left. The clouds were still condensing at a very slow speed so I probably had about 8-9 hours. It was more than enough for me. I sent this crazy idea of mine to Lily through the Soulbrand.
She screamed in the Soulbrand, [Are you out of your fucking mind? You of all people should know what would happen if we changed our cultivation techniques in our cultivation realm. Especially during a deadly lightning tribulation.] I replied, [Who said anything about changing our cultivation techniques? Even if I did you wouldn't have any issues with changing your cultivation technique because you are not practicing one right now. Let me remind you that after becoming a Paragon, you have either dual cultivated with me or relied on your embryonic hells' passive ability to absorb energy.] Lily was dumbfounded but I wasn't done yet. [As for me, I will turn it into a secret technique like the Eternal Embodiment of Soul Embrace, so it wouldn't cause conflict with my Paragon Art. They might even complement one another.] Lily became silent and sighed [Do it. Just make sure that it doesn't harm you.]
I decided to use the evolved version of Limitless Cosmos Formation, and Eternal Embodiment of Soul Embrace as reference to modify the Noctis Cellula Sigillum. I was able to use about 6.5% of my total processing power by tapping into the energy stored in the mountain. After 4 hours I was done. I even made three different versions, one for each path except for the Soul Cultivation. I simply called them the Cellula Sigilum Series. They were almost the same as Noctis Cellula Sigillum. The Essence Cellula Sigillum was compatible with the essence of all attributes. The Mana Cellula Sigilum would slowly turn the user into an elemental being from a being with flesh and blood. The previous techniques were cultivation methods but the Paragon Cellula Sigilum was a secret art. Hypothetically, it was compatible with every possible type of Paragon Energy and would complement the user's Paragon Art. I sent the details to Lily and began operating it.
Azrael Pov End,
Azrael and Lily's energy slowly turned into a perfect fusion of attributeless mana, essence, and mystic energy. They called it attributeless Paragon Energy. The energy slowly spread throughout their body until it covered every single one of their cells. Just as it was about to start engraving the tattoos, the Soulbrands on their bodies came alive. They jumped out of their bodies and started intertwining between them. Then they sucked the attributeless Paragon Energy out of their bodies and burst into particles. These particles were divided into two groups, one went inside Azrael and the other went inside Lily. Then these particles began to engrave tattoos on every cell. The tattoos looked like a dragon circling an eighteen-winged humanoid.
When the tattoos had successfully formed, Azrael and Lily filled them with their respective energies to the brim. In Azrael's case, even the small piece of Nihility was devoured by each cell equally. Azrael and Lily could feel that their connection had somehow evolved but they couldn't tell the exact difference. The tattoos activated and further refined their already pure energy. Their break time was over and bolts of lightning started striking them again. The bolts this time were slightly darker in color. The tattoos also absorbed the lightning and Azrael could feel satisfaction from the depths of his cells.
A month later,
Azrael and Lily could be seen sitting on their respective platforms. They were being struck by black-gold bolts of lightning. After the bolts stopped striking them, the dark clouds above them slowly dispersed. Their cores had returned to the size of a single grain of salt but their energy hadn't reduced one bit. Although their physical strength had increased, their bodies were covered with deadly injuries They started healing themselves.
Azrael checked the formations on the mountain. The mountain itself had shrunk very slightly. If one wasn't familiar with its every nook and cranny one wouldn't even realize it. The formations themselves had started becoming one with it. Azrael realized that if many people underwent their tribulations here, the formations on the mountain would turn into natural formations. They might even fuse into a huge and complex array. Rune Masters use runes to set formations. Arrays are formed when they are able to perfectly fuse multiple formations in a way that they complement each other.
After healing, they returned to the Empire.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note:
Hey guys, I hope you like the novel.
Leave reviews and comments because I love it when you guys interact with me.
Shout out to @Daoist096885 for supporting this novel.
Drown me with Power Stones
Follow me on Instagram @magnus_0508
See you next time