49: Perfect foundation, system upgrade

Lin Gou moved.

In front of that Chaos Divine Thunder, powerful enough to shatter the Dao Hearts of Golden Core cultivators, he showed no trace of retreat.

His legs bent slightly, like a leopard before it pounces, gathering all its strength into its hind limbs.

He pushed the nascent form of his Thunder Spirit Saint Body, which had just been tempered through endless lightning, to its absolute Peak!

Crackle!

Dazzling purple electric arcs furiously danced across his bronze skin, eventually converging into a battle armor made of pure lightning, filled with a wild and destructive beauty!

In his eyes, Battle Intent and excitement had already burned to their zenith!

Charge!

He transformed into a Heaven-Defying purple meteor, ascending with a resolute, tragic posture, actively meeting the descending Chaos World-Ending Divine Thunder!

This scene was like an invisible heavy hammer, fiercely shattering the understanding of everyone present.

The Disciples were speechless.

The Elders were stunned.

Even the several Grand Elders who had lived for eight hundred years high in the sky felt that their lifetime of cultivation, at this moment, had become a pale and ridiculous joke.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely.

One up.

One down.

A tiny, dust-like, yet rebellious purple lightning.

A chaotic point of light, representing the Heavenly Dao's final judgment, majestic to the extreme.

The two collided fiercely under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes across the entire Qingyun Sect!

There was no earth-shattering roar as expected.

The world fell into an eerie, maddening silence.

An indescribably powerful light erupted from the point of impact, instantly engulfing everything.

As far as the eye could see, there was only a vast expanse of white.

Immediately after, a world-destroying energy storm, like a silent cosmic tsunami, swept out in all directions.

Rumble—

The entire Qingyun Mountains shook violently under this power, countless rocks tumbled, trees snapped, and the Spiritual light barrier of the mountain-protecting formation flickered wildly, emitting a mournful wail of unbearable strain!

When the light dissipated.

When the storm subsided.

In the sky, the long-suppressed dark tribulation cloud had vanished without a trace.

The sky returned to its clear, cloudless blue, as if everything that had just happened was merely a thrilling nightmare.

However, beneath the sky, the man's figure had also disappeared.

Completely and utterly gone.

Not even a trace of his aura, a wisp of his Divine Soul, remained in this world.

Everyone present had witnessed his collision with the final Heavenly Tribulation, witnessed him being completely and utterly erased from this world by that Chaos Divine Thunder.

This time, he must really be dead.

He overplayed his hand.

He still overplayed his hand in the end... Below the mountain Peak, countless Disciples stared blankly at the empty sky, their faces filled with ash-like despair.

Zhao Linger hovered in mid-air, the blood drained from her beautiful face, leaving it as white as a sheet of paper.

She reached out her hand, as if trying to grasp something, but only caught a cold, bone-chilling emptiness.

The world lost its color in her eyes, and sounds drifted away from her.

"No..."

A dreamlike sob escaped her throat, and a crystalline tear, finally unable to bear the weight, slid down her pale cheek, shattering in the air.

High in the sky, the Divine Sense of the Grand Elders fell into a prolonged silence.

After the shock, there was endless regret.

The Sect had finally produced a true Dragon capable of stirring the Universe.

Yet, just as it was about to soar, its spine was mercilessly broken by the Heavenly Dao.

Just as the entire Qingyun Sect was immersed in this immense sorrow and loss.

An anomaly suddenly occurred!

Precisely at the spot where Lin Gou's figure had disappeared.

A golden speck of light, without any warning, materialized out of thin air.

The light was initially faint, yet it carried an undeniable, supreme aura of life, as if it were the first spark of vitality at the dawn of the Universe.

Immediately after, between heaven and earth, a profound and mysterious Dao sound resonated.

Immortal music drifted, and heavenly flowers scattered.

Streams of multicolored auspicious light descended from the Nine Heavens, rendering that airspace like a divine realm.

The Spiritual Qi of the entire Qingyun Mountains boiled at this moment!

Countless Spiritual Plants and Spirit Medicines grew wildly at a visible speed, and some old trees that had withered for hundreds of years even sprouted tender green shoots at this moment!

"This... this is..."

The voice of a Grand Elder trembled with an unprecedented intensity, almost losing all coherence.

"The Dao Foundation is formed, heaven and earth celebrate together!"

"This is the legendary phenomenon of a perfect Dao Foundation appearing, something only ancient Saints could trigger!"

