[In the tenth year, after several years of steady accumulation, you finally touched the threshold of the Extreme Realm of Qi Refining.]
[This year, you successfully advanced to a Third-grade Alchemist.]
[In the eleventh year, by the end of the year, you successfully broke through to the Extreme Realm of Qi Refining. However, you discovered that breaking through to the extreme realm had actually drawn the lock of a Heavenly Tribulation.]
[You did not dare dwell on it and hurried to the Back Mountain to prepare to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation.]
[Very soon, all thirteen bolts of Heavenly Tribulation struck your body. In the end, you lay by a cliffside, your flesh torn and bloody.]
[With the talent of a Young Supreme Being, you successfully obtained a trace of the True Meaning of Heavenly Thunder from the Heavenly Tribulation.]
[However, what you did not know was that although you had grown stronger after being tempered by the Heavenly Tribulation, the Sinister Worm within your body had also grown stronger.]
"What? The Sinister Worm got stronger too?"
Seeing this, Su Ming found it somewhat unbelievable.
He could not understand why the Heavenly Tribulation would help the Sinister Worm inside his body.
It completely defied logic.
Could there be some other unknown force within the Heavenly Tribulation?
"That's not right either. If that's the case, then it means the Heavenly Dao..."
Before he could finish, Su Ming shook his head.
"Impossible, impossible! The Heavenly Dao shouldn't have gone wrong, right..."
Very soon, Su Ming turned his attention back to the Simulator.
[After you broke through to Foundation Establishment, you soon sensed the Sinister Worm charging from your dantian toward your Primordial Spirit.]
[Having made every possible preparation, you thought you could easily crush the Sinister Worm. Yet you discovered that it broke through your suppression and lunged at your Primordial Spirit, biting and tearing.]
[Seeing this, you were completely dumbfounded, unable to understand which part had gone wrong.]
[You remembered Ye Chuxue once telling you that a Third-grade Alchemist's Primordial Spirit could easily suppress a Sinister Worm when breaking through to Foundation Establishment.]
[But the truth was that not only had you failed to crush the Sinister Worm, you had instead been directly crushed by it.]
[After thinking it over and over, you could only come up with one possibility: the Heavenly Tribulation!]
[Just as your Primordial Spirit was about to be devoured, the True Meaning of Heavenly Thunder within your Sea of Consciousness rushed out and struck the Sinister Worm.]
[At that moment, you clearly sensed the Sinister Worm's aura beginning to wither. Seizing the opportunity, you successfully suppressed it.]
[Very soon, the Sinister Worm's aura completely vanished from your senses. You even believed it had died.]
[But from what Ye Chuxue had told you, you learned that the Sinister Worm could not be killed. It would remain hidden within your body forever.]
[However, what you did not know was that the Heavenly Tribulation you had triggered had already come to the attention of Azure Cloud Sect's upper echelons.]
[Fortunately, they believed it was merely an ordinary Heavenly Tribulation and did not connect it to you at all.]
[In the twelfth year, in order to better conceal your identity, you chose not to join the Azure Cloud Sect's Inner Sect. You knew that place was no longer a world of humans, but a world of Sinister Worms.]
[You now faced a major problem. Your Fortune Qi Refining Art could only allow you to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Realm; you had no cultivation technique for higher realms.]
[The next day, you decided to head to the Treasure Pavilion of the Azure Cloud Sect's Outer Sect and search for some incomplete cultivation techniques to deduce.]
[Very soon, you found a Longevity Art technique. After returning to your Cave Mansion, you began using the talent of a Young Supreme Being to deduce the technique.]
[In the fifteenth year, you successfully deduced the Fragment of the Azure Emperor Longevity Art. It could allow you to cultivate to Nascent Soul Great Perfection.]
[In the sixteenth year, relying on the talent of a Young Supreme Being, you successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment Late Stage.]
[That year, you prepared to descend the mountain and seek out Ye Chuxue to learn what to watch out for when breaking through from the late stage to the Core Formation Stage.]
[However, when you reached the sect gates, your path was blocked. You were told that the sect master had recently emerged from seclusion, and no one was permitted to descend the mountain.]
[Left with no choice, you could only return to your Cave Mansion and continue cultivating.]
[Just as you were still immersed in cultivation, a voice rang out in your mind.]
["All disciples at the Foundation Establishment Realm and above, immediately gather at the Azure Cloud Sect Inner Sect trial grounds. Those who fail to come will bear the consequences themselves!"]
[Upon hearing this voice, you immediately had a bad premonition, but you could not understand what had gone wrong.]
[This voice was clearly the Azure Cloud Sect's sect master transmitting his voice to all Foundation Establishment disciples.]
[You had not wanted to go, but after seeing the sect master say that those who did not come would bear the consequences themselves, you still resolved to make the trip.]
[After arriving at the Inner Sect trial grounds, you discovered that the grounds were already packed shoulder to shoulder, filled with Inner Sect cultivators at Foundation Establishment and above.]
[At the central pavilion, a dignified figure sat above.]
[Not long after you arrived, the Azure Cloud Sect's sect master rose to his feet and spoke.]
["Today is the once-in-a-decade Enlightenment Assembly of our Azure Cloud Sect! You will have one chance to use our sect's supreme Sect Protecting Divine Artifact."]
[After saying this, you saw the Azure Cloud Sect's sect master take out a small tower and toss it into the air. It then slowly grew larger and hovered above all your heads.]
["This is the Sect Protecting Divine Artifact of our Azure Cloud Sect—the Sky-Piercing Spirit Treasure Pagoda!"]
["It can help you communicate with heaven and earth, comprehend cultivation techniques, and even eliminate the Inner Demons bred within your hearts! It will allow you to keep your hearts steadfast throughout cultivation!"]
[As he spoke, the Azure Cloud Sect's sect master muttered several incantations. The Sky-Piercing Spirit Treasure Pagoda began to tremble, radiating a strange aura.]
[Seeing everyone sit cross-legged and close their eyes to cultivate, you followed suit and began cultivating as well.]
[But very soon, you discovered that no matter how you focused your mind, you could not comprehend the mysteries within it. You even felt nothing at all toward the aura emitted by the Sky-Piercing Spirit Treasure Pagoda.]
[At that moment, you happened to look up toward the pavilion and discovered that the Azure Cloud Sect's sect master was staring at you with a bizarre look in his eyes.]
[The next second, before your shocked gaze, the sect master split open.]
[That was right—he split directly open. His entire head blossomed like flower petals, and a disgusting crawling insect grew out from within.]
["Found you!!!"]
["A!WA!KENED! ONE!"]
[The moment the words fell, you heard all kinds of sounds rising around you.]
[All the Azure Cloud Sect Inner Sect disciples seemed to have received some command. Their heads exploded, and a Sinister Worm crawled out from each of them, all staring at you together.]
[Only then did you realize that this was not a once-in-a-decade Enlightenment Assembly at all!]
[This was plainly a once-in-a-decade selection assembly, specifically meant to screen for Awakened Ones like you, who had suppressed the Sinister Worm after breaking through to Foundation Establishment.]
[When you tried to flee the Azure Cloud Sect, you discovered it was already too late. You had been surrounded by all the Sinister Worms of the Azure Cloud Sect.]
[You were gnawed clean by the Sinister Worms!]
[You died!]
[Ding! Simulation complete. Choose one of the following rewards.] [1: Your Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation from this simulation] [2: Third-grade Alchemist cultivation] [3: All remaining spirit stones from this simulation] [4: All genuine insights from this simulation] [5: Talent from this simulation: Young Supreme Being!] [6: A trace of the True Meaning of Lightning]
Before you continue