Advancing to Golden Core (2)

The final bolt of the heavenly tribulation continuously gathered, lightning spilling in all directions. The onlookers gasped in surprise and immediately retreated.

Once this bolt of lightning struck, this mountain valley would be flattened, and any cultivators in the vicinity would surely be caught in the crossfire.

Sensing the changes in the air, the spirit beasts looked up, the rapidly descending lightning reflected in their pupils.

They couldn't help but swallow hard.

Surely they weren't going to meet their end here, were they?

As Jiang Lu's contracted beasts, when she underwent her tribulation, a portion of the lightning would enter their bodies to bear some of the burden for her.

However, because of Qianming, none of the lightning had entered their bodies earlier. But they wouldn't be able to escape this final strike!

Boom—

With a deafening roar, carrying countless bolts of lightning and kicking up a thick spiritual mist, the entire valley was flattened, leaving only a massive crater beneath Jiang Lu.

The fur and scales of the spirit beasts stood on end. They lay on the ground, their limbs twitching, tongues lolling out of their mouths, as arcs of lightning crackled across their bodies.

The robes on Jiang Lu's body were slightly damaged, but they still covered her, though her hair was a bit disheveled.

Suspended above her head, Qianming erupted with a brilliant purple light. Its sharp hums echoed continuously all around, filled with absolute joy.

It seemed on the verge of advancing. It was currently a spiritual tool, which possessed a basic spiritual awareness. If it were further tempered and nourished by the heavenly lightning of heaven and earth, it could advance into a magic treasure, develop a vessel spirit, and accompany its master in the form of a vessel spirit.

Jiang Lu felt the cloud of spiritual mist within her dantian gradually condense under the continuous pressure of the lightning, turning into a spiritual orb.

With each strike of the lightning, a layer of the spiritual orb's shell cracked, eventually transforming into a thumb-sized Golden Core.

Filled with dense spiritual energy, the Golden Core floated in her dantian, radiating a five-colored glow.

The entire spiritual sea within her dantian calmed down under the nourishment of this light.

Then, the Golden Core slowly sank into the spiritual sea. The aura around Jiang Lu completely settled, and the lightning crackling on her body gradually absorbed into her meridians.

Only then did she open her eyes, a golden light swirling within them.

The floating sensation brought by the breakthrough completely vanished, and her strength settled firmly at the first layer of the Golden Core realm.

Although her foundation was solid, Jiang Lu still planned not to break through to the Nascent Soul realm before the age of nineteen.

These next few years would be spent stabilizing her strength and studying the hundred cultivation arts.

As a weak and delicate elixir cultivator, how could she pursue the Great Dao when traveling the world without other skills?

Although all thirty-six bolts of the heavenly tribulation had struck, the tribulation clouds showed no signs of dispersing. The restless cultivators nearby did not dare to step forward, lingering in the vicinity with anxious expressions.

Had that cultivator failed the tribulation and perished, or had they succeeded?

Regardless of the outcome, they all wanted to go and investigate.

If the cultivator had perished, the magic treasures on their body would be theirs for the taking.

If they had succeeded, this would be when the cultivator was at their weakest, making it the perfect opportunity to kill them and seize their treasures.

Everyone's minds raced. Despite the palpable restlessness in the air, not a single person dared to step forward and check.

That lingering tribulation was nothing to be trifled with. Even if they had the wicked intent, they lacked the courage.

They could only wait for the tribulation clouds to disperse before acting...

Jiang Lu looked up at the lingering tribulation clouds, thinking back to that soft murmur she had heard during her breakthrough.

Having a sudden realization, she looked up, and in that vague moment, she seemed to resonate with the laws of the Great Dao.

Hum—

Hum—

Hum—

A series of hums echoed from within the tribulation clouds, which quickly receded to reveal a five-colored auspicious glow behind them.

It was... the blessing of the Heavenly Dao!

All the surrounding cultivators stared wide-eyed at the five-colored glow in the sky.

Jiang Lu stood up in surprise. She had actually triggered a blessing from the Heavenly Dao.

Beams of auspicious light descended, carrying a fragrant scent and a gentle warmth. The flowers, grass, and spiritual plants in the valley that had been destroyed by the lightning instantly regained their vitality, turning lush and green once more.

The central blessing of the Heavenly Dao drifted down and entered her body. She spread her arms to welcome it, feeling her entire body being silently nourished. Her life force became even more abundant, which would be of immense benefit to her future cultivation and breakthroughs.

Bathed in the nourishment, the injuries the spirit beasts had sustained from the lightning were instantly healed. They scrambled up and shook their limbs, their spiritual power flowing smoothly.

They had actually broken through!

“Master, we've finally recovered our Tier Three spirit beast strength!”

Chi Li and Cang Chen exchanged a look, speaking with excitement.

Hmph, hmph! They would be the ones protecting Master from now on. That Dark Qilin wouldn't stand a chance, since its strength was inferior to theirs.

The two beasts felt secretly smug.

Jiang Lu looked down. They had indeed grown a bit. She squatted down. It wasn't just her imagination—they really had grown.

“Chi Li, your tail seems to have grown longer,” Jiang Lu said, stroking its newly grown tail. Its feathers had also hardened significantly, and the feathers on its wings were no longer the soft down they used to be.

“I-Is that so?” Chi Li found it a bit hard to believe.

Jiang Lu conjured a water mirror. Looking at itself in the mirror, Chi Li froze in place.

It had finally grown!

This proved their thoughts were correct—they really had a chance to return to the Divine Realm!

It threw its arms around Jiang Lu. “Waaah~ Master, thank you!”

Having never seen a spirit beast cry like this, Jiang Lu stiffly patted its head and said, “It's okay, it's okay.”

Cang Chen couldn't care less about Chi Li's melodramatic behavior. It stared at itself in the water mirror. No wonder its head had been feeling itchy lately; it had thought it was finally growing a brain, but it turned out it was growing dragon horns.

It scratched at them with its claws. Hehehe.

Its claws were back, and leaning in closer, even its dragon whiskers had grown out!

So handsome!

It kept admiring itself in the water mirror, thoroughly pleased.

Mingyue looked at Chi Li, then at Cang Chen, and gave a soft huff.

“Master, I've grown up too! I'm also a Tier Three spirit beast now!”

Hearing that tender, childish voice, Chi Li and Cang Chen secretly cursed it for being a scheming little suck-up. This damn brat's strength was still on par with theirs, which was simply infuriating.

They had no idea where the little thing had learned to act like that.

“Master, I've grown up too! A lot of knowledge about treasures has popped up in my head, so you won't have to worry about missing any treasures in the future!” Mengbao also chimed in hastily.

It wasn't afraid of Mingyue competing for favor; it was a beast with actual utility, unlike Chi Li and the others.

No other beast was as good at finding treasures as it was, so it had no fear of falling out of favor.

Hearing this, Jiang Lu's smile indeed widened.

Hahaha—

As expected of her!

However, these spirit beasts were still a bit too weak. Before she advanced to the Nascent Soul realm, she had to get their strength up to Tier Four or higher. She let out a sigh.

The ancients truly did not deceive her!

Raising spirit beasts was indeed expensive. No wonder her senior sisters and the others hadn't contracted any, especially those sword cultivators—who could afford this?

As the final trace of the blessing dispersed, the five-colored auspicious clouds in the sky completely vanished.

Looking at the valley, which was now completely unrecognizable, Jiang Lu quickly departed with her spirit beasts, heading toward the nearest city.

Not long after she left, many cultivators arrived at the scene. Seeing the chaotic mess left behind, they cursed under their breath.