Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 280: Chapter 185: Refining Treasures_1

“He has attained Nascent Soul!”

“And he crossed the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!”

“What can we do, what can we do?”

Within the Tianshu Sect, the atmosphere was heavy with anxiety; though Yunji and the other two hadn’t spoken a word, their expressions clearly revealed their turbulent thoughts.

A calamity loomed, a disaster of total devastation!

The person in question had successfully advanced to Nascent Soul, and even the ferocious Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, with its gold and red thunder, seemed powerless against him. Not only did it fail to achieve anything, it even provided him with an opportunity for Heavenly Tribulation Creation, bolstering his strength even further. Now, his actual realm was anybody’s guess.

Witnessing the manner in which he crossed the tribulation, the three even suspected that the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation might not be his true limit.

If it wasn’t his limit, then why didn’t he draw more?

Because he knew his own strength!

The primary goal in drawing in tribulatory lightning during tribulation crossing was to capture the opportunities within the Heavenly Tribulation, not just to be struck by lightning.

With the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation under control, one could snatch the thunderous opportunities to transform their own cultivation.

The Ninety-Nine Heavenly Tribulation brought fury from both humans and gods alike, its power increased manifold, completely beyond control. Even if one could withstand it, they would be unable to turn the lightning to their use, instead, they would have to endure the injuries from the Heaven and Earth Tribulation Thunder’s punishment.

Therefore, it made no sense to draw upon the Ninety-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.

Some things need not be taken to the extreme.

Acting according to one’s capacity, what’s suitable is the best.

That was how their Sect Master did things back in the day.

The same was true for this person now.

Even if speaking solely of tribulation crossing performance, this person was even better than their Sect Master.

A major enemy, a formidable one without a doubt!

The balance of power had been disrupted.

The Tianshu Great Array was no longer unassailable.

What can we do, what can we do?

The three of them were filled with trepidation in their hearts.

Eventually, it was Jing Yue, with his maturity and composure, who took a deep breath and spoke, “Senior Brother, we must quickly inform the main sect of this matter, urging Uncle Bei Chen to be ready. When the passage to the Void Spirit Cave Heaven opens, we must commit our full strength, sending strong reinforcements without any reservation, otherwise…”

The last of his words were left unsaid, but all three understood the implication.

Even when a lion fights a rabbit, it uses all its strength, let alone facing a tiger lurking by the dragon’s lair.

If the main sect doesn’t take this seriously and sends only a few insignificant Nascent Soul cultivators, we all know what will happen.

This person is unrivaled with the Heavenly Sword, possesses divine mastery of Thunder Series techniques, and is a Grandmaster of Array Formation; with numerous methods at his disposal, he causes one’s scalp to tingle and heart to race with fear.

Now that he has advanced to Nascent Soul, even as a beginner in this realm, he may have shortcomings when fighting across realms, but among those in the same realm…

To such a figure, being at the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm doesn’t make much difference compared to the Perfect Nascent Soul.

There are genius cultivators capable of challenging and even defeating those at the perfect stage in the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Realms or even fighting across realms. Thus, there are certainly mightier individuals, who in the Nascent Soul and Divinity Transformation Realms, can ignore the barriers and become invincible.

In low-tier realms, the significance of the barriers only applies to ordinary cultivators. For those with supreme Heavenly Spirit aura or even Daoist celestial bodies, these barriers are virtually non-existent and meaningless.

Only at high tiers, beyond Divinity Transformation, each threshold becomes significant, turning the idea of fighting across realms into legend. Even someone like True Monarch Tianshu—who rarely appears once in ten thousand years as Northern Dipper Immortal Fetus—cannot break this iron rule.

The existence of the Void Spirit Realm is the best proof of this.

Thus, this time, the main sect must give it their all.

Otherwise, if we cannot protect the Void Spirit Cave Heaven, our lives… will not be safe either.

Understanding the severity of the situation, Jing Yue was well aware of it, and Yunji was naturally just as clear. He nodded and said, “Junior Brother is absolutely right. I will inform the main sect immediately. We must implore Uncle Bei Chen to dispatch a few battle-oriented Senior Brothers no matter what… Hm!?”

His words were cut short, and he suddenly looked alarmed.

“What happened?”

Jing Yue furrowed his brow, probing further.

“Heavenly Tribulation!”

Yunji looked up, his eyes filled with shock: “There’s another Heavenly Tribulation!”

“Another Heavenly Tribulation?”

“How can this be?”

Hearing this, Jing Yue and the Nascent Soul Old Demon were also full of shock, “Who is it!”

Yunji remained silent, simply opening his treasure pupils and emitting a divine light.

Within the divine light, a scene emerged, showing…

Atop Green Jade Mountain, Yang Yun gathered again, ushering in a great dark sky.

“What’s going on?”

“This…”

“It’s another Heavenly Tribulation!”

“Is there a second person in Green Jade Mountain achieving Nascent Soul?”

“Could it be one of the top ten disciples breaking through?”

