## Book Twelve: The Immortal Celestial’s Tenth Sun – Chapter 1951: Ascending Like a Thunderclap (Part One)

The Nirvana of the Celestial Sovereigns, a place steeped in aeons of antiquity, existed within a peculiar nothingness. Only those Celestial Sovereigns who dared pierce the heavens with their divine senses could hope to enter its hallowed grounds.

The very architecture of this realm remained a perplexing enigma to most. It was whispered that the Immortal Ancestor himself, in imitation of the primordial realms of the Gods, had crafted this sanctuary to allow the Immortal clans to acclimate, fostering the rise of Great Celestial Sovereigns.

Throughout the ages, countless Celestial Sovereigns had journeyed to the Celestial Sovereign Nirvana, testing their mettle against its ascending tiers of palaces, forging their legacies within the Immortal lands.

Indeed, the five Great Celestial Sovereigns held this place in the highest regard. Nearly nine-tenths of their chosen vassals were those who had distinguished themselves by conquering its formidable levels.

Before the first palace, amidst a sea of focused gazes from hundreds of Celestial Sovereigns, Wang Lin, a comet of light, descended. In an instant, he stood before the threshold, his radiant form dissolving as he touched the very earth.

The moment his feet graced the ground outside the first palace, the eyes of every Celestial Sovereign present turned upon him.

Wang Lin remained composed, his gaze sweeping across the assembly. He recognized some faces, but many were strangers. The Celestial Sovereign Nirvana was a revolving door, with souls departing and new challengers arriving constantly.

He met the respectful bows of those he knew with a courteous smile. Amongst Celestial Sovereigns, amity was often preferred, save for the most reclusive of souls. There was little to gain in cultivating enmity.

Though he had been absent from the public eye for over a decade, Wang Lin’s rapid ascent through the first four levels had garnered enough acclaim to warrant a measure of respect.

Still, in the eyes of some, conquering but four levels was deemed insufficient. Their expressions were tinged with indifference.

“I heard whispers a few years ago of this white-haired Celestial Sovereign,” one murmured. “He faltered on his initial attempt at the first palace, yet proceeded to conquer the next four in succession. He is no ordinary being!”

“Four levels?” another scoffed. “What significance lies in four levels? Which amongst us could not overcome the fourth? His fame stems merely from his prior failure and subsequent rapid ascent.”

“Indeed,” a third concurred. “I predict this white-haired Celestial Sovereign will reach no further than the fifth level.”

The Celestial Sovereigns watched Wang Lin, their thoughts a tapestry of regard and disdain. Those who favored him spoke in hushed tones, while others dismissed him outright. Yet, having reached the realm of Celestial Sovereigns, they were masters of disguise, their true feelings carefully masked.

Far off, the Bamboo Grove Celestial Sovereign sat in silent contemplation, his gaze fixed on Wang Lin. After a time, he closed his eyes, withdrawing his attention.

He did not underestimate any Celestial Sovereign, but neither did he believe Wang Lin possessed the strength to match his own feat of conquering the seventh level. Those who fell short of the seventh held little interest for him.

Wang Lin did not immediately seek to enter the Celestial Sovereign Nirvana. Instead, he stood before the first palace, his eyes drawn upwards, tracing the ever-ascending palaces. The ninth level was shrouded in mist, an unfathomable height.

Years of study had revealed that the Celestial Sovereign Nirvana comprised nineteen levels. Fewer than sixty souls in the entire Immortal realm had managed to breach the ninth. These were the paragons of Celestial Sovereigns, standing on the precipice of transcending into the realm of the Transcendent Celestial!

Each arrival of such a being at the Nirvana sent tremors of excitement through the gathered Celestial Sovereigns. To witness the emergence of a Transcendent Celestial was a rare and coveted experience.

It might even draw the attention of a Great Celestial Sovereign, who would grace the event with their presence.

Yet, only forty-eight Transcendent Celestial Sovereigns existed in the Immortal lands, and the emergence of a forty-ninth remained a distant dream. The tenth level was a formidable barrier.

Only those who had become Transcendent Celestial Sovereigns could even attempt the eleventh level and beyond. Legend held that those who managed to conquer the final, nineteenth level stood a great chance of ascending into a Great Celestial Sovereign in the future! These individuals would even be able to fight against a Great Celestial Sovereign.

But even amongst Transcendent Celestial Sovereigns, none had ever reached the nineteenth level. The most successful was the Transcendent Celestial Sovereign Ming Daozun, who had been stopped at the sixteenth level.

For tens of thousands of years, no one had surpassed Ming Daozun. He was revered as the most likely to become a Great Celestial Sovereign, with some even proclaiming him the sixth sun of the Immortal realm!

His fame rivaled even that of the Great Celestial Sovereigns. He was held in high regard by the Immortal Emperor, the Eight Extremes Great Celestial Sovereign, who had expended great effort to bring him into his service. Ming Daozun was not treated as a mere Celestial or Transcendent Celestial Sovereign, but as a valued ally.

