Heavenly Punishment, Terrifying Dao Injury

"Senior Disciple Brother!"

Li Yang's transformation instantly startled Lan Ling'e, and even Li Changshou's gaze involuntarily shifted over.

"The spiritual nature is gone!"

Li Changshou stepped forward in a single bound, picked up the Golden Pill, and found that all its spiritual nature had vanished—the pill had completely turned into a broken Magic Artifact.

He looked toward Master, then lowered his head to examine the Golden Pill in his hand.

'The last bolt of Heavenly Thunder, and Junior Brother changed just like that. Could there be something wrong? Or did he interfere with the Tribulation Crossing?'

Li Changshou's brows were tightly furrowed. No matter how much knowledge he had in reserve, this matter touched on his blind spot.

"Senior Disciple Brother, I sent a voice transmission to Senior Brother. His situation is very bad—he seems to have suffered serious injuries."

Just as Li Changshou was puzzled, Lan Ling'e's tearful voice sounded in his ear.

"What's the situation? Slowly... never mind, I'll ask myself."

Soon, Li Changshou also contacted Li Yang.

"Junior Brother, are you alright? I heard from Junior Sister that you were injured. Is it related to Master's final Thunder Tribulation? How serious is it? I still have some healing Spiritual Medicine here."

"I'm fine, just a minor injury. No need for Spiritual Medicine. I'll regulate my breathing for a while and recover. For now, Senior Disciple Brother, pay as much attention as you can to Master's side. We'll talk about the rest later."

Hearing Li Yang's words, Li Changshou's heart tightened.

'That voice transmission—this isn't a minor injury. Besides, he's already become an Immortal; a minor wound wouldn't be like this.

And Junior Brother didn't directly answer my question, which means his injury is related to Master's Thunder Tribulation.

No... not right. It's not just the Tribulation.'

A thought formed in Li Changshou's mind. His expression darkened as he looked up at the sky, then lowered his head again.

'That Golden Pill—the one that completed Master's Dao Foundation and let him cross the nine-layer Heavenly Thunder Tribulation—that pill has a problem.

So, Master was originally meant to fall, or else become a Turbid Immortal.

And Junior Brother used some unknown method to obtain such a pill, reversing Master's fate. So...'

Li Changshou forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart, even making his expression return to normal, then shifted his gaze back to Master, who was still crossing the Tribulation.

If Master succeeded in crossing the Tribulation, then he could confirm this matter.

But if this was true, then Junior Brother's injuries were likely far worse than he imagined—there might even be a risk of falling.

Meanwhile, inside the Shelter Grotto-Heaven.

Li Yang, who had once been of Immortal jade and bone, transcendent and extraordinary, was now split open with flesh and blood exposed. His Immortal Body was cracked with terrifying wounds, and the miraculous Immortal power flowed everywhere, yet the injuries stubbornly refused to heal.

His jade-gold Immortal Bones flickered with purple electric light, bringing waves of unbearable pain to Li Yang.

A crack split open in the center of his brow, and for some reason, it resembled a pitch-black abyss, endlessly devouring Li Yang's life force.

Even the Shelter Grotto-Heaven itself was now battered and broken.

Most of the Celestial Stars had fallen, the Grand Formation was nearly shattered, space cracks were everywhere, spatial turbulence surged in all directions, and even the Chaos Qi was stirring restlessly.

The core of that planet—over a thousand kilometers in diameter—the Pill Cauldron that served as the heart of the Grotto-Heaven's Star Formation, was also covered in cracks, as if it might explode at any moment.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Li Yang coughed up Immortal Blood laced with purple electric light. Forcing himself through the agonizing pain of the terrifying lightning, he formed one hand seal after another, barely stabilizing the remaining Celestial Stars.

"Heavenly Punishment is too fierce. This Purple Firmament Divine Thunder nearly struck me dead, and the Grotto-Heaven was almost destroyed.

Fortunately, I cultivated the Three-Revolution Immortal Body and left enough redundancy when designing the Grotto-Heaven's Grand Formation of Celestial Stars. Otherwise, even if I didn't fall, this Shelter Grotto-Heaven would have been smashed to pieces."

