381: Typhoon Bi!

The so-called Three Tribulations and Five Calamities are the insurmountable chasm that a Cultivator must cross when advancing from Golden Core Perfection towards the great path of the Nascent Soul.

Among them, the Heavenly Tribulation is the final stage, while the other two tribulations descend randomly during the Golden Core Perfection realm.

However, the Five Calamities are the most unique; they are not spontaneously bestowed by heaven and earth, but are actively initiated by the Cultivator at a time of their own choosing, based on their own dao foundation.

And with each calamity overcome, the Cultivator's comprehension of the Laws of Heaven and Earth deepens by one layer, and their spiritual power also undergoes a fundamental transformation.

Previously, Yun Chenzi, due to cultivating the Great Dao of the Five Elements and using the principles of their mutual generation and restraint to resolve calamities, had already calmly weathered the four calamities of Karmic Fire, mysterious water, Suppressing Earth, and Slaughtering Metal, making his dao foundation increasingly profound and solid.

But only this Bi Wind Calamity had he yet to initiate.

Because this calamity is formless and immaterial; it does not harm flesh and blood, but instead directly pierces the Divine Soul, eroding the Dao Heart.

It is also the most dangerous and unpredictable. The slightest misstep can result in the collapse of the Dao Heart and the dissipation of the Divine Soul.

He originally intended to polish his Dao Heart to a flawless Perfection, prepare ample Soul-protecting treasures or calming secret techniques, before attempting the challenge.

However, the external situation had changed abruptly recently, with undercurrents surging. His previously arranged backup plans were successively discovered by others, he himself was being targeted, and his arsenal of methods was being weakened layer by layer.

Even more pressing was the imminent descent of the "Xuanling Secret Realm," which opens once every thousand years.

The Opportunities within concern the path to the Nascent Soul. If he could not advance another step before the contest for the Secret Realm, he feared he would be constrained at every turn, even falling into a dead end.

After weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, Yun Chenzi had no choice but to take a risky gamble and actively initiate the Bi Wind Calamity.

After all, in this world where great power belongs to oneself, only one's own strength is the reliance that will never betray!

External aids can be borrowed but not depended upon; only one's own cultivation is the true ladder to the heavens.

At this moment, within Yun Chenzi's Divine Soul and Sea of Consciousness, a silent storm was brewing.

The originally calm, mirror-like surface of the spiritual platform's sea now stirred with waves for no apparent reason.

At first, it was just slight ripples, but in the blink of an eye, they transformed into towering, monstrous waves.

Billions of wind blades, fine as gossamer threads, rose from the sea. They were formless and shapeless, yet could directly slice the Origin of the Soul. With each pass, they carried away a sliver of cognition regarding the "self."

This was the most terrifying aspect of the Bi Wind Calamity; it does not destroy your power, but seeks to dismantle your very existence.

If one cannot see one's true nature clearly and firmly guard one's True Self, even with power to reach the heavens, one would still be utterly lost in this silent weathering, reduced to a walking corpse.

Within Yun Chenzi's Sea of Consciousness, his "True Self" Incarnation sat cross-legged, allowing the wind blades to assail his body.

Each time a piece of cognition was stripped away, his form would become slightly more illusory, but immediately afterward, new profundities would surge from the depths of his Dao Heart, replenishing the missing parts.

Having cultivated for a thousand years, the Life and Death trials he had experienced were more than just this. So, although the process was painful, overcoming each layer of the Bi Wind was a reaffirmation of the existence of the "I."

After the Bi Wind had blown through nine layers, his "True Self" Incarnation not only remained intact but had become increasingly crystalline and transparent, as if carved from glass, clear both inside and out.

This was the manifestation of a Dao Heart tempered to its limit.

Without defilement or purity, neither increasing nor decreasing!

Just as the Bi Wind was weakening and about to completely disperse...

However, at this very moment, a sudden anomaly occurred!

In an instant, Yun Chenzi felt a spreading crimson hue within his Sea of Consciousness. Murderous intent flooded the sea, and boundless Karma began to converge and rise.

"Not good!"

Yun Chenzi was shocked with horror. Yet, before he could even react, countless fragmented yet realistic illusions instantly overwhelmed his consciousness.

He seemed to see his future self, with all his Cultivation Techniques, methods, Divine Abilities, and skills completely discerned by his opponent. Subsequently, he was constrained at every step during the opening of the Xuanling Secret Realm.

