Chapter 343 – Breaking Through to Nascent Soul, Law of Heaven and Earth

“When did our sect produce such a prodigy? How come I’ve never heard of him before?”

“Old Xu, how many years have you been in seclusion? A thousand years, right? Isn’t it normal that you haven’t heard of him?”

“Exactly, you people are never seen around. Even when you occasionally emerge, you don’t necessarily speak with Xiao Gu and the others. Isn’t it perfectly normal that you’re unaware of what’s happened in the sect over the past millennium? Moreover, this child didn’t just appear in the last century.”

Qing Yi looked at the old companions who had suddenly emerged from seclusion around him and spoke with a smile.

He was the very Azure Cloud Sect’s Deity Transformation stage ancestor who had appeared when Lu Chen was breaking through to the Golden Core Stage, the one who had entered the Dao through painting.

Besides Qing Yi, five other Deity Transformation stage ancestors of the Azure Cloud Sect had now appeared around the Ascension Platform.

They had all been drawn here by the commotion caused by Lu Chen.

Among them was one Deity Transformation stage ancestor whom Lu Chen had never met in person but had indirectly received help from – Yan Faxing, the Deity Transformation stage ancestor from Ten Thousand Talisman Peak.

Back when Lu Chen was heading to the True Immortal Trial, the Great Divine Power Talismans that his master Jing Gong had given him were crafted by this talisman master.

And now, these figures whose mere appearance could make the entire Central Province tremble were all gathered here observing a junior’s breakthrough.

Looking around, only Lu Chen and Jing Gong were at the Golden Core Stage among all those present.

The rest were either at the Nascent Soul Stage or Deity Transformation Stage.

This was despite the fact that many of the Azure Cloud Sect’s Deity Transformation stage ancestors were not currently in the sect, sufficiently demonstrating the Azure Cloud Sect’s profound foundation.

However, in this current situation, whether these long-secluded Deity Transformation stage ancestors or other Nascent Soul Stage Peak Lords, they were merely spectators.

The true protagonist was Lu Chen, who was stirring the power of heaven and earth.

With Lu Chen’s terrifying Golden Core aptitude and cultivation, the Nascent Soul Lightning Tribulation he triggered was truly awe-inspiring.

The commotion was so great that many Deity Transformation stage ancestors initially thought it was some Peak Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from the Azure Cloud Sect undergoing the Nascent Soul Tribulation.

Although the actual situation differed from what they had imagined, when they saw that Lu Chen was only at the Golden Core Stage, they became even more astonished.

Because such unconventional Heavenly Tribulations only occur with unconventional prodigies.

Throughout history, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation has always been proportional to the tribulation-taker’s own potential and cultivation level.

Heaven derives fifty, man takes one.

Even those demonic path cultivators entangled in Karma wouldn’t face certain death when undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation, let alone Lu Chen who had always been following the way of heaven.

Although his Heavenly Tribulation was terrifying, it must be that the Heavenly Dao in its mysterious workings recognized that Lu Chen possessed the capability to overcome such a tribulation, hence generating such tremendous commotion.

Everyone present could be considered pillars of the Immortal Cultivation World, so they naturally understood the reasoning behind this.

Therefore, although they felt this Heavenly Tribulation was somewhat unusually powerful, they weren’t particularly worried about Lu Chen.

In fact, such a terrifying Heavenly Tribulation was not a calamity for Lu Chen, but rather a tremendous Opportunity.

After all, the more terrifying the Heavenly Tribulation, the stronger the blessings received after successfully transcending it.

As long as Lu Chen could successfully transcend this tribulation, the Nascent Soul that would be born would absolutely exceed everyone’s expectations.Qing Yi and the others had a premonition that if Lu Chen could successfully overcome this tribulation, he might once again create an unprecedented feat in history.

Under the silent gaze of everyone, the thunderclouds above Lu Chen’s head grew increasingly dense. Gradually, a massive vortex began to form above him—a peculiar phenomenon born from the churning thunderclouds. Whether it was an illusion or not, everyone felt as though the thunderclouds were drawing closer, as if the sky itself were collapsing. Along with this came a terrifying, almost tangible pressure.

For venerables like Qing Yi, who had reached the Deity Transformation Stage, it was manageable. Having merged with the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, they were essentially part of it, so this heavenly pressure did not affect them much. Gu Liqing, who had stepped into the realm of Great Divine Power, though not yet at the Deity Transformation Stage in cultivation, could withstand the heavenly pressure thanks to his own Great Divine Power.

However, the other Peak Lords at the Nascent Soul Stage, especially Jing Gong, who was merely at the Golden Core Stage, found it nearly impossible to resist this terrifying heavenly pressure. He felt as if he had suddenly been burdened with a massive mountain, crushing him to the point of breathlessness.

