Invincible Beyond Heavens: Cultivating With A Broken EXP System

The heavenly strike had weakened only slightly.

It then smashed into the golden Buddha.

The sacred figure raised its giant palms toward the descending lightning. Brilliant golden radiance surged outward, flooding the wasteland with holy light as the Buddha resisted with all its strength.

For a brief moment, the collision froze.

Silver lightning and golden radiance battled in midair.

Then cracks spread across the Buddha’s palms.

Those cracks raced up its arms and through its chest like spiderwebs.

Its head shattered first.

Its shoulders burst apart next.

The entire manifestation collapsed in a violent explosion of golden fragments that rained across the land.

Li Yun had lost his second layer of protection.

The lightning descended further and struck the crimson lotus.

The lotus petals closed tightly around him as flames surged upward in towering waves. Blue lightning wrapped around the petals and fought back wildly, turning the flower into a furnace of fire and thunder.

Yet the heavenly lightning pierced straight through the outer petals.

One by one, each blazing layer was torn apart.

Petals exploded into showers of red flame.

Blue lightning scattered helplessly into the air.

The lotus that Li Yun had trusted as his final defense was destroyed completely.

Now nothing remained between Li Yun and the tribulation.

His pupils shrank.

The silver bolt slammed directly into his chest. The moment of impact was like a star exploding.

The wasteland turned white with blinding light. A deafening thunderclap erupted so violently that the earth split open for hundreds of meters. Mountains in the distance trembled, and loose stones shattered from the shockwave alone.

Li Yun’s body was hurled backward like a leaf caught in a storm.

He crashed across the ground, tearing a deep trench through the barren land before finally coming to a stop amid smoke and broken earth.

The smell of scorched flesh filled the air.

Li Yun’s body lay motionless at the bottom of the ruined trench, half-buried beneath broken earth and scattered stone.

The strike from the tribulation had nearly destroyed him.

His chest was charred black where the silver lightning had landed. Cracks spread across the burnt flesh like dried riverbeds, and thin wisps of smoke still rose from the wound.

Blood mixed with ash and flowed slowly down his side. His breathing was shallow and uneven, each breath sounding strained, as though even drawing air into his lungs required immense effort.

Inside his body, the damage was even worse.

His meridians had been scorched by the heavenly force. His qi flow had become chaotic and unstable. Several bones in his upper body had fractured from the impact, and the shockwave from the strike had rattled his organs so violently that traces of blood continued to spill from the corner of his mouth.

Ordinary cultivators would have already died in such a state.

Yet Li Yun still remained conscious.

Pain clouded his thoughts, but his will had not broken.

As he lay there staring upward at the dark sky, a strange sensation suddenly emerged from within his left eye.

At first it was subtle.

A faint warmth gathered deep inside the eye socket, like a tiny spark hidden in darkness.

Then the warmth became heat.

Then the heat became power.

The pulse intensified with every passing moment, beating rhythmically like a second heart awakening inside his eye. That power did not feel foreign. It felt ancient, instinctive, and terrifyingly natural, as if something that had slept for ages had finally opened its gaze.

Li Yun’s breathing slowed.

Even through the agony wracking his body, he understood what was happening.

The Nine Tribulations Divine Eye had activated.

His left eyelid trembled before snapping open.

The moment it did, a pillar of silver radiance burst outward from the trench.

The light was dazzling and pure, identical to the silver lightning that had descended from the heavens moments earlier. Yet this power no longer carried destruction alone. It now carried life, authority, and dominion.

The surrounding wasteland was instantly illuminated.

Broken rocks glittered under the silver glow. Dust hanging in the air was turned luminous. Even the storm clouds above seemed to recoil from the radiance rising from below.

Arcs of divine lightning spread across Li Yun’s body.

They moved like living streams of energy, crawling over his limbs, chest, neck, and spine before sinking into every wound. Wherever the lightning passed, destruction was reversed.

The charred flesh on his chest began to peel away in blackened layers.

Beneath it was fresh skin, smooth and unblemished, forming rapidly before the eye could fully track the process. Torn muscles stitched themselves back together. Burnt veins were restored. The deep crater-like wound left by the heavenly strike closed as if time itself had reversed.

Inside his body, the healing was even more miraculous.

The silver lightning surged through his meridians, burning away the chaotic residue left by the tribulation. His damaged qi channels were reforged and widened. The blockages caused by violent impact vanished instantly.

His broken ribs emitted crisp cracking sounds as they reset and fused back into place.

His organs, which had been shaken to the brink of collapse, regained vitality under the nourishment of the divine energy. His heartbeat grew stronger with each passing breath until it pounded through his body like war drums.

Even the blood he had lost was replenished.

New vitality spread through every inch of his flesh.

The healing did not merely restore him to normal.

It tempered him.

His skin gained a faint metallic resilience.

His muscles became denser and more explosive.

His bones felt heavier and sturdier, as if refined once more in a furnace of heaven’s lightning.

Li Yun slowly pushed himself upright.

Dust and rubble slid from his shoulders as he rose from the trench like someone reborn from death itself. The silver lightning still danced around him in coiling strands before gradually sinking back into his left eye.

That eye had completely changed.

Its pupil now contained rotating streaks of celestial silver electricity. Looking into it felt like staring into a storm sealed inside human flesh. It radiated majesty and danger in equal measure.

Li Yun lowered his gaze to his chest.

The place where the tribulation had struck moments earlier was now flawless. No wound remained. No scar remained. Not even a trace of burnt skin could be found.

He slowly clenched his fist.

Strength surged through his arm instantly, smoother and fiercer than before. His qi responded with greater speed. His senses felt sharper. Even the air around him seemed clearer.

A long breath escaped his lips.

“That was close. If I hadn’t made enough preparations I would have directly end up dead from the lightning strike.” His voice was calm, but awe lingered beneath it. “But because of the defensive measures I took, I managed to lower its power and even though I still suffered heavy injuries, I didn’t instantly die.”

He added. “And not dying activated my Nine Tribulations Divine Eye and healed me instantly.”

Above him, the black storm clouds finally began to disperse.

Light from the returning sky fell upon the devastated wasteland, where cracks spread for hundreds of meters and the earth still smoked from the earlier strike.

At the center of that destruction stood Li Yun alone.