Tianyi sat cross-legged on a lotus, an artifact of the Core Formation realm that he had refined, in a clearing near the edge of Jade Peak Mountain. Next to him were a few jade bottles filled with pills as well as the Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir.

Tianyi was preparing to take his Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. He didn’t use the Jade Lotus Clear Pond to transcend his tribulation for multiple reasons. For one, the Jade Lotus Clear Pond was for cultivating only, and there weren't many defensive measures in the formation.

The second more important reason was that Tianyi did not construct it, and if he initiated the Heavenly Tribulation there, the Heavenly Dao would recognize it as outside help and increase the power of the tribulation.

He didn’t have a death wish, especially since his mother, an Immortal realm expert, constructed formation. He would be struck dead by the first strike of Heavenly Tribulation!

A fair distance away stood his mother, Xi Mengfei, his junior sister, Jiang Daoyi, Elder Shan, who had watched him grow up from a baby, the ever flirtatious yet distant Spiritual Unity Venerable Jiao, and a few other Elders.

“Master, Senior Brother won’t have any trouble passing his tribulations, right?” Daoyi asked. “He has already entered the Acupoint OPening Realm and formed his martial body. Forming a Spiritual Core shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

Although Daoyi believed that Tianyi would have no problems, but to see so many seniors and her master all watching her senior brother left Daoyi with a sense of unease.

“That is hard to say,” Mengfei said. “Disciple, your senior brother, isn’t planning to form a single Spiritual Core but nine.”

“Nine?” Daoyi said, shocked. “But I thought a dantian could only store a single Spiritual Core. How can senior brother’s dantian store nine Spiritual Cores?”

Mengfei shook her head. “Normally that would be the case, but your senior brother has opened all of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, each of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians acts like a miniature dantian, and with the modified cultivation manual, it is possible.” Tianyi didn't just want to form nine Spiritual Cores, but he wanted to create a formation using the nine Spiritual Cores in his body as well."

“Then...won’t senior brother have to endure nine Heavenly Tribulations to form nine Spiritual Core?” Daoyi asked.

“Unclear,” Mengfei said. “No cultivator can discern the truth behind the Heavenly Dao. Perhaps it will be nine separate tribulations, or perhaps the Heavenly Tribulation will mutate into one larger one.”

“This...isn’t it very dangerous?” Daoyi asked. She already knew the answer but still couldn’t help but ask. Mengfei stayed silent as she watched her son begin his Heavenly Tribulation.

Within Tianyi’s dantian, where his Spiritual Crucible existed, a golden light emanated from within the crucible. At the same time, black clouds began to gather in the sky above Tianyi. It gathered and merged very slowly, but the hidden arcs of lightning flashed every once in a while as if to remind one that it could strike at any time. But lightning did not strike down as the sun in the sky finished rising to its highest point and then starting to descend towards dusk.

“This...Junior Nephew Tianyi shouldn’t be unable to form his Spiritual Core, right?”

“Nonsense, with our senses, we could already tell that Junior Nephew Tianyi has already entered the Acupoint Opening Realm. There’s no reason for Junior Nephew Tianyi not to be able to form his Spiritual Core.”

“Then why is Junior Nephew Tianyi’s Heavenly Tribulation taking so long? The first strike hasn’t even fallen yet.”

“This...perhaps Junior Nephew Tianyi’s unique cultivation method? Junior Nephew Tianyi is a rare genius that is going to form nine Spiritual Cores according to what we were informed. But even then... isn’t it taking too long?”

“Junior Nephew Tianyi looks like he is struggling.”

Indeed, Tianyi’s forehead was currently covered in sweat as he furrowed his brows with his eyes closed.

Currently, in his dantian, nine embryonic cores were formed within his Spiritual Crucible, but they were all being suppressed from flying out by the crucible. As a result, the crucible was shaking from the pressure, and all nine of the segmented Spiritual Pillars were trembling nonstop. The crucible had already turned red from the energy it was contained, and the color was deepening even more. As the color deepened, it slowly started to turn violet.

