In the dark sky, covered by dense, gloomy clouds, the rumbling of thunder became increasingly deafening.

Hui Lang and Cang Song looked up in admiration, taking deep breaths.

As far as the eye could see, black clouds covered the blue sky and the sun, making it seem as though night had fallen early that day.

But there was not the slightest fear in their eyes, even when the powerful bolts of lightning, miles above them, were already enough to make the hairs on their arms stand on end.

As disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect, tribulation was a moment to be awaited, not feared, for with the foundation they had built, overcoming it could not be more guaranteed.

And they were not far from reaching the Nascent Soul realm, which until three years ago they did not even know existed and might even have considered to be outright immortality.

Rihai, on the other hand, looked at the clouds thoughtfully.

‘These clouds are only slightly more oppressive than the ones I generated during my breakthrough. It seems there really is a limit to the heavenly tribulation, because with Tian’er’s foundation, it shouldn’t simply stop there.’

Her blue eyes blinked before she turned back to look at her husband affectionately, who was still undergoing the forging of his soul.

Liu Taixuan watched everything with his mouth twitching.

‘Monster, absolute monster! This sect is made of lunatics! This damned Infinite Dao Sect is shattering my worldview with its monsters. Since when is there a sect where even outer disciples forge Supreme Cores even better than what my grandson, a genuine bearer of a Divine Physique, forged?’

‘And look at this damned boy! Is this still an 18-lightning tribulation?! Are you sure 99 won’t fall instead?!’

He began cursing nonstop, feeling that his heart, which had not beaten in a long time, almost wanted to start pounding in his chest from the shock he was experiencing. Aotian had nearly resurrected a dead man at that moment.

Finally, there was the little girl and the dragon, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at those tribulations.

They knew what a tribulation of such magnitude meant.

’18 lightning bolts! It’s going to be an 18-lightning tribulation! That means that boy not only forged a Supreme Core, but also that his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul has reached the standard of a Supreme Soul!’

Both felt extreme disbelief.

They knew the boy was unnaturally strong, but supreme foundations were the trademark of a Divine Physique. However, the bearer of the divine physique of this era was clearly the blonde girl, who could even ignore formations to create whatever spells she wished.

Yes, they had long known of Rihai’s spiritual roots. It was when the Formation Spirit witnessed her forcibly cast a spell—defying all prohibitions—that her talent was revealed. However, they also realized, to their regret, that her affinity was fire—an attribute that disqualified her from becoming the Dragon King’s heir.

Unfortunately, they had not probed Aotian’s talent beforehand, merely judging that it was high due to the terrifying strength he displayed. Otherwise, they might have died of shock upon discovering that the one forging a supreme foundation was a cultivator with a five-element root.

And why did they know it was a supreme foundation?

Because the maximum was 18 lightning bolts in the Nascent Soul tribulation, and if a tribulation of such level appeared, it was the sign of a new Supreme Soul being born.

As for the number of lightning bolts, there were strict rules that the heavens followed.

Nine lightning bolts were tied to the number of compressions performed during the breakthrough to the Golden Core—that is, to the Core’s final quality at the moment of its formation. The other nine reflected how thoroughly it had been strengthened during the period the cultivator remained in the Golden Core realm.

Those who advanced purely by relying on pills, possessing the weakest foundations, often suffered only two lightning strikes. Even so, that was usually enough to reduce such a fragile cultivator to ashes.

Thus, cultivators generally had an idea of how many lightning bolts they would face during their breakthrough. As a result, many did not even dare attempt it, knowing they could not overcome the tribulation.

Lastly, there was the reaction of Young Master Chun, whose opinion no one cared about. He merely stared blankly at the clouds, a sense of foreboding settling over him.

Back inside Aotian’s body, more and more pieces of the Golden Core were being swallowed by the Nascent Soul, the speed of suction progressively accelerating.

Quickly, more and more holes appeared between the cracks, leaving 97% of the core…

95%

85%

70%

50%

25%

10%

At that point, Aotian’s soul was there, seated cross-legged, with only a few fragments of the core still spinning around it.

Then, suddenly, all of them flew at once toward it, striking its spectral body like stones thrown into water, generating ripples before being absorbed.

When that happened, the soul slowly opened its eyes.

It appeared far more solid compared to the beginning, with an intense dark-blue color. Curiously, however, several purple spots dotted about 10% of its body.

Although those spots should have clashed with the color that ought to be completely blue, for some reason they only increased the sense of mystery and oppression that the small soul exuded.

At that moment, Aotian was analyzing his soul. Looking at his spectral arms and hands and seeing the purple spots, he blinked, stunned and surprised.

