Chapter 258: Late Divine Stage, Sixth Level of Physical Body

The towering waves forced even Melon to retreat a hundred feet away before he could breathe easily. He then looked again at Rod in the distance—by now, Rod had landed on the cliff, standing with his sword slung over his shoulder, his expression calm as if nothing had happened.

“Damn it, is this guy still human? What on earth did he do?” Cut off the water? That’s right—Rod had actually cut off the water. Could such a thing really be done by a human? Rubio went crazy and shouted exaggeratedly.

“He’s extremely strong!” Even Melon couldn’t help but praise him, his face showing obvious relief.

Rod’s training over the past one and a half months had yielded astonishing results, far exceeding expectations and imagination. Perhaps even Rod himself hadn’t anticipated such outcomes.

A moment later, the tide flowed back into the pond, leaving behind a mess of ruined grassland.

“I’ll go take a look!” After everything settled, Rubio prepared to rush toward Rod, but was stopped by Melon.

“Don’t go. He’s in the midst of enlightenment. This might be his best chance to reach the late Divine stage!” Looking at Rod from afar, Melon said thoughtfully. Could he really succeed? Why did his heart fill with disbelief?

“Damn it, is this guy really going to succeed?” Rubio cried out in shock.

Damn, it had only been such a short time—just over two months since he reached the middle Divine stage. Was this guy really about to advance to the late Divine stage? Could he really accomplish what others couldn’t even do in ten years or longer?

Is this still human? What kind of monster is this? Damn him! Can’t heaven even feel jealous? Compared to Rod, his hundreds of years of cultivation only brought him to the middle Divine stage, making him the strongest in his clan. It seemed… At this thought, Rubio felt like banging his head against a wall.

Nothing could compare—neither cultivation nor people. People killing each other out of envy… Rubio could only silently plead, “Heaven and earth, strike me down with lightning! What’s the point of standing in front of Rod?”

“Let’s go back. We’ll come and check again tomorrow!” Melon also had a complex expression. He really did it—filled with awe and deep relief.

The two walked back, glancing from time to time at the man standing on the cliff like a god. No one dared imagine what his future would hold, or how high he might reach.

Rod no longer had the mood to care about anything outside. He sensed an opportunity for a breakthrough. That night, at Melon’s request, he finally broke free from the shackles that had tormented him for nearly two months. He immediately felt refreshed, and then his body underwent a tremendous change. A massive force compelled him to release it, and with just one sword strike, he created a terrifying power he himself couldn’t believe.

But with this miracle came the urge for a breakthrough. Overwhelmed with joy, he quickly directed his mental energy inward, guiding external elements into his body to merge with his combat energy.

At the same time, he unleashed Furnace Sky, which had largely recovered, to protect him. After all, they were in the wilderness, a place teeming with magical beasts. If anything disrupted his ascension, it would be a huge loss.

With a long howl, Furnace Sky appeared beside Rod. Its hundred-foot-long body looked terrifying, and its immense presence made the magical beasts within a hundred miles tremble, too afraid to approach. There was no dragon might—purest dragon might manifested in Furnace Sky! It had undergone a huge transformation.

Ever since waking up from that severe injury, Rod had felt it had changed greatly. The energy within his body was no longer just fire energy; it now included lightning and dark energy. Even the dragon soul seemed to have merged with the one he had obtained from Sognar. Additionally, the mysterious power that had flowed into his body when he killed a giant dragon in Iron Bar Town was now also evident in Furnace Sky.

It seemed Furnace Sky held many secrets that Rod couldn’t know yet, and there was much he still needed to explore.

At the moment, Rod’s top priority was achieving a breakthrough. Once this opportunity was lost, he didn’t know when the next one would come. To reach the upper stage of the divine realm, forcing it without a breakthrough was impossible.

It was a strange feeling. Rod sensed that he was no longer the same person he used to be. As various attribute elements he needed merged into his body and transformed into combat energy, the energy circulated continuously through his meridians.

Over and over again, each cycle seemed to refine his body anew. There was pain and discomfort, but more often, excitement.

