Ascension Of the Foresaken

Chapter 10: Breaking Through Limits

The battlefield lay silent. Not even the sound of a mosquito could be heard. As if even they felt shock at what just happened. Corpses of the Serpent's Fang Sect's elite enforcers were scattered across the ruined landscape, their lifeless bodies a testament to Kael's brutality and absolute supremacy. The night wind howled, carrying the putrid stench of blood and innards into the distance. A testament to the brutality that just occurred. Jin Mu, still reeling from the sheer scale of the slaughter, forced himself to take slow, shaky breaths. He had been prepared for a battle. He had even conceived an escape plan for when the situation went sideways. But what had he witnessed? This was annihilation. A display of dominance so thorough it left one reeling, doubting reality and questioning their own sanity. Jin Mu suddenly looked toward the heavens with grievance. How could the heavens grant one person so much talent and abandon the rest of them? The heavens truly were unfair, he thought.

Meanwhile, the unknown monster Kael stood amidst the carnage, his Qi surging violently. Something was happening. Jin Mu could feel it, a shift in the very fabric of the world around them. Kael's foundation was complete. The peak of Body Refining was behind him. And now— He was ready to ascend.

The transition from Body Refining to Qi Condensation was not a mere step—it was a qualitative transformation. In Body Refining, a cultivator tempered their physique, reinforcing flesh, bones, and meridians to withstand true cultivation. But Qi Condensation? It was the first step to immortality. It was the moment when a cultivator touched true power, drawing Qi into their dantian and refining it into Liquid Qi—the foundation for all future growth. For an ordinary cultivator, breaking through required years of effort, countless resources, and a controlled environment to ensure stability. For Kael? The heavens themselves trembled at his ascension.

BOOM!

The air ignited, massive currents of Qi exploding outward from Kael's body. The wind roared as a violent vortex formed, spiraling into the sky, pulling Qi from the surroundings at an insane rate. Jin Mu's breath caught in his throat. He had seen breakthroughs before. He had never seen this. "This… this isn't normal," he whispered. "How much Qi is he absorbing?!" The answer? Everything, every drop of Qi within a 150km radius was absorbed. The scariest thing about it was that the range was still increasing. Kael's Unparalleled Cultivation Talent devoured Qi at an unprecedented scale. The natural Qi in the air was not enough. The energy stored within the corpses of the fallen assassins was not enough. Even the spiritual essence within the trees and earth began to wither, drained of vitality as Kael's body demanded more, more, MORE! This was the price of his monstrous talent. One breakthrough for Kael… was the equivalent of hundreds for normal cultivators. And yet—it still wasn't enough.

Kael's body was like a black hole, insatiable. It continued to absorb the ambient Qi and vitality until even the heavens could tolerate it no longer. The heavens cracked open. Tribulation clouds flowed, covering the distance. The rumble of thunder caused the earth to quake. A mixture of blue and red sparks could be seen within the thunder clouds. The heavens were truly cooking, wanting to destroy this parasite before it became unstoppable.

Jin Mu's eyes widened in horror as he couldn't fathom what he was seeing. "No… no way," he stammered. "This is… a Heavenly Phenomenon?!" Heavenly Phenomena only occurred when someone defied the natural order. To make matters worse, this wasn't your run-of-the-mill tribulation. This was one of the highest levels of heavenly tribulation, appearing only when one was breaking through to the Soul Transformation Realm.

For normal geniuses, tribulations only appeared at Core Formation or Nascent Soul—when one took their first steps toward true power. Even then, it was only at the elementary level, where anyone with a strong foundation could easily breeze through it. For Kael, however, it was happening at Qi Condensation. It was the most dangerous kind, only seen three times in this era. Kael was indeed a monster among monsters. Lightning crackled through the sky. The air was saturated with primordial energy, responding to the anomaly that was Kael Varian.

The world itself was resisting him. Lightning crackled, booming incessantly as if announcing to the world its presence as judge, jury, and executioner. But Kael paid no mind to it. He had a wide grin pasted on his face. His body trembled with power as the final rush of Qi flooded into his dantian. The energy within him compressed, condensed, and—

BOOM!

A final explosion of force erupted outward. A pulse of energy shook the mountains. Just then, the first bolt of lightning descended like a dragon about to swallow its prey. It engulfed Kael, looking to devour him whole. But Kael did not bat an eye. As a matter of fact, he saw it as an opportunity to progress his cultivation and temper his body.

He immediately dropped all his defenses, closing his eyes and allowing the lightning to flow through him freely. He began to slowly adapt to the lightning's energy and then he began to absorb it, assimilating it into his Qi. The subsequent bolts came with a vengeance, with increasing intensity. The heavens were furious. How could a mortal dare to use it as a resource? It desired to turn him to ashes, to show him the folly of his ways.

Unfortunately, it didn't matter what it wanted. Kael easily absorbed all bolts just the same without any effort, which annoyed the heavens even more. Unfortunately for it, the rules were absolute so it could only allow this insolent mortal to live a few more years until his next major breakthrough. The storm vanished as abruptly as it had come. The dust settled. Jin Mu stared. And then— Kael opened his eyes. His Qi had changed. Where before he had wielded raw, untamed power, now it was refined, absolute, unshakable. He had stepped into the Qi Condensation Realm (2nd Realm). And the world would never be the same.

Kael clenched his fist. His body felt lighter, yet stronger. His Qi flowed through his meridians with perfect fluidity, no longer struggling against the limitations of Body Refining. This… was true power. He exhaled slowly. Then he turned to Jin Mu, who was still too stunned to speak. "Now," Kael said, stretching his fingers. "Tell me… where can I find a proper challenge?" Jin Mu swallowed hard. Because at that moment, he realized the truth. The Qi Condensation Realm was nothing more than Kael's playground. And this world was not ready for him.