Ascension to the Pivotal Realm

The signs that Lin Shi was about to enter the Nascent Soul stage after reaching the Golden Core stage came quickly. At the end of the same year that Lin Shi turned 88, her cultivation officially entered the Nascent Soul stage, and she was about to ascend to the Upper Realm. The tribulations for reaching the Nascent Soul stage and ascending to the Upper Realm arrived simultaneously. The power of these double tribulations was far beyond what the minor tribulation for forming a Golden Core could compare to.

Within the Dream Heaven Small World, several other cultivators entered the Nascent Soul stage around the same time as Lin Shi. Coincidentally, Ye Ruxue, Yan Hezhi, and several other cultivators he had known for decades also entered the Nascent Soul stage around the same time. Because of this situation, strange phenomena appeared in the sky in several directions within the Dream Heaven Small World.

The Nascent Soul stage is a crucial phase in cultivation. When a cultivator enters this stage, their inner core gradually transforms into a Nascent Soul, which is the embodiment of the cultivator's soul, possessing independent consciousness and power. At the Nascent Soul stage, the physical body and Nascent Soul can separate and merge, allowing the cultivator to traverse between the material and spiritual realms. Cultivators at this stage can separate their Nascent Soul from their physical body to unleash more powerful spells and attacks, and can also regenerate by possessing another body if their physical body is damaged. At the Nascent Soul stage, cultivators can communicate with heaven and earth, deduce the origins and ends of all things, know good and bad fortune, foresee world events without leaving their homes, and even travel through the void. When traveling through the void, the spirit or consciousness of a Nascent Soul cultivator breaks free from the constraints of reality, entering a ethereal and mysterious realm. They roam freely in imagined vast fairylands or supernatural realms, as if personally experiencing birth, aging, sickness, and death, and the laws of all things, experiencing the ups and downs of life, and ultimately attaining a peaceful heart.

Lin Shi was preparing to ascend to the Upper Realm on Seven Peaks Mountain. A month before entering the Nascent Soul stage, she followed the omens and entered seclusion in a stone chamber on Moon Peak of Seven Peaks Mountain to cultivate and break through to the Nascent Soul stage. After a month of cultivation, Lin Shi watched as the fist-sized golden core began to slowly change, first becoming an embryo, and then a miniature infant identical to her original body—the primordial spirit of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Her primordial spirit was enveloped in a layer of golden light of merit, appearing both holy and mysterious.

As soon as Lin Shi entered the Nascent Soul stage, her lifespan increased to over a thousand years, and her infant-like primordial spirit began to autonomously absorb and transform the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. At the same time, she sensed the subtle warnings and expulsions from the Heavenly Dao of the Dream Heaven Small World.

When a cultivator forms their Nascent Soul, they can generate immense pressure within a radius of a hundred miles, which can intimidate cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage. However, mortals and ordinary objects are unaffected by the rules of Heaven. When Lin Shi formed his Nascent Soul, a protective formation was erected at Seven Peaks Mountain to safeguard the disciples of the Seven Peaks Sect from any impact.

As Lin Shi successfully formed her Nascent Soul, a strange phenomenon descended from the sky, and the tribulation lightning began to brew. Before entering seclusion to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, Lin Shi had already bid farewell to her elders and juniors in her sect. After successfully forming her Nascent Soul, she directly ascended into the air, quietly awaiting the tribulation lightning. Clouds beneath her feet transformed into a lotus platform, upon which she sat cross-legged. After entering the Nascent Soul stage, Lin Shi seemed to understand the past and present of the Dream Heaven Small World, her mind calm and undisturbed. Her divine sense could extend into a vast expanse of heaven and earth, and she also sensed the information that Ye Ruxue, Yan Hezhi, and others had simultaneously successfully formed their Nascent Souls.

When Lin Shi entered the Golden Core stage, he endured at least a hundred ordinary lightning tribulations, all of them purple lightning bolts as thick as bowls—these were considered ordinary heavenly lightning. This time, the Nascent Soul stage and the ascension to the Upper Realm involved a double lightning tribulation. Although there were only ten lightning tribulations, each one was more powerful than the last, and all were purple lightning bolts as thick as buckets. They not only bombarded the physical body but also easily triggered mental demonic illusions, trapping Nascent Soul cultivators in illusions from which they could not escape.

When the first tribulation lightning strikes at the Nascent Soul stage descends, Lin Shi uses her own body to withstand it. Amidst the intense pain, her physique is tempered. Before the second tribulation lightning strikes, there's a brief pause. Lin Shi instantly dons her Frost Armor Fairy Dress and Lotus Crown Shield. Both her Frost Armor Fairy Dress and Lotus Crown Shield withstood two strikes before developing slight cracks, which Lin Shi quickly replaced, allowing them to repair themselves. Next, Lin Shi uses the Southern Star Shield, the Leather Turtle Shield, the Axe-shaped Thunder Wedge Shield, and the Mushroom Shield to withstand one strike of lightning each. For the eighth strike, she dons a new set of Frost Armor Fairy Dress and Lotus Crown Shield, again withstanding most of the attack. The ninth strike isn't particularly powerful, mainly triggering inner demons and illusions, but Lin Shi's unwavering will prevents her from suffering any damage.

