Projection of the Heavens: I prove my immortality through slaughter.

The ancient road under the stars is eternally silent. Here, there is no rotation of the sun and moon, only broken stars and distorted spatial light and shadow, forming an eternal backdrop.

Lin Xuan sat cross-legged atop a massive piece of star debris. This debris, comparable in size to a small continent, was dark brown, its surface riddled with impact craters and tearing marks, silently recounting the carnage it had endured. It floated quietly in a relatively stable area of ​​the ancient road, like a silent giant.

Having been away from the Xuan Tian Star Region for some time, Lin Xuan did not rush on his journey. Instead, he continuously comprehended the various broken laws and temporal rhythms contained within the ancient road. The golden core within his body had already reached its ninth cycle of perfection, perfectly round and flawless, shining brightly, like a miniature star, containing terrifying energy capable of annihilating a star region.

The opportunity to reach the Nascent Soul stage has ripened.

He chose to undergo his tribulation here because the absolute silence and relative stability of the place could avoid unnecessary interference.

"It's time."

Lin Xuan slowly opened his eyes, a fleeting image of billions of stars rising and falling flashing before his eyes, replaced by an extreme calm and determination. He no longer suppressed his aura.

boom!

Like an ancient beast awakening from its slumber, a vast and terrifying aura, far exceeding the realm of the Golden Core stage, erupted from him!

The star debris beneath their feet trembled violently, instantly clearing away countless ancient dust and rubble from its surface. The already distorted space around them rippled violently, like the surface of a lake tossed with a boulder, with visible waves of light bending and tearing apart.

Almost at the same moment his aura was fully revealed, an indescribable, grand will descended from the darkness, transcending endless time and space!

This will is cold, majestic, and supreme, as if it were the embodiment of the rules of the entire universe, devoid of any emotional color, solely dedicated to carrying out the ultimate mission of "testing" and "selection".

"Buzz—"

The void began to rumble, not with sound, but with the tremors of its very rules. Centered on the star debris where Lin Xuan was, unimaginable destructive energy began to gather in the endless dark void above.

Multicolored tribulation clouds appeared out of thin air, not water vapor, but formed by the purest laws of thunder, destruction, and even a trace of imperceptible mental magic. The tribulation clouds rolled and expanded, covering millions of miles of void in the blink of an eye. Their scope and power far exceeded any record of the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation in any ancient text.

Within the calamity clouds, lightning of all colors surged and flashed: crimson like blood, dark blue like hell, pitch black like ink, pure white like daylight… Each color of lightning exuded a completely different yet equally terrifying aura of destruction. The deep rumble of thunder was like the war drums of ancient gods and demons, striking the heartbeat of all things, making this deathly silent starry sky suddenly become incredibly oppressive.

The first tribulation lightning has been prepared!

"bring it on."

Lin Xuan stood up, his black robes fluttering in the violent energy flow. He looked up at the multicolored tribulation clouds covering the starry sky, his eyes still calm, but in the depths of his eyes, a flame called "conquest" ignited.

Boom!

A crimson divine lightning bolt, stretching for thousands of miles, like a roaring blood-red dragon, tore through the void, carrying the intense heat and violence to burn the eight wastelands, and struck down towards Lin Xuan! Wherever it passed, space was scorched and distorted.

Lin Xuan neither dodged nor evaded, nor did he even use any magical treasures or supernatural powers. He simply pointed his fingers like a sword and gently slashed at the blood-red lightning dragon.

scoff!

A pale golden sword aura, condensed to its extreme and seemingly capable of slicing through chaos, appeared out of thin air, striking the head of the thunder dragon with pinpoint accuracy.

Without a deafening explosion, the terrifying crimson lightning dragon was split in two by the pale golden sword energy. Then, like a burst bubble, it silently vanished and dissipated, transforming into the purest lightning energy, which was quietly absorbed by the pores of Lin Xuan's body.

