At the same time, Yang Hong felt an inexplicable pressure descend upon him.
He had no regrets, as he still had several experiments to complete.
Straightening his clothes and taking a step back, he bowed deeply to the Turning Wheel Dharma King, his forehead touching the ground.
He cried out, "Disciple Yang Hong greets Master."
"Rumble ~ Rumble ~"
As Yang Hong spoke, thunder rumbled in the sky, and dark clouds gathered above the imperial palace.
The Turning Wheel Dharma King, hearing the thunder and seeing the dark clouds, his old face crinkled into a smile.
He knew that Yang Hong's karma was immense, hence the heavens themselves had changed color.
But this also meant that the benefits he would gain would be even greater.
He quickly stepped forward two paces and helped Yang Hong to his feet.
"Good, good, good! Disciple, please rise."
This single word, "disciple," solidified the oath between them.
"Rumble ~ Rumble ~"
The thunder overhead intensified.
The Turning Wheel Dharma King, standing on the ground, found his cultivation rapidly increasing.
In mere breaths, his cultivation broke through the late stage of Foundation Establishment to the peak of Foundation Establishment, and it continued to climb.
The dark clouds in the sky began to press lower.
*Hong*
With a soft sound,
Everyone around the Turning Wheel Dharma King was pushed away, including Yang Hong, who was startled and stumbled back.
"Disperse! My cultivation is still breaking through, stay away from me, or you might get hurt."
The Turning Wheel Dharma King said this to Yang Hong, knowing that Yang Hong had not yet cultivated and fearing that he might accidentally kill Yang Hong if he lost control during his breakthrough.
Yang Hong nodded and retreated with the others, stopping only at the entrance of the [Flowing Light Hall].
The Turning Wheel Dharma King's cultivation continued to surge!
Early stage of Integration
Mid stage of Integration
Late stage of Integration
Peak of Integration!
The Turning Wheel Dharma King's expression shifted from initial surprise to fear.
The cultivation technique he practiced was not the [Indestructible Divine Skill of Vajra] from the Vajra Temple, but a more profound Buddhist cultivation method, the [Great Brightness Immeasurable Merit Sutra].
As long as he had sufficient merit, he could continue to advance.
However, this time, Yang Hong had shared too much merit with him, and his breakthrough was too rapid.
The Turning Wheel Dharma King was unaware that Yang Hong held a great secret.
Yang Hong's original body, the Sixth Prince of the Great Sui, had a naturally powerful soul. At the age of fourteen, half of his soul was extracted by a great cultivator from the Central Divine Continent to reinforce the seal of the Five Directions Dynasty.
This alone was an immense merit.
This was also why the cultivators from the Upper Sect had forbidden him from cultivating, fearing that if he cultivated, reclaiming the other half of his soul would affect the seal of the Five Directions Dynasty.
After Yang Hong's transmigration, he naturally inherited this merit.
Over the past year, Yang Hong had continuously cultivated high-yield crops and promoted them,
This was another great merit that saved countless lives.
During this year's snow disaster, Yang Hong publicly shared the techniques for honeycomb briquettes and heated brick beds, saving tens of millions of lives.
This was another merit.
And before that, Yang Hong had eaten the Sky-Swallowing Unicorn Wolf King, indirectly preventing a major war between humans and demons, which also brought merit.
The accumulation of so much merit was enough for a cultivator who practiced merit to directly reach the seventh stage, the Body Integration realm.
The Turning Wheel Dharma King was too greedy and directly sought to undertake all of Yang Hong's karma. This colossal merit was naturally transferred to him.
However, the overwhelming merit was not something he could digest immediately.
After a few more breaths,
"Rumble ~"
A bolt of blue lightning struck down!
The Turning Wheel Dharma King was beginning to break through to the Golden Core realm.
All cultivators cultivate against the will of heaven, defying fate. At a certain realm, they inevitably face heavenly lightning tribulations as a test.
However, the Turning Wheel Dharma King practiced merit, and the tribulation descended relatively late, only appearing when breaking through to the Golden Core.
The first bolt of tribulation lightning struck, and all of the Turning Wheel Dharma King's clothes turned to ash.