‘These purple spots… they must have come from that purple glow that appeared in the Golden Core when I perfected it. Although I don’t know what it means, I feel incredibly strong now.’

He reflected, clenching his fists in an excited motion.

Aotian’s small soul then closed its eyes and examined its interior. There, he saw the vivid ghostly green flames, which were his strong and pulsating vitality, now countless times more intense than before the breakthrough.

‘In Qi Refinement, we accumulate spiritual energy and increase the dantian’s capacity to hold it.’

‘In Foundation Establishment, we forge the dantian and condense spiritual energy into denser walls, raising the base for the next breakthrough.’

‘In the Golden Core stage, we transform the previous foundation into a fortress. The core becomes unshakable, capable of holding immense energy, slowly leaving mortality further and further behind. At this point, we can even remove the transformed dantian from the body, which carries all our cultivation and vitality, and take it far away—though not too far.’

‘The limitation on the distance the Golden Core can travel occurs because the cultivator’s soul still remains in the body and, when the vitality that nourishes it goes too far away, the connection is lost, the Soul dissipates from the body, and the cultivator dies.’

‘But when we advance to Nascent Soul, everything changes.’

A gleam passed through Aotian’s eyes as he reflected on the long road he had traveled with his main body.

‘In the Nascent Soul realm, the Soul is drawn into the Golden Core and gestated there. The Core becomes nourishment for it and forges it into something more tangible and real, allowing it to carry spiritual energy and even the cultivator’s own vitality.’

‘That is why a Nascent Soul cultivator can leave their body and even possess another, because their entire core, cultivation, and life now reside within their Soul, eliminating the need to inhabit their original body.’

‘If it weren’t for spiritual roots existing between the real and the unreal, between flesh and soul, even I would be tempted to seize the body of someone with a Sacred Physique, like this Young Master Chun.’

Aotian thought, amused.

But having a wife, the chances that he would do that were close to zero. He still needed to keep his own body to deal with certain matters, otherwise he would feel as though he were placing a green hat on himself.

‘Spiritual roots exist in the soul, but to truly refine energy from the world, they must work together with the roots of the flesh; otherwise, it can only release energy, not accumulate it.’

‘When a Nascent Soul cultivator leaves with his soul, abandoning the body behind, he carries only one side of the roots. Therefore, when possessing another body and killing the original soul that existed there, incompatibility arises, because the roots of two people are different. Trying to merge the soul side with the flesh side of another person is not easy, creating a huge hidden danger for the cultivator and possibly even crippling him.’

As he made his mental summary, Aotian suddenly felt the heavens seemingly tired of waiting, as the sound of lightning became even more intense.

‘Time for the tribulation.’

Smiling, the small soul extended its little hands toward the flesh of his body, and his soul energy began to flow, reconnecting with it.

In that instant, Aotian felt control of his body return.

Opening his eyes, the first thing he did was look into his wife’s blue eyes several feet away, as she watched him attentively.

He smiled charmingly and winked playfully, receiving an amused eye roll in return.

His attention then turned to the heavy clouds in the sky, which had sensed his breakthrough and now wished to judge him, deciding whether he was worthy of continuing to be nourished by the world or if he should turn to ashes so as not to waste precious resources.

‘Let’s see what you’re capable of!’

A challenging look appeared in Aotian’s eyes and, without wasting time, his small soul, in the place where his dantian was located, rose from its cross-legged position and stood up.

Then, bending its knees slightly, the little phantom suddenly leaped, flying upward and passing through the body at high speed, before exiting in a flash of light from Aotian’s forehead, appearing to the world for the first time.

Floating calmly in the air, he did not get distracted and turned toward the sky, rising a few more feet.

Everyone stared at the small soul with curious and confused expressions, wondering why there were purple spots on its body. The Nascent Souls they had seen before were not like that.

But one person—or rather, one ghost among them—had a completely different reaction.

“Impossible!!” Liu Taixuan’s frightened shout surprised everyone.

Turning to the old man, they saw him staring at Aotian’s Nascent Soul with wide eyes and a gaping jaw.

“Fellow Daoist, what happened?! Is there a problem with the boy’s soul? Is that purple some kind of curse?” Old Long quickly asked, worried about the heir he had chosen.

He had never seen or heard of a purple color appearing in a Nascent Soul, or in any other soul.

The anxious questions and wild sinister theories of the old dragon began to make even Rihai and the others anxious, as they quickly looked worriedly at Old Liu.

Even Aotian, focused on the lightning, could not help but pay attention, more curious than afraid. After all, he knew more about himself than that old man, and the purple in his soul only made it stronger, without any harm.

