Chapter 1330: Breakthrough

Inside the cave dwelling, time seemed to lose its meaning, and everything flowed backward through time. Worn-out cultivation manuals became brand new, blooming flowers reverted to buds, the peach pit Lu Yang often played with transformed into a celestial peach, and even Lu Yang's cultivation realm continuously regressed.

He regressed through realms: Tribulation Transcendence, Void Refinement... all the way to Foundation Establishment, Qi Condensation, and even a mortal. His appearance also changed from a youth to an adolescent, and then from an adolescent to a young child. When he became an infant in swaddling clothes, the changes continued, and he transformed into his past life's appearance, only to then revert to the peak of Tribulation Transcendence. Everything within the cave dwelling underwent cyclical transformation, repeating endlessly and never stopping.

This meant Lu Yang's comprehension of the embryonic Origin Dao Fruit had ascended to a new level. In fact, when Lu Yang was in Immortal Immortal's cave dwelling, he realized that the mastermind's method of achieving transcendence was similar to Gray Bean's, that ancient events were replaying during the Tinder Dynasty, and that everything in the world was in a cycle. At that moment, Lu Yang's grasp of the embryonic Origin Dao Fruit took a significant leap forward. However, he worried the mastermind was nearby and dared not reveal it. He intentionally dragged it out for a long time, feigning that his understanding of the Origin Dao Fruit had only reached its current state after many experiences.

Now, he was in a state of perfection, his cultivation continuously rising, pushing the Tribulation Transcendence realm to its limit. This perfectly aligned with the maturation of the embryonic Dao Fruit, allowing him to achieve immortality in one fell swoop!

In terms of abilities, Lu Yang's Origin Dao Fruit and the Chronos Dao Fruit shared many similarities, both capable of reversing time and regressing cultivation. Dao Fruit abilities often have similarities. For instance, the Chronos Immortal can use the Chronos Dao Fruit to stop time, while the Ninefold Immortal can use the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit to cast an extreme cold domain that also stops time. Both achieve time stoppage, but the methods used are entirely different.

The same principle applies to the Origin Dao Fruit and the Chronos Dao Fruit; they are two different paths. While the Chronos Dao Fruit regresses an opponent's cultivation, the spiritual energy used during their cultivation must also return to its original state. Lu Yang, however, can regress an opponent's cultivation without affecting the world as a whole; it's a conceptual "regression." Therefore, Lu Yang can make spells revert to their original state and regress himself to his past life's appearance—things the Chronos Immortal cannot do.

Outside the cave dwelling, Yun Mengmeng was humming a tune and baking cookies, while Bai Shuang watched eagerly.

"It's about time."

Yun Mengmeng opened the oven and pulled out the baking tray, only to find the cookies showed no signs of baking, still just dough.

"Huh? What's going on? Did I not light the fire earlier?"

"My freshly broken-through realm!" Xia He stamped her foot. She had just managed to break through a minor realm, and now it had regressed to its previous state. Yun Mengmeng was baking cookies to celebrate for her, but now the cookies weren't baked, and Xia He hadn't broken through.

Not far away, Qing He was compiling the history of the Great Bean Dynasty. As she wrote the last character, she let out a long breath, lifted the historical record, and admired her masterpiece.

"It's finally finished."

Qing He had painstakingly written this book to spread the reputation of the Great Emperor Dou Tian; it documented his great achievements. However, before she could enjoy her joy for long, she saw the writing on the book rapidly fading, disappearing line by line, then page by page, until finally the entire book became clean and brand new.

"My book!" Qing He uncharacteristically became agitated, her voice two decibels higher than usual.

It wasn't just Heaven's Gate Peak; the entire Dao-Seeking Sect had fallen into a very strange state. Li Haoran's peerless magic treasure, crafted over forty-nine days without rest, was finally completed. He was already a renowned Integration-stage artifact refiner in the universe, and the artifacts he forged were so sought after that even Tribulation Transcendence cultivators had to pull strings to acquire them. Immediately afterward, something inexplicable happened: the peerless magic treasure suddenly reverted to raw materials.

