The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

"Fool!" Master Lei Huang roared, "To attack now is to sever all ties with the Taihua Sect! That old bastard Qingwei, and those few at the peak of the Purple Mansion realm under him, are not to be trifled with! Do you want to destroy the Shenxiao Sect's millennia-old foundation in an instant?!"

The middle-aged Taoist priest fell silent, trembling with fear.

Master Lei Huang's chest heaved, and it took him a while to calm down. The lightning in his eyes subsided, turning into deep fear and helplessness.

"So be it... It's fate, it's destiny." He sighed. "Send the order to close the mountain gates, and no disciple is allowed to leave. Also... prepare a 'Purple Heaven Thunder Crystal' and send it to Taihua Gate, saying that I am congratulating True Person Zixu on the completion of his Golden Core."

"Purple Heaven Thunder Crystal?" the middle-aged Taoist exclaimed. "That's our sect's most precious treasure! It takes a thousand years to form just one piece, and it has a transformative effect on thunder magic cultivators! Sect Master, this..."

"Just go!" Master Lei Huang waved his hand impatiently. "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub! If Zuo Qingqiu succeeds, she will become the Yin Lei True Lord, belonging to the same lineage of thunder magic as us. We will inevitably cross paths in the future. If we don't establish good relations now, are we going to wait until she comes knocking on our door and we have to bow our heads and admit our mistakes?!"

The middle-aged Taoist priest dared not speak further and bowed as he withdrew.

Master Lei Huang stood alone atop Thundercloud Mountain, gazing at the eastern horizon, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, but in the end, all he could manage was a long sigh.

"True Lord Yin Lei... Zuo Qingqiu..."

"The heavens of this land are about to change."

-

Aside from these three major sects, the other forces in the Central Plains reacted in much the same way. There was shock, jealousy, fear, and hidden thoughts. But without exception, after confirming that someone from the Taihua Sect was attempting to break through to the Golden Core stage, and that it was very likely the legendary genius Zuo Qingqiu, all the forces chose to remain still, even secretly preparing gifts, waiting for the results before making any further plans.

After all, the power of a Golden Core True Monarch is immense.

It is large enough to elevate a ten-thousand-year-old sect from a first-class to a super sect, placing it on par with ancient lineages with True Monarchs in charge.

It's big enough to completely reshuffle the existing power structure in the Central Plains.

No one dared to be the first to stick their neck out at this time.

Time slowly passed amidst countless gazes filled with anticipation, envy, or fear.

One hour, three hours, six hours...

The spiritual energy vortex above Zixu Peak not only failed to weaken, but instead grew larger and brighter. The five-colored radiance had transformed into tangible bands of light, intertwining and colliding in the sky, emitting a deafening roar. The entire Taihua Mountain was trembling slightly, and even the protective array's light membrane began to flicker.

The ten elders each guarded a key point of the formation, pouring their spiritual power into the formation without reservation to keep it running. Their expressions changed from solemn to somewhat pale.

"This is... taking way too long!" Master Lieyang, guarding the northeastern core of the formation, wiped the sweat from his brow and couldn't help but send a telepathic message to Master Qingwei, who was not far away, "Senior Brother, it's been twelve hours already! Qiu'er, will this... cause a problem?"

Master Qingwei sat cross-legged at the main array eye, his eyes slightly closed, his spiritual energy surging like a river and flowing into the core of the array. Upon hearing the telepathic message, he slowly opened his eyes and looked towards the direction of Zixu Peak, a trace of worry flashing deep in his eyes.

"Attaining the Golden Core and achieving the required fruition is already an incredibly difficult feat, comparable to lifting the sun and moon on one's shoulders. The Yin Thunder Fruition, a top-tier fruition on par with the Yang Thunder Fruition, is even more challenging," he replied telepathically. "Hang in there a little longer. Qiu'er's ability to hold on this long shows her foundation is deeper than we imagined. We must believe in her."

Master Lieyang gritted his teeth and said no more. He suppressed his old injuries and extracted more spiritual power from the damaged foundation of his Purple Mansion, continuing to inject the spiritual power into the array eye.

Another three hours passed.

The spiritual energy tide has finally begun to weaken.

The enormous vortex covering the sky gradually slowed its rotation, and its intensity in absorbing spiritual energy also began to decrease. The five-colored light no longer intertwined wildly, but began to contract and condense inward.

