Chapter 5: The Celestial Ji Ning

"What astonishing momentum."

Ji Dian fanned himself, squinting, while Red Snow Celestial also watched solemnly. Their experience was vast, so they knew well that ordinary 'calamity clouds' typically formed from two dark clouds that gradually converged, even for the standard ninety-nine heavenly tribulations. Only when the tribulation underwent a fundamental transformation would the current situation occur.

An endless expanse of calamity clouds.

"Rumble~~~" In the center of the boundless dark clouds that covered the entire sky, countless purple lights faintly appeared. These purple lights began to rotate, so numerous that they nearly filled the entire cloud layer, with faint purple lights visible as far as the eye could see.

Gradually.

A vortex began to form in the sky directly above Ji Ning. It seemed to rotate with great effort, and as it spun, vast amounts of purple light from afar were continuously sucked in, with endless calamity clouds flying into the vortex.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~" The endless dark clouds began to show their edges, rapidly shrinking as they poured into the vortex. Countless purple lights also surged into the vortex.

Inside the vortex was a chaotic blur.

After a moment.

Only the chaotic vortex remained in the sky; the endless calamity clouds had completely vanished, and even the pressure was gone.

"Why do I feel a tightness in my heart?" Woodchild Zi muttered.

"In the books I saw at Mount Fangcun, none recorded such a tribulation," Xiaoqing said worriedly.

...

Within the chaotic vortex, a bolt of lightning gradually condensed. It was entirely purple, faintly mixed with some white lightning.

"Whoosh."

This bolt of purple-white lightning struck directly down from the chaotic vortex high above. It lacked fierce, overbearing momentum; instead, it carried an imperial aura that made one involuntarily bow their head and submit.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning frowned slightly. "The seventy-third heavenly thunder during my second incarnation's tribulation was this same beautiful purple-white heavenly thunder. I didn't expect that for my true body's tribulation, the first heavenly thunder would be at this level."

Ji Ning sensed...

This tribulation would not be easy to overcome.

"Boom."

Ji Ning stood in the void, letting the lightning strike his body as electric serpents slithered over him. A divine body at the Pure Yang Dharma treasure level was not so easily shaken.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Heavenly thunders struck one after another!

The power grew greater and greater. By the ninth heavenly thunder, it was completely white. Dazzling white, holy white, carrying an elegant grace, it crushed down toward Ji Ning below. Ji Ning, in his white robe, stood in the void, still looking up as the white heavenly thunder struck down.

"Heavenly thunder is just like this," said the young girl Mingyue from afar, watching her father bathed in white lightning, admiration in her eyes. She exclaimed excitedly, "Father didn't even make a move and easily withstood it."

"Little Mingyue, your father easily withstood it, but that doesn't mean the tribulation isn't fearsome. Before you were born, when your father's second incarnation underwent the tribulation, it was also a ninety-nine heavenly tribulation. The final thunder of that tribulation was also this kind of fully dazzling white heavenly thunder," Uncle Bai explained from the side. "Your father cultivates the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, and his divine body is extraordinary, which is why he can withstand it head-on."

"The Eight-Nine Arcane Art is that powerful?" Mingyue's eyes sparkled. "I want to cultivate it too."

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

Heavenly thunders struck one after another.

From the elegant, dazzling white, they gradually began to mix with a trace of gold, giving the heavenly thunder a supreme aura... as if directly facing the Dao itself.

Bathed in the lightning, Ji Ning felt as if he were being washed by a current, his whole body comfortable. Subtly, his divine body was undergoing extremely fine changes.

The thirty-sixth... the forty-ninth... the fifty-fourth...

The power of the heavenly thunder gradually increased.

"The sixth level of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art is indeed formidable," Red Snow Celestial murmured. "Back then, the strongest heavenly thunder of my Celestial Tribulation was only as powerful as the fifty-fourth heavenly thunder, and I barely blocked it with all my might. But Ji Ning doesn't even need to act; his divine body can fully withstand it."

"Junior apprentice-brother Red Snow, you were born at the dawn of creation, when the Eight-Nine Arcane Art didn't exist yet," Ji Dian said with a smile. "Watching Junior Apprentice-Brother Ji Ning's tribulation, there's a good chance of Pure Yang Golden Thunder appearing."

"Pure Yang Golden Thunder?" Red Snow Celestial showed a trace of worry. "If that's the case, the sixth level of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art alone might not be enough to block it."

Ji Dian gently fanned himself, smiling. "Just watch."

...

Bathed in the lightning, Ji Ning carefully felt the power of the heavenly thunders. The seventy-second, seventy-third... the thunder was now almost entirely gold, with only a little white mixed in. The power was so great that Ji Ning's body began to tremble, faint fine wounds appearing, but divine power surged and instantly healed them.

"It's starting to make my divine body unable to hold on," Ji Ning thought, still looking up as the heavenly thunder struck. He observed carefully.

Seventy-eighth, seventy-ninth, eightieth.

The last one.

"Out."

The white-robed Ji Ning suddenly shook, manifesting three heads and six arms, and in his hands appeared six Ananda World-Pacifying Swords.

"Break!" Ji Ning, holding the six Ananda World-Pacifying Swords, shot up into the sky, charging straight at the chaotic vortex high above. Within the vortex, a bolt of lightning was also being孕育ed—pure gold, without any trace of other colors. This bolt of pure gold lightning carried an aura of ultimate yang, ultimate hardness, and extreme sharpness; just looking at it made one's heart tremble.

"How terrifying," Mingyue's heart quivered.

