Lorelei sebenarnya cukup menyenangkan dan positif, dan Lex ingin memperlihatkan kepadanya sekeliling Inn secara pribadi. Tapi dulu, dia perlu memanggil Boneka Surgawi ke Inn. Seharusnya tidak terlalu lama. Namun sebelum dia melakukannya, dia cepat-cepat melompat ke kura-kura Galactic Sovereign dan menyerahkan benih Bunga Dandelion Debu Bintang, serta semua informasi relevan yang dia miliki tentang hal itu.
Dia memberitahu kura-kura itu bahwa dia butuh 12.000 benih dari tanaman yang akan tumbuh dari benih tunggal itu, dan kura-kura itu bebas melakukan apapun dengan sisanya.
Kura-kura itu cukup senang punya benih baru untuk ditanam, dan apalagi yang langka begitu. Dia tidak repot melihat instruksi atau manual penanaman yang dikumpulkan dengan cermat yang Vox berikan ke Lex. Dia ببساطة membuangnya dan lalu melakukan sesuka hatinya.
Akhir-akhir ini, dia membuat kemajuan yang layak dengan proyek Surgawinya, meski dia belum menemukan pohon Surgawi baru.
Kura-kura itu meyakinkan Lex bahwa benih itu akan ditanam dengan aman dan akan tumbuh sehat. Lex sungguh-sungguh berharap demikian, karena dia harus membayar kerugian kalau kura-kura itu gagal.
Tapi dia sekarang pemikir positif, jadi Lex menantikan hasil positif dan menuju Taman Primordial dengan pikiran baik saja. Sepertinya punya pikiran positif benar-benar beda.
Biasanya, Lex akan istirahat dan memulihkan diri ke kondisi puncak sebelum menjalani tribulasi, tapi dia pada dasarnya sudah kekuatan penuh jadi tidak perlu.
Tribulasi minor, bahkan jenis Primordial, bagi Heaven Immortal hanya melibatkan Petir dan Api. Karena dia masih awal level Heaven Immortal, dia tidak ekspektasi kesulitan akan naik terlalu banyak.
Meski begitu, karena dia ingat betapa kerasnya tribulasi terakhir kali, sampai titik dia hampir mati, dia tidak akan menganggapnya enteng sama sekali.
Faktanya, Lex bahkan sudah riset soal tribulasi Primordial baru ini. Tribulasi sebenarnya, meski namanya, tidak ada hubungannya dengan energi Primordial itu sendiri, meski itu juga prasyarat terjadinya. Energi Primordial cuma jalan memicu tribulasi yang menarik lebih banyak umpan balik dari alam semesta.
Saat Lex jadi Immortal, petir dari tribulasi perlahan mentransformasi tubuh, jiwa, dan spiritnya, biar dia bisa menanggung beban hukum. Jenis umpan balik serupa terjadi di tribulasi Heaven Immortal juga, yang mengizinkan kultivator akses hukum lebih dalam, lebih kuat. Nah, tribulasi Primordial, pada intinya, cuma cara dapet jauh lebih banyak umpan balik itu. Biayanya, di sisi lain, adalah kesulitan tribulasi yang meningkat.
Faktanya, kesulitannya setinggi itu sehingga zaman modern, tidak ada yang mengejarnya karena potensi untungnya tidak sepadan dengan biayanya, yang bagi kebanyakan adalah kematian. Mengingat bahkan Lex berlutut, berjuang mati-matian untuk selamat, dia mengerti kenapa begitu.
Terlepas dari itu, kehadiran energi Primordial sendiri tidak cukup menyebabkan tribulasi turun. Target tribulasi itu sendiri perlu menarik level tribulasi segitu, yang mungkin kenapa begitu banyak binatang dan makhluk di Taman Primordial cuma punya tribulasi biasa.
Tapi sementara lain menghindarinya, Lex tidak mau nyerah sekarang dia sudah mengalaminya. Pertama, kalau orang lain dulu selamat, Lex tidak lihat alasan kenapa dia, dengan semua keuntungannya, tidak bisa. Kedua, itulah yang dia butuh untuk memanggil Boneka Surgawi.
Begitu Lex kembali ke Taman Primordial, kelimpahan energi Primordial sekali lagi menaruh tekanan luar biasa ke Lex.
