Transformation

Time passes without measure, seas turn to mulberry fields.

For Li Cha, sealed within the valley, time was more like a vague background noise. Outside, the three clans of Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin had long since risen from obscurity to their zenith, and now their eyes were bloodshot from slaughter. The flames of war swept across the Primordial World, endless resentment and blood-colored fiend Qi soaking into every inch of land. Even the Heavenly Dao seal could not fully isolate the nauseating sweetness and violent aura that seeped through.

The Dragon-Han Initial Tribulation had reached its final stage.

Inside the valley, the scorched black earth remained, but the ten-foot-tall Enlightenment Tea Tree had taken on a completely different radiance. Its branches and leaves were not lush, yet every leaf was a vivid emerald, flowing with a warm, jade-like luster. The natural Dao patterns were clearer and deeper than before. After several Yuanhui of bitter cultivation, he had fully recovered from his injuries. Using the Fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation and his unparalleled enlightenment, he had forcibly reconstructed the original Chaos-rooted Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique into a supreme cultivation method perfectly suited to his current "Innate Enlightenment Tea Tree" form, yet one that pointed directly to the source of the Great Dao—the Primordial Chaos Great Dao True Scripture.

Another hundred thousand years passed. He devoted himself to refining the Chaos Pearl, mastering twenty-four of its Innate Restrictions, elevating his control over this Chaos Supreme Treasure to a new level. Though he could not yet fully mobilize its power to evolve worlds, by borrowing its ability to obscure Heavenly Secrets and generate Dao resonance on its own, his cultivation speed advanced by leaps and bounds.

One day, an indescribable sense of oppression, like a ten-thousand-ton boulder, suddenly pressed down on his heart.

Li Cha awoke from deep meditation and looked up at the sky. Despite the isolation of the Heavenly Dao seal, he could still clearly sense, in the direction of Buzhou Mountain, the Celestial Pillar of the Primordial World, a terrifying energy capable of destroying heaven and earth slowly gathering. It was no ordinary thunder, but the final tribulation punishment born from the interweaving of Tribulation Fiend Qi and Heavenly Dao Laws!

"It's here, isn't it?" Li Cha murmured to himself, his eyes sharp. Even he felt a tremor from this power. His Form Transformation Lightning Tribulation had actually coincided with the Heavenly Punishment force at the end of the Dragon-Han Calamity.

At that very moment, the origin power within him, suppressed and tempered for several Kalpas, erupted like a long-suppressed volcano, unstoppable!

"Hum!"

The true body of the Innate Enlightenment Tea Tree burst forth with sky-piercing azure divine light. Vast Spiritual Energy and Dao resonance shot straight into the heavens, triggering the Form Transformation Tribulation hidden in the void!

"Boom!!!"

Not from Buzhou Mountain, but directly above this sealed valley, the Heavenly Dao rules were stirred. Pitch-black Tribulation Clouds condensed instantly, their scale far beyond any ordinary creature's Form Transformation Lightning Tribulation. What was more terrifying was what writhed within those clouds—not ordinary purple lightning, but dark-red electric serpents tinged with Chaos aura, filled with the meaning of destruction and finality—World-Destroying Divine Thunder!

The Heavenly Dao, at the moment of his transformation, had actually split off a thread of the world-destroying tribulation punishment meant for the calamity's instigators and added it to his Form Transformation Tribulation! This was a true death sentence!

Outside the valley, on the battlefield where the fighting was fiercest, Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, Beginning Qilin, and their billions of soldiers were all jolted by the sudden, terrifying thunderclap so close at hand. The rhythm of slaughter slowed, and countless gazes turned in shock and suspicion toward the small valley that had seemed "unremarkable" in their perception, yet now bore such a horrifying lightning tribulation.

"What place is that?" Ancestral Dragon's enormous dragon eyes flickered with confusion and vigilance. Even with their divine abilities, they could not see through the valley's true nature, and the power of that tribulation made even their Peak Quasi-Saint skin crawl. Stranger still, when such terrifying thunder struck, the valley remained utterly still, not even a wisp of dust rising, as if all the destructive force had been swallowed by an invisible maw.

Inside the valley, Li Cha looked up at the Tribulation Clouds brewing World-Destroying Divine Thunder, but a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"You really think highly of me. Just a transformation, and you've even brought out the World-Destroying Divine Thunder." He showed no fear, only a calm readiness, as if he had long prepared for this.

The moment the first dark-red World-Destroying Divine Thunder tore through heaven and earth like a roaring calamitous dragon, carrying the aura of ending all things as it struck fiercely, Li Cha moved.

He did not manifest his true body to withstand it head-on. Instead, he raised his hand and offered up an object.

It was an umbrella.

The ribs were refined from a section of his own main trunk, tempered by Heavenly Punishment into extreme toughness. The canopy was woven from that thread of Heavenly Punishment force he had forcibly seized from the Heavenly Punishment twenty thousand years ago and refined for two hundred thousand years, using it as warp and weft, and merging it with a vast amount of his own Great Dao Merit as threads. When the umbrella was completed, the Great Dao resonated, merit golden light concealed within, yet it faintly radiated an inviolable majesty that made all thunder flee.

Houtian Great Dao Merit Spiritual Treasure—Heavenly Mechanism Umbrella!

