The journey of a Gu master crossing the mortal realm and ascending to an immortal was an extremely dangerous process. Even so, Lin Yan still had considerable confidence in Sun Cu.
Lin Yan looked toward Sun Cu and calmly said, "Begin."
Hearing this, Sun Cu slowly took a deep breath, sat down cross-legged in the middle of the desert, and decisively shattered his aperture to begin Immortal Ascension.
At some point before anyone realized it, the winds between heaven and earth had already begun to stir.
At first, it was only a gentle breeze, but it rapidly grew stronger, turning violent and chaotic. Endless black clouds surged across the sky, stretching for tens of thousands of li as vast waves of qi rolled through the heavens. Above the desert, a terrifying dark vortex spanning more than a hundred li slowly formed, as though the sky itself were collapsing inward.
Beneath them, the ground also began to shake.The faint tremors quickly escalated into violent earthquakes. Deep cracks tore across the earth like enormous scars, while the desert within ten thousand li churned like a boundless ocean. Towering waves of yellow sand swept across the land, and another enormous vortex gradually formed deep underground.
The heaven vortex and earth vortex both centered upon Sun Cu. An invisible yet majestic force slowly lifted his body into the air, allowing him to stand alone beneath the darkened heavens.
Sun Yue who was only a Rank 3 Gu Master. Unable to withstand the terrifying pressure, she immediately retreated and fled tens of thousands of li away.
Only Lin Yan remained standing calmly at the center of the disaster zone, his hands behind his back, completely unmoved even as heaven and earth seemed on the verge of collapse.
Even he could not help feeling shocked by such a scene.
Gradually, heavenly lightning began striking the dark vortex in the sky, shattering the black clouds inch by inch as boundless clear light descended from above.
Meanwhile, the enormous yellow spiral on the ground rotated like a giant millstone, tearing apart the desert as vast streams of golden earth qi surged upward.
These were precisely the qi of heaven and earth. Sun Cu had successfully completed the first step of Immortal Ascension by shattering his aperture. His aperture was now in complete chaos, a huge hole forming within it as it frantically drew in heaven qi and earth qi from the outside world. A stream of pure white human qi also rose above his head and slowly merged with the qi of heaven and earth.
The clear and unrestrained heaven qi, the golden and heavy earth qi, together with the pure white as snow human qi, the three merged and formed a multi coloured lump.
The three qi intertwined together, beginning the second step—absorbing qi.
Lin Yan watched everything carefully while silently analyzing the process in his heart. "Once the aperture is shattered, there is no turning back. Unless, of course, someone possesses a Second Aperture like Fang Yuan. Even if their Immortal Ascension fails, they would still survive."
The process of balancing the three qi tests a Gu Master's control and their human foundation."
"If there is too much human qi, the body will self detonate. Too much earth qi turns the body into stone and buries it alive. Too much heavenly qi causes the body to disperse into the air."
However, fortune is found within the danger, the greater the risk, the greater the opportunity. The fusion of heaven qi, earth qi, and human qi was an extremely rare opportunity for a Gu Master to directly face heaven and earth themselves.
At that moment, Heaven would generously open themselves to the Gu Master, revealing countless mysteries and allowing them to freely seek answers to their confusion and doubts.
However, one also had to be careful not to become too immersed in the Natural Inspiration of the Great Dao and neglect the process of balancing the three qi. Once control was lost, death would be inevitable.
Fortunately, Sun Cu did not disappoint Lin Yan. His control was extremely stable. The three qi slowly circulated around him in balance as he steadily adjusted their proportions, maintaining a firm state while emitting increasingly profound fluctuations.
His body, soul, and mind were all being tempered by heaven and earth qi. Even his life essence was undergoing a transformation, preparing for the final third step—condensing the immortal aperture.
At that moment, the heaven and earth qi covering tens of thousands of li suddenly began to change. An invisible pressure rapidly spread across the surroundings, carrying a terrifying aura that made one's heart tremble instinctively.
Lin Yan's spirit jolted. Fear and excitement surged together in his heart. "The heavenly tribulation and earthly calamity are about to begin!"