Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 362: Breakthrough to Nascent Soul

Although the Earth Fire Cave was hidden and safe, and the Earth Fire Spiritual Qi was abundant, Fang Hao had been holed up inside for nearly half a year, consolidating his Great Perfection of Golden Core Stage over and over, yet he still felt something was lacking.

It wasn’t that the Spiritual Qi was insufficient; it was mainly because this place was too "solid."

Surrounded by thick stone, with a mountain overhead and fire beneath his feet, he felt his Qi could not flow smoothly, and he felt stifled.

To attempt a Breakthrough to Nascent Soul, one must commune with Heaven and Earth and trigger the Lightning Tribulation.

Inside this mountain’s belly, he always felt it lacked that sense of openness where "the sky is high for birds to fly," leaving him feeling unsettled.

"This won’t do; I need to find another place."

Fang Hao pondered for a long time, then gritted his teeth and decided to move.

Forming a Nascent Soul was a major event; he could not settle for less.

He consulted with Lao Jin, whose silver-white eyes flashed as he spat out two words: "As Master wishes."

Thus, the man and his puppet quietly left the Earth Fire Cave and began searching deep within the Ancient Elephant Mountain Range.

This place was naturally desolate, filled with dangerous and forbidden zones; exactly the kind of godforsaken place where not even ghosts would visit that Fang Hao needed.

Scaling mountains and crossing ridges, diving through ravines and streams, dodging several groups of highly territorial Demon Beasts, and bypassing a swamp filled with poisonous miasma, he finally found an ideal location ten days later.

It was a hidden valley tucked between two steep Peaks, its entrance obscured by thick, impenetrable fog and a naturally formed illusion Formation.

If not for Fang Hao’s powerful Divine Sense and his studies in Formations, he never would have discovered it.

Passing through the mist and the illusion Formation, the view suddenly opened up before him.

The valley was small, roughly a hundred acres, shaped like a gourd with a narrow entrance and a wide interior.

The valley floor was flat and covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves and humus that had accumulated over countless years, feeling soft underfoot.

A crystal-clear, tinkling stream meandered out from the depths of the valley, its banks lush with exotic flowers and grasses, brimming with Spiritual Qi.

The surroundings were sheer, hundred-foot cliffs that enclosed the valley tightly, leaving only a sliver of sky visible overhead.

Sunlight filtered through this "sliver of sky," casting dappled light and shadows on the valley floor, a silence so profound it was unsettling.

"A good place!"

Fang Hao’s eyes lit up.

It was sufficiently hidden, the Spiritual Qi was rich enough, and most importantly, it was open with a direct view of the sky—perfect for triggering the Lightning Tribulation!

Moreover, the terrain was relatively flat, suitable for setting up a Formation.

He carefully inspected the valley and confirmed that, apart from a few low-level beasts with no real threat and some ordinary insects, there were no other living things, which put his mind at ease.

"Lao Jin, keep watch at the valley entrance and the surrounding high points. Kill anything that approaches! I am going to enter seclusion here to attempt my Breakthrough to Nascent Soul!"

Fang Hao ordered in a deep voice.

"Yes, Master."

A silver light flashed in Lao Jin’s eyes.

His massive body moved slightly, as if weightless, and he silently leaped onto a cliff on one side of the valley.

Finding a protruding rock with a wide view, he stuck to it like a gecko, his silver-white eyes acting like the most precise scanner, beginning to monitor the entire valley and surrounding area with a 360-degree, dead-angle-free view.

With this Late Nascent Soul Stage "guardian" keeping watch, Fang Hao felt much more at ease.

Next was setting up the site.

Fang Hao didn’t dare to be careless; this was a matter of life and death.

He first selected the flattest and driest open space in the center of the valley as his site for Undergoing Tribulation.

Then, like a marmot, he began pulling things out of his storage ring.

First were the Spirit Stones—handfuls of High-Grade Spirit Stones, scattered as if they were worthless.

The Chaos Derivation Art he Cultivated was a massive consumer of Spiritual Qi, and the amount required for forming a Nascent Soul was immense; he dared not rely solely on absorbing it from the outside world.

His hands flew as he embedded these High-Grade Spirit Stones into the ground in specific positions, laying down a simple Spirit Gathering Formation.

The moment the Formation was complete, the Spiritual Qi in the valley seemed to be drawn in, slowly converging toward the center of the Formation.

While it couldn’t compare to the spiritual veins of a large Sect, it was still quite substantial.

Next, he took out several sets of Formation Flags and Formation Plates.

There was the "Small Four Symbols Lightning Defense Formation" (a flashy name for a simplified Four Symbols Formation that could slightly disperse and weaken the power of the Lightning Tribulation), the "Breath Concealing and Spirit Hiding Formation" to isolate his aura and prevent the phenomena of forming a Nascent Soul from leaking out, and the "Small Heavenly Cycle Sensing Formation" for early warning.

These were all his accumulated assets over the years that he usually couldn’t bear to use, but this time he brought them all out, layering them around the valley and at the "sliver of sky" overhead.

For a time, the Formation Flags fluttered, spiritual light flickered, and the entire atmosphere of the valley became obscure and heavy.

After doing all this, Fang Hao sat cross-legged at the center of the Spirit Gathering Formation.

He didn’t rush to take the Medicinal Pill but adjusted his breathing again, bringing his state to its Peak.

In his mind, he went over the process of attempting the Nascent Soul Breakthrough again and again, from shattering the Golden Core and condensing the Nascent Soul, to the baptism of the Lightning Tribulation and the stabilization of the Nascent Soul; he carefully scrutinized every detail and every possible accident.

Feeling his mind as calm as still water and his essence, Qi, and spirit at their Peak, Fang Hao slowly opened his eyes, a flash of determination in them.

