[Few moments prior to the Lightning Strike.]
Hundreds of paths exist in the life of a single mortal creature, and millions, if not uncountable numbers of paths exist for those whose destiny and universal fortune was brighter and more vibrant than others.
For Ash though, the number of paths and possibilities he saw about himself were just too unique, because based on his thoughts alone, he saw thousands of paths vanishing, and with even a slight change in his thinking, hundreds of new paths forming instantly.
Just based on his choices, the river of time was creating who knows how many paths that he might follow or not, constantly shifting without pause.
Among all those paths and possibilities, there was one path that attracted him the most a possibility where his Cosmic Heart, that had never beaten even a single time after his body reformation, would beat with such splendor that just thinking about it made Ash’s eyes shine slightly.
But for that to happen, he had to fully awaken his Soul Flame, means he needed to complete the sixth and the final step while still undergoing the fifth step.
Although the Legacy Crystal instructed him to complete the last and the easiest step of Soul Flame awakening only after overcoming the tribulation, because if awakened during the tribulation, it would strengthen the power of the tribulation, making the process far more dangerous than it already was.
Because that way, one would be stepping into the next rank in the middle of the process itself, and the Heavenly Tribulation would have to adjust to that sudden rise in power, turning something already difficult into something far more unstable and unpredictable.
A newly risen being does not have perfect control over his strength, thus increasing the chances of failure, as even a slight imbalance at that stage could lead to complete collapse.
But Ash wanted exactly that.
He wanted to increase the power of the tribulation as much as he could, not out of recklessness, but because he understood that greater pressure would bring greater refinement.
And that is what he did.
The last step was very simple, it was simply the ignition of the Soul Flame, something that sounded easy in words, yet carried immense significance in practice. The oil and firewood were already prepared, everything was in place, he only needed a spark for the flames to be born.
So, just before the Heavenly Lightning struck his body, with a single thought, the petal shaped Immortal Seal within his consciousness ignited, responding instantly as if it had been waiting for that very moment.
RUMBLE!!!!
His consciousness shook for a moment, a deep tremor running through his very being, before a regal and majestic violet gold flame came into existence, burning steadily as if it had always been there.
But at the same time, the purple Heavenly Lightning struck his body.
BOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!
RUMBLEEEEE!!!!
A blinding light filled the whole surroundings for a moment, swallowing everything in its brilliance, before everything slowly receded and the world returned to clarity.
And the figure of Ash floating in lotus position appeared in the focus of everyone, his presence now clearer than before, yet far more imposing.
But this time, all those humongous and unique manifestations vanished as if they had never existed in the first place, leaving behind only the aftermath and the figure at the center of it all.
Allowing everyone to finally see the form and image of Ash.
It was not his actual form, but the form he had taken before he started the formation of the Immortal Seal, unchanged yet now carrying a completely different presence.
On his glabella there was a violet gold flame that was burning with intensity, steady and unwavering, and his body was crackling with purple lightning that carried the pressure and ancientness of the heavens, faint arcs of energy still dancing across his skin.
He was not affected by the first Heavenly Tribulation because before it struck him, he ignited his Soul Flame, and thus his body easily shrugged off the destructive power of the lightning, as if it had found something equal to itself.
Too many things were happening at the same time, making it necessary to slow down and observe everything carefully, as even a single missed detail could lead to misunderstanding.
Our main focus now is on the changes Ash experienced after his Soul Flame awakened, because that was where the real transformation had just begun.
The moment the Soul Flame awakened, the changes within Ash were not something that could be explained with normal terms, because his body itself was not something normal to begin with.
Formed from the Universal Singularity, his existence did not follow the same rules as others, and thus the reaction to the Soul Flame was far profound.
The first change appeared in his consciousness.
It was as if a rush of warm stream had suddenly formed inside his consciousness, flowing through every corner of his mind and making his brain cells scream with excitement, as though something long dormant had finally been awakened.
His thoughts that were already very clear became even more fluent, connecting one to another without the slightest resistance, and his thinking speed increased by a subtle margin, not drastic, yet enough for him to distinctly feel the difference.
What’s more, he could feel his Will power even more robust and powerful than before, as if it had gained substance instead of remaining something abstract and intangible.
It provided such a strong sense of power that Ash wanted to let out a triumphant bellow from the instinctive urge to release the overwhelming surge building inside him.
