novelraw Chapter 251
Chapter 251
Long Yiran could not help but be surprised. What Wang Yu referred to was his Body Refining breakthrough. Coincidentally, all three of them would undergo tribulation together, allowing for a simultaneous surge in strength.
He had not only received the baptism of the Dragon Vein, further enhancing his physical potential, but he also possessed the Glazed Lotus Heart Elixir, a treasure designed specifically for breakthroughs.
His chances were far higher than Long Yiran’s.
They decided that the Thunder Corpse would be tested first. Once Wang Yu had a clear grasp of the tribulation’s strength, Long Yiran would test the Dispersion Lightning Formation Banner. When everything was confirmed safe, Wang Yu would then attempt his own breakthrough.
With that plan, the safety of their exploration of the Heavenly Soul Sect ruins would greatly improve. There would be no need to withdraw and return later;
this time, he had to complete the inheritance of the Ancient Soul Art.
Otherwise, his three refined corpses of different origins would have no chance to fight side by side, and that would be unacceptable.
“I understand,” Long Yiran said.
After checking the Heavenly Heart Lightning Dispersion Tribulation Formation, Long Yiran could not help but sigh in admiration.
“This formation flag is truly mysterious. Its resistance to lightning power has reached the very limit of its materials. Especially its resistance against heavenly might—this is the most crucial aspect.”
“Heavenly might?” Wang Yu asked.“Of course. When facing a tribulation, the oppressive will of the heavens is strong enough to crush a cultivator’s spirit, causing their strength to fall short by at least twenty percent.”
Wang Yu suddenly understood. When he had built his foundation, he had spent considerable effort learning from his seniors’ insights on tribulation.
But ever since he went to Jade Spirit City, he had not studied much about Core Formation bottlenecks.
His focus had always been on improving his essence, energy, and spirit, because those were the key factors for condensing a Golden Core. External factors like lightning tribulations were not something he had paid much attention to.
It was somewhat embarrassing that he now needed a rogue cultivator to explain it to him.
“Let’s retreat to the edge of the secret realm first. The entrance to the Heavenly Soul Sect is perfect for cultivation. These Blood Corpses shouldn’t chase us that far.”
“Alright.”
After deciding, the two quickly withdrew from the ruins. On the way, whenever they encountered blood corpses, Wang Yu would scan them with divine sense to search for any tokens.
If he found one, he would take it and seal it in ice. If not, he simply froze the entire corpse.
Though these blood corpses were terrifying, once the method was found, dealing with them was relatively easy. As long as he ignored the consumption of true essence, the black ice he conjured could seal an ordinary blood corpse for several years.
Half a day later, they successfully broke out of the encirclement.
The entrance to the secret realm was the only place not covered in blood mist, making it feel relatively safe.
Clatter—
Upon arrival, Wang Yu tossed down a pile of tokens, clattering into a small mound.
Most were disciple tokens, divided between inner and outer sect levels.
Their surfaces were covered with reddish-brown rust, weathered beyond recognition. Whether they were still functional had to be tested.
By activating the engravings within, if the tokens resonated with the formation or restriction of the Heavenly Soul Sect ruins, they would still be usable.
“Did you find any elder or sect master tokens?”
“Does this one count?”
Long Yiran picked through the pile and drew out a piece with relatively little rust. On it was engraved a large ancient symbol for ‘Heaven.’
At the same time, Wang Yu found another token marked with the character ‘Earth.’
“Could it be that the Heavenly Soul Sect distinguished its elders by Heaven and Earth ranks?”
“Here’s another one, a True Inheritance Token, and there’s even a name engraved on the back.”
Taking it, Wang Yu frowned deeply and muttered under his breath.
“Huntian Di…” (T/N: means Soul Heaven Di)
Seeing his strange expression, Long Yiran asked curiously, “What’s wrong with the name?”
“Nothing, just a coincidence.”