Watching the Chaos Qi be blocked by the restabilized Grand Formation of Celestial Stars and slowly transformed into spiritual energy, and even the nearly shattered Pill Cauldron being repaired bit by bit, Li Yang felt immense relief.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Li Yang coughed up more Immortal Blood, then picked up a jade bottle to collect it.

"Though I'm injured, this is still good stuff. Can't waste it!"

By now, the Grotto-Heaven had been thoroughly wrecked. The Grotto-Heaven Origin accumulated over several years had been completely consumed.

Of the over one hundred thousand Origin Immortal Stage 'Golden Pill' Avatars, more than seventy thousand had fallen. Of those fused with Star Stones at the Origin Immortal Stage, only a little over ten thousand remained. As for those below the Immortal realm, all had fallen.

"The loss is truly enormous. But fortunately, only their spiritual nature and my Immortal Sense were erased. Their forms still exist, and they can still be used for Array Formation."

This was a blessing in disguise.

Not only that, but precisely because their spiritual nature and his Immortal Sense had been stripped away, these 'Golden Pill' Avatars had undergone an even more peculiar transformation.

This transformation was that they could now absorb spiritual energy and Turbid Qi to continuously grow, as if they were about to turn into real stars.

To say nothing else, the Star Stone stars were now each over ten zhang in diameter. The stars formed from fallen Origin Immortals were also several zhang in size. As for those below the Immortal realm, the smallest was about the size of a basketball.

"The current Grand Formation doesn't utilize them fully. Once my injuries stabilize, I can readjust things, letting these stars absorb more Turbid Qi and spiritual energy to accelerate their growth.

Though I'm badly hurt this time and the Grotto-Heaven is heavily damaged, it seems I've gained fortune from misfortune."

His control over the Grotto-Heaven now surpassed his imagination.

How to put it?

He could fully control the Cavern Heaven before, but back then it was merely a tool.

Now, however, his control felt as if the Cavern Heaven were a part of his own body.

This sensation was quite peculiar.

And precisely because of this, he was able to detect the problem with the Falling Star, as well as understand why he could control the Cavern Heaven so thoroughly.

To put it simply, when his furnace exploded while refining the Golden Pill, a vast amount of Immortal Blood mixed with spiritual energy and various medicinal properties scattered into the Cavern Heaven. At the same time, quite a few One-Revolution and Two-Revolution Golden Pills had succeeded but never undergone their tribulation.

This Heavenly Punishment did not strike him dead. Instead, it activated the Immortal Blood and Golden Pills left behind in the Cavern Heaven, causing them to fully merge into it.

And the benefit of complete control over the Cavern Heaven was merely the most superficial gain Li Yang obtained. His true harvest was a benefit that might not even count as one.

[Name]: Li Yang [Place of Birth]: Primordial Wilderness [Dao Inheritance]: Immortal Crossing Sect [Cultivation]: Origin Immortal Middle Stage [Realm]: Heavenly Immortal Realm Peak [Entry 1]: Work-Life Balance (The longer the rest time, the better the cultivation effect. Current rest time: 81 days, 5 hours, 3 quarters) [Entry 2]: Late Bloomer (The older the age, the higher the comprehension, the better the cultivation effect. Current age: 118 years) [Entry 3]: To be unlocked (Unlocks at Golden Immortal Stage)

His normal lifespan was only 22 years, yet on Entry 2, his age was now 118.

At the same time, his age was increasing at a rate of one year per two hours.

What did this mean?

It meant that the injury at the center of his forehead was not simply devouring his vitality—it was forcibly consuming his lifespan.

"Earlier, when I used techniques that consumed lifespan, my age didn't increase. But now it's skyrocketing. So what is this?

Perhaps my Dao Injury has touched upon the Time Dao.

A True Immortal's lifespan is but one 'Hui,' a Heavenly Immortal's lifespan is one 'Yuan.' Only a Golden Immortal can escape the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, living as long as heaven and earth.

Although my cultivation is at the Origin Immortal stage, my Three-Revolution Immortal Body rivals that of a Heavenly Immortal, so my lifespan has reached its limit—129,600 years.

At the current rate, I can only hold out for twenty-nine and a half years. If I cannot heal this Dao Injury within that time, or break through to become a Golden Immortal, then thirty years from now will be my death day.

For others, this would be incredibly difficult—even a death sentence.

But...

My entry is Late Bloomer!

This thread of life—I can still seize it!!!"