"Its power is acceptable; it's quite suitable for tempering the body," he commented calmly, as if what he had just dispersed was not a world-destroying heavenly tribulation lightning, but a mere wisp of breeze.

The heavenly tribulation seemed to be angered by this dismissive attitude, and the tribulation clouds churned violently, with the second and third tribulations following one after another!

The second layer consists of countless dark blue ice-soul lightning bolts, freezing the void and silencing all things wherever they pass; the third layer consists of countless Geng metal demon-slaying lightning bolts flying across the sky, each one sharp and incomparable to a sword immortal's full-force strike.

Lin Xuan remained composed, using fists, palms, fingers, and swords with effortless simplicity, easily shattering and refining divine lightning bolts that would annihilate even a peak Golden Core cultivator. His physical body, bathed in the light of the lightning, shimmered with a radiant glow, becoming even more translucent and resilient, while his magical power became even purer and more refined.

Fourth layer, fifth layer, sixth layer...

The power of the tribulation lightning increased exponentially. By the sixth level, eighty-one chaotic divine lightning bolts struck down simultaneously, weaving together a net of destructive lightning, threatening to completely erase the place of tribulation from the universe.

Lin Xuan finally got serious. He let out a low shout, and his perfected golden core spun rapidly, bursting forth with boundless brilliance. He raised his palms to the sky, and a huge illusory image of a Tai Chi Yin-Yang diagram appeared above his head, slowly rotating. As the Yin-Yang fish swam, they absorbed, obliterated, and transformed the destructive Heavenly Divine Lightning.

However, the terror of the heavenly tribulation goes far beyond the destruction caused by lightning.

When the seventh tribulation of lightning—the silent and seemingly eroding "annihilation gray lightning"—descends, the tribulation of inner demons also quietly arrives!

The external thunder was still raging, but deep within Lin Xuan's sea of ​​consciousness, waves far more dangerous than those outside were being stirred up.

……

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the scene suddenly changed.

He found himself no longer on the ancient starry road, but back in his past life, in that familiar hospital ward. The smell of disinfectant was pungent, and the beeping of the life monitor was unsettling. On the hospital bed lay his mother's pale and haggard face, her hand tightly gripping his, her eyes filled with endless worry and reluctance.

"Xiao Xuan... Mom is worried about you..."

That voice, that look, were exactly the same as in his memory; they represented the deepest tenderness and regret in his heart.

A tremendous sense of sadness and helplessness instantly overwhelmed him, as if dragging him back to that mortal past filled with helplessness.

However, Lin Xuan's eyes only flickered for a moment before returning to their usual calm.

"The ties to this world are severed; it is but an illusion." He whispered in his mind, his voice carrying the resolute determination to sever all ties of cause and effect.

The scene shattered like a mirage.

Then, the scene changed again. He returned to the Xuan Tian Star Region, where mountains of corpses and seas of blood lay beneath his feet. The remnant souls of countless cultivators, demons, and alien races who had once been his enemies and died because of him had coalesced into a monstrous resentment, unleashing the most vicious curses.

"Lin Xuan! Your sins are unspeakable, you deserve a terrible death!" "Give me back my life!" "You are destined for eternal loneliness, to be condemned to hell!"

Endless resentment and negative emotions surged like a tide, trying to evoke his guilt, fear, and self-doubt.

Lin Xuan stood atop the mountain of corpses, his hands behind his back, his eyes as cold as ancient ice.

"Those who obstruct my path deserve to die. Your wretched thoughts dare to disturb my peace of mind?"

His killing intent soared to the heavens, but it was not madness; rather, it was unwavering resolve born of extreme calm. The moment the vengeful curse approached the core of his soul, it was crushed and evaporated by an even purer and more powerful will.

The inner demons did not give up, and evolved into a scene where he reached the pinnacle, controlling all the heavens, only to find that his best friend had betrayed him, his beloved had vanished, and in the end he was left all alone, facing an eternally lonely scene...

