297: Chapter 295 Tianwei

The Bottleneck of Golden Core Great Perfection had long since loosened under the power of the Enlightened Dao Fruit; that threshold was right before his eyes, visible and tangible.

Yet, he had never crossed it.

It was not out of fear, but because the timing was not yet right.

For these ten years, he had been honing himself. Honing his spiritual power, honing his Divine Soul, and honing his understanding of the Five Elements. The Enlightened Dao Fruit kept his spiritual platform clear, making cultivation twice as effective, but crossing the threshold to Nascent Soul required more than just Comprehension Ability; it required accumulation. Ten years of accumulation, ten years of honing—he felt it was enough.

Yun Ming opened his eyes.

There was no day or night within the map of mountains and rivers, but he could sense that a long time had passed outside.

He stood up in front of the wooden house, and the dust on his robes fell away with a rustle. Having not moved for ten years, his bones emitted faint cracking sounds, but after circulating his spiritual power for one cycle, the stiffness in his body was swept away. He examined his Dantian internally; the five Golden Cores were full and round, his spiritual power was abundant, and his state had never been better. He took the jade bottle containing the Xuan Ying Pill from the map of mountains and rivers, poured out one Medicinal Pill to cradle in his palm, glanced at it, and then put it back. He had several Xuan Ying Pills; it was enough. But he did not plan to make his Breakthrough inside the map of mountains and rivers. Although the Spiritual Veins had formed and the Laws had begun to take shape within the Small World inside the map, it was, after all, not the true world. The space required for the Nascent Soul Lightning Tribulation could not be contained within the map. He had to go out.

With a thought, Yun Ming left the map of mountains and rivers and appeared in the Quiet Room of the Qingzhu Courtyard.

The Quiet Room was still as it had been ten years ago; the prayer mat, incense burner, and scriptures were all as they were. The soundproofing formation was still running, and the light from the Spirit Stones had dimmed by more than half, but it could still hold for a while. He did not dismantle the formation, nor did he pack up his things. His Divine Sense swept across the entire Ning Mansion; Ah Yuan was not in the Qingzhu Courtyard, but in her own room, where the lamp was still lit and the sound of turning pages was very soft.

He did not disturb her, instead casting the Huazizai Evasion Technique. His entire being transformed into a faint, nearly invisible Escape Light, and he left Linan City without a sound.

He flew very far. Far from cities, far from villages, far from any signs of human habitation. The mountains and rivers beneath his feet turned from verdant green to dark green, then from dark green to grayish-white; the trees became increasingly sparse, and the rocks became increasingly exposed. He flew past the border of the Great Liang Kingdom and entered an uninhabited area. There was no name here, no roads, and no living creatures. There were only rolling barren mountains and dried-up riverbeds; the wind swept over the mountain ridges, emitting sounds like sobbing.

Yun Ming landed on the highest mountain peak; the peak was bare, without a single tree or blade of grass. Beneath his feet was bare rock, polished smooth and shiny by the wind and sand. He looked around; for a hundred miles, there were no people, no Spiritual Veins, and nothing worth lingering over. This place was perfect; even if the Lightning Tribulation leveled the mountaintop, it would not harm any innocent lives.

He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing. The Dao Scripture circulated, and his five Golden Cores slowly rotated, adjusting his state to Perfection. His spiritual power surged through his Meridians, his Divine Soul was as clear as a mirror in his Sea of Consciousness, and every inch of his flesh and blood was filled with power. He opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. Then, he released his cultivation base.

Without concealment, without restraint, the Spiritual Pressure of his Golden Core Great Perfection was released without reservation.

The sky changed.

Dark clouds surged from all directions, not drifting in patches, but rushing over like a floodgate opening, covering the sky from the edge of the horizon. In the span of a few breaths, the sky changed from a star-studded expanse to pitch black. The moon disappeared, the stars disappeared, and even the wind stopped. The dark clouds pressed down very low, so low that it felt as if one could touch them by reaching out. The cloud layer was very thick, as thick as an inverted mountain, pressing down heavily on his head. The color of the clouds was not ordinary gray-black, but an inky black so dense it could not be dissolved; occasionally, lightning flashed deep within the clouds, illuminating the edges of the clouds with a dark purple hue.

