Chapter 219: Opportunity

In the pitch-black cultivation chamber, an emaciated old man dressed in a black Daoist robe sat cross-legged on a prayer mat.

The green walls surrounding him were covered with various patterns that seemed to come alive, rippling like water whenever the firelight passed over them.

On the wooden table, an oil lamp flickered.

Its jumping flames illuminated the old man’s face, revealing deep wrinkles and dry skin resembling bark, mottled with age spots. His deeply sunken eyes stared blankly at the oil lamp before him, the firelight reflected in his pupils.

“Dying well,” the old man rasped, “severing all worldly ties. I’ll be free of inner demons then.”

As he spoke, a strange force radiated from him, growing stronger by the moment. This was none other than Elder FusionSpirit, one of Blackstone City’s three peak Foundation Establishment experts.

Having abandoned his duty to oversee the other elders’ tasks, this venerable elder now sat alone atop the highest cultivation stone in Blackstone City. He resembled a withered tree as his spiritual energy reached its zenith, emitting an profound aura that enveloped him.

“The Blackstone Ancestor is away—this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Elder FusionSpirit placed his hand over the candle flame. His withered old skin sizzled under the fire’s burn, but he seemed not to notice at all as he slowly pinched together, extinguishing the flame above.

The light in the cultivation room dimmed, plunging it into complete darkness.

In the darkness, Elder FusionSpirit’s eyes glimmered with a blue light. Fluctuations akin to the Demonic Heart Art emanated from his body, creating a faint blue shimmer on his skin. As time passed, these fluctuations grew stronger, shedding his old, dry skin to gradually reveal a new layer of human flesh.

His appearance transformed from a withered old man on death’s door into a cold-faced middle-aged man.

When the flow of energy reached a critical point, Elder FusionSpirit emerged from his shedding, revealing his new form. He reached into his robes and produced a small black wooden box.

Upon opening the box, a soft red glow emanated from within, illuminating a spinning spiritual pill.

The room filled with a potent, dense spiritual energy.

Elder FusionSpirit opened his mouth and swallowed the pill whole.

The cultivation master no longer restrained his presence, allowing it to radiate freely. The blue light surrounding him gradually transformed into a gray-white energy. This energy circled the cultivation chamber before abruptly contracting into a spinning black hole, voraciously devouring the surrounding spiritual energy. In that moment, the benefits of his third-tier spirit meridians were completely absorbed into his body.

The pure external spiritual energy merged with the pill he had consumed earlier, constantly twisting and transforming. Inside him, a hundred spiritual energy dragons whirled faster and faster around the seed of his pseudocore, eventually coalescing into a pale blue sphere.

This was the virtual pill formed by compressing the spiritual energy dragons to their limit, a crucial step that every Core Formation cultivator must pass through.

The swirling spiritual energy spread beyond the confines of the cultivation chamber, creating a vortex that resembled an eye of wind.

Buzz!

Invisible ripples radiated outward, revealing the previously hidden cultivation array. In the blink of an eye, its aura had permeated every corner of Blackstone City.

At that moment, all cultivators felt a tremor-inducing presence. They looked up to find the sky inexplicably darkened, a black formation cloud looming overhead. Within the cloud, thunder crackled and reverberated continuously.

Has night fallen?

Some were bewildered, others confused.

In Blackstone City, ordinary citizens thought it was about to rain. They hastily ran outside to retrieve their drying clothes, muttering about the weather’s unpredictability and its impact on their lives.

Compared to these ordinary people and those at the Qi Refining stage, the Foundation Establishment cultivators had a much clearer perception of what was happening. They all felt the sense of imminent danger—the black clouds above were no natural formation but had been summoned by some unknown force.

Someone is about to transcend!

The Death Match Arena.

Chen Luo stood atop the high platform, his face expressionless as he observed the duel below. Only rogue cultivators from the early to mid stages of Qi Refining could participate in the Death Match. These individuals were typically desperados, having exhausted all options and caught the attention of major powerhouses. The Death Match served as their last hope, while also acting as a lucrative source of income for those very powerhouses.

These combatants were mere ‘tools’ for the major powerhouses to make money. Many weren’t even true cultivators but had been hastily trained by these powerhouses using subpar, widely known cultivation techniques, akin to cultivating watered-down half-products.

“Hm?”

Chen Luo, who was observing the duel, suddenly froze as his attention was drawn to the tribulation cloud. Compared to other Foundation Establishment cultivators, he could see more clearly due to his peak Foundation Establishment divine sense. Not only that, but he also detected the source of the tribulation and a faint, elusive presence within the black clouds.

Blackstone Mountain!

Someone was using a third-order spirit meridian and cultivating in a mountain-side cultivation chamber, attempting to break through to Core Formation.

“The Demonic Heart Art? Yet it’s not quite the same.”

Chen Luo’s eyes flickered as he immediately abandoned the two duelists locked in a death struggle and flashed towards Blackstone Mountain.

An opportunity to closely observe a tribulation was not one to be missed. It wasn’t just him; within moments, seven or eight powerful auras rose from Blackstone City. Like Chen Luo, these individuals were driven by similar intentions.

The nine cultivators descended near Blackstone Mountain but didn’t venture further.

By now, Blackstone Mountain was completely enveloped by the aura of the Heavenly Tribulation. Entering at this point would be risky, with the likelihood of being drawn into the tribulation increasing with one’s cultivation level.

Boom.

As the thunderous clouds reached their critical mass, their range significantly contracted. By this point, the Elder FusionSpirit inside the cultivation chamber had fully formed his first Void Core. With the spiritual energy now qualified, the next step would be the fusion of the core amidst the thunder tribulation.

