Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Rumble~!

Gazing up at the terrifying tribulation cloud forming above him, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a slight shiver run down his spine.

Even though he was confident in his own strength now that his cultivation had broken through to the Breaking Dawn Realm of the Profound Immortal Realm, he still felt a primal fear when looking up at the tribulation clouds above, a kind of fear born from the very core of his existence…

RUMBLE-!

And it was just as he prepared himself to face the tribulation, that the tribulation clouds above finally seemed to finish gathering strength, as countless lightning bolts arched through the dense clouds before gathering towards the center of the clouds. Forming a sea of lightning directly above him-

BOOOM-!

And along with deafening sound, the sea of lightning descended like a river of lightning cascading down from the heavens above to annihilate the mortal realm below.

RUUUUUMBLE-!

The outcome was obvious, as Xuan Hao found himself fully engulfed in the endless lightning raining down from above, while the few pieces of land floating near his location was instantly annihilated by the descending lightning.

Whoosh~

Only the Tower of Secrets and the main ruins connected to the Tower of Secrets managed to survive the heavenly tribulation, as a gentle barrier emerged to protect them from the all-consuming sea of lightning that had begun expanding through the independent space with Xuan Hao at the center.

Although the heavenly tribulation was far stronger than the immortal soul tribulation from earlier, Xuan Hao found it far easier to deal with compared to a troublesome tribulation like the illusory heart tribulation.

After all, while the immortal soul tribulation tested several aspects from the cultivator's will, the strength of their body and soul, the heavenly tribulation he was currently enduring didn't seem to have any specific purpose of strengthening or testing him. Instead, its sole goal seemed to be annihilation.

Following that logic, it almost seemed like a cultivator breaking through to the Dao Seed Realm was still being nurtured by the heavenly dao, while someone breaking through to the Profound Immortal Realm had already grown to the point where the heavenly dao was actively trying to suppress or outright kill them.

Of course, this couldn't entirely be the case, as there would be no way to survive in case the heavenly dao really wanted one dead, the difference in strength was simply far too immense.

So… Is the heavenly tribulation I'm experiencing a warning?

Frowning slightly as he thought about this while feeling the lightning all around him, Xuan Hao felt that this might make some sense. After all, the progress he had gleamed from the Profound Immortal Realm so far seemed to be about creating an internal world inside one's dantian, something that would, taken to the extreme, ultimately infringe on the authority of the heavenly dao itself.

So, with that in mind, the heavenly tribulation he was experiencing now could be considered a warning from the heavenly dao to not proceed any further.

In the future, when breaking through to the realm above the Profound Immortal Realm, the tribulation he would encounter likely wouldn't be a warning, but instead a real heavenly tribulation.

But… With all of that in mind, what about the Celestial Immortal Realm? Is this path perhaps something that was created to avoid being targeted by the heavenly dao? Or does someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm still encounter a heavenly tribulation like he was currently experiencing?

Filled with all sorts of questions as he felt the lightning from the tribulation above swirling around him, Xuan Hao decided to not think too deeply about the heavenly tribulation or potentially what he would face in the future.

After all, for now, he still had a long way to go before reaching the Peak of the Profound Immortal Realm.

Before that, he should be able to not only gather more information on the Profound Immortal Realm and the heavenly tribulation he was currently experiencing, but he should also be able to find out more about the realm that came after the Profound Immortal Realm.

When the time came, he should have found out about any heavenly tribulation he might face upon breaking through to the realm beyond the Profound Immortal Realm.

For now, at least, he would have to put his full focus towards ensuring his own safety, as he could clearly feel the strength of the lightning cascading down from above increasing with each passing second. Giving him less and less strength to focus on anything that wasn't related to defending himself against the relentless onslaught of the heavenly lightning.

Whoosh~

It was at that very moment, as he found himself engulfed in a sea of lightning, that the lotus flower at the center of his dantian began to gently spin before starting to draw the heavenly lightning around him into his dantian.

Of course, seeing this, Xuan Hao was about to stop it, as the heavenly lightning entering his dantian was nothing short of a death sentence, but… At the last moment he stopped himself.

Not because he had a sudden death wish, but because he noticed that the heavenly lighting couldn't harm his dantian as easily as he had first thought. Instead of the dantian starting to break apart upon contact, it instead seemed resilient and resistant to the heavenly lightning. Allowing his dao lotus to draw in the heavenly lightning and start refining it.

This… the strengthening from the dao domain actually allowed my dantian to resist the heavenly lightning!?

Taking a short time to realize what had happened, Xuan Hao could not help showing a somewhat bewildered look on his face.

Not just because he realized that he could refine the heavenly lightning around him, but because he finally realized how someone in the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm would be able to break through to the Sea Formation Realm of the Profound Immortal Realm in a single step.

Profound enlightenment? Gift from the heavens? A blessing from the world?

No!

It wasn't anything like that, instead it was making sure his dantian was strong enough to endure the heavenly lightning that came following his breakthrough to the Profound Immortal Realm. Allowing him to not only have a greater chance at surviving the tribulation but also get the ability to devour the heavenly lightning and turn it into qi without worrying about his dantian breaking in the process.

Ultimately, the Sea Formation Realm of the Profound Immortal Realm was about expanding the size of one's dantian and forming a sea of spiritual qi inside the dantian.

The expansion of the dantian had already been completed ahead of time when he broke through to the Peak of the Dao Domain Lord Realm earlier and the only thing missing at this point was the spiritual sea, something that had already started forming below his dao lotus, as it rapidly refined massive amounts of heavenly lightning into pure spiritual qi for him.

Looking at everything that had been happening so far, Xuan Hao increasingly began to feel that the main goal of the Dao Domain Lord Realm wasn't about creating a stronger foundation so to say but was more so about how to best take advantage of the heavenly tribulations one would encounter from the Soul Ascension Realm to the Profound Immortal Realm.

Even now, as he began to absorb and refine the heavenly lightning around him, he also felt that the pressure he felt began reducing.

No longer did he feel like he had to struggle in the face of the tribulation, but instead felt like he couldn't get enough of the heavenly lightning.

After all, the heavenly lightning no longer seemed to pose a deadly threat but instead seemed like a powerful tonic for his cultivation. Allowing him to rapidly progress through the Breaking Dawn Realm.

BOOOOOM-!

Unfortunately, this kind of situation didn't last for long, as the tribulation clouds above seemed to have noticed what was happening. Increasing its strength by another level. Forcing Xuan Hao to once again put his full focus into resisting against the heavenly tribulation.

Of course, together with the increase in strength of the heavenly lightning, it also allowed his cultivation to rapidly increase as the spiritual sea inside his dantian grew in size with each passing second.

From the Early Stage of the Breaking Dawn Realm, Xuan Hao's strength soon broke through to the Middle Stage of the Breaking Dawn Realm before he advanced to the Late Stage a few minutes later.

After close to fifteen minutes under the heavenly tribulation, his cultivation finally reached the Peak of the Breaking Dawn Realm, as the spiritual sea inside his dantian seemed to have reached a certain limit-

BOOOM!

And without any suspense, his cultivation realm broke through to Early Stage of the Sea Formation Realm. Elevating his cultivation to a brand-new realm, while at the same time also causing the tribulation clouds above to halt for a brief moment before starting to rapidly disperse.