"Pure Yang Golden Thunder!" Red Snow Celestial was shocked.

"Pure Yang Heavenly Thunder," Ji Dian stopped fanning.

From afar, Patriarch Bodhi and the Woodcutter also watched this scene. Pure Yang Golden Thunder... only appeared in heavenly tribulations; immortals and demons in normal cultivation could never condense this Pure Yang Golden Thunder. It was a heavenly thunder of astonishing power, yet also containing boundless mystery.

Ji Ning, with three heads and six arms, holding six Ananda World-Pacifying Swords, soared into the sky.

The ultimate yang, ultimate hard Pure Yang Golden Heavenly Thunder also struck downward.

"Shatter!"

Six dazzling sword lights flared.

Each sword light contained Ji Ning's powerful heartforce, fully infused with the fourth level of heartforce.

"Bang bang bang bang~~~" The six powerful sword lights met the Pure Yang Golden Thunder head-on. With a rumble, the Pure Yang Golden Thunder trembled and completely shattered, but the fragmented golden electric serpents still landed on Ji Ning, only causing his divine body to tremble slightly, without even leaving wounds.

"Whoosh~~~"

The chaotic vortex high above instantly contracted, transforming into a bolt of lightning.

Swish!

In a flash, it reached Ji Ning. This bolt of lightning was so fast it was impossible to block.

"Crackle crackle~~~ rumble~~~" Ji Ning felt that under this mysterious bolt of lightning, his entire body's sinews and bones crackled and popped, rapidly transforming, becoming tougher and stronger. His organs and muscles also rumbled, undergoing transformation.

"Legend says... after withstanding Pure Yang Golden Thunder and becoming a Celestial, the divine body becomes a perfect divine body," Ji Ning understood.

For a Celestial to break through to become a True God,

first, the body must reach the level of a perfect divine body.

A perfect divine body, in terms of strength, speed, divine power, and many other aspects, reaches the pinnacle of a Celestial. Without relying on Pure Yang Golden Thunder, cultivating slowly would be an endlessly long, gradual process.

...

Ji Ning sat cross-legged in the wilderness.

The Heart Demon Tribulation descended.

"The Heart Demon Tribulation poses no threat to Ji Ning," Patriarch Bodhi said with a smile, watching his disciple Ji Ning from afar. He nodded. "The Celestial Tribulation is considered passed." Then Patriarch Bodhi vanished into thin air.

The Woodcutter also nodded slightly and murmured softly, "I wonder if this Junior Apprentice-Brother Ji Ning can break through to become a True God Patriarch before the final calamity."

The Woodcutter then also vanished into thin air.

They disappeared one after another. Among the other onlookers in the distance, only Ji Dian faintly sensed something and turned to look far behind, frowning. "Mis-sensed? Was it Master and Senior Apprentice-Brother?" In the Mount Fangcun lineage, only the unfathomable Master and the foremost among disciples, Senior Apprentice-Brother, could be so mysterious and unpredictable.

Ji Ning's heartforce was too powerful.

The descending Heart Demon Tribulation, though already astonishing, under the resistance of Ji Ning's heartforce, only kept him in the heart demon world for nearly a month before he fully awakened.

"I myself know that Senior Apprentice-Sister is my heart demon."

"I tried my best to make myself believe that it was her."

"But unfortunately, I could still sense... that it was fake, illusory."

Ji Ning sat cross-legged, opening his eyes. Faint tears glistened in them, but then evaporated and disappeared.

His heartforce at the fourth level was too powerful.

He had wanted to reunite with Senior Apprentice-Sister once more in the heart demon world, but he painfully discovered that his powerful heartforce could detect the flaws; Yu Wei in the heart demon world was fake, illusory.

Ji Ning also understood.

If his heartforce were only at the third level, perhaps he wouldn't have detected that Yu Wei was illusory in the heart demon world, but then he might have truly sunk forever, unable to transcend.

"Just wishful thinking..." Ji Ning closed his eyes.

Boom~~~~

The heavens and earth changed color.

Auspicious clouds appeared, beautiful beyond compare, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth.

"Hum~~~" A huge sun star and moon star manifested above Ji Ning, with surging lunar power and solar power pouring into Ji Ning like a storm. At the same time, vast amounts of worldly power converged and flowed into Ji Ning.

Ji Ning, seated on a golden lotus, became the center of endless energy.

Light flowed all over his body.

A golden core began to form within him.

At the same time, his divine body began to transform, frantically absorbing the lunar and solar power. When all smoke and clouds cleared and silence returned, Ji Ning's divine body naturally emitted a pressure—the pressure of a Celestial, and among Celestials, it was supreme, for his divine body had reached the perfect level.

"Father." Mingyue ran over.

Ji Ning, sitting cross-legged, smiled and embraced his daughter.

"Father, you were so majestic," Mingyue said in his arms, looking up at him, her eyes shining. She would never forget the scene of her father bathed in lightning, nor the sight of the huge sun and moon appearing above his head as he sat cross-legged on a golden lotus.

At that moment,

Red Snow Celestial, Yuanguang Celestial, Xuexie Celestial, Jiushe Celestial, Jiuyu Celestial, Lieyang Celestial, and Xuanyue Celestial all moved, appearing before Ji Ning in an instant. Their eyes were filled with excitement, and even a yellow-furred bear appeared out of nowhere. The eight of them looked at Ji Ning, full of excitement and anticipation.

Then they respectfully knelt on one knee: "Greetings, Lord of the Manor!"

The Star Picking Manor was finally about to reappear in the Three Realms!

...