Fortunately, Qing Yi noticed this and gently waved his brush. With a flutter of ink in the air, the pressure on Jing Gong and the others instantly lightened. However, this caused the external environment to transform dramatically in their eyes—trees, flowers, grass, and even the distant Ascension Platform seemed to take on the form of an ink wash painting. Undoubtedly, this was Qing Yi’s doing; he had drawn Jing Gong and the others into his Painted World. Otherwise, with the heavenly pressure just beginning, they were already suffering so much. When the true Heavenly Tribulation arrived, Jing Gong and the others might have been forced to their knees.

If even bystanders were affected to this extent, one could only imagine the pressure on Lu Chen, who stood at the center of the tribulation. Fortunately, although Lu Chen was only at the Golden Core Stage, his spiritual power was not far inferior to that of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator—even surpassing most Nascent Soul Stage cultivators with lower cultivation. Thus, facing this terrifying heavenly pressure, Lu Chen relied on his unique Physique and profound cultivation to withstand it directly, without needing to employ any spells or Divine Abilities.

But this heavenly pressure was merely the appetizer. As rumbles of thunder, reminiscent of the voice of the Great Dao, echoed, the entire Azure Cloud Sect was plunged into darkness—so profound that one could not see their own hand in front of their face. This drastic change frightened many ordinary Disciples outside the Main Peak, who looked toward it in terror, unsure of what was happening.

At this moment, Lu Chen stood up completely after the thunder appeared. He raised his head, gazing at the massive vortex above, his deep pupils seemingly able to penetrate the thunderclouds and see beyond. This appeared to be a signal. Just as Lu Chen rose, a colossal golden lightning bolt tore through the clouds, hurtling toward him. In response, Lu Chen simply raised his hand. The Samadhi True Fire, moving with his will, transformed into towering waves of flame, surging toward the golden lightning.

The collision between the Heavenly Tribulation and the Samadhi True Fire illuminated the entire sky of the Azure Cloud Sect. This first Lightning Tribulation did not last long.As the first Lightning Tribulation shattered, numerous tiny electric arcs began to linger in the sky.

However, Lu Chen’s Samadhi True Fire was also broken apart in the process.

Countless electric arcs and sparks began falling toward the ground like meteors.

Resembling a meteor shower, they were beautiful yet filled with lethal intent.

Witnessing this scene, Qing Yi and the others immediately turned extremely grave.

In an instant, these Deity Transformation Stage ancestors began displaying their Divine Abilities.

A multitude of spells and Divine Abilities formed a barrier between the Azure Cloud Sect and the thunderous flames above, aiming to block the aftermath of the first collision between Lu Chen and the Heavenly Tribulation.

But when they actually made contact with the thunderous flames, the expressions of the Deity Transformation Stage ancestors grew even more solemn.

To their astonishment, they realized that even they couldn’t easily block these thunderous flames.

This was not only because Lu Chen’s Samadhi True Fire inherently possessed the characteristic of incinerating all things, making it highly destructive to spells and Divine Abilities.

But also because the Heavenly Tribulation power within the thunderous flames was exceptionally pure.

So pure that these Heavenly Tribulations could even be regarded as individual Great Divine Powers.

The combination of Samadhi True Fire and Heavenly Tribulation power—two Great Divine Powers together—naturally resulted in extraordinary might.

Fortunately, neither the Heavenly Tribulation power nor the Samadhi True Fire had them as their primary target.

It was merely the unintentionally released energy from the collision between Lu Chen and the Heavenly Tribulation.

Otherwise, blocking these thunderous flames would have been no easy task for them.

Nevertheless, Qing Yi and the others immediately abandoned their initial spectator mindset.

Each of them began to treat the situation as if facing a formidable enemy.

The current situation was no longer just about whether Lu Chen could succeed.

It also concerned whether the Five Azure Peaks could be preserved.

After all, if the aftermath of this Heavenly Tribulation were allowed to spread,

Not to mention anything else, the Five Azure Peaks would definitely suffer devastating damage.

No one had expected that the breakthrough of a mere Golden Core Stage Cultivator could produce such terrifying commotion.

Was this still the Golden Core Stage?

Even the Deity Transformation Stage was nothing more than this!

Thinking of this, Qing Yi and the others didn’t wait for the second Heavenly Tribulation to appear and began making preparations in advance.

After all, containing the Heavenly Tribulation’s aftermath itself was already quite difficult.

Not to mention having to protect the Azure Cloud Sect from being affected.

This was undoubtedly a challenging and delicate task.

As for the problems Qing Yi and the others faced, Lu Chen actually had no mind to pay attention.

Because the second Heavenly Tribulation… had appeared.

Similar to the first Heavenly Tribulation, this one also manifested as golden thunder.