With a flick of his wrist, a cold jade bottle appeared in his palm.

Uncorking it, an indescribably strange and fragrant scent of a Medicinal Pill instantly permeated the air.

Just by taking one breath, he felt the pores all over his body expand, and his Golden Core began to stir.

Inside lay a pill the size of a longan, completely round, with seven-colored halos flowing on its surface and what seemed to be misty clouds and shimmering stars swirling within—the nascent soul forming pill!

"Success or failure rests on this one move!"

Fang Hao took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and tilted his head back to swallow the nascent soul forming pill.

The Medicinal Pill melted the moment it entered his mouth, turning into an indescribably massive torrent of heat, like a bursting river, instantly rushing into his limbs, bones, and the eight extraordinary meridians.

This heat was not violent but exceptionally pure and gentle, containing massive amounts of Spiritual Qi and a strange power of creation, heading straight for his Dantian and Qi Sea.

Fang Hao dared not be slow; he immediately circulated the Chaos Derivation Art, guiding this massive medicinal power to begin impacting the already perfect and solidly barricaded Golden Core!

"Crack..."

A barely perceptible yet clearly echoing sound of shattering resonated deep within Fang Hao’s Soul.

His Golden Core, which was slowly rotating in his Dantian, radiating a Chaos luster, having been Cultivated to the extreme and appearing indestructible, now showed a tiny crack on its surface under the pure and massive medicinal power of the nascent soul forming pill and the guidance of his own will!

The shattering of the Golden Core had begun!

This was a painful yet necessary process.

The Golden Core was the condensation of a Cultivator’s entire life’s cultivation; shattering it now was like forcibly peeling away and smashing a part of his own cultivation, Physical Body, and Divine Soul.

Intense pain spread from his Dantian throughout his entire body.

Even with Fang Hao’s firm will and strong Physical Body, he couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan, and beads of sweat the size of peas instantly seeped from his forehead.

But he gritted his teeth, holding onto a sliver of clarity in his mind, and frantically circulated the Chaos Derivation Art.

With the technique running to its limit, the Chaos Spiritual Power inside his Dantian churned violently like boiling water.

Under the envelopment and catalysis of the nascent soul forming pill’s power, the Golden Core, covered in cracks, finally let out a soft "pop" and completely shattered!

The shattered Golden Core did not dissipate but turned into countless light spots flickering with the luster of Chaos, crazily mixing, stirring, compressing, and condensing with the massive Spiritual Qi and power of creation provided by the nascent soul forming pill, as well as Fang Hao’s own Divine Soul Origin!

Fang Hao’s consciousness sank completely into his Dantian, guiding this mass of energy, which contained all of his own Origin, to begin condensing into a vague, infant-like form.

This was an extremely delicate and mentally exhausting process that allowed for not the slightest error.

Time seemed to lose its meaning at this moment.

Inside the valley, there was only the faint humming of the Spirit Gathering Formation and Fang Hao’s increasingly heavy breathing.

He did not know how much time had passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years.

Inside his Dantian, at the center of that chaotic mass of energy, a tiny humanoid phantom, only an inch tall, crystalline, with a blurred face and curled up, slowly emerged!

Although it was still just a phantom, the aura it emitted was far purer, more vast, and more agile than during the Golden Core stage!

A powerful pressure of a life level transcending the Golden Core began to uncontrollably radiate slowly from Fang Hao’s body.

Just at the moment this tiny infant phantom took shape—"Boom!!!"

Above the valley, outside that "sliver of sky," the originally clear sky instantly turned gloomy without any warning!

Thick, dark clouds, as if soaked in ink, gathered from all directions at a speed visible to the naked eye, covering the sky for dozens of miles in the blink of an eye!

The dark clouds were heavy and low, so stifling that it made one unable to breathe.

Silver snakes darted about, lightning light flickered faintly, and the dull thunder sounded like the roar of an ancient beast, rolling and brewing deep within the clouds!

A vast, ruthless, and destructive Heavenly Might suddenly descended, firmly locking onto Fang Hao, who was sitting cross-legged in the valley, and the newly formed, fragile Nascent Soul phantom within his Dantian!

"It’s here!"

Fang Hao felt a shiver in his heart, suddenly opened his eyes, and looked up at the sky.

There was no fear in his eyes, only unprecedented gravity and a hint of irrepressible excitement.

Nascent Soul Lightning Tribulation!

Cultivators act against Heaven, seizing the creation of Heaven and Earth to condense a Nascent Soul; this is a leap in life level, which naturally invites the jealousy of Heaven, bringing down a Lightning Tribulation as a test.

If one survives, the sea is wide and the sky is high, and one officially enters the ranks of high-level Cultivators; if one fails, one dies, the Dao vanishes, and the Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!

And Fang Hao, because he possessed the Chaos Spirit Root (Seven Spiritual Roots), had Heaven-Defying Aptitude and a strong Foundation, so the Lightning Tribulation he attracted was far beyond that of ordinary Cultivators!

According to records in classical texts and his own sensing, what he would face was the Two-Nine Heavenly Tribulation—a full eighteen bolts of Heavenly Lightning!

It was more than twice as strong as the "One-Nine Heavenly Tribulation" (nine bolts) of ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators!

"Crack—!!!"

The tribulation clouds, which had been brewing for a long time, seemed to have lost their patience.

The first bolt of Heavenly Lightning, without any fanfare, tore through the thick dark clouds, bringing with it dazzling white light and a deafening roar, like a furious silver Dragon, striking down directly at Fang Hao in the center of the valley!

This first bolt of Heavenly Lightning was as thick as a water bucket, and its power was already comparable to the full-force strike of an ordinary Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator!

Moreover, it was extremely fast, arriving in the blink of an eye.