144: After the worst comes the best?

August.

It has been less than two years since the war between the Taihe Sect and Xuan Yin Palace ended, and the situation in the Xuan Yin Continent's Cultivation World has finally begun to stabilize.

Xuan Yin Palace suffered a heavy blow, its power plummeting; two of its six Dharma Aspect True Lords fell, and the rest were wounded. Furthermore, True Monarch Taihe had single-handedly stormed their mountain gates.

It could be said that they were utterly humiliated.

The Yingu Cult and Du Yuan Mountain were annihilated. Among them, True Monarch Hungu fell, while True Monarch Tiandu's Physical Body collapsed, and his Dharma Idol fled, its whereabouts unknown.

The Taihe Sect's sphere of influence expanded rapidly, acquiring countless Resources, while the Fengming Sword Sect and Tianshu Sect also followed suit, reaping immense benefits.

True Monarch Taihe even directly ascended to the position of the strongest expert in the Cangmang Realm!

After all, as an existence who could make the Kunwu Continent's hegemon, True Monarch Haoran, flee in panic, no one dared to question him anymore.

It was also at this time that another major event occurred in the Taihe Sect.

August 23rd.

Above the Taihe Mountain Range, dark clouds gathered densely.

"Crack—Rumble—!!!"

Pale white lightning flickered across the firmament, like thunder Dragons roaring wildly amidst the sea of clouds stretching for thousands of miles, as a heavy pressure enveloped heaven and earth.

This was... a Heavenly Tribulation!

A Heavenly Tribulation for a Breakthrough into the Dharma Idol Realm!

Such a scene had appeared nearly ten times before in the Taihe Sect, but the result was always failure!

For over eight hundred years, the Taihe Sect had never produced a second Dharma Aspect True Lord.

But now, less than two years after the war ended, someone was once again attempting to charge into the Dharma Idol Realm.

The person attempting the Breakthrough was the Grand Elder of the Taihe Sect, the Peak Master of Tiangang Peak, the Mystic Fetus Realm Perfection Great Immortal Master Kunyun!

"The Heavenly Tribulation phenomenon has already been present for half a month."

"If the Grand Elder's Dharma Idol has not yet successfully condensed, I'm afraid things are looking grim again."

"Sigh..."

"I wonder when our Taihe Sect's second True Monarch will finally be born?"

Inside the Taihe Sect.

Tens of thousands of Disciples looked up at the sky, discussing the Heavenly Tribulation phenomenon that had lasted for half a month, their worry clear on their faces.

Now that the Sect's situation was excellent and the Grand Elder was attempting to reach the Dharma Idol stage, logically, the Taihe Sect Disciples should have been full of confidence and ecstatic.

However, due to the painful lessons of many previous failures, most Disciples were instead feeling anxious about the outcome.

The sunset was approaching.

High in the distant sky, the orange afterglow of the sun spilled across the world, yet the core area of the Taihe Sect remained gloomily unchanged.

But just then, the fire-attribute spiritual essence between heaven and earth began to stir abnormally, as ripples of heat waves shimmered silently in the air.

Many people noticed this phenomenon.

Looks of wild joy gradually appeared on their faces.

Immediately following that.

Tiny, dense specks of light, nearly the color of molten gold, were drawn from the Void Realm, the firmament, and the depths of the earth by an invisible force, converging toward the Taihe Main Peak.

There, a hazy and blurred phantom of a humanoid silhouette was slowly rising.

It towered into the clouds, incredibly majestic!

It was like a crimson pillar of smoke connecting heaven and earth, swaying with the wind and extremely unstable.

"Wooo~ Woo~"

Billions of spiritual essence light specks were like fireflies returning to their nest, plunging into the phantom one after another. With every speck that merged, the phantom became a bit more solid and its silhouette a bit clearer.

The speed of the Fusion grew faster and faster; the light specks gathered into streams, the streams surged into rivers, and finally transformed into an overwhelming gold-red tide, frantically pouring into the sky-propping giant shadow.

"Boom!!!"

Inside the phantom, dense networks of veins began to light up, complex and mysterious like naturally formed flame spirit patterns, bursting forth from the heart and spreading to the limbs and bones like burning tree roots.