Once the crucible turned violet, a low hum sounded as one of the embryonic cores within Tianyi’s crucible flew out successfully. Its shape, at a glance, was a perfect gold sphere glowing brightly. If all went well, the embryonic core would form into a Spiritual Core once Tianyi finished his Heavenly Tribulation.

The Spiritual Cores of Core Formation realm cultivators could be said to be separated into six categories. The color of the core itself did not matter, but the color it emitted did.

Mixed Color, red, orange, yellow, gold, and violet gold; those were the grades of Spiritual Cores a Core Formation Realm cultivator could form. The mixed-colored grade was the worst result with no hope of advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm, while a gold grade core practically guaranteed one’s ascension to the Nascent Soul Realm should no accident occur.

But a violet-gold grade Spiritual was supreme.

Just as the embryonic core flew out of the crucible, one segment on all nine of the segmented Spiritual Pillars collapsed and dispersed in the Spiritual Sea. The Spiritual Crucible and Altar were both lowered a level due to the shattering of one of the segments.

Tianyi still had his attention focused on his Spiritual Crucible and his eyes closed, but he reached out and popped one of the pills he had prepared beforehand. Instantly his previously drying up Spiritual Sea was revitalized and full once more. And his Spiritual Crucible that was starting to cool back down to a reddish color became violet once more.

And another embryonic core popped out, and another segment of his Spiritual Pillars collapsed, lowering the Spiritual Crucible and Altar even more. But for Tianyi, this was all planned. Since he had conceived the Sole Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation, he had already formed his Spiritual Pillars, Altars, and Crucible with the intention of forming nine Spiritual Cores!

When the fifth embryonic core flew out, Tianyi suddenly opened his eyes and looked skyward. “Finally, couldn’t wait any longer, huh?”

The tribulation clouds didn’t wait any longer as five bolts of lightning began to descend. Since Tianyi had only released five embryonic cores, only five of them descending at the same time. Each one correlated to one of Tiany’s five embryonic cores.

Tianyi clapped his hand together, and a golden light enveloped him. The five bolts reached him not long after, but Tianyi sat there still as if he didn’t feel the five bolts of lightning striking him. With each strike, the golden light around him dimmed. Tianyi ignored the five bolts of lightning as he continued to put forth the majority of his attention inside of his dantian. He didn’t have the extra mentality and energy to absorb the tribulation lightning into him.

He needed his full concentration to absorb tribulation lightning. After all, it was not simple lightning but carried the tribulation essence of the Heavenly Dao. One wrong move and Tianyi could shatter his partially formed Spiritual Cores as well as his Spiritual Pillars, Altar, and Crucible.

Luckily for Tianyi, the five bolts of tribulation lightning weren’t merged and were five separated attacks so he could manage the opening move of the Heavenly Tribulation with his martial body alone. If all five of the bolts of tribulation lightning had merged into one, then it wouldn’t have been so simple anymore. A merged attack of tribulation lightning wasn’t the sum of its components, but rather the final attack would be amplified. Although it wouldn’t have been as extreme as being squared, it was terrifying nonetheless.

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The gathering of people who were watching the Heavenly Tribulation was baffled by the strange tribulation.

“This...isn’t it a bit too strange?”

“Five lightning strikes came down at once. I had thought JuniorNephew Tianyi would separate all nine Heavenly Tribulations in sequences, but taking multiple ones at the same time...this is…”

“Perhaps Junior Nephew has simply formed multiple cores at once. It is not strange when one thinks about it. The Spiritual Crucible is under heavy stress during the formation of a Spiritual Core. Once the core forms, the Spiritual Crucible will normally shatter.”

“But using this method, how well can Junior Nephew’s core turn out to be? When forming multiples of something, what is most important is balance. If Junior Nephew Xi has several different cores of different grades, then it wouldn’t boost Junior Nephew’s cultivation at all but hinder him instead.”

