Asleep for a Hundred Years, Middle Spirit Transformation, and the Third Immortal Foundation First Appears!
Thunder in dreams, endless and boundless
This was no ordinary thunder; it was the kind that pierced through heaven and earth and cleaved through chaos. Its purple-gold and dark purple hues intertwined, turning the entire void into a sea of lightning.
Within the sea of lightning, a giant bear stood.
The giant bear was so large that its size was immeasurable. On its pale fur, lightning patterns meandered like rivers, spreading from its back to its limbs.
On his left and right shoulders, purple-gold lightning arcs coiled like dragons, each leap causing the sky to tremble.
The giant bear's right arm was no longer made of flesh and blood; it was entirely bluish-purple, formed purely of condensed lightning, with arcs of electricity dancing between its knuckles, radiating a brilliance that was almost divine.
The giant bear raised its head, its pupils reflecting an endless sea of lightning, majestic as a saint!
Shi Jian looked at the giant bear, and the giant bear looked at him.
The giant bear resembled an ancient sage, with three strands of immortal Immortal Foundation energy intertwined and circulating around its body. The [Purple Pivot Lightning] was as steady as an abyss, the [Purple Firmament Lightning] was as condensed as a sword, and the third strand of Daoist energy was the prototype of the [Righteous Yang Lightning], like a tender sprout breaking through the soil, quietly growing in the gap between the first two Immortal Foundation.
The three Immortal Foundation all belong to the Divine Firmament, share a common origin, and resonate with each other; the feeling is like a great river suddenly having two more tributaries, causing the water volume to surge forward.
The dream shattered, the sea of thunder collapsed, the void twisted, and an immense power surged forth from the depths of his Dantian.
Like a flood that had been suppressed for a century, it finally broke through the dam.
Shi Jian suddenly opened his eyes.
A burst of purple-gold lightning exploded in his eyes, instantly cracking the cave abode walls into a spiderweb pattern; the arcs of lightning seeping from those cracks illuminated the entire mountainside.
The Daoist energy within his body surged ceaselessly, and the feedback from the breakthrough in his Immortal Foundation washed over every inch of his meridians like a tidal wave. The second Immortal Foundation Purple Firmament Lightning was completed.
That's not all.
The residual force of that breakthrough directly gave birth to the rudimentary form of the third Immortal Foundation Righteous Yang Lightning; the three Dao of Divine Firmament auras converged within his body, like three thunder dragons coiling and dancing together, stirring up a series of deep Lei Ming.
Middle Spirit Transformation, two foundations perfected, and the third Immortal Foundation born!
Shi Jian felt the surging power within him, and a pent-up frustration that had been suppressed for who knows how long finally erupted at this moment.
He roared, his head thrown back, and the cave abode exploded, the Shan Yue crumbled.
Amidst the flying debris, a pale giant bear soared into the sky from the mountain's belly, its four paws treading on the air, and arcs of lightning covering the heavens and the earth.
Its size had increased a hundred years since it was a century ago, reaching a staggering twenty to thirty thousand feet in length; its pale fur gleamed faintly in the lightning, and the lightning patterns on its left and right shoulders were like branding marks, with purple-gold and dark purple intertwined and spreading.
The right arm, however, has undergone a complete transformation.
The entire arm, from shoulder to fingertips, turned a bluish-purple color, no longer flesh and bones, but pure lightning solidified.
Electric arcs danced ceaselessly between his knuckles, and with each clench of his fist, a faint rumble of thunder seemed to burst forth from the heavens and earth.
Shi Jian roared to the sky, as thunderclouds rolled in!
The roar, carrying boundless power, exploded into a thundercloud in the sky; purple-gold lightning struck down from the cloud, guided and absorbed by the arcs of lightning around him, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.
Happy!
That was truly exhilarating!
Having held back for too long, every Root Bone in his body was screaming for release; Shi Jian simply stopped suppressing it and let the Daoist essence of the three Immortal Foundation be fully released.
The steady and profound Purple Pivot Lightning, the refined and penetrating Purple Firmament Lightning, and the upright and fiery Righteous Yang Lightning —these three Daoist principles intertwined and collided, forming a self-consistent cycle within the colossal body.
With each cycle of circulation, the Daoist essence becomes one degree purer.
