The instant the pillar of light shot into the heavens, a pressure far surpassing the laws of nature swept across the entire Zhao Kingdom.
Atop the mountain, spiritual energy began to surge wildly around Luo Chuan. His white Daoist robe fluttered though there was no wind, and faint golden light wound through his hair.
The space around Luo Chuan warped slightly. The thin spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged toward him like a tide, forming a massive vortex above his head. The clouds were shredded by the vortex, revealing a clear expanse of sky.
"Bzz—"
In that instant, a faint tremor sounded from within Luo Chuan. It seemed to pierce straight through the minds of every living being.
Throughout the Zhao Kingdom, everyone—from street vendors to officials bent over their reports, even the emperor seated high upon his dragon throne—felt awe and oppression rise from the depths of their souls at the same moment.
The common folk dropped whatever they held. Their bodies went limp against their will, and their knees buckled, sending them crashing to the ground. They pressed their foreheads to the dust, not daring even to look up.
They felt as if the entire sky were pressing down upon them, making even breathing difficult.
In the palace, the emperor had just picked up his imperial brush when the pressure turned his entire body ice-cold. His fingers dug deep marks into the armrests of the dragon throne.
Staggering down the steps, he dropped heavily to his knees on the golden bricks before the horrified gaze of the assembled court. His body trembled uncontrollably.
In the forests beyond the city, cultivators out hunting abruptly stopped. The magical artifact in one of their hands clattered to the ground.
Their faces drained of color. Under that overwhelming aura of cultivation, they didn't even dare think of fleeing. One after another, they dropped to their knees, with only a single thought in their minds.
"Spirit Severing! These are the celestial signs that appear when a Spirit Severing expert breaks through! The Zhao Kingdom... actually has someone like this!"
At the Hengyue Sect, True Person Huanglong sprang to his feet from his couch and gazed toward the direction of Luo Chuan's breakthrough, his eyes filled with shock and excitement. He straightened his Daoist robe and bowed respectfully in that direction.
Liu Mei also emerged from seclusion and stood in the courtyard, gazing at the pillar of light on the horizon with longing in her eyes. She, too, bent her knees and knelt, feeling the immense power that belonged to her master.
Atop the mountain, Luo Chuan's aura continued to climb.
Within the vortex of spiritual energy, a golden "rune of intent" slowly took shape. It was the intent of an Exiled Immortal, ethereal yet majestic.
As the rune fully formed, the Nascent Soul within him began to transform. The pressure around him surged once more, and the very ground throughout the Zhao Kingdom seemed to tremble.
The rivers stilled, the wind fell silent, and every living creature bowed its head before this power.
Luo Chuan slowly opened his eyes. Stars seemed to swirl in his gaze. Feeling the unprecedented power within him, he gently raised a hand, and a thread of golden spiritual energy curled around his fingertip.
At the same time, a miniature Nascent Soul identical to him appeared in midair. It folded its arms across its chest and smiled as it gazed at the Zhao Kingdom's beautiful mountains and rivers.
Every Nascent Soul cultivator in the Zhao Kingdom appeared here, staring in astonishment toward the Hengyue Sect. Each wore the same dazed expression as someone staring at the third emoji on their phone.
Some could hardly believe their own eyes.
"This is the aura of Spirit Severing... Could it be Progenitor Luo Chuan of the Hengyue Sect?"
"How is this possible? He was only in the late Nascent Soul stage not long ago, and now he's broken through to Spirit Severing! What kind of talent does it take to achieve this?"
At that moment, everyone had only one thought: hurry, sit cross-legged and absorb the energy here to improve their cultivation.
The clear mountain forest suddenly transformed into an ink painting. Everyone could distinctly feel their strength rising at a frantic pace. Some mortals even broke through directly to Qi Condensation and became cultivators.
That wasn't all. Luo Chuan's Dharma Manifestation appeared in the sky. Its sheer bearing alone filled countless cultivators with an oppressive dread, as though their bodies might burst apart.
As the Dharma Manifestation appeared, the entire mountain range began to shake violently. Vast spiritual energy turned into peach blossoms that danced through the sky, draping the entire Zhao Kingdom in a robe of falling petals.
True Person Huanglong, the Hengyue Sect's leader, appeared in the air with several Core Formation cultivators and looked toward the sect's disciples and those from other sects.
"Listen well! No one may enter within a hundred-mile radius. Anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy!"
"Anyone who remains here will be dealt with for violating the sect rules. Leave at once!"
At True Person Huanglong's command, even the Hengyue Sect's disciples hurried away, afraid they would be cut down on the spot.
The disciples of the other sects also didn't dare set foot here. They could only watch from afar, filled with shock at the Spirit Severing expert.
Elder Liu Wenju stroked his beard, tears streaming down his face as he said, "Master, can you see this? Our Progenitor has broken through to Spirit Severing!"
"I believed all along that our Progenitor would one day break through the bottleneck. Now, the day our Hengyue Sect rises to greatness has finally come..."
The other Hengyue Sect elders were also moved to tears. They all knelt on the ground and bowed repeatedly in Luo Chuan's direction.
As time passed, the energy above the Hengyue Sect grew ever more immense. The Dharma Manifestation from earlier now radiated the aura of a Spirit Severing expert.
"His primordial spirit is indestructible, and his physical body everlasting. He's succeeded in breaking through to Spirit Severing!"
Teng Huayuan trembled all over, unable to believe his eyes. But when he recovered, he didn't hesitate for a moment—he immediately knelt and bowed repeatedly toward Luo Chuan.
The other Nascent Soul cultivators also knelt. That alone showed how much these old-timers revered Spirit Severing experts.
As the mountain peaks crumbled, Luo Chuan appeared in midair in an instant. Within a hundred zhang of him, the energy shattered across a vast area at a speed visible to the naked eye the moment it made contact.
At last, Luo Chuan had truly entered the Spirit Severing Realm, becoming an undisputed top expert within the Zhao Kingdom.
"So this is the Spirit Severing Realm?"
Feeling the energy within his body, Luo Chuan's lips curved into a smile. He swept his right hand forward, sending fallen peach blossoms whirling through the air. They transformed into countless seeds of spiritual energy and merged into the bodies of the Hengyue Sect's disciples.
Luo Chuan shrugged and glanced at the Hengyue Sect disciples, giving them a nod.
"I've left seeds of spiritual energy, condensed from the qi of heaven and earth, within your bodies. If any of you reach the late Nascent Soul stage in the future, I'll personally guide you through your ascension to godhood."
Hearing this, the Hengyue Sect's disciples all dropped to their knees, their eyes brimming with pride in and admiration for their ancestor.
Luo Chuan slowly turned around, just about to leave, when the sky in the distance suddenly tore open.
At the same time, to everyone's shock, a gigantic pagoda slowly emerged from the clouds, making the entire world tremble violently.
"Oh? So he sensed it too?"
Luo Chuan seemed to sense the other party's aura as well and smiled faintly.