The sound echoed like the call of a living entity, vibrant and filled with life. The calm, controlled flow of Soul Qi instantly transformed into a raging storm.

The space trembled.

The boundaries that had once held firm…

Shook violently.

RUMBLE

Han Yu's soul cultivation surged.

The invisible walls expanded outward, forced by the overwhelming pressure within. Cracks formed along their surface, thin at first, then spreading rapidly.

The pressure increased.

Unstoppable.

And then... they shattered.

KACHA!

Completely.

What lay beyond those walls…

Was not emptiness.

It was a sea.

No... A tsunami.

A vast, overwhelming ocean of Eight Emotions energy that had been held back for far too long. It surged forward, flooding the Soul Space with vibrant, chaotic colors that represented every emotion Han Yu had absorbed.

Joy.

Anger.

Fear.

Desire.

Sadness.

Anticipation.

Surprise.

Trust.

All of it.

Refined.

Unrefined.

A storm of existence itself.

The Lotus responded instantly.

Its petals unfolded further, its form expanding as it began to absorb and refine the incoming energy at an incredible rate.

"Yi Ya!"

It sang again.

Joyful.

Excited.

Alive.

The energy flowed into it, transforming into pure Soul Qi, feeding its growth.

The Lotus grew.

Its size doubled.

Its presence deepened.

Its aura became more profound, more complete, more terrifying in its quiet dominance.

Han Yu's soul cultivation advanced rapidly.

Breaking through.

Ascending.

Reaching a new level.

And as it did…

The heavens responded.

Above, the clouds roared once more.

The pause ended.

The storm intensified.

A final bolt began to form.

This one…

Was different.

It was not merely purple.

Within its core…

A faint line of black pulsed.

Subtle.

But undeniable.

Only one person noticed.

Hong Tianyue

His eyes narrowed slightly.

'Dual-layered tribulation…'

This was no ordinary strike.

It was two.

Merged into one.

The bolt descended.

Faster than any before.

Stronger than any before.

It struck.

The Abyssal Frost dome rose instinctively to meet it, layers forming in rapid succession.

But this time…

It was not enough.

BOOM!

The dome shattered completely.

Every layer.

Gone.

The lightning tore through.

Part of it struck Han Yu directly.

"ARGH!"

His robes burned away instantly, the force scorching his flesh as the energy surged through his body.

He groaned, his body convulsing under the impact.

But that was not the end.

The hidden black strand within the lightning…

Separated.

Invisible to most.

Unavoidable.

It entered his body.

Directly without resistance and reached his Soul Space.

This bolt…

Was not meant for his body.

It was meant for his soul.

Within that realm the Lotus sensed it.

And responded.

"Yi Ya... YAAAA!!"

Its tone shifted.

Not joyful.

But challenging.

Provoking.

Around it, the refined Soul Qi and Eight Emotions energy surged outward, forming a vast, swirling vortex. It resembled an ocean, a sea of shifting colors that radiated immense power.

The black bolt entered.

It tore through the sea.

Relentless.

Destroying everything in its path.

But with each moment…

It weakened.

The resistance grew.

The energy around it pressed back.

Consumed.

Reduced.

By the time it reached the Lotus…

It was diminished.

But still dangerous.

It struck.

The Lotus trembled.

A cry escaped it.

"Yi..."

Pained.

But not broken.

It endured.

Held.

And then it absorbed.

HUALA

The black energy did not destroy it.

It was taken in.

Consumed.

Refined.

The Lotus changed.

Subtly.

The underside of its petals darkened.

Faint black veins spread across them, weaving through the structure like hidden pathways of power.

A transformation.

Incomplete.

But real. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The Soul Space stabilized.

The storm calmed.

And Han Yu…

Changed.

In both body and soul.

Han Yu lay at the bottom of the crater.

His body was scorched.

His robes were gone.

His skin bore the marks of tribulation lightning, charred and cracked, faint traces of abyssal frost still clinging to him like a second layer of existence. The last strike had broken through everything. It had reached him, burned him, tested him to the very edge.

And yet…

He had not fallen.

Above him, the heavens finally shifted.

The storm that had dominated the sky for nearly an hour began to recede. The dense black clouds slowly parted, their violent churn subsiding as if acknowledging something that had already been decided.

But the pressure…

Did not disappear.

Instead, it transformed.

The air itself grew heavy, thick with an overwhelming presence that seemed to press down on everything below. The silence that followed was deeper than before, filled not with anticipation…

But with reverence.

Then the energy descended.

HONG LONG

From the sky, from the earth, from every direction, Qi began to gather. At first it was subtle, a faint current that flowed toward the crater. Then it intensified.

Rapidly.

Violently.

A vortex formed.

Massive.

Spanning nearly a kilometer.

Its rotation was slow at first, then accelerated, drawing in everything around it. Streams of energy twisted together within it, forming a breathtaking yet terrifying sight.

Neutral Spirit Qi.

Dense.

Pure.

Blood Qi.

Thick.

Violent.

Other elemental Qis.

Subtle.

Diverse.

All of it…

Merged.

Blended.

Refined.

The vortex became a multicolored storm, its hues shifting constantly as it condensed into a singular flow of energy.

And then... It descended.

WHOOSH

The entire mass poured into Han Yu.

His body rose.

Slowly.

Lifted by the force of the energy itself, he floated above the shattered ground, suspended within the center of the vortex. The Qi surged into him relentlessly, filling every inch of his being.

His wounds began to heal.

Not gradually.

Instantly.

Burned flesh restored.

Cracked skin mended.

Broken tissues reformed.

The scars left by the tribulation faded as if they had never existed.

At the same time…

His aura began to rise.

Steadily.

Unstoppably.

The disciples watched in stunned silence.

"This… this is the transformation… Spirit Qi infusion!"

"The birth of the Nascent Soul…"

"I've never seen one like this…"

Even the elders could not look away.

The scale.

The intensity.

The purity of the energy being absorbed.

It was beyond anything they had witnessed in recent memory.

Time passed.

Ten minutes.

Twenty.

Thirty.