Dia tidak keberatan. Faktanya, dia nikmati tekanannya, dan lebih lagi, dia nikmati bisa menahan dengan benar pakai kekuatan penuhnya. Arch-Heaven benar-benar musuh hidupnya.
Dia mencari area sekitar tempat dia tiba, berniat menemukan area terisolasi atau paling tidak agak terpencil untuk tribulasinya. Kejutannya, meski dia tiba di tengah hutan, semua hewan dan binatang dekatnya sepertinya pergi menjauh, memberinya privasi dan keamanan yang dia butuhkan.
Sepertinya... sikap positif punya manfaat lebih dari sekadar simpel. Tentu, Lex tidak buta mulai tribulasinya. Sikap positif tidak akan blokir petir buat dia.
Sebaliknya, dia mulai pasang formasi di sekitarnya, berniat pakai buat bantu lolos tribulasi. Ini hal pertama Lex lakukan soal tribulasi yang bisa dikira normal sedikit pun. Bukan hanya itu, dia buat persiapan tambahan di sekitarnya buat bantu atasi tribulasi.
Semua siap, Lex melihat ke langit. Dia tekan kegembiraannya dan menenangkan diri. Dia belum level yang bisa dengan mudah abaikan tribulasi Primordial.
Awan hitam mulai berkumpul di atasnya, menandakan tribulasi mulai mengumpulkan kekuatan. Di tribulasi ini, Lex ekspektasi hadapi 27 sambaran petir, dan dia tidak niat biar tribulasi lain menumpuk atau terjadi bersamaan, atau apapun semacam itu.
Eclipse, wajarnya, tahu Lex kembali cuma karena tribulasi Primordial yang terlihat mendidih. Karena dia sudah mengunci semua kekuatannya, dia bisa tepat merasakan kedatangan atau kepergian Lex.
Tapi dia tidak bisa keluar menemui dia karena dia sibuk pakai energi dari tribulasi Lex sebelumnya untuk lebih menyesuaikan taman ini. Ini seni dia, dan dia tidak bisa main-main.
Akhirnya, setelah beberapa jam, awan mulai terbelah, mengungkap lautan petir. Tapi bukan hujan ke atasnya, petir mulai berubah bentuk, perlahan jadi panah.
Sebuah tangan muncul dari dalam awan, dan keluar Boneka Surgawi - satu yang Lex tidak familiar.
Lex tersenyum. Sekarang yang dia butuh cuma tunggu Vox kirim Boneka yang dia kasih kuncinya, dan kirim ke Inn - sambil menjalani tribulasi mengancam nyawa. Seharusnya seru.
Dengan Naraka di tangan, dia menatap awan menantang, menunggu panahnya. Boneka itu menyeringai, seolah mengejek Lex, sebelum menarik panah petir itu.
"Kenapa auranya jauh lebih berbahaya dari yang kuingat?" Lex tidak bisa tahan bergumam. Tidak, dia pasti bayangan. Pikiran positif. Tidak mungkin-
Instingnya bilang sebaliknya, dan Lex dengar. Bahkan sebelum panah dilempar, Lex aktifkan formasi di sekitarnya, dan masuk ke bentuk naga, pedang tetap di tangan.
Saat panah itu jatuh, dia jatuh dengan kecepatan tak terbayangkan. Untung Lex sudah mulai menahan sebelum panah jatuh, jadi yang menunggu turunnya bukan formasi pertahanan.
Tidak, untuk sekali kali, Lex pilih jalan lain. Formasi itu dimaksudkan memperkuat dan memperhebat serangannya, bukan bantu bertahan.
Naga Lex melepaskan Inferno Emas, menyalurkan kedalaman kekuatannya penuh, tidak menahan apa-apa. Apa yang dilepaskan sebagai aliran api lewat formasi dan berubah jadi pedang berkobar.
Naraka bergeming, seolah resonan dengan pedang berkobar itu, dan Naga Lex menebas ke depan.
Pedang api dan panah petir benturan, menghasilkan ledakan masif - atau setidaknya itu yang terasa Lex. Seperti biasa, Taman Primordial punya cara menekan hal, jadi benturan ultah antara kekuatan perkasa ibarat petasan keras di hutan. Bahkan daun pohon dekatnya tidak terbakar.
