Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

At the summit of Tianxing Peak, a five-colored spiritual light shot into the sky, and Lin Zhao stood in mid-air.

His crimson-gold feather robes stood out starkly against the dark, oppressive light of the calamity. He no longer concealed his aura; the powerful aura of a Core Formation True Person erupted forth, like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, piercing straight into the sky.

Within his dantian, the Five Elements Golden Elixir flew out on its own, hovering above his head, slowly rotating. The elixir was lustrous and perfectly round, with five-colored spiritual light interwoven and flowing within it.

This golden elixir is the culmination of his life's cultivation and understanding of the Great Dao, and it is also his greatest reliance in fighting against the Heavenly Tribulation.

Ordinary high-grade Golden Core cultivators would never dare to unleash their power like this, directly facing the heavenly lightning. Only a unique and supreme-grade Golden Core cultivator like this has the confidence and assurance to do so.

The next instant, the sky exploded.

"Boom—Crack—!"

A deafening roar, as if the entire sky had been ripped apart.

A bolt of liquid platinum divine lightning, several meters thick, crashed down from the Tribulation Cloud Thunder Pool. Without a trace or hesitation, it struck the top of his head in the blink of an eye.

The destructive lightning struck the five-colored golden pill heavily.

The cinnabar halo and divine lightning collided violently, and the extremely intense white light instantly engulfed the view for a hundred miles, submerging the outlines of everything.

The shockwave of the thunderstorm that followed exploded with a deafening roar. The destructive power of crimson gold, dark purple, and silver-white swept in all directions. Clouds along the way vaporized and the dust on the ground was lifted into the air. The compressed air waves condensed into visible white waves that swept across the mountains.

The wall of energy crashed into the True Transmission Spirit Peak hundreds of miles away, causing the protective formations around the mountain to tremble violently, and rubble to tumble down from the cliff face. The power of heaven and earth shook the entire area.

Lin Zhao remained motionless during the impact.

He even had the leisure to raise his hand and unleash a five-colored barrier from his palm, covering the cave and spiritual creatures below.

The aftershocks of the heavenly lightning were kept outside the barrier. The herb garden, spirit spring, silver leaf grass, and green-patterned jade tree on the spirit peak could not be destroyed, as these were all spirit stones.

The white light gradually dissipated. The lingering echoes of thunder reverberated among the mountains, and a fine, misty rain, like vaporized and then condensed, drifted down from the sky.

The calamity clouds began to slowly dissipate.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the remaining gaps in the clouds and shone on the summit of Tianxing Peak.

Lin Zhao was completely unharmed, and her expression was calm and composed.

The golden core floated above his head, its five-colored light flowing smoothly, with a few residual arcs of lightning still dancing on its surface, which were quickly absorbed by the golden core.

The Golden Elixir itself remained completely undamaged.

Lin Zhao opened his mouth and swallowed the golden pill.

Five-colored light suddenly burst forth from his dantian, and a dazzling five-colored spiritual light shot into the sky from the top of Tianxing Peak, piercing through the dissipating tribulation clouds and soaring straight into the heavens.

The light spread across the sky, transforming into a five-colored rainbow that was clearly visible for hundreds of miles around.

The Yunhai Cangming Sect has gained another Core Formation True Person today—Lin Zhao.

He has been practicing Buddhism for exactly seventy years.

He began cultivating at the age of ten. At twenty-three, he joined the Cloud Sea Azure Sea Sect. At twenty-eight, he established a superior-grade Dao Foundation. At forty-four, he broke through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. At fifty-five, he broke through to the late-stage of Foundation Establishment. At sixty-two, he returned to the sect to prepare for Core Formation. At sixty-six, he comprehended the rules in a secret realm.

After returning, he secluded himself for three years and spent another year refining his elixir, successfully achieving the Golden Elixir.

A True Immortal who has reached the Core Formation stage has a lifespan of up to eight hundred years.

Transcend the mundane and take control of yourself.

As the saying goes, "Once you swallow a golden pill, your fate is in your own hands, not in the hands of heaven."

-----

Seeing that Lin Zhao had safely passed the heavenly tribulation, True Monarch Qingyuan smiled slightly.

