Thunder started rumbling within the dark clouds.
Bam!
A lightning bolt made its way. However, Grim was prepared for it.
'Dual-Domain'
The 'ice' and the 'fire' domain extended 2.5 kilometers(1.5 miles) and started merging.
'Storm'
Multiple lightning bolts rushed toward tribulation lightning.
Bang!
Both bolts of lightning clashed and dissipated.
"I won't have to hide under the shield any longer."
Then, the lightning bolts imbued with basic elements started raining, and he kept defending.
The struggle lasted half an hour, but Grim was calm and collected, unlike his previous tribulations. Soon, a lightning bolt imbued with a 'lightning' element rained on him.
***
Grim passed the 'lightning' tribulation within ten minutes.
"I wonder what element will be next."
He knew the fifth tribulation would be imbued with a 'lightning' element due to his experience. However, he was unaware of the content of the next tribulation.
Bam!
A lightning bolt rushed toward him, and he could feel a chilly aura from the bolt.
"So the next element is ice."
'Storm'
'Solar Wave'
The heat dissipated the chilly aura, and the bolts clashed.
The process lasted for ten minutes. However, the clouds had yet to dissipate.
"There's more to it?"
Suddenly, multiple lightning bolts formed in the dark cloud, and started merging.
He muttered. "This feels so familiar."
'Storm'
He mimicked the process and merged his bolts.
The lightning bolt dropped once it reached the size of a medium log. However, his merged bolt had the size of a truck. So he was confident about it.
Suddenly, the situation changed. Unbeknownst to him, the lightning bolt contained the property of his fused elements. So it quickly tore through his defense.
"No, you won't."
'Shield'
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A giant shield with the dual property of 'fire' and the 'ice' manifested before him.
Bang!
The lightning bolt clashed with the shield and gave off sparks. The sudden clash pushed him back a few meters, but he endured the attack. The struggle lasted for only a few minutes, but it was enough to drain him dry.
Sigh!
"Let's hope that's the last of it."
To his delight, the tribulation cloud dissipated, and he entered an enlightenment state.
***
A week later
Grim regained consciousness, but he had a bad case of headache.
He grumbled. "Last time, I didn't get a headache. Whatever, let's check the memories."
He started recalling the memories and came across the chunk of information. It took him a couple of hours to unwind all of it.
"So overlapping was the initial step, and fusion was the next step. The bird was probably at the overlapping step since he couldn't fuse the two domains."
"I don't wanna brag, but I can kill the bird using domain if it got revived."
His tone was filled with confidence.
Then his body started absorbing Qi. He was filled to the brim after an hour.
Soon his crystal started transforming. It started chiseling out the impurities, causing the size to decrease. However, it started to become more life-like.
The first crystal resembled the night sky, the second crystal resembled a ball of fire, and the third crystal resembled the embodiment of the cold.
His Qi also became 5x purer.
He did not know the realm was currently in. So he asked the system. "System, what realm am I currently in?"
"You are currently in the Planar realm." replied the system.
Grim mumbled. "So it's called Planar Realm."
"It's been a long time since I've checked my physical strength. Now would be the right time."
'Vigor'
His strength multiplied by 110x.
"I feel comfortable at this range. Let's bump it by 5x."
'Vigor'
His strength rose to 115x.
'Vigor'
It rose again to 120x.
'Vigor'
"I can feel the pressure."
He could utilize the strength of up to 125x, and to his delight, the body size had decreased by 25%.
"Not bad, but let's see how far I can go."
He increased the strength further by 1x and stopped at 128x.
"Good enough. I want to train here further, so I'll send my clone to the headquarter just to be safe."
'Polyp'
A clone manifested before him, but it was different than previous two clones. Grim was now in the Planar realm, so even with 50% strength, the clone was in the Quasi-Planar realm.
He ordered the newly formed clone. "Return to the headquarters and protect the location from the sidelines."
The clone nodded in response and took off.
Afterward, he returned to the training.
***
A month later
His clone arrived at the headquarter.
Its objective was to work from the sidelines. So it sneaked into the headquarters and blended with the citizens. No one was able to notice its presence.
Meanwhile, Grim came across a problem at the Frozen Wasteland.
He was able to rush with the help of the fused domains. However, the clones could not keep up at 700 meters(2296 ft) from the source.
"If two won't be enough, I'll make three."
'Polyp'
80% of his Qi disappeared, and a clone manifested.
"Let's go. We don't have time to wait."
Soon, the third clone also joined the fray, and his progression resumed.
***
A year later
"I've only managed to traverse a hundred meters (328 ft) in a year. I seem to have underestimated the difficulty of the next mastery level."
The previous excitement was nowhere to be seen on his face. Despite his dejected expression, he had made immense progress in heat resistance.
Every month, his heat resistance would increase by 500 °C(932 °F), and he had been training here for the past 30 months. So he could withstand the temperature of up to 22,000°C(39,632 °F).
To put it in perspective, it is said that the surface temperature of the sun is about 6000 °C(10,832 °F).
"I think I can progress further in the forbidden forest. However, I'm bound to hit the wall since I can't simulate similar chilly temperatures by myself."
"Again"
Grim went back to the training again.
***
Somewhere in the space
A spaceship zoomed across at an unbelievable speed.
A man-like figure could be seen in the captain's seat, while other beasts were scattered around.
On close inspection, it could be noticed that it was not a man since it had two horns, fangs, two claws, and scales all over its body.
The Dragonoid inquired. "How long till we reach our destination?"
One of the beasts replied. "It's going to take four years, Lord Messenger."
The response enraged it. "Can't we go any faster?"
The beast nervously replied. "Lord Messenger, we are a light-year away from the destination, and this spaceship can only travel at 25% of the speed of light."
Hmph!
The Dragonoid snorted.
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