Dual Tribulations Accomplished, Nebula Emerges

Forty days passed in the blink of an eye. In an open wasteland somewhere in the Great Wilderness, Yun Ce stood with his hands behind his back. A faint spiritual light swirled around him, and his gaze was fixed on the horizon, his expression calm yet tinged with a hint of vigilance. Qin Yu stood to the side, gripping his high-grade spirit sword tightly, his eyes fixed on Xiao Hei beside him, filled with both anticipation and worry.

Xiao Hei spread its massive wings and stood tall in the center of the clearing. Its eagle body looked increasingly robust, and wind-attribute spiritual energy faintly circulated around it. Its eagle eyes were full of determination, yet they could not hide a trace of nervousness. Over these forty days, it had been cultivating in seclusion at Thunder Mountain Residence, stabilizing its realm and honing its divine abilities, fully prepared for the tribulation. However, facing the heavenly might of the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, it was still impossible not to feel a sense of awe.

Suddenly, the wind and clouds on the horizon shifted violently. The once clear sky was instantly shrouded in dark clouds, with howling winds and flashes of lightning. A vast and majestic heavenly might descended from the sky, enveloping the entire lakeside clearing. Within the clouds, purple lightning rolled faintly, emitting dull rumbles that made one's heart tremble.

"The heavenly tribulation is here!" Yun Ce said softly, his tone solemn. "Xiao Hei, steady your mind, circulate your power, and withstand the first three lightning strikes head-on. Remember the energy-deflection method I taught you; it will be very beneficial for your physical body!"

Xiao Hei seemed to understand Yun Ce's instructions and let out a loud, piercing cry. It tucked its wings slightly, and the wind-attribute spiritual energy around its body surged, forming a cyan energy shield that wrapped firmly around it.

Boom—

The first bolt of purple lightning tore through the dark clouds, carrying the power to destroy the world, and slammed into Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei did not dodge, relying solely on its cyan energy shield to take the hit. The shield vibrated violently and rippled, but it ultimately withstood the lightning strike. Although the shield was damaged, it did not suffer any fundamental harm.

Immediately after, the second and third lightning strikes followed in quick succession, each thicker and more terrifying than the last. Xiao Hei gritted its teeth and persisted, constantly circulating its wind-attribute spiritual energy to repair the shield. With each strike, its body became more charred, and its aura grew slightly chaotic, yet it remained standing firmly in place without taking a single step back.

Qin Yu watched with anxiety, instinctively wanting to step forward to help, but was stopped by Yun Ce's raised hand. "No. The heavenly tribulation is a test for cultivators to defy the heavens; others cannot intervene. Otherwise, it will only trigger even more terrifying heavenly might, which would end up harming Xiao Hei."

Hearing this, Qin Yu could only force himself to suppress the urgency in his heart. He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes locked on Xiao Hei, praying for it silently.

Just then, the fourth lightning strike descended suddenly! This bolt was thicker than the previous three combined. Its purple light was dazzling, containing a terrifying power of destruction. It slammed into Xiao Hei, instantly shattering the cyan energy shield around it and striking its eagle body hard.

"Skree—!"

Xiao Hei let out a shrill cry. Its massive body was knocked staggering backward by the lightning. Its feathers were charred and falling off, blood flowed freely, and its aura withered instantly, looking as if it were about to collapse.

"Xiao Hei!" Qin Yu exclaimed, his eyes full of anxiety.

Yun Ce also frowned slightly, thinking to himself: It has indeed reached the most dangerous moment. He had long known that as a super divine beast, the Dark Lightning Peng King, Xiao Hei's tribulation would be highly unusual, and the fourth strike would be the greatest hurdle. However, he had not expected the power of this strike to be even stronger than he had anticipated.

At this critical juncture, a flash of crimson suddenly appeared in Xiao Hei's eyes. A completely different power erupted from its body—the wind-attribute spiritual energy that had been swirling around it quietly faded, replaced by a scorching and violent thunder-fire power that surged out from its massive eagle body like a fire dragon, shooting straight into the sky.

"Innate divine ability, the thunder-fire attack has reawakened!" A flash of pleasant surprise crossed Yun Ce's eyes. "Good! Xiao Hei did not disappoint me!"