Sambaran petir, atau lebih tepatnya, manfaat sambarannya mendarat di tubuh Lex, meninggalkan perasaan ada yang terbakar di dalamnya.
Di dalam Arch-Heaven, Vox masih merenung kunjungan Lex, berharap dia bisa tanam Dandelion Debu Bintang dengan benar, saat dia merasakan sesuatu. Lex sudah mulai tribulasinya? Itu jauh lebih cepat dari dugaannya.
Dia menoleh ke boneka itu, duduk di kamarnya, dan mengirim perintah simpel.
"Yah, sepertinya waktunya kau pergi," katanya, dan mengaktifkan kekuasaannya sebagai menteri, mengirim boneka itu pergi.
Dia tidak yakin tujuan Lex, dan tidak bisa pahami. Yang dia pedulikan cuma Dandelion-nya ditanam dengan benar.
Di tempat lain di Arch-Heaven, pria dengan jubah emas terus mencari tanpa istirahat, melakukan segalanya menemukan pengguna sistem sebelumnya yang dia temui, saat tiba-tiba dia tangkap jejak aura sistem itu.
Vox bukan satu-satunya dengan posisi tinggi, jadi saat boneka itu, dengan kunci emasnya, lewat saluran Arch-Heaven, figur berjubah itu akhirnya mendeteksi aura kuncinya.
Lorelei was actually quite fun and positive, and Lex wanted to show her around himself. But first , he needed to summon a Heavenly Puppet to the Inn. It shouldn’t take too long. Yet before he did that, he quickly hopped on over to the Galactic Sovereign turtle and passed the Star Dust Dandelion seed, as well as all the relevant information he had on that.
He told the turtle that he needed 12,000 seeds from the plant which would sprout from that single seed, and that the turtle could do whatever he wanted with the rest.
The turtle was quite pleased to have a new seed to plant, and especially such a rare one. He did not bother looking at any of the instructions or carefully gathered manuals on planting the seed that Vox gave to Lex. He simply threw them away and then did as he pleased.
Lately, he had been making decent progress with his Heaven project, even if he hadn’t found any new Heavenly trees lately.
The turtle assured Lex that the seed would be planted safely and that it would grow to be healthy. Lex sincerely hoped so, because he would have to pay for damages in case the turtle failed.
But he was a positive thinker now, so Lex looked forward to a positive result and headed to the Primordial Garden with only good things in mind. It seemed like having a positive mindset made all the difference in things.
Normally, Lex would rest and bring himself back to his peak state before undergoing a tribulation, but he was basically at full strength as it was so there was no need.
Minor tribulations, even the Primordial kind, for Heaven Immortals only involved Lightning and Fire tribulations. Since he was still early in the Heaven Immortal levels, he did not expect the difficulty to escalate too much.
Still, since he remembered just how tough the tribulations were the last time, to the point where he almost died, he would not take them lightly at all .
In fact, Lex had even done research into this new, Primordial tribulation. The actual tribulation, despite the name, had nothing to do with Primordial energy itself, although that was also a prerequisite for its occurrence. The Primordial energy simply served as a way of initiating a tribulation which attracted more feedback from the universe.
When Lex became an Immortal, it was the lightning from the tribulation which slowly transformed his body, soul and spirit, allowing him to bear the weight of laws. A similar kind of feedback happened in the Heaven Immortal tribulation as well, which allowed the cultivator to access deeper, stronger laws. Well, the Primordial tribulation, in essence, was just a way to get a whole lot more of that feedback. The cost, on the other hand, was the increased difficulty of the tribulation.
In fact, the difficulty was so high that in modern days, no one even pursued them because the potential gain was not worth the cost, which for most was death. Considering that even Lex was literally on his knees, fighting tooth and nail to stay alive, he could understand why it was so.
Regardless, the presence of Primordial energy alone was not enough to cause the tribulation to fall. The target of the tribulation itself needed to attract such a level of tribulation, which may be why so many beasts and creatures within the Primordial Garden too only had ordinary tribulations.
But while others avoided it, Lex was not willing to give it up now that he had experienced it. For one, if others in the past had survived it, then Lex saw no reason why he, with all his advantages, could not. Secondly, that’s what he needed to summon a Heavens Puppet.
Once Lex arrived back in the Primordial Garden, the abundance of Primordial energy once again put tremendous pressure on Lex.
