Divine Punishment descended — it was a matter of succeed or die. There was no turning back.
But in truth, at that moment,
All he could feel was pain — radiating from every inch of his being.
His skull felt like it was about to split apart. He could hear nothing, see nothing. The only sensation that remained was pain, as though his soul was being torn to shreds, pierced clean through.
Entering from the crown of his head, exiting from the soles of his feet — it ran through his entire body, shredding his soul.
Gradually, Chu Feng lost consciousness and slipped into a coma.
It was a long while before he finally opened his eyes again.
"Lord Chu Feng, you're awake! Are you alright? How do you feel?"
When Chu Feng opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was
"I'm fine, madam. Please don't worry."
The moment Chu Feng opened his eyes, he rose to his feet. There was not a trace of soreness or swelling — quite the opposite. He felt vibrant and bursting with energy, without the slightest hint of fatigue.
Seeing that Chu Feng truly did not appear to be injured, Song Xi's mother finally relaxed and returned to Song Xi's side.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng probed his own cultivation, and just as expected — he had broken through.
Chu Feng had successfully become a Third Grade True Immortal.
"Egg, did you see that? I broke through!" Chu Feng said excitedly to Her Majesty.
"I saw, I saw. It's just…" Her Majesty's voice trailed off, sounding somewhat dejected.
"What's wrong?" Chu Feng asked.
But Her Majesty did not reply.
Sensing something amiss, Chu Feng immediately projected his consciousness into the Spirit World.
There, he could clearly see Her Majesty's exquisitely beautiful little face, clouded entirely with worry.
"What's the matter, my Queen? Who's been bullying you?" Chu Feng stepped forward and asked.
"Chu Feng, didn't you feel it? This time, the Divine Thunder was absolutely terrifying," Her Majesty said.
"This time, the Divine Thunder was indeed almost impossible to endure. I nearly failed," Chu Feng said with a bitter smile.
"Yes — you *nearly* failed. But the power of the Divine Punishment Mystic Art grows stronger as your cultivation rises. You're already struggling to bear it now. How are you going to keep breaking through in the future?"
"What if you fail next time?"
"I'm starting to regret letting you cultivate the Divine Punishment Mystic Art."
"I should have stopped you. I shouldn't have let you gamble with your life." At that moment, Her Majesty's delicate face was filled entirely with self-blame.
It was obvious that Her Majesty was truly worried about Chu Feng. She didn't want anything to happen to him.
"Egg, don't worry. I was careless — I wasn't prepared enough," Chu Feng said.
"How can you say that's your fault? This has nothing to do with you. The intensity of the Divine Thunder isn't something you can control," Her Majesty countered.
"It really was my carelessness. Last time when I broke through in the Hunting Grounds, the Divine Thunder was brutal but brief, so the breakthrough came quickly."
"That led me to believe that once I stepped into the True Immortal realm, the Divine Thunder's duration would shorten."
"So this time, I didn't adjust my state properly and made no preparations beforehand — and that's why the Divine Thunder caught me completely off guard."