The powers of the formation interlocked, making it utterly impregnable.
Jiang Lu sat cross-legged at the center of the formation, her eyes tightly closed, her long hair drifting slowly in the wind stirred by the array.
Advancing directly from the fifth layer of the Golden Core to Nascent Soul was a chasm that demanded a complete transformation from ordinary cultivators. For Jiang Lu, however, it was a gamble with her life for the sake of all beings. With her foundation unstable, things could easily go wrong during the breakthrough.
But she could not withstand the Wood Heart's energy at all. If she did not form her Nascent Soul, her body would inevitably burst and she would die.
Guided by Jianmu and the Life Stone, and tempered by her experiences in the mortal world, she had been destined to cultivate the Way of All Beings from the moment she returned.
The Way of All Beings held feeling within detachment, and great sorrow within boundless love. It sought neither personal strength nor momentary gratification, but to bear the suffering of all things in the world through one's own Dao.
The threshold for this path of cultivation was extremely high, and its lightning tribulation was far more terrifying than those of ordinary cultivators.
As her Golden Core began to loosen and the outline of a Nascent Soul started condensing in her dantian, the sky abruptly changed color.
Above the previously tranquil Illusory Forest, black clouds came rolling in, layer upon layer, like an ocean hanging upside down.
The cultivators training nearby noticed something amiss the instant the black clouds began churning. They had intended to investigate, but stopped halfway there.
The Fifty-Four Heavenly Tribulation!
Six times nine, falling short of seven times seven, represented the Heavenly Dao's suppression and testing of exceptional talent.