Chapter 1184: Breakthrough to Void Refining Stage

Upon returning to Wen Dao Sect, Lu Yang immediately went to visit his good friend, Meng Jingzhou.

Arriving at Meng Jingzhou's cave dwelling, Lu Yang saw several large pools dug at the entrance. Old Ma stood on two legs, his hooves clutching shovels, busily digging pits and filling them with ice. His movements were swift and efficient, without the slightest hesitation.

"Where's Old Meng?"

Lu Yang noticed one of the pools bubbling with steam. Meng Jingzhou, his skin flushed crimson, popped his head out, then leaped up and jumped into the adjacent ice-water pool.

The ice in the pool melted at a visible speed, threatening to turn into boiling water once more.

Knowing his good friend was in distress, Lu Yang, of course, wouldn't kick him while he was down. He kindly cheered Meng Jingzhou on: "As the saying goes, the greater the pressure, the greater the pressure! Keep at it, Old Meng, I believe you can get through this!"

"Cultivation is something you have to work hard at yourself, so I won't be accompanying you."

With that, Lu Yang jogged away before Meng Jingzhou could utter a curse.

Descending the mountain, Lu Yang noticed many unfamiliar Wen Dao Sect disciples pointing at him and whispering. When he turned to look, the junior disciples quickly fell silent and pretended not to see him.

Once Lu Yang's gaze moved away, they resumed their discussion.

"That's the legendary Senior Brother Lu Yang."

"I joined Wen Dao Sect just to follow Senior Brother Lu Yang's footsteps. Today, I finally met him in person!"

"Did you hear? Senior Brother Lu Yang killed the leader of the Heartless Sect, and the Heartless Sect leader was an ancient half-immortal!"

"Who hasn't heard of that? The even more outrageous part is that the Heartless Sect leader supposedly summoned the Grand Qian Dynasty's Lord of Fate at the cost of his life, and that's a true immortal! Senior Brother Lu fought several rounds with the Lord of Fate without falling behind!"

"Furthermore, Senior Brother Lu never boasts about his achievements. Even when he accomplishes something monumental outside the sect, earning great merits, he always diligently reports to Senior Brother Dai upon his return."

"When Senior Brother Lu was in the Foundation Establishment stage, he became an undercover agent for the Immortal Cult and dismantled it. We are also in the Foundation Establishment stage now, but we can only undertake minor tasks outside, facing opponents at most in the Half-step Golden Core stage. We're far behind Senior Brother Lu Yang."

"When will we ever reach Senior Brother Lu Yang's realm?"

"You? Compare yourself to Senior Brother Lu? Dream on."

These were newly recruited Wen Dao Sect disciples. Lu Yang spent most of his time in secluded cultivation or on external missions, rarely appearing down the mountain.

Therefore, as soon as he appeared this time, the disciples who had never seen Lu Yang but had long heard rumors immediately secretly called their friends.

However, they were too timid to look directly at Lu Yang, only daring to sneak glances from behind.

Listening to the unreserved praise from his junior disciples, Lu Yang simply smiled, shook his head, and said nothing.

On Heavenly Gate Peak, Yun Mengmeng stood halfway up the mountain, curiously watching the Second-in-Command, who was pacing around the sect, seemingly measuring it with his steps.

"Xiao He, the Second-in-Command has walked around the sect several times. Why hasn't he come up the mountain yet?"

"He probably got lost," Qing He said with conviction.

As Qing He said, Wen Dao Sect was simply too vast. It was only when Lu Yang passed Heavenly Gate Peak for the seventh time that he finally ascended the mountain.

In the following days, Lu Yang dedicated himself to cultivation, aside from spending time with Immortal Fairy, playing with Yun Mengmeng, attending the New Prisoner Peak inauguration ceremony, strolling twice down the mountain, listening to Third Senior Sister Gan Tian discuss calming melodies for self-cultivation, discussing "Ephemeral Dreams" filming techniques with Tao Yaoye, checking on Li Haoran's cultivation progress, going to a barbecue restaurant with Meng Jingzhou for skewers, and writing letters to Man Gu, the current top scholar who became a county magistrate.

