Breakthrough to the Cave Heaven

At this moment, Lin Xiong seemed utterly consumed by madness. After his frenzied outburst, he emerged from the room, his spirit utterly lost and his demeanor forlorn. Yunhong, naturally, had witnessed everything that transpired within with perfect clarity. As Lin Xiong stepped out, Yunhong’s eyes, brimming with sympathy, fell upon him.

“Lin Xiong, surely you comprehend the predicament I face now?” Yunhong gestured dismissively to Lin Xiong. “Should you covertly take him home and care for him, it would only prove beneficial to us both, with no drawbacks. I cannot, after all, keep him confined indefinitely. Take him with you, and once he has regained his senses, you may return him.”

Yet, Lin Xiong possessed no means to restore Lin Mo to normalcy. Thus, he knelt once more, then abjectly crawled to Yunhong’s side, clutching desperately at the hem of his robe.

“First Elder, you—you simply must save my son!” Lin Xiong pleaded, his face etched with desperation. “He has surely suffered a cultivation deviation. As the foremost sect in the Jiang Kingdom, the Yunhua Sect must possess a remedy, surely?”

Observing Lin Xiong’s pitiful state, Yunhong felt a profound headache brewing within him.

“A way?” Yunhong sighed. “This old man has already exhausted every conceivable method. He hasn’t suffered a cultivation deviation; rather, this is a lingering aftereffect of his practice. He lacks a vital essence and, unable to reconcile himself with this truth, he has transformed into this state. You understand implicitly that certain aspects of the human body simply cannot be restored through sheer power alone.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiong’s heart felt as though it were being mercilessly torn asunder. Just as Lin Xiong was about to press his case further, a voice suddenly resonated, cutting through the tense silence.

“Father, Master, you needn’t trouble yourselves any longer,” the voice declared. “I have come to a realization.”

Upon hearing the voice, both men instantly turned their gaze towards the grand entrance of the pavilion. There, to their astonishment, they saw Lin Mo emerging from within, now clad in perfectly normal attire. While he still presented a rather unsettling appearance—his skin an unnatural pallor, his hair a vibrant purple, and his mannerisms remaining distinctly feminine—he was undeniably far more palatable than the shocking sight Lin Xiong had witnessed moments earlier.

The two men watched Lin Mo’s emergence, momentarily dumbfounded.

“You… you’ve come to a realization?” Yunhong inquired, a hint of disbelief in his tone.

Lin Mo pursed his lips thoughtfully.

“Master, please rest assured,” Lin Mo replied, his voice firm. “I shall endeavor to restrain my inner impulses and, to the best of my ability, avoid revealing my true form before outsiders.”

Yunhong did not offer an immediate reply, instead lowering his head to ponder the matter deeply. Perceiving that his previous actions had yielded some effect, Lin Xiong once more implored Yunhong.

“First Elder, observe,” Lin Xiong implored. “Lin Mo is still capable of self-restraint. I beseech you, do not cast him out. After all, a master-disciple bond of over two decades ties him to you.”

Lin Xiong spoke with urgent haste.

At this poignant mention, Yunhong finally let out a soft sigh.

“Alas! Very well, Lin Mo,” Yunhong conceded, his voice tinged with resignation. “I shall grant you one more opportunity. What you do in private is of no concern to me, but I forbid you from ever again displaying that grotesque demeanor of yours before me. Otherwise, you shall receive no second chance. Let it be so. Oh, and one more thing, Lin Xiong, ensure your Lin family conducts itself with more propriety from this point forward. The Sect Master is already deeply dissatisfied with your clan.”

Having uttered these words, Yunhong ascended into the sky once more, transforming into a fleeting streak of light as he vanished from sight.

****

Lin Xiong exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, relieved that Yunhong no longer insisted on Lin Mo’s return. He was just about to address Lin Mo when, abruptly, a brilliant streak of purple light, imbued with an overwhelming, heaven-reaching aura, erupted skyward from the direction of Purple Abyss Pavilion. This sudden, startling phenomenon severed the words poised on Lin Xiong’s lips.

“This? What could this be?” Lin Xiong murmured, his gaze fixed in a particular direction, wide with astonishment.

Lin Mo’s eyes, filled with profound shock, tracked the ascending purple streak. Without a moment’s hesitation, he soared towards it. The sheer magnitude of this disturbance was instantly perceived by every single member of the Yunhua Sect.

Yunshuang and the others immediately abandoned their tasks, swiftly ascending to a position directly above Purple Abyss Pavilion.

“No way? Sect Master,” Yunyan and the others exclaimed in disbelief, “this must be the Divine Light of the Cavern Heaven, mustn’t it? Could it be that Ziyun, that girl, is about to break through to the Cavern Heaven Realm with her perfected Spirit Gathering Realm cultivation?” The mere act of breaking through to the Cavern Heaven Realm had, astonishingly, triggered a profound celestial anomaly—a matter of no small consequence.

“She is the only one within the entirety of Purple Abyss Pavilion capable of such a feat,” Yunshuang murmured, a note of awe in her voice. “I’ve heard that when one at the Great Perfection of the Spirit Gathering Realm breaks through to the Cavern Heaven Realm, their Cavern Heaven completely merges with their physical body, remaining unseen externally, and rendering them far more formidable than ordinary Cavern Heaven cultivators. Alas, I have only ever heard tales; I have never witnessed it myself.”