“Don’t forget this method was perfected by Grand Elder Xi. This aspect must have already been considered. See how calm Grand Elder Xi is? We just simply have to watch and have faith in Junior Nephew like Grand Elder Xi.”

Daoyi glanced at her expressionless master. Since she first became Mengfei’s disciple, the only expression she has seen on her face was one of nothing. Nothing could move her heart, but her woman’s intuition was telling her that Xi Mengfei was even more worried than all the people watching combined.

Besides, as a mother, what mother wouldn’t worry while her child was under great danger?

Tianyi had already lost count of how many lightning bolts had descended, his clothes were slightly tattered, and the tips of his black hair were singed. Even his gold coronet had faint cracks and melted due to the extreme heat.

Eight golden embryonic cores had already been formed, and the Spiritual Crucible was covered in numerous small fissures. The only reason it hadn’t been destroyed was because Tianyi was consuming numerous pills that were concocted to heal the Spiritual Crucible and using his spiritual qi to forcibly hold it in place.

There was one last embryonic core inside the crucible, and it was the final one. Unlike all the others, it seemed slightly smaller, but the qi and pressure it emitted were even denser and more powerful.

Tianyi opened his eyes and picked up the jade bottle containing the Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir. If it hadn’t been for his mother, he probably wouldn’t have had a chance to obtain such an elixir. It was concocted using the dragon pearl of an Immortal Realm dragon.

A dragon’s pearl could be considered a dragon’s outer core and contributed a major portion to a dragon’s power. Should a dragon lose its pearl, the loss wouldn’t just be a dip in its strength but its overall potential. That’s why most dragons, unless under extreme circumstances, wouldn’t even reveal their pearls.

A dragon’s pearl could be considered something of an equivalent of a lifebound Artifact that spiritual cultivators could form at the Core Formation Realm, only more innate.

Don’t speak of even the current era. Before the Human-Divine Beast War, such a pearl was already nearly impossible to attain. Whoever attained it would face the Dragon Clan’s wrath and be hunted down ruthlessly. Although the possessor would no longer be hunted down by the Dragon Clan, but it was also harder to find a dragon's pearl.

And now such a valuable treasure had been concocted into an elixir for a puny Foundation Establishment Disciple to form their Spiritual Core.

Tianyi was only able to attain due to his mother’s transcendental status within the sect, as well as the fact that she had slain many dragons and obtained their pearls during the Human-Divine Beast war. She naturally contributed a portion to the sect but kept some for herself.

Tianyi opened the stopper and swallowed the liquid. Instantly an ice-cold qi assaulted his body. Tianyi felt as if he had hypothermia to the point of frostbite starting from the inside of his body. However, such pain was nothing compared to what he felt during the Blood Absorption Ritual, so he quickly calmed his heart down and began to guide the liquid into his dantian. The Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir lost its physical form as it converted into pure qi and entered Tianyi’s dantian and then further into his Spiritual Crucible.

The Heavenly Tribulation seemed to have been enraged, and the power of the tribulation lightning increased even more. Tianyi could only grit his teeth as he tried his best to defend against it while directing most of his attention inside his dantian.

By now, Tianyi's body was already a bloody mess with burnt skin covering his entire body. Even some of his robes seemed to have melded into his skin. His gold coronet had long fallen off, causing his hair to billow wildly in the turbulent winds created by the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir began to merge with the embryonic core causing the color to become pitch black, like a dark hole, an empty space in reality. The Spiritual Crucible, Altar, and Pillars all began to turn even darker past the color of purple as it began emitting a golden glow.

BAM!

In a bright burst of light and explosion, the Spiritual Crucible, Altar, and Pillars exploded into tiny little fragments that soon turned into qi and were absorbed by the newly formed embryonic black core that emitted a violet gold light. At this instant, all eight golden embryonic cores began to revolve around the black embryonic core that emitted a violet-gold light like celestial bodies.

At the same time, nerves seemingly made of lightning began to appear in Tianyi’s dantian and covered all the embryonic cores like a heavenly net.

