Nine-Thunder Core Formation Tribulation!

In the otherwise peaceful Great Xia Sword Sect, alarm bells suddenly tolled! In an instant, the elders of the various peaks still present in the sect drew out red jade slips to transmit their voices. "Attention all disciples out for trials!! Swords rise at Mount Tianyu! Return at once!!" Within a dozen breaths, every disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect at or above the Foundation Establishment realm took to their swords and flew toward the sect square! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Beams of spiritual light appeared in the hands of the peak elders! These lights expanded against the wind into pitch-black array daises, each spanning ten zhang across. Precious mid-grade spirit stones were inlaid into the daises, causing them to erupt with dazzling brilliance! All five daises were teleportation array daises! The faces of every elder and disciple grew grave. An elder called out the command: "All disciples, enter the arrays at once! This conflict is with Ziyang Palace!" "I expect every one of you to be ready for slaughter!" "Into the arrays!!" Nearly a thousand disciples in the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation realms showed not a trace of cowardice, rising on their swords in unison! Meanwhile, at the foot of Mount Tianyu, Li Nanting ordered the disciples under him to toss their jade slips into the air. With a sharp crack, five jade slips shattered midair! The runic formations concealed within the slips emerged, serving as spatial beacons for the sect's teleportation array daises. In a flash, the light of five ten-zhang teleportation arrays materialized in the courtyard. Having finished this, the old man could wait no longer. Turning to Ye Feng and the others, he instructed, "Stay right here!" "Whether it's the sect master or anyone else, as soon as they arrive, head straight for the Fuyou Mountain Range!!" Ye Feng and the others nodded solemnly. Yet the moment the old man left, Ye Feng turned and ran. Tossing out his longsword, he yelled back at Lin Dong and the other disciple, "You two wait here! Let me know the moment you have any news!" Lin Dong roared back with worry in his eyes, "Where are you going?" Without looking back, Ye Feng flew on his sword, his eyes darting as he darted straight toward Ziyang Palace's courtyard! "Pant... pant..." "I just hope Ziyang Palace's elders don't return too quickly!" Yet when he reached Ziyang Palace's courtyard, he found it already surrounded three layers deep by a crowd of onlookers. After asking around, Ye Feng learned that Li Guanqi had killed two people right here in this courtyard!! At the same time, he saw the gruesome state of the two Ziyang Palace disciples in the yard. "Of the thirty disciples from Ziyang Palace, only those ten gave chase." "Thank goodness, thank goodness..." Ye Feng looked around for someone who had arrived early, leaning in to ask about the current situation. Seeing someone actively seeking him out to listen, a burly man began to recount the tale, spittle flying. Yet as the man spoke with mounting excitement, Ye Feng's expression turned grim as dark water, his face ashen. He had not expected the disciples of Ziyang Palace to react so quickly! "They informed their sect elders right from the start...?" "Lingxiao Pavilion is thousands of li from here. Even for Nascent Soul elders, rushing back would take at least eight shichen!" Ye Feng, calculating with lowered head, suddenly looked up! "Not good!! The other side is already returning!!" With no time to think, Ye Feng immediately sent a transmission to Gu Ran. "Quickly tell Elder Li that Ziyang Palace's people are about to return!!" Gu Ran's expression shifted slightly upon hearing the message from the jade slip, and she hurried to relay the news to Li Nanting. Ye Feng flew on his sword straight toward the Fuyou Mountain Range, encountering many onlookers along the way. Naturally, their chatter reached his ears. "He really is a madman! That guy barged straight onto Ziyang Palace's territory and killed two people in front of everyone! How ruthless!" "Tch, I heard it was because Ziyang Palace disciples severely injured a little girl from the Great Xia Sword Sect." "Still, in my view, aside from being a dark horse, this Li Guanqi is an idiot." A man beside him chuckled. "Oh? Why do you say that, Fellow Daoist?" The speaker curled his lip and replied quietly, "With his strength, he stood a good chance of defeating Zhao Beichen. It wouldn't have been too late to vent his fury after securing the championship for his sect." At these words, the man beside him nodded slightly, appearing to agree completely. Ye Feng listened to such discussions with a cold face, sneering inwardly as he cursed, *None of this happened to them, so every last one stands around talking big! If they went through it themselves, they'd lose control just like Old Li!* Rumble!! A tremendous roar echoed without end, and everyone riding swords looked up into the sky. A hundred li away, the sky had suddenly turned deathly dark. Amidst a storm cloud spanning a hundred zhang across, lightning flickered!! Ye Feng swallowed hard, muttering in a daze, "This is... breaking through to Core Formation!" Li Nanting, who had just arrived at the Fuyou Mountain Range, noticed it as well. With a grim expression, he transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the distance! At the same time, above Ziyang Palace's courtyard at the foot of Mount Tianyu, a pitch-black tear over a zhang wide suddenly split open in the sky!! From that dark rift, several cold-faced old men slowly emerged! The white-browed elder leading them was none other than Miao Chuanjiang! His gaze frigid and his expression dark, the old man swept his eyes over the courtyard. Then, with a cold snort, he led the people behind him and plunged straight toward the Fuyou Mountain Range without looking back. Meanwhile, within Li Guanqi's body, origin power had condensed into an uneven, lumpy sphere. Its surface was full of pits and ridges, yet this sphere, half the size of a human head, was already showing signs of solidifying! Conversely, Zhao Beichen, sitting cross-legged across the sky, was enveloped in surging waves of golden origin power. The core forming inside him was also the size of two fists. As the thunderclouds gathered in the heavens, both faced the first heavenly tribulation of their lives! The Nine-Thunder Core Formation Tribulation! As long as one did not perish under the nine bolts of tribulation lightning, the core would absorb the power of the lightning to take shape, breaking through the shackle and stepping into the ranks of Core Formation! From then on, their lifespan would extend to five hundred years. Their origin power and divine sense would surge drastically, and they would attain inedia, no longer consuming mortal food. Casting arts would become far more effortless with every gesture, and even without flying on a sword, they could travel by streak of light, covering a thousand li in a single day. Rumble!! The two heavenly tribulations formed at the same time! This sight stunned the arriving onlookers, and many guessed that the two undergoing the tribulation were likely Li Guanqi and Zhao Beichen! Whoosh!! Li Guanqi snapped his eyes open. He looked up at the thundercloud above his head, then flashed several hundred zhang away!! He did not stop until he was nearly five hundred zhang from Zhao Beichen. Only then, his expression turning somewhat grim, did he clearly see the tribulation thundercloud above him—it spanned nearly two hundred zhang across! It was twice the size of Zhao Beichen's tribulation cloud! Rumble!! In an instant, the first bolt of tribulation lightning struck! A purple lightning bolt as thick as a wrist slashed across the horizon, crashing down in a flash!! A savage glint flickered in Li Guanqi's eyes, and without the slightest fear, he raised his sword and charged upward!! From afar, the onlookers could only see a somewhat slender figure boldly meeting the heavenly lightning head-on, slashing out with a single strike!! Bang!! Boom!! With his body bent like a drawn bow, Li Guanqi cleaved downward with his sword!! In an instant, that strike, backed by the force of a fully drawn bow, shattered the bolt of lightning! His eyes bloodshot, Li Guanqi distinctly sensed a clear killing intent emanating from the Red Lotus sword! It was as if to say... so what if it was a heavenly tribulation?