Time flew, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.
During those three years, Han Xuanji had mostly gone to Heavenly Craft Peak and Pill Cauldron Peak to sign in.
Heavenly Craft Peak was likewise a lineage that had existed since the Divine Profound Sect was founded.
It had numerous artifact refining workshops with long histories, each one a place rich in Dao resonance.
Han Xuanji had also obtained quite a few treasures by signing in. Needless to say, he had collected piles of divine weapons and Law Treasures. Beyond those, he had obtained rare ores, artifact refining inheritances, and even a Heaven-and-Earth Divergent Flame.
The best treasure among them, however, was a set of top-grade fifth-tier flying swords, top-grade Law Artifacts at the Spirit Transformation level.
They could form a Five Elements Sword Formation to slay enemies, and their power was extraordinary.
Han Xuanji's skill with formations was considerable as well. With this sword formation, he was confident he could fight even a Spirit Transformation Realm expert.
On this day.
Han Xuanji went to a pill refining workshop on Pill Cauldron Peak to sign in.
[Congratulations to the host for successfully signing in at the Azure Cloud Pill Refining Workshop. Reward: one bottle of top-grade Glazed Golden Cores.]
"Glazed Golden Cores... nice!"
Han Xuanji was delighted.
These were the famous divine pills for body refinement. They could greatly increase the strength of the physical body. Even when a pill refining master made them, the success rate was not particularly high; only an exceedingly rare pill refining grandmaster could be sure of success.
To a body refining cultivator, the value of each one was impossible to estimate.
He had obtained an entire bottle!
"In that case, I can consider strengthening my body first."
Han Xuanji's eyes lit up.
He had nearly finished cultivating the Undefeated Golden Body, but his physical body had not been strong enough for him to reach great accomplishment. This was an excellent opportunity.
"I'll leave the sect first and find a place somewhere."
With that thought, Han Xuanji restrained his presence and quickly left the Divine Profound Sect.
Soon, he arrived deep in an uninhabited mountain range at the edge of the Divine Profound Sect.
"I'll set up a formation first, to keep anyone from disturbing me."
With a thought from Han Xuanji, a formation was quickly set up.
After signing in for so many years, he basically knew how to do everything and had everything he needed.
He had more than a dozen sets of advanced concealment formations like this one.
After setting up the formation.
Han Xuanji casually found a place and sat down cross-legged.
"I can break through to Spirit Transformation at any time, but I don't know how powerful the heavenly tribulation will be, and I have no one to protect me. I need to make thorough preparations. I can't rush this physical breakthrough either."
Han Xuanji thought silently to himself.
He first took out a Glazed Golden Core and swallowed it. As he circulated his Cultivation Method, his body immediately tingled as if stimulated by an electric current.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
By now, Han Xuanji's presence had gradually settled. Clearly, one Glazed Golden Core was not enough to help him break through.
That showed just how great his physical body's potential was.
It was thanks to both his Immortal Spirit Root and the True Scripture of Ascension.
After cultivating the True Scripture of Ascension, his constitution had clearly improved tremendously. It could be called an acquired sacred physique for immortal cultivation.
"Continue."
Han Xuanji swallowed more Glazed Golden Cores, but this time he took two at once.
Power enough to make an ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator burst apart poured into Han Xuanji's body and silently merged into every part of his flesh. Golden light bloomed all around him.
He did not know how much time had passed.
With his eyes closed, Han Xuanji swallowed another two.
"Boom!"
A force like a mountain torrent bursting forth surged through his limbs and bones!
Han Xuanji's whole body trembled, and a trace of joy appeared on his face.
"Bzz, bzz, bzz..."
Amid the sound, golden light spread across his entire body, which seemed to be transforming from deep within his bone marrow.
"So this is the Undefeated Golden Body at great accomplishment?"
Han Xuanji opened his eyes, feeling incomparably comfortable.
Was this the power of spending money?
It could only be said that even someone with the worst talent could become a body refining genius in a single leap with the help of so many top-tier pills.
"My defenses should have improved the most!"
Han Xuanji raised his right hand and lightly swept it across his left arm. A faint flash of sword light appeared.
The power of that sword light was contained within it. Had it struck elsewhere, it could have destroyed cities and laid waste to the land, but when it landed on Han Xuanji's arm, it did not leave even a mark.
"Not bad."
Han Xuanji nodded slightly.
The Undefeated Golden Body specialized in tempering the body's defenses. Now that it had reached great accomplishment.
His physical body was strong enough to withstand attacks from ordinary Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators, while even the killing moves of those in the Nascent Soul Realm would probably struggle to hurt him.
Most importantly, his physical body had gained a "golden body" characteristic, and this golden nature represented immortality.
It was also the immortality and indestructibility countless cultivators sought, a life as long as heaven and earth.
However, this tiny trace of golden nature was still a long way from the legendary Buddha's golden body. It would need to transform at least another dozen times or so.
"Now that my body has transformed, it's time to devote myself to cultivation and prepare to break through to Spirit Transformation."
Within the Divine Profound Sect.
Han Xuanji's days remained peaceful. He continued to sign in every day and then cultivate quietly.
The outside world, however, was in turmoil.
The Heavenly Devil Cult had set its sights on the Divine Profound Sect, but the Divine Profound Sect was no pushover either.
