Breaking Through to the Foundation Establishment Realm

"How could this be? The true dragon actually had a master—and it was that guy."

At the edge of the deep pit, Cheng Xue watched Lu Jiuyuan floating in the sky. She had never seen what Glazed Treasure Liquid looked like, much less imagined that Lu Jiuyuan was forging a Glazed Immortal Body.

They had indeed been discovered by the true dragon earlier, but thanks to the concealment talismans bestowed by the sect elders, the true dragon had failed to find them.

"That big brother is so powerful! I have to get to know him later."

Lin Yuran said with a face full of admiration. Anyone capable of taming a true dragon had to possess strength beyond measure.

Meanwhile, Lu Jiuyuan's forging of the Glazed Immortal Body had reached its final critical juncture. Beyond the deep pit, the sky darkened once more.

This left the cultivators in the secret realm shocked yet again.

"Another lightning tribulation? Is that true dragon from before about to break through to the Golden Core Stage?"

"My heavens, this secret realm needs to end already! If that true dragon breaks through to the Golden Core Stage, will any of us still have a way to survive?"

"But isn't it said that one can't break through to the Golden Core Stage within the secret realm?"

"Even a true dragon has appeared. What would be so rare about breaking through to the Golden Core Stage?"

Every cultivator in the secret realm looked gravely toward the lightning tribulation gathering in the distance. None of them could have imagined that it had merely been triggered by Lu Jiuyuan's immortal body coming into being.

There were still two days before the secret realm closed.

As the lightning tribulation emerged, Lu Jiuyuan gradually woke up on his own.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing the strange looks in Li Qingping's and the true dragon's eyes, Lu Jiuyuan asked curiously. Li Qingping wanted to say something, but ultimately urged him instead.

"You should go out and undergo your tribulation first."

"Undergo a tribulation?"

Lu Jiuyuan was somewhat startled, but he sensed something locking onto him. With no time to think, he rushed to the deep pit, leaped upward, and headed for the surface.

Li Qingping and the true dragon remained in the pit. If they went out, they would likely be locked onto by the lightning tribulation at once. Li Qingping was not yet confident that she could survive a tribulation.

When Lu Jiuyuan reached the surface and saw the rumbling clouds overhead, his expression immediately turned solemn. He had merely broken through to an Immortal Grade talent—was a tribulation really necessary?

But the lightning tribulation was about to strike. Lu Jiuyuan could only draw the Qingfeng Sword and stare gravely into the sky. This was his first time undergoing a tribulation, and he had no idea how powerful it would be. He had heard that those undergoing tribulations were always nine deaths and one life. He did not know whether that was true.

As Lu Jiuyuan stood there with a grave expression, the lightning tribulation descended.

At the sight of it, Lu Jiuyuan decided to test the waters first and used only twenty percent of his strength. As the lightning tribulation drew closer, he shouted, "One Yang Slash!"

As One Yang Slash collided with the lightning tribulation, the terrifying bolt was instantly cleaved in two.

Lu Jiuyuan: ???

Lightning Tribulation: ???

It was the lightning tribulation's first time seeing such a fierce human. It suddenly did not want to strike him anymore. What should it do? Waiting online, quite urgent.

"This lightning tribulation isn't much after all. If that's the case, then I have absolute confidence."

Lu Jiuyuan finally understood where the limit of his combat strength lay. At the very least, dealing with the lightning tribulation was more than manageable. With that thought, Lu Jiuyuan hesitated no longer. He gripped the Qingfeng Sword tightly, and all the power in his body surged into it.

In an instant, a dazzling sword light erupted from the Qingfeng Sword.

"Clear Wind Slash!"

Lu Jiuyuan roared, and the terrifying sword light immediately shot toward the lightning tribulation. This scene left the distant cultivators utterly stunned.

"My heavens, am I seeing this right? Someone actually dared to attack the lightning tribulation itself!"

"Are you sure that won't anger the lightning tribulation?"

"Gasp, that's too terrifying. I'd better just eat melons and watch."

Since ancient times, cultivators undergoing tribulations had basically allowed the lightning tribulation to strike them. Few dared to attack the tribulation itself, because doing so was seen as scorning the Heavenly Dao. It would bring forth an even more terrifying lightning tribulation, turning a nine-deaths-and-one-life ordeal into ten deaths with no life.

Yet what they had not expected was that beneath Lu Jiuyuan's sword, the pitch-black sky cleared once more, as if the lightning tribulation had never existed at all.

Qi Refining Stage cultivators: ???

"My heavens, am I seeing this right? Can someone really split open a lightning tribulation directly?"

"I'm so jealous. No, I have to try it next time too."

"Gasp, that's too terrifying. What on earth did that guy eat to grow up like this?"

The distant cultivators could only see a silhouette shattering the lightning tribulation, but they could not make out Lu Jiuyuan's features. After successfully undergoing the tribulation, Lu Jiuyuan did not hesitate and jumped straight back into the deep pit.

Because he had a premonition that he was about to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Using the same familiar landing method, Lu Jiuyuan returned. Li Qingping knew that he had succeeded and was about to step forward to tell him about the Glazed Immortal Body, but Lu Jiuyuan interrupted her.

"Whatever it is, we can talk later. I can't suppress my cultivation any longer. I'm going to undergo a tribulation."

With that, Lu Jiuyuan sat down cross-legged on the spot and entered a state of cultivation. At the same time, all the spiritual energy in the secret realm surged toward him like a tide.

"Where's my spiritual energy? Where did all my spiritual energy go?"

"I'm in the middle of breaking through! Where did all the spiritual energy go?"

"Damn it, why are so many things happening in this secret realm? First the true dragon, then someone split a lightning tribulation with one sword strike, and now the spiritual energy is gone too."

Countless cultivators in the secret realm spoke in shock. Not even a trace of spiritual energy remained in the entire secret realm. It sounded utterly inconceivable, yet it had truly happened.

Li Qingping and the others in the deep pit were likewise stunned by the sight.

"He can withstand so much spiritual energy in his body. As expected of an immortal body."

"Only someone this powerful is worthy of becoming my master."

The true dragon spoke with a satisfied expression. It had already entered into a Heavenly Dao Contract with Lu Jiuyuan, so it had no intention of leaving him. Besides, Lu Jiuyuan's fortune was so dense that becoming his pet was absolutely its good fortune.

Cheng Xue and Lin Yuran were also rooted to the spot. Those who knew understood that he was breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm; those who did not might have thought he was breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

What a joke. If an ordinary Qi Refining Stage cultivator dared absorb so much spiritual energy—no, forget Qi Refining Stage cultivators, even Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators would be unable to endure it and would explode to death.

Yet Lu Jiuyuan looked as though nothing had happened. At the very least, his expression did not change in the slightest.

Lu Jiuyuan paid no attention to the outside situation. He was now following the Myriad Laws Scripture of the Primordial to forge the Dao Foundation of the Primordial Great Dao.

The Foundation Establishment Realm was, as its name implied, the forging of a Dao Foundation, laying a solid foundation for future breakthroughs into even more powerful realms. Dao Foundations were divided into grades.

At the beginning, an ordinary cultivator's Dao Foundation could be no more than ten zhang in size. Those capable of surpassing ten zhang but remaining below a hundred zhang were called geniuses.

Those above a hundred zhang but below a thousand zhang could be called peerless geniuses. As for the Primordial Dao Foundation, it refined one's very self into a Dao Foundation, using one's own body as the Dao Foundation, making it the strongest Dao Foundation.