Mortal: Starting with the Seven Mysterious Sects, I proved my Dao through sacrifice.

After being formally accepted as a disciple by Yuan Xiang, Murong Fan quickly established himself in the Leiyin Sect thanks to his exceptional comprehension and ability to comprehend the Dao through array formations.

Not only did Murong Fan break through his cultivation bottlenecks one after another, but he also created the astonishing "Thunder Sound Myriad Swords Formation," which greatly increased his prestige within the sect. Yuan Xiang, who had always valued him highly, nurtured him as the future core of the Thunder Sound Sect after this incident, placing him on par with the Nascent Soul stage elders.

Murong Fan was overjoyed and readily agreed. With Yuan Xiang's support, he could not only frequently visit the Scripture Pavilion to consult the classics, but also legitimately mobilize some of the sect's resources for cultivation, allowing his cultivation to advance even faster.

Twenty-five years later, Murong Fan, now over sixty, had a nascent soul that had been tempered to a golden luster, and his lightning power had become increasingly pure and profound, showing faint signs of touching the peak of the mid-stage nascent soul realm.

On this day, Murong Fan had just finished the task of exterminating demonic beasts assigned by the sect on the orders of Yuan Xiang and returned to his cave to cultivate in seclusion. He then felt his nascent soul begin to tremble continuously, and a powerful suction force surged out from his dantian, frantically absorbing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

In an instant, the spiritual energy surrounding the cave seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, forming visible torrents of pale blue spiritual energy that roared and surged towards Murong Fan's cave like a stampede of ten thousand horses. Wherever the torrents of spiritual energy passed, the air seemed to be compressed and distorted, emitting a heart-palpitating fluctuation.

Murong Fan was secretly delighted, knowing that this was a sign that his accumulated cultivation had reached its peak and he was about to break through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. He immediately calmed his mind and activated the improved Thunder Sound Myriad Swords Formation, guiding the spiritual energy flowing into his body to continuously cleanse his meridians and nourish his Nascent Soul.

The spiritual energy surged through my meridians like a rushing river, each surge bringing a tingling sensation. It felt as if every cell in my body was cheering with joy. My meridians were bulging from the spiritual energy, sending waves of throbbing pain through me, but more than anything, I felt an exhilarating surge of power.

Lightning flowed through the meridians, each movement accompanied by a slight resonance of the array patterns. The originally scattered lightning power was continuously gathered and compressed, eventually merging into the nascent soul.

The nascent soul greedily absorbed the pure lightning power, and its size seemed to increase at a visible speed. The originally pale golden nascent soul became more and more intense, like a piece of dazzling gold. The pressure it emitted became more and more profound and terrifying, as if a sleeping ancient beast was about to awaken. The entire cave trembled slightly under this pressure.

Several days later, a loud rumble suddenly came from the cave. A golden beam of light, even more condensed than the last breakthrough, broke through the cave's restrictions and shot straight into the sky, causing the spiritual energy of the entire Thunder Sound Peak to tremble slightly.

Wherever the golden beam of light passed, the clouds were dyed gold, as if the entire world was cheering for Murong Fan's breakthrough. At the top of the beam, a thunder dragon faintly coiled, emitting bursts of roars, its power immense.

Murong Fan slowly finished his practice, feeling the surging and abundant power within his body, and a faint smile appeared on his face. At this moment, his cultivation had steadily reached the peak of the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and he was only one step away from breaking through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, bringing him a big step closer to his original goal—but this final step was far more difficult and dangerous than the previous path of cultivation.

Just then, Murong Fan remembered the *Ming Wang Jue*, which he hadn't practiced in a long time, and subconsciously began to circulate his cultivation technique. Since reaching the third level, the *Ming Wang Jue* had been stuck at a bottleneck for many years. Even with frequent nurturing, he hadn't been able to break through to the third level. But now, with his cultivation breaking through to the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage, the spiritual energy within his dantian was even more abundant.

The previously stagnant Vidyaraja mantra began to operate on its own, and a warm and profound Buddhist power slowly spread along the meridians, like a gentle stream, nourishing every inch of the skin.

Wherever the Buddha's power passed, the meridians became wider and stronger. With each circulation, a portion of it merged into the golden light of the nascent soul, giving the entire nascent soul an increasingly rich layer of Buddha patterns.

Murong Fan went with the flow, guiding the energy along the current of the cultivation technique, channeling all the surplus lightning power that had just stabilized within his body into the vortex of the technique. The lightning power and Buddhist power collided and merged within the vortex, emitting a hissing sound, and a strange power began to grow within his body.

As more and more power merged in, a three-headed, six-armed image of the Immovable King gradually emerged in Murong Fan's sea of ​​consciousness. The image was ten thousand feet tall, its entire body radiating golden light, and each head had a different expression, whether majestic, compassionate, or angry.

Each of its six arms held a different ritual implement, radiating a powerful aura. The Buddha's eyes, which had been half-open, slowly opened, revealing an ancient and unwavering majesty in its golden eyes. The sound of Buddhist chants echoed throughout the mind, like a call from ancient times, deeply moving the soul.

A soft "hum!" exploded deep within his dantian, shattering the bottleneck of the third level of the "Ming Wang Jue" technique. Countless insights flooded his mind, and the technique naturally reached its perfect state.

Murong Fan felt his blood and qi resonate with the Buddhist power, his physical strength increasing several times over. His muscles became firmer, and his bones were like those forged from refined steel. Even without spiritual power to protect him, he could withstand a full-force attack from an ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. He could clearly feel that his body was like a treasure trove containing boundless power, ready to unleash tremendous energy at any moment.

He stood up, gently stretched his muscles and bones, and heard a series of popping sounds from his bones. His aura became more and more stable and profound. The three powers of thunder, sword and formation merged into one in his body. With a casual wave of his hand, he triggered the resonance of the spiritual energy of the surrounding world, forming a small spiritual energy storm.

"The third level of the 'Ming Wang Jue' is complete, peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage..." Murong Fan muttered to himself, a sharp glint in his eyes. "Now, with my strength, I can even put up a fight against ordinary late-Nascent Soul cultivators. The cultivation resources in the Great Jin are far more abundant than in Tiannan, so it seems I still need to continue improving. Once my strength reaches the next level, I must explore more immortal caves and find a few decent talismanic treasures before I can truly consider myself complete!"

With that thought in mind, Murong Fan straightened his robes, pushed open the door, and headed straight for the rear hall where Yuan Xiang was.

He stood up, pushed open the stone door of the cave, where disciples were already waiting. Upon seeing him, the disciple immediately bowed deeply, his back almost touching the ground, his face filled with reverence, his hands trembling slightly, and his voice also trembling: "Elder Murong, the abbot just sent word that an ancient Buddhist site has been discovered in the southern sea. The sect wishes to invite you to lead a team to explore for the treasure. When will you depart, Elder?"

Upon hearing this, Murong Fan's eyes lit up. The ancient Buddhist relics were a perfect opportunity to refine his newly perfected Mingwang Technique, and perhaps even find the subsequent cultivation methods of the Mingwang Technique.

Murong Fan secretly pondered in his heart, but his face remained calm as he calmly said, "Reporting to the abbot, I will depart in three days." The disciple hurriedly agreed and respectfully retreated, his steps slightly unsteady, clearly intimidated by Murong Fan's imposing aura.