360 years.
Even for a cultivator, condensing a Nascent Soul at this age would be considered very young, let alone advancing to the Spirit Transformation Realm.
Throughout the entire history of the Human Realm, it's unlikely more than a few cultivators could have advanced to Spirit Transformation earlier than Ning Fa.
Furthermore, because Ning Fa possessed the Five Elements Thunder Body, breakthroughs at each stage were exceptionally difficult, making this achievement even more precious.
The look of emotion in Ning Fa's eyes slowly faded. He closed his eyes again, sensing the changes within his body.
After advancing to Spirit Transformation, he had undergone a world-shattering transformation compared to before.
His total mana now was more than ten times what it was before advancing, vast like an ocean.
And this increase in total mana might just be the most insignificant change after advancing to Spirit Transformation.
The power of a Spirit Transformation cultivator's mana was worlds apart from that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
At this moment, even without using Innate Divine Thunder, Ning Fa's ordinary mana attacks were enough to mobilize the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, imbued with the might of heaven and earth. The difference in power between the two was naturally like that of clouds and mud.
In terms of Spiritual Sense, his Spiritual Sense power had increased from its original range of 1,800 miles directly to 5,000 miles.
This far exceeded the Spiritual Sense limits of ordinary Spirit Transformation cultivators, comparable to the Spiritual Sense strength of early Void Refinement cultivators.
His Bloodline Power and physical body strength had also increased dramatically.
At this moment, Ning Fa's skin and flesh had been tempered by Heavenly Thunder and feedback from the laws, making them unimaginably tough.
His physical body strength alone was comparable to a defensive Spirit Treasure, having completely reached the level of a Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator, on par with Ying Xiao, a Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator from before.
And this was only his normal state. If he were to activate the Divine Firmament Manifestation, his physical body strength would be even more formidable than that of Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivators of the same level.
It could be said that after advancing to Spirit Transformation, his spirit, energy, and mind had all received an unprecedentedly massive boost, unlike any previous advancement to a major realm.
And the changes Ning Fa experienced after advancing were far from over.
As Ning Fa's thoughts stirred, a spiritual light flashed above his crown, and a baby about five inches in size appeared. Its appearance was very similar to Ning Fa, with a face full of smiles.
The Nascent Soul at this moment was nearly twice as large as before and more solidified.
This was precisely an important change for cultivators after advancing to Spirit Transformation: the Nascent Soul body would become very sturdy and could leave the physical body for extended periods, roaming the external world.
Even if the physical body were destroyed, one could continue to survive with the Nascent Soul body.
After playing with the Nascent Soul for a while, it re-entered Ning Fa's head.
Ning Fa opened his eyes again, a look of surprise on his face.
At this moment, within his Sea of Consciousness, the Moon God Heart, which was originally in the shape of a full moon, had undergone a massive change.
It had transformed from a full moon into an infant-like shape, very similar to his Nascent Soul. However, its facial features were still slightly blurred, clearly not fully formed.
But the aura it emitted was far beyond what it was before.
This was the third stage of the Moon God Heart, the "Taiyin Jade Infant," though it was still in its nascent stage.
However, judging by its current state, it was only a matter of time before it was completely formed.
This was also because Ning Fa had cultivated the Moon God Heart to the peak of the Moon Soul Crystal Core stage before attempting to advance to Spirit Transformation. With the subsequent feedback from the laws obtained during this advancement, the Moon God Heart had taken a significant leap forward.
This was also a major reason for the substantial increase in his Divine Soul strength, and it would undoubtedly become a crucial reliance in his future battles.
At this moment, if he were to unleash a full-powered Divine Soul Attack, even a Spirit Transformation cultivator, if they lacked a Divine Soul Defense Treasure or other means of defense, could potentially be killed in a single blow.
Then, Ning Fa let out a soft shout. Amidst dazzling purple lightning, his figure rapidly grew to several dozen feet tall, successfully activating the Divine Firmament Manifestation.
The Manifestation at this moment looked largely unchanged from before, but there were many more mysterious runes on its surface. Especially the prominent, sword-like Thunder Rune on its chest had transformed into the appearance of a thunderous vortex, slowly rotating as if imbued with spirituality.
Even without active activation, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy seemed to be drawn towards the Manifestation, forming mysterious Spiritual Light Halos around it.