The thunder-fire power, carrying a violent aura, collided head-on with the fourth purple lightning bolt. There was no earth-shattering explosion; instead, they merged. The thunder-fire power devoured the energy of the lightning, becoming even stronger. Seizing this opportunity, Xiao Hei circulated the awakened thunder-fire power within its body to heal its wounds, then flapped its wings and took the initiative to charge toward the lightning, absorbing all the remaining lightning energy.

Boom—

The fourth lightning strike dissipated completely. The thunder-fire power around Xiao Hei gradually receded. Although it was still covered in wounds, its eyes were bright, and its aura was recovering rapidly, even becoming stronger than it was before the tribulation. It flapped its wings and let out a loud, resonant cry, its eyes full of excitement and pride—it had successfully passed the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!

The dark clouds on the horizon gradually dispersed, and the heavenly might faded. A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on Xiao Hei. A stream of pure heaven and earth spiritual energy descended from the sky, nourishing its body, helping it heal its wounds and stabilize its realm.

Qin Yu stepped forward quickly and gently stroked Xiao Hei's wings, his eyes full of joy. "Xiao Hei, you did it! That's great!"

Xiao Hei rubbed affectionately against Qin Yu's palm and let out another cry toward Yun Ce, its expression full of gratitude. Yun Ce walked up, raised his hand, and cast a beam of spiritual light to help Xiao Hei heal its injuries, smiling as he said, "Well done, Xiao Hei. Having awakened an even more powerful thunder-fire ability, your strength will surely reach a new level in the future."

With Xiao Hei's successful tribulation, it was now Qin Yu's turn. Ten days later, the open wasteland in the Great Wilderness once again welcomed the aura of a heavenly tribulation.

Compared to Xiao Hei's tribulation, the power of Qin Yu's Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was not weak, but it did not cause him the slightest panic. Over these fifty days, not only had he mastered the Nebula Chapter of Stellar Transformations, but under Yun Ce's guidance, his physical body had also made a substantial breakthrough. Now, with a strong body and a high-grade spirit sword in hand, he was full of confidence.

Dark clouds gathered on the horizon, and purple lightning rolled. The first bolt of lightning crashed down. Qin Yu did not dodge or evade. A flash of spiritual light shone around him as he pushed his physical strength to the limit, taking the lightning strike head-on with his body. The lightning left only a faint charred mark on him without causing any fundamental damage; instead, it was quietly absorbed by the true energy within his body, nourishing his physique.

"What a strong body!" Yun Ce stood to the side, his eyes full of approval. Qin Yu had cultivated the Three Heaven-Reaching Charts to perfection, and his physical strength far exceeded that of cultivators at the same level. Withstanding the first two lightning strikes was more than enough.

The second lightning strike followed immediately. Qin Yu's expression remained unchanged as he took it with his body. The lightning energy was absorbed by him entirely. This was the method mentioned in Lei Wei's notes: using the power of the heavenly tribulation to temper the body. After resisting the lightning, his aura became even more refined.

When the third lightning strike descended, Qin Yu finally drew the high-grade spirit sword from his hand. The blade shimmered with a faint cold light and contained pure spiritual energy. He swung his sword, and a sharp Sword Qi shot into the sky, colliding with the lightning and shattering it instantly. The remaining momentum of the Sword Qi continued to soar into the clouds.

The fourth lightning strike was the finale. The thick purple lightning, carrying terrifying power, smashed toward Qin Yu. Qin Yu's eyes narrowed. He flicked his wrist and danced his sword, weaving the Sword Qi into a net that steadily caught the lightning. The Sword Qi and the lightning collided, and eventually, the lightning dissipated while the Sword Qi gradually faded. Qin Yu remained standing firmly in place, his aura steady and not even slightly chaotic.

The heavenly tribulation dissipated, and the heaven and earth spiritual energy gathered, nourishing Qin Yu's body. Under the tempering of the tribulation, the Xiantian true energy within him completely transformed into liquid purple true energy. His Dantian was filled with true energy, and his aura broke through, officially stepping over the threshold of the path of cultivation.

"Master, I have not failed the mission and have successfully passed the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!" Qin Yu turned around, bowed to Yun Ce, his eyes full of joy and respect.

Yun Ce nodded with a smile. "Good, good! Yu'er, you did very well. Having passed the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, you have truly stepped onto the path of cultivation. Now, you can finally begin to formally practice Stellar Transformations."

