Chapter 60: The Perfection of Core Formation

Nine days passed slowly. Under the protection of the Five Elements Formation, the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed flourished, remaining unnoticed within the confines of this mini Abyssal realm.

The Infinite Abyssal World was divided into ten ranks:

From Rank 1 to Rank 3 were fragment worlds, though called worlds, they were merely fragments floating in the void. The peak war capability of these worlds reached Rank 4, equivalent to the awakened beings at the Golden Core stage.

From Rank 4 to Rank 8 were mini-realms.

Qin Shu currently found himself in a Rank 4 world, with a maximum war capability of Rank 5, making it the smallest mini-realm. Its total area did not exceed one hundred million square kilometers—just over 38,000 square miles.

Consequently, the area occupied by the waters of the Nieta River wasn’t significant, let alone the city itself.

It was uncertain whether Qin Shu’s situation was fortunate or unfortunate.

On the one hand, considering his current rank, he should have been sent to a third-rank fragment world, not a fourth-rank mini-realm. However, on the other hand, he now had control over the waters of the Nieta River, which proved to be the nemesis of all life forms in this Abyssal world.

In any case, as long as the Nieta River did not dry up, he would remain relatively safe.

After nine days, the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed had grown five lotus leaves, each with a radius exceeding ten meters, roughly equivalent to the size of a large courtyard.

The fortune force diffused within the array was transmuted by the lotus leaves into the essence of the Five Elements, further enhancing the five directional flags while simultaneously tempering their cores.

Running at full throttle, the Apricot-Yellow Flag delved deep into the earth, extracting the very source of this Abyssal World to nourish the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed.

It seemed as though everything would pass off without a hitch.

After shrinking her form, Xiao Yan settled on the jade-green lotus leaf and drifted off to sleep.

Qin Shu, for his part, opted to polish his cultivation directly where he stood, popping Yin-Yang Pills as he went about it, quite at ease.

Within his middle dantian, a nearly solidified virtual pill whirled rapidly, growing increasingly round and flawless.

Both master and familiar were utterly oblivious to the passage of time.

The Cyan Lotus Dao Seed continued to grow, a flower bud now clearly defined at the tip of its stalk, slowly beginning to unfurl.

A beam of teal light drew Qin Shu into the lotus, enveloping him in the fortune force which then permeated his qi passageways without resistance, ultimately reaching his lower dantian.

There, the true essence of fortune forming his sea of qi ignited, transforming into the ‘Karma True Fire’. With his middle dantian serving as a crucible, it was about to begin forging a Golden Core.

Not good!

Qin Shu suddenly came to his senses; he’d never heard of anyone breaking through in the Abyssal World. On instinct, he halted the core forging process and redirected all the fortune force within his body back into the sea of qi in his lower dantian.

The Karma True Fire ceased, condensing into pure Karma True Yuan, which then flowed into the Cyan Sea Lotus in his qi sea.

Within the lotus, 81 holes formed within the lotus seedpod, each coalescing a virtual pill.

With this, Qin Shu’s explosively increasing aura finally stabilized.

However, even then, his strength had already reached the pinnacle of Core Formation, on the cusp of condensing a Golden Core.

The karmic energy continued to circulate within him, no longer increasing the total amount of Karma True Yuan but instead refining his body. His Immortal-Defying Physique grew even more robust.

He opened his eyes. Before him appeared a chamber the size of a small gymnasium—what was actually the interior of the blooming Cyan Lotus.

At some point, Xiao Yan had fallen asleep beside him, her expression serene.

The Nine Lives Doll had sunk into the ground, evolving via the lotus root.

The Karma Cauldron and lotus base had become one, indistinguishable from each other.

Now that the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed had reached this stage, the Great Array of Five Elements could no longer contain its aura.

Beneath the ground, the whitish lotus root extended a slender aerial root. It burrowed through the earth like a drill, hurtling towards the very core of the Abyss World.