“No, no, no, ten years ago, all of the top ten disciples were at the Foundation Establishment stage, and although several of them have formed their Golden Cores since then, how could they possibly perfect their Golden Core cultivation in a mere ten years? It must be some other great figure within Green Jade Mountain.”

“In Green Jade Mountain, aside from Spell King and the publicly known top ten disciples, there are likely many Great Golden Core cultivators. Influenced by the aura of Spell King’s tribulation crossing, it’s only natural that they would seize the opportunity to break through.”

“The foundation of Green Jade Mountain is terrifying indeed…”

Looking at the spreading Yang Yun that eclipsed the sun and blanketed the top of Green Jade Mountain, the people who had just encountered a strange event were even more bewildered, whispering to each other and discussing fervently.

Xiao Miao, leaning on his hoe, looked up at the sky and was inwardly shocked, “Is another person about to cross the tribulation?”

“It’s not a person.”

Elder Zhen’s words came, filled with mixed feelings, but there was an inexplicable calm, “It is a treasure!”

“A treasure?”

Xiao Miao was startled, confused, “What treasure?”

“What else could it be?”

Elder Zhen explained, “Heaven and earth are impartial and treat all beings equally without selfishness or ego. As long as one reaches the required realm, there will naturally be tribulations to test them. Therefore, when cultivators condense their Nascent Soul, they face the Nascent Soul Tribulation; when magical treasures become sentient, they face the Spiritual Treasure Tribulation. Similarly, spirit pills, talismans, and formations will also face Heavenly Tribulation once they reach the fourth tier threshold. There are no exceptions to this impartial treatment.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Xiao Miao nodded, then suddenly realized, “So, this present calamity…”

“Is precisely the Spiritual Treasure Tribulation!”

Elder Zhen spoke solemnly, “The earlier quaking of earth and mountains must have been due to some incident occurring at the core of the Spirit Vein of Green Jade Mountain.”

“This person has just advanced to Nascent Soul and took the core of Green Jade Mountain’s Spirit Vein to refine treasures. Successfully creating a sentient magical treasure, they have drawn the Spiritual Treasure Tribulation.”

“A sentient magical treasure ranks at the fourth tier!”

“Besides being a fourth tier Array Formation Grandmaster, is he also a fourth tier Artifact Refining Grandmaster?”

“Which old ghost couldn’t stand the quiet, running to this Void Spirit Realm to stir up trouble…”

As Elder Zhen spoke, full of confusion, Xiao Miao’s heart was also a mix of emotions.

At this moment…

“Rumbling!”

The wind surged, and thunder roared with flashes of lightning.

The Heavenly Tribulation arrived again, directly overwhelming Green Jade.

People were fearful, in a state of panic, when someone from within the mountain stepped out, ascending to the heavens alone.

“King Shifa!”

“This…”

Witnessing this scene, the people outside the mountain were all stunned.

How is it him again?

Didn’t he just overcome it?

Does this Heavenly Tribulation need to be crossed twice?

The crowd was filled with shock and uncertainty.

The Taoist man didn’t speak, soaring alone into the sky, he took a seat among the tribulation clouds.

Immediately afterward…

“Boom!”

The tribulation clouds collided, lightning flashed and sputtered, and in their midst, a sharp golden light and a deep yellow light intersected with the lightning, completing the tribulation.

“Is this…”

“Geng Metal Thunder!”

“Wutu Thunder!”

“Innate lightning, Heavenly Crafts Natural Creation!”

In Xiao Miao’s mind, Elder Zhen exclaimed in shock, “This old ghost is refining a Spiritual Treasure with the powers of Metal and Earth!”

“The powers of Metal and Earth…”

“Boom!”

Just as Xiao Miao’s doubts began to arise, thunder roared intensely once again.

Gengjin and Wutu, the two great Pre-Heaven Five Elements forces, merged with the heaven and earth lightning and struck directly at Xu Yang, who was sitting amidst the clouds.

Xu Yang was unconcerned, flipping his hand to throw out an object, which was indeed a seal.

The seal was a greenish hue, as if cast from bronze, with an Azure Dragon as the knob and mountains and rocks as its base, exuding a sense of sturdiness from the inside out. Streams of energy fell in all directions, with each breath and thread carrying the weight of the Three Mountains and Five Peaks.

A treasure indeed, a true treasure!

As soon as the treasure appeared, it began to turn, tumbling into the midst of the lightning, embracing the refinement of the thunder.

Heavenly Tribulation is both a calamity and an opportunity.

It is so for people, and the same for other things.

The opportunity of the Heavenly Tribulation can affect a cultivator’s future path and can also determine the future of a Spiritual Treasure.

How much potential it has, and what its upper limit might be, all depends on how much of this Heavenly Tribulation opportunity it can seize.

Xu Yang certainly wanted to do it perfectly, under the premise of measuring his strength to achieve the maximum potential of this Three Mountains and Five Peaks Thunderfire Overturning Heaven Seal.

Therefore…

“Hum!”

A golden light flew out from the Heavenly Spirit, rising straight into the nine heavens.

Yang God Trance, performing the ways of the Heavenly Master.

Guiding the tribulation lightning to refine the Spiritual Treasure.