Whether they were worldly cultivators or reclusive ones, cultivation emphasized a focused mind. Lu Yang was no exception, which was why his cultivation speed was remarkably fast.

"Void Refinement Stage, Integration with the Mortal World, Cultivating Through Combat..."

Time flew during cultivation. Lu Yang had been in secluded cultivation in his cave dwelling for three hours, only leaving once during that time to sample Yun Mengmeng's new spiritual food.

Lu Yang meditated carefully, reviewing all the events he had experienced since advancing to the Void Refinement Stage.

"Wait, it's not just what I've experienced in the Void Refinement Stage. Haven't my previous experiences also been a form of Integration with the Mortal World and Cultivating Through Combat?"

A sudden realization dawned on Lu Yang, and he vaguely touched the threshold for advancing to the Void Refinement Stage.

"Third Senior Sister Gan Tian, to temper herself, ventured alone into the Demon Realm during her Void Refinement Stage, battling various demon races with wits and strength, and establishing a great reputation."

"At that time, Third Senior Sister's realm was unstable, and she faced powerful enemies far beyond her own level. This was both her crisis and her opportunity."

"Haven't I been the same? Every time I go out, I encounter opponents of extremely high realms... I've already walked the path Third Senior Sister took."

Understanding this, the "path" before Lu Yang became increasingly clear, as if he could reach out and touch it. His realm, meanwhile, fluctuated wildly, changing at an incredibly fast pace.

So Lu Yang reached out.

The moment Lu Yang touched the "path," his wildly fluctuating realm became like a long-distance runner crossing the finish line. The athlete finally had a chance to catch their breath, no longer running frantically, stopping in place after a couple of steps, breathing heavily.

"It's done!" Lu Yang's eyes shone with unprecedented brightness, a confidence born from his breakthrough to the Void Refinement Stage.

As long as he survived the Heavenly Tribulation, he would have successfully broken through to the Void Refinement Stage!

Without even leaving his cave dwelling, Lu Yang could feel the thunder tribulation clouds gathering above his head.

"Such fast cultivation speed!" Immortal Fairy emerged from the spiritual space, clapping her hands.

Then she remembered something and had to leave immediately.

"Alright, Little Yangzi, you do your best with the tribulation. I have something to attend to, so I won't be accompanying you through it."

Lu Yang felt a little uneasy. "Immortal Fairy, if you leave, what if Senior Yingtian Immortal strikes without holding back?"

However, since the Immortal Fairy had matters to attend to, he couldn't stop her, so he could only say "Alright."

Above Wen Dao Sect, atop the tribulation clouds, Yingtian Immortal's fingertips sparked with arcs of electricity as he pondered what intensity of Heavenly Tribulation to use to test Lu Yang.

"This kid Lu Yang's cultivation speed is really fast."

"Should I use an ordinary lightning tribulation, or some of the new types of lightning tribulations I've recently researched?"

Just thinking about how Lu Yang went through his last lightning tribulation, Yingtian Immortal felt a faint ache all over his body.

Just as Yingtian Immortal was in a dilemma, a wisp of clear qi ascended from below, arriving above the tribulation clouds, and transformed into Immortal Fairy.

"Immortal Fairy, why are you here?" Yingtian Immortal asked, surprised.

"Yingtian, what kind of Heavenly Tribulation do you think Little Yangzi should face this time?" Immortal Fairy asked.

Yingtian Immortal opened his mouth, just about to answer, when another wisp of clear qi also ascended to the sky and transformed into Yun Zhi.

Yun Zhi was somewhat surprised to see Immortal Fairy also there, and then explained her purpose for coming.

"Senior Yingtian Immortal, what kind of Heavenly Tribulation should Junior Brother face this time?"

Yingtian Immortal glanced at Immortal Fairy on his left, then at Yun Zhi on his right, thinking about himself, a dignified Ancient Five Immortal, the Ancestor of Artifact Forging, revered by thousands, mighty in all directions. He also recalled his unwavering pursuit of the Dao, which should not be influenced by external factors.

With these thoughts, he made up his mind and said earnestly:

"However you say this tribulation should be faced, that's how I'll strike it."