The first bolt of lightning shook all the Immortals on the Dragon Isles out of a sound slumber.

They hadn't sensed anyone reaching Tribulation on the continents, but there was definitely one beginning, and they hadn't sensed an intrusion from any of their monitored worlds.

That was only natural, as Karl's Tiny World had been created in Drodh, so it still felt like part of their own world, even as the mana in it had begun to change and adapt to the Immortal World where Karl was now living.

Azov was the first to react, teleporting himself through a microscopic portal to oversee the advancement.

"Oh, it's you. I thought that you left with Karl? Never mind. Finish what you are doing, and I will keep watch."

Hawk nodded in satisfaction. That Immortal wasn't all bad.

Even if he didn't have wings.

The first strikes of the Tribulation Lightning crashed into Hawk's [Flaming Body] barrier, and the bird keened in joy as he felt the power surge into him.

Like most beasts, he had a much easier time advancing than humans, but unlike most, he had undergone multiple evolutions to reach Immortality, and he had to purge some of the remaining mortal energy from his body.

It wouldn't advance without it, even though he had so thoroughly remade himself in the flames of the Dungeon during his last advancement.

The lightning struck again, burning away the lingering mortal world energy, as Hawk drew in the residual power of Tribulation to replace it.

The more power that he could channel into his barrier, the faster that the energy was replaced, and Hawk briefly bemoaned the fact that he was so efficient with his mana use after a lifetime of practice.

If he hadn't put so much effort into punishing water magic, could he have finished this whole tribulation faster?

Did the difference in time even matter?

Were there mice in the Immortal Worlds?

Those were the important questions that were plaguing his mind as the lightning struck again and again, remaking his power into that of a true Immortal.

The fourth and fifth volleys came nearly on top of each other, the two blending almost seamlessly as the Dark Flame Phoenix transformed and expanded, his body enlarging as Hawk adapted to Immortality.

Now, he was a truly prodigious thirty metres in wingspan, nearly large enough to compete with the dragons for a size competition.

But he was still much more delicate and agile than the massive reptiles, and he was certain that his air speed superiority would not be compromised.

Unlike Karl's advancement, only Azov had come to cheer Hawk on, but that was because the Immortal had locked down the area, warning everyone else away from the advancement of an Immortal Beast on their world.

The Immortals all knew about Karl's team, and assumed that this was the first of them to reach Immortality, as no others had come back for a Tribulation.

It was too soon for Karl to return, even if it was just for a visit, his Immortal Spirit wasn't stable and formed yet, which would leave him vulnerable to attacks by Immortal Realm cultivators.

The Spirit was a sort of anchor point for Immortality.

The initial stages of Immortal Spirit formation didn't do much to increase your maximum power, what they did was to massively decrease the amount of energy needed to perform actions and use skills.

With a fully formed Immortal Spirit, they would have far fewer fears of running out of mana unless they were using their strongest attacks repeatedly. It was when they started to transform the Spirit and become a Void Rank Immortal that their power truly began to progress.

But beyond the mana cost reduction, the Immortal Spirit also protected against soul-based attacks, and lingering damage to the essence. It separated the mortal soul from the Immortal with a layer of Immortal Essence, and imbued the very core of the Immortal with a bit of power that they had never been capable of attaining before.

Until it was stable, attacks that targeted mortality, like [Instant Death] could still target them by ending their lifespan. Or skills like [Decrepify], and [Instant Aging] could be used on an Immortal to effectively cripple them for life, in an ancient body.

Once the Immortal Spirit was formed, an Immortal would heal from those attacks naturally.

Hawk wasn't there yet, but he understood the process instinctively, and he would start on the work soon. He was done with the lightning part, and the Azov Immortal was putting out the fires on the mountain where his power had scattered under the lightning barrage, so he could go back to his perch and nap now.

Advancing was exhausting when it involved getting hit by lightning.

Azov frowned as Hawk simply vanished back through the portal Karl was using to watch. Karl waved at him as the Immortal turned to see where Hawk had gone, in case there was going to be an Immortal Rank bird wandering around the Dragon Isles as his power adjusted.

Inside Karl's space, there was no threat to others, so Azov just waved back and let Karl close the portal before it caught anyone's attention on the Immortal World.

They might not keep a close eye on everything that happened, because of the pure volume of phenomenon, but a sustained portal to another world, especially one in the Mortal Realms, would cause someone to investigate eventually.

[Well, that's two of us now. So, when are Brother Tian and Brother Thor going to advance? We already know that Sister Rae is going to be soon, and Sister Remi is busy.] Leo asked.

Opal's panic briefly concerned the others. She had just realized that she put so much focus on getting more data for her film collections that she had forgotten about growing her own power.

She was doing well with her Fundamental Rule of Illusions, but her body still wasn't at the peak of Mythic Rank.

The others might advance right away, but she was going to need weeks, maybe months, to catch up, even with this improved energy in her space.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.