Chapter 65: Heart-Nature Trial, thunder god mark (4K)
When the last Thunder Giant was annihilated under Yu Yuanchen's "Destruction Thunder Seal," the Chaos Void Realm suddenly fell into a dead silence.
The clamor of battle receded like a tide, leaving only the wounded Thunder Saint Dragon, transformed from Yu Yuanchen, panting slightly in the Void Realm.
The lingering echo of that grand voice declaring "Qualification Verified" still remained, and before Yu Yuanchen could even catch his breath, he felt his consciousness seemingly cast into a warm vortex, sinking continuously.
An unprecedented sense of drowsiness swept over him, more exhausting than any fierce battle he had ever experienced.
He felt he was losing contact with certain crucial things—his grandfather Yu Boxuan's earnest expectations, his father Yu Mingfeng's silent care, Ye Zhilan's gentle gaze, the burden of the Family's honor and disgrace, and even his own pursuit of power and desire to become a god... All these external imprints and internal driving forces became like faded scrolls, growing blurry and distant.
He was no longer the once-in-a-century Genius of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, not the inheritor bearing the Thunder God Bloodline, and he no longer even remembered why he had appeared in this void.
He seemed to have turned back into a blank sheet of paper, with only the most essential, unadorned "Self" remaining.
When the surrounding scene became clear again, he was no longer in the Chaos Void Realm.
In his ears was the whistling cold wind, and before his eyes was a vast, white World of ice and snow.
He found himself standing on a mountain road covered in thick snow, his clothes thin and tattered, the bone-chilling cold making him tremble involuntarily.
He looked down at his hands; they were fair and slender, yet covered in frostbite and small scars, with no traces of having ever Cultivated, and he could not feel a shred of Soul Power within his body; the feelings of weakness, hunger, and cold were so real and intense.
"Who... am I?" His mind was a blank slate, with only the instinct to survive driving him to trudge with unsteady steps along the mountain road.
The wind and snow grew stronger and stronger, almost swallowing him whole.
He did not know how long he had walked, but just as he felt his strength about to be exhausted and he was about to freeze, a faint sound of crying drifted over with the wind.
He forced himself to stay alert and followed the sound, finding a small figure curled into a ball in a sheltered mountain hollow.
It was a little girl of about seven or eight years old, wearing equally thin cotton clothes, her small face frozen purple, and tears had formed ice crystals on her cheeks.
When she saw Yu Yuanchen, she shrank back in terror, and her crying choked in her throat.
In ordinary times, given Yu Yuanchen's status and strength, he might have only ordered his clansmen to properly settle her.
But at this moment, he had forgotten all status and abilities, and was just a "person" struggling in the same desperate situation.
The moment he saw this girl, a pure, unthinking pity welled up from the bottom of his heart.
He crouched down and asked in as gentle a tone as possible, "Little sister, why are you here alone? Where is your Family?"
The girl looked at him timidly; perhaps it was the clarity in Yu Yuanchen's eyes, untainted by the mundane World, that made her feel a hint of comfort. She choked out, "I... I got separated from my father and mother... The snow was too heavy... I couldn't find the way..."
Yu Yuanchen fell silent for a moment.
He himself was in a precarious situation, the road ahead was unknown, and with a child in tow, the hope of survival was even slimmer.
Reason told him he should continue to search for a way to survive alone.
But looking at the girl's large, fearful, and helpless eyes, he almost subconsciously took off his own already tattered coat, barely wrapped it around the girl, and then held her cold little hand tightly in his own equally cold hand.
"Don't be afraid," his voice trembled from the cold, but it carried a strange, soothing power, "Let's go together, perhaps... we can find a place to shelter from the snow."
He did not promise that they would definitely survive, because even he himself did not know where hope lay.
This was just the most instinctive care of one Life for another, weaker Life in a desperate situation.
He pulled the girl and plunged back into the wind and snow, using his own body to shield her from some of the wind and cold.
Every step was more difficult, but his back subconsciously straightened a little, as if this weak responsibility gave him a reason to keep going.
The subsequent "journey" seemed like a long and unpredictable dream.
The scenes kept switching, and Yu Yuanchen experienced all kinds of "ordinary" trials that went straight to the heart.
He once became the son of a poor woodcutter, going up the mountain to cut wood every day, witnessing the evil servants of a local Soul Master Family bullying the villagers and engaging in extortion and robbery.
Those evil servants had low strength and could be killed with a breath during his prime, but in the illusion, he was just an ordinary youth with a bit of strength.