Only when the restlessness of that breakthrough gradually subsided and he recovered did Shi Jian slowly retract the lightning arc, compressing and condensing his colossal body.
The pale fur faded, the bones shrank, and the lightning patterns disappeared beneath the skin.
A human figure landed on the rubble.
The figure was tall and strong, with a resolute face and long, flowing white hair; the skin on its left arm was as white as jade, while its right arm was covered in bluish-purple.
The arc of lightning at his fingertips occasionally flickered, as if it couldn't be suppressed.
The purple-gold light swirled in his vertical pupils, possessing a more restrained sharpness than it had a hundred years ago; Shi Jian looked down at his right arm and clenched his fist.
The Lightning-Manifested Arm is a metamorphosis after the Purple Firmament Lightning Immortal Foundation is perfected; the entire arm transforms into the substance of thunder, and its offensive power increases several times over. However, this appearance is truly terrifying.
"You're awake?"
The voice came from behind, tinged with excitement.
Shi Jian turned his head and saw Shan Li standing on a huge rock, his body surrounded by Ten-Thousand-Layered Edge and a restrained Daoist aura, his aura much more profound than he remembered.
His expression remained as indifferent as ever, but deep in his eyes, he could clearly see the faint trace of worry.
"How long have I been asleep?" Shi Jian asked, his voice still a little hoarse.
It's been 103 years.
Shi Jian was stunned for a moment.
For over a hundred years, he had been in a coma for a full century.
Shan Li descended from the giant rock and walked up to Shi Jian, his gaze lingering on Shi Jian's right arm for a moment, quite curious.
"Lightning-Manifested Arm? This is the first time I've ever seen that."
She reached out and pinched his right arm; it was icy cold to the touch, and arcs of lightning flickered slightly, but they were harmless. "Middle Spirit Transformation, and the third Immortal Foundation has also begun to take shape; considerable progress."
Shi Jian stretched his muscles and bones, which cracked and popped throughout his body.
Those injuries that nearly cost him his life a century ago have now been completely healed; not only that, his meridians are now stronger and wider than before the injuries, and his internal organs, after a century of nourishment, are now filled with a whole new level of Qi and Blood.
"Earth Virtue Dao Venerable and Ancestor Egu bestowed blessings and healed your wounds shortly after you fell into a coma. You are the first to receive such treatment."
Shan Li smiled and said, then took out a jade bottle from his sleeve, "The residual Dao Venerable energy within my body has long been dissolved by the Earth Virtue."
"In addition, the Ancestor Egu handed over two items."
She handed over the jade bottle, which Shi Jian took. He probed it with his Divine Sense, and his expression changed slightly.
Inside the jade bottle lay the remains of a Nascent Spirit Transformation; the body was small, entirely purplish-black, and the residual aura of Dao of Lightning was extremely dense.
The Daoist imprints of the five Immortal Foundation are clearly discernible, all belonging to the Divine Firmament Dao Fruit; the remains of the Dao of Lightning Spirit Transformation of the Five-Foundation Extreme Realm.
Shi Jian looked up at Shan Li.
"Your merit was rewarded by the Earth Virtue Dao Venerable," Shan Li smiled. "He said it was because you made a great contribution in that battle, and this is a reward for you."
She paused, then added, "There's also a sixth-tier spirit fruit, the Lightning Origin Sacred Heart Fruit."
"While you were unconscious, I took the medication for you on my own."
Shi Jian then understood why the Daoist essence within his body had become so pure.
The medicinal power of the Lightning Origin Sacred Heart Fruit slowly seeped into his body during his century-long coma, gradually refining his Immortal Foundation essence to an extremely pure state. Coupled with the double blessings from the Earth Virtue Dao Venerable and the Ancestor Egu, this century-long coma not only did not hinder his cultivation, but instead turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"Nice one."
Shi Jian put the jade bottle into his sleeve, realizing the extent of the favor that Earth Virtue Dao Venerable had done for him.
The investments of the Peak and Mountain Imperial Clan are never free.
He sighed inwardly, realizing that the weight of these things meant that the Peak and Mountain Imperial Clan had already included him in their list of those worthy of support.
This is both fortuitous opportunity and a constraint; but there's no need to think that far ahead right now.