For the tenth bolt of heavenly lightning, Lin Shi chose to face it head-on. Holding her natal sword, the Demon-Slaying Sword, she flew directly towards the massive bolt of lightning, as thick as a bucket. The seemingly endless white ascension passage was filled with countless flying blades of spiritual energy capable of slicing through the bodies of Nascent Soul cultivators, shattering Lin Shi's icy armor, fairy dress, and lotus crown shield into dust. Her body was also covered in wounds; old wounds hadn't healed before new ones piled up. Even her infant-like primordial spirit showed faint cracks. Accompanied by excruciating pain, Lin Shi endured nearly an hour of torment before finally seeing a faint seven-colored light. She flew towards the light, directly reaching the top of the ascension passage. Before reaching the ground exit of the upper realm, she used her last breath to put on a brand-new Immortal-Retaining Dress, then almost faintly fainted as she landed on the ground of the Yuan Shu Realm.

Before Lin Shi could even catch her breath, she felt a murderous aura, unlike anything she'd felt through the ascension passage, rushing towards her. Without time to process what it was, Lin Shi dodged backward, and then heard the terrifying sound of a longsword, propelled by spiritual energy, striking the ground. A large crack instantly appeared where she had been standing, before slowly closing again.

As Lin Shi leaped backward to dodge, she took out a handful of quick-acting healing medicine from her storage ring and shoved it into her mouth. When she stood in an open space after dodging, the wounds on her face and body were visibly healing. Her disheveled face was instantly cleaned by a cleansing spell, and her hair and clothes were restored to a neat and dignified appearance.

Lin Shi's eyes sharpened like swords, piercing the direction of the attack. When she looked closely, she saw a group of Nascent Soul stage cultivators, both men and women, staring at her with malicious intent. They all held longswords, brimming with spiritual energy, seemingly intent on killing Lin Shi on the spot.

Lin Shi's pupils contracted sharply. A strong stench of blood mixed with the smell of burning permeated the air. Ten Nascent Soul stage cultivators were preparing to form a massive combined killing sword formation, attempting to trap Lin Shi within it. A protective shield immediately rose around Lin Shi, radiating layers of defensive light, barely resisting the torrential rain of sword energy attacks from the outside. At the same time, Lin Shi hurriedly threw out several explosive talismans, small magical artifacts, and a small combined sword formation to try and create an opening. However, the opponents were already prepared; the numerous cultivators simultaneously formed hand seals rapidly, and then a small, seven-colored sword formation directly deflected Lin Shi's attacks. The attacking cultivators pressed forward, slowly closing in on Lin Shi.

"Who are you, and why are you attacking me?" Lin Shi shouted, questioning them.

"You lowly cultivators from the lower realms are not worthy to know our names." One of the ten Nascent Soul stage cultivators coldly replied to Lin Shi's question, and then there was no further reply, only relentless attacks.

She had to find a way to escape as soon as possible, or she would perish! Lin Shi was extremely anxious, but she had just ascended to the upper realm and her spiritual power had not yet recovered to its full strength. The other side had a large number of people, and almost all of them were cultivators of the same cultivation level as her.

Lin Shi looked around and then discovered that several cultivators who had ascended to the Upper Realm from the Dream Heaven Small World at almost the same time as her were nearby and facing almost the same situation as her.

The cultivators from the Dream Heaven Small World, including Lin Shi, Ye Ruxue, and Yan Hezhi, exchanged silent glances before quickly converging. They soon formed a small team of ten. Having known each other for a long time and possessing a certain level of tacit understanding, the ten from the Dream Heaven Small World almost instantly communicated telepathically, chose a direction, and swiftly broke through the encirclement of at least a hundred Nascent Soul stage cultivators, escaping together. They flew at least a thousand miles before using a stratagem to shake off the hundred-strong Nascent Soul stage cultivator group that was relentlessly pursuing them.

By this time, they had already arrived in an unfamiliar forest. Beneath the lush, towering trees, there were plants even taller than a person. A mountain stream gurgled and flowed, its sound melodious and pleasant.

After they landed from mid-air on a secluded clearing in the forest, each of them struggled to remain standing and conceal their presence. Beside the clearing was a relatively wide mountain stream. The stream meandered, splitting into two streams upon encountering a large rock, before continuing its flow down to form a small waterfall on the cliff face.

Lin Shi quickly set up an illusion array, concealing their figures and auras within the forest. The Nascent Soul stage cultivators from the same Dream Heaven minor world immediately channeled a certain amount of spiritual energy into the illusion array, making it more stable. After they had focused their minds and held their breath, and heard the group of cultivators chasing and besieging them fly past in the sky for a long time, they relaxed a little, then sat cross-legged on the ground to meditate and recover their spiritual energy.

Having just survived the siege by other cultivators from the Yuan Shu Realm, each cultivator from the Meng Tian Minor World harbored a slight wariness towards those from their own realm. Smaller spiritual energy shields rose around them as they quietly meditated and cultivated. Only after everyone's spiritual energy had largely recovered did they gather together to discuss their next steps.