Was he to choose to swallow his anger and protect himself and his elderly father? Or risk his Life to speak up for the oppressed villagers?
Once, when the evil servants wanted to forcibly abduct a neighbor's daughter, he ultimately could not hold back, picked up his woodcutting knife, and stood in front; even though he was beaten until covered in wounds, he tightly protected the crying girl behind him, with no fear of power in his eyes, only anger at the injustice.
He once became a wandering beggar, struggling to survive outside a town where a plague was raging.
When he could barely save himself, he encountered an elderly person who was critically ill and dying.
Should he stay far away to avoid catching the sickness? Or share the half-piece of dry bread and clean water he had managed to beg for—which could save his own Life—with this complete stranger who might die the next moment?
Looking at the desire for Life in the old man's cloudy eyes, he silently broke the dry bread into pieces, carefully fed it into the old man's mouth, and moistened his cracked lips with clean water.
At that moment, he forgot that he was also hungry, and in his heart, there was only compassion for Life.
He even "became" a mediocre and unremarkable Utility Disciple in a small Sect.
By chance, he discovered a conspiracy where the Sect's Senior Brother colluded with outsiders to steal the Sect's secret treasure.
Should he pretend not to know and protect himself? Or risk the danger of retaliation from the Senior Brother, or even being falsely accused, and find a way to report it to the Elders?
After intense inner conflict, he chose the latter.
Although he was later slandered by the Senior Brother due to insufficient evidence and suffered humiliation and punishment, he never regretted it, simply because he felt it was "the right thing to do."
In these illusions, he was sometimes an older brother protecting weaker companions, sometimes a passerby speaking up for the wrongly accused, and sometimes a tough guy who refused to bow before power...
Every time, he lost his pride-worthy strength and status, turned into the most ordinary Mortal, and faced difficult choices.
There were no earth-shattering feats, no calculations weighing pros and cons; there was only the most authentic touch and choice from within his heart at that moment.
The Family's responsibilities, personal ambition, and considerations of gain and loss—all these "external" voices were obscured, and what guided his actions was a kind of kindness, justice, and compassion deeply rooted in the depths of his Soul, bordering on stubbornness.
He would also be afraid, would also hesitate, and sometimes even shrink back, but in the end, when faced with critical choices, his "Heart" could always overcome the fear for his own safety, guiding him to make actions that he could be proud of.
This was not because he was some born Saint, but because the basic respect for Life and the natural aversion to injustice in the World within his inherent nature had never been completely extinguished by the powerful strength he later obtained and the heavy responsibilities he bore.
This inherent nature, perhaps, had already quietly taken shape back when he grew up under that red flag in his previous Life.
He did not know how many such "lives" he had experienced, and Yu Yuanchen's consciousness returned to a state of Chaos once again.
But this time, there was a hint of realization in the Chaos; the trial "seemed" to have been completed.
The scene before his eyes became clear again; this time there was no specific setting, and his consciousness seemed to have been elevated to an infinite dimension.
Beneath his feet was the vast and boundless Universe of stars, and above his head was an indescribable Thunder God Throne radiating supreme majesty.
That throne was composed of the most fundamental Thunder Law, radiating brilliant light, representing eternity, power, and authority.
A grand, indifferent voice rang out directly in the depths of his Soul, like a divine decree:
"Yu Yuanchen, step forward and inherit this position. From now on, you shall wield the thunder, act as the Heaven's punishment, and be eternally undying."
Becoming a god! This was the ultimate goal that countless Soul Masters dreamed of.
Power, authority, immortality... All temptations were concentrated here.
As long as he took that step, he seemed to be able to possess all of this.
However, right under that throne, he could clearly see billions of stars, countless endlessly thriving Worlds, and the veins of Life, as small as dust yet incredibly vivid.
He could feel the joy and sorrow, hope and despair of every World.
That indifferent voice sounded again, carrying a power of absolute rules: "However, the God Position is unique, and the rules are heartless. To ascend the God Throne, you must sever Mortal ties and become an Incarnation of the rules. Where divinity permeates, Mortal emotions must be discarded; you can no longer have any connection with everything you cherish and protect. This is the price of becoming a god; the rules are thus, and it cannot be reversed."
Was he to choose to ascend that lofty God Throne, obtaining personal ultimate sublimation and eternity, at the cost of losing all emotions and bonds as a "human," becoming a part of the cold rules, watching helplessly as the joys and sorrows of the billions of lives below had nothing to do with him anymore?
Or was he to choose to give up this easily attainable God Position, return to the mundane World, and continue to endure the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, and resentment, but be able to retain that most genuine connection and feeling with relatives, friends, and all things in the World?