This was the manifestation of Tianyi’s Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein. The last step needed to enter the Core Formation realm was to fuse one’s Spiritual Vein’s into their embryonic core, allowing one to produce true qi from the core, perfecting their Spiritual Core.

This was also the reason why if a Core Formation Master had their core shattered, their Immortal path would be severed. Because they fused their Spiritual Vein into their core and so a loss of their Spiritual Core also meant they lost the ability to sense and absorb spiritual qi.

Tianyi looked up. Before he fused his Dao Spiritual Vein into his cores, he needed to pass the Heavenly Tribulation first. However, after the most recent strike, the Heavenly Tribulation didn’t send another attack and seemed to be waiting. Tianyi, who had already experienced this before, knew that the Heavenly Tribulation was biding its power.

Tianyi stood up from the lotus position he had been staying at, the fractured remains of the lotus-shaped Artifact at his feet, broken and useless.

“I didn’t think I would have to use it here,” Tianyi said to himself, his voice hoarse and scarred from the damage done to his body.

Immediately the blood inside Tianyi’s body began to boil as dragon qi began to surge through his body. It wasn't the impure dragon qi his martial body formed, but one akin to a true dragon's. In order to get through this tribulation, Tianyi was burning his blood essence, or rather the Dragon Emperor's blood essence that was stored in his body. Already, due to the massive power of dragon qi, his body began to creak with each movement.

The tribulation clouds rumbled with majesty as streaks of lightning appeared. Tianyi’s pupils shrunk as he felt those streaks of lightning.

At first, there was only one, but soon there was two, three, four, all the way to nine. But even with nine gathered, the lightning didn’t immediately descend but rather started to coil around each other.

Tianyi had already transcended nine sets of eight bolts of lightning. In other words, seventy-two bolts of lightning and now the remaining nine bolts of lightning were being merged into one.

Finally, it descended.

It was like a flash of light, a large towering bolt of lightning that was far larger than the sum of the size of the nine lightning strikes that it was composed of.

Tianyi opened his mouth and roared as he used both hands and clawed upwards. From his hands, an illusionary dragon made of the burnt blood essence and dragon qi burst forth.

It was a golden dragon that sometimes became dark and illusionary, but other times shone with a majestic presence as if announcing its presence to the world. It, too, roared as it ascended towards the lightning bolt. The two clashed and struggled for supremacy, neither giving an inch as they coiled around each other and ruthlessly attacked each other.

This clash seemed to go indefinitely yet infinitely short as the next moment both the tribulation lightning and dragon burst into a golden light that showered down on Tianyi. It was an attack that used the Dragon Emperor's blood essence to fuel it. How could it lose to the power of a Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation?

Tianyi stood there weakly with his eyes closed as he allowed the golden light to enter his body. At the same time in his dantian, his Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Veins began to fracture into nine parts. The largest part that was composed of nearly half of his original Spiritual Vein merged into the violet-gold core while the rest were split evenly and merged with the other eight gold-ranked cores.

After that was done, the eight newly formed gold-ranked Spiritual Cores began to move away and entered Tianyi’s Eight Extraordinary Meridians creating a formation. Inside Tianyi, an illusionary octagonal trigram template with the taiji symbol in the middle was formed. Grey gaseous qi began to be produced and filled his whole body at an astonishing rate.

His injuries began to heal at a visible rate, although his clothes were in tatters, but his fleshly body was regenerating. Soon his muscles and skin returned to their previous appearance.

“Master, Senior Brother, he -” Daoyi showed an elated expression and turned to speak to her master, but she discovered that Mengfei had already disappeared from her side and was now in front of Tianyi.

“Yi’er,” Mengfei spoke as her hands reached out but stopped, not knowing what to do with her hands. "Congratulations."

Tianyi showed a happy expression. But he suddenly grimaced quickly paled. A pained expression appeared on his face, and blood sprayed from his mouth, dousing Mengfei's clothes in his blood. He didn’t have any time to ponder the sudden change in his body as he soon fainted.