"I'll count to three, then we jump together." River Spirit, Ether Robot, and Innate Daoist were playing an online level-clearing game and had finally reached the last level. As they controlled their three characters to jump to the other side and the victory screen appeared, the game instantly reverted to the very first level, and all their progress records vanished.

"No—" River Spirit and Innate Daoist screamed, utterly despairing.

Seventh Elder, who was refining pills, and Silent Daoist, who rarely handled sect affairs... all encountered similar problems.

"Is it haunted?"

For a time, the entire Dao-Seeking Sect was filled with panic.

Yun Zhi appeared before Lu Yang's cave dwelling, a smile gracing her lips.

"Xiao Zhi, what's going on?"

"Junior Brother is about to break through," she explained. "The seals set up in the cave dwelling can't contain the embryonic Origin Dao Fruit; its abilities are leaking out."

Yun Zhi raised her hand and set up an even more profound and mysterious formation, blocking the cave dwelling's entrance. Only then did the Dao-Seeking Sect avoid disaster.

"It's still unknown when Junior Brother will fully break through, so you should all temporarily leave Heaven's Gate Peak," Yun Zhi advised. She dared not use her divine sense to investigate the situation inside the cave dwelling, worried about disturbing Lu Yang's cultivation.

No sooner had everyone withdrawn from Heaven's Gate Peak than extremely dense dark clouds appeared above the Dao-Seeking Sect, a vast, oppressive expanse that caused an inexplicable unease in those who saw them, as if a great mountain weighed on their hearts, making it hard to breathe.

"Immortal Tribulation? Who is about to become an immortal?!" Wu Yao, who was currently in prison, looked up, his pupils contracting sharply. He recognized at a glance that this was the Immortal Tribulation, the calamity all cultivators dreamed of overcoming.

"It's the Immortal Tribulation!" Someone shouted, and the entire Dao-Seeking Sect instantly realized this was the legendary Immortal Tribulation.

"Who is transcending the tribulation to become an immortal!"

"Looking at the direction of the lightning tribulation, it's all gathering towards Heaven's Gate Peak—it's Senior Brother Lu Yang who's undergoing tribulation!" Tao Yaoye exclaimed excitedly, happy for Lu Yang.

"It's Lu Yang?"

Everyone was utterly stunned. How much time had Lu Yang spent cultivating? His speed in cultivating from a mortal to a half-immortal had already made history, and everyone had thought becoming an immortal would be a hurdle that might slow Lu Yang's cultivation. Yet Lu Yang had actually leaped directly over this hurdle and was about to become an immortal!

Bang—

The cave dwelling exploded, and Lu Yang flew out, directly facing the heavenly tribulation. The aura emanating from him had clearly surpassed the limits of the Tribulation Transcendence realm; it was precisely this power that attracted the Immortal Tribulation!

"Everyone, move away from Heaven's Gate Peak!" Silent Daoist hastily shouted. Although the Immortal Tribulation wouldn't actively strike bystanders, there was no guarantee a stray bolt wouldn't fall and cause trouble.

Hearing this, everyone swiftly retreated from the Dao-Seeking Sect, sending messages to friends as they left; some even started live streams, all immensely excited to share this joy.

When the Immortal Tribulation appeared, the first to sense it was Immortal Yingtian. Immortal Yingtian stood above the clouds, looking down at Lu Yang with a hint of difficulty on his face.

"Immortal, stand back a bit," he said. "According to regulations, the Immortal Tribulation must be faced by one person. Your presence here counts as two, and the power will increase."

Immortal Immortal waved her hand impatiently and fiercely warned Immortal Yingtian: "Go on, go on, I'll stand right here. You just strike down with the power for one person, no extra strikes!"

"Hey, no, never mind, I'll try my best."