But that was just one of the changes, the energy released from the Soul Flame travelled throughout his body, spreading steadily and filling every inch of his form even without following the energy channels, as if it naturally knew the path it needed to take.
His body, which was formed from the combination of Runes itself, after sensing the harmonious nature of the energy released by the Soul Flame, started to resonate with it, his body trembled as his cells drank in all that energy like it had been starved for an unknown span of time.
The energy then started to fuse with his spatial muscle-like layers, seeping into them and reinforcing their structure, increasing the strength of his body in a way that felt both natural and inevitable.
Along with that, a violet gold layer of thin membrane appeared on his body, sticking close to the surface of his skin like a second layer, before vanishing as if it had completed its purpose in that brief moment.
His Consciousness observed the Heavenly Lightning nearing his body, its presence growing heavier as it approached, and before it could reach him, he gave a small command with eyes filled with expectation and confidence of what will happen in the near future.
Disperse...
Ash commanded inwardly, and all those phenomena outside his body vanished into particles of light, fading away as if they had never existed.
He wanted all the energy of Heavenly Tribulation to strike his body directly and not be hindered by the phenomena he had manifested.
Because he needed the Heavenly Lightning to make his heart beat.
And as soon as the command was given, the violet Heavenly Lightning struck him.
But at the last millisecond before the impact, Ash called out the name of a skill, but no one heard it as his voice was drowned by the crackling thunder.
[Energy Devour]
The Heavenly Lightning struck his body, but it was no longer the same as before, because it had been formed based on the Ash before he awakened his Soul Flame, and now that he had awakened the Soul Flame, the difference became clear at the moment of impact, the thin membrane that had appeared earlier negated most of the damage.
At the same time, [Energy Devour] ability erupted from all over his body absorbed all the energy that struck him, pulling it inward the instant it made contact and not allowing even a trace of it to scatter away, as if his body had turned into a Lightning Rod.
His body trembled violently under the force, the sheer amount of energy entering him making every part of him shake uncontrollably, yet he was not injured in the slightest, his body enduring it with a durability that easily held against the incoming power.
The pain, however, was immense, spreading through him in continuous waves as the lightning surged within him, but it was something Ash simply scoffed at, his mind remaining steady as if it held no real weight over him.
And without wasting even a moment, he silently poured all that Heavenly Lightning toward his heart.
As the stream of lightning continued to pour over him, without pause, Ash endured everything in silence, his body trembling under the constant surge while his mind remained steady, guiding every bit of that violent energy toward his heart without letting even a fraction go to waste.
The raging currents of Heavenly Lightning kept roaring throughout his body after being absorbed, flowing through him in chaotic bursts, yet under his Control enforced by Will power they were forced into a single direction, gathering and converging deep within his chest.
Time seemed to blur in that moment, the thunder gradually losing its intensity as more and more of it was devoured, until the streams of lightning finally thinned out and then disappeared completely, leaving behind only faint traces of crackling energy that lingered around him.
His figure slowly became clear again, floating in mid air in a lotus position, his body calm and unmoving as if nothing had happened, yet thin arcs of lightning still danced across his skin, flickering and fading in irregular patterns, while the air around him carried the lingering presence of what had just taken place.
Seeing the floating and uninjured form of Ash, the dark clouds above did not remain calm.
A deep rumble spread across the sky, the sound of thunder echoing with such intensity that it felt as if the lightning clouds themselves had grown angry, as if something had not gone the way it was meant to, as if they had been fooled.
The sky began to change.
The already dark clouds grew even darker and heavier, thickening as more clouds gathered from all directions, slowly covering the entire sky until it turned into a vast expanse of suffocating darkness that pressed down on everything below.
The violet lightning that had once flashed across the sky began to fade, its presence weakening until it disappeared completely, as if it had lost its right to remain.
In its place, a golden lightning started to flash throughout the dark clouds, each streak cutting through the sky with a brilliance that carried a far greater pressure, making the very air feel heavy and difficult to endure.
That pressure descended without warning, spreading across the surroundings and making even those who were watching from afar feel shaken, their bodies stiffening slightly as they instinctively retreated even farther away, while cursing Ash.
What’s the point of coming here when all we are doing is just retreating!!!!!
They were all furious, but still retreated nonetheless.
And almost at the same time, a single question rose within their minds.
What has ’he’ done to anger the Heavenly Lightning enough to jump to a Golden Lightning Tribulation...?
***