Following the path of his Universe's cultivation system along the information acquired, Alexander already knew what to do, but not only so, he already was beyond proficient in it!
And so, Alexander first made sure to have his World Core filled to the brim with nothing but Celestial Qi. Once done, he could finally start, waving his hand, opening all one hundred bottles at the same time, their content now forming a dark grey cloud above him.
His World Core spinning, Alexander absorbed the cloud within it, coating it both inside and outside.
The world above shadowed by a looming aura of danger, Alexander ignored it for the time being, his mind fully focused on the crucial steps he had already done millions upon millions of years ago.
'Form the Essence Core!' His Celestial Qi churning and circulating, rampaging his meridians, Alexander's impassive face showed no signs of concern, his life experience more bountiful than most.
'Now for the crucial part!' Following his thoughts, the beautiful cloudy sky of the Celestial Realm darkened above his cave, the mountain range painted by an early night.
The sky covered by gigantic dark, almost black clouds intimidated the surrounding trillions of kilometers, an eerie night soon illuminated by chaotic lightnings bolts, their bright blue hue scaring the world, the continuous and thunderous roar of the Heavens dwarfing the earth.
A lightning streak accidentally crashing on the mountain peak caused it to shatter into fragments, pieces of extremely robust rock shrapnel impaling the wildlife below.
Frowning, Alexander was currently sweating.
'Isn't that a bit much? Even I am not confident in causing so much damage with my strongest moves! This 'Celestial Tribulation' as they call it, is quite the handful! I may have underestimated it! But so what? A tribulation is still nothing but a trial from the Heavens, hoping for the cultivators to temper themselves! Never has there been a tribulation impossible to pass by its target!'
Indeed, this was one of the wrong ideas Alexander had from Earth and its many stories. The Heavenly Tribulations always meant to stop the cultivators, a wall needed to be surpassed by force.
This idea was simply wrong, since not only did the Heavens have no need for such a thing to kill cultivators, but more so they were actually helping all of those experts.
The Heavens and their tribulations were nothing but tests, a filter of sort, made to push the powerful ones even higher. This was why Alexander was not scared, since no tribulation would be meant specifically for the cultivator's death. Tribulations were not death sentences, but gifts instead!
And this was especially true for Alexander right now, his Celestial Essence Core needing the tribulation's lightning to form itself, the same way he gave tribulation lightning to his disciples back then, meant for their Essence Core to form and grow stronger than others.
"Come!" Shouting from deep within the cave, Alexander felt the surrounding earth tremble, a hole soon formed above his head.
Shivering, Alexander grunted as a thick lightning bolt struck him, a hole billions of kilometers wide now giving way to the Heavens.
Ignoring the mountain now reduced to a flat surface barely a third of its initial size, Alexander did not waste this opportunity, ruling the Heavenly Lightning to reach his World Core.
"Guh!" His brows furrowed, his usual smile wavy, Alexander felt electrocuted as his internal world started to crumble.
'I never liked it anyway!' Trying to joke around, he was soon awoken by another streak of lightning.
"Urkhh!" Blood dripping from his lips, Alexander continued with the process without fault, his concentration past the worldly catastrophes.
Another bolt striking him down, he felt this third greatly.
Wheezing, Alexander felt ecstatic, but only for a short moment, frowning even further soon after.
'It's over-'
Almost smashed to the ground by surprise, Alexander immediately understood his mistake.
'I thought it would only be three! I was wrong! Fuck!'
Cold sweats forming, Alexander was not only surprised by a fourth strike, but even more shocked by its increase in power.
'This is no joke!! This fourth lightning strike is actually a third stronger than the last! But the good thing is its purity! My Celestial Essence Core will be even stronger!'
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Expecting either six or nine strikes, Alexander prepared himself mentally, ready to bear stronger and stronger waves of Heavenly Lightning.
Having time for reflection however, gave him a slight comfort.
'Luckily however, that very first strike confirmed it! This tribulation is not meant to kill! Flattening the mountain I was inside like this is clearly beyond a Cloud Immortal's power! I already guessed the first stage to only be able to crush giant boulders, not a whole mountain!'
'If that same level of power struck me, even I could only yield in defeat! That first strike only struck me with a fraction of its power, if not, my death would have been guaranteed!'
Laughing through the pain, Alexander closed his eyes, ready to continue, and so did the Heavens, another lightning bolt crushing Alexander's body, charring his flesh black.
'My Celestial Essence Core is more than halfway done! I will probably need four more! but I don't think the Heavens will need me to ask for it!' Chuckling, Alexander was struck once again, for the sixth time.
And then another time...
And then another...
And then...
*Cough!*
Blood splattered all over, Alexander felt his mind hazy. His charred skin crackling as rays of sunlight struck him, and as if healing his body, the charred parts peeled off, falling to the ground like dying leaves.