Under the refinement of the combat energy, Rod could also feel his body growing stronger. It seemed that continuing like this wouldn’t be a problem to reach the sixth stage of his physical body—even it could be accomplished in a short time. At the thought of this, his excitement was hard to conceal.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, nor how many times the combat energy had washed over his body—each cell had been strengthened once as well. Finally, when it reached a critical point, it erupted with a loud shock. His entire body became like a universe, exploding in force. His intense outburst nearly caused Rod to gasp for air. After the massive explosion, the combat energy vanished without a trace, leaving his body in complete silence, as if nothing had happened—only that the combat energy was no longer detectable. “Damn it, what’s going on?” Rod wondered anxiously. Could something be wrong? How could all the combat energy disappear? But with a mere thought of his, the abundant combat energy suddenly reappeared, seemingly endless. What was happening? Rod was momentarily stunned, not knowing what had taken place to his body. A strange sensation filled his body—each cell began to move. Though he didn’t understand what was happening, an intuition told him that it wasn’t over yet; it was just the beginning. He needed to continue absorbing external elements into his body. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he felt a slight tingling in each cell and a numbness in every nerve. If anyone had been by Rod’s side at that moment, they would have been terrified. What he saw was too bizarre, too horrifying—it seemed as though thousands of ants were crawling and wriggling inside his body. Bumps kept forming on his skin’s surface, slowly moving, eerily so. Over time, dark spots appeared on his skin, emitting an unbearable stench. These spots gradually covered his entire body, creating a terrifying sight. Creaking sounds could even be heard. The process continued for a long time until finally, everything stopped. And then, a faint smile appeared on Rod’s lips—yes, he smiled. “The sixth level of the physical body!” he murmured. He was extremely excited. With his physical body refined to the sixth level, his combat energy returned as if out of nowhere. He also successfully reached the threshold of the advanced divine stage—two good things happening at once. Rod hadn’t even had time to fully recover from his excitement.

Suddenly, a violent storm arose outside, with elements rushing into his body to help restore his combat energy. This process was relatively brief and ended in no time. Gradually, as everything stabilized, Rod opened his eyes. The world had changed—he could see more clearly, observe more meticulously. A blade of grass a thousand meters away swayed in the wind, and tiny elements seemed to move within the river beside him. It seemed as though everything in the world was pulsing with vitality.

Elements? He could faintly see them, and even more strangely, he could sense the emotions of these elements and the plants around him—a feeling he had only experienced once before, when he had luckily reached the state of unity with nature. Now, it had returned.

At this moment, Rod’s world had completely changed. Everything returned to calm. In the blink of an eye, the world was as it used to be, free from the eeriness and strangeness it had once had.

“Sixth level of the physical body, divine-tier advanced combat energy!” Rod murmured to himself, a smile spreading across his face.

He had done it! After a month and a half of hellish training, he had finally succeeded. With the help of that peculiar equipment, which allowed him to compress and refine his combat energy while strengthening his body, he had achieved his goal. Now, he even felt reluctant to part with that equipment—he knew that using it would make his training faster than practicing in the void space.

As for explosive power, it went without saying—given such an extraordinary item and training regimen, it was hard not to see an increase.

Feeling exhilarated, he couldn’t help but let out a roar, exuding an air of a king.

A breeze blew, bringing with it a foul smell that made Rod frown. With a bitter smile, he realized it was his own body. After each physical evolution, this would happen, but this time it seemed worse—his entire body was covered in black substance, which were the impurities within him.

There was a river nearby. He jumped in, washed himself clean, and put on fresh clothes before returning to the cliff’s edge. Below was a pool of water. Thinking of his sword strike before the breakthrough, Rod sensed something faintly. At the third level of sword intent, being able to sense such things meant his sword intent was likely to rise further. Although the third level was already at the pinnacle, it didn’t mean it was the end. Perhaps after further understanding, he could surpass Duan Tianren in the art of swordsmanship—or at the very least, be no worse than him.