"I've finally advanced to the Soul Formation stage." Lu Yang exhaled a long breath.
Going from the Nascent Soul stage to the Soul Formation stage was an earth-shaking transformation. His status and strength were vastly different from before.
How many Nascent Soul cultivators halted before their lightning tribulation, unable to progress any further?
In the eyes of the sect's upper echelons, cultivators at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages were merely geniuses who had not yet matured. Only those who endured myriad trials without dying and cultivated to the Soul Formation stage could truly be called fully fledged geniuses.
Upon reaching this stage, major factions would begin teaching their disciples how to manage the sect, how to balance relations with other powers, how to conduct diplomacy...
Wait, hadn't he already started managing the sect back in the Foundation Establishment stage?
Though his status had not really changed, his strength had grown substantially.
With his early Soul Formation cultivation, his combat strength was comparable to an early Body Integration cultivator, skipping right past the Void Refining stage!
Challenging across realms—and leaping over two major realms at once—what a terrifying concept!
Take Senior Brother Dai Bufan at early Body Integration, for instance... Oh, Senior Brother Dai had broken through, so Lu Yang couldn't beat him.
Or Senior Brother Ji Hongwen at early Body Integration... It seemed Lu Yang couldn't beat him either.
With his early Soul Formation cultivation, his combat strength was comparable to early Body Integration cultivators outside the sect—provided, of course, that those Body Integration cultivators did not use the power of rules!
Placed in a first-rank sect, he would already qualify to be an elder.
"Junior Brother Lu Yang, congratulations."
As the lightning tribulation encircling Tianmen Peak dispersed, senior brothers and sisters rushed over to offer their congratulations.
Lu Yang had undergone two consecutive lightning tribulations, a singular feat in the three-hundred-thousand-year history of the cultivation world and an achievement worthy of the history books. His renown was bound to be even more terrifying than that of Daoist Lord Wanfa, who had been celebrated in the early Great Yu era.
"Junior Brother Lu Yang, the first lightning tribulation you faced has never appeared before. Have you thought of a name for it?"
When a cultivator encountered an unknown lightning tribulation while undergoing tribulation, they had absolute priority in naming it.
Just like the first person who named his physique the "Bachelor Spiritual Root"—though his taste in naming left much to be desired, it remained the official name, while Pure Yang Spiritual Root and similar terms were considered aliases and colloquialisms.
Without hesitation, Lu Yang blurted out the name that Immortal Ying Tian had already chosen for the immortal lightning long ago: "Of course it's called Supreme—"
Inside the spiritual space, Immortal Fairy tugged at Lu Yang's sleeve, tilting her little head up and gazing at him with big, watery eyes.
"Little Yangzi, let's call it Invincible Divine Lightning, okay?"
When had Lu Yang ever been looked at like that by Immortal Fairy? His heart softened in an instant, and he went along with her wish.
"Of course it's called Invincible Divine Lightning."
The senior brothers and sisters wore strange expressions. Junior Brother Lu's naming ability was truly difficult to praise.
"Junior Brother Lu's taste is truly one of a kind."
"No wonder he can achieve what he has today; his thinking is genuinely different from ordinary people."
"Yay, it's called Invincible Divine Lightning!" Seeing her goal accomplished, Immortal Fairy let go of Lu Yang's sleeve, held up her little hands, and hopped about in celebration.
Lu Yang finally realized what foolish thing he had just done. Clutching his head in agony, he wondered why his brain had short-circuited into listening to Immortal Fairy's nonsense.
"Xuanyuan Sword Master, you are formidable. I will catch up to you soon." Gu Junye's gaze burned brightly, looking not so much at Lu Yang as at Lu Yang's supposed past life, the Xuanyuan Sword Master—that supreme leader of the Sword Dao who lived for the sword, loved only the sword, and pushed the sword to its absolute extreme.
"Senior Brother Lu Yang, congratulations!" Tao Yaoye, Man Gu, and Li Haoran offered their congratulations.
Their cultivation progress was only slightly behind Lu Yang's, and they too would soon face their tribulations.
Seeing Lu Yang successfully transcend his tribulation with such heroic presence gave them confidence, and they were eager to undergo their tribulations soon to keep pace with him.