“T-That… no, that shouldn’t be possible…”

Liu Taixuan muttered in distress, feeling his worldview shattered once more by the members of that sect.

“Grandpa! What’s going on?! Is Aotian alright?!” Rihai asked nervously, trying to grab her great-grandfather’s sleeve, but her hand passed through the ghost’s body.

His granddaughter’s calls awakened the old man slightly, and swallowing hard, he replied:

“My grandson… your father also condensed a purple soul back then. When a Supreme Soul is formed, it possesses that color. The problem…”

Astonishment shone in his eyes as he concluded:

“The problem is that this only happened when he condensed a Supreme Soul in the Soul Formation realm!”

Shock appeared in the dragon’s and the little girl’s eyes upon hearing that.

The disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect, on the other hand, calmed down considerably. Breaking standards had already become just another ordinary Monday for them.

‘Oh… so that’s it. Looks like I’m ahead of schedule.’ Aotian nodded, smiling, not very surprised.

Abandoning distractions completely, the small soul faced the lightning, and patterns of energy began to discreetly run across its spiritual body.

In fact, those patterns were making the clouds even more tempestuous.

That was part of the technique Aotian had synthesized. Rihai and Jian Huiyin had already used it previously during their own breakthroughs.

For people like Aotian and Rihai, this technique was not very useful, since their tribulations were already practically at the maximum.

But for someone like Jian Huiyin, who when she entered the sect had already condensed a Golden Core that was not supreme, it was extremely useful. It could cause the tribulation to misjudge her and unleash its maximum power—namely, 18 lightning bolts.

This was valuable because, besides judgment, the tribulation also brought benefits, such as refining and strengthening the foundation. The greater its power, the greater the benefit.

If they were people outside the Infinite Dao Sect, this technique would be pure suicide, since tribulations already pushed cultivators to the limit of what they could endure. But the fortunate ones who belonged to the sect created by Aotian were countless times stronger than their own realm and could afford to accept such hardships.

That was why, when her tribulation ended, Elder Jian Huiyin was so injured yet satisfied. Advancing under so many tribulations allowed her to largely correct her previous weak foundation, something she could not easily adjust with just the sect’s new cultivation techniques. After the tribulation, she was already among those walking the path of a supreme foundation, with only a slight disadvantage.

Back to the present, lightning energy accumulated more and more in the sky, and everyone could feel it was about to fall.

‘With the first lightning bolt, we baptize the soul and advance the body.’

BOOOOMMMM!!

A blue bolt, like a thick pillar of light, descended in the blink of an eye, passing directly through the Nascent Soul and leaving about two-thirds of its charge in it before striking Aotian’s fleshly body below with the remaining third.

Aotian barely blinked as he was enveloped by the lightning, body and soul, feeling only a slight itch and unable to help but feel a bit disappointed.

‘I used to curse those protagonists who, while others would face only ten tribulation bolts, had to endure a hundred thousand… now I envy them.’

Sighing, with thoughts that would make anyone want to beat him up if they heard them, he began to guide the tribulation energy throughout his body, refining what he could, though the effect was small. His foundation was already too strong.

‘Well, my soul received the first strike and became the primary target of the tribulation. My body was struck second, becoming the secondary target, and from now on will enjoy only a third of the tribulation’s power—and, of course, its benefits.’

With that in mind, Aotian’s soul returned to his body. Even with his soul hidden inside now, the tribulation would still follow that rule of power distribution.

Standing up, Aotian patted his own butt and stretched. Then, bending his knees, he launched himself upward with a leap, flying at full speed, reaching the clouds in the blink of an eye before the next thunderbolt could fall.

With him inside, the tribulation apparently became enraged at the affront. Without granting any pause—as it usually did to allow cultivators to recover before the next wave—it this time began firing lightning without cease.

As long as the intruder did not leave, there would be no rest until all the bolts were released.

BOOOMMM!!

BOOOOOMMMMM!!

BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!

BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!

The thunder shook the sky incessantly, becoming thicker and fiercer as each subsequent bolt fell.

The first six were blue, the next six a vivid red, and the last six displayed a threatening gold.

When the final bolt fell, its roar continued echoing through the sky for several seconds before dissipating.

After that strike, the tribulation energy seemed to collapse entirely, and the dark clouds slowly began to disperse, allowing beams of light to once again pierce the sky, illuminating the once-dark plain.

Aotian had succeeded. He was now officially a cultivator of the Nascent Soul realm.

Just as everyone sighed in relief, believing it was all over, a young, amused voice echoed from the still-dispersing clouds, full of challenge and confidence.

“Hey, heavens, don’t be stingy, send a few more tribulations, those were far too few!”

“I’m not asking for much… a hundred will do!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep