Cultivation advancement
After Lin Shi and Lian Zheng flew out of the cave, they arrived at the flat ground in front of it. They both glanced at the sky above. The once clear, azure sky of Hongchuan Realm was now half-swallowed by thick, dark clouds. The entire Mengtian Immortal Sect was shrouded in the shadow of these massive clouds. Without illumination stones or similar tools, it was practically pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Lin Shi glanced at the sky, then lowered her head to scan the area with her divine sense. She discovered that apart from herself and Lian Zheng, there were no other creatures on her floating island. Extending her divine sense and vision further, she found a dense crowd of high-level cultivators watching nearby.
Lin Shi saw the communication stone that had given her a warning, but after listening to it a few times, she put it back in her storage ring. Lian Zheng did almost the same thing. Lin Shi and Lian Zheng then looked up at the sky above them at the same time.
Above Lin Shi's floating island, the black clouds, resembling a black hole or a ferocious behemoth, churned and converged wildly, gathering towards the center of the floating island with overwhelming force. In an instant, the dark clouds formed a black vortex that blotted out the sun, as if to engulf the entire Dream Heaven Immortal Sect. Deep within the vortex, lightning danced wildly. What began as thin beams of lightning and thunder transformed in the blink of an eye into purple lightning bolts thicker than two people's outstretched arms and hands clasped together, like dragons emerging from the sea, carrying an aura of destruction, roaring and threatening, about to pounce and tear apart the cultivators below.
The ground of the floating island where Lin Shi resided trembled violently under this oppressive force, dust billowed, and the island's edges began to slowly collapse. All the vegetation on the floating island bowed low to the ground, and the hard rocks instantly shattered with a deafening roar. The stream initially flowed backward, then quickly rose into the air, forming a wall of water several meters high, which flew into the vortex of black clouds, before instantly shattering into a mist that scattered back down. The defensive array surrounding the floating island flickered erratically, like a candle in the wind, threatening to go out or shatter at any moment.
Lin Shi looked at Lian Zheng with a grim expression, but still tried to ask gently, "It looks like we're going to experience the Heavenly Tribulation of the Integration Stage and the Mahayana Stage at the same time. Do you want to go back to your own cave first?"
Lian Zheng's expression was equally grave. He looked directly at Lin Shi and nodded: "Alright, I'll go back and try it first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lian Zheng flew towards the nearby floating island. But he had only flown a short distance when he turned back. He discovered that the dark clouds overhead hadn't split in two; one half was following him. The warning from Heaven had transformed into a continuous barrage of lightning, directly driving him back to Lin Shi's side.
Lin Shi, pale-faced, asked directly, "Can't you go back to your cave?"
Lian Zheng replied with a solemn expression, "Yes, there's no other way. It looks like we'll both have to undergo the Heavenly Tribulation at the same time."
After a brief conversation, Lin Shi and Lian Zheng exchanged another glance, their expressions and eyes both grave. They then sat down on the spot, once again entering a meditative state. Their spiritual energy flowed through them once more. A transparent spiritual energy shield formed around them, yet their robes still fluttered wildly in the wind.
A cultivator in the Integration Stage faces nine Heavenly Tribulations, and a cultivator in the Mahayana Stage also faces nine Heavenly Tribulations. If two cultivators in the Integration Stage and Mahayana Stage undergo tribulations simultaneously, the total number of Heavenly Tribulations will be a full thirty-six.
As the first and second Heavenly Tribulation of the Nascent Soul stage struck simultaneously, accompanied by an extremely dazzling light, the thick bolts of lightning pierced directly through the spiritual energy shields of Lin Shi and Lian Zheng, striking the two cultivators precisely on the top of their heads and bodies. The powerful impact instantly plunged them both into a crater several feet deep. The overwhelming pain contorted their faces. Electric currents, like billions of steel needles, instantly pierced through their bodies. Blood immediately seeped from their pores, evaporating into a blood mist around them. Their clothes became blood-stained garments, their exposed skin taut and twisted from the immense pressure, covered with fine lines and blood droplets, revealing glimpses of their white bones. The veins on Lian Zheng's hands bulged, like coiled dragons.
However, Lin Shi and Lian Zheng gritted their teeth, widened their eyes, and endured the burning pain on every inch of their skin and the trembling at the level of their primordial spirit. They quickly formed hand seals and worked together to mobilize the abundant and powerful spiritual energy in their meridians to fight against the heavenly lightning.
Following the first two heavenly tribulations, the subsequent ones became increasingly dense and ferocious. One after another, bolts of purple lightning struck from different directions, slashing horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, weaving a dense, net-like web of death that enveloped both of them. Accompanying the purple lightning were various natural disasters and anomalies that simultaneously attacked them. While being struck in various violent attacks on their shoulders, waists, and other areas, they worked together to control their spiritual power to repair their damaged bodies, while also using their spiritual power to unleash various secret techniques and magical artifacts to defuse the crisis. One after another, high-quality defensive magical artifacts conjured layers of light before them, but gradually dimmed and shattered under the relentless bombardment. The two also occasionally swallowed healing pills to alleviate their pain.
After the Heavenly Tribulation of the Integration Stage was completed, the Heavenly Tribulation of the Mahayana Stage immediately followed. The sky was no longer simply filled with dark clouds and black vortexes, but instead displayed a state of interwoven and intertwined colors, like the primordial state of chaos before the creation of heaven and earth. Dazzling light and hazy light were interspersed with wisps of golden glow and seven-colored ethereal light, constantly expanding and contracting outwards. Each fluctuation of the seven-colored light seemed to contain the power of the laws of heaven and earth, enough to tear apart the void.
In the chaotic depths where various colors intertwined and swirled, eighteen massive, hundred-foot-thick, seven-colored lightning bolts were gradually taking shape. The tribulation lightning of the Mahayana stage, fused with the power of multiple elements such as metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, and ice, was no longer a single shade of purple, but each possessed a unique form and color. They resembled surging waves, frigid ice, blazing flames, erupting lava, a verdant forest, and towering earthen walls, attracting and repelling each other, ultimately outlining complex and bizarre trajectories and yin-yang diagrams high in the sky, roaring as they swooped down towards two targets.
The tribulations of the Mahayana stage are increasingly powerful. Often, the first two bolts of lightning have barely subsided before the other two arrive. Lin Shi and Lian Zheng have to use their movement techniques to dodge and maneuver while simultaneously launching attacks to deflect some of the tribulations. Their coordination is unparalleled; every step they take causes a tremor in the surrounding space, creating ripples that spread outwards to offset some of the impact. They constantly conjure talismans, magical artifacts, and formations to try and restrain or dissipate some of the more violent and uncontrollable lightning, preventing further harm to themselves.
The heavens and earth seemed as fragile as a sheet of paper before the tribulations of the Nascent Soul and Mahayana stages. The high-level cultivators watching held their breath, intently observing Lin Shi and Lian Zheng's response to the tribulations, afraid to miss a single detail. They simultaneously used high-level magic treasures and protective formations to confine the tribulations within the area of Lin Shi's aerial island. Instantly, the ground of her aerial island was covered with crisscrossing cracks and bottomless ravines, and lava erupted from the ground, igniting everything on the island into a sea of fire.
After a month of intense heavenly tribulation attacks, the two most powerful final heavenly tribulations of the Mahayana stage finally descended. These two heavenly tribulations contained the chaotic will of the universe at its beginning and the laws of heaven and earth accumulated over countless years.
Lin Shi and Lian Zheng both wore solemn expressions. After striking each other with their hands, they channeled all their spiritual power, magical artifacts, treasures, and formations to break through the final two heavenly lightning tribulations. Lin Shi also used all the magical treasures she had obtained from the Blazing Heaven Small World, as well as all the golden light of merit on her body. Lian Zheng also used up all his life-saving trump cards.
With a deafening bang, the final two bolts of heavenly lightning collided with the combined magic of the two, instantly unleashing a blinding light that illuminated the entire Hongchuan Realm. Everyone involuntarily closed their eyes or turned their backs to avoid looking directly at it.
Only after the dazzling light slowly dissipated did everyone dare to open their eyes. At that moment, they saw that Lin Shi's aerial island had been completely blasted apart. The protective formation had only prevented the wreckage from injuring anyone else. Lin Shi and Lian Zheng, aside from their natal magic treasures, had exhausted all their other magical artifacts, spirit stones, and cultivation resources during the tribulations of the Integration and Mahayana stages. They were left with only the clothes they were wearing. Wounded and battered, they flew to Lian Zheng's aerial island, where they collapsed to the ground, unable to move for a long time.
The high-level cultivators observing the tribulation remained in a safe distance, quietly watching the entire process. They felt the lingering pressure of the heavenly tribulation in the air, and their souls trembled violently, as if they would be instantly crushed into dust if they got even slightly closer. Some of the weaker-minded lower-level cultivators even collapsed to the ground, trembling and on the verge of vomiting, before being swiftly carried away by their fellow disciples and flown far away.
Some of the high-level cultivators watching muttered to themselves, "So this is the Heavenly Tribulation of the Integration Stage and the Mahayana Stage? It's truly extraordinary! The two Void Refinement Stage cultivators who were practicing dual cultivation actually skipped two levels directly from the Void Refinement Stage and seamlessly advanced to the Mahayana Stage!"
Because of the dual cultivation of their primordial spirits, Lin Shi and Lian Zheng's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. After enduring the heavenly tribulation for more than a month, they directly skipped two realms, truly going from the Void Refining stage to the Body Integration stage, and skyrocketed to the early stage of the Mahayana stage.
Once their spiritual energy had recovered somewhat, Lin Shi and Lian Zheng stood up together. Lian Zheng even retrieved new robes from his cave, and the two of them changed into their new sect attire.
Lin Shi couldn't help but complain, "Although we became penniless cultivators in order to survive this Heavenly Tribulation, we actually skipped the Refinement Stage and directly reached the Great Ascension Stage by cultivating our primordial spirits. It's as if we took a shortcut because we couldn't reach a high level of cultivation on our own. With such a rapid improvement in cultivation, it's no wonder so many cultivators take crooked paths."
Lian Zheng smiled, turned and gently hugged Lin Shi, offering her silent comfort. Afterwards, he took her hand, and the two of them went together to exchange pleasantries with the sect leader and other elders of the Dream Heaven Immortal Sect, as well as high-ranking cultivators from other sects and cultivation families.
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