Suddenly…

“Boom!”

The accumulated clouds collided; there was a flash of lightning and peals of thunder; the force of the Heavenly Tribulation rapidly intensified.

“The Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!”

“It’s the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation again!”

“He’s using the Heavenly Tribulation to refine the treasure, this madman!”

Seeing this scene, the three individuals from the Tianshu Sect inside Yunji clenched their teeth tightly, feeling terrified yet powerless.

“Just the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!”

In Xiao Miao’s mind, Elder Zhen actually laughed as if he had already adapted, “I thought you would draw the 99 Heaven Tribulations. Seems like the old ghost doesn’t have that ability, haha!”

Xiao Miao:

We’ll set aside the reactions of the crowd for now.

Xu Yang sat amidst the clouds, on one hand guiding the heaven and earth tribulation lightning, while on the other hand controlling the lightning to refine the treasure.

Heavenly Tribulation Creation is a rare opportunity.

Although as a Daoist Celestial Master, he could also summon heaven and earth lightning.

But the thunder he summoned was just that, thunder, lacking the creation aspect of this moment.

Geng Metal Thunder!

Wutu Thunder!

What is Geng Metal, and what is Wutu Earth?

Innate among the Five Elements, Metal is called Geng, Earth is called Wutu!

Gengjin and Wutu are the metallic and earth forces among the Innate Five Elements.

Innate objects, so precious, have almost vanished from this world, only the heaven and earth tribulations can reproduce their might.

If he could seize this opportunity and merge a bit of the essence of the Innate Five Elements into the Spiritual Treasure, it could greatly elevate both the quality of the Spiritual Treasure and its future potential.

Therefore, Xu Yang couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“Boom!”

The nine thunders struck in rotation, one after another.

The Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, lightning to refine the treasure.

Xu Yang sat within the tribulation clouds, deploying the Heavenly Crafts Natural Creation Technique, with skills like “Heavenly Craftsman” and “Heavenly Thunder Earthly Fire” to assist, he concentrated completely, manipulating the tribulation lightning to temper the Three Mountains and Five Peaks Seal within.

The Three Mountains and the Five Peaks, Thunderfire Overturning Heaven.

The former already had the core of Green Jade Mountain and countless metallic and earth element materials as its foundation.

The latter, a rarity among lightning objects, had to be filled in with various fire element substances.

To truly refine the Three Mountains and Five Peaks Thunderfire Overturning Heaven Seal, he had to rely on this final heavenly and earthly tribulation lightning, chance, and creation.

Xu Yang exerted all his strength without reservation, determined to create this treasure.

With that, the golden tribulation lightning struck in turn.

Six rounds, nine tiers, with fifty-four strikes, the measure of tribulation was complete.

In the midst of the skies, the tribulation clouds had vanished, leaving only a golden yellow thunderous light, as if it were a heavenly furnace forging treasures.

Xu Yang stood outside, performing Heavenly Craft Creation, casting Array patterns and Talismans one by one, aiding the Spiritual Treasure in its transformation while also imprinting his own mark.

Otherwise, once the Spiritual Treasure was refined, if he could not command it with ease, that would be a joke.

Finally…

“Boom!”

“Roar!!!”

Amidst the roaring thunder, a dragon’s roar erupted.

The next instant, the brilliance was retracted, the thunder had subsided, leaving only a dragon shadow surging toward Xu Yang.

Xu Yang’s expression remained unchanged as he extended his hand.

The True Dragon roared as it approached, landing in his hand, becoming a seal, a shining golden seal.

The seal that was once greenish and seemed carved from jade, had now turned entirely golden yellow. Around it, besides the flow of mountainous Earth Aura, there were streaks of lightning and electricity flickering, the sounds of the wind and flames uncertain.

It was indeed a Middle Grade Spiritual Treasure—The Three Mountains and Five Peaks Thunderfire Overturning Heaven Seal!

Xu Yang fully executed the Heavenly Artifact Refining Technique, and with the help of various Skill Traits, he finally seized the Heavenly Tribulation Creation opportunity for the Spiritual Treasure, melding a bit of the Innate Five Elements Essence and the powers of Geng Metal and Wutu Earth into the Overturning Heaven Seal.

This Overturning Heaven Seal, not only ranked as a Middle Grade, but also possessed immense potential.

A sentient treasure, enlightened and intelligent, has the ability to grow.

But just like cultivators, being able to grow and having potential are two different concepts.

With the essence of the Innate Five Elements, the Overturning Heaven Seal could not only grow but had tremendous potential, akin to a cultivator with an Upper Grade Heavenly Spirit, whose future achievements are limitless.

As for Xu Yang’s mood, there is no need to say more.

Originally, he only wished to refine a Lower Grade Spiritual Treasure to fulfill the occasion, but he ended up with a Middle Grade Spiritual Treasure unexpectedly.

An unexpected joy, but also within reason—all resulting from toil and cultivation, the fruits of his labor.

Xu Yang didn’t say much, taking the Spiritual Treasure with him as he returned into the mountains, leaving behind the crowd who were at a loss for words, not knowing how to react.