What Do You Mean I Have To Comprehend Dao As A Mortal God?-Chapter 106: Breakthroughs And Tribulations

We made our way towards the cavern with Ava following a step behind me.

And no, we did not actually have sex in the end... More because Ava was letting me do my meditation first before she decides if we would actually do it later...

I stepped inside the cavern that was now filled with automated mining machines that were carving away at the rock with lasers to ’wash’ out the earth and rock from the minerals.

I walked over to the centre of the cavern and sat down on the ground before I started to sink into my meditative state once again.

As soon as that happened, I felt the sensation of falling before I snapped back into focus, finding myself back in that courtyard in front of the purple building and under the tree that I had seen before.

I took a moment to look around just to see if there were any changes but it doesn’t look like there were any at least.

I then settled myself underneath the tree and proceeded to start absorbing the Qi around the place, which should correspond to the Qi that was present in the cavern in the rift.

The process was even smoother than before, either because of me doing this in the courtyard or it was because I was getting better at this... Or both.

I absorbed as much of the life energy as I could and while I was directing it towards my core within my body, it also felt like a part of it was flowing out through my core and into the tree and the surrounding area around me.

I didn’t try to fight it and just allowed it to happen, feeling the entire area fill itself up with life energy.

I cracked open an eye to see if anything was changing and I saw the ground around me spread even further, the grass around the tree expanding more and pushing back the cobbled stone path which in turn made the courtyard even bigger in size.

I turned to see the building that was behind me and it also seemed to get bigger, the building itself extending in length and looking more vibrant in colour like the purple paint was glowing slightly.

The tree was also growing bigger as the branches reached even further out and the trunk grew taller and taller.

As I was looking up, the sky that had been white seemed to gain colour and turned a soft shade of purple as well.

The purple wasn’t like the ominous shade of purple. It was more like the time where the red of a sunrise and the dark blue of the night would mix to create a rather ethereal and dreamlike skyscape.

It made this place feel like it was a dreamscape.

As I continued to absorb the Qi around me and feeling the energy flow without any hindrances, the flow suddenly stopped and it felt like something had just plugged up the metaphorical hole that I was absorbing the Qi energy through.

No matter how much I pulled, the Qi energy could not come through and I was stuck.

Hmm... Is this the so-called cultivation bottleneck where you need to break through to continue further?

I’ve already broken through before when I fought the Anomalies back then so I wonder if I had to go out and fight another Anomaly then?

No wait... The last time it occurred was because I realised that Qi was life energy and I was basically absorbing life energy... Could it be that the breakthrough happened because I had a better understanding of what I was doing?

Does that mean if I wanted to breakthrough again, I needed to have a better understanding of my powers or even myself?

Well... That’s easier said than done because I wonder what I could even understand about myself with the information I have so far?

Actually...

I looked around the courtyard, trying to see if there was anything that I might have missed this time.

My eyes eventually settled on the building that was behind the tree and I started walking towards it to see if anything had changed inside said building.

Stepping inside the room, I realised the interior had also expanded.

Instead of a single room, there were not two walls to the left and right that separated the building into three different rooms.

The entrance seemed to lead to a sitting area where there was a large wooden chair that faced towards the entrance as though this was where the head of the house would receive visitors.

To the left was what looked like a kitchen and the dining area but the amenities looked pretty ancient as the kitchen stove was made of stone and had a hole below where you would put the firewood to start a fire.

Going to the other room, it was the bedroom as I had expected and the bed in the corner had been upgraded to a canopy bed instead.

It really looked like the ancient chinese room that you might find in the past.

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to figure out from this aside from the fact that the god my powers were related to was from the Chinese pantheon, something that I already figured out.

And of course, I already know that it was related to cultivation too, from the Qi absorption and stuff.

Hmm... Wait a minute...

It’s kind of obvious that the colour purple is a pretty big theme for the god that I am personifying... And if I am not wrong... This colour is closer to a specific subset than the others, namely the Taoist gods.

Which means... More likely than not... The god I’m looking for should be within that specific pantheon.

And seeing that the sky is purple as well, there’s a saying within their beliefs that roughly translates to "Purple Qi coming from the East" which carries the meaning of the beginning of something auspicious...

If I were to just take that meaning and apply it to this place... It might mean that this is supposed to be a place that is related to the beginning of ’something’.

In turn, that means the god that I’m supposed to personify is most likely someone who is primordial.

Hmm... Unfortunately, I’m not that familiar with the primordial Taoist gods but at least that--

My thoughts were cut short as the sound of thunder came from overhead.

I looked up and flashes of lightning appeared in the sky before I realised there was something that accompanied break throughs in cultivation...

Heavenly tribulations...

I grimaced at the sky, wondering if lightning was going to come striking down on me and I have to withstand it in order to break through this bottleneck of mine.

Also, the fact that this happened right after I figured out the purple colour definitely was not a coincidence.

Just as I was wondering if I should stay beneath the tree or move out of the way to avoid getting the tree involved, a lightning bolt flashed down from the sky and struck me in the chest.

I gritted my teeth, fully expecting it to hurt while clenching my fists.

Electrical sparks arced off my body and travelled down to my arms, wrapping around it like how I would materialise Olivia’s lightning.

Instead of hurting, I actually felt nothing at all.

While I could shoot out the lightning in my arms just like I would with Olivia’s lightning, I decided to take a risk and try to absorb it into my core instead.

The electricity travelled back to my chest and pierced through my torso.

From there, I could feel it streak towards my core and I braced myself, only for it to strike my core and shatter the bottleneck, allowing Qi to flow into me unobstructed again.

I suddenly felt power flowing through my entire body and power gathered deep within my core before I felt like I was going to explode.

Unable to hold back, an explosion of energy blasted out from within my body to wash over the entire area and I could feel the entire space shake from the shockwave.

The air was filled with life energy that seemed to be mixed with something else and I felt the entire space rumble and shift like there was an earthquake.

Cracks appeared in the air and I was worried that I might have actually caused the destruction of the entire space before I was suddenly yanked backwards.

The world shifted and flew away from me, disappearing into the horizon.

I blinked and I suddenly found myself back in the real world again where I was seated and meditating inside the cavern. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

I looked around me and it seemed like nothing had happened around me. No earthquakes, nobody pulling me or even any other external factors that might have led to me waking up from that experience.

Hmm... I suppose I’ve broken through once again?

At least this time... I have some clues about who I might be as well.