Chapter 260 – Breaking Through to Golden Core, From Now On Heaven and Earth Are Vast

“Ancestor Qingyi, do you think young Lu Chen can safely pass through this thousand-mile Lightning Tribulation?”

Gu Liqing gazed at Lu Chen beneath the swirling thunderclouds, his usual composed and elegant demeanor replaced by a stern expression.

In truth, it wasn’t just him—all the Azure Clouds cultivators fortunate enough to witness this breakthrough wore similar expressions.

The reason was simple: the difficulty of Lu Chen’s current Golden Core tribulation had surpassed everyone’s expectations.

Its intensity was nearly equivalent to an ordinary cultivator’s Nascent Soul tribulation.

Faced with such a terrifying Lightning Tribulation, Gu Liqing genuinely didn’t know whether Lu Chen could pass through it safely.

In response to Gu Liqing’s question, Qingyi had shed his usual playful, eccentric old man persona, his expression grave and his gaze sharp.

“Quiet. Watch calmly. If there’s truly a problem, I will intervene.”

“Understood.”

Boom!

During their brief exchange, a thunderbolt descended from the sky.

This heavenly thunder, from the very start, possessed the attack strength equivalent to a first-turn Golden Core Stage cultivator.

However, such heavenly thunder posed little threat to Lu Chen.

Without employing any visible techniques, Lu Chen allowed the thunder to strike his body directly.

Amid the flashing lightning, Lu Chen’s figure was completely enveloped in the electric radiance.

Some of the tribulation energy remained on the Ascension Platform.

Rather than causing any damage, the platform absorbed a portion of the tribulation energy and channeled it back into Lu Chen’s body.

This indirectly enhanced Lu Chen’s Spiritual Power recovery speed and the tempering effects of the heavenly tribulation.

When the lightning dissipated, Lu Chen’s figure reappeared before the crowd.

Unscathed and perfectly composed.

As if what had struck him wasn’t a ferocious heavenly tribulation, but harmless rain.

Although Gu Liqing and the others had anticipated that the first tribulation would hardly affect Lu Chen, they hadn’t expected him to pass through it so effortlessly.

Enduring a heavenly tribulation with one’s Physical Body was something only someone with absolute confidence in their strength would dare to attempt.

At this thought, the anxiety in Gu Liqing and the others’ hearts eased considerably.

Unnoticed by the onlookers, Lu Chen had not only withstood the first heavenly tribulation with his Physical Body but had also been studying the thunder techniques contained within this Golden Core tribulation.

His eyes transformed into lotus shapes, continuously rotating.

With each passing second, a mysterious pattern would appear on the petals of his Lotus Pupils.

Using heavenly tribulations to learn thunder techniques was already second nature to Lu Chen, presenting no difficulty.

About a minute after the first tribulation ended, the second heavenly tribulation descended.

This time, the tribulation’s power was equivalent to that of a second-turn Golden Core Stage cultivator.

Yet, as before, Lu Chen chose to endure it with his Physical Body.

Even when the third tribulation arrived, Lu Chen repeated the same approach.

Three tribulations, three tempering sessions.

Directly solidified the three Dao patterns on Lu Chen’s Golden Core, causing them to emit faint golden light.

Starting from the fourth tribulation, Lu Chen finally took action.

As the fourth tribulation gathered, a Crimson Spirit Sword materialized behind him.

In an instant, the eerie Mountain of Corpses Sea of Blood Sword Domain emerged once again.Boom!

The fourth Heavenly Tribulation tore through the sky, descending from the massive vortex of clouds and striking directly at Lu Chen.

In response, the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon soared into the air, actively meeting this fourth Heavenly Tribulation.

Bang!

The collision between the Heavenly Tribulation and the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon produced tangible shockwaves.

The force of these shockwaves was so immense that it instantly bent the trees on Azure Cloud Peak and shook the ground.

As the Heavenly Tribulation dissipated, a stream of pure tribulation energy bypassed the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon and entered Lu Chen’s body, cleansing him once again.

Watching Lu Chen effortlessly withstand four Heavenly Tribulations, Gu Liqing, standing nearby, began to look somewhat dazed.

This was because he couldn’t help but recall the time when Lu Chen underwent the Lightning Tribulation during his Foundation Establishment Stage.

Lost in thought, Gu Liqing suddenly grew anxious and pulled out a stack of sword message talismans.

