Chapter 220: Golden Core
Boom!
The azure Thunder Dragon collided with numerous Vine Dragons, the two entwining, but the Vine Dragons were weaker and, in just a moment, were torn to shreds by the Tribulation Thunder.
At this point, the Tribulation Thunder was only tens of feet away from Li Zhirui, like a savage beast from the wilderness, its maw wide open, ready to devour its prey.
"Could it be a failure?"
The lower-ranking cultivators watching nearby, seeing that Li Zhirui had no other moves, thought he was at his wit's end and had no other means left. Various emotions surfaced at this time.
Some took pleasure in his misfortune, others felt pity, while some pondered how they would fare if they were the ones facing Tribulation Transcendence.
But would Li Zhirui give up so easily?
All they saw was his fingers flying, like butterflies flitting between flowers, quickly forming an extremely complex spell. Mana poured out crazily from within his body, and in the blink of an eye, a myriad of huge tree phantoms emerged, bringing the surroundings into the midst of an ancient forest.
"This is actually..." an exceptionally knowledgeable cultivator exclaimed in surprise, "The second-order spell that is most difficult to master, Azure Light Illusion!"
Azure Light Illusion is an extremely difficult spell to learn, but its effects are exceptional, capable of attacking, ensnaring enemies, and defending.
As its name suggests, the spell can also create illusions. Although it is not particularly outstanding in any aspect, it is very comprehensive, which is why the difficulty of learning it is so high, and few cultivators are willing to invest a lot of time in it.
Besides these giant trees, Li Zhirui had also purposefully added a large number of thick-leaved vines throughout the 'Ancient Forest' to enhance the defensive capability of the spell.
The moment the Ancient Forest sprang into existence, the Tribulation Thunder barged in, and upon collision, the might of the Tribulation Thunder was continuously weakened. Li Zhirui's attack also diminished, and at a faster rate.
Bang!
To ensure a safe passage through this tribulation, Li Zhirui made his spell self-destruct, hoping to perish together with the Tribulation Thunder.
The powerful shockwave created a gale, stirring up dust and filling the sky with smoke.
Fortunately, the site of his seclusion was in a remote location, and the neighbors were far enough away to not worry about damaging a large number of buildings and being charged for Spirit Stones afterward.
Soon the dust settled, and Li Zhirui appeared slowly, looking as if, aside from an excessive consumption of mana that made his face a bit pale, he was otherwise fine.
"It seems that this mysterious Daoist friend is going to successfully form his Core!" The shopkeeper, witnessing this scene, couldn't help but voice his sentiments.
The third Tribulation Thunder was indeed dangerous, but that was for ordinary cultivators. For cultivators with a resolute Dao heart like Li Zhirui, especially since he had practiced the Visualization Skill, the third Tribulation Thunder was nothing to him. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire
So when the final Tribulation Thunder struck, Li Zhirui calmly and steadily guided the Tribulation Thunder into his Dantian, or more precisely, into the illusory Golden Core above the sprouting seedling.
Whoosh—
A faint presence of the Power of Thunder Tribulation spread throughout the "Golden Core," and under Li Zhirui's careful control, he used the power of the Tribulation Thunder to cautiously temper the Golden Core, which gradually became more solid.
Time passed, and when the power of the third Tribulation Thunder was exhausted, the Tribulation Clouds in the sky also transformed into rich Spiritual Energy, pouring frantically into Li Zhirui's body.
The Golden Core, originally the size of a grain of rice, rapidly expanded under the irrigation of this immense Spiritual Energy, eventually stabilizing at slightly over an inch in size.
Li Zhirui was quite satisfied with this, knowing that the Golden Cores of Li Shiqing and Li Shilian after their Core Formation were far inferior to his!
Hum—
A pressure unique to Golden Core cultivators radiated from Li Zhirui, signaling to the nearby practitioners.
"I succeeded!"
"This fellow Daoist... elder, is truly formidable, to break through to the Golden Core so smoothly, that's really amazing!"
Now that Li Zhirui had made his breakthrough, he naturally could no longer be treated as a peer, but as a powerful senior.
After all, his performance in dealing with Tribulation Thunder had been witnessed by all the cultivators.
Li Zhirui, not being a cultivator from Green Mountain State, immediately teleported into his cave dwelling after successfully forming his Core and activated the defensive array to block the gazes of others.
"This..."
This move left all the cultivators stunned because traditionally, Li Zhirui should have shared some of his Core Formation Comprehension with the crowd, but who would have thought that he wouldn't bother with this affair and went straight to his quiet room to consolidate his realm.
"Let's go, let's go! Had we known it would be like this, we shouldn't have wasted these few hours."
The crowd began to leave, and although they didn't openly express their dissatisfaction, they couldn't help but curse inwardly.
At this moment, Li Zhirui was completely unconcerned with the outside world. He was now inspecting his Golden Core to seek the Divine Power bestowed upon him by the heavens.
Rumor has it that a cultivator who forms a Core before the age of one hundred might be privileged to receive a Heavenly Gifted Divine Power, and Li Zhirui was lucky to have acquired one such Divine Power!
The Water-Wood Divine Light, a simplified Divine Power of the Five Elements, possessed significant power and was an offensive Divine Ability.
Although Li Zhirui would have preferred a Defense Divine Ability, clearly it was not his choice to make; he would have to make do with what he received.
Besides this Divine Power, there was also the Golden Core True Fire, a must-have for Golden Core cultivators!
However, possibly because he had just broken through, the True Fire seemed rather weak, but even so, its lethality was not inferior to that of an ordinary third-tier Spiritual Fire.
Moreover, the True Fire could be used to refine Spirit Pills and Magic Artifacts, but regrettably, Li Zhirui had learned Water Method Alchemy and was quite proficient in it. Although he could now learn Fire Method Alchemy, there was no need for it.
As for Magic Artifacts, he had not even studied them, for unless something unexpected happened, beyond crafting his Life-bound Spiritual Treasure, he would have no further need for related formations.
After inspecting his Golden Core, Li Zhirui began to absorb Spiritual Energy and convert it into Mana to solidify his realm.
Time flew by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, four to five months had passed.
That day, the long-sealed door was finally opened.
"I wonder how Da Qing and Xiaoqing are faring," Li Zhirui murmured as he thought to himself and teleported into the space.
When he was undergoing Tribulation, concerned that Tribulation Thunder might harm them, he had brought them into the space.
Subsequently, because of his breakthrough, Da Qing and Xiaoqing had received a mass of Mana feedback and were still diligently refining it.
Perhaps once they finished refining it, their cultivation levels would greatly improve, especially Da Qing, who might even manage to break through the later stages of Foundation Establishment.
Indeed, when he entered the space, both Da Qing and Xiaoqing were still earnestly refining the Mana, which was, after all, from a Golden Core cultivator, more advanced in every aspect than Foundation Establishment, thus naturally harder to refine.
"Now that I've successfully broken through, it's time to return to the clan!" Li Zhirui checked the various Spiritual Medicines and prepared to return to Da Rong Island, even though his lease on the cave dwelling still had more than half a year left.