When a person fails to advance a cultivation stage, they would naturally experience catastrophes that would decide their life and death.
If they could endure the catastrophes, that person would live and perhaps even have a chance to try to advance in the future.
This was what usually happened to those who faced a bottleneck for the first time and managed to come out of their failure in one piece, the normal thing to happen.
After something like this happened, these people would become much more cautious in cultivation, so some would spend centuries at the same level, preparing to have the best conditions pre-advance.
But if this person who had to deal with the catastrophes, which came in the same amount as the number of their cultivation stages, failed in at least one of them, everything was different.
Failure in a single catastrophe meant that that person could never advance a stage even if their vitality weren't injured.
Failure in two could mean loss of power and permanent debilitation through spiritual and physical after-effects.
Failure in three would mean that, if that person didn't die, they would be left in a vegetative state with no possibility of improvement.
Above that, death was certain even during the failed breakthrough attempt!
The old supreme elder of the Edwardstone family was at this moment experiencing the first of his eight catastrophes, sensing the trouble he had gotten himself into.
High-level cultivators were more cautious with their breakthroughs because they knew that the higher their cultivation, the more catastrophes ahead of them in failure, making it difficult for them to continue as cultivators.
Low-level cultivators would hardly go through this, and if they did, they had a better chance of overcoming them due to the low number of cultivation stages.
Therefore, that old man made an ugly expression as he sensed what was happening, fearing the problem before him.
'Damn it! My cultivation is too unstable!' He noticed his soul power strangely varying so that he was barely able to use his powers.
But he was only facing the first catastrophe, which meant that the next seven would be much more difficult, and his chances of overcoming them would be dramatically lower!
Because of this fact, this man was already pale, in a cold sweat as he tried to control his powers to overcome this catastrophe.
Amidst the despair of the supreme elder Edwardstone, the people cultivating in the surrounding area slowly realized what was happening.
A cultivation failure was something difficult not to notice. When it happened, the spiritual fluctuations inside and outside of the one who had failed would become chaotic in a unique way, unmistakable to anyone minimally experienced.
There were practically only people like this in that large cultivation room, so while the supreme elder Edwardstone was still facing his first catastrophe, the many cultivators there realized what was happening.
The strongest ones opened their eyes and immediately looked toward that old man, noticing who was going through such a terrible situation.
"Old Edwardstone?" One of the Spiritual Sages there frowned, seeing that old man who was already an expert in the Flaming Empire when he had been born!
This 9th stage cultivator was a member of the Gray Clouds Sect, so seeing that man in such a situation, he felt terrible and said. "Warn His Majesty. Supreme Elder Edwardstone is at a critical moment. He could die any moment now!"
The people in the surrounding area muttered things among themselves as they worried about the situation of this level 79 old man.
Some didn't know him, but they didn't wish anything bad on him, even more so considering that he was a powerful cultivator by the standards of this state.
If he were to advance, yet another Sage would emerge to support the empire!
So his death would be costly, and even the coolest people there felt a little bad in this situation.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do to help this old man.
Spiritual catastrophes happened only to those who failed in their step advancement, and even a God could not interfere on the cultivator's behalf.
Only he could save himself, so everyone there watched the situation while keeping some distance from this old man.
They couldn't help him, but this age of cultivation could negatively affect people who got too close to him!
While some were leaving from there to notify others of what was happening to the oldest elder of the Edwardstone family, this old man had made it through the first catastrophe and was already facing the second.
Unfortunately for anyone in this situation, the catastrophes only got stronger as they progressed, so narrowly getting past the first was not something to be happy about. The opposite of this was a worrying sign!
Gulp!
'Will I die here?' He thought as he felt every muscle in his body changing shape due to the physical catastrophe.
'Damn it! Just when things were starting to get better for the empire... His Majesty is finally going to have a child.... Her Highness had gotten married... Just now, this had to happen?' He thought, regretting that he had to go through this now.
He was already old and would die before long. But if he hadn't tried this breakthrough, he might live a few more decades and maybe even seen Isabella's brother grow up, and this woman has a child with Minos.
Thinking of Minos, this man couldn't help but sigh, noting his repeated errors of judgment regarding this boy who had only helped the Flaming Empire over all these years.
Even he had been helped by Minos!
Thinking about this made him feel sadder, noting that he had been a grumpy old man in his last years and had left a bad impression on everyone.
'I hope my last few years on the Black Plain will erase that earlier history...' He thought in his mind as he went through the second catastrophe.
By the time this old man was getting to the third catastrophe, Minos, Isabella, Abby, Ruth, and Gloria arrived at that place after being notified.
When they arrived there, they saw a dark fog covering parts of the body of the supreme elder Edwardstone while an expression of pain was on his little by little drier and thinner face.
Gulp!
Seeing this, Isabella wanted to come closer while the tears in her eyes were already flowing. But Minos stopped her, looking solemnly at that old man.
"Isabella, you need to be strong now. The old supreme elder will not hold."
Isabella heard that and felt as if she had been given a shock, becoming silent momentarily.
Minos said in a low voice to her and his other women. "That dark fog is a sign of death. Unfortunately, there is no escape for him. The next catastrophe will bring him down!"
...