The intensity of the Thunder Tribulation varied according to both the cultivator’s strength and the stage of their Core Formation.

As the illusory pill completed its coalescence, Elder FusionSpirit emerged from Blackstone Mountain, standing firm in mid-air. For those undergoing the Transcendence, the heavenly tribulation served as both a crucible and an opportunity. This tribulation facilitated the rapid refinement of the Golden Core, aiding the cultivator in mastering Core Formation while granting them an early insight into the power of the cosmos’s vital energy.

“It’s that damn Elder FusionSpirit!” exclaimed a Foundation Establishment powerhouse standing beside Chen Luo. Judging by his expression, he appeared to be intimately familiar with Elder FusionSpirit, allowing him to recognize the elder at a glance.

Zap!

A bolt of lightning cracked across the sky, yet the floating Elder FusionSpirit remained unmoved. As the tribulation closed within three feet of him, it dissipated, giving way to a translucent barrier that spread across Blackstone Mountain. All eyes were drawn to the massive shimmering dome. At that moment, Elder FusionSpirit seemed like a celestial being, commanding the very thunder itself.

The lightning arcs spread across the sky, swiftly neutralized and dispersed by the flowing array. Over a hundred serpentine bolts scattered, their energy guided by the array to the ground. With the heavenly tribulation dissipated, its potency diminished dramatically, now resembling ordinary lightning techniques. Seizing this opportunity, Elder FusionSpirit extended his hand, grasping at these errant strands of electricity to absorb their vital energy.

“That old fellow is borrowing Blackstone City’s third-order formation. If the Blackstone Ancestor finds out, he’ll definitely extract the old demon’s soul and refine it.”

The third-order formation is the foundation of Blackstone City for the Blackstone Ancestor. The Elder FusionSpirit using it to help himself through the tribulation is no different from stealing from the Ancestor himself.

“Blackstone Ancestor left three days ago. Now Blackstone City is guarded by the three vice mayors.”

The speaker’s aura surged. Their features were unclear, surrounded by grieving souls. It was clear at a glance that they were an experienced old demon.

“Oh?”

At these words, the expressions of several people became complicated.

They were all experienced old demons, obviously not good-hearted individuals. They had followed the rules within Blackstone City before because of the Blackstone Ancestor’s reputation and the third-order grand formation that overshadowed everything here. Now that the Ancestor wasn’t around, and the third-order grand formation was being used by the Elder FusionSpirit to cross the tribulation, Blackstone City’s defenses had weakened significantly. This opened up more possibilities for manipulation.

One old demon turned around directly, transforming into a streak of black light that merged into Blackstone City, disappearing to who knows where.

After that, three more people left.

With four gone, the area suddenly became much quieter. Including Chen Luo, five people remained. None of them spoke, merely quietly watching the Elder FusionSpirit crossing the tribulation above.

This wasn’t because these five weren’t predisposed to greed; rather, it was because they wanted even more. Chen Luo was thinking that if he could seize this opportunity, he wouldn’t have to worry about resources before Core Formation stage anymore, Madam Hua wouldn’t have to bear such a heavy burden anymore, and Elder Li could retire earlier.

Boom!!

Another bolt of heavenly lightning descended, more powerful than the first.

The third-order grand formation trembled, and the flowing light above it circulated even faster. Distorted faces began to appear on the formation’s surface—these were the formation spirits of the third-order array. Naturally, any formation worthy enough to catch the eye of a Core Formation cultivator like Ancestor Blackstone would be no ordinary one.

The formation stabilized once again, with explosions sounding from several locations. These were the foundations of the formation being injured, with many formation eyes destroyed by the thunder tribulation. As the arcs of lightning dispersed, Elder FusionSpirit reached out again to absorb the energy of the heavenly tribulation. With each successful crossing of the heavenly tribulation, the aura of Core Formation around Elder FusionSpirit grew stronger, gradually surpassing the level of Foundation Establishment. Primordial qi began to wells around his body.

Two instances of the heavenly tribulation had already damaged the foundations of the formation. If a third bolt of lightning were to strike, the grand formation of Blackstone City would undoubtedly be shattered, and repairing it would not be so easy at that point. If one merely relied on the power of the formation to cross the tribulation, Elder FusionSpirit would now have to fly out and confront the heavenly tribulation alone, but he clearly had no intention of doing so.

“Fuse Spirit! Aren’t you afraid the patriarch will return to settle scores with you? Don’t forget, he left hidden measures within each of us.”

Finally, someone appeared—a deputy city lord left by the Blackstone Ancestor to guard the city. As for the other two, there had been no word from them yet; who knew if they were dead or harboring hidden intentions.

“Quiet down.” Elder Fusion Spirit glanced at the deputy city lord of Blackstone City who had appeared. With a flick of his index finger, a pale green speck of light merged into his chest. Elder Fusion Spirit’s spiritual energy had already begun to undergo qualitative changes, which the deputy city lord couldn’t possibly withstand. As the spiritual energy seeped in, the deputy city lord’s face transformed, but moments later, the thunder tribulation in the sky swiftly reacted.

Krak!

A bolt of lightning struck precisely on top of his head. Although its power was inferior to that of the thunder during the elder’s transcendence, the sheer heavenly might was enough to instill fear into anyone who dared to witness it.

“Did I just drag you into my heavenly tribulation?!” The deputy city lord’s face paled, and he turned to flee without hesitation. At that moment, he cared little about the hidden measures left by the Blackstone Ancestor; terrifying as those might be, they were nothing compared to the prospect of losing his mortal self! Enduring some torment seemed like a trifling matter if it meant avoiding certain death. His top priority now was to survive at all costs.