After hastily writing something on them, he immediately released the messages.

Seeing this, the others nearby looked puzzled.

“Little Gu, what are you doing?”

Faced with the inquiry from the Hidden Sword Peak Elder, Gu Liqing smiled wryly and replied, “Elder Li, you may not know this, but when this child Lu Chen underwent his Foundation Establishment Tribulation, he accidentally cleaved one of our sect’s peaks in half.”

“If the Foundation Establishment Tribulation was already like that, the Golden Core Tribulation will undoubtedly be even more destructive.”

“If I don’t warn the other peaks now, I’m afraid half of our sect’s territory might be destroyed by this child.”

“Ah…”

The Hidden Sword Peak Elder stroked his beard, then glanced at Lu Chen, who was already preparing to face the fifth Heavenly Tribulation.

He didn’t think Gu Liqing was overreacting.

Given the power the Heavenly Tribulation had displayed so far, if the other peaks didn’t take precautions, they might indeed suffer unforeseen disasters.

No wonder the former Sect Leader passed the position to him.

Such prudent and steady conduct truly suited the role of Sect Leader.

And indeed, under Gu Liqing’s leadership, the Azure Cloud Sect had grown increasingly powerful.

Shortly after Gu Liqing sent out the sword messages, the fifth Heavenly Tribulation descended.

Because Lu Chen had unleashed his Sword Domain during the fourth tribulation, this fifth Heavenly Tribulation now carried traces of Blood Killing Sword Intent.

This made the fifth Heavenly Tribulation powerful enough to put pressure on the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon.

Boom!

Although the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon still managed to shatter the fifth Heavenly Tribulation, it no longer radiated its previous ferocity, showing clear signs of exhaustion.

This demonstrated the sheer intensity of the fifth Heavenly Tribulation.

Yet Lu Chen seemed oblivious to this, still choosing to use the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon to confront the sixth Heavenly Tribulation.

Moments later, as the sixth Heavenly Tribulation gathered and took form, a peculiar, faintly crimson bolt of lightning descended from the sky.

This time, Lu Chen’s Gluttonous Fiend Weapon could no longer withstand the heavenly lightning, and its Sword Domain was shattered.

The sword itself fell from the sky.

While retrieving the temporarily disabled Gluttonous Fiend Weapon, Lu Chen raised his hand to block the residual tribulation energy.

When the dust settled, Lu Chen looked at the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon in his hand with a satisfied expression.

Using the Heavenly Tribulation to catalyze the weapon spirit of his Spirit Sword—this was precisely why Lu Chen had insisted on using the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon to block three consecutive Heavenly Tribulations.

Among his four Spirit Swords, the Ink Dragon Sword had already reached the level of a Fourth Realm Dao Artifact due to the True Immortal Trial.

The remaining three Spirit Swords were all at the peak of the Third Realm, just one step away from becoming Fourth Realm Dao Artifacts.Without special opportunities, it would still take some time for these three Spirit Swords to reach the level of Fourth Realm Dao Artifacts.

But with the Heavenly Tribulation’s ultimate yang power as tempering, as long as the three Spirit Swords remained intact, their ascension to Dao Artifact realm was practically guaranteed.

[Your ‘Gluttonous Fiend Weapon’ has undergone certain changes after being baptized by the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation…]

Lu Chen stored away the Gluttonous Fiend Weapon, then took out the Shangqing Cloud Sword.

All of Lu Chen’s actions were clearly observed by Gu Liqing and the others.

Transcending the tribulation while simultaneously tempering his magic treasures.

Lu Chen’s audacious actions left Gu Liqing and the others both amused and exasperated.

Wasn’t he afraid things might go terribly wrong?

Lu Chen remained unaware of Gu Liqing and his companions’ thoughts.

Or even if he knew, he wouldn’t have cared.

Because from the very beginning, the true challenge of his Golden Core Tribulation didn’t lie in the ordinary heavenly tribulation baptism.

His real difficulties were, first, meeting the foundational spiritual power requirements for the Twelve-patterned Supreme Quality Golden Core.

The other was how to ‘borrow’ the power of the Heavenly Dao to condense the Primordial Chaos Qi, also known as ‘Primordial Qi’.

This wisp of ‘Primordial Qi’ was crucial to Lu Chen.