Unprepared, the Turning Wheel Dharma King could only convert merit to increase his cultivation while using the un-converted merit to resist the lightning tribulation.
"Rumble ~ Rumble ~"
After three bolts of tribulation lightning, the Turning Wheel Dharma King's body hair was completely scorched off.
"Rumble..."
A continuous barrage of 36 bolts of tribulation lightning descended, several times faster than that of ordinary cultivators.
However, the Turning Wheel Dharma King, using merit to resist the tribulation lightning, easily passed the trial.
Only the merit consumption was a bit high.
But Yang Hong's transferred merit was not yet finished.
Golden Core first layer ~
Golden Core second layer ~
Golden Core seventh layer ~
Golden Core ninth layer ~
With his efforts to waste the merit, the remaining merit allowed him to directly ascend to the ninth layer of the Golden Core realm.
However, as the tribulation clouds dispersed, he keenly sensed that the spiritual energy in this world was insufficient for him to absorb and stabilize his cultivation.
What was even more dire was that his cultivation showed signs of breaking through again.
It was then that he understood that Yang Hong's merit was constantly growing.
He dared not linger, he had to find a place with spiritual energy to stabilize his cultivation.
"Disciple, these are the cultivation manuals for [Indestructible Divine Skill of Vajra] and [Secret Tantra of Blissful Zen]. Take good care of them. Your master needs to go into immediate seclusion."
The Turning Wheel Dharma King took out two thick books and tossed them to Yang Hong.
Then, he turned to Yang Zhong and said, "Old King Yang, in my lifetime, the Great Yuan will never harm the Great Sui in the slightest."
With that, he offered no further explanation and spoke to the other members of the delegation.
"I need to go into seclusion immediately. You all must leave now and return beyond the pass. Lead the elite cavalry of the Great Yuan away from the Great Sui, and never invade the Great Sui again."
After giving these instructions, the Turning Wheel Dharma King flew into the sky and vanished into the horizon like a streak of light.
Everyone stared blankly at the vanishing streak of light, unable to comprehend what had happened.
After a long while, everyone looked at Yang Hong with awe.
Just by apprenticing, he had caused divine lightning to descend from heaven.
He had also turned a Heavenly Being realm expert into a celestial being who could fly and escape!
"Why are you looking at me? It has nothing to do with me!"
Yang Hong was still trying to make sense of the logic here. Feeling the strange gazes, he instinctively said.
"..."
Everyone was speechless. Even Yang Guang found himself unable to retort.
At the same time, he no longer dared to suppress Yang Hong,
Because he couldn't suppress him.
Just then, a figure abruptly appeared in the plaza.
"Ahem~ This matter indeed has nothing to do with the young friend. However, could you give me those two martial arts manuals?"
A scrawny old Taoist, dressed in an Yin-Yang robe, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him over, appeared before Yang Hong.
'Above Foundation Establishment!'
As the old Taoist approached, Yang Hong sensed his cultivation.
When had a strong cultivator above Foundation Establishment appeared in the Great Sui imperial palace, and he had no idea.
"Director Yuan, you are out of seclusion as well?"
Yang Zhong, who was beside Yang Hong, recognized the newcomer immediately.
"Heh heh, such a grand spectacle, it would be impossible for me not to come out of seclusion!"
The old Taoist smiled at Yang Zhong and then looked at Yang Hong.
"Ya Du, give the manuals to Director Yuan. He is the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau of the Great Sui and the guardian of the Upper Sect in the Great Sui. You can trust him implicitly."
Yang Zhong also turned to Yang Hong, his expression very solemn.
"Why?"
Yang Hong did not immediately give the manuals to the old Taoist, who looked like a celestial being, but asked a question.
"Because once you cultivate, it will be a great calamity for this world, a calamity that will bring widespread suffering."
"Why?"
Yang Hong pressed further.
"Because you carry great karma, and a Vajra monk cannot bear your karma."
"Why?"
Yang Hong asked again.
"Because the will of heaven cannot be defied! Alas~"
At the end, the old Taoist sighed, as if unable to speak of a great sorrow.
Yang Hong looked at the manuals in his hands, lost in thought.
The old Taoist watched Yang Hong's face, waiting.
Not far from the [Flowing Light Hall], another gaze was fixed on the scene.