Chapter 404

Chapter 404: Facing the Tribulation Thunder in Mid-Condense Essence

The supreme Miao Jade shattered into countless sparkling pieces.

Without any spiritual energy, earth, water, fire, wind, Yin, Yang, or thunder, only a wisp of smoky vapor undulated, drawn by the Treasure Cabinet Array, and vanished from sight.

“Hmm?” Li Hui was astonished, truly astonished. Since he began his cultivation journey, he had never felt such wonder as he did now. The smoke transformed into spiritual liquid, a rarity, with only ten drops.

These ten drops of spiritual liquid each took on different forms.

Though small, they were exquisite!

They transformed into a dragon, phoenix, turtle, whale, snail, lizard, eagle, insect, dog, and monkey. Each vividly captured the essence and displayed an extraordinary demeanor; although they were tiny, they felt astonishingly large when observed closely.

“What is this? A grain of sand is a world, a tree is a Bodhi! Remarkable, the spiritual energy has condensed into tangible forms. Just the dragon-shaped spiritual liquid contains enough dragon energy for me to absorb for years. The turtle-shaped spiritual liquid seems to possess life-extending capabilities, very similar to profound qi. Just one piece of supreme Miao Jade has not only far greater spiritual energy than a hundred pieces of high-grade Miao Jade, but its wonders qualify it as a treasure of the world!”

“What a treasure! Whoever obtains this will never reveal it to the public; its benefits cannot be measured by logic.” Li Hui grew wary. “The Green Copper Hall will not let this go easily; those six pieces of supreme Miao Jade are too extraordinary.”

The Treasure Cabinet Array burst into action, functioning like a massive grinding wheel, constantly wearing down the ten drops of spiritual liquid. Three hundred sixty-five crystal shields formed a formation, collectively targeting the ten drops, making the task surprisingly laborious.

“Splash, splash…” The sound of flowing water resonated in his ears, and the purple crystal shields became dazzling.

Li Hui took a deep breath. His potential surged, and attaining mid-Condense Essence posed no obstacles at all, even boosting his profound qi cultivation simultaneously.

“So fast? Earlier, the Yuan Chen Heavenly Mansion ceramic vase boosted my profound qi cultivation four levels at once, saving me years of grueling effort. With the vase in hand to accelerate my time flow for practice, I was close to breaking through to the fifth tier, but the enhancement speed halted due to a bottleneck. I thought I would be stalled for a while, but after shattering one piece of supreme Miao Jade, the bottleneck was resolved as if it never existed.”

“Truly marvelous!”

“I