Pathway To Eternity 22 Heavenly Tribulations

The flowing sanctum was the official residential area of the sect. The flowing sanctum was divided into three parts. The first set of the flowing sanctum was the artificial range of hillocks for the disciples and sect stewards. The second range was a set of hills for the masters, a.s.sistants and savants. The third one was a group of mountains for the grandelder, the grand patriarch and the ancestral hegemon. These ranges were seperated by large valleys.

The hillocks for the disciples contained a personal cultivation chambers for solitary seclusion without any form of disturbance. At the back of the hillocks were the acres of land for the disciples to farm and rear animals.

He sat crosslegged inside his cultivation chamber. The hillock had two small chambers, the first one was the small storage chamber and the second one was the smaller cultivation and sleeping chamber.

Farming! He would have his own farm to plant crops and rear animals in a new world.

Anyways, his ancestral family line was that of peasant farmers and he was born a peasant farmer. He would readily adjust to the new way of life at the sect.

Still, it felt really strange and weirdly funny.

He had entered this world by chance when senior Hypatios had sent him off, mistakenly? But two days later, he was having a small hill, a cultivation chamber and farm to himself in the s.p.a.ce of two days.

Really strange.

Two days from his current time, he would have to go back to his home world because of his lectures that would happen in the Last-Sword sect. As a beginner, he only had the two houses' lectures twice a week. The lecture time would increase as he advanced in learning.

For the time being, he wouldn't worry about that. He had to decide the place for his tribulations which would come if he tried to absorb spiritual energy.

He decided to undergo his tribulations there and then. It would be better in this world than his home world. The elders and acolytes would know he had advanced the moment they saw him in his homeworld anyway.

He stood up, leaving the cultivation chamber, he exited to the outside where he used the Swift Spine technique to reach the cleared bamboo area. While there, he sat crosslegged, took out the Red Beryl Spirit fruit and had a bite.

They said it was a foundation establishment fruit, one of a kind. On this planet, it was all about fruits and plants. From the primordial times before the cultivators started concocting pills, natural existences in fruits, plants and trees were the sources of spiritual and medicinal vital forces.

The sensation of the Red Beryl fruit in his mouth was amazing. He looked at it the rest of the fruit and shook his head. How could a child like himself measured the extent of the wonder of the universe? He finished eating the rest of the fruit, closed his eyes and started circulating the energy of the fruit. He moved the energy from his dantian through his meridians and back to his dantian.

Within few minutes, the effect kicked in. His dantian started to absorb the spiritual energy in the fruit in waves, the ma.s.sive giant liquid orb started to shrink in size due to its condensation. All these were happening in his dantian, but his mind was on a different issue.

He was thinking about the aftermath of the heavenly tribulations.

When the heavenly tribulations struck a cultivator with the corresponding numbers of lightning, the lightning wouldn't strike the body but the soul of the cultivator. The soul of the cultivator that wanted to achieve immortality since it was the soul that achieved immortality not tge body.

Right from the Zhuji stage, the soul of a cultivator would be out of the limbo and into the dantian forming a orb of light. By the time the soul of the cultivator reached immortal ascension, it would have formed a true immortal nascent existence according to the nature of its cultivation, a soul that could manifest outside the body. The nascent soul was the true power of a cultivator, the body was just a living sh.e.l.l.

Jufeng's mother, Reena, had a nascent soul of herself in white feather armor and flaming wings. That was the true existence of Reena, her true immortal self. When she would reach G.o.dhood, her soul would be able to live on its own outside the body. As long as the soul was alive outside the body, the body would continue to live and function perfectly. This was a way the G.o.ds and celestials protected their true souls. They would be using their bodies in everyday activities but keeping their true soul secured in a safe place. Although, the body was not as powerful as the true soul in a long shot, most prefered it that way.

The body could never live without the soul but the soul could live without the body. An immortal only needed to nurture a new body for the existing soul, tho it was difficult and time consuming.

That was the reason why the tribulations would attack the soul instead of the body of the cultivator.

During heavenly tribulations, if a cultivator was at the Zhuji, the lightning would strike the orb in the dantian. If the cultivator was at the Jindan stage, the lightning would strike the core in the dantian. For a nascent soul, it would strike the formed soul avatar in the dantian.

When a cultivator advanced to the Zhuji stage to become a premier but later failed the tribulations that came with the stage, the orb of light in the dantian which was the combination of the soul with the Chi energy, would start to dissipate. The cultivator would become a loose cultivator with a lifespan of ten million years before shaking hands with death followed by reincarnation. The same thing with the remaining four stages that attracted tribulations.

But, immediately after the completion of a heavenly tribulations, a nimbus will descend on the cultivator marking the full advancement onto the stage. This nimbus is the indication of a cultivator true advancement to the next stage. His powers with his aura would manifest fully as a premier cultivator, that was the thing with tribulations. Without undergoing the tribulations, without recieving the nimbus, a cultivator would never truly advance to the next stage. The cultivator could only see glimpses of the next stage powers if he didn't experience both the tribulations and the nimbus.

The nimbus.

It was the universal circle of light that descended on cultivators that survived tribulations.

