Myriad Phenomena Platform

"Crackle—"

Within Jiang Ming's dantian Sea of Bitterness, a towering figure stood between heaven and earth, swallowing the lightning striking him as easily as drinking water. In an instant, that humanoid bolt of lightning seemed to brighten slightly.

Having just been struck by lightning, Jiang Ming seemed to glimpse a figure with a human face and bird's body, two green snakes hanging from its ears and two crimson snakes coiled around its arms. It vanished in a flash.

What had happened?

Crack!

Before Jiang Ming could think further, another lightning bolt as thick as a water barrel crashed down on him. His entire body crackled within the lightning, glowing like a lightbulb.

However, in the next moment, after completing another round of tempering his body, the lightning within him was completely devoured by that humanoid bolt of lightning. Everything was perfectly controlled: Jiang Ming would not be harmed, yet he would still receive the benefits of being tempered by tribulation lightning.

In the end, Jiang Ming endured seventy-two lightning strikes. The final bolt was as thick as a millstone, like five bolts of lightning striking his head at once. It engulfed his entire body and lasted for three breaths before finally stopping.

Jiang Ming stood within the pillar of lightning as though he were about to be torn into dust. The vast might of heaven was terrifying beyond compare; even though cultivators had evolved, they were still incomparably insignificant.

Then, a crimson lightning serpent was flung out by the divine figure within his Sea of Bitterness and coiled around his body.

In the next moment, Jiang Ming felt as though he had become part of the lightning itself. Instinctively, he opened his mouth and inhaled.

The lightning force transformed into pure essence, which he swallowed into his body. It tempered his limbs, bones, internal organs, and extraordinary meridians.

Finally, most of the lightning force was happily devoured by his Life-Bound Sword. The Light Stone it had previously absorbed was reduced to dust.

At that moment, his Life-Bound Sword transformed into a sword of light resembling silver lightning. Dao Patterns of dragons and phoenixes covered its surface, along with a faint, intermittently visible imprint of a humanoid bolt of lightning.

Clang—

Accompanied by a crisp sword cry like clashing metal, his Life-Bound Sword transformed into a Lesser-Grade Dharma Treasure amid that final bolt of lightning.

Boom!

At the same time!

Around Jiang Ming's Nine-Colored Lotus Platform, several illusory lotus petals vaguely appeared. The lotus platform finally rose from the center of the liquid ocean of elixir within his dantian, circulating twelve-colored divine radiance and suppressing the elixir sea.

His Life-Bound Sword descended and embedded itself precisely in the lotus heart at the center of the platform.

It was about to evolve into a Twelve-Petaled Treasure Lotus Platform—or perhaps it should be called the Myriad Phenomena Platform.

Just when Jiang Ming thought the evolution was over, there was a rumble. Within his Sea of Bitterness, purple-gold true essence boiled. Starting from the twelve-colored lotus platform at its center, monstrous demonic qi surged forth, turning the twelve-colored lotus platform into a Black Lotus Platform in an instant.

Not only that, but his purple-gold sea of true essence also transformed into a vast black ocean of demonic essence in a single instant.

Demonic qi billowed from Jiang Ming's body. In the blink of an eye, he seemed about to become a great demon who slaughtered all living beings.

"Kill! Kill! Kill—"

From the depths of Jiang Ming's consciousness sea, endless black qi surged forth without limit. It was as though he had returned to Shushan, returning to that instant when a single thought had turned him into a demon. His Dao Heart questioned the heavens—this was the final step in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

"Heaven questions all living beings. The heart of heaven and the heart of man are both the Great Dao."

"If one cultivates to protect all living beings, yet cannot protect the one they love, then what is the Dao?"

"What difference is there between becoming immortal and becoming a demon?"

"—"

Jiang Ming was speechless. So this was where it had been waiting for him? Didn't it say it had let go? One thought becoming a demon, one thought becoming a Buddha, ascending...

So it had been waiting for him here?

"I refuse to accept this. Others cultivate and grow stronger in pursuit of immortality, but I only want Lingzhi to live."

"My poor daughter..."

"Father, Ming'er was unfilial. I failed to protect Lingzhi."

Jiang Ming: "..."

So the memories from both his previous life and this life had come out to cause trouble, hadn't they?

They had all decided to join in and see whether Jiang Ming would go mad.

"Demonic Dao, Human Dao, Buddhist Dao, Immortal Dao—I, Jiang Ming, do not care about any of them. I only want to become stronger. I want the heavens to no longer be able to blind my eyes, and the earth to no longer be able to contain my body. When I become strong enough, I will illuminate all heavens, reverse reincarnation, and bring the dead back to life. Then there will be no more obsessions."