Finally, during the struggle for the Nascent Soul-level treasure, the "xuan yin jade marrow," a flaw was seized upon by someone, his Five Elements power was forcibly reversed, causing his Divine Ability to backfire upon himself.

In the end, he watched helplessly as the alluring, dao rhyme-emitting "xuan yin jade marrow" was taken by another.

Afterwards, due to the damage to his dao foundation sustained during the treasure contest, his already approaching great limit was forcibly advanced by a hundred years.

Yet, having not achieved the Nascent Soul, and seeing his own temples turning gray and the aura of Death Qi appearing on his face in the bronze mirror, a sense of despair surged over him like a tide.

With no way out, he chose to forcibly charge towards the Nascent Soul realm, but amidst the rolling heavenly thunder, his Dao was extinguished and his body perished, a thousand years of bitter cultivation turning to ashes.

These scenes flashed by like a revolving lantern in an instant, yet it felt as if Yun Chenzi had personally experienced a complete lifetime, witnessing his own ultimate failure.

That despair, that unwillingness, that great terror at the moment of Dao-extinction and bodily death, like the most venomous curse, instantly eroded his firmly guarded Dao Heart.

"No!!!"

With his mind and spirit severely shaken, Yun Chenzi almost lost his hold on his Dao Heart.

He never imagined that at this critical juncture, heaven would unleash its killing intent!

Heaven and earth had actually used his own thoughts as a medium to cast down a tribulation!

The Earthly Tribulation had actually descended so suddenly, at such a time!

The True Self Incarnation within his Sea of Consciousness let out a silent roar, its form trembling violently. Countless cracks spread across it, from which streams of golden light seeped out.

However, it was precisely this moment of vulnerability that gave the Bi Wind an opening.

The Bi Wind, already on the verge of extinguishing, was as if injected with a potent stimulant, its force suddenly multiplying severalfold.

This time, it was no longer formless wind blades, but transformed into countless distorted faces.

These were all the opponents he had defeated on his cultivation path, the old acquaintances he had let down, the departed Souls he had wronged in his heart.

They shrieked as they pounced, intent on completely tearing apart his Divine Soul, dragging him into the Avīci Hell.

And in the process of struggling, the flesh and blood of the True Self consciousness Incarnation were stripped away, revealing white bones.

This was the devouring of the heart by ten thousand Souls, the confusion of the spirit by a thousand demons!

Yun Chenzi immediately groaned. From the seven orifices of his external body, faint golden blood traces seeped out. The aura around his entire body became chaotic, and he teetered on the brink of Qi Deviation.

Yet, at this most critical moment of Life and Death, Yun Chenzi's survival instinct, honed through countless Life and Death trials, along with his last shred of clarity, forcibly stabilized his nearly collapsing mind and spirit.

He no longer resisted. Instead, he sank his entire will into the center of the storm, actively choosing to merge with it.

"Heart Demons cannot invade, chaotic spirits cannot disturb. All that I seek is the Great Dao!"

Originally, Yun Chenzi's desire for power was precisely the fertile ground for the Heart Demon's growth—a more primitive, most fundamental thing.

But now he did the opposite, turning it instead into an "anchor point," deeply embedded into his Dao Heart, which had already been distorted by the Heart Demon Tribulation.

He stood firm like a pillar in a rushing stream, unmoving despite the wind blades scraping his bones.

The True Self Incarnation that was disintegrating abruptly solidified. Then, from the position of its heart, a point of faint light ignited.

That faint light was initially as weak as a firefly's glow, yet possessed an incredible resilience.

The Bi Wind could not extinguish it; the Heart Demon could not penetrate it.

As the faint light spread—from the left chest to the right chest, from the torso to the limbs, from the limbs to the head—

Every part that was relit had its flesh, blood, and bones reshaped, each subsequently becoming more condensed and more translucent.

And as the Bi Wind let out its final whimper, completely transforming into pure nourishment and merging into Yun Chenzi's Dao Heart, the final point of light was also ignited.

The True Self consciousness Incarnation reappeared completely intact at the center of the Sea of Consciousness.

Now, its entire body was crystalline like glass, gazing upon it was like gazing into the profound starry sky!

All Five Calamities overcome, Nirvana Rebirth!