“My journey to the Immortal Imperial City may bring me face-to-face with the renowned Ming Daozun. He is hailed as the foremost Transcendent Celestial Sovereign. He must be quite extraordinary…” Wang Lin mused, a flicker of thought crossing his eyes.

“I shall rise like a thunderclap! But first, I shall test my strength, unarmored, and discover how far I can climb!” His expression serene, Wang Lin closed his eyes for a brief moment, then snapped them open, his gaze ablaze with determination. With a flicker of movement, he transformed into a streak of light, soaring from the first palace towards the heights.

As he ascended, a handful of Celestial Sovereigns watched with interest, but most resumed their meditation, paying little heed.

The Bamboo Grove Celestial Sovereign remained seated, eyes closed.

In the Celestial Sovereign Nirvana, those who had previously completed a level could bypass it, untroubled by the oppressive aura emanating from each palace.

Wang Lin ascended swiftly, bypassing the first four levels and appearing before the fifth palace, suspended high in the heavens. Without hesitation, he stepped inside.

As he entered the fifth level of the Celestial Sovereign Nirvana, his vision blurred. The sensation of the first four levels washed over him once more. Then, as his sight cleared, he found himself once again in the void, surrounded by starlight.
The Fourth Layer, in days of yore, was a tapestry woven from thirty-six celestial realms dedicated to cultivation, each pulsing with its own life force. Within that grand design dwelled golden stars, each one possessing a power equal to the combined might of all the other celestial realms in the layer. Gazing ahead into the void, Wang Lin wondered, “How many golden stars guard this Fifth Layer?”

Before him, a sight most peculiar unfolded. Forty-five celestial realms, as if stirred by some unseen hand, veered from their celestial paths. From all directions they hurtled towards him, their passage marked by a thunderous roar that echoed through the emptiness.

As they drew closer, five of those realms erupted in blinding golden light, transmuting in the blink of an eye into golden stars. These five emanated a pressure so profound it seemed to make the void itself tremble, as they and their brethren careened towards Wang Lin.

“Five, is it?” Wang Lin remained unfazed amidst the encroaching celestial storm. He raised his right hand, and at that instant, the power of his Emptiness Tribulant cultivation surged forth.

“One, two, three…eleven, twelve, thirteen!” With a mighty clench of his fist, thirteen divine abilities coalesced within it, the echoes of their union reverberating through the void. Though his aura still reflected the initial stages of the Emptiness Tribulant, it was steadily mounting.

“Since attaining the mid-stage of Emptiness Tribulant, I’ve yet to truly unleash my full power. Let’s see how many divine abilities I can channel into a single strike,” Wang Lin mused. His white hair danced wildly about him, as if caught in a furious gale. His robes billowed, and his power exploded forth, reaching its current zenith: the mid-stage of the Emptiness Tribulant.

“Fourteenth!” A new divine ability sprang into existence within his fist. Then, in swift succession, came the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth, all forged in the crucible of his ascending power.

Soon, he had attained twenty-one.

“If my calculations hold true, each advancement in my Emptiness Tribulant cultivation allows me to integrate nine more divine abilities… My limit in the early stage was nine. Now, in the mid-stage, that should rise to eighteen. However, the insights I gleaned from the energies of metal and wood have refined my cultivation slightly, allowing me to forcibly manifest four additional abilities… making twenty-two in all!” Wang Lin’s gaze hardened. The forty approaching celestial realms drew ever closer, their roaring transit filling the void.

“Twenty-second!” His eyes narrowed, and a thunderous boom echoed from his clenched fist as the twenty-second divine ability was born.

An earth-shattering force emanated from his fist, as if it held the power to shatter the very fabric of reality.

“I should be able to manage… a twenty-third!” With a fierce roar, Wang Lin did not unleash his attack on the approaching celestial realms. Instead, he leapt upwards, his right arm swelling with power. A torrent of energy flowed within, supplanting his blood in the veins, rushing towards his fist, and culminated in a deafening roar.

As Wang Lin’s hair whipped about him, his eyes burning with fierce light, a twenty-third divine ability materialized within his fist.

“Twenty-three is my current limit! That extra one is thanks to the insights I gained within the Eastern Immersed Pool, which also subtly enhanced my other source energies.”

Wang Lin glanced down. The forty celestial realms thundered towards him, the five golden stars blazing with potent power, now only mere hundreds of feet away.

“This Fifth Layer shall be conquered with a single true form!” Wang Lin blurred into a multitude of afterimages, and the power of the Five Elements True Body manifested. As the form solidified, Wang Lin swung his fist downward, aiming it at the oncoming celestial onslaught.

Twenty-three divine abilities fueled the single blow, compounded by the power of his replicated form, effectively doubling the impact to forty-six divine abilities that descended upon the forty celestial realms.

The void shattered in a deafening roar. Blinding golden light erupted, piercing the star-strewn sky, tearing through the void, and escaping from the Fifth Layer of the Heavenly Venerate Nirvana’s hallowed hall. The light flooded the entire Tianzun Nirvana realm, causing the hundreds of imprisoned Heavenly Venerates to look up in awe.