The aura emanating from the Divine Firmament Manifestation at this moment far surpassed its previous state.
It had officially advanced from its first transformation stage—Spiritual Manifestation Realm—to the second transformation—Heavenly Manifestation Realm.
The emphasis was on the character "Heaven," implying "innate."
As was the case before when Ning Fa was in the Nascent Soul stage, although he could use Innate Divine Thunder, he couldn't apply it to the Manifestation itself.
But the current second transformation Divine Firmament Manifestation could directly mobilize Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy to empower itself, resonating with heaven and earth.
As a result, the Manifestation's own power would increase dramatically. In fact, if Ning Fa were to expend Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy without regard for the cost, he could even allow the Manifestation's power to exceed the limits of its current realm, greatly increasing its upper limit.
It could be said that after this advancement to Spirit Transformation, Ning Fa's strength had increased unimaginably, solely based on the improvements in his spirit, energy, and mind, as well as the breakthroughs in the realms of the Divine Firmament Manifestation and the Moon God Heart.
Ning Fa had no doubt that if he were to activate this Heavenly Manifestation Realm Divine Firmament Manifestation now, he could contend with not only Mid Spirit Transformation cultivators but even Late Spirit Transformation cultivators.
It was even possible to slay them, as the changes he experienced after advancing to Spirit Transformation were not limited to this.
After all, he possessed the Five Elements Thunder Body, and the Spirit Transformation Realm was a crucial juncture. At this moment, his Five Elements Divine Thunder had also undergone significant changes.
As Ning Fa's thoughts stirred, the Five Elements Thunder Rune Pattern representing his Five Elements Thunder Body appeared before his eyes.
Ning Fa swept his gaze over it and immediately showed a look of pleasant surprise.
First, the Innate Divine Ability representing Spring Thunder was still present and in an activated state.
His lifespan had surged from the normal 2,400 years for Spirit Transformation cultivators to 4,800 years.
Ning Fa's current age was 360 years. Adding the 100 years of lifespan consumed in the Six Paths Yuan Destruction Great Array before, it was still less than a fraction of this vast lifespan.
This gave him ample time to seek advancement to the Void Refinement realm.
Besides that, the Chaos Divine Thunder was once again lit up and in an activatable state, unchanged from before, still usable once per minor realm.
Needless to say, the power of the Chaos Divine Thunder at this moment was absolutely terrifying. A Mid Spirit Transformation cultivator would definitely be killed in one strike, and while it was hard to say for a Late Spirit Transformation cultivator, they would definitely be severely injured if not killed.
Additionally, the rune representing the lightning evasion talent had undergone a change, transforming from "lightning evasion" to "thunder control."
Not only were the original abilities greatly enhanced, but a powerful new ability that made Ning Fa incredibly excited was also added.
That was the ability to resist the thunder of the Heavenly Tribulation, capable of offsetting at least 30% of its power.
Heavenly Tribulation was an existence that every high-level cultivator dreaded.
In the Spirit Realm, cultivators began encountering Heavenly Tribulations from the Nascent Soul realm onwards. However, Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation cultivators only faced minor Heavenly Tribulations every three hundred years.
Upon reaching the Void Refinement realm, they would encounter major Heavenly Tribulations every three thousand years.
The terror of the major Heavenly Tribulation made even high-level cultivators at the Void Refinement realm turn pale and find it difficult to resist.
Even if they could withstand this one, the power of the next tribulation would be greater. If they couldn't advance to a higher realm, they would inevitably perish under the Heavenly Tribulation.
Ning Fa had learned this information earlier when he read the "Heavenly Mechanism Scroll."
The reason the Heavenly Mechanism Scroll held the Five Elements Thunder Body in such high regard was because cultivators with this body had a significant advantage: they could resist the power of the Heavenly Tribulation much more easily than other cultivators. However, the Heavenly Mechanism Scroll was unclear on how Five Elements Thunder Body cultivators achieved this.
Now, Ning Fa understood. It was precisely this "thunder control" innate divine ability, obtained after advancing to Spirit Transformation, that allowed Five Elements Thunder Body cultivators to weaken the power of the Heavenly Tribulation.
Even a 30% reduction was not insignificant, and this 30% was not fixed; there were ways to increase it further.