This kid is interesting.

As the tribulation clouds in the sky dispersed, the group of cultivators who had been watching from afar could no longer contain themselves, and dozens of beams of spiritual light flew toward Yunxing Peak together.

The three leaders were all true disciples of the sect, followed by their family members and other disciples, whose cultivation levels varied.

A striking figure stood out at the front; it was a female cultivator.

Her pale purple Taoist robe accentuated her graceful figure, and a silver-white jade belt cinched her waist, from which hung a string of small silver bells.

She looked to be in her early twenties, with a pretty face and a few wisps of hair brushing against her cheeks in the wind, adding to her lively charm.

After everyone settled down, they first bowed to True Monarch Qingyuan, and then their eyes all fell on Tianxing Peak, filled with curiosity.

Everyone had the same question in their minds: Who is the person undergoing tribulation today?

The tribulation clouds just now covered hundreds of miles, their heavenly might terrifying, their power far exceeding that of ordinary high-grade golden core cultivators.

The female disciple in the light purple Taoist robe was the most straightforward and eager. As soon as her gaze fell on Lin Zhao, she spoke frankly, saying that she wanted to get to know this newly promoted Core Formation junior brother.

Before she could finish speaking, another disciple nudged her with his elbow and gave a wink in the direction of True Lord Qingyuan.

The purple-robed female disciple quickly shut up, but it was too late.

Qingyuan Zhenjun glanced at the crowd indifferently, his tone neither warm nor cold: "If you want to know, just go up and ask."

He then looked at the purple-robed female cultivator: "Nianwei, have you finished the homework I assigned?"

As the master of the Dao Inquiry Hall of the sect, responsible for teaching the sect's true disciples, True Lord Qingyuan was always easygoing and never checked the time when assigning homework.

Do it if you want to, or do it even if you don't want to.

Qingyuan Zhenjun glanced at the other two disciples and said, "Zhibai and Mingjing, where are you two?"

The three disciples instantly drooped like frost-bitten leaves, dejected and not daring to say another word.

Several family members and disciples of the true disciples around him were suppressing their laughter, their shoulders shaking.

Qingyuan Zhenjun said nothing more, his expression indifferent.

The three felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and subconsciously took ten steps back in unison, fearing that the True Lord might remember some more lessons, and quietly retreated to a safe distance.

At this moment, Lin Zhao slowly descended from the peak and stepped forward to greet Qingyuan Zhenjun with a cupped-hand salute.

The purple-robed female cultivator named Nianwei secretly sized up Lin Zhao, pointed to the sect token at her waist, and winked at him playfully.

The other two disciples nodded gently, offered their sect names, and agreed to visit each other another day to discuss the Dao.

Lin Zhao exchanged names with his three senior disciples and left their divine imprints on the sect token, thus establishing a bond of camaraderie within the sect and facilitating future communication.

Someone then took the opportunity to ask about the Golden Core Ceremony.

Lin Zhao shook his head directly, indicating he didn't intend to do it.

I'll be hosting a small banquet for Core Formation cultivators soon, and I'd like to invite the disciples from the surrounding area to come and have a look.

The other party nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The sect has over a thousand Core Formation cultivators, and someone forms their Core every year. If everyone had to hold a grand ceremony, the sect wouldn't be able to do anything.

Only when someone reaches the Nascent Soul stage will the entire sect issue a notice. How many Nascent Soul cultivators can come depends entirely on your ability and connections. As for the Core Formation stage—if even a quarter of them come, that's already giving you a lot of face.

Of course, some Core Formation cultivators who care about their reputation will hold Core Formation ceremonies. How many people will attend depends on your influence.

As they were talking, someone turned around and glanced at the spot where True Monarch Qingyuan had just been standing.

The person has disappeared; no one even noticed when they left.

Lin Zhao shook his head; he couldn't figure out Qingyuan Zhenjun's style of doing things either.

Overall, however, he got along quite well with True Lord Qingyuan. True Lord Qingyuan was easygoing, unpretentious, and willing to help.

Although I fooled him a bit about the "secret disciple" thing, he's actually a really good person.