Chapter 136: The Tribulation Lightning Appears Once More

At this moment, Liu Junhuai stood frozen in place, his mind somewhat in a whirl. Never had he imagined that, carried away by the mood and casually reciting a few words of wisdom taught to him by the old steward, he would cause such a massive commotion.

Feeling somewhat at a loss, he looked around. Gradually, Liu Junhuai faintly sensed a pure and formidable force, akin to spiritual liquid, surging straight into his sea of consciousness. As his cultivation technique circulated, this force merged with his true essence and traveled with it throughout his entire body.

Liu Junhuai was pleasantly surprised. As this powerful energy traversed his body, it continually scoured the inner walls of his meridians, causing them to slowly expand under the reinforcement of this force.

The true essence within his body also seemed to encounter a delectable feast, rushing forward in droves to frantically devour this energy in a competitive frenzy.

Before long, the heavenly consciousness in his sea of consciousness joined the fray, beginning to ravenously consume the energy as well.

Inspired by a sudden flash of insight, Liu Junhuai resolutely and frantically operated his transforming mental cultivation method. The golden sphere within his sea of consciousness began to accelerate its rotation, dragging the Mixed Gold Cauldron to spin at high speed as well.

In an instant, the powerful force within a radius of dozens of zhang around Liu Junhuai swarmed toward him, forming a gigantic vortex of qi in the void within that radius, with the exact spot where Liu Junhuai stood acting as the center of this vortex.

Lost in intense focus, Liu Junhuai was entirely oblivious to the changes happening around him, his body and mind completely immersed in the supreme joy of his soaring cultivation level.

As more and more of the powerful force was absorbed and refined by Liu Junhuai, the energy in his immediate surroundings became insufficient to keep pace with his swallowing speed. Consequently, his absorption range expanded beyond a hundred zhang, and an even larger vortex began to form.

The meridians throughout his body continued to expand, and the lake of true essence in his dantian began to store and refine the increasingly pure true essence.

The golden core resting within the lake of true essence also started to spin wildly, suddenly radiating a brilliant, dazzling golden light that illuminated Liu Junhuai’s entire body from within.

Following the torrential influx of massive amounts of pure true essence, the lake of true essence in his dantian gradually overflowed and began to冲击 (assault) the bottleneck of his cultivation realm.

Simultaneously, the rapidly spinning golden core emitted a soft *pop*. The originally solidified golden core de-materialized once more, merging with the surrounding true essence to form a larger gaseous sphere.

A vast and imposing conscious force surged into Liu Junhuai’s mind, instantly sending a wave of sharp pain through his head. Having prepared himself mentally long in advance, his heavenly consciousness was already waiting in his sea of consciousness to intercept this invasive conscious force. The golden sphere firmly grasped the conscious force and swiftly transmitted the sliver of comprehension contained within it to Liu Junhuai’s spiritual awareness.

Before long, his sea of consciousness, having thoroughly comprehended this sliver of insight, became crystal clear and serene, and the pain vanished along with it.

The massive gaseous sphere began yet another round of condensation. After swallowing a shattered golden core, a new golden true essence vortex formed within his dantian, its rotational speed steadily increasing as the true essence rapidly transformed into golden true essence.

As the golden true essence gradually solidified, the embryonic form of a golden core, several times larger than the previous one, slowly emerged.

Before Liu Junhuai even had time to celebrate, the pure true essence battering against the realm bottleneck blasted open a tiny fissure. As this fissure grew wider and wider, more and more true essence poured into it, bringing a tearing pain in its wake.

Enduring the agonizing pain, Liu Junhuai shifted his mental intent and forcefully dragged a wisp of golden consciousness to join the assault on the realm bottleneck.

With a resounding explosion, the realm bottleneck was forcefully shattered by the pure true essence wrapped in the powerful golden consciousness. The surface area of the true essence ocean instantly expanded by more than twofold, and even greater floods of pure true essence poured in madly.

The true essence ocean continued to expand. Liu Junhuai could not see that the void within nearly two hundred zhang around his body was gradually giving birth to an even grander vortex.