By now, the look in Lu Yang's eyes when he looked at Li Haoran had changed completely.
This was the reincarnation of Immortal Suiyue! Back at the late Nascent Soul stage, Lu Yang had defeated Li Haoran, which rounding up was basically equivalent to defeating Immortal Suiyue—what an astounding feat!
At the mere thought, Lu Yang couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.
After seeing off the well-wishing senior and junior brothers, Lu Yang finally turned his senses inward to take stock of the gains brought by this breakthrough.
The most noticeable change was that his spiritual space had expanded tenfold.
Previously, his spiritual space could allow Immortal Fairy to build one Daming Palace; now, it could accommodate ten of them. Immortal Fairy could begin constructing the imperial palace of the Great Bean Dynasty here, adding facilities such as an Imperial Study, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and Zixiao Palace.
However, Immortal Fairy had no such inclination for the time being, so vast expanses of the spiritual space remained blank and devoid of buildings.
Next was his Primordial Soul, which had evolved from his Nascent Soul. If it left his body, it would be as tall as Lu Yang and could detach from the physical form over long periods and great distances to scout, monitor, or carry out missions, effectively functioning as an avatar.
The Primordial Souls of ordinary Soul Formation cultivators could not achieve the effect of an avatar; only one evolved from an Invincible Nascent Soul that beat its owner could do so.
Like the Nascent Soul, the Primordial Soul obeyed Lu Yang's commands, so he wouldn't have to endure beatings from beginning to end only to finally overcome it at the late Soul Formation stage.
Lu Yang took a closer look at his Primordial Soul, and his heart gave a sudden lurch.
"Wait a second. I remember the Invincible Nascent Soul looked ninety percent like me. Why does it look less and less like me now?!"
Logically, a Primordial Soul ought to look identical to the cultivator. Previously, the Invincible Nascent Soul bore a ninety percent resemblance to him, but now the Primordial Soul was only a little over eighty percent similar.
Immortal Fairy lay in the spiritual space, yawning as though finding Little Yangzi's question utterly foolish. "Isn't that completely normal? Back when this immortal borrowed your body in the Imperial City, I helped you cultivate, too."
Lu Yang pressed a hand to his forehead. Right, how could he have forgotten about that?
"Fairy, how about you don't help me cultivate in the future?"
Immortal Fairy was very considerate of him. "How could that do? Since this immortal borrows your body to play, how could I let your cultivation progress fall behind because of it?"
*Fairy, could you please direct your good intentions toward something appropriate?*
Lu Yang continued examining himself and discovered that his will seemed capable of affecting the external spiritual energy.
"Is this what the books describe as the Soul Formation stage's ability to preliminarily communicate with heaven and earth and manipulate spiritual energy?"
The Body Integration stage's ability to wield the power of rules evolved from this foundation of communicating with heaven and earth established during the Soul Formation stage.
When two Soul Formation cultivators clashed, they competed not only in raw combat power, but also in the extent of their communion with heaven and earth.
Then there was the change in his dantian, which had transformed into a pool of spiritual power to store vast reserves of energy. He would no longer need to consume medicinal pills or absorb worldly spiritual energy mid-battle as he had during the Nascent Soul stage.
"What a wonderful fragrance." Lu Yang's nose twitched as he caught a familiar aroma.
"Here, Little Junior Brother, try a freshly ripened immortal peach."
Yun Zhi carried over a basket of immortal peaches and set it before Lu Yang.
Immortal peaches also served to consolidate one's cultivation realm, making them ideal to consume right after a breakthrough.
"Eldest Senior Sister, did you find that Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Root?" Lu Yang was thoroughly astonished. He had thought he would never eat a second immortal peach in this lifetime.
Yun Zhi shook her head. "I didn't find it. I planted the pit left behind from the last immortal peach, and it just happened to ripen."
Now it was Immortal Fairy's turn to be bewildered. "Huh? You can do that? Why does this immortal remember that pits from that Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Root only produce ordinary peaches?"
"I have my ways," Yun Zhi said calmly.
"Really?" Immortal Fairy remained skeptical.
"Senior Fairy."
"What is it?"
"If you speak again, there won't be any peaches left for you."
Immortal Fairy immediately took over Lu Yang's body. "Little Yangzi, save some for this immortal!"
Chapter 971