I Created a Protagonist Sect: My Programmer Job is Super Overpowered

Chapter 37  Void Traversing Realm

The ominous thunderheads massed ever thicker above the Protagonist Sect's hallowed grounds as Chen Mo contemplated how best to weather the imminent celestial tempest. While his own transcendent cultivation would safeguard him from obliteration, the same could not be said for the rest of the sect—especially the new batch of recruits.

"Hmm, this could work."

With a subtle gesture, Chen Mo erected a makeshift barrier array hemming in the entire sect complex. However, this was no mere defensive construct repelling the heavenly tribulation's fury. Rather, it functioned as an intricate teleportation matrix, one designed to divert the purifying lightning directly to his own position. Chen Mo watched impassively as the first tendrils of searing devastation split the roiling cloudscape, lancing downwards in a blinding azure barrage. A sly smile played across his lips as the bolts descended, only to warp and divert midflight—their trajectories bent by his array to converge as one upon his unmoving form.

"I had only planned to initially breakthrough to the Void Traversing Realm," he mused as the heavenly lightning coalesced around him in a raging cyclone. "But since the Heavenly Dao itself is being so generous, I may as well go ahead and establish myself at the apex of this stage."

The vortex of purifying energy swirling around Chen Mo blazed brighter by the second until its radiance outshone the midday sun. Yet the cultivator remained unfazed, an oasis of untouchable calm amidst the celestial fury.

'Rasiel, transform any incoming lightning into pure spiritual energy and absorb it.'

[Confirm] - [Understood]

Chen Mo's mind raced as he analyzed the peculiar nature of this unnatural tribulation. As it did not arise through any natural cycle, logic followed that it was likely a highly-concentrated manifestation of pure spiritual energy given form, rather than any true electrical phenomenon.

As such, the power now ravaging the skies could be metabolized—taken into his own reserves and circulated to fuel his impending breakthrough. When the dust settled, Chen Mo would either stand triumphantly at the peak of the Void Traversing Realm... Or not at all.

Girding his will, the cultivator boldly strode forward to meet the heavens' judgement head on.

…

The assembled disciples watched with bated breath as the first searing tendrils of heavenly lightning split the tumultuous clouds, arcing downwards in blinding azure fury. But instead of devastating the sect grounds, the raging bolts curved midflight—drawn inexorably towards where Chen Mo's unmoving form glowed brilliantly at the eye of the celestial tempest.

Wave after wave of purification rained from the heavens, each successive barrage more cataclysmic than the last. Third, fifth, tenth—on and on the beatific judgment poured down upon the sect. Yet not a single stray volt touched anything other than the levitating patriarch at the vortex's calm center.

Awestruck murmurs rippled through the onlooking crowd as they bore witness to the unfolding spectacle. "The sect master's methods are truly profound..."

"Hah! Of course—how else could he have defeated hundreds of opponents in the same realm without so much as breaking a sweat?"

Despite the fervent adulations rising around her, Mei Ling remained unswayed—her piercing stare fixed solely upon the dazzling cyclone of lightning consuming Chen Mo's silhouette. One hand rose unconsciously to clutch at the robes covering her chest, visible worry creasing her brow.

As the next volley of heavenly judgement split the air in a blinding sunburst, her shadow stretched long across the courtyard—unnaturally elongated, with what looked like a distinctly vulpine cast to its flickering outline. Delicate ears and a swishing tail seemed to adorn the normally humanoid shadow, twitching in time with each thunderous detonation.

Still the lightning poured down in an endless, radiant torrent—a violent chrysalis from which Chen Mo would either emerge reborn as a peerless juggernaut of the Void Traversing Realm...

Or be consumed entirely, his mortal existence scoured into oblivion. Only time would tell which of the two cosmic scale outcomes would be realized. And the time remaining was rapidly dwindling with each blinding, earsplitting peal of thunder.

…

Chen Mo's eyes snapped open, narrowing to crimson slits as his entire form became engulfed in a blinding cocoon of whirling spiritual energy. The breakthrough was upon him.

"Break...for me!" he bellowed, voice resonating with metaphysical weight. At his command, fissures spread across the surface of the coruscating chrysalis. Seconds later, it detonated outwards in a shockwave of liberated power. When the blinding corona faded, Chen Mo hovered in the resulting crater—tattered robes hanging open to reveal toned musculature.

Rays of the dawning sun's first light filtered through the dissipating cloud cover to bathe his perspiration-slicked form in a fiery glow. Chen Mo's lips quirked wryly as he assessed the horizon's burnt umber hues.

The Heavenly Dao had clearly pulled no punches in its bid to eliminate him. His tribulation had raged unabated through the entire night.

A frown furrowed his brow as he acknowledged the objective truth—he had only managed to breakthrough to the initial stage of the Void Traversing Realm, falling well short of the transcendent apex he'd aimed for. But that soured expression swiftly morphed into a sly, knowing smile. While he may have fallen short of the dizzying heights envisioned, Chen Mo's gains were still nothing to scoff at. As it turned out, the tribulation's relentless lightning wasn't comprised of mere spiritual qi, but something far more sublime—immortal qi, the refined essence utilized by the ranks of cultivated immortals.

Though he couldn't directly use this higher caliber of energy to force his breakthrough to the Void Traversing Realm's peak, it served another crucial purpose. Chen Mo's senses detected how the immortal qi saturating his form was already diligently repairing the once-ruined foundation of his soul space—reinforcing it with something far more robust than what remained of his original golden palace's degraded framework. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Encouraged by his findings, Chen Mo projected his consciousness inwards to commence expanding his newly-reconstituted domain. Four hundred parallel avatars rapidly coalesced to join the century already maintained, bringing his total spiritual manifestations to an even five hundred.

'Analyze the properties of this immortal qi,' he commanded the assembled clones, 'and begin manufacturing more of the same from my own spiritual reserves.'

After a brief interval of intense computation, Chen Mo felt the first artificial trickles of accelerated insight take root in his consciousness. A triumphant grin split his features.

"Just as I thought."

Now able to synthesize this transcendent immortal essence at will, it wouldn't be long before Chen Mo's entire soul space was replete with stabilizing energies. But even dwarfing this monumental accomplishment was the ultimate epiphany unlocked from relentlessly scrutinizing the Heavenly Tribulation's mechanics all throughout the night. Chen Mo had divined a brand-new Law to add to his repertoire—the Law of the Heavenly Way itself.

Armed with this paradigm-shattering insight, Chen Mo could now dictate the rules and imprint his authority across any region he designated, much like how the higher immortals extended their jurisdictions over the celestial realms. With this capstone firmly in his possession, Chen Mo no longer needed to fear reprisals from the Heavenly Dao itself.

The kaleidoscope of paradigm-shifting breakthroughs he'd experienced in this endless, grueling night would reverberate for eons to come. A new dawn was on the horizon—one where Chen Mo's ascendant star would blaze ever brighter.

"Hmph! Show yourself!" Chen Mo's commanding baritone sliced through the silence blanketing the sect's grounds.

A flickering shadow detached itself from the outlying tree line, rapidly coalescing into the recognizable figure of Elder Zhang Wei. The wizened cultivator's robes billowed as he strode forward, palms raised in an ingratiating gesture.

"Sect Master Chen is truly a genius beyond this old man's reckoning." Zhang Wei's gravelly tones brimmed with a venerating awe that seemed to go beyond mere flattery. "You have opened this old man's eyes to new horizons of possibility."