I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

Azure Mystery Realm, the island in the middle of the lake.

Five years have passed quietly.

Today, a mysterious and profound feeling welled up in his mind, and he finally found that feeling.

"It's time!"

Lin Che sat cross-legged on the bluestone platform, with dark red blood jade infant marrow floating in front of him.

It emitted a dim red light in the night, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, like a sleeping heart, each pulse echoing the golden core in Lin Che's dantian.

That power was neither violent nor intense; it even carried a hint of coolness, like water from a thousand-year-old icy pool.

But it was heavy, as if it contained the resentment and unwillingness of the entire burial ground of beasts for thousands of years.

Blood Jade Infant Marrow is not a spiritual object born from heaven and earth, but rather the essence condensed from the souls of countless demonic beasts under extreme conditions.

It carries the scent of death, but also the opportunity for rebirth.

Without hesitation, Lin Che put the crystal into his mouth.

The moment it entered the mouth, it transformed into a cool energy that slid down the throat into the dantian, enveloping the entire golden elixir.

The next second, the golden core trembled violently, as if resisting, yet also as if welcoming.

The Nascent Soul Formation has begun!

Lin Che closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his dantian.

The cool sensation slowly seeped into the golden core, and the ten patterns on the golden core began to glow. The colors red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, gold, and silver lit up in turn, weaving into a magnificent sea of ​​light in the dantian.

The first step in forming the Nascent Soul is breaking through the Core Formation.

The foundation of a Golden Core cultivator lies in the Core, while the foundation of a Nascent Soul cultivator lies in the Nascent Soul.

Breaking through the Golden Core is not about abandoning one's cultivation, but rather about integrating all the lifelong cultivation, Daoist insights, and divine soul imprints contained within the Golden Core into a completely new and more advanced life form.

This process cannot be rushed, it cannot be slowed down, it cannot be hasty, and it cannot be impatient.

Too fast, and the foundation becomes unstable, resulting in an incomplete nascent soul; too slow, and energy is lost, leading to failure; too hasty, and the mind loses control, resulting in demonic possession; too agitated, and spiritual energy goes berserk, leading to death and the dissipation of one's cultivation.

Lin Che remained calm and patient, guiding the disintegration and reshaping of the golden core inch by inch, like a silkworm spinning silk.

The light from the ten dantian patterns grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire dantian as if it were daytime.

The energy of the Blood Jade Infant Marrow circulated within the Golden Core, gradually blending together the originally incompatible spiritual power, soul power, and Daoist essence.

Time passed, perhaps a day, perhaps a year.

"Click—"

A very light and crisp sound, like an eggshell cracking.

A crack appeared on the surface of the golden core, and a beam of golden-red light shot out from the crack, piercing the darkness in the dantian.

Then, more cracks appeared, and more light burst forth.

The golden elixir exploded.

It was not a devastating explosion, but a gentle unfolding, like petals blooming.

The fragments of the Golden Core floated in the dantian, slowly rotating around the central ball of brilliant light, like planets orbiting the sun.

At the center of that ray of light, a blurry outline was taking shape.

It was a baby.

It is not a physical body of flesh and blood, but a "Nascent Soul" formed from pure energy, spirit, and Daoist essence.

The nascent soul was extremely small, no bigger than a fist, yet every detail was lifelike.

A tiny head, a tiny torso, tiny limbs, and a face exactly like Lin Che's.

It curled up in the light, its eyes closed, as if it were asleep.

He could feel every breath the nascent soul took.

It doesn't use its mouth and nose, but rather the pores of its entire body to inhale and exhale the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

He can perceive the entire secret realm through his nascent soul.

Every leaf of the spirit tree, every ripple of the lake, and every breath of the spirit beast were all clearly visible to him.

Reaching the Nascent Soul stage is not an increase in power, but a leap in the level of life.

Golden Core cultivators can only sense and utilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, while Nascent Soul cultivators can "communicate" with the laws of heaven and earth and understand the operating rules of this world at a deeper level.

This is the fundamental difference between the Nascent Soul stage and the Golden Core stage.

Lin Che took a deep breath and focused his mind away from his dantian.

