He turned around and walked back to the village, his steps firm but with a hint of determination. He understood that the peaceful and ordinary life in Cloud Hidden Village was about to end completely. The real road of defying the heavens and cultivating immortality had officially opened up for him, and from this moment on, he would face more powerful enemies and more dangerous challenges. But he was not afraid, because he had the power to protect everything he cherished, and the faith to go forward bravely on the road of immortality.
The moment Ye Chen stepped into the boundary of Cloud Hidden Village, a strange change suddenly occurred between heaven and earth.
A faint purple thunder light quietly flowed inside his dantian, as if it had sensed some kind of call, trembling gently and sending out a low buzzing sound. The surrounding spiritual energy between heaven and earth began to twist violently, gathering toward him like a tide, forming an almost visible vortex above his head.
The villagers who were working in the fields and chatting by the road all stopped what they were doing and looked at Ye Chen in shock. The air seemed to be weighed down by an invisible force, making it difficult for everyone to breathe. Some old people who had lived for decades could not help but kneel on the ground, their faces full of awe and fear.
"What… what is happening?"
"The sky is changing! Look at the sky!"
Everyone looked up in horror.
The originally clear and bright sky was quickly covered by layers of dark clouds. The clouds rolled and surged, as if a storm was brewing. A terrifying aura of destruction spread down from the nine heavens, pressing heavily on everyone's hearts. The wind howled, the grass and trees swayed wildly, and the whole world seemed to be shrouded in an atmosphere of doomsday.
Ye Chen stopped walking and stood quietly in the middle of the village.
He could clearly feel the anger coming from the depths of the sky. It was the wrath of the Heavenly Dao, as if it had sensed his ambition to defy the heavens and change his fate, and was about to descend a ruthless punishment.
"So this is the feeling of attracting the Heavenly Dao's attention," Ye Chen whispered to himself, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
He was not afraid. On the contrary, a long-suppressed fighting spirit was ignited in his chest. For so many years, he had been bullied, humiliated, and displaced. He had lost his family and his former glory. All of this was due to the so-called arrangement of fate and the suppression of the Heavenly Dao.
If the Heavenly Dao was unfair, he would defy it.
If fate was ruthless, he would break it.
At this moment, the thunder light in his dantian suddenly burst out with unprecedented power.
The purple-gold thunder energy spread throughout his body in an instant, making crackling sounds. His meridians were expanding, his bones were roaring, and his whole body was wrapped in a layer of dazzling thunder light. The ordinary mortal body was rapidly transforming under the tempering of thunder power, becoming stronger and tougher.
Rumble——
A deafening thunder exploded in the sky.
A thick golden thunderbolt tore through the dark clouds, carrying the supreme majesty of the Heavenly Dao, and crashed straight toward Ye Chen. The power contained in it was enough to turn any ordinary person into ashes in an instant.
The villagers screamed in terror and fled in all directions.
Some kind-hearted villagers shouted loudly, trying to remind Ye Chen to escape, but their voices were completely drowned out by the thunder.
Ye Chen raised his head and looked directly at the falling thunder, his eyes shining with unyielding light.
He did not dodge or resist with external means. Instead, he took the initiative to walk forward a few steps and welcomed the thunder with his physical body.
"I have endured humiliation for too long," Ye Chen's voice was calm but firm, spreading throughout the entire village.
"Today, I will use the Heavenly Thunder to temper my body, refine my soul, and step onto the real path of immortality!"
Boom!
The golden thunder slammed into Ye Chen's body fiercely.
The terrifying power of heaven and earth raged inside him, trying to tear his meridians, burn his flesh, and destroy his soul. The intense pain made his forehead covered with cold sweat, and his body trembled slightly. But he still stood straight, gritting his teeth and not making a single moan.
At the same time, the thunder seed in his dantian operated rapidly, frantically absorbing and refining the power of the Heavenly Thunder.
The violent thunder energy was transformed into gentle and vast cultivation power, continuously pouring into his limbs and bones. His realm rose rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, breaking through from the initial stage of Qi Refining to the middle stage, then to the late stage, and soon reached the peak of Qi Refining.
Every time a thunderbolt fell, his strength increased by a point.
Every time he endured the pain, his will became tougher.
The dark clouds in the sky became more and more dense, and the thunder fell one after another, as if the Heavenly Dao was determined to completely erase this ant-like mortal who dared to provoke it.
But Ye Chen still stood tall in the thunderstorm.
His black clothes were blown wildly by the wind, and his body was surrounded by thunder light. At this moment, he was like a god who had fallen into the mortal world, fearless and unyielding.
He knew that the peaceful days in Cloud Hidden Village were truly over.
From this moment on, he was no longer an ordinary villager who could be bullied at will.
He was Ye Chen, a monk who embarked on the road of defying the heavens.
The road ahead was long and dangerous, with powerful enemies and countless crises. But he had already made up his mind to move forward bravely, protect the people he wanted to protect, and eventually step above the Heavenly Dao and achieve eternal immortality.
When the last thunderbolt dissipated, the dark clouds in the sky gradually dispersed, and the sunlight spilled down again.
Ye Chen stood quietly in the sun, his breath calm and powerful.
A brand-new world was unfolding before his eyes.