The Purple Firmament Divine Thunder was like the final judgment pen cast by the Heavenly Dao, descending slowly with a pure destructive will that returned all things to void and collapsed laws. Its speed seemed slow, yet it was as if it had frozen time and space, making all living beings inside and outside Ascension Valley who witnessed this scene have their minds frozen by that supreme destructive aura, even their thinking nearly stagnant.
Outside the valley, Senior Brother Mu Qingfeng's eyes were about to split, the spiritual power in his body circulating at an unprecedented speed, yet he found that under the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder's pressure, even mobilizing a trace of heaven and earth spiritual energy became incredibly difficult! Third Senior Sister Liu Yun's ancient sword wailed endlessly, its sword glow suppressed to protecting only three feet around her body. Second Senior Brother Luo Feng sat paralyzed on the ritual platform, his face ashen, muttering: "It's over... this kind of heavenly might... how can human power contend..." Zhao Tiezhu roared wanting to charge forward, yet was pressed motionless in place by that invisible pressure. Auntie Su clenched her silver teeth, the moonlight-like power around her flickering unsteadily, revealing despair in her eyes for the first time.
This was no longer a test, but heavenly punishment!
However, Tang Xiao Qi at the very center of the destructive storm, now had a heart unprecedentedly clear and calm.
Having weathered nine layers of thunder tribulation, seven emotions tempered, his Dao heart had long been polished like a primordial thing from when chaos first opened, flawless and indestructible. The Purple Firmament Divine Thunder's pressure, enough to make ordinary Deity Transformation cultivators' souls scatter, falling upon his transparent Dao heart, was like a gentle breeze passing through, unable to raise even half a ripple.
He looked up at that slowly descending purple lightning, his eyes holding no fear, no anger, only a clear-as-mirror reflection, reflecting that destructive trajectory, also reflecting his own unswervingly determined "guardian" Dao.
"My Dao is not about defying heaven, but about following heaven and responding to people, guarding the order and beauty that should exist between heaven and earth."
"This thunder, wanting to destroy my Dao foundation, is wanting to destroy everything I guard."
"Then let me show you what is... the righteous path of the human world that cannot be destroyed!"
At the critical moment when the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder was about to touch his head's Baihui acupoint, Tang Xiao Qi moved!
He didn't perform any earth-shaking magic, didn't sacrifice any powerful artifacts. He only made the simplest motion—slowly forming a seal with both hands before his chest. That seal was ancient and unadorned, not any known school's magic seal, but the external manifestation of his own perfected Dao Seed naturally materializing, the ultimate condensation of all his understanding of the "guardian" Dao!
At the moment the seal formed, within his dantian, that chaotic energy mass tempered by the tribulation, having already reached perfect balance and critical point, erupted with a boom!
The shattered Golden Core fragments transformed into the purest origin, completely merging with that flawless, hazy-glowing Dao Seed! The vast-as-sea spiritual power, tough-as-iron soul power like a hundred rivers returning to the sea madly poured into that merged core!
"Om—!"
A sound like the opening of heaven and earth transmitted from within him, ringing through the universe, actually temporarily suppressing the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder's destructive roar!
Dazzling light impossible to describe with any color bloomed from his dantian position, instantly shrouding his entire body, then spreading toward all directions!
That light was not pure blazing white, but contained the Green Lotus's flawless purity, the Four Symbols' balanced rotation, Buddhist dharma's compassionate solemnity, witchcraft's ancient mystery, and a more fundamental, deepest, most determined devotion to everything in this heaven and earth—guardian will!
The light and the slowly descending Purple Firmament Divine Thunder fiercely collided!
No expected earth-shaking explosion, no energy-raging shockwave.
Time and space seemed to freeze at this moment.
That Purple Firmament Divine Thunder, enough to annihilate Deity Transformation and make laws cease to exist, upon touching that guardian light containing all of Xiao Qi's life's Dao thoughts, was like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun, beginning to visibly... melt!