Jiang Yao and Su Muyu, too, swiftly made their way to the scene. Yan Yun, it seemed, had kept her impending breakthrough a secret from them. The two stood observing from a distance, and though their hearts churned with anxiety, their expressions remained composed.

“This girl, on the cusp of a major breakthrough, yet she neglects to inform either of us in advance,” Su Muyu communicated to Jiang Yao via divine sense, a hint of exasperation in her tone. “Why can’t she ever seem to break this habit?”

Jiang Yao knew Yan Yun far too well. Yan Yun was precisely the type of person who, though she might declare her intent to overcome any obstacle, would still refrain from disclosing genuine danger to them.

“Alas! Her temperament is simply ingrained; I doubt it will ever change,” Jiang Yao remarked, her face clouded with worry. “I can only pray she achieves a safe breakthrough. Yet, even when I ascended to the Cavern Heaven Realm, I commanded no such formidable aura. A breakthrough to Cavern Heaven from Spirit Gathering Perfection is truly no trivial matter.”

Turning their attention back to Yan Yun, the medicine vat she occupied now spewed forth copious amounts of purple energy, a portion of which surged directly into her body.

“Kid, it is time to condense your Cavern Heaven,” Yan Lingyun commanded. “Your breakthrough isn’t a conventional Spirit Gathering Realm ascension. You must forge a Cavern Heaven within your body and then fully integrate your physical form with it. Follow my instructions: gather the internal energy to a single point to establish a Cavern Heaven. You have the potential to open twelve in total; strive to open as many as you possibly can.”

Yan Yun, grasping the instruction instantly, swiftly altered her hand seals, channeling the vast energy within her body to converge upon her chest. Concurrently, Yan Yun was assailed by an intense wave of pain, her body feeling as though it were on the verge of tearing apart. Yet, this agony paled in comparison to the torment endured while cultivating her poison cultivation technique; to Yan Yun, it was but a mere trifle.

“Absorb it!” Yan Yun commanded, her will asserting itself as she autonomously amplified her drawing power, siphoning even greater strength to condense her Cavern Heaven. The surging purple energy, which had previously shot skyward, now began a slow, deliberate contraction as Yan Yun intensified her drawing force, gradually being absorbed back into her body.

“Such colossal energy fluctuations!” Yan Lingyun exclaimed, her voice laced with awe. “This far surpasses the scale of Jiang Yun’s breakthrough to the Cavern Heaven Realm all those years ago!” All present now watched with fervent anticipation, hoping for Yan Yun’s successful breakthrough.

Just then, Lin Mo also flew into their midst, his arrival drawing numerous gazes.

“Eh? Isn’t that Lin Mo?” someone questioned aloud. “How has he come to look like this?” A few individuals had spotted Lin Mo.

“How utterly bizarre,” another whispered. “Could his appearance be a consequence of a failed poison cultivation technique? No wonder he’s been cloistered in his residence, afraid to face anyone.”

Numerous inner disciples began to point and openly discuss Lin Mo.

Observing Yan Yun once more, her first inner Cavern Heaven began to materialize, guided by the immense influx of energy and Yan Lingyun’s precise instructions. As this Cavern Heaven took form, it commenced drawing vast quantities of energy, causing the substantial vat of medicinal liquid belonging to Yan Yun to visibly diminish at an astonishing rate. This phenomenon clearly indicated that her breakthrough to the Cavern Heaven Realm demanded significantly more energy than that of ordinary cultivators.

In short order, the first massive vat of medicinal liquid was completely depleted.

“It’s insufficient! Continue to draw energy from the other medicine vats,” Yan Lingyun promptly urged.

Upon hearing the instruction, Yan Yun’s mind stirred. The substantial vat of medicinal liquid beside her also began to be drawn by Yan Yun’s power, with copious amounts of purple energy floating out from within and surging into Yan Yun’s body.

With the immense boost from this additional vat of medicinal liquid, Yan Yun successfully condensed her first Cavern Heaven vortex. Immediately thereafter, the purple Cavern Heaven within her body detached itself, piercing through the building and soaring into the sky.

It then rapidly expanded, transforming into a colossal purple vortex. The vortex spun furiously, drawing in vast quantities of milky-white energy from all directions, which poured into its depths.

This was spirit energy. Peculiarly, while poison cultivators theoretically relied solely on toxins as their source of power, Yan Yun’s situation differed. Her Cavern Heaven could also absorb spirit energy.

However, this spirit energy could not directly become Yan Yun’s strength. Instead, it had to integrate with her toxins, causing them to undergo a qualitative transformation.

This implied that after Yan Yun broke through to the Cavern Heaven Realm, her poisons would become far more potent than those of other poison cultivators.

After absorbing a vast amount of natural spirit energy, the Cavern Heaven vortex slowly descended, re-integrating into Yan Yun’s body and completely merging with it.

She no longer needed to consciously activate her Cavern Heaven; her body could now actively absorb both natural spirit energy and toxic energy. The several vats of toxic liquid surrounding her autonomously transformed into pure energy, drifting towards Yan Yun.

Yan Yun was undoubtedly aiming to condense several Cavern Heaven vortices before stopping, and these vats of toxic liquid certainly couldn’t be wasted. Strangely, however, Yan Yun could not continue to condense more Cavern Heavens. Her absorption of toxins and the power of heaven and earth only caused the existing Cavern Heaven within her to grow larger, rather than creating additional ones.

While this clearly presented a slight anomaly, Yan Yun had at least successfully broken through to the Cavern Heaven Realm without significant hindrance; she simply required more energy than anticipated.