Xiao Hei also flapped its wings and flew to Qin Yu's side, letting out a happy cry, as if celebrating for him.

Afterward, the two and the beast returned to Thunder Mountain Residence. Yun Ce specifically instructed Xiao Xing to guard the residence and not allow anyone to disturb them, then took Qin Yu and Xiao Hei to the practice room. The practice room was spacious and bright, with a concentration of spiritual energy far exceeding that of the study, making it an excellent place for cultivation.

Qin Yu sat cross-legged, closed his eyes slightly, adjusted his breathing, and calmed his mind completely. Xiao Hei lay down beside him, closing its eyes to regulate its breath and digest the gains from the tribulation. Yun Ce sat on a stone chair nearby, standing with his hands behind his back, silently guarding Qin Yu, his gaze full of anticipation.

Qin Yu sank his consciousness into his body, and the cultivation method of the Nebula Chapter of Stellar Transformations slowly emerged in his mind. At the same time, the words left behind by Lei Wei after he failed the Nine-Nine Tribulation, which his master Yun Ce had once told him, echoed clearly in his mind: "Traversing the infinite universe, experiencing the evolution of the cosmos, drifting for thousands of years, passing through countless planets, yet today my soul is about to dissipate. Heaven does not help me. The transformation of stars, is the scorching sun the end? Alas, alas! Everyone on this continent, listen: today I pass on the Three Heaven-Reaching Charts. Whoever obtains the three charts and realizes their mysteries shall receive my legacy. Haha... is it a blessing or a curse..."

In Lei Wei's words, there was unwillingness and regret, but also confidence in Stellar Transformations. Qin Yu felt a thousand emotions in his heart. Whether it was a blessing or a curse, he secretly made up his mind that he would definitely cultivate Stellar Transformations to the extreme, not failing the legacy of Senior Lei Wei, nor the expectations of his master.

Calming his mind, Qin Yu began to formally practice the first stage of Stellar Transformations—the Nebula Stage.

Following the secret techniques in the cultivation method, Qin Yu slowly mobilized the liquid purple true energy within his body. After being tempered by the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, this purple true energy had become extremely pure, completely liquefied, and was flowing slowly through his meridians.

Under the control of Qin Yu's consciousness, the purple droplets scattered throughout his body began to gather slowly, surging toward his Dantian. Qin Yu's consciousness was immersed in it, clearly feeling that his Dantian was vast, as if it were a boundless universe. He had never seen anyone else's Dantian and did not know how his differed from others, only focusing his mind on controlling the liquid true energy to gather.

The liquid true energy flowed like purple streams in his Dantian, gathering and gradually forming a round water ball—if it were an ordinary cultivator, they would begin to refine this water ball at this moment, condensing a Golden Core and stepping into the Golden Core Stage.

However, what Qin Yu was practicing was not an ordinary technique, but the Stellar Transformations technique.

"Gather first, then disperse!" The cultivation method of the Nebula Chapter was clear in Qin Yu's mind. Just as he was about to disperse the water ball in his Dantian according to the trajectory of the technique, suddenly—a very special power appeared out of thin air in his Dantian, rotating in all directions like centrifugal force.

The purple water ball in his Dantian was instantly affected by this strange centrifugal force, shattering directly and scattering in all directions within his Dantian. Some of the true energy even rushed out of the Dantian along his meridians, permeating every part of his body.

Qin Yu was startled, then suddenly realized. He remembered what Lei Wei had recorded in the technique: the way of the nebula was to uphold the natural way of the universe. Back then, Lei Wei had also pondered for a long time before coming up with this "dispersion" method. And wasn't this natural centrifugal force in his Dantian exactly in line with the natural principles of nebula rotation?

"When I practiced internal martial arts as a child, my Dantian was like this, dispersing all my internal energy. Now that I am practicing Stellar Transformations, it is still the same." Qin Yu could not help but feel a little anxious, but he was not worried that the purple liquid true energy would be lost—even if it rushed out of his Dantian, this true energy was still under the control of his consciousness and could easily merge into every part of his body.

But the problem was, with this purple liquid true energy being affected by the centrifugal force of the Dantian and drifting everywhere, how could he control it to rotate according to the trajectory of the nebula?

"Practicing internal martial arts didn't work, and now practicing Stellar Transformations is the same. This strange Dantian is truly..." Qin Yu felt frustrated. The purple liquid true energy had already completely dispersed, leaving the Dantian in a mist-like state, and some had even rushed out of his body surface, swirling around him.