For ten thousand miles around, not a single place was left untouched.

In the distance, birds were startled from the forest, flapping their wings to flee further away. Wild beasts were running wildly through the mountains, fleeing in panic. Insects and snakes burrowed into the ground, curling into balls. They did not know what was happening, but their instincts told them that something terrifying was coming. Those things were not aimed at them, but the mere aftershocks would be enough to shatter them to pieces.

The clouds began to churn. It was not the wind blowing; something was stirring inside the clouds. A crack opened in the center of the clouds, and blinding white light shone through the gap—not sunlight, but lightning. The lightning flashed and vanished, followed by a dull rumble of thunder. That thunder did not sound like ordinary thunder; it was low and deep, as if it were traveling up from deep underground, shaking one's chest until it felt stifled. The thunder echoed among the mountains, one wave after another, as if someone were beating a massive drum.

Deep in the clouds, something was swimming. It was purple, long, and thick; it looked like a snake, yet not quite like a snake. Its body was looming in the clouds, and each time it appeared, it was larger than before.

That was a Dragon. A Lightning Dragon.

The purple Lightning Dragon meandered through the clouds; its body appeared and disappeared, and each time it revealed itself, one could see those massive scales glistening in the lightning. Its eyes were golden, like two bright lamps deep in the clouds, coldly overlooking the earth. It did not roar or bellow; it simply swam quietly through the clouds, but that invisible sense of oppression was already causing the gravel at the foot of the mountain to tremble slightly.

Yun Ming stood up and stretched his limbs.

His figure began to grow taller.

One zhang, two zhang, three zhang.

The robe he was wearing was a Dharma robe, and it grew larger along with him without tearing or ripping; the moon-white hem of the robe snapped loudly in the fierce wind. Beneath his feet, the rock began to crack—not caused by the Lightning Tribulation, but by his own Aura.

The Spiritual Pressure of Golden Core Great Perfection was released without reservation; the rock beneath his feet could not withstand it and shattered piece by piece.

He stood in the pile of gravel, looking up at the churning thunderclouds in the sky, watching the faint, purple Lightning Dragon within the clouds. His gaze was very calm; there was no fear, no tension, only a sense of composure from having waited too long and finally being able to take action.

He took the cauldron of all things mother qi out from the map of mountains and rivers; the cauldron hovered by his side, the golden crow feather burning within it, its golden flames unmoving in the fierce wind. He took out another Xuan Ying Pill and held it under his tongue; he was not eating it now, but preparing it in case his spiritual power ran low. He had several more Xuan Ying Pills stored in his sleeve, ready to be used at any time. He knew he might fail; if once was not enough, he would try twice, and if twice was not enough, he would try three times. He had enough Xuan Ying Pills, enough spiritual power, and enough time. But today, he did not want to fail.

The thunderclouds were still gathering. The Spiritual Qi from ten thousand miles around was surging toward this direction, forming a massive vortex. The Spiritual Qi grew denser and increasingly agitated, as if it had been boiled by something. The pressure in the air increased, so much so that the gravel at the foot of the mountain began to roll, and trees in the distance began to bend. Yun Ming stood on the mountaintop, his robe snapping in the wind, the cauldron fire blazing by his side. He looked up at the increasingly large Lightning Dragon in the sky, and the corners of his mouth moved slightly.

Then, he took a deep breath and pushed the spiritual power within his body to its absolute limit.

In the center of the thunderclouds, the Lightning Dragon suddenly raised its head and opened its mouth. Deep in its throat, purple light was condensing, growing brighter and more blinding, as if a purple sun were rising within the clouds. For ten thousand miles around, it was as bright as day.

Yun Ming did not retreat. He stood on the mountaintop, facing the gathering lightning, and raised his hand. He was ready.