Next, even more intense liquid flame-light filled the space, as highly compressed and manifested spiritual fire forged the body. Its surface was as smooth as the finest red jade, yet inside, it felt as if magma was surging and flowing.

As the torso and limbs took shape, infinite flames began to converge toward the head.

Its massive facial features were hidden behind a blazing and dazzling halo; only at the position of the eyes did two points of pure incandescent light suddenly ignite!

Those were not pupils, but more like two miniature blazing suns, containing the will and majesty to incinerate all things.

When the eyes ignited, the entire Dharma Idol seemed to be infused with its final Soul, letting out a low hum that made space itself tremble.

"Dharma Idol! Dharma Idol!"

"It's done! The first step!"

"We only need to survive the Heavenly Tribulation, and our Sect will successfully give birth to a second True Monarch Old Ancestor!"

"With the many Tier 4 Magic Treasures bestowed by the Sect Master for protection, the Grand Elder will surely survive the Heavenly Tribulation and be called a True Monarch, hahaha~"

"Misfortune has reached its limit, and prosperity is coming! Prosperity is coming!"

"Our Sect will sooner or later become the true number one Sect in the Cangmang Realm!"

Countless Taihe Sect Disciples watched the giant shadow high in the sky with wild joy, their clamor reaching a boiling point.

The Dharma Idol was majestic, reaching a height of a thousand zhang.

When standing still, it was like a divine pillar of flame supporting heaven and earth; its shoulders and back seemed capable of carrying the firmament, and the shadow it cast was enough to cover mountain ranges.

Its entire body emitted a pure and noble fiery red glow, with extremely subtle, natural-flowing patterns faintly visible on its surface.

Its face was shrouded in a layer of blazing divine light, blurring its specific features, leaving only those double-pupil-like incandescent lights that were Soul-stirring.

Wherever its gaze landed, the air distorted and all things ignited.

What grew from the back of its head were not strands of hair, but leaping deep-red flame currents, draped over its shoulders and moving without wind like a burning waterfall or a fluttering battle flag of fire.

Above its head floated a "fire cloud."

Its overall shape was ever-changing, sometimes stretching out like a thousand-zhang canopy, sometimes churning like a ten-thousand-zhang angry sea, and sometimes condensing into the shapes of spiritual birds and exotic beasts.

Amidst the flickering spiritual light, it emitted a terrifying high temperature capable of incinerating the sky and boiling the sea. The red-gold light illuminated half the sky; it was the heaven-bestowed Lifebound Treasure—the Low Grade Tier 4 [Sky-Veiling Fire Cloud Cover].

In its right palm stood a giant tower of flames.

This tower was nearly a hundred zhang tall and divided into nine levels. Its design was ancient and majestic, seemingly forged from some kind of solidified dark-red divine flame glass. The body of the tower was translucent, showing the flowing brilliance within.

Each level's eaves were like birds spreading their wings, and from the corners hung not bells, but clusters of burning spiritual flames of various colors—green, purple, white, blue, and so on, totaling nine colors—swaying slightly.

The entire tower was engraved with dense flame Dao patterns; these lines seemed to have a life of their own, slowly swimming about.

The top of the tower was not pointed, but a constantly rotating, inwardly collapsing deep-red vortex, seemingly able to swallow light and fire, emitting a heart-palpitating, majestic aura sufficient to suppress and refine all fires.

It was precisely the heaven-bestowed Lifebound Treasure—the Low Grade Tier 4 [Nine Flames Spirit-Devouring Tower].

Two Lifebound Treasures!

This was a Middle-Grade Profound True Dharma Idol!

Great Immortal Master Kunyun had already taken the most important step; the Dharma Idol had successfully condensed. Next, he only needed to withstand the strikes of nine heavenly thunders to become a bona fide Dharma Aspect True Lord!

——————

The performance of the new book is too poor, so there won't be regular updates in the future.

Later, I will only find time to write slowly as a passion project.

I will also write the old book slowly; everyone can wait a few days and read the chapters together.

I've been writing for over two months, but the daily royalties are still only a few yuan.

Qiezi is truly laughing at this.

I could make more than this just by picking up a bowl and begging in the neighborhood downstairs.