"The fire is old. Have you noticed what kind of heavenly calamity this is? It seems not a minor one—could it be a senior cultivator from the Ling Realm residing in these mountains?" A young man in yellow robes, with a handsome face, appeared to be the leader of the group. As soon as he reached the elder, he immediately lowered himself, respectfully inquired, yet his tone subtly carried a hint of excitement. This was understandable—within the spiritual realm, cultivators at the Lingxu level or above were far from common. "It's not a major calamity. The true major one I've witnessed once—every descending bolt of lightning was deep purple and golden. Its power was far more intense than what we're seeing here." The elder shook his head, firmly denying. "Yet the lightning of a minor calamity isn't golden or silver—it should be blue. I've personally witnessed several of our master's elders weathering such storms, and I'm certain it's accurate." The young man in yellow robes said, his expression somewhat puzzled. "This calamity appears significantly more powerful than a typical minor one, and it certainly isn't the transformation ordeal of a beast." The heaven-thunder from the transformation lightning jolt of the yao-shen was all silvery-white. The elder's face was serious, as if he too found it hard to judge. Seeing that the fire elder himself was uncertain, the three jie-dan cultivators all expressed their disappointment. Now the gales had grown stronger, and across hundreds of miles around the massive mountain, the wind roared violently, with dark clouds pressing down so heavily that ordinary people could hardly stand upright on flat ground. Thus, after a moment's thought, the fire elder simply ordered all the caravans to form a circle and remain still, waiting until the unknown cultivator successfully passed his lightning ordeal before proceeding. From afar, the thunder rolled continuously, and then suddenly, silvery and golden lightning arcs surged forth, cascading down one by one from the sky amid swirling clouds. At first, they fell individually, but soon they became dense and continuous, pouring down like a torrential downpour. A strange scene unfolded: the silver arcs striking the mountain's summit burst forth, splintering into brilliant clusters of silver light that effortlessly sheared off a substantial portion of the mountain's crown. Meanwhile, the golden arcs, upon touching the summit, flickered and vanished as if absorbed by an intangible force. Immediately thereafter, thunderous rumblings erupted deep within the mountain's core, producing a deep, resonant crackling that seemed even more violent than the heavenly lightning above the summit. This spectacle left the elder fire cultivator and several Jin Dan cultivators observing from afar utterly astonished. What kind of celestial lightning were these golden arcs? How could they penetrate the mountain stone so effortlessly, surging directly toward the beings undergoing the divine calamity? Such an unusual phenomenon seemed to be characteristic only of the grandest celestial calamities—specifically, the purple-golden heavenly lightning. Could it be that a previously unheard-of type of great celestial disaster was unfolding? As these cultivators murmured in bewilderment, a brilliant streak of jade-green light surged forth from within the mountain's body, flashing into the sky near the mountain's midsection, where a faint human silhouette seemed to emerge within it. Huo La and the others, upon seeing this, naturally knew that the figure glowing in the azure light must be a great cultivator undergoing the celestial trial. They simply did not know whether the figure had been forced to flee outside the mountain body by the golden thunderbolts, unable to hide within the mountain's core, or whether they had chosen to remain in the open, where they could better deploy their techniques to meet the power of the heavenly calamity. Instantly, the previously fierce silver and golden electric arcs, as if imbued with spirit, changed direction and surged after the glowing figure, relentlessly charging downward. A long roar issued from within the light, followed by a sudden flash of azure light above the figure's head. A massive tripod emerged, its lid then lifted. Dense streams of silvery hair burst forth from within, swirling and dancing through the sky, eventually shading half the heavens above. Wherever these silken threads passed, the silver electric arcs were swept into the tripod, yet the golden ones, as though invisible, passed through the threads unimpeded, directly striking the figure below. "Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!" The figure in the green light seemed startled, yet instead of being angry, smiled. Suddenly, the figure rubbed both hands together and then raised them toward the sky, and a thunderous roar erupted. Two golden arcs, each as thick as a bowl, flashed wildly before separating and shooting out, forming a vast electric grid floating above their head. In an instant, two golden arcs of the same hue intertwined, crackling and bursting in succession, then simultaneously fading and vanishing. Amid the countless fine golden arcs pulsing and dancing, the space above the figure became resplendent. The old fire master and others stood in awe, momentarily stunned. While there were many cultivators in the spiritual realm who practiced lightning-based techniques, ordinary lightning often failed when it encountered the heavenly thunder—being instantly absorbed and leaving its wielder to suffer a counterattack. Yet this jin-jie cultivator, whose lightning powers and the heavenly thunder seemed indistinguishable, dared to directly withstand the heavenly thunder. Such a feat had never been heard of before. Yet, the arcs of gold and silver falling from the clouds above seemed endless—far from slowing down, they grew ever more massive. What had begun as arcs roughly the thickness of a thumb had gradually expanded to the width of an arm. The figure in the azure glow grew pale, as the massive tripod above him absorbed silver arcs that now exceeded its capacity. The