At the Zhuji stage, the nimbus had four colors; red, green, yellow and blue, the colors of the four primary elements of the universe. They represented the four primary elements of life; red[Fire], green[Air], yellow[Terra] and blue[Water].

At the Jindan stage, the nimbus had five colors; red, green, yellow, blue and orange. The four primary colors with the addition of orange[Wood].

The nascent soul formation stage had six colored nimbus; red, green, yellow, blue, orange and indigo. The indigo[Illusions and dreams].

The immortal acension stage had seven colors to it. Red, green, yellow, blue, orange, indigo and violet. The color violet[s.p.a.cetime], completed the rainbow nimbus.

The nimbus at the cosmic ascension stage had only one color, the polychromatic white light. The combination of all the colors, true light of creation.

Jufeng had recently advanced to the Zhuji stage as a premier but he hadn't become a full premier. He had to go through the tribulations and should have recieved the nimbus to become a full premier of the Zhuji stage.

He decided that it would be better to advance in this world due to the fact that most of the outer disciples were at the Ningchi stage already, it wouldn't draw attention to him. The problem would be after the tribulations. Eyes would be on him, how would he have the chance to get back home on time for his lectures? He needed to think carefully about it.

Then, the sky began to change.

Raging cloud started to gather overhead and spiraled with thundering sounds. There would be five lightning strikes of the heavenly tribulations at the Zhuji stage. The first lightning strike would be fire lightning, the second would be air lightning, the third would be terra lightning, the fourth one was the water lightning and the last one was the combination of all these four lightning.

The cloud started to gather in strength.

Throughout the sect premises, the gathering cloud could be seen. Cultivators started to gather to observe, disciples gathered together in groups, masters observed from their hills, even the eyes of the grandmaster observed. The only exceptions were the grand patriarch and the ancestor who were meditating in seclusion.

"Heavenly tribulations."

"At the bamboo forest?"

"Is it a disciple?"

"A disciple? At the bamboo forest? I don't think so."

"A disciple would have used the cliff fall."

"Maybe an elder."

"Mhm, must be an elder."

The disciples were speculating as they gathered and continued to watch from afar. Some of the masters also gathered near the bamboo area to observe.

The raging cloud reached its crescendo and a powerful bolt of lightning the size of a child's torso streaked down from it striking Jufeng's...o...b..of soul. The more powerful a soul was, the more powerful the lightning. From womb till then, Jufeng's soul had been acquiring so much energy that his soul had formed a ma.s.sive condensing orb of liquid light. After the lightning his soul, the high voltage spreaded around his soul making him scream in agony before it dissipated.

The second lightning struck him, followed by the third and the fourth. The raging cloud started gathering strength for the last time, the cloud was booming with thunderous sounds before it released a lightning that combined all the previous four. The shockwave from the lightning made his mortal body collapsed but his soul was battling the lightning in the dantian.

"Five lightning strikes. At the bamboo forest?"

"That must be a Zhuji cultivator who became a full premier."

"Had to be one of the new disciples."

"Surey, a new disciple."

"Strange. Truly strange."

"I wonder whose disciple was that."

"It's a pity we couldn't see through the walls of heavenly tribulations."

"We'll find out soon enough."

The cloud cleared after the last lightning and the nimbus descended on Jufeng's body after his soul had successfully pa.s.sed the heavenly tribulations. The nimbus entered his soul making it transformed into a true premier soul. Even his aura had become manifested.

Regaining himself, he was full of unctrollable joy. He never knew the trial would be that powerful, but thankfully, he had pa.s.sed it. He thanked everybody he knows, everybody in his life, for seeing him through.

He knew all the sect's members would have noticed his heavenly tribulations, thus he decided not to use the swift spine technique but the flash steps. As he was using the flash steps to return to his hillock, he saw the elders and stopped.

"Are you the one that was undergoing the tribulations?" Asked one of the elders.

"Yes elderly masters, i just finished." Jufeng replied bowing very low.

"Why did you use the forest instead of the Cliff Falls? Don't you think about other's safety?"

"Forgive me elderly masters, i only used the place that came into my head. Please forgive me."

"Are you a new inner disciple?"

"Yes elderly masters, i was accepted from the outer section today sir."

"And you already underwent the tribulations same day? How can that even be?"

Elder Zhou Lin, who had been watching from the side cleared his throat and looked at the elders.

"Fellow elders, this is my new disciple, Jufeng."

"I remembered him now."

"Yes, me too. Truly impressive of him."

"It looks as if you have yourself a new genius, Zhou Lin."

"Indeed, Zhou Lin."

"Fellow elders, i believe we are done here. Zhou Lin, we'll take our leave now."

"Enjoy yourself young Jufeng. We hope we'll be seeing you in good health later."

The elders departed and left Zhou Lin alone with his disciple. The two of them slowly walked back towards the hill range.

"You've had a long day Jufeng, go and have a rest. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Yes master."

Finding himself alone, Jufeng sighed and used the flash steps to arrive at his cave. He ate some turtle meat and collapsed in the bamboo bed. He would be meeting the rest of the lightning disciples the following day, it would be a long day.

He closed his eyes and he dreamt.