He did not mind. In fact, he enjoyed the pressure, and even more, he enjoyed being able to resist it properly with his full strength. Arch-Heaven really was the bane of his existence.
He searched around the area he arrived in, intending to find an isolated or at least somewhat secluded area wherein to have his tribulation. To his surprise, although he arrived in what looked like the middle of the forest, all the nearby animals and beasts seemed to be heading away, giving him all the privacy and safety he needed.
It seemed like... a positive attitude had more than just a few simple benefits. Of course, Lex did not blindly just begin his tribulation. A positive attitude wasn’t going to block lightning for him.
Instead, he began to set up a formation around him, intending to use it to help him pass the tribulation. This was the first thing Lex had ever done regarding tribulations which could even remotely be considered normal. Not only did Lex do that, he made a few additional preparations in his surroundings to help him overcome the tribulation.
Once everything was ready, Lex looked up in the sky. He suppressed his excitement and calmed himself down. He was not yet at the level where he could easily dismiss the primordial tribulation.
Black clouds began to gather above him, indicating that the tribulation had begun to gather power. In this tribulation, Lex expected to face 27 lightning strikes, and he had no intentions of letting any more tribulations stack or happen concurrently, or anything of the sort.
Eclipse, naturally, could tell that Lex was back simply because of the Primordial tribulation that was visibly brewing. Since she had sealed all her powers, she could exactly sense his arrival or departure.
Yet she could not go out to meet him for she was busy using the energy from Lex’s previous tribulation to further adapt her garden. This was her art, and she could not treat it lightly.
Eventually, after a few hours, the clouds began to part, revealing a sea of lightning. Yet instead of raining down upon him, the lightning began to change form, slowly turning into an arrow.
A hand appeared from within the clouds, and out walked a Heavens Puppet - one that Lex was not familiar with.
Lex smiled. Now all he needed to do was wait for Vox to send down the puppet he had given the key to, and send it to the Inn - all while undergoing a life threatening tribulation. Should be fun.
With Naraka in hand, he looked up at the clouds challengingly, waiting for the arrow. The puppet smirked, as if mocking Lex, before pulling the lightning arrow.
"Why is the aura so much more dangerous than I remember?" Lex could not help but mutter out loud. No, he must be imagining things. Positive thoughts. It couldn’t possibly be-
His instincts said otherwise, and Lex listened. Even before the arrow was launched, Lex activated the formation around him, and entered into his dragon form, sword still in hand.
When the arrow fell, it did so with unfathomable speed. Fortunately Lex had begun to resist even before the arrow fell, so what awaited its descent was not a defensive formation.
Nay, for once, Lex had opted for another route. The formation was meant to augment and enhance his attacks, not help him defend.
Dragon Lex unleashed his Golden Inferno, channeling the full depth of his power, not holding anything back. What was unleashed as a torrent of flames passed through the formation and turned into a flaming sword.
Naraka trembled, as if resonating with that flaming sword, and Dragon Lex slashed forward.
A fiery sword and an arrow of lightning crashed, resulting in a massive explosion - or at least that’s what it felt like to Lex. As always, the Primordial Garden had a way of suppressing things, so the ultimate clash between mighty powers was akin to no more than a loud firecracker in the forest. Not even the leaves of the nearby trees burned.
The lightning bolt, or rather, the benefits of the bolt landed on Lex’s body, leaving him feeling like there was something burning inside of him.
Within Arch-Heaven, Vox was still musing on Lex’s visit, hoping that he would be able to properly plant the Star Dust Dandelion, when he sensed something. Had Lex already begun his tribulation? That was much quicker than he had expected.
He turned towards the puppet, sitting in his room, and sent it a simple command.
"Well, I guess it’s time for you to go," he said, and activated the powers he had as a minister, sending the puppet away.
He wasn’t sure what Lex’s purpose was, nor could he begin to understand. All he really cared about was that his Dandelion was planted properly.
Elsewhere in Arch-Heaven, the man in the golden cloak continued to search without rest, doing his utmost to find the previous system user he had encountered, when he suddenly picked up a hint of that system’s aura.
Vox was not the only one with a high ranking position, so when the puppet, with its golden key, passed through the channels of Arch-Heaven, the cloaked figure finally detected the aura of the key.
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