By this time, the thousands of cultivators who had been reciting in loud voices had long since stopped. They were all utterly awestruck and terrified by the gigantic vortex hanging in mid-air, countless eyes fixed unwaveringly on Liu Junhuai at the center of the vortex.

Utterly oblivious to all this, Liu Junhuai was still desperately gritting his teeth against the pain, madly devouring the formidable force within the vortex.

However, because the thousands of people had ceased their recitation, no new powerful forces were being generated in the void, and the vortex above Liu Junhuai was slowly beginning to thin out.

Constantly racked by excruciating pain, he immediately sensed the abnormal depletion of the powerful energy and swiftly produced three drops of spiritual liquid, pouring them into his mouth.

The advancement bottleneck hovering above the lake in his dantian emitted another soft click, and Liu Junhuai stepped into the late Golden Core stage.

The rotational speed of the vortex in his dantian and the transformation of true essence returned to an orderly pace, and the embryonic golden core, now the size of an infant's head, gradually solidified.

Abruptly, the golden light enveloping the golden core burst apart, leaving a perfectly round golden core etched with dense patterns suspended and spinning within Liu Junhuai’s dantian.

Compared to his earlier apricot-sized golden core, this new golden core, several times larger, gave Liu Junhuai a somewhat bizarre sensation. This golden core was simply too enormous!

Beaming foolishly with joy, Liu Junhuai only then noticed that the thousands of people below were staring at him in a daze, every single one of their faces frozen in a dumbfounded expression.

Just as Liu Junhuai was about to open his mouth to offer an explanation, a sudden clap of thunder rolled through the void, and billowing black clouds swept across the sky, blotting out the sun.

The previously clear blue sky was instantly filled with flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder, and a torrential downpour poured down without warning.

Even more ferocious gale-force winds followed closely behind, whipping up endless dust and debris into countless tiny, swirling spirals that rose and fell, tumbling left and right.

Strangely enough, all of these abnormal weather changes were centered exclusively around the space directly above Liu Junhuai; not a single person among the thousands gathered below was even splashed by a single raindrop.

At the very highest point of the void, a patch of ink-black storm clouds suddenly ceased its shifting shapes, as if brewing something momentous.

A short while later, low rumblings echoed faintly within the pitch-black clouds.

Suddenly, a streak of white light flashed across the void like a tearing bolt of silk, and the surrounding area instantly became as bright as day.

This streak of white light plunged straight toward the stunned Liu Junhuai.

Mu Fanghe and the others turned pale with shock, and a sharp, urgent cry snapped Liu Junhuai back to his senses. Watching the white light close in, Liu Junhuai gritted his teeth hard, instantly activating the "Mixed Origin Shield Cauldron." True essence flooded his entire body in a split second, and with a shrill, piercing roar bursting from his throat, he violently lunged toward the direction from which the white light was hurtling.

The moment he made contact with the white light, brilliant golden light erupted from Liu Junhuai’s entire body. Amidst a deafening roar, his body was struck down by the white light, plummeting to the ground and burying itself more than a zhang deep into the earth.

As the white light vanished, the sky instantly returned to clear, pristine blue, without a single lingering drop of rain.

The scene of thousands of people fell into absolute silence. The cultivators, still trembling and recovering from their shock and panic, kept their eyes glued rigidly to the spot where Liu Junhuai had fallen.

Mo Sitong let out a cry of grief and threw herself recklessly toward that earthen pit.

Fang Keyin’s figure flashed, bringing him instantly to Mo Sitong’s side, where he grabbed the completely hysterical woman.

Mu Fanghe also flickered over to the edge of the pit. Just as he fixed his gaze to peer downward, a blackened human-like figure abruptly stood up. Glancing blankly around, the figure leaped gracefully out of the pit.

"Boom!" A sudden wave of cheers erupted, and thousands of cultivators raised their voices in unified shouts.

Seeing Liu Junhuai’s charred, disheveled state and paying no heed to the fact that his clothes had been blasted to tatters, Mo Sitong flew forward and flung herself into his arms, bursting into laughter with a wet chuckle while tears still welled in her eyes.

