Though the appearance of the Hadal Hell had to do with the Netherdark Hell, the ultimate reason why the nine worlds had become part of hell was due to hellfire.

The very same Hadal Flame that Lu Yun controlled.

Based on the information in Violetgrave, the Netherdark Hell was the first of the five hells to appear. Since it buried civilizations and the collective wisdom of the living, it was ranked first among the five.

……

As Lu Yun wielded Violetgrave, a haze of violet radiance dyed his long black hair into crystalline purple. The Tome of Life and Death absorbed the transparent Netherdark Flame and permitted it to take root within itself.

The next time Lu Yun entered the fourth realm, what would infuse him wouldn’t be just the Hadal Flame, but the combination of the Netherdark and Hadal Flames. Who knew how much additional strength that would give him, if any?

For the moment, he discovered that his cultivation level was rising explosively after the book devoured the Netherdark Flame. He was shooting up from peak empyrean realm to chaos realm!

Breakthrough!

He officially set foot in the chaos realm, an achievement that would’ve taken an interminably long amount of time without the Netherdark Flame.

What he lacked wasn’t cultivation levels, since the dao fruit of his past self raised his true cultivation realm beyond the chaos. He lacked a properly high enough immortal force inside his body. Ordinary pristine chaos currents couldn’t support his level of cultivation at all.

Rumble—

An enormous disturbance sounded above his head as a bank of tribulation clouds even darker than the pure black chaos swiftly gathered from all directions. They coalesced over Lu Yun’s head, summoning all chaos tribulation electricity within a hundred million kilometers. The tendrils of electricity buzzing throughout the chaos combined as bolts of lightning that were hundreds of kilometers across, circling within the tribulation clouds and dancing with fury.

“The tribulation for ascending to the chaos realm has absorbed the power of the chaos tribulation!” Qiu Luoyu gibbered with fear. Though he’d received the legacy of the Netherdark Hell and personal tutelage from Lu Qing’s replica—placing him on par with the battle strength of a sacred monarch—he’d still be annihilated by this kind of thunder and lightning!

This wasn’t the tribulation that a mortal being should face when breaking through to the chaos realm, but one of a sovereign ascending to the Hongmeng!

“Are you still not leaving?” Lu Yun suddenly glared at Qiu Luoyu. “Are you trying to increase this tribulation by another hundred times?”

Since Qiu Luoyu rivaled the six monarchs, that meant he was peak sovereign realm. Though his cultivation level had yet to ascend beyond the chaos, him being within range of the tribulation would absolutely enhance its potency. He might even attract a Hongmeng-level tribulation!

Blinking, Qiu Luoyu suddenly realized what Lu Yun meant and quickly retreated to Inception Palace.

……

“What did you just call the Inception prince?” A curious Nirvana princess and Chi Wuxia approached Qiu Luoyu.

Chi Wuxia had completed his breakthrough and was now a sovereign. Having comprehended the great dao of nirvana, his battle strength was the same as his mother’s. They were both peak sovereign realm, second to only the sacred monarchs.

An awkward expression flitted over the Nirvana princess’ face. As a sovereign, Qiu Luoyu was uncommonly strong. In her eyes, he was on the same level as her. However, she’d just watched him kneel down in front of Lu Yun and kowtow his respects!

One had to know that even palace disciples only knelt down, at most, to their monarchs, they didn’t have to kowtow. Qiu Luoyu, on the other hand, had looked as humble as a child when facing Lu Yun.

Thus, the Nirvana princess was quite curious.

Qiu Luoyu swept a look over her and ignored her question. He’d almost been shocked into a cultivation deviation when he learned of Lu Yun’s identity. The fewer that knew the truth, the better.

“Qiu Luoyu, though I was one step behind you, I’m also a sovereign now and I’m not any weaker than you.” Chi Wuxia suddenly took a step forward. “Huo Shentong is dead and Jin Gushen’s whereabouts are unknown. There exists only you and me at the apex of our generation. When do we fight?”

Qiu Luoyu flicked a sideways glance at Chi Wuxia and tugged a corner of his lips up. “When you become the Nirvana monarch.”

He gently pushed outward and vanished the mother and son duo, sending them back to Nirvana Palace.

The two exchanged a glance full of surprise.

“He has the battle strength of a monarch!” The Nirvana princess’ expression was now very weird indeed. Someone with the power of a monarch had kowtowed to Lu Yun! What kind of monster was the Inception prince?!

Both the princess and Chi Wuxia had seen quite clearly that Lu Yun was currently enduring his tribulation—the great trial from sixth level mortal realm to chaos realm!

As frightening as the range of his tribulation was, it was still only for ascension to the chaos realm!

Therefore, the mysterious Inception prince, the impenetrable young man who’d turned the tide with his own strength alone, had only been a mortal being before this!

A thoroughly ordinary, mundane soul from head to toe, inside and out!

There’d been a budding theory that Lu Yun was a hidden genius of Inception Palace who’d been reborn after dying in battle. The arrival of his breakthrough tribulation overturned this hypothesis. Those reborn from the soul lamps would not encounter heavenly tribulations before they returned to their original cultivation realm—be it immortal lord, eternal overlord, or sovereign.

Chi Wuxia’s cheek spasmed painfully.

“Who the heck is this guy? How can a mortal being inspire Qiu Luoyu, someone as strong as a monarch, to bow down and kowtow to him?!” he nattered on and on with incomprehension.

……

Lu Yun stood alone in front of the six palaces. The vengeful spirits surrounding them had backed away after seeing the gargantuan tribulation, not wanting to be embroiled in this catastrophe.

When he saw this, Lu Yun had to wonder if these things were as unintelligent as everyone thought them to be.

RUMBLE.

An explosion ripped through the void as the cataclysmic bolts of lightning formed a mammoth vortex of electricity and thunder, drawing him into the center.

All sorts of uncanny and preternatural wails, moans, yowling, and other sounds that he couldn’t discern traveled forth from the vortex. Snarling ghostly faces loomed out of the vortex, pouncing on him with grimaces and leers. They looked like demons crawled out of hell—not akasha ghosts.

“Is this my tribulation for breaking through to the chaos realm?” Lu Yun took a deep breath and balled his hands into fists, punching out at the closest face.

Crackle!

When his fist connected with the face, it exploded into a small cloud of black lightning that arced toward him. They weren’t real fiends, but manifestations of the black thunder tribulation!