Chapter 156 — The Tribulation

Victor had spent the entire night cultivating.

Victor had already restored himself to peak condition.

Victor opened his eyes.

His energy immediately surged through his body.

It was full.

Completely full.

His Spiritual Energy pulsed through his meridians, filling them to the absolute limit his current cultivation could contain.

He could feel it.

The boundary.

The invisible door separating Body Tempering from Spirit Gathering.

It was right there.

Victor could almost touch it.

I'm ready.

He had reached the absolute peak of Rank 10.

Normally, he might have attempted the breakthrough immediately.

But there was one problem.

He didn't think he could break through using his own strength alone.

He needed something to push him over the final barrier.

The Spirit Accumulation Pill.

Victor stood and left the cultivation chamber.

Rather than attempt the breakthrough inside the enclosed room, he decided to find somewhere with more space.

He eventually reached the enormous bridge overlooking the river.

The familiar sound of flowing water echoed through the cavern.

Victor sat down cross-legged in the middle of the bridge.

He looked around.

It was quiet.

Perfect.

Victor closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he willed the pill into his hand.

The small container appeared in his palm.

He stared at it.

He had never actually gone through a breakthrough like this before.

He didn't know exactly what to expect.

But he was about to enter the first realm of Spirit Gathering.

It was only the beginning.

There shouldn't be too many complications.

At least, that was what he thought.

Victor opened the container.

The moment the lid came off, the pill's aroma escaped.

A rich spiritual fragrance immediately spread through the air.

Victor didn't hesitate.

He remembered what Jack had told him.

A pill that wasn't properly contained would rapidly lose its medicinal effects.

He couldn't waste it.

Victor placed the pill into his mouth.

Then he swallowed.

And began cultivating.

Instantly—

Warmth spread throughout his body.

Victor's eyes widened.

The energy was far more powerful than he expected.

It surged through his meridians like countless lightning dragons racing through his veins.

His muscles tightened.

His breathing became heavier.

The medicinal energy continued spreading.

For several moments, it felt almost pleasant.

Then the intensity increased.

The warmth became heat.

The heat became pressure.

And eventually—

Pain.

Victor gritted his teeth.

The energy was forcing its way through every part of his body.

His meridians began changing.

Expanding.

Strengthening.

Adapting.

His physical body was being forced to evolve to accommodate the energy of the next realm.

Victor remained completely focused.

He could feel the barrier ahead of him.

The door to Spirit Gathering was beginning to open.

Come on.

He pushed harder.

His Spiritual Energy surged.

The invisible barrier cracked slightly.

Victor's body trembled.

Then he pushed again.

The crack widened.

His bones began changing.

His muscles tightened.

Even his meridians seemed to be rebuilding themselves into something stronger.

Victor's consciousness sank deeper into his Inner World.

His Core was spinning.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

The solid Core that had carried him through the entire Body Tempering Realm began to crack.

Victor watched as fractures spread across its surface.

Then—

CRACK!

The Core broke apart.

Victor's eyes widened.

The solid structure shattered like an eggshell.

But there was no explosion.

Instead, something new emerged from within.

A circular mass of Spiritual Energy formed around the remains of the old Core.

It wasn't solid anymore.

It was fluid.

A vortex of energy.

It rotated continuously, drawing Spiritual Energy inward before circulating it through Victor's meridians.

Victor stared at it.

A Spiritual Core.

He could feel it.

His transformation was almost complete.

He was only one step away.

One final push.

Then he felt something.

Victor's expression changed.

Pressure.

An enormous pressure was gathering above him.

His instincts screamed.

Victor slowly opened his eyes.

He looked upward.

And froze.

Above the bridge, clouds were forming.

Inside the cavern.

There was no sky.

No sun.

No moon.

Nothing that should have allowed clouds to exist.

Yet dark clouds were gathering directly above Victor.

They continued forming.

Thicker.

Darker.

More oppressive.

A strange energy filled the cavern.

Victor didn't understand what he was looking at.

But he knew one thing.

This wasn't normal.

Monklalusa suddenly opened his eyes.

His expression changed.

"What…?"

A disturbance had swept through the cavern.

He immediately stood.

At nearly the same moment, Gregol appeared beside him.

The two of them looked toward the bridge.

Dark clouds continued gathering above Victor.

Gregol stared in disbelief.

"Have you ever heard of someone breaking from Body Tempering into Spirit Gathering and forming tribulation clouds?"

Monklalusa shook his head.

"No."

His expression was unusually serious.

"This is completely unheard of."

He stared at the clouds.

"I've barely heard of people forming tribulation clouds when entering the third major realm."

Even that was considered incredibly rare.

Ancient records contained stories of cultivators experiencing such phenomena.

But those were legends.

This was different.

Victor was only breaking into Spirit Gathering.

Monklalusa narrowed his eyes.

"What does this boy have inside him?"

His expression became grim.

"What could possibly cause the world's natural laws—to try to suppress him before he even enters the first major realm?"

Gregol looked at Victor.

Then he smiled.

His belief only became stronger.

The chosen one.

This was another sign.

But there was no time to celebrate.

Victor still had to survive.

Monklalusa's expression hardened.

"Spirit Gathering against tribulation lightning…"

He shook his head.

"It could kill him."

Gregol nodded.

Neither of them moved.

They both understood the consequences.

If they interfered, they could ruin Victor's future cultivation.

Tribulation was something the cultivator had to overcome themselves.

No one could do it for him.

Victor had to face it alone.

Inside the Library, Lyra suddenly opened her eyes.

Something was wrong.

She could feel it through the Soul Bond.

An enormous fluctuation of energy was coming from Victor.

Lyra immediately stood.

She looked toward Jack.

"Something's wrong."

Jack's expression changed.

"Go."

Lyra nodded.

"Goodbye, Jack."

"Be careful."

Lyra's consciousness immediately left the Library.

Her spiritual body returned to her physical body.

She opened her eyes inside the cultivation chamber.

Victor wasn't there.

Lyra frowned.

She focused on their Soul Bond.

There.

She could feel him.

Farther away.

Lyra immediately followed the connection.

She moved through the village.

Then toward the bridge.

And finally, she saw it.

Victor was sitting cross-legged in the center of the bridge.

Above him were enormous dark clouds.

Lyra stopped.

"What…?"

She had no idea what was happening.

A short distance away stood Monklalusa and Gregol.

Lyra walked over to them.

Neither said anything.

They barely even acknowledged her.

Their attention remained fixed on Victor.

Lyra followed their gaze.

She could only watch.

Victor's body trembled.

The transformation continued.

His meridians were expanding.

His bones were strengthening.

His Spiritual Energy was becoming denser.

Inside his Inner World, the new Spiritual Core rotated faster and faster.

Victor could feel the power flowing through every part of his body.

He was so close.

So incredibly close.

One more push.

Victor focused everything he had on breaking through.

Then the pressure above him grew stronger.

Victor's instincts screamed again.

He slowly raised his head.

The clouds had become almost completely black.

Electricity flickered deep inside them.

Victor stared upward.

He didn't understand what was happening.

But somewhere deep within his instincts, he understood one simple truth.

His breakthrough wasn't finished.

Not yet.

He had reached the door to Spirit Gathering.

His Spiritual Core had already formed.

His body had begun adapting.

He was only one step away.

But until he passed whatever was waiting for him above…

He would never truly enter the Spirit Gathering Realm.