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Astrallis, unaware of the discussions about him, was suddenly inundated by the unexpected increase in pressure.

His body hit the ground violently, blood seeping out from his mouth. His friends and the other participants looked at him in disbelief, even they felt the pressure standing multiple steps behind him. All of them knew the final stage before the clouds were the most treacherous and harmful of them all, but none expected a pressure so intense.

“There is no way for us to move in that pressure, how can Big Brother Astrallis handle it?” Said Azalea with worry as she stared at the collapsed boy.

The rest of the children stared incredulously with an ever-increasing sense of unease growing within.

“Astrallis come back! We have all already been chosen by our favoured seniors, many of us have even felt a special calling, we can’t go any further. Our bodies can’t handle the strain,” His friends shouted pleadingly.

“Brother Astrallis come back, this is as far as we can go,” Netravean shouted anxiously.

Even the squared-face child from Elemental Infinitum Sect attempted to convince Astrallis.

Astrallis staggeringly stood up, the skin of his body cracking. “I will not concede.”

He unsteadily moved forward his blood creating a carmine trail of beauty, a sign of his will, a mark of his commitment. Every step he took the flow of the blood increased. Eventually, trails of blood flowed down his cheeks, symbolic of his feelings, “Who do you take me for?”

Astrallis roared to the heavens, he instantly began charging up the seemingly endless stairway. His blood flailing in the wind.

Sickening sounds of bones cracking echoed throughout the mountain.

Shocking all those young and old watching. No matter who they were, no matter what faction, no matter if they disliked Astrallis; they all watched him. Their wills shaking with every step of his.

Astrallis remembered the lonesome back of his mother when he’d wake up at night and move to her when she was most unprepared. The tears that marred her beautiful face, the sad whispers of inhuman agony.

“Do you think I was unable to notice my mother’s hidden grief? How can I help her if I can’t even pass this tribulation? If I succeed, I may find something to help her!”

Astrallis pressed onwards muscles tearing, even his firm will, something he was most proud of, began to crumble.

“Soul-Being absorb!”

The essence around the endlessly high-peak began to tremble with excitement while speeding towards Astrallis, his soul-replicant within the black-hole array absorbing and refining Qi endlessly for Astrallis.

“Those children went through inhuman suffering, how can I not suffer for a loved one,”

“I. Will. Not. Surrender!”

His Qi filled body sped ahead, the pressure already well above the Foundational Realm. Ripping his robe off for greater movement the hideous condition of his body was prevalent to all, leaving every single person witnessing his injuries out of breath. Such damages would make even the most willed of senior cultivators crumble, let alone a five-year-old child.

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Astrallis vertebra was noticeably protruding from his back. White edges, like a serrated blade, jutting out between the rose-coloured flesh. His golden hair creating a malicious allure which contrasted to his cardinal form.

Even the increasing Asura aura of Jasmine began receding at this point.

“Why!? It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This can’t be the will of a child. No one would do this to themselves, unless… unless he’s doing it for a loved one,” Jasmine’s face became pale when she recalled a scene, of a few months ago, when she lost control of her emotions and Astrallis found her.

Alas, there was nothing she could do. She held no power to control the situation.

Gradually Astrallis body began to weaken in momentum, his physique crumbling. “How could I fail now?”

Astrallis near-crumbling body came to a stop, a pool of blood forming around him.

All of a sudden within Astrallis’ dantian his soul-replicant flashed, the Pure Qi which he hasn’t had access to began moving in arcane fashion around the black-hole array; explicitly flowing around the eleven points. The Five Viscera and Six Bowels.

Gradually a line of Sanskrit manifested at the centre of the array, the Sanskrit immediately sunk into the mind of the Soul-Being, transferring it to Astrallis.

Golden Sanskrit began to appear on Astrallis’ eyes, revolving endlessly around his irises.

“Shakyamuni Manifestation of the Three!”

An incandescent Golden Astral Qi began to assimilate around Astrallis’ form, a tranquil atmosphere formed around him.

At this moment within all the monasteries throughout the multiple realms of the universe, all monks stood stationary their eyes subconsciously looking in the direction of the secluded Astral Realm.

Astrallis’ form began to rise unwaveringly, and with the rising of his body the monastery at the base of the mountain began to tremble; the monks rushed out in unison their eyes transfixed upon Astrallis.

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

A youthful voice of enlightenment spread through their minds.

Astrallis’ form enlightened in nature began to move forward. His mind clear as the perfect crystal, his body in harmony with his mind; his voice telling the souls of the virtuous throughout the universe.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought,”

With every step, the pressure increased beyond the degree a Soul-Convergence cultivator could withstand, but Astrallis pressed forwards, in unity with the three principles, one with the virtuous of the universe.

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment,”

With every sentence of Astrallis’ chant the minds of those in the monasteries, across the universe, palpitated.

“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it,”

Astrallis’ dantian and soul-space became stable and even sturdier.

“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart,”

His will became unbreakable.

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared,”

Astrallis’ Sanskrit began to spread throughout the surface of his body, brilliant golden characters visibly moving upon his cardinal form.

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection,”

His skin gradually reformed, his splintered bones mended, and his torn muscles healed.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

As the final chant came out of Astrallis’ mouth, he stepped upon the last step before the celestial clouds.

The multitude of monks throughout the universe no matter what Realm they lived in or what Realm of cultivation they may have reached, all broke free from enlightenment.

A thought ran through the minds of the Buddha leaders, “A descendant of Shakyamuni has been born. Mental, verbal and body in harmony.”

Astrallis unconscious body fell into the celestial clouds marking the end of his profound enlightenment, a once in a lifetime opportunity.

A pair of ivory arms gently caught his falling body, lovingly pulling his body close to her chest, Astrallis’ grandmother stared at his open face.

“I wonder what those old monks will think when I make an Asura out of their Buddha.”

Mellifluous laughter that would bring shame to angels and devils alike spread throughout the mist.

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