But in terms of size, it was considerably larger than the first Heavenly Tribulation.

This time, besides using Samadhi True Fire, Lu Chen also employed the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation.

With the blessing of two Great Divine Powers, Lu Chen’s Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation became even more terrifying.

The soaring Fiend-Slaughtering Sword transformed into a massive Taotie, bathed in flames, meeting the second Heavenly Tribulation head-on.

Boom!

This second collision was even more terrifying than the first.

Not only did the thunderous meteors become denser and larger in volume, but it also generated extremely powerful shockwaves.

Fortunately, Qing Yi and the others were well-prepared.

Multiple Deity Transformation Stage Great Divine Power users collaborated, directly confining the turbulence within the Azure Cloud Main Peak, preventing it from spreading.

However, unlike the first time,

Lu Chen was no longer completely unscathed this time.

A residual golden thunderbolt immediately struck Lu Chen’s body.However, facing such a Heavenly Tribulation, Lu Chen didn’t even need to use his Innate Divine Ability, Reincarnation Time.

Relying solely on his own cultivation base, he completely blocked it.

Combined with the first Heavenly Tribulation, Lu Chen instantly underwent two tribulation baptisms.

The originally smooth Golden Core began to show obvious cracks.

Yet these cracks were not a bad thing, but rather a good sign.

Because an even more powerful force began to gestate within Lu Chen’s Golden Core.

Sensing the changes within his body, Lu Chen slightly frowned.

He discovered that the power of this Heavenly Tribulation was much weaker than he had imagined.

If things continued this way, after all the tribulations ended, he might not even reach the stage of shattering the core to form the Nascent Soul.

And once such a situation occurred, an entirely new Heavenly Tribulation would appear.

But at that point, matters would become somewhat beyond Lu Chen’s control.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen began deliberately restraining himself during the subsequent tribulation transcendence, allowing more of the Heavenly Tribulation to strike his body.

Although these tribulations caused some damage to his body,

they accelerated the cracking of Lu Chen’s Golden Core at a visible rate.

Meanwhile, Lu Chen’s aura grew increasingly powerful during this process.

After withstanding eight consecutive Heavenly Tribulations,

Lu Chen’s Golden Core was now covered in cracks.

Only one final step remained for it to completely shatter.

And the power of this ninth Heavenly Tribulation had reached an astonishing level.

The sky above the Azure Cloud Sect was now completely covered by a pure sea of lightning.

This ocean formed entirely of golden thunderbolts even made Qing Yi and other Deity Transformation Stage ancestors feel somewhat apprehensive.

How could such a Heavenly Tribulation appear for a Golden Core Stage cultivator?

Facing such a terrifying Heavenly Tribulation, Lu Chen now employed all his means.

A complete Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation appeared around Lu Chen, confronting the sea of lightning above.

Soon, the sea of lightning poured downward, meeting Lu Chen’s Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation.

BOOM!

Blinding golden light enveloped the entire Azure Cloud Sect.

A terrifying storm began to sweep outward from the Azure Cloud Main Peak as its center.

Despite the protection of several Deity Transformation Stage ancestors,

facing such terrifying residual waves, they could no longer contain all the power as before.

Buildings on the Azure Cloud Main Peak began collapsing in rows.

Many trees directly turned to dust within the lightning.

Even two Deity Transformation Stage ancestors who weren’t particularly skilled in defense were affected, their bodies charred black.

Clearly struck quite severely by the lightning.

When the light faded, the formerly majestic Azure Cloud Main Peak full of pavilions had disappeared.

In its place stood ruins of broken walls and collapsed beams.

Only the Ascension Platform remained completely intact.

But Qing Yi and the others had no mind to observe these changes now.

Their attention was completely captured by Lu Chen nearby.

Special golden light began emanating from Lu Chen’s body.

This golden light connected with the surrounding heaven and earth.

Soon, Lu Chen’s form gradually became illusory.

Replacing it was a massive golden Dharma Form covered in Dao Patterns that appeared atop the Azure Cloud Main Peak.

Law of Heaven and Earth…

Having undergone the baptism of the ninth Heavenly Tribulation, Lu Chen had finally completed his transformation.

The power of his Nascent Soul was fully released at this moment.

Sensing the terrifying pressure from Lu Chen’s Law of Heaven and Earth,

Qing Yi and the others actually felt some threat.It was evident just how astonishing this Law of Heaven and Earth was.

This was absolutely no ordinary Law of Heaven and Earth—the quality of this child’s Nascent Soul… was definitely not low!

Almost simultaneously, this thought emerged in the minds of Qing Yi and the others.

And just as Lu Chen had unleashed the Law of Heaven and Earth, the tenth Heavenly Tribulation… appeared.

(End of Chapter)