Just as Qin Yu was feeling frustrated, his mind suddenly stirred, and he subconsciously controlled the mist-like purple energy to return to his body. This energy had been cultivated through years of hard work and tempered by the heavenly tribulation, so controlling it was effortless; following his will, it surged back into his dantian.

But the moment this purple energy poured back into his dantian, the strange centrifugal force within it flared up again, spinning the energy once more and dispersing it back out through his meridians.

A cycle!

A nearly perfect cycle had just been formed!

Inside the dantian, a nebula-like vortex had taken shape. Purple energy constantly poured in from all parts of his body, and under the influence of the centrifugal force, it spun within the dantian before following the trajectory of a nebula to disperse out of the dantian again, breaking through his muscles and bones to permeate the space outside his body, only to pass through his muscles and bones once more and surge back into the dantian.

Without any deliberate control from Qin Yu, this cycle operated automatically and flawlessly. The natural centrifugal force within his dantian made the nebula vortex increasingly orderly and its operation smoother, perfectly aligning with the natural laws of the celestial bodies in the universe.

"Haha! Even the heavens are helping me!" Qin Yu snapped his eyes open, his gaze filled with extreme ecstasy, his voice trembling slightly from excitement. "This strange dantian of mine isn't a curse; instead... it's a massive blessing! Master was right after all!"

He finally understood that while his innate dantian defect made it impossible to practice ordinary internal arts, this "flaw" happened to perfectly align with the cultivation principles of the Nebula Chapter of Stellar Transformations. This natural centrifugal force allowed him to form a perfect nebula cycle without needing deliberate control, one that was even more aligned with nature and more perfect than the trajectory Lei Wei had perceived back in the day.

"A nebula, this nebula trajectory is nearly perfect, even more so than the one Senior Lei Wei perceived! Haha... this is truly..." Qin Yu was so excited he became incoherent. He knew that anyone who understood the contents of Stellar Transformations understood that the closer the Nebula Stage trajectory was to the natural path, the more solid the foundation and the higher the future achievements would be.

Although the nebula cycle could cultivate automatically without deliberate control, Qin Yu still focused his mind and concentrated on operating the technique—he knew that with focused cultivation, the speed would be faster and his insights deeper.

The purple, mist-like energy dispersed outside his body gradually covered a radius of two to three meters around Qin Yu. These purple clouds rotated slowly along with the nebula cycle, wrapping Qin Yu entirely within them, as if he were situated inside a purple nebula.

As these purple clouds moved with the cycle, they actively absorbed the power of the stars from the heavens and earth, then surged into his body through his muscles and bones, nourishing his physical body and meridians. As the power of the stars broke through his muscles and bones, they naturally absorbed a portion, tempering them and making them increasingly formidable. Subsequently, these purple clouds carrying the power of the stars returned to the dantian; as they passed through the nebula vortex, most of the energy was swallowed and refined by the vortex, while the remaining mist dispersed outside his body again to continue absorbing the power of the stars.

Every cycle absorbed more star power, tempered his physical body, and made the energy within the nebula vortex increasingly pure and potent. Qin Yu was completely immersed in this wonderful sensation of cultivation, his mind merging with the nebula cycle, forgetting time and everything in the outside world.

Yun Ce sat to the side, watching the purple nebula swirling around Qin Yu, his eyes full of anticipation and certainty. He had long known that the defect in Qin Yu's dantian was an excellent opportunity for practicing Stellar Transformations. Now that he saw Qin Yu successfully step into the Nebula Stage and form a perfect nebula cycle, most of his worries were set aside.

Xiao Hei lay to the side, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing. The power of thunder and fire intertwined with wind-attribute spiritual energy around his body; clearly, he was also digesting the gains from his tribulation and steadily improving his realm.

In the training room, spiritual energy swirled, the purple nebula rotated slowly, Qin Yu was immersed in cultivation, Xiao Hei was meditating, and Yun Ce was silently standing guard. Time flowed by slowly, and before they knew it, over a month had passed.

The purple mist around Qin Yu gradually faded in color, but the energy contained within it became increasingly pure and condensed. The nebula vortex in his dantian also became clearer and more stable, and his aura was steadily rising, continuously advancing toward the middle stage of the Nebula Stage.