Apotheosis

The Black Star pickaxe clanked as it was knocked against the giant leaf.

Cracks continued to surface on the azure blue leaf, a number of life crystals popping out one after another.

Zen smiled faintly and waved his hand, gathering the life crystals into his space ring.

He had felt somewhat disappointed after obtaining the Black Star, for it could only dig up things. However, since it was a pickaxe, that was its only function.

Now that he possessed the life crystals, his most urgent goal at this place had been accomplished.

Nonetheless, after investing so much effort in getting the pickaxe, he wouldn't mind digging up some more ores.

Just as Zen looked for his next target, he heard Turner speak to him politely. "Thad, now that you've obtained the Black Star pickaxe, I need a favor from you!"

All the Soul Sea Realm masters wished to seek Zen's help, but the one most qualified to make the request was Turner.

After all, Turner had stepped in to help Zen quite a few times, and Zen was now regarded as a member of his divine kingdom. There was no reason for Zen to reject his demand.

"Your majesty, please don't hesitate to speak your mind. I will grant you everything that you wish," Zen replied, respect evident in his voice.

Turner nodded his head in satisfaction. Since Zen recognized him as the king and had regard for him, it would be easy for him to put forth his request. "In order to enter the Heavenly Stellar Secret Land, the four divine kingdoms need a type of ore from these leaves. It is called..."

"Soul Core, correct?" Zen had already heard about it from Lord Randy, so he immediately made a guess.

"Yes, and there's one about ten feet away to the left of your feet," Turner said politely, a smile lingering about his mouth.

There happened to be a number of Soul Cores on the forty-fifth, forty-sixth, and forty-seventh layers. However, in the past years, they had placed all their hopes of getting the Soul Cores on the purple mineral-devouring bugs. For that reason, the four divine kingdoms had only obtained a total of a hundred or so Soul Cores thus far.

That would have been fine if they still had all of those Soul Cores, however they had lost most of them along the way. This year, they only had thirty-six Soul Cores in their possession.

Anyone who wanted to enter the Heavenly Stellar Secret Land would need to use a Soul Core to obtain a corpse of the Dragon Lineage Humans. The four divine kingdoms had so many Soul Sea Realm masters that the numbers of Soul Cores were far from enough. Because of that, each year the four divine kingdoms clamored over the allocation of Soul Cores.

Fortunately, they might not need to struggle over that this year.

The powerful warriors of the Soul Sea Realm shared this sentiment, all owing to this young man who was only at the Virtual Tribulation Realm!

Following Turner's instructions, Zen moved around, soon finding an ore under his feet. The ore had a perfectly round shape and thumped quietly like a small heart.

"So this is a Soul Core? After obtaining this, I'll have the right to enter the Heavenly Stellar Secret Land?" Zen's eyes flickered with excitement. He finally had the chanc

ne in the Lower World is qualified to ascend to the Upper World after reaching the Soul Sea Realm," the cyan dragon elucidated. "But in the Upper World, the Soul Sea Realm is just the beginning; the first step for a warrior to embark on his journey! As for the Small Heavenly Tribulation of the Life and Death Realm, it is not only a tribulation but also like a baptism of fire for all warriors. Whether it is in the Genuine Dragon World or any other supreme worlds, the Small Heavenly Tribulation in the Life and Death Realm has always been regarded as an important event. The more Small Heavenly Tribulations a warrior can get through, the greater his potential in the future."

Warriors who had been promoted to the Soul Sea Realm after experiencing five or six Small Heavenly Tribulations belonged to the lower ranks in the Upper World.

Similarly, warriors who had gone through seven Small Heavenly Tribulations to reach the Soul Sea Realm were considered as second-rate warriors.

And among all kinds of forces, the warriors who could undergo eight Small Heavenly Tribulations were considered to be the top warriors, worth all efforts of the forces to train them.

However, someone who could undergo nine Small Heavenly Tribulations was decidedly exceptional. Such a character would undoubtedly shake the status quo with his name and go down in the history books of the era. In every ten million years, there were only five or six people of any great race blessed to be such chosen ones.

Zen was taken aback by the cyan dragon's words. It seemed that there were no titles such as the heaven-level or divine-level talents in the Upper World. With the methods of the great races above, it would perhaps be quite easy for a warrior to reach the Soul Sea Realm. Nonetheless, it was almost impossible to change the number of the Heavenly Tribulations one was to undergo.

"If that's the case, the Upper World should also be keen on this Tribulation Flower, yes?" Zen asked.

The cyan dragon smiled. "There are no Earth Trees in the Upper World. This Tribulation Flower is in fact a fortune for you warriors of the Lower World!"