When Ning Fa touched this talent rune, he received a piece of mysterious inheritance information.
It stated that a set of special Five Elements Magic Treasures could be crafted to amplify and enhance the power of the thunder control talent.
If these magic treasures were of sufficiently high grade, they could even reduce the power of the Heavenly Tribulation by 50%, or even more.
However, crafting this set of magic treasures was extremely difficult. Of the numerous materials listed, Ning Fa could barely recognize one out of ten; they were all legendary items recorded in ancient texts.
At the moment, he could only sigh in admiration, but there was no rush. He could wait until he ascended to the Spirit Realm later; this could be considered a long-term goal.
Ning Fa then looked at the second talent rune. This rune was newly appeared, derived from the lightning escape rune, and was named [Lightning Leap], also known as - Lightning Transmission.
It allowed for instantaneous transmission to a distant location by consuming Five Elements Divine Thunder to construct a lightning transmission array.
The upper limit of this distance was the maximum range of the caster's spiritual sense.
In other words, as long as Ning Fa wished, he could directly transmit to a distance of five thousand miles using the Lightning Leap divine ability, and then continue to activate Lightning Leap again to transmit another five thousand miles.
This ability was far more powerful than a transmission array, as transmission arrays were fixed-route. Ning Fa's Lightning Leap, however, could reach any location within his spiritual sense's range.
Of course, this divine ability was not without its cost. It required consuming Five Elements Divine Thunder to construct the lightning transmission array, and the amount consumed was very high.
With his current quantity of Five Elements Divine Thunder, he could probably activate it three consecutive times.
Once the Five Elements Divine Thunder was depleted, he would have to expend Divine Thunder Origin to activate it again.
But this was a minor issue and could be extremely useful in critical moments.
Putting aside other considerations, even if a Void Refinement cultivator came to capture him now, they should be unable to do anything to him.
Ning Fa calmed his excited heart and looked at another talent rune. This was also a brand new rune.
After touching it with his spiritual sense, Ning Fa paused for a long time before reopening his eyes, his face filled with shock.
This newly born talent rune was his second offensive talent divine ability, besides the Chaos Divine Thunder. Its name was [Thunder Concealment], also known as - [Heavenly Law Lightning Realm].
This was a lightning law barrier. Once cast, he would be the controller of this barrier, capable of sealing off the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy within it.
Those trapped inside could not mobilize Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, and could only rely on their own mana and true essence. Furthermore, their attacks would be suppressed and greatly weakened.
Ning Fa, on the other hand, would receive a significant boost from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, and his own lightning law attacks would be strengthened in all aspects.
This way, even opponents who were evenly matched with Ning Fa would be forced into a passive, defensive position once trapped within.
Moreover, this was an area-of-effect attack, capable of drawing multiple enemies into this Heavenly Law Lightning Realm at once, making it possible to fight against many.
This divine ability was extremely powerful. Once the Heavenly Law Lightning Realm was cast, Ning Fa's strength would conservatively increase by at least onefold, while his opponent's would be weakened by at least onefold. This was definitely a trump card-level powerful divine ability.
However, the cost of using it once was immense. With his current cultivation, he could only activate it once in a short period.
But compared to its terrifying power, this was not a significant drawback.
What concerned Ning Fa even more was that the Heavenly Law Lightning Realm was only its initial state.
According to the inheritance information, as his realm increased, this Heavenly Law Lightning Realm would continue to evolve, eventually reaching the "Spiritual Domain" divine ability, which was said to be mastered only by Mahayana cultivators.
That would be a world-destroying divine ability. By then, he would be the master of a realm, truly comparable to a god.
This description made Ning Fa yearn for it, and he deeply realized that from the Spirit Transformation realm onwards, the Five Elements Thunder Body gradually began to reveal its true formidable nature.
Following that, Ning Fa carefully sensed the changes in the Five Elements Divine Thunder at the moment.
Generally speaking, after cultivators advance to Spirit Transformation, they would receive some realm origin of the current plane during the backlash of the Heavenly Dao Laws, which is the power of innate origin, allowing them to use innate divine abilities.
This was the fundamental difference between Spirit Transformation cultivators and ordinary cultivators.
As Ning Fa had also received much realm origin after advancing to Spirit Transformation, all of it was absorbed by the five divine thunders.