Many talented disciples emerged from seclusion one after another.
There was no other reason: the rewards for slaying Devil Cultivators were generous too.
If they died in battle against Devil Cultivators, the sect would also provide compensation.
Han Xuanji, however, naturally thought little of those rewards.
He was not strong enough yet, and he did not want to roam about recklessly, even though there were many places outside where he could sign in.
On this day.
Inside his cave abode.
Han Xuanji opened his eyes, delight appearing on his face.
He had finally cultivated the Nascent Soul Realm to its limit.
"Next comes the Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation. I'm nearly ready. All I need is to find a place to face it."
Han Xuanji thought silently.
In immortal cultivation, after reaching the Golden Core Realm, every breakthrough to a major realm required one to face a heavenly tribulation.
Upon reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, one had to face a great heavenly tribulation for every minor realm. It was fraught with danger, but each time one survived, one's strength would also increase greatly.
Even upon reaching the Immortal Ascension Realm, one could not escape heavenly tribulations.
An Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator had to survive an Immortal Ascension Tribulation to ascend. If they delayed triggering it, a Calamity Tribulation would descend once every thousand years. If they still refused to ascend after surviving nine Calamity Tribulations, they would face the even more terrifying Immeasurable Great Tribulation.
Heavenly tribulations could be called the nightmare of immortal cultivators.
Without proper preparation, they could expect to be struck until their souls scattered!
However, as the immortal cultivation world developed, it naturally came up with various ways to face tribulations. The Divine Profound Sect, for example, had a place specifically for facing them, which could improve the chances of success somewhat.
Unfortunately, Han Xuanji could not enjoy such benefits at present.
Since he had decided to lie low in the first place, he could not expose himself so soon.
Otherwise, he would have a hard time explaining where his resources came from.
A few days later, Han Xuanji finished his preparations and secretly left the sect.
He came to a place far from the Divine Profound Sect.
Though it was called far, it was actually only ten thousand li away. For a high-realm cultivator, it would not take long to cover that distance.
Before long.
Han Xuanji arrived at a valley filled with purple maple trees. The scenery was beautiful. An immortal cultivation sect had once stood here, but Devil Dao cultivators had looted it bare a few years ago.
When Han Xuanji arrived, he found only a few Devil Cultivators using the place as a stronghold. Without giving it much thought, he made a contribution to the fight against Devil Cultivators, which could also be counted as avenging the little sect.
When he faced the Nascent Soul Great Tribulation for the first time, Han Xuanji had discovered that his lightning tribulation was far more terrifying than those of ordinary cultivators. He had therefore made ample preparations this time.
With numerous Law Treasures for facing tribulations and his Undefeated Golden Body at great accomplishment, how could he lose?
"Twenty years of immortal cultivation, diligent and conscientious, knowing my aptitude was ordinary, cultivating day and night without daring to slack off..."
"All my life, I've been walking on thin ice."
Thinking of how smoothly everything had gone along the way, Han Xuanji could not help but sigh.
The next moment, he finally began his attempt to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm. As he circulated the True Scripture of Ascension, Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth gathered wildly.
Ten li, a hundred li, two hundred li. Before he knew it, Spiritual Qi was surging toward him from the surrounding thousand-li region.
Boom!
Spiritual Qi rose from the ground in raging waves, whipping his sleeves and tossing his long black hair wildly.
"That should do it!"
Han Xuanji murmured to himself and immediately circulated the True Scripture of Ascension, making his final push.
There was not the slightest mishap.
He broke through in an instant without the slightest difficulty. A golden Primordial Spirit emerged from his Nascent Soul, and his physical body and Divine Sense underwent earth-shaking changes.
Spirit Transformation Realm, achieved!
At the same time.
In the valley.
Dark clouds filled the sky, brewing a terrifying Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation.
Even though it had yet to descend, its terrifying presence had already drawn the attention of many cultivators.
Some Rogue Cultivators who saw the scene all gaped:
"Wh-what kind of expert is making a breakthrough?"
For most Rogue Cultivators, even reaching Foundation Establishment was quite an achievement. Those who reached the Golden Core Realm would usually seek out a faction to join. Spirit Transformation cultivators were generally among the upper ranks of major powers; to them, such experts existed only in legend.
At the same time.
In a secret chamber somewhere, several cultivators emanating powerful presences opened their eyes in unison.
They were experts of the Heavenly Devil Cult stationed in Eastern Cang Province, and even the weakest among them was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
At once, several divine thoughts began to converse.
"This is... a Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation?"
"It doesn't seem to be someone from the Divine Profound Sect."
"Come on, let's go take a look."
The strongest divine thought immediately made the decision.
A wild Spirit Transformation cultivator was rare indeed, but their foundations certainly could not compare to those of a cultivator like him from a major Devil Dao cult.
"If he's a Rogue Cultivator, perhaps we can recruit him into our Heavenly Devil Cult. We can make him an honorary elder and give him a few benefits. Our burden will be much lighter too."
"Agreed."
The others all agreed as well.
The Heavenly Devil Cult intended to wage war against the Divine Profound Sect, and they had been pushed forward to hold the front lines. If they could recruit a newcomer, they would be safer when war broke out in full.