His silver hair growing back, the naked Alexander inspected his internal world.
'I don't seem to have lost much, if anything at all... my space rings are still there, none that I do not see for now...' Opening his eyes, his silver eyes shone a blue light, taking in the breathtaking nature in front, a deep grassy valley flowing below, mountains all around, except the one he was currently sitting on.
'A legacy of my breakthrough! I can already see this place becoming legendary!' Standing back up, Alexander wore his space rings back, flicking his wrist just after, a set of white robes now held in hand.
Covering himself, he released his Divine Sense, inspecting the surrounding, but without much of a gain.
'My Divine Sense is still lacking right now... but even without it, I am not blind!' Clearing his throat, Alexander shouted loud and clear, his eyes impassive.
"Come out! Do all of you fools believe this Alexander to be blind?!"
Following his words, many people started to appear. Some were hidden behind trees, bushes or even arrays and other such esoteric means.
"Your excellency, congratulations on your breakthrough! This Wei is impressed!" Cupping his fists, a middle aged man with long black hair, a thin black moustache and beard spoke, a young woman next to him.
"This fellow, I wonder how you can be so calm? Enduring all of this must have been difficult! Shouldn't you be worried about your life?" A bald old man appeared from a black mist, his short stature a contrasting trait to his peak Grand Gravitational Realm cultivation base.
"How many of you are there? But so what? Even if all of you fools try and attack me, can you guys handle the consequences?! You all just saw me breakthrough to the Cloud Immortal Realm, and now you want to kill me? Maybe you should've done it before!" Annoyed by such a lack of intellect, Alexander did not know what to say other than this.
The black haired middle aged man parting his lips, he spoke once again.
"Your excellency, this Wei has not come all the way here without a reason, but contrary to most of these friends here, I have no intention to harm you just for the sake of it. I just wonder... if your excellency knows about the disappearance of my Imperial Sky Sect's disciples and talents? I hope your excellency can give this Wei some pointers!" Stroking his thin black beard, the man called Wei waited for an answer, the silence ensued soon cut short by countless voices from all around.
"Wait! Could he be the one who has killed all of my sect's disciples?!"
"It must be him!"
"Revenge!"
"How dare he?!!"
Anger and irritation now the main ingredients of the current atmosphere, Alexander, his hands behind his back, spoke with certainty.
"I am! But I killed so many, I simply cannot confirm whether or not I killed yours, however I am confident it is the case. If they disappeared in the last year or so near the city two hours from here, then it must be me!" Not bothering to deny such claims, as it benefitted him, Alexander simply pled guilty.
[Qi Pressures] appearing one after the other, all crashing down on Alexander's uncaring vessel, caused him to do the same.
'If you want to play with your lives, then I must oblige!'
"What?!"
"I thought he would be injured!"
"Maybe it's just a façade!"
Forcing their way through Alexander's [Qi Pressure], the many experts at the Grand Gravitational Realm all did their best to calm themselves, the pressure of a Cloud Immortal Realm expert beyond their expectations.
"Even if this Alexander is a newly promoted Cloud Immortal Realm cultivator, I am no ordinary expert! Let this Alexander teach you all some courtesy!" His Celestial Qi circulating with critical revolutions throughout his meridians, Alexander did not stop the ensuing shockwaves of energies from escaping his control.
Now all kneeling on the ground beneath them, the many experts felt Alexander's [Qi Overload] crush their spirit. Feeling the wave of energy sweeping past them, brushing their hair and skin as if freezing ice meeting a blazing sun, they could only shiver, circulating their secret techniques and taking out their artifacts to resist the mighty tsunami.
The clattering of teeth filling the surrounding space, their artifacts breaking apart was nothing but an expected outcome.
"I refuse to go down alone!" Trying to detonate his cultivation base, an old man was swiftly beheaded, Alexander still not confident in taking such an explosion head-on, his cultivation base still needing some consolidation.
Frowning, Alexander decapitated another Grand Gravitational Realm expert, a middle aged woman, who also tried to take him down with her.
"Annoying pest!" Angered by the resilient experts, Alexander took out a sky blue and grey sword, the one he used during his Grand Macrocosm Trial of Ascendency, now nothing but a below average weapon. Waving his arm with grace, multiple heads were sent rolling after Alexander's every move.
A few minutes later, Alexander flicked his wrist, the sword entering its beautiful space ring.
Blood flowing like a river, corpses incomplete, Alexander had already collected every space rings they wore.
'What a great haul! I will still try and get a bit more, but over 1 500 Tribulation Cloud Essences and 150 000 000 Cloud Essences is definitely appreciated!' Laughing at such a profit, Alexander sat back down, consolidating his cultivation base to the peak of the first layer. Once done, he simply started to fly in direction of the city, ready to earn even more.