"If that is still not enough, then I will become even stronger."

"You cannot escape your own world because you cannot see hope. You cannot transcend heaven and earth only because you do not know how vast this world truly is. Once you know, you can surpass it."

In this life, Jiang Ming only wanted to stand at the absolute highest point. He did not want to become part of anyone else's story; he only wanted to be himself freely and completely.

"So what if you become a demon? Then be a demon for once. No pursuit, no disguising yourself with the Seventy-Two Transformations. I am you, and you are me. I will always be watching you."

Clearly, the demonic obsession from Jiang Ming's previous life had always remained. It had all been a lie—what letting go? From the moment one picked something up, one could never truly put it down. One could only pretend nothing had happened and allow time to dull everything.

"That's right, I'm unwilling too! Why aren't you going to wipe out the Li Family right now? Ahhh—"

The painful memories of Jiang Ming's current life surged violently.

"You do not understand. Even if I fall into the demonic path, even if demonic qi rolls around me, I am still a kind and gentle person. I have my own plans."

"As for the Li Family, I will deal with them properly."

Jiang Ming examined his own heart, his expression calm. It was normal for a person to have several messy thoughts.

Outside, he slowly opened his eyes. Sinister demonic qi surrounded him, black qi coiled around him, and his black hair danced wildly amid rolling demonic clouds and baleful energy. Even his eyes seemed to have darkened somewhat, yet they remained bright and gentle.

"Brother?"

Nannan studied Jiang Ming carefully and spoke with a little fear.

"Don't be afraid. I used a spell to change my appearance. This is what I really look like. Once I turn back into a monk, this will be our secret. Don't tell anyone else, okay?"

Jiang Ming transformed into the monk Sanzang, yet he was still surrounded by sinister demonic qi. Even black demonic patterns intertwined across his bright bald head.

"Cough, cough. Be good, don't be afraid. I've finished cultivating. This is the change that comes after mastering my cultivation method. How about you touch my shiny bald head?"

Jiang Ming spoke.

"How long has it been now?"

"I remember someone brought food thirty times."

Nannan raised both hands and carefully counted on her fingers as she spoke.

"Thirty times, once in the morning and once at night. That means fifteen days have passed."

Jiang Ming immediately understood. He had actually spent fifteen days trapped within his own Dao Heart Tribulation.

In truth, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage did not require much time. The main delay had come from this trial of questioning his heart.

Normally, a person only had one life, and even that was enough to leave them overwhelmed. There were countless regrets, apologies, joys, and sorrows.

But he had lived three lives. Especially the middle one—he had lived for far too long, and even after becoming a demon, he had continued for more than a century. Saying he had let go was far too casual.

Jiang Ming had long known it would not be so simple. Sure enough, it had caused trouble for him.

This was all that damned system's fault. He was practically insane now.

If it had not allowed him to awaken in his previous life, he would not have had all these other troubles.

Fortunately, it had only arranged three lives for him. If there had been any more, he truly would not have been able to endure it.

As Jiang Ming complained inwardly, a Black Lotus the size of a grain of rice slowly rotated between his brows. It shimmered with purple-black gloom, appearing and disappearing before finally sinking into complete stillness.

Overall, this breakthrough had been a great success.

Foundation Establishment Stage—equivalent to the Dao Palace Secret Realm of the Shrouding Method.

Uh!

As for his true essence turning black, yes, it was black. It was not demonic qi.

It was only a matter of color.

A minor issue.

He could find an excuse after going out. For example, this was the Buddhist-Demon One Thought Heavenly Art passed down through his Western Desert lineage.

Right, he could use the Chen family's mysterious cultivation method from Tomb of Gods as a reference.

Because of his breakthrough, he had become surrounded by sinister demonic qi, with demonic clouds winding around him, demonic qi soaring into the sky, and baleful qi, vicious qi, evil qi, resentful qi—

Demonic qi was the fusion of negative emotions. Once one entered the demonic path, the demonic sea had no shore.

Nannan looked into Jiang Ming's eyes. After hesitating for a second, she still happily ran over. Jiang Ming crouched down, pulled her into his arms, and lifted her high.

He then placed Nannan on his shoulders. She immediately reached out curiously to touch the black demonic patterns on his head, likely finding them strange.

He looked somewhat like Wutian Buddha in this appearance, but far more handsome. At the very least, his demonic patterns did not appear on his face. At most, he looked a little unconventional.

See? The first trial had been passed.

Xiao Nannan recognized at a glance that he was still the same sunny, handsome, warm, radiant monk Sanzang.