"Master!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
As Yang Hong was smashed into the ground and the seawater began to flood in, submerging him, the tribulation clouds in the sky also started to dissipate rapidly.
Simultaneously, Yu Kewei and the other 12 flower and tree spirits, who had been waiting to guard Yang Hong and had been told to stay away, rushed over to check on his condition.
"Whoosh~"
Yu Kewei, who arrived first, directly transformed into her true form, extending her thick, long vines into the sea to retrieve Yang Hong, whose body was in tatters.
Yang Hong was truly a pathetic sight.
His hands and feet were essentially gone, with only about eight inches remaining of his right arm.
His entire body was a bloody mess, with not an inch of intact skin.
His bones were nearly shattered, and purple lightning continued to course through him.
His internal organs were practically roasted, emitting an alluring meaty aroma.
His head, thankfully, was mostly intact, though blackened, likely close to being cooked.
Anyone seeing this blackened mass would hardly believe it was a human.
Yang Hong was not dead, but he was close to it, his life force rapidly draining away.
He had been conned by the system that granted cultivation returns upon ascension.
After enduring this lightning tribulation, comparable to that of an eighth-tier Tribulation Realm cultivator, he had still not managed to break his Core and form his Nascent Soul, becoming a fifth-tier Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
He was still in the Golden Core Realm.
"From now on, remember to first infuse spiritual plants once you break through, then undergo tribulation."
Silently admonishing himself, Yang Hong, through his mangled limbs, contacted Yu Kewei's true form – the Yu Mu Flower Vine – and mentally commanded:
"Infuse, Yu Mu Flower Vine."
"Ding~ You have infused 1050 days of cultivation into the seventh-grade Yu Mu Flower Vine, gaining a thousandfold cultivation return. You have obtained 1.05 million days of cultivation."
"Ding~ Your cultivation has broken through, advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm."
As this melodious notification sounded, a vast amount of spiritual energy, seemingly inexhaustible, was released simultaneously from his Sea of Consciousness and his Dantian below.
"Crack~"
Yang Hong's Golden Core, which was gold with blue patterns, shattered.
Yang Hong's divine soul, hidden deep within his mind, manifested and sank into his Dantian.
The fragments of the shattered Golden Core rapidly disintegrated as the divine soul approached, turning into a golden-blue mist that dispersed throughout the Dantian space.
As the divine soul entered the Dantian space, the golden-blue mist first cleared a path, guiding the ethereal divine soul to the very center of the Dantian. Then, the mist was rapidly absorbed into the divine soul's ethereal form.
Concurrently, Yang Hong's physical body in reality began to slowly repair itself. First, his bone marrow stirred, and vast amounts of mana, carrying a faint aura of heavenly tribulation, began to radiate outwards.
The Yu Mu Flower Vine holding Yang Hong trembled slightly.
Next, his bones began to reshape, followed by his muscles, skin, and then his blood surged throughout his body.
A terrifying spiritual energy pressure, carrying an increasingly clear aura of heavenly tribulation, rapidly filled the space within a 90-li radius.
Finally, his internal organs began to pulsate.
His liver, with its green wood energy growing stronger with each beat, covered Yang Hong's entire body with a dense aura of vitality.
Then his heart, its bright red fire energy burning fiercely like a powerful engine with each strong beat.
His spleen's earthy yellow earth energy then began to circulate, like pipes directing the vitality and power in an orderly fashion.
Following this was the white metal energy of his lungs, its sharp offensive nature adding a touch of liveliness and aggression to the calm energy.
Lastly, the blue water energy of his kidneys harmonized the activated energy, making Yang Hong's entire energy powerful yet contained.
The five elements' energies all flourished, forming a perfect cycle of mutual generation.
Wood gives rise to fire, fire to earth, earth to metal, metal to water, and water back to wood.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was drawn by the five elements' energy within Yang Hong's body, gathering rapidly. A bright, five-colored halo lit up around him.
Subsequently, this halo began to rotate, from slow to fast, lifting Yang Hong into the air.
He bore a rather sacred aura.