Everyone watching this scene held their breath.

Succeeded?

Or...did it fail?

-

Deep within the cave at Zixu Peak.

Zuo Qingqiu sat cross-legged on a blue stone platform, her eyes closed and her face calm, as if the world-destroying spiritual energy tide outside had nothing to do with her.

The stone platform is located in the center of a huge artificial lake. The lake water is as clear as a mirror, reflecting the sunlight streaming in through the "skylight" overhead. On the surface of the water, blue lotus flowers bloom, their leaves spreading out, while several silver-white "flowing light carp" with golden stripes on their backs huddle at the bottom of the lake, shivering.

Around the lake are exquisite pavilions and towers with flying eaves and brackets, carved beams and painted rafters, all made of jade and sunken wood. The pillars are carved with cloud and thunder patterns, with faint electric light flowing through them.

Although this place is called "Secluded Cultivation Cave," it is actually a magnificent water palace, which shows Zuo Qingqiu's status and taste within the sect.

But at this moment, this celestial aura was shrouded by an indescribable and terrifying aura.

Zuo Qingqiu's Taoist robe fluttered and rustled even without wind. No spiritual light emanated from her, yet the stone platform beneath her was covered in fine cracks, as if it could no longer withstand some invisible pressure. From her center, ripples spread across the lake, but instead of expanding outwards, they collapsed inwards, as if an invisible black hole at the bottom of the lake was swallowing everything.

A tremendous transformation is taking place within her body.

The Purple Mansion, located deep within the ancestral aperture between the eyebrows, is the abode of the divine soul and the foundation of the Great Dao. The Purple Mansion of an ordinary cultivator is only a few feet in circumference, like a courtyard. However, Zuo Qingqiu's Purple Mansion, upon reaching its peak, had already expanded to a hundred miles in size, containing a world of thunder and lightning, possessing seven Purple Mansion divine abilities that manifest the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, and the four seasons—truly a small world in itself.

At this moment, this hundred-mile-long Purple Mansion is being compressed and condensed.

Endless spiritual energy surged in from the outside world, and after being refined by the cultivation technique, it transformed into the purest thunderous power, which was then injected into the center of the Purple Mansion.

There, originally floated a fist-sized, purplish-black "thunder core" with countless electric snakes leaping on its surface. That was the thunder essence she had condensed after more than two hundred years of arduous cultivation of the "Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin Thunder Technique".

After fifteen hours of spiritual energy infusion, the lightning core had expanded to the size of a washbasin. Its surface was no longer a rough electric snake, but instead, countless intricate and profound Dao runes appeared. These runes seemed to have a life of their own, flowing on their own. With each flow, they caused the lightning world within the Purple Mansion to tremble and contract.

As the external spiritual energy tide began to weaken, the expansion of the lightning core reached its limit.

"Buzz—"

A deep hum resounded from within Zuo Qingqiu's body. It was not a real sound, but a resonance of the Great Dao, which directly echoed deep within the souls of all the living beings who were paying attention to this place.

The lightning core began to collapse inward.

It wasn't an explosion, but rather the ultimate condensation. In the thunderous world of Baili Zifu, all the thunder, all the runes, and all the insights into the Great Dao were frantically devoured by the collapsing thunder core.

The Purple Mansion space shrank at a visible speed, from ninety miles, eighty miles, seventy miles... until finally, it collapsed to only ten feet in diameter.

The thunder core, the size of a washbasin, was condensed to its extreme, transforming into a bead the size of a longan, perfectly round, with a chaotic color and purple-black lightning flowing like water on its surface.

Golden Elixir.

No, it's not a complete Golden Core yet.

Although the bead was formed, it lacked a bit of "spirituality" and the innate Daoist charm of "immortality and indestructibility." It was like a beautiful empty shell, without a soul.

Zuo Qingqiu's primordial spirit was "looking" at this Chaos Thunder Pearl.

She knew the most crucial moment had arrived.

"Golden nature... immortality..."

She silently recited the final incantation of the general outline of the "Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin Thunder Method," transforming the "Heavenly Punishment Forty-Nine Tribulation Thunder Metal Nature" into the purest point of spiritual light, which she then poured into the Chaos Thunder Pearl, preparing to merge with the "Yin Thunder Fruit Position."