The instant his words fell.

That golden light suddenly blazed forth!

A golden pillar of light, piercing through heaven and earth, shot up from the center of the explosion, illuminating the entire sky in a brilliant golden hue!

Lin Gou's figure slowly re-condensed within that sacred golden pillar of light.

His aura had completely transformed.

No longer the Spiritual power fluctuations of the Qi Refinement Stage.

But a more solid, more profound, Foundation Establishment Stage pressure, carrying a hint of immortal Dao charm!

At the same time.

In Lin Gou's mind, a tired but undeniably excited System notification boomed!

【Ding! Detected that the host has completed an epic death — "Undergoing Tribulation to achieve Dao"!】

【System has absorbed enough energy and finished upgrading!】

【Resurrection cooldown time significantly shortened!】

【Second resurrection anchor point unlocked (can be set at any location outside the Sect)! From now on, the sea is wide for fish to leap, and the sky is high for birds to die!】

【Gou Dao Points Mall officially open! Newly added "Life-Saving", "Stealth", and "Special" categories of items!】

Perfect Foundation Establishment!

System upgraded!

Double blessings!

Lin Gou felt the flawless, sparkling Dao Foundation, swirling with faint lightning, in his Dantian Qi Sea, and the surging, boundless magical power within him, hundreds of times stronger than during the Qi Refinement Stage!

And then he felt the unprecedented, almost absolute sense of security brought by the System upgrade!

An indescribable, immense thrill instantly swept through every inch of his Divine Soul!

It was so worth it!

This time, dying was so damn worth it!

Outside.

The golden pillar of light slowly dissipated.

Lin Gou's figure was fully revealed before everyone.

He slowly descended from the sky, his black hair stirring without wind, Dao charm flowing around him, and as his eyes opened and closed, purple lightning seemed to appear and disappear.

His skin was as pure white as jade, yet exuded a tough, metallic texture.

He was no longer the Qi Refinement Stage Disciple Lin Gou from before.

But a true Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator.

Moreover, he was the kind with the most perfect Dao Foundation, the most profound Foundation, enough to make any Prodigy despair!

When his feet gently landed on the Peak of his mountain.

The entire Qingyun Sect remained in a deathly silence.

All Disciples, whether Outer Sect or Inner Sect, whether Elder or deacon, all stared intently at him with a gaze mixed with awe, worship, fanaticism, and even madness.

They had just witnessed the birth of a legend with their own eyes.

They had witnessed a miracle.

"Gulp."

In the crowd, Fatty Zhang swallowed hard, looking at the man who had descended like a deity, his knees weakened, and with a "thud," he was the first to kneel.

This time, it was not because of heavenly might.

But a prostrate worship from the depths of his Soul.

"Lin... Senior Brother Lin... No! Junior Martial Uncle Lin... You're incredibly amazing!"

He yelled, expressing everyone's innermost thoughts.

Zhao Linger stared blankly at the familiar yet strange figure, her heart, which had just plunged into the abyss, was now lifted to the clouds by a surge of immense ecstasy.

She covered her mouth, but tears could no longer be held back, streaming down her face.

They were tears of joy.

Tears of relief.

Just then.

Three figures appeared out of thin air in front of Lin Gou.

They were precisely the Sect Head of the Qingyun Sect, and two Grand Elders with unfathomable auras.

They had descended in person, not merely through Divine Sense probing.

The three highest authorities of the Sect, at this moment, looked at Lin Gou with an unparalleled complexity in their eyes.

There was shock, relief, and even a hint of solemnity as if treating him as an equal.

The Sect Head took a deep breath, suppressing the tumultuous waves in his heart, and spoke loudly, his voice amplified by magical power, spreading to every corner of the entire Qingyun Sect!

"Qingyun Sect Disciple Lin Gou, with extraordinary talent and an unparalleled Foundation, has successfully Undergone Tribulation to achieve Foundation Establishment today, proving to be a Qilin Son rarely seen in our Sect for ten thousand years!"

"This Seat and the two Grand Elders have jointly decided!"

"Effective immediately, Lin Gou is promoted to be the Qingyun Sect's —"

The Sect Head paused, then, with all his might, roared out the last two words.

"Saint!"

"His status is equal to that of a direct Disciple of the Sect Head, all Sect resources are at his disposal, and he is furthermore granted 'Holy Son Peak' as his Immortal Cave!"