“These Heaven and Earth Elder Tokens, along with this True Inheritance Token, might still be useful. Keep them safe.”
“Me?”
“Try restoring them. Start with these ordinary disciple tokens to test.”
“I see.”
Understanding Wang Yu’s meaning, Long Yiran became a little excited.
“Brother Wang, ever since I signed the contract to act together with you, my luck has improved a lot. Don’t worry, leave this to me.”
Wang Yu didn’t reply. When it came to luck, he had always been on the poor side—especially during his time as a Spirit Slave, his fortune had been terrible.
Whenever he recalled those days, he took it as motivation, facing his current challenges with even stronger willpower.
Of course, the Heavenly Soul Sect ruins could hardly be called a true predicament.
Though troublesome, most dangers had already passed, and he had gained plenty. The foundation of a sect was far more than just a dragon vein. After the Scripture Hall, their next target was the medicine garden.
As he looked up and caught sight of the pitch-black crack high above the heavens, Wang Yu sighed deeply.
“Sigh…”
……
……
Several months later.
Wang Yu’s aura, which had been surging wildly, slowly subsided. Though the Dragon Vein Baptism had not pushed him to break through, it had greatly enhanced his essence, energy, and spirit.
After three years of cultivation, his true essence limit, originally just over 3,200 drops—had increased by five to six hundred. Together with the growth of his Idle Slot and months of bitter cultivation, it finally surpassed four thousand drops.
At the start of his forty-second year as a deacon, he successfully broke through to the eighth layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage.
By now, it had been five to six years since he entered the ruins. His progress was neither too slow nor too fast.
Next, he would continue to accumulate and expand his true essence limit.
Once he reached six thousand drops, he would be at the peak of the eighth layer. Then he could push toward the ninth layer in one go.
However, Wang Yu felt that even by the end of the twenty-year agreement, he might still not have condensed his Golden Core.
He still had to obtain one Tribulation Treasure from Jin Miaoshan before attempting Core Formation. That could be arranged through Golden Abundance Tower in Ten Thousand Poison Town.
The Golden Abundance Tower branches in Cloud Ridge Prefecture all answered directly to Jin Miaoshan, so communication would be easy. The Moon Chasing Prefecture dispute was also something he had been keeping in mind.
After all, Jade Spirit City would play a key role in his cultivation resources after Core Formation. By then, gathering third-rank spirit pills and herbs would no longer be an easy task.
The pressure from Zhuo Shouqing’s side was also something he could not entirely avoid.
After his breakthrough, Wang Yu took out the Corpse Nurturing Coffin. The Thunder Corpse that emerged looked nothing like the intelligent Thunder Spirit Corpse he had found in the Thunderfall Abyss Pit.
This one had peak second-rank strength, its entire body covered in violet lightning patterns.
Two sharp fangs jutted over its dark lower lip. Every breath it exhaled carried arcs of lightning. On its bald head, a thunder sigil was engraved. Upon release, it raised its head and roared skyward.
It was as if it were celebrating its own birth. Compared to the hunched Lunar Fiend Corpse, this one was far more imposing—belonging to the hybrid type of Armor and Fiend, capable of both close and ranged combat.
After observing for a while, he once again activated his Corpse Refining Technique. When every aspect had been pushed to the limit, another corpse tightly wrapped in talismans floated out from the Corpse-Nurturing Coffin.
It was the Golden Armored Corpse. Under his control, the Thunder Corpse bit through the talisman and began devouring the Golden Armored Corpse’s essence.
A massive amount of corpse qi and corpse fiendish energy were all swallowed into its abdomen.
Before long, even the Corpse Core was completely consumed.
From then on, the Golden Armored Corpse was utterly scrapped, while the Thunder Corpse gained tremendous benefits. Wang Yu took out the Yin Lotus Lamp and used the Corpse Refining Technique to raise the Thunder Corpse’s cultivation realm.