All sorts of illusions point directly to his true nature, excavating every possible flaw deep within his heart—regret for the past, bewilderment over the sins of killing, fear of loneliness, and confusion about immortality…

However, Lin Xuan's Dao heart, having been tempered through two lifetimes, teetering between life and death, and forged in battle, was already indestructible and as clear as a mirror.

Let it be a thousand illusions and ten thousand temptations, I remain unmoved.

His true intention has always remained the same—to pursue the supreme Dao, to control his own destiny, and to transcend all constraints!

After an unknown amount of time, the turmoil in his mind gradually subsided, and all illusions vanished. The tribulation of inner demons had been overcome!

Meanwhile, outside, the seventh layer of Annihilation Gray Lightning was forcibly dispelled by him using his powerful divine sense combined with his magic power.

At this moment, the tribulation clouds seemed to fall into a brief silence, but the will to destroy grew stronger, as if brewing the final, and most terrifying, judgment.

The eighth tribulation of lightning has arrived!

It was no longer a single bolt of lightning, but an endless stream of fragments of laws! There were shattered blades of space, reversed currents of time, collapsing laws of the five elements, and chaotic yin and yang energies... They intertwined to form an all-encompassing storm of laws, sweeping towards Lin Xuan.

This is the ultimate test of a cultivator's own understanding of the "Dao"! If one's own Dao is not firm enough or perfect enough, one will be assimilated, torn apart, and completely obliterated in this storm of laws!

Lin Xuan's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he let out a long roar that shook the starry sky:

"My path is the path of transcendence! The path of freedom! The path of control!"

"The laws of heaven and earth are also at my disposal; how can they harm me?!"

He actively faced the storm of laws, his body radiating a bright, clear light. It was no longer a simple defense, but rather he began to use his understanding of the laws to guide, decompose, and devour those violent fragments of laws! His soul and body underwent the deepest transformation and sublimation in this almost self-torturous baptism.

When he forcibly passed through the eighth tribulation of the laws in an inconceivable way, the multicolored tribulation clouds that covered millions of miles suddenly contracted!

All energy, all laws, all destructive will, condensed to their ultimate limit, transforming into a single...

It cannot be described by color; it seems to contain the ultimate mystery of "nothingness" and "existence" in thunder.

It was as thin as a needle, and it locked onto Lin Xuan's brow and sea of ​​consciousness, falling silently.

The Ninth Tribulation of Lightning - Chaos Returning to Nothingness Divine Lightning!

This lightning ignores defenses, strikes directly at the source, and is specifically designed to destroy true spirits!

At this moment, Lin Xuan felt an unprecedented life-or-death crisis. He had a sudden inspiration and stopped resisting. Instead, he completely relaxed his mind and concentrated all his consciousness into his golden core, facing the Returning Void Divine Lightning.

"Destruction precedes construction; without destruction, there can be no construction! The Nascent Soul stage—if not now, when?"

boom!!!

A tremendous explosion, as if the world had been created, resounded within him, followed by an eternal stillness, as if all was silent.

That tiny bolt of chaotic divine lightning struck his flawless golden core.

The surface of the golden core was instantly covered with countless cracks, and the next moment, it shattered with a bang!

But within the shattered golden core lies not nothingness, but a point of supreme brilliance, brimming with infinite vitality and possibilities—a primordial spiritual light!

The spiritual light rapidly absorbed the energy from the shattered golden core and all of Lin Xuan's essence, energy, and spirit, and began to evolve and expand...

In the end, it transformed into a tiny baby, about three inches tall, shrouded in chaotic energy.

His face was exactly the same as Lin Xuan's, exceptionally handsome and dignified. However, beneath his slightly closed eyes, a vast scene of the beginning of the universe and the rotation of star rivers could be faintly seen.

The nascent form of the Primordial Infant is beginning to appear!

At this moment, the terrifying Chaos Returning to Nothingness Divine Lightning became the best nourishment and baptism for this nascent nascent soul, which was slowly absorbed by it.