strands of azure light he emitted not only diminished in number but also slowed in their rate of sweeping across the silver arcs. As a result, vast quantities of silver arcs fell directly onto the golden net beneath. The already strained golden network began to falter. Several Dan-stage cultivators exchanged glances, growing increasingly concerned. The young man in yellow robes, in particular, murmured, “This is no ordinary minor celestial calamity. Even the celestial calamity following the peak of a Huashen-stage cultivator’s attainment would scarcely match this!” "Not at all. I've heard of this kind of heavenly calamity before..." Upon witnessing the sheer power of the heavenly calamity, the elder fire cultivator suddenly said this. "Indeed, Elder Fire?"" the young man in yellow robes quickly turned to look at him. "Yes, I've heard of it once. Only the memory is a bit hazy—so distant in time that I can't quite recall the details." The elder's face showed the look of deep concentration and thoughtful effort. After all, he wasn't a cultivator himself, and with age, some less important memories naturally grew blurred. The other jade-essence cultivators grew somewhat anxious, but this elder fire cultivator was a top-tier physical cultivator whose strength rivaled that of a Yuan Yin cultivator—so they naturally didn't dare to press him. "Unfortunate," one of the jade-essence cultivators said, glancing once more toward the distant sky. "It seems the elder is struggling now." At this, everyone turned to look, even the elder fire cultivator instinctively paused his thoughts and raised his head. Suddenly, the golden and silver celestial lightning falling from the clouds transformed—its arcs vanished, replaced by massive spherical balls of lightning, each as large as a human head. The golden and silver hues interwove and cascaded downward like heavenly maidens scattering flowers. These spherical balls clearly possessed far greater power than the earlier arcs. As they fell densely and continuously, the great tripod finally could no longer bear the weight, emitting a resonant hum. It ceased spewing out its silken threads and instead emitted a mournful cry, shrinking down to the size of a clenched fist. Then, with a brilliant flash, it surged downward and vanished into the figure below. Clearly, the treasure had sustained significant damage. Thus, although the figure still poured forth golden arcs, the surrounding electrical grid could no longer withstand the assault. Under the relentless strikes of the golden and silver spherical balls, the great network began to crack and fragment, inch by inch. Just as everyone thought this cultivator destined to perish beneath the accumulating heavenly calamity, a sharp, bone-chilling sneeze rang out from him. He suddenly touched his temple, and a vast expanse of gray, hazy light surged upward from behind his head, then, as he opened his mouth, he expelled a black, compact mountain-sized formation, only an inch in height. As the gray light swept across the countless thunder balls hovering just above, an astonishing phenomenon unfolded. Whenever any thunder ball—regardless of its hue—was struck by the light, it instantly halted its descent and floated suspended within the gray haze, as though an invisible force were lifting them all simultaneously. The gray light seemed capable of no further action beyond this effect; however, every thunder ball that continued to fall and entered the light's embrace invariably met the same fate. Although this glow of light reached thirty zhang in height, it had already swiftly become densely packed with numerous balls of lightning of two colors, appearing as though it would soon overflow and no longer be able to hold any more. At that moment, the figure suddenly pressed a series of gestures, and before them, the small mountain of a cun in size instantly swelled up, growing to over ten zhang in height within a blink. Then, with a single finger point to the mountain, the figure uttered a deep and intricate incantation. The surface of the entire mountain pulsed with luminous energy, and a series of gray halos radiated out from it, sweeping past all the floating lightning balls in the sky. An astonishing scene unfolded. As the first few gray rings passed over the balls, they only trembled slightly, showing no immediate change—yet the gray glow emanating from behind the figure’s head, which had been steady, suddenly rippled outward like waves spreading across a still pond, beginning to distort and curl into ripples. Under the influence of these two forces, the lightning spheres finally grew unstable. When the gray glow twisted and trembled violently, the two-colored spheres lost their balance, drifting until they collided with one another, erupting into astonishing clusters of golden and silver light, with countless electric arcs shooting out in all directions. However, as the gray halo trembled once, these arcs seemed instantly controlled, all converging and vanishing into the dark, mountainous peaks below. Thus, the figure repeatedly performed this sequence—using the gray glow to transform each descending lightning sphere into arcs of gold and silver, then drawing each small mountain to absorb them. Though it appeared effortless and graceful, the figure was secretly growing weary within, calling out in quiet distress. Even with the extraordinary powers of his Yuanmagnetic Divine Light, simultaneously drawing upon the Yuanmagnetic Mountain to withstand so many heavenly thunderbolts was proving to be an astonishing drain on his inner strength. This person was none other than Han Li, who had been refining his cultivation within the mountain's core for over a hundred years. During this time, he not only perfected the Jade Firmament Technique but also, with the aid of medicinal herbs, rapidly re-solidified his originally ethereal Yuan Shen. Yet he had never anticipated that the very day his Yuan Shen was fully reformed would coincide with the arrival of the celestial calamity from the Spirit Realm. Caught off guard, Han Li could only grit his teeth and endure it. (Second update!)