The Bottomless Pit

To advance from ordinary mortal to a Qi Refining stage cultivator, one must transform their mental energy into a spark to illuminate the vast path of cultivation. However, the moment they successfully draw the first wisp of spiritual energy into their body and become a true cultivator, they immediately face the backlash of the Heavenly Dao laws.

At this point, they will encounter their first Heavenly Tribulation, known in the Cultivation World as the Wind Fire Tribulation.

Following this, when advancing from the Qi Refining stage to the Foundation Establishment stage, the Heavenly Tribulation faced will be the Spiritual Poison Tribulation.

In the mainstream ancient texts of the Cultivation World, both of these Heavenly Tribulations are classified as body tribulations for low-level cultivators.

Only when a cultivator has perfected their Foundation Establishment stage and is ready to advance to become a Golden Core cultivator will the Heavenly Dao laws descend a grand Heavenly Punishment, as if to make an example of them.

The tribulation faced when advancing from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core is already a thunder tribulation.

However, the thunder tribulation for advancing from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, compared to the seven-layered lightning tribulation that Golden Core cultivators face when advancing to Nascent Soul, is more like a stern warning from the Heavenly Dao laws.

This thunder tribulation only has four layers. Although each layer lasts for a duration close to a cup of tea's time, its power cannot be compared to any single layer of the seven-layered lightning tribulation that Golden Core cultivators must face.

The vast majority of sects cannot provide shelter for Golden Core cultivators undergoing tribulation. However, most sects can handle these four layers of thunder tribulation for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. This is precisely why the probability of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator failing their tribulation is actually far lower than that of cultivators in other stages.

When ordinary mortals advance to the Qi Refining stage, and when Qi Refining stage cultivators advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, almost no sects will deliberately interfere. The survival of the fittest controlled by the Heavenly Dao laws is inherently fairer and more effective than the tests of the sects. If one cannot pass these two stages, there is no need to waste the sect's cultivation resources.

But it's different when it comes to the Foundation Establishment stage. Foundation Establishment stage cultivators are already the backbone of the various sects in the Cultivation World. Therefore, although the proportion of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators who advance to Golden Core is also very small, most of them lack sufficient Destiny and are unable to cultivate to the perfected Foundation Establishment stage by the end of their lives.

There are two concepts of ending one's life: one is dying of old age due to the depletion of lifespan, and the other is dying unnaturally due to various circumstances.

Dying in sect trials, being killed while carrying out sect missions, being killed in conflicts with others, making mistakes during cultivation, accidents during alchemy or artifact refining, being killed while collecting herbs or seizing treasures... There is a famous ancient text in the Cultivation World called "A Million Ways for Cultivators to Die," which perfectly illustrates how difficult life is for cultivators, who are essentially beings who defy the heavens.

Cultivators who manage to reach the perfected Foundation Establishment stage will almost always receive varying degrees of protection from their sects during their tribulation. As a result, many people in the Cultivation World have always felt that the thunder tribulation at the Foundation Establishment stage doesn't even count as a true Heavenly Tribulation.

The Azure Gang Thunder Tribulation that Old Ancestor Tong Hui is currently facing is a type of tribulation lightning that frequently appears among the thunder tribulations for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators advancing to Golden Core.

It is not entirely unheard of in the history of the Cultivation World for a Golden Core stage cultivator to encounter a Foundation Establishment stage tribulation lightning during their tribulation. However, such cases invariably stem from significant flaws in the cultivator's foundation. For instance, if the cultivator had congenital deficiencies, damaged meridians, the resulting Nascent Soul would also appear small, weak, and unintelligent.

In the history of the Lesser Jade Continent, the last Golden Core cultivator to encounter a tribulation lightning of this level during their tribulation was a rogue cultivator seven hundred years ago.

The cultivation technique that rogue cultivator obtained was an incomplete remnant. As a result, when condensing a Golden Core at the Foundation Establishment stage, the Golden Core formed had only a fraction of the power of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator. By the time they faced their Golden Core tribulation, the power of their Golden Core was comparable to that of many Foundation Establishment stage cultivators who had just successfully condensed their Golden Cores.

But Old Ancestor Tong Hui is not that kind of rogue cultivator.

The Huayang Sect is a branch of Difei Mountain and one of the legitimate lineages among the Seventy-two Immortal Sects of the Lesser Jade Continent. The Huayang Heavenly Dao Scripture of the Huayang Sect is a genuine immortal sect orthodox method that can lead to supreme enlightenment. In a sense, the orthodox cultivation methods of these immortal sects each have their own merits and demerits; one cannot definitively say that a certain sect's cultivation method is far superior to another's.

A complete cultivation method is the guarantee for achieving the Great Dao. The ultimate accomplishments of cultivators from various sects depend more on the cultivator's own aptitude and destiny.

