Chapter 1301: Tribulation [2] (Edited!!)

Fortunately, compared to several months ago, he was no longer particularly worried about whether he could reach that point.

Lunara had given him an enormous amount of insight into creating a domain, while the Universal Cornerstone continuously fulfilled his other requirements without him having to do much.

His advancement quest was difficult, but it was no longer something that appeared almost impossible to complete.

There were still several years remaining before the five-year limit expired. At his current rate of progress, Michael believed he could complete the requirements even if he relied primarily on his own comprehension and natural development.

He also possessed other methods of accelerating the process.

The Incense of Enlightenment he had obtained previously was still undergoing evolution, and after being enhanced through Infinite Evolution, its effects could become far more valuable.

That was no longer his only incense either. During the past few days, Michael had not remained inside his territory the entire time.

Whenever he had free periods between handling matters involving the Universal Cornerstone, Lily, Arianne, and the native Awakeners, he had wandered through portions of the Fourth Layer searching for valuable resources.

His strength made such exploration considerably easier than it would have been for an ordinary Rank Four Awakener.

During one of those excursions, Michael had managed to snatch another incense with the same effects related to comprehension.

One such treasure might only provide a temporary period of enhanced understanding. Several could be far more significant.

If Michael continued exploring the Origin Battlefield and obtained more treasures of this nature, then used Infinite Evolution to improve the most valuable among them, his advancement could potentially arrive much earlier than his conservative estimate.

Of course, completing the advancement quest did not mean Michael could stop worrying about his advancement entirely. Finishing the requirements was only the first part.

He would still have to survive his own heavenly tribulation.

If Michael’s circumstances were similar to those of an ordinary Rank Three supernatural attempting to advance to Rank Four, this would hardly have concerned him. There was nothing ordinary about his circumstances, though.

Heavenly tribulations normally began appearing when a supernatural attempted to advance from Rank Three to Rank Four. Michael had already broken that convention.

His first heavenly tribulation had appeared during his advancement to Rank Three.

Even more ridiculous was its strength. Although it had still been somewhat weaker than a true Rank Four advancement tribulation, the difference had not been particularly large.

Its intensity had already approached what a peak Rank Three supernatural attempting to enter Rank Four might experience.

Michael had survived it, fortunately, but it also gave him a rather unpleasant reference for what awaited him next.

His tribulation had arrived an entire major Rank earlier than it should have. There was little reason to believe the universe would suddenly become kinder when he attempted his actual Rank Four advancement.

Considering how much stronger Michael had become since then, his unusual foundation, his Laws, his race, his Class, and everything else he had accumulated, Michael estimated that his next tribulation might reach a terrifying level. It would certainly exceed an ordinary Rank Four advancement tribulation.

In the worst reasonable estimate, Michael suspected its power might only be inferior to the tribulation faced when attempting to become a Rank Five Demigod.

For someone who would technically still be Rank Three when the tribulation began, that was already dangerous enough.

Yet this was not even Michael’s greatest concern.

There was still the issue with Arianne.

More specifically, there was the karmic debt created when Michael brought her back to life. Death was not something that could normally be reversed without consequences.

Perhaps in the future there would be more leeway, but for the current Michael, stealing "food" from the universe’s mouth was a huge deal.

Regardless of the special circumstances surrounding her resurrection, Michael knew the act had created a debt with the universe. That debt had not disappeared.

It was merely waiting to be collected.

Michael had never received confirmation regarding exactly when that would happen, but he was almost certain his next heavenly tribulation would provide the perfect opportunity.

Tribulations were already closely connected to the laws and order governing supernatural advancement. If the universe wanted to settle his karmic debt, there could hardly be a more appropriate moment than when Michael was already standing beneath heavenly punishment.

This possibility made estimating the true difficulty of his advancement almost impossible.

Yet Michael’s concern did not make him regret resurrecting Arianne. The debt already existed.

What mattered now was becoming strong enough to pay it and survive.

Just as heavenly tribulations carried terrible danger, surviving them also brought benefits. Michael had experienced that personally.

A tribulation was destruction, but enduring that destruction could temper the existence undergoing it. The greater the tribulation, the greater the transformation that could potentially follow.

With Michael’s accumulation, the strength he possessed before advancing, and whatever benefits he extracted from surviving such an abnormal tribulation, his personal combat ability would undergo another qualitative transformation.

At that point, he would no longer need to bring out one of his stronger undead or reveal another hidden card simply to make powerful enemies cautious of him.

Michael Norman himself would be enough.

Michael continued waiting for Lily’s tribulation to begin.

He had originally expected the gathering process to take several hours, perhaps a day at most.

He was wrong.

The tribulation did not truly begin until three days later.

Three days might have been short under ordinary circumstances, but the Origin Battlefield was currently changing at an extraordinary pace.

The most obvious change involved the Universal Cornerstones.

Many more had been claimed.

When Michael first obtained his Universal Cornerstone, he had been the only known owner.

Aurelius Veyr eventually became the second person to claim one, establishing Sovereign’s Reach and proving Michael’s Cornerstone was not unique.

Over the following days, new Cornerstones began appearing throughout the Origin Battlefield.

The phenomenon was not restricted to the Fourth Layer either.

From the Zeroth Layer upward, territories centered around Universal Cornerstones were gradually appearing.

Some were likely reconstructed from fragments similar to those Lily and Arianne had collected.

Others might have been discovered intact.

There could also be methods of obtaining them that Michael had yet to encounter.

Whatever the case, Universal Cornerstones were no longer something possessed by only a tiny handful of individuals.

The Fourth Layer alone demonstrated how quickly things were changing.

By the end of the third day, more than twenty additional names had appeared on its territory ranking.

What had once been an almost empty ranking containing only Michael and Aurelius Veyr was rapidly becoming a genuine leaderboard.

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A/N: Next update would be a mass release. I know the pace is making the dear readers want my neck! T.T