Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 457: Chapter 453: Thunder Body Perfection, Demon Lord of Mayhem?

Breaking one’s bones and muscles to reforge them was, without a doubt, a process that required enduring immense pain.

But to Ning Jiang, such a thing was as simple as eating or drinking. He couldn’t care less.

Never mind breaking his bones and muscles; even if he were to climb a mountain of knives, enter a sea of fire, suffer death by a thousand cuts, or be ground to dust, he wouldn’t so much as furrow his brow.

The willpower of a Legendary Venerable was, one could say, indestructible.

RUMBLE...

Ning Jiang activated the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill, becoming increasingly ferocious. The Devouring Power swept out in all directions. From a distance, his body seemed to form a massive black hole, drawing countless bolts of thunder toward him.

If this were an ordinary thunderstorm, its Celestial Thunder Power would have been completely depleted within half an hour of Ning Jiang devouring it like this.

Only a superstorm like this, one seen only once every few decades, could provide Ning Jiang with such a continuous supply to devour.

As the Celestial Thunder entered his body, Ning Jiang’s bones and muscles were broken and reforged a full one thousand times.

’The first tribulation is complete!’

Ning Jiang murmured. The key to the Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body, this Body Refining Technique, lay in the words ”Nine Tribulations.”

To reach Perfection with this Cultivation Technique, one’s physical body had to endure the ”Nine Tribulations” of Celestial Thunder tempering. One ”tribulation” consisted of one thousand reconstructions of the bones and muscles.

Without stopping, Ning Jiang continued the tempering process.

The time it took to drink a cup of tea later, another one thousand cycles of breaking and reforging his bones and muscles were complete.

By this point, his bones and muscles had undergone a massive transformation. A faint layer of lightning now coated them, a sign that he had refined the Celestial Thunder Power into their very core.

With bones and muscles like these, it would be difficult for someone to shatter them even when striking with a Spiritual Artifact.

And this was only the beginning.

The third tribulation: another one thousand rounds of tempering.

Now, the lightning on his bones and muscles shone even brighter. One could even hear the sound of thunder emanating from them. His bones were dazzling, as if they were forged from thunder itself.

’The first stage is complete.’

The Nine Tribulations were divided into three stages. The first was the bones and muscles, the second was the internal organs, and the third was the flesh and blood of the entire body.

Taking a deep breath, Ning Jiang pressed on, beginning the tempering of the second stage.

Streams of thunder surged into his internal organs. The internal organs were always the body’s weakest point; so-called ”internal injuries” referred to damage to them.

The moment the tyrannical Thunder Power rushed in, his internal organs were assaulted by a piercing pain more than ten times stronger than what his bones and muscles had endured.

This agony was enough to make a person pass out.

But Ning Jiang didn’t even blink. His expression remained unchanged as he guided the Thunder Power to cycle through his internal organs again and again. After a full thousand cycles, one tribulation was complete.

A full stage required enduring three tribulations, meaning two thousand more cycles remained.

A single cycle was enough to make one wish for death. One could only imagine the horror of three thousand.

In fact, back when the Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body was practiced in the Celestial Thunder Sect, many disciples had attempted it, but no more than three had ever reached Perfection. The ”Nine Tribulations” required for Perfection involved truly inhuman suffering.

Half an hour later, the ”three tribulations” of the internal organs were complete.

Looking inward, Ning Jiang saw that his internal organs were now enveloped in a blazing ball of lightning. His heart, in particular, beat like a thunder drum—strong and powerful.

It was no exaggeration to say that if he were to now slightly amplify the force of his heartbeat, the thunderous sound alone could scare away countless demons and heretics.

’Only the final stage is left.’

The final stage was the transformation of all his flesh and blood.

BOOM.

When Ning Jiang circulated the violent Celestial Thunder Power through his flesh and blood, an explosive, thunder-like sound erupted from within him. His body suddenly swelled up like a taut, round ball. Inside, a vast power seemed to be erupting, threatening to tear the ball apart!

BANG!

A moment later, his palm was the first to explode. The skin and flesh completely disintegrated, leaving only a section of crystalline, brilliant bone that looked as if it were forged from thunder.

Ning Jiang’s expression remained unchanged as he continued to circulate the power.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Starting from his hands, his flesh continuously disintegrated, the destruction spreading up his arms. Then came his feet, from the soles to his calves and thighs. His shoulders and chest were not spared either. All the flesh on his body exploded inch by inch, as if he were being subjected to death by a thousand cuts.

It was a shocking scene. A single glance would be enough to leave an observer dumbfounded with horror.

Back in the day at the Celestial Thunder Sect, there were some Body Refiners who managed to cultivate the Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body to this stage, but in the end, they were unable to bear the agony of their flesh exploding and perished.

In the end, even Ning Jiang’s head exploded, leaving only a crystalline skeleton and, within its chest cavity, his internal organs shimmering with lightning.

But after exploding, the flesh and blood did not disappear. Instead, it swirled around his frame, tempered by the surging Thunder Power.

It was like forging iron—tempered again and again to remove impurities and leave only the essence.

With each round of tempering, Ning Jiang could see wisps of black smoke rising from the flesh and blood. These were the impurities.

After one thousand repetitions, specks of lightning appeared within his flesh and blood. After two thousand, the flesh and blood emitted a rumbling thunder. And after three thousand, it had practically transformed into pure thunder!

”The Nine Tribulations are complete, the technique has reached Perfection! Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body, condense for me!”

Ning Jiang’s skeleton let out a cold shout and activated the Cultivation Technique, beginning to reconstruct his physical body.

RUMBLE...

The surrounding flesh and blood rapidly converged on his skeleton. Strands of flesh appeared on the bones at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This process did not last long. After just ten breaths, all the flesh and blood on his body had returned to its proper place!

Outwardly, the current Ning Jiang seemed no different than before, but the surging power contained within his body was far beyond what he’d previously possessed.

’The Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body is finally at Perfection.’

Ning Jiang slowly opened his eyes. He looked at his hands; the skin on his body was even more delicate than before, as flawless as the most beautiful Jade in the world.

He clenched his fist and threw a punch.

BOOM!

A world-shaking bang resounded through the sky. The terrifying Fist Power formed a thunderous hurricane that descended from the heavens to the sea, blasting a massive hole a thousand feet wide in the water.

Bolts of thunder danced within the massive hole. Three breaths later, the thunder vanished, and only then did the surrounding seawater surge in to fill the void.

’With my current Physical Power, killing an Earth Martial Realm expert would be as easy as flipping my palm. And my injuries have all completely healed.’

Ning Jiang’s eyes were brighter than ever before.

He was eager to find an Earth Martial Realm expert to test the true might of his Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body now that it had reached Perfection.

BANG!

Suddenly, the sound of a huge explosion rang out, accompanied by an icy voice filled with killing intent:

”Meng Tianyu, you piece of trash! Did you really think that just because your father is a Celestial Martial Realm King, you could act like the Demon Lord of Mayhem in the Meteor Sea Region—arrogant and tyrannical, with no one daring to kill you? Today is the day you die!”

”Who dares to plot against me like this? Who is behind you? When I find out, you will all die!”