It determined whether, after entering the Golden Core Stage, he could cultivate the Three Pure Ones Avatar according to his plans.

For One Qi Transforms Into Three Purities, without this Primordial Qi, Lu Chen would lack the prerequisite for condensing the Three Pure Ones Avatar.

Therefore, whether setting up formations or collecting Fourth Realm Spirit Pills and Mystic Talismans, none of this was solely for resisting the initial heavenly tribulation baptism.

Rather, it was all preparation for the final step of ‘Borrowing Heaven to Refine Qi’.

This step was the most difficult.

Because what he needed to accomplish in this step was equivalent to snatching food from the Heavenly Dao’s hands.

The risks involved were beyond estimation.

Yet Lu Chen had an inexplicable feeling that this step was… immensely important to him.

Under Gu Liqing and the others’ serious gazes, Lu Chen utilized methods like the Righteous Azure Lotus Sword Domain, Nirvana Sword Domain, and True Dragon Sword Domain to withstand six consecutive heavenly tribulations.

Twelve – Lu Chen had withstood a full twelve heavenly tribulations.

Normally, the number of Golden Core Tribulations corresponded to the cultivator’s core patterns plus one additional tribulation, completing the heavenly tribulation count.

The reason for this was that the final heavenly tribulation not only far exceeded previous ones in power,

But also served as the Heavenly Dao’s test of the cultivator’s strength after entering the Golden Core Stage.

Therefore, even if this final heavenly tribulation wasn’t withstood, the cultivator wouldn’t be considered to have failed.

At most, they just couldn’t achieve perfection and obtain the best enhancement.

First Revolution of Golden Core Stage – after withstanding twelve heavenly tribulations, Lu Chen had completely entered the Golden Core Stage.

The upcoming final heavenly tribulation was merely an extra challenge the Heavenly Dao presented to cultivators.

As long as Lu Chen solved this challenge, everything would be completely over.

But what nobody knew was that Lu Chen currently sought more than just ‘perfection’.

What he truly wanted was something beyond perfection.

What did Transcendent mean?

If one couldn’t achieve beyond perfection, how could it be called ‘Transcendent’?

Boom!

As the thirteenth heavenly tribulation began to accumulate,

Restless lightning started flashing within the clouds spanning a thousand miles.

This world-destroying spectacle immediately made most people within a thousand-mile radius of the Azure Cloud Sect show fear on their faces.

Some guilt-ridden individuals even knelt on the ground, begging for heaven’s forgiveness.

Such was the way of most people in this world – they feared power rather than embracing virtue.Even the onlookers could feel such pressure, let alone Lu Chen who was at the center of the Heavenly Tribulation.

Yet even the fearsome thirteenth Heavenly Tribulation couldn’t make Lu Chen show the slightest trace of fear.

Compared to his previous calm demeanor, the current Lu Chen… was extremely excited.

Though his expression hadn’t changed much, his burning eyes couldn’t deceive anyone.

“Just one step away, only the final step remains…”

While murmuring to himself, Lu Chen took out the prepared Mystic Talismans and a large quantity of Elixirs.

Boom…

When a dazzling light illuminated the sky, deafening thunder accompanied by terrifying shockwaves spread for thousands of miles.

The next moment, a terrifying thunderbolt resembling a small mountain descended from the heavens.

Compared to this astonishing thunderbolt, Lu Chen on the Ascension Platform appeared incredibly small.

But though small in stature, his ambition could overshadow the heavens.

“Go.”

Lu Chen threw out the Mystic Talismans, each transforming into golden streams of light that charged toward the Heavenly Tribulation above.

Every one of these Mystic Talismans was equivalent to a full-power strike from a ninth-turn Golden Core Stage cultivator.

Moreover, the Dao techniques contained within were specifically designed to counter thunder techniques.

These were talismans specially prepared for Lu Chen by Gu Liqing.

Yet even such a batch of Mystic Talismans only reduced the scale of the Heavenly Tribulation by about one-tenth.

Though effective, it wasn’t significant.

But for Lu Chen, this was enough.

Secret technique… Seal Sever Heaven Sword Mountain.

Accompanied by the release of a vast Sword Intent, a massive Sword Mountain tore through the clouds, precisely crashing toward the Heavenly Tribulation.

During the previous True Immortal Trial, the Sword Mountain projection Lu Chen summoned was at most a hundred meters tall.

