Chapter 958: Surpassing the Ego Destruction Tribulation (III)
Cain continued facing The Burning Echoes, learning from every failure in his life and improving his wisdom. With each incarnation born of the fourth layer fading inside his mind, the power of his Ego Wave rose to the next level.
The red light emerging from Cain's eyes was like a radiant burst, with a core ember of fire visible.
The masters of the Sacred Races noticed that dot of fire, and their eyes widened in awe and shock. The transformation of the Ego Wave from a force field into flames was a massive step forward in the evolution of willpower. It meant that your willpower no longer manifested as an energy field but gained a true physical form, allowing you to manipulate matter with your mind.
Most of the warriors of the Sacred Races who had surpassed the 9x9 Ego Destruction Tribulation developed the initial transformation of willpower from energy to physical, but that was after completing the full tribulation, not in the middle of it.
While the challenge of the Ego Tribulation that Cain faced was much greater than theirs, the rewards were also of a much higher level.
There was pure awe and shock in Cain's eyes as that first ember of fire emerged, as he felt his mind and willpower grow immensely, his vision changing for a moment as he saw not the earth and sky, but countless atoms all connected by bonds that he could break if he so wished.
"This strength, I feel the power to crush a Late Divine Ascension Master with nothing more than a thought." A sense of awe and thrill emerged on Cain's face, but he did not lose himself as he focused on the next layer of fire that covered the sky.
Fifth Layer: The Searing Illusions.
The layer of fire that expanded for nearly sixty thousand kilometers transformed into blinding flashes of light that descended on Cain's body, marching into his mind where they formed vivid, searing illusions.
The world around Cain vanished, replaced by manifestations of the greatest challenges he would face. That was far from all, as those illusions soon twisted into the worst possible scenes, where everything he had worked for so far shattered into nothing, trying to break his will and force him into despair.