Foundation Establishment Thunder Tribulation!

Visibly, under the medicinal force's scouring, Zhang Chen's bones, starting from his toes, shattered and crumbled inch by inch.

That agony was a hundred times more terrifying than death by a thousand cuts.

It wasn't just his bones—his meridians, muscles, even his five viscera and six bowels, all seemed ground to powder under this domineering power!

If not for the layer of purple-gold light membrane enveloping him, his entire body would have long since turned into a pile of mangled flesh.

"Ahhh—!!!"

Even with Zhang Chen's resilient will, tempered across two lifetimes, he couldn't help but let out a roar at this moment.

This was a pain no human could endure!

His consciousness began to blur, his very soul seemed to tremble, on the verge of collapsing and dissipating in this boundless agony.

"Guard your spirit platform! Stay conscious!"

At the cave entrance, Old Ancestor Zhang Tianzheng heard the scream, his heart shuddering as he nearly rushed in.

But he knew this was an inevitable tribulation of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

No outsider could help; Zhang Chen had to endure it alone.

"Can't pass out... absolutely can't pass out..."

Zhang Chen clenched his jaw so hard his lips split, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

In his mind flashed Lin Qingxue's gentle smile, the innocent faces of his two newborn children, and that tottering clan...

"If I fall... what will become of them?"

"I still have to lead the Zhang Clan to rule the world... how can I die here?!"

A belief called "responsibility" firmly anchored his fading consciousness.

Bearing the excruciating pain of bones grinding to dust, Zhang Chen relied on that last shred of clarity to frantically circulate the Nine Revolutions Universe Art.

"Absorb!!!"

He roared in his heart.

As the art activated, the destructive medicinal force rampaging through his body was finally guided into a mysterious trajectory.

Then, a massive Spiritual Energy Vortex took shape out of thin air, centered on Zhang Chen's body.

Wooosh—

A terrifying suction force erupted.

The dense, mist-like spiritual energy inside the cavern was instantly drained, all pouring into this vortex.

But that was far from enough!

The vortex expanded further, directly piercing through the mountain and extending to the outside world.

Above Dao Seeking Peak, the clear sky suddenly shifted with wind and clouds.

The heaven and earth spiritual energy for a hundred li around, as if summoned by a forceful command, madly converged toward the Back Mountain of Dao Seeking Peak.

A colossal, visible Spiritual Energy Funnel inverted over the mountaintop, a scene of breathtaking grandeur.

"What... is this?!"

At this moment, the Zhang Clan members cultivating on the front mountain rushed out of their dwellings in shock, looking up at the anomaly in the sky.

"Spiritual energy upheaval?! Could a precious treasure be emerging?"

"No! That direction is the Forbidden Ground in the Back Mountain! It's... it's the Young Master in seclusion!"

Zhang Yunshan stood before the main hall, watching the terrifying spectacle, his throat dry: "This is Foundation Establishment? Isn't that too exaggerated? Even when Old Ancestor formed his Core back then, it wasn't this big a commotion!"

Inside the cavern, Zhang Tianzheng, standing guard, was stunned speechless by this suction force.

He could sense that the Zhang Clan's proud Third-Grade Spirit Vein was now wailing in anguish!

The spiritual energy in the spirit eye was depleting at a terrifying rate.

"This isn't Foundation Establishment... this is devouring the heavens!"

Zhang Tianzheng sucked in a cold breath, his heart shaken to its core.

But he didn't stop it. Instead, gritting his teeth, he pulled tens of thousands of Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag, directly shattering them into rolling spiritual energy to replenish the cavern.

"Absorb! Absorb all you want!"

"This old man wants to see just what kind of monstrous foundation Chen'er can forge!"

As a torrent of Spiritual Energy poured in.

The transformation within Zhang Chen finally entered its second stage: Molding!

Those shattered flesh, blood, and bones began to reassemble under the dual effects of the Nine Revolutions Universe Art and the Heavenly Dao's medicinal power.

This time, it was no longer a mortal body.

The newborn bones were crystalline and translucent, like the finest white jade.

Dao Runes faintly flickered across their surface.

The newborn meridians were wide and resilient, resembling golden rivers flowing with purple-gold blood.

Impurities within the body were completely expelled—no longer black filth, but streams of gray smoke.

That was the innate Turbid Qi within the human body.

As the reshaping progressed, the heart-wrenching pain gradually receded.

Every inch of newly formed flesh seemed to contain power capable of shattering heaven and earth.

Zhang Chen felt like a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon.

He was welcoming an elevation in the very essence of life.

But this was not the end.

The true trial had only just begun.

Rumble—

In the sky outside, what gathered was not just Spiritual Energy, but thick, heavy clouds.

Within those clouds, purple lightning churned, brewing a Heavenly Might that made every cultivator's heart tremble.

Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment defied the heavens—it was bound to invite heaven's jealousy!

The Thunder Tribulation had arrived!

Visible to the naked eye, the entire sky above Dao Seeking Peak churned with overlapping dark clouds.

A suffocating pressure slowly seeped from the depths of the cloud layer.

This was no ordinary thunderstorm.

It was the gaze of the Heavenly Will looking down.

Across hundreds of miles of sea, the low-rank Sea Beasts that had been playing and foraging there moments ago, as if sensing the arrival of doomsday, dove deep into the ocean.