But with Lu Chen’s cultivation improvement, the Sword Mountain had now reached a height of a thousand meters.

The thirteenth Heavenly Tribulation was terrifying.

But this Sword Mountain… was even more terrifying.

Boom!

The collision between the Sword Mountain and the Heavenly Tribulation was like a meteor striking Earth.

The scale was so massive, the aftershocks so powerful, that even the Transformation Soul Stage ancestor Qing Yi had to intervene to reduce its impact on the Azure Cloud Sect.

Otherwise, the Main Peak would likely require a complete renovation.

“This painting can contain mountains and rivers.”

Qing Yi waved his brush, and the Azure Cloud Main Peak immediately became illusory, like ink wash painting.

The Heavenly Tribulation power and Sword Intent radiating from the collision between Lu Chen’s Sword Mountain and the Heavenly Tribulation all fell upon this ink-wash Azure Cloud Peak.

Like stones falling into water, they created ripples.

And the impact they produced… was only ripples.

Crack…

The thousand-meter Sword Mountain’s body made sounds as cracks began to spread until they covered the entire Sword Mountain.

Boom!

The Sword Mountain shattered into countless Sword Intent fragments, falling like meteors.

Standing within this meteor shower, Lu Chen focused intently on watching above.

Because the originally Divine Might-filled thirteenth Heavenly Tribulation… had also dissipated.

At this point, things should have ended.

But contrary to expectations, Lu Chen raised his hand.

The next moment, a massive Mystic Pill Furnace appeared in the position where the thirteenth Heavenly Tribulation had been, as if trapping something.

Then Lu Chen fully activated his cultivation, beginning to refine the golden light mass within the furnace.

Immortal Thief, where Immortals don’t die, great theft never ceases.

Creation Pill Art, seizing creation from heaven and earth, transforming all things into oneself.

Without this method and technique, Lu Chen would only have a fifty percent chance of using the Heavenly Tribulation’s power to refine the Primordial Qi.With this method and technique, Lu Chen now had a ninety-eight percent certainty.

Under the influence of the Immortal Thief and the Creation Pill Art, the golden light aura that should not have lingered in the mortal realm was truly retained by Lu Chen and completely refined.

Watching as the golden light slowly faded away, revealing the true form of the Primordial Qi, Lu Chen’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

And just as Lu Chen stripped away the “outer layer” of the golden light aura, he immediately absorbed it into his body.

In an instant, Lu Chen felt a tremendous change occurring within his body.

An ethereal, intangible aura began to emanate from his body.

Along with it, his limbs, hair, and clothing all seemed to mist into illusory white smoke.

And this white smoke corresponded precisely to the Primordial Qi that countless people dreamed of obtaining.

Watching Lu Chen seize the heavens and refine Qi, Qing Yi and the others were already stunned.

No way, this kid really has the guts to defy the heavens!

He even dares to snatch the power of the Heavenly Dao—isn’t he afraid of being struck down by the backlash of heaven and earth?

It was also at this moment that Gu Liqing realized he might have misunderstood Lu Chen all along.

He had always thought that Lu Chen was a cautious person who disliked taking risks.

But now, it seemed his view wasn’t entirely wrong—it was just that his perspective was too narrow.

Lu Chen wasn’t averse to taking risks; he simply avoided unnecessary risks and those without sufficient certainty.

As long as the benefits were great enough and the preparations were thorough enough,

Not to mention people—this kid would even dare to snatch from the heavens!

Under the complex gazes of Gu Liqing and the others, Lu Chen spent a full three days to completely refine the Primordial Qi within his body.

And as Lu Chen opened his eyes once more, Gu Liqing and the others noticed that Lu Chen’s aura… had changed.

If before, he merely had the “bearing of a True Immortal,”

Now, he was like a True Immortal walking the mortal world.

That ethereal, transcendent aura, as if fused with heaven and earth—

Not quite an Immortal, yet surpassing one.

In a single moment, breaking through to the Golden Core Stage, from that instant… the world seemed to widen!

Gu Liqing and the others had a feeling that with Lu Chen’s breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage, the heavens of the Central Province… might soon undergo a tremendous upheaval.

Bad news: The peace of the Central Province was about to be shattered.

Good news: In this upheaval, their Azure Cloud Sect… would be terrifyingly strong!

(End of Chapter)