Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao followed his gaze and could vaguely see that the celestial phenomena above a certain spiritual peak in the distance were abnormal. Dark clouds, like ink being poured out, were gathering and rotating at a speed visible to the naked eye, covering an area of ​​dozens of miles in radius. Inside, electric snakes danced wildly and muffled thunder rolled.

"Perhaps he has cultivated a special secret technique that requires the assistance of the spiritual veins he has cultivated over many years."

The fifth senior brother added, "Although the Tribulation Peak is safe and secure, with the support of arrays from past generations, it has lost the advantage of being in harmony with one's own path of cultivation."

As they spoke, the two transformed into streaks of light and sped off toward the direction of the tribulation clouds.

Not only them, but also on every peak and in every place of the sect, streaks of light rose up, all heading in the same direction—it was a rare opportunity for Foundation Establishment cultivators to observe the Core Formation Tribulation. They could not only feel the power of heaven and earth, but also see the gains and losses of their predecessors in their tribulations, which would be of great reference to their own future path.

After flying for about a thousand miles, a solitary sacred peak came into view in the distance.

A hundred miles away, nearly ten thousand cultivators, all at the Foundation Establishment stage, were densely packed in the sky. They had obviously received the information from the sect's token and rushed over.

Such a scene is truly rare, and it usually only occurs during the two months of each year when a True Immortal of the Core Formation stage in the Dao Inquiry Hall of a sect gives a lecture.

In the few years since Lin Zhao returned to the sect, he has only witnessed such scenes a few times.

Although there were many cultivators, they were orderly and spontaneously stayed a hundred miles away, with no one daring to cross the line.

Dozens of Foundation Establishment disciples dressed in the attire of the Array Formation Hall maintained order in various locations, their expressions solemn.

Lin Zhao did not enter the crowd, but instead summoned his second-tier spirit boat, the Azure Scale.

The spirit boat hovered silently in mid-air, like an elegant green leaf.

Looking around, the scene was quite spectacular: nearly ten thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators were piloting all sorts of flying magical artifacts—boats, vehicles, gourds, flying leaves, lotus platforms… a dazzling array.

There were over a thousand second-tier spirit boats among them, all radiating brilliant spiritual light. There were even a few spirit boats that emitted third-tier fluctuations, clearly belonging to some Foundation Establishment prodigies with profound backgrounds or outstanding strength.

Everyone, regardless of their cultivation level or the quality of their magical artifacts, held their breath and focused their attention on the mountain peak a hundred miles away, which was shrouded in increasingly thick tribulation clouds.

A complex emotion, a mixture of awe, tension, and longing, permeated the air.

The divine might grew ever stronger, the tribulation clouds thick as a pot lid, their coverage expanding to nearly a hundred miles. The silvery-white lightning that churned within the clouds was no longer writhing in the air, but rather terrifying streaks of crimson gold and dark purple intertwined with lightning.

Each flash of light illuminated the world in a ghastly white light, and the deep rumble of thunder sounded like a giant beast roaring deep within the clouds, sending shivers down people's spines.

Looking at the devastating thunderclouds, and then thinking about his own "Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon" formed from nine thunder pearls, Lin Zhao suddenly felt insignificant, truly a small fry compared to a great fry.

Beneath the clouds of calamity, atop the mountain peak, dozens of figures could be vaguely seen flying out and quickly disappearing into the distance.

Three of them possessed profound and unfathomable auras, clearly Core Formation cultivators, and led more than ten Foundation Establishment disciples to retreat to a safe distance.

The mountain's own protective array had long been closed—the Heavenly Tribulation is the Heavenly Dao's "test" of cultivators; the more external forces one relies on, the stronger the Heavenly Tribulation will be.

There are painful precedents in the cultivation world: once, a Nascent Soul True Monarch, out of love for his disciple, attempted to interfere with his disciple's Golden Core Tribulation using his own great supernatural powers. As a result, the Heavenly Tribulation sensed the external interference, and its power instantly surged to the Nascent Soul level.