This was an extremely cruel choice.
The illusion obscured his memories of specific people (such as his grandfather, father, and Ye Zhilan), but it placed the more essential nature of "universal compassion for all living things" and "cherishing one's own emotions" nakedly before him.
Yu Yuanchen's consciousness stood between the starry sky and the God Throne, falling into an unprecedented silence.
Powerful strength and eternal Life were indeed what he pursued.
But if the end of this pursuit was to be a lonely person, to lose the quietly budding feelings for Ye Zhilan, to never again feel his grandfather's expectations or his father's care, and to never again be able to have a hearty battle with opponents like Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu... then what was the meaning of this eternal power?
It would be nothing but a magnificent and cold prison.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze passing through the dazzling God Throne, as if he saw those faces he had forgotten yet were deeply rooted in his heart, saw the myriad states of the World, and saw the fragility and resilience of Life.
What he pursued was never a lofty God Position that disregarded everything, but the strength sufficient to protect what he cherished in his heart, the freedom to explore the mysteries of Life and the Universe, and the warmth of experiencing and growing together with those around him.
"The God Position... is certainly tempting." Yu Yuanchen's voice was calm, yet carried unquestionable firmness, echoing in this consciousness space, "But if the price of becoming a god is to turn into a Heavenly Dao rule that is heartless and desireless, viewing all things as straw dogs... then this god, I shall not become!"
"My Dao is to wield the power of thunder with a human heart! To protect what I want to protect, and to experience what I yearn to experience! Not to sit high above, watching coldly from the sidelines!"
As his words fell, he resolutely turned around, with his back to the Thunder God Throne that radiated infinite temptation, facing the vast starry sky and the billions of living beings below.
And at the very moment he made this choice that went against such powerful temptation, the entire illusion of the Universe and starry sky collapsed with a roar!
That grand voice sounded again, but it was no longer cold; instead, it carried a gentle approval, as if an Elder were nodding:
"Heart-Nature... is now clear."
"The original nature is not lost, the divine heart can be molded."
"I grant you... the thunder god mark, to inherit my God Position!"
Before the voice had finished, in the center of the Chaos Void Realm, that huge Thunder God statue seemed to come alive, and from its eyes shot two beams of purple-gold divine light, condensed to the extreme and containing the supreme Origin power of thunder, which accurately submerged into the Thunder Law imprint on Yu Yuanchen's forehead!
"Boom—!"
Yu Yuanchen's whole body shook violently, feeling as if his Soul had been cast into an ocean of thunder!
Countless profound insights about the Thunder Law, ancient runes, and the ultimate truths of the birth and death of thunder between Heaven and Earth poured into his Sea of Consciousness like a bursting flood!
This flow of information was vast and immense, far exceeding any previous Legacy, but this time, there was no rejection or pain at all; instead, like a stream merging into the sea, it naturally fused with him.
The thunder rune on his forehead, which was originally just self-condensed and slightly blurry, under the infusion of this Origin power, became like something meticulously carved by the top craftsman, quickly becoming clear, solid, and complex!
The structure of the rune became more profound, the lines smooth and full of a sense of power, and the color completely stabilized into a noble and deep purple-gold; at the center point, a miniature thunder light like the beginning of the Universe lit up, rotating slowly, emitting a gentle yet supreme majesty!
The thunder god mark!
This was no longer a simple Law imprint, but a symbol that had received formal recognition from this ancient ruin, and even from the mysterious Thunder God orthodoxy!
It was a key to the true God Position!
The light gradually dissipated, and Yu Yuanchen's consciousness returned to his body, still sitting cross-legged before that towering Thunder God statue.
He slowly opened his eyes, and fine purple-gold electric sparks flashed and vanished in his pupils; his entire temperament had undergone a subtle change, with a little less of a youth's sharpness and a little more depth and majesty, as if he were more in tune with this ancient Thunder Canyon.
He gently touched the now-formed, slightly warm thunder god mark on his forehead, his heart clear and bright.
Through this Heart-Nature trial, he not only obtained the qualification for further Legacy, but more importantly, in the repeated "ordinary" experiences, he had washed away the vanity and seen the most authentic appearance of his own heart.
This had immeasurable benefits for his future path of Cultivation, especially in mastering the power of thunder, which contained both destruction and represented vitality and judgment.
He calmed his mind, closed his eyes again, and began to fully absorb and digest the vast information fed back by the thunder god mark.
At the bottom of the canyon, thunder light swirled, shrouding his figure, and in the silence, a new transformation was brewing.
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