Although Old Ancestor Tong Hui's cultivation speed is slow, the Golden Core he achieved in the Golden Core stage is by no means inferior to that of an average Golden Core cultivator.

"Could it be that the Heavenly Dao laws initially descended an Exotic Thunder Tribulation, found it too harsh, and then lowered this kind of tribulation as compensation?"

Old Ancestor Tong Hui stared blankly at the Azure Gang Tribulation Lightning, which posed no threat to him whatsoever. After much thought, he could only come up with this explanation.

"Master."

On the Nuclear Boat, He Lingxiu suddenly called out to True Person Wu Yang.

"What is it?" True Person Wu Yang's attention was entirely on the Azure Gang Tribulation Lightning. Being called so abruptly, his body involuntarily trembled.

He turned around and saw He Lingxiu's peculiar expression. She seemed a little melancholic, a little regretful, yet tinged with a hint of inexplicable anticipation.

"Perhaps all our initial calculations were in vain."

He Lingxiu looked in the direction of Old Ancestor Tong Hui and said, "Our Huayang Sect might be producing a Nascent Soul cultivator."

True Person Wu Yang stared at her in astonishment, unsure how to respond.

This fifth layer of tribulation lightning should be easy to pass.

But who knew what would happen in the next two layers of tribulation?

He Lingxiu saying this now seemed premature.

Yet, he knew very well that He Lingxiu wouldn't speak without reason at a time like this.

Eight small black mountains stood majestically in the air.

The Azure Gang Tribulation Lightning could not shake them in the slightest.

But what was incomprehensible was that even this kind of tribulation lightning was dealt with perfunctorily, ending after only half a cup of tea's time.

This fifth layer of tribulation lightning didn't even damage any of True Person Tonghui's artifacts.

Most of those present believed that the Azure Gang Tribulation Lightning represented the lowest limit of this Heavenly Tribulation, but they were proven wrong.

The azure light at the bottom of the golden tribulation cloud quickly receded, replaced by a silver glow.

The silver glow rapidly expanded, forming patches of silver-white lightning spots.

These silver-white lightning spots continuously gathered within the tribulation cloud, forming a silver lightning pool tens of feet square!

The lightning within the pool churned like liquid, accompanied by rumbling thunder.

The young faces of the Immortal Seedlings behind True Person Baixi were bathed in a solemn and majestic silver hue. To these Immortal Seedlings, the might of the sixth layer of tribulation lightning that Old Ancestor Tong Hui was facing far surpassed any previous layer.

But such a lightning pool caused True Person Baixi and the others to exclaim in surprise once more.

"Isn't this just a Silver Firmament Lightning Pool with a fancy appearance?"

Even among the four layers of thunder tribulation for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators advancing to Golden Core, this was known for being as weak as a "silver spear and wax head," even weaker than the Azure Gang Tribulation Lightning.

In the history of the Lesser Jade Continent, there were probably very few cultivators who perished from the Azure Gang Tribulation Lightning, let alone any who perished from the Silver Firmament Lightning Tribulation.

Under the disbelieving gazes of these people, the churning silver lightning pool began to unleash silver tribulation lightning onto the mountain peak below with abandon.

Countless snake-like bolts of silver lightning almost completely engulfed the mountain peak where Old Ancestor Tong Hui was located. The silver lightning was as thick as liquid, enveloping the entire mountain peak and churning ceaselessly. The terrifying thunder sounded as if countless massive stones were being crushed and colliding on the mountaintop.

This display of power was indeed more terrifying than any previous layer of tribulation lightning.

However, in reality, not much of this tribulation lightning truly impacted the area around Old Ancestor Tong Hui.

The silver lightning aura struck the Black Shield and the Yin Thunder Umbrella, but it was like a mere tickle, causing no substantial damage whatsoever.

The Golden Core within Old Ancestor Tong Hui had begun to crack slowly. The Core Qi of the Golden Core was viscous like magma erupting from a volcano, constantly twisting and transforming around the Golden Core, gradually forming the nascent shape of a small golden figure.

Old Ancestor Tong Hui's gaze had changed.

Initially, he had only thought that as long as he could survive two layers of tribulation lightning, even if he failed the tribulation, it wouldn't be too embarrassing and wouldn't cause the Huayang Sect to be ridiculed.

But now, he himself was still in a state of utter confusion, and the situation had already progressed to the sixth layer of tribulation lightning. Moreover, this sixth layer of tribulation lightning was also excessively simple.

He was now only one layer of tribulation lightning away from becoming a true Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

"Your Heaven-Piercing Dharma Eye... could it be..." True Person Wu Yang finally felt as if he had completely snapped back to reality. He abruptly turned his head to look at He Lingxiu, only to see her expressionless face. He Lingxiu's voice echoed in his ear, "Don't make a fuss. I've only seen some clues, and this final layer of tribulation lightning is very different."