Before Liu Junhuai could even exchange a word with Mo Sitong, Shen Duoduo and Wu Bini also rushed over to him, their pretty faces similarly streaked with tears.

Seeing the crowd gathering closer and closer around him, Liu Junhuai muttered something to them, quickly teleported behind the main stage, and reappeared a moment later with his entire outfit completely renewed.

Just as he was about to converse with everyone, Mu Fanghe said, "Whatever questions you have can wait until later. There are still thousands of people waiting out there!"

Liu Junhuai chuckled good-naturedly, strode forward, and raised his voice to address the thousands of cultivators: "I am deeply sorry for wasting everyone's time. I don't know why, but I suddenly had a breakthrough, causing all of you to worry and panic on my account!" With that, he bowed deeply toward the crowd.

Without stopping the various cheers rising from below, Liu Junhuai continued in a loud voice: "Please don't all shout at once. I have no idea what happened around me at the time either. If you ask your questions one by one, I'll know what I need to answer, right?"

The chaotic noise at the scene immediately subsided. A mid-stage Golden Core cultivator standing closest to Liu Junhuai called out in a clear voice, "Sect Master Liu, while we were comprehending your lecture, we suddenly saw a gigantic vortex form above you due to the influx of spiritual energy. At first, this vortex was only a few dozen zhang across, but it gradually expanded until it reached a range of over two hundred zhang by the end!"

Liu Junhuai was also quite startled. He looked toward Mu Fanghe beside him, and Mu Fanghe nodded to confirm that what the mid-stage Golden Core cultivator said was entirely correct.

Scratching his head, Liu Junhuai hesitated and said, "I didn't know what was happening at the time either. Seeing everyone deep in thought with their heads bowed, I simply circulated my true essence. To my surprise, I suddenly sensed a powerful force in the void. Absorbing this force had an immense effect on my cultivation, so I just absorbed it without realizing it."

Upon hearing this, Mu Fanghe tilted his chin and thought for a moment. A flash of realization abruptly crossed his eyes, and he exclaimed in shock, "The Power of Faith! This is actually the Power of Faith!"

Mu Fanghe’s subconscious cry was loud enough that all the thousands of people present heard it, and everyone immediately broke into heated discussions.

That mid-stage Golden Core cultivator called out, "Master Mu, what is the Power of Faith?"

Composure regained, Mu Fanghe explained, "The so-called Power of Faith usually appears in the Buddhist realm. It is an ethereal force born in the void when people's psychological shifts transform into positive emotions such as hope, confidence, and courage. Those capable of inspiring this kind of force are universally high-ranking monks possessing profound cultivation, immense virtue, great spiritual attainment, and profound wisdom!

"When this powerful force was generated just now, Sect Master Liu was the only one who remained clear-headed. Undoubtedly, this Power of Faith was generated because of him. It seems Sect Master Liu’s discourse struck a chord with everyone's hearts; everyone present was captivated by your exquisite exposition on the Dao, and thus the crowd's trust in you transformed into the Power of Faith." Having finished speaking, Mu Fanghe looked at Liu Junhuai with a bizarre expression, thinking to himself: *He hasn't achieved any of the conditions required for a high-ranking monk, so how on earth could he generate the Power of Faith?*

Mu Fanghe's general explanation immediately sent the scene into a boil once more. Female cultivators began chanting Liu Junhuai’s name again, leaving him both laughing and crying.

Naturally, there were those in the audience who remained skeptical. Immediately, someone shouted out, "I have nothing against Sect Master Liu; I simply want to know why, even though Sect Master Liu does not meet any of the traditional criteria for a high-ranking monk, the Power of Faith was still generated?" This fellow's question was virtually identical to what Mu Fanghe was thinking. Mu Fanghe inwardly grumbled: *I wanted to ask the exact same thing! You're asking me, but who am I supposed to ask?*

Yet, as a Domain Lord, he still had to maintain an unfathomably profound demeanor. He knew that since even he didn't understand it, any explanation he offered would merely be far-fetched rationalization. At the same time, remaining silent would hardly befit his lofty status.