Except for the Supreme Metal and Supreme Wood Divine Thunders, which had already reached the peak of the fourth grade, the Supreme Fire Divine Thunder also improved to the peak of the fourth grade.
Additionally, the Supreme Water Divine Thunder improved from Fourth-grade Mid-tier to Fourth-grade Upper Rank, and the Supreme Earth Divine Thunder improved from Fourth-grade Lower Rank to Fourth-grade Upper Rank.
This made Ning Fa curious. Why, after advancing to the Spirit Transformation Realm, had these three Divine Thunders, which had already reached the peak of Fourth-grade, not advanced to Fifth-grade?
What kind of Divine Thunder was this Fifth-grade Divine Thunder? Did advancing require specific conditions?
Just then, a burst of grand Sanskrit Chants suddenly sounded. Mysterious radiance flickered before him, and a special lightning, only a few inches long and flashing with five-colored spiritual light, slowly condensed.
Seeing this lightning, Ning Fa's expression changed.
Although this lightning appeared unremarkable, he felt an incredibly terrifying aura from it, very similar to the Tribulation Thunder he had experienced before. This indicated that it was a lightning imbued with the power of Heavenly Dao Laws.
Following this, another profound piece of information entered Ning Fa's Sea of Consciousness.
A long while later, Ning Fa reopened his eyes. When he looked at this special lightning again, his face was filled with shock, as if he were looking at a priceless treasure.
This was actually the Dao charm containing the laws of thunder!
The three Innate Divine Thunders—Supreme Metal, Supreme Fire, and Supreme Wood—which had now reached the peak of Fourth-grade, could advance to Fifth-grade Divine Thunder, which was the Grotto-Heaven Divine Thunder, if they could absorb this lightning Dao charm.
What then were Innate and Grotto-Heaven?
Generally speaking, cultivators could only touch upon the Innate Realm after advancing to the Spirit Transformation Realm. However, even if they could mobilize Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, it was only the most basic form of mobilization, at a very rudimentary and superficial level.
Once the Void Refinement Realm, where the Five Elements Unification was achieved, was reached, a more advanced level of mobilization of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy would be possible.
This was because "Void" in the Void Refinement Realm referred to the world itself, the current Plane.
After achieving the Five Elements Unification in the Void Refinement Realm, cultivators could better sense and resonate with the world, and even leverage and borrow a trace of Heavenly Dao Laws.
Of course, this referred to "borrowing."
Although the Void Refinement Realm was already quite high, it was still far from truly touching and comprehending Heavenly Dao Laws.
Even just borrowing was enough to make the power of a Void Refinement cultivator's attacks reach an unimaginable level, far beyond what a Spirit Transformation cultivator could compare to.
Upon reaching the Integration Realm, it was a further step, referring to the cultivator becoming one with the world.
At this point, cultivators no longer merely borrowed the power of Heavenly Dao Laws but were qualified to truly begin touching and comprehending Heavenly Dao Laws. Even if they only comprehended a superficial understanding, it could cause a substantial increase in the strength of an Integration cultivator.
In the Mahayana Realm, it was no longer just comprehending superficial aspects of the laws but being qualified to deeply comprehend them and even integrate Heavenly Dao Laws into oneself.
This was the fundamental reason why Mahayana cultivators were so powerful.
In fact, the author of the Heavenly Mechanism Scroll had mentioned a conjecture of his own.
Why did such terrifying Heavenly Tribulations exist, causing countless high-level cultivators, who had cultivated for countless years, to mostly perish under the Heavenly Tribulation?
That author guessed that this was actually the Heavenly Dao Laws' self-preservation.
Because the higher a cultivator's cultivation, the easier it was to borrow and absorb the Plane's origin. If there were no restrictions, the extent to which cultivators absorbed the Plane's origin would inevitably exceed the Plane's own recovery speed, leading to the Plane's collapse.
Therefore, the Heavenly Dao descended Heavenly Tribulations for self-preservation.
For cultivators who could not withstand it, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy they had absorbed would return to the Plane, thus allowing the Plane to return to its normal cycle.
This was also why it was said that those who cultivated the Dao were "acting against heaven," because, to some extent, the path of immortality was inherently an "Act of Stealing Heaven."