"Hua"

The Heavenly Mechanism Umbrella opened leisurely above Li Cha's head, its canopy spinning, radiating a gentle yet indestructible clear light. There was no earth-shattering collision. The moment the World-Destroying Divine Thunder, capable of severely wounding or even killing a Quasi-Saint, touched the clear light, it was like snow meeting spring sun—its power was layer by layer dissipated, purified, and finally turned into docile Thunder Spirit Qi, silently absorbed by the canopy, actually strengthening the Heavenly Punishment force within it.

The Tribulation Clouds seemed enraged. More World-Destroying Divine Thunder poured down like a torrential storm, dark-red lightning illuminating the entire valley like a hellish furnace. Yet no matter how violent the thunder tribulation, the Heavenly Mechanism Umbrella stood like a reef amidst raging waves, unmoving. The space beneath the umbrella became a pure land unto itself, immune to all laws.

In the sky above, the Heavenly Dao rules coalesced, and a cold, emotionless, enormous Eye of Heavenly Punishment slowly emerged. It stared fixedly at Li Cha, safe and sound beneath the umbrella. Deep within its utterly indifferent pupils, a barely perceptible ripple seemed to stir—an emotion close to "frustration" and "wanting to curse."

(It's just a Form Transformation Lightning Tribulation, do you have to use the Great Dao to suppress me?)

(It's just a Form Transformation Lightning Tribulation, and you call that "just"? You even brought out the World-Destroying Divine Thunder!)

The Eye of Heavenly Punishment was, after all, an embodiment of rules. It could not truly "curse." After eighty-one strikes of World-Destroying Divine Thunder, far exceeding the standard specifications, failed to budge the Heavenly Mechanism Umbrella in the slightest, the Tribulation Clouds began to dissipate. The Eye of Heavenly Punishment "looked" deeply at Li Cha, carrying a hint of helplessness, and slowly faded away.

The Form Transformation Lightning Tribulation was overcome!

Vast, life-giving creation descended from the heavens, merging into Li Cha's true body. Amidst ten-thousand-zhang azure light, the tea tree form gradually dissolved, finally coalescing into a young Daoist.

He wore a green Daoist robe, spotless, and an ancient Daoist crown on his head (specially refined, since his true body had nearly been plucked bald; after transformation, the condition of his scalp was unclear, so it was better to cover it). His face was fair and beardless, his nose high and straight, his eyes like peach blossoms, and a smile that made others feel like a spring breeze often hung at the corner of his mouth.

In his hand, he held a jade ruler—the Spirit Origin Ruler, transformed from the core root of the Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea Tree. It was a High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, containing thirty-six Innate Restrictions. The ruler's body had a subdued luster, possessing the supreme divine abilities to enlighten all things, awaken intelligence, subdue demons, and expel evil.

Feeling the vast, surging mana within him, far beyond the shackles of a Golden Immortal, Li Cha smiled faintly.

Early Da Luo Golden Immortal! The Human Flower had bloomed with twelve petals, signifying that his essence, energy, and spirit were all perfected.

If the Heavenly Dao had not previously shaved his root foundation and obstructed him at every turn during this Form Transformation Tribulation, with the foundation of his Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea Tree, his transformation would have started at least at the Quasi-Saint level. The current Early Da Luo cultivation was only achieved by cleverly maneuvering with the Heavenly Mechanism Umbrella during the thunder tribulation, forcibly "plucking" a fair amount of the tribulation thunder's origin from the Heavenly Dao. Otherwise, as the Heavenly Dao wished, he would have been lucky to reach Peak Golden Immortal.

With a thought, the Chaos Pearl sank and floated within his Primordial Spirit. Having refined twenty-four restrictions, he could now initially use its ability to obscure Heavenly Secrets. From now on, as long as he wished, even future Saints—except for the Heavenly Dao itself, which governs the rules of the Primordial World—would find it difficult to calculate his origins.

The Heavenly Punishment dispersed, but the seal remained. Outside the valley, Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Beginning Qilin, unwilling to give up, each used their methods—Dragon Breath, Phoenix Flame, Qilin Seal—striking the seal, but it was like mud entering the sea, not even a ripple stirred. A cage personally set by the Heavenly Dao was not something they could shake.

Within three years, the Tribulation Fiend Qi once again clouded their spiritual platforms. The doubts and investigations from outside were cast aside. The three clans and their vassals, for the illusory position of "protagonist of the Primordial World," once again wrapped in boundless slaughter, clashed together, pushing the Primordial World deeper into the abyss.

Yet, on the edge of that chaotic battlefield, the existence of this strange valley had already caught the eyes of certain figures behind the scenes. The immortal-boned Hongjun, the demonic-aura-shrouded Luohu, and several other great beings hidden in the shadows all turned their gazes here, marking this strange place that even the final tribulation of the Dragon-Han Calamity could not damage. From time to time, a hidden divine thought would sweep over it, trying to probe its secrets.

Within the seal, Li Cha held the Spirit Origin Ruler, lightly brushed his sleeve, and looked up at the invisible barrier separating inside from outside. His gaze seemed to pierce through everything, seeing the blood-drenched Primordial World beyond.

"It's time to go out," he said softly, his tone calm, yet carrying an unshakable resolve.