The condensation of the nascent soul is halfway complete, but the real test has only just begun.

The first challenge: the tribulation of lightning.

The Heavenly Dao does not allow cultivators to break through easily; every major leap in realm will be accompanied by a Heavenly Tribulation.

The tribulation that leads from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage is called the "Infant Thunder Tribulation".

Nine bolts of heavenly lightning, each stronger than the last; if you can withstand them, your nascent soul will be stabilized.

If you can't withstand it, you will perish both physically and mentally.

The second challenge: the tribulation of inner demons.

The tribulation of lightning is merely a test of the physical body, while the tribulation of inner demons is a true test of one's Dao heart.

When a cultivator breaks through to the Nascent Soul stage, their sea of ​​consciousness opens wide, and the fears, regrets, obsessions, and greed hidden deep in their hearts will transform into inner demons, taking advantage of the vulnerability.

If one cannot withstand it, at best one's cultivation will regress, and at worst one will suffer a qi deviation.

Lin Che looked up at the sky.

The tribulation lightning is coming.

The Azure Profound Realm Spirit had already activated the restriction above the secret realm, and all the spirit beasts had been transferred to the depths of the secret realm, far away from the sky above the island in the center of the lake.

At that moment, a thundercloud appeared out of nowhere in the void.

The thunderclouds were as black as ink, hanging very low, almost touching the tree canopies of the island in the middle of the lake.

Purple-gold lightning snakes darted through the clouds, emitting a deep rumble that shook the entire secret realm.

On the lake, the water rippled violently, creating waves several feet high that crashed against the rocks on the shore.

Its power was more than twice as strong as when it was at the Golden Core stage.

The spirit beasts that were transferred all felt that terrifying pressure.

The crocodile turtles huddled deep in the mud, tucking their heads into their shells; the azure dragons sank to the bottom of the lake, coiled up in a ball, too afraid to move; and the Azure-eyed Eagles landed in their nests, folding their wings and lowering their heads.

The Burning Heaven Sacred Sparrow stood on a cliff at the edge of the secret realm, its golden pupils fixed on the thundercloud above the island in the middle of the lake, its heart filled with worry for its master.

The Azure Profound Realm Spirit hovered at the highest point of the secret realm's dome, its entire body radiating a brilliant silver-white light, enveloping every inch of the secret realm in a thin layer of light.

Its task is to ensure the stability of the secret realm.

In order not to reveal his cultivation level, Lin Che once again chose to break through in the secret realm.

However, the current upper limit of the secret realm is only the fourth level. Lin Che is very worried that something unexpected might happen, so the task of breaking through to the Azure Profound Realm Spirit this time is also very important!

"Boom—!"

The first bolt of lightning struck.

A purple-gold lightning bolt, as thick as a child's arm, cleaved down from the clouds, carrying a world-destroying force, and struck straight at Lin Che's crown.

Lin Che did not dodge.

He sat upright on the bluestone platform, and with a flick of his right hand, a jet-black tortoise-shell shield flew out of his storage bag and hovered above his head.

That was a top-grade third-tier "Mystic Turtle Mountain-Suppressing Shield," made primarily of the carapace of the Mountain-Bearing Crocodile Turtle, and forged by Tie Wushuang himself.

To prepare for the tribulation, the wealthy Lin Che made ample preparations!

On the shield, layers of dark gold patterns overlap, like the rings on a tortoise shell, each containing the power of the earth.

"Black Tortoise Guarding the Mountain—Rise!"

Lin Che gave a low shout, and his spiritual power surged into the shield.

The tortoise shell shield suddenly enlarged, transforming into a black shield about ten feet in diameter, enveloping Lin Che completely beneath it.

The phantom of a mountain-bearing alligator turtle appeared on the shield, its thick carapace seemingly capable of supporting an entire mountain.

The lightning bolt struck the shield.

"boom--!"

A deafening explosion erupted, sending sparks flying.

Golden arcs of electricity danced wildly across the shield's surface, crackling and emitting a piercing sound.

The tortoise shell shield trembled violently, but the dark golden light barrier remained completely still.

The first lightning bolt was easily blocked.