Under the illumination of the five-element halo, Yang Hong's body rapidly healed. In less than fifteen minutes, his body was restored to its previous state, and he even appeared more handsome.
As his physical body's repair was completed, a seismic shift occurred within Yang Hong's Dantian.
Originally, due to ten thousand years of Foundation Establishment, a million years of Fusion, and ten million years of Golden Core cultivation, Yang Hong's Dantian was already very large, spanning 99 li in width.
It was worth noting that on the Taiyuan Continent, throughout countless years, no cultivator had ever possessed a Dantian exceeding 9 li before the Nascent Soul Realm.
Yang Hong's Dantian was ten times larger than that of a normal cultivator.
Now, his Dantian was further expanded by the golden-blue mist, reaching a staggering 999 li.
One step, perfectly achieved!
This reached the limit of a Mahayana Realm cultivator,
And the ultimate limit of a cultivator's Dantian in the mortal world!
As the Dantian expanded to its limit, the golden-blue mist instantly contracted, rapidly merging with his divine soul.
A miniature version of Yang Hong, only three inches tall, appeared within his Dantian and began to quickly solidify and become clearer.
As the golden-blue mist disappeared, the miniature Yang Hong's color gradually deepened.
When all the golden-blue mist had vanished, it finally turned purplish-gold.
At this moment, the miniature Yang Hong opened his eyes.
"Purplish-gold?"
"This isn't right. Aren't Nascent Souls usually the same color as the original body?
Even for cultivators who practice special techniques, their Nascent Souls only have a different colored spiritual light surrounding them."
Seeing the color of his Nascent Soul, Yang Hong was startled.
However, now was not the time to be distracted. The process of advancing to Nascent Soul was not yet complete.
Yang Hong circulated the [Top-tier Breathing Technique]. His newly formed Nascent Soul began to shrink and become ethereal.
When the Nascent Soul had shrunk to an inch in size, it began to travel through the meridians of his entire body, following the cultivation technique's pathways.
Normally, cultivators would only need to circulate once before sending their Nascent Soul into the Sea of Consciousness located in the Celestial Spirit Aperture.
However, Yang Hong's Top-tier Breathing Technique was special; it took nine full cycles before sending the Nascent Soul into the Sea of Consciousness.
The previously gray and hazy Sea of Consciousness was instantly illuminated.
A vast sea of purplish-gold appeared in the Nascent Soul's sight.
The equally purplish-gold Nascent Soul practically merged into the Sea of Consciousness, becoming almost invisible.
However, as the illuminated Sea of Consciousness continued to expand, the purplish-gold Nascent Soul became fainter, while the color of the Sea of Consciousness deepened,
The Nascent Soul became more prominent.
The boundless, gray Sea of Consciousness was ultimately illuminated to a width of 9 li.
This, too, was the limit of a human cultivator's Mahayana Realm, the ultimate limit of a mortal's Sea of Consciousness.
An ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator who could illuminate a hundred-zhang Sea of Consciousness was considered a genius among geniuses.
"Rumble~"
As the illumination of the Sea of Consciousness concluded, a majestic palace rose from his Celestial Spirit, protecting the illuminated Sea of Consciousness.
In front of this palace stood stone statues of a Azure Dragon and White Tiger, guarding it. The roof featured a Vermillion Bird spreading its wings as if ready to fly, while inside, a Black Tortoise bearing a tablet served as the house's foundation.
This palace had a name: "Four Spirits Dao Protection Palace," an advanced residence for Nascent Souls.
The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise were not merely decorative; they possessed the power to protect the Dao.
A Nascent Soul residing within would receive a degree of protection from these Four Spirits, whether facing soul-snatching attempts by high-level cultivators, possession by powerful ghosts, or attacks from secret techniques targeting the soul.
With this, Yang Hong's Nascent Soul advancement was complete.
"Although the purplish-gold Nascent Soul is a bit strange, my Dantian and Sea of Consciousness have both reached their limits, and the Dao Protection Palace in my Sea of Consciousness is also quite a superior type."
"It can be considered a perfect advancement."
Looking at his own condition and then at the system's character attributes, Yang Hong revealed a look of pleasant surprise.