From time to time, he shook the Corpse-Suppressing Bell to prevent the Thunder Corpse from losing control after its advancement.
Ten days later, Wang Yu awakened Long Yiran, who had been fully focused on repairing a token.
With a solemn expression, he said,
“Prepare the Dispersion Thunder Formation Flags. The Thunder Corpse is about to undergo tribulation.”
Long Yiran accepted happily and immediately began preparing.
“Should we activate it right away?”
“No. Wait until the Thunder Corpse can no longer endure it. It’s different from ordinary zombies. The lightning tribulation brings it tremendous benefits. The more it endures, the better for its future advancement.”
“I will stay alert.”
“Relax. Just pay attention to the power of the lightning tribulation. After it’s done, it will be your turn.”
“Understood.”
Rumble.
At some unknown moment, the sky of the secret realm was covered by dark clouds. Even the blood mist was forced to disperse. Below stood the Thunder Corpse, motionless.
Normally, the chance of a zombie surviving a tribulation was pitifully low. Most required a cultivator’s help, preparing all sorts of treasures and formation arrays for assistance.
Sometimes, they relied on special geomantic layouts to resist the lightning’s power.
But the Thunder Corpse was an exception.
As the lightning tribulation approached, it instinctively roared toward the vortex-like black clouds. When the lightning energy accumulated to a critical level, a deafening explosion rang out. The entire world seemed illuminated by the thunderbolt.
With a sharp crack, a white lightning bolt struck the Thunder Corpse at a speed too fast to perceive. The purple lightning within its body was forced out, and violet and white light interwove.
Aside from a deep pit blasted into the ground, the Thunder Corpse showed no obvious damage. Even Wang Yu couldn’t help but marvel. The Thunder Corpse truly was an extraordinary aberration among its kind.
It did not fear tribulation lightning. Instead, it transformed it into nourishment for its growth.
“Incredible.”
Long Yiran continued forming hand seals, ready to activate the twelve Dispersion Thunder Formation Flags at any moment.
The Core Formation Tribulation was the first lightning tribulation in a cultivator’s life. It marked the true beginning of stepping onto the path of longevity.
It only consisted of three bolts of lightning.
When one broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, there would be nine bolts instead.
The Thunder Corpse had already endured the first strike. The second tribulation came down, white tinged with blue lightning, its power nearly doubled.
Boom.
This time, the Thunder Corpse was not as composed. Its body turned pitch-black, and a violet lightning sigil appeared on its bald head, continuously absorbing the power of the tribulation.
Then the final bolt descended.
A few breaths later, Wang Yu let out a sigh of relief. The tribulation had been successfully overcome.
As expected, the Thunder Corpse was special. Its very existence seemed born for tribulation, and it was Wang Yu’s refined corpse.
He wondered if, when he himself faced a tribulation, he could use the Thunder Corpse as a lightning-absorbing treasure.
“It might actually work. Even tribulations that demonic corpses cannot endure could perhaps be weathered with the Thunder Corpse’s help. It would benefit both sides.”
Such thoughts passed through Wang Yu’s mind.
On the other side, Long Yiran also breathed a sigh of relief. She had not needed to activate the formation, which spared her from accidentally harming Wang Yu’s precious creation.
It was best that the Thunder Corpse could withstand the three tribulation bolts on its own.
With this experiment, both she and Wang Yu gained an understanding of the Core Formation Tribulation’s true power.
Compared to the Nether Tiger Lightning, even the most powerful third bolt of the Core Formation Tribulation was far weaker.
The difference was like a chasm, showing just how terrifying the power of the Earthly Formation truly was. It was uncertain whether the nine twisted peaks of the Blood Reversal Sect also had similar considerations.
After storing the Thunder Corpse back into the Corpse-Nurturing Coffin for recovery, Wang Yu asked Long Yiran,
“How was your progress?”
“It felt pretty good. Most importantly, I’ve gained some insights into the unfathomable nature of heavenly might.”