156: Chapter 156 Transformation into God

Purple Bamboo Peak.

Three years might feel like a long time to mortals.

But for a cultivation paradise like Purple Bamboo Peak, it was but a fleeting moment.

The peak was still shrouded in morning mist like a veil of gauze. In the distance, the vast sea of bamboo swayed with the mountain breeze, creating layer upon layer of emerald waves, producing an endless, gentle rustling sound like a lover's whisper.

Sunlight struggled to pierce the clouds, casting countless golden threads that gilded this tranquil world with a serene radiance.

Chen Zilong stood atop the massive boulder known as the 'Immortal Gazing Stone' at the peak, eyes closed, concentrating his spirit.

His posture was straight and firm like a pine tree. Around him, faint, mist-like yet incredibly pure spiritual energy slowly circulated and flowed.

These past three years, he had nearly turned himself into a tireless cultivation machine.

He poured all his time, energy, and even all his emotions into this endless pursuit of the Dao.

Not only to chase the elusive Great Dao of immortality, but also to fill the two immense voids that had suddenly collapsed within his heart—

The fragrant demise of Ye Xishui and Tu Shan Xiaoxiao.

It was as if two red-hot, blunt knives were ceaselessly carving and grinding at his heart day and night.

That pain had long since seeped into his marrow, becoming the sole driving force for his advancement.

Today, he felt the spiritual power within his body had reached its absolute peak, surging and roaring like a flood held back at its limit, searching for any outlet to pour forth.

The barrier of the Spirit Transformation Realm, that solid yet illusory wall.

At this moment, in his perception, it became unprecedentedly clear, as if within reach.

He took a deep breath of air, carrying the freshness of bamboo leaves and the sweetness of mountain springs, trying to calm his slightly quickened heartbeat born of anticipation.

His hands formed a profound seal before his chest, beginning to guide the vast spiritual power within him, shaping it into an invisible giant hammer, and launching a resolute assault against that barrier!

Almost the instant he began his assault, the celestial phenomena changed abruptly!

The originally clear sky darkened without warning.

Thick, ink-like dark clouds converged from all directions, churning, pressing down, so low it seemed they would crash directly onto the summit of Purple Bamboo Peak.

Within the clouds, flashes of lightning flickered. A dull rumbling grew from afar, louder and louder, shaking eardrums painfully and unsettling hearts.

Bolts of silver lightning, thick as a child's arm, tore through the sky like furious spears hurled by heavenly deities, carrying an aura intent on destroying everything, and viciously struck down towards Chen Zilong upon the Immortal Gazing Stone!

"The Heavenly Tribulation has arrived!"

In the distance, Liu Mei, who had been silently standing guard, involuntarily took a small step forward.

Her brows were tightly knit, forming a deep furrow.

Those beautiful eyes, usually carrying a hint of coolness and detachment, were now filled with obvious tension.

Her hands unconsciously clenched within her wide sleeves, fingernails digging deep into her palms, leaving several crescent-shaped marks.

She knew all too well that the Heavenly Tribulation of the Spirit Transformation Realm was no trivial matter, utterly incomparable to those of previous realms.

It was the true trial of the Heavenly Dao for those who defied the heavens, each bolt fiercer than the last. The slightest misstep would lead to the annihilation of both body and spirit, utterly erasing even the qualification to enter the cycle of reincarnation!

However, Chen Zilong, at the center of the storm, displayed an unusual calm.

He didn't even open his eyes. Relying solely on the perception of his powerful divine sense, at the moment the first heavenly thunderbolt was about to strike, he raised his right hand, fingers spread, and pressed it gently towards the sky!

The surging spiritual power around him was instantly mobilized, condensing above his head into an incredibly solid protective spiritual shield, shimmering with a faint cyan light.

"BOOM—CRACK!"

A deafening explosion erupted!

Blinding lightning engulfed his entire figure.

Powerful electric currents pierced through the spiritual shield, accompanied by a teeth-grating sizzle and the scorched smell of burning flesh.

Chen Zilong's body trembled violently once, but the stance of his feet did not shift an inch!

He stood firm upon the giant rock, as if fused with the entire Purple Bamboo Peak.

The thunder tribulation fell relentlessly, one bolt after another.

Each one thicker and more violent than the last.

The entire Purple Bamboo Peak trembled with the thunder. Rocks tumbled, bamboo groves were flattened, as if doomsday had descended.

The flashes of lightning illuminated the resolute lines of his face in flickering light and shadow. Sweat had just seeped from his pores before being instantly evaporated, leaving patches of white salt stains.

Liu Mei's heart was in her throat. She could even clearly hear the frantic pounding of her own heart within her chest.

She watched that figure standing unyielding amidst the sea of lightning, watching as he maintained, even under such terrifying heavenly might, a faint, almost provocative curve at the corner of his mouth.

Hadn't all the solitude, suffering, and tempering endured over these three years been for the sake of waiting for this moment of metamorphosis and rebirth?

It lasted for an unknown length of time, feeling as long as a century.

Finally, the thunder in the sky gradually grew sparse, its power beginning to wane.

The heavy, suffocating dark clouds slowly began to disperse, like a receding tide, revealing the sky behind, washed to an even deeper azure.

Sunlight, brighter and warmer than before, once again bathed the land, dispelling all gloom and aura of destruction.

Chen Zilong slowly, deeply, exhaled a breath of turbid air.

That breath shot out like a white arrow of air, traveling over ten feet before slowly dissipating.

He felt the entirely new power within him, surging like a vast ocean, completely different from before—

It was the power belonging to a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator!

Success!

He had finally crossed this crucial threshold!

"Zilong, congratulations!"

Liu Mei was the first to fly forward, her movement so fast it left only a faint afterimage.

She landed before Chen Zilong, the frost-like tension on her face already melted away.

In its place was a heartfelt smile of joy, rippling out like spring water.

"You are now a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator. Among the younger generation of the Xuantian Sect, I'm afraid none can truly hold a candle to you."

Chen Zilong turned his head and gave Liu Mei a truly relaxed and brilliant smile.

That smile dispelled the gloom that had gathered between his brows for three years, as if he had returned to that youthful lad with a hint of sunny roguishness.

"Wife, these past three years, thank you..."

Before he could finish, his gaze seemed nailed to something, abruptly fixing on the direction where the mountain path wound its way upwards in the distance.

A figure so familiar it made his heart stop was bathing in the golden sunlight, step by step, slowly walking towards the peak.

It was a woman dressed in an elegant white dress, with a graceful figure and light footsteps.

Her long hair, like an ink-black waterfall, cascaded loosely behind her shoulders, swaying slightly with her movement.

Her brows and eyes were still as exquisitely delicate and serene as a landscape painting, only...

Something seemed different.

There was a little less of the gentle softness from his memory, and a touch more coolness and detachment, like a pristine blue lotus blooming atop a snowy peak, untouchable.

It was Ye Xishui!

His first wife!

The Chief Senior Disciple of Purple Bamboo Peak!

Chen Zilong shook his head fiercely, shaking off that momentary daze.