As if the world had been stabbed in the heart, it sensed the presence of the murderer.

In an instant, heaven and earth erupted in fury.

THUNDER!

A bolt of lightning, reeking of destruction, plummeted from the heavens, directly aimed at the still-growing Cyan Lotus Dao Seed.

But the Great Array of Five Elements was not to be underestimated. A luminous barrier sprang to life, steadfastly repelling wave after wave of the cataclysmic lightning.

On Poisonstone Mountain, the giant scorpion monster writhed, as if locked in a deadly struggle against some unseen force. Alas, it was no match for this greater power. Its will subsumed, it began to lumber towards Xiliang City.

Upon reaching the bank of the Niantai River, it hesitated for a heartbeat. Then, with a mighty surge of its legs, it leaped into the air, attempting to clear the water’s surface.

Yet, mid-flight, the river itself rebelled. The water roiled upwards, transforming into serpentine dragons that whirled through the air to strike down the scorpion with deadly force.

“Aaaaargh!” The scorpion’s anguished cry split the air as it crashed into the river, its abdomen beginning to swell grotesquely.

There was no opening on its outer carapace. As its belly continued to balloon without release, no diminutive scorpion offspring emerged. Instead, it simply grew larger and larger.

The scorpion monster thrashed with all its might, desperate to swim free of the Niantai River. But the river was nearly six miles wide, its waters an unyielding barrier. The scorpion’s strength was sapped by ninety-nine percent in the water, rendering it utterly trapped.

Soon, its stomach had swollen larger than its original body, the pressure inside mounting to a critical point. At last, it reached the very limits of its endurance.

With a thunderous roar, the monster’s belly burst open, releasing tiny scorpion beasts that tumbled into the Niated River. They sank to the bottom and dissolved on impact.

The massive giant scorpion monster, now devoid of any remaining strength to struggle, met the same fate—sinking to the riverbed and perishing.

Meanwhile, monsters from all directions closed in on them. A staggering nine fifth-stage creatures appeared, each one a venomous insect.

There was the fierce purple centipede, its metallic exoskeleton gleaming and enormous frame imposing.

The toxic toad, covered in constantly bursting warts, its body oozing venom and an eerie shade of green.

And the giant blade mantis, humanoid dagger ghost spiders, and heavy-armored rhino beetles.

Except for the toxic toads, the other four venomous insects arrived in pairs, one male and one female.

They didn’t attack in waves.

But even the giant blade mantis, capable of flight, couldn’t escape the waters of the Niated River. It too was dragged into the river, forced to give birth to offspring until its demise.

Qin Shu observed the situation outside. The waters of the Niated River had swelled dramatically. Not a single enemy emerged; all had drowned at the river’s bottom.

Even some weaker monstrous infantry met their end there.

Apart from the initial peril, little remained for him to do in this episode.

Xiao Yan continued to slumber, and as for battle, there was none.

The green flames on its body became increasingly pure, their temperature rising ever higher, though they could not harm the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed.

By now, Qin Shu had been in the Abyss for three months.

In the distance, there were no more Abyssal monsters hurling themselves into the river; they had all but been wiped out.

Only bolts of Abyssal lightning remained, striking feebly at times, utterly incapable of breaching the Five Elements Formation’s defenses.

The transformation of the cyan lotus was nearing its end, and the world was on the verge of collapse.

However, the Niantai River still existed, even wider, longer, and larger than before.

At some point, stalks of the cyan lotus had begun emerging from the Niantai River’s surface, absorbing the river’s mystical power.

Within one of the pores of the lotus’s seedpod, a milky-white pearl had begun to form.

Soon, the waters of the Niantai River rapidly receded. Within days, the riverbed was exposed.

As the milky-white sphere took shape, the riverbed dried completely. Centered on Xi Liang City, cracks spread outwards in all directions across the land.

In the void, the spherical world trembled—it was about to meet its end.

Simultaneously, within Xi Liang City, the cyan lotus plant began to divide.