Not only was the Core Formation cultivator reduced to ashes, but the Nascent Soul True Monarch's physical body was also shattered, leaving only the Nascent Soul to flee in disarray, his cultivation greatly diminished.

However, if cultivators do not rely on external forces, how can they cultivate and form their core? This requires cultivators to directly achieve balance.

I waited for a full ten days.

Over the past ten days, the tribulation clouds have continuously absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, becoming increasingly thick and terrifying. The lightning at the center has become so dense that it resembles a liquid pool of destructive lightning.

Finally, at noon on the tenth day, the heavenly power accumulated to its peak!

"They're here!" someone whispered.

At the summit of the mountain, a black figure soared into the sky, standing proudly beneath the rolling clouds of tribulation!

He was a young cultivator who looked to be no more than thirty years old, with a cold and stern face and sharp eyes like an eagle.

He released his aura without reservation, revealing that he had reached the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment and had even stepped into the threshold of Core Formation.

Faced with the impending divine punishment, he waved his hands repeatedly, and five powerful magical artifacts, each with its own unique spiritual light, flew out, swirling around his body and forming a defensive formation.

Furthermore, a broken bronze shield floated overhead, its surface riddled with cracks, yet it emitted a subtle energy far exceeding that of magical artifacts—it was a flawed third-tier defensive magic weapon!

This shield was clearly placed beforehand at the spiritual vein node at the summit, and it is now slowly absorbing the vast spiritual energy accumulated by the mountain, repairing its own cracks, and its spiritual light is gradually increasing.

"It's Senior Brother Zhao from 'Blazing Sun Peak'! He's said to be under a hundred years old!"

Suppressed murmurs arose from the crowd: "That broken shield... it looks like the Blazing Sun Shield used by his master, True Immortal Blazing Sun, in his early years. No wonder he's undergoing tribulation here; he wants to use the earth's fire spiritual vein to nurture the shield, resonating with it to enhance its defense!"

Amid the discussions—

"Boom—Crack—!!!"

An indescribable roar suddenly exploded! It wasn't thunder, but more like the sky itself being torn open by an invisible giant hand!

A terrifying bolt of lightning, over ten feet in diameter and as intense as liquid platinum, carrying the supreme divine might of judgment and purification, disregarded spatial distance and seemed destined to strike the tribulation seeker from the very beginning, ruthlessly crashing down!

Speed? There's no concept of speed! The thought had barely formed when thunder arrived!

The five carefully prepared second-tier defensive magical artifacts shattered like paper the moment they came into contact with the lightning, turning into countless fragments and chaotic streams of spiritual energy!

The damaged magical artifact, the Blazing Sun Shield, burst forth with a blinding red light. The ancient runes on the shield's surface flickered wildly, managing to withstand the initial and most intense impact, but it only lasted for less than three breaths!

"Crack!" The clear sound of shattering seemed to echo in everyone's ears, even from a hundred miles away.

The broken shield completely collapsed!

The devastating lightning, now unimpeded, struck Zhao Shixiong's "golden core" with tremendous force!

It was a fist-sized, spinning, pale golden pill that shimmered with ever-changing light; it was also the culmination of his life's cultivation and understanding of the Great Dao.

The crimson light and lightning collided violently! A blinding white light instantly engulfed everything! Onlookers a hundred miles away only saw that the sky and earth were filled with pure, incandescent white light.

Immediately afterwards, a visible, destructive shockwave mixed with crimson and silver lightning arcs exploded out in a ring, instantly vaporizing and pushing away the clouds, dust, and even some rocks and trees near the mountain peak!

"Buzz—!"

Even from a hundred miles away, the immense shockwaves and chaotic spiritual energy currents still crashed down like a tsunami! Lin Zhao felt the Azure Scale Ship shudder violently, its protective shield flickering intensely, groaning under the strain.

The entire spirit boat was pushed backward several miles by an invisible force! He hurriedly channeled all his spiritual power to stabilize the spirit boat, all he could hear were the buzzing and low cries of other cultivators' magical artifacts being impacted.