Not defeated, not neutralized, but fundamentally dissolved, purified, and assimilated by that pure "existence" and "survival" guardian will!
The purple lightning unwillingly twisted and roared, yet couldn't stop its fate of being inch by inch devoured by that warm and determined light. The destructive aura rapidly faded, replaced by a newborn, boundless-vitality thriving life force!
The thousand-li tribulation clouds seemed to let out a final unwilling whimper, then began to slowly dissipate, that suffocating majestic heavenly might retreating like a tide.
The sky revealed its azure true color again, sunlight through thin cloud layers falling upon the earth.
And at the center of Ascension Valley, that dazzling light also gradually withdrew.
The light dispersed, revealing the figure within.
Tang Xiao Qi still sat cross-legged on the altar, eyes tightly closed, expression peaceful, as if that heaven-destroying tribulation had never happened.
But everyone could clearly feel that the aura on his body had undergone an earth-shaking, fundamental transformation!
A vast, majestic, profound aura as if integrated with heaven and earth's laws naturally spread out. That was—the Nascent Soul stage aura! And far from comparable to ordinary new Nascent Soul cultivators in depth and purity!
Above his head, three inches in the void, a foot-high, jade-like, solemn small figure quietly floated.
That small figure's appearance was exactly the same as Tang Xiao Qi's, its features clear and lifelike, its entire body emitting warm and powerful spiritual light. Its eyes were slightly closed, small hands naturally forming seals before its chest, its expression serene, as if immersed in the deepest enlightenment state.
This was precisely Tang Xiao Qi's Nascent Soul!
Different from ordinary cultivators' Nascent Souls, this Nascent Soul was flawless throughout, as if carved from the finest spirit jade, faintly circulating purifying white light. Around the Nascent Soul, four illusory yet spirited shadows spiraled and hovered—Azure Dragon of the East coiling, majestic and sacred; White Tiger of the West crouching, its killing intent restrained; Vermillion Bird of the South spreading wings, flames circulating; Black Tortoise of the North crouching, heavy and deep! The Four Symbols phantoms and the Nascent Soul body shared connected auras, forming a perfect and stable energy cycle.
Even more shocking, behind this Nascent Soul, a hazy light wheel faintly emerged, within the light wheel seemingly reflecting ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers, all forms of beings. A grand vow and dharma principle of "bearing the common people, guarding the human world" interwove within, making this Nascent Soul naturally carry an awe-inspiring dignity that bent hearts toward involuntary worship!
This was not a simple Nascent Soul, but a Guardian Dharma Form Nascent Soul that had condensed all of Xiao Qi's life's Dao fruit, containing the Green Lotus Origin, Four Symbols power, and true meaning of guardianship!
The dharma form first completed, its might shaking the universe!
The Nascent Soul slowly opened its eyes, that gaze clear as a newborn infant's, yet profound as the eternal starry sky, as if it could penetrate all worldly illusions and see the essence of all things. It looked down at the sitting original body below, then up at the azure sky, a faint, knowing smile appearing on its small face.
Then, the Nascent Soul transformed into a stream of light, entering Xiao Qi's brow, returning to the dantian purple palace.
At the very moment the Nascent Soul returned to position, Tang Xiao Qi's original body suddenly opened his eyes!
Two condensed-as-substance, containing purification will and guardian conviction divine lights shot from his eyes straight to the clouds, lingering long without dispersing!
A spiritual pressure even more magnificent and vast than before, like an awakening giant dragon, exploded outward with him as the center, sweeping across the entire Qingxu Temple!
Success!
Tang Xiao Qi, under a once-in-a-lifetime heavenly tribulation of nine deaths and one life, relying on his perfected Dao Seed and supreme guardian conviction, shattered the core to form the Nascent Soul, condensing the Guardian Dharma Form, officially stepping into the Nascent Soul great Dao!
From now on, the sea is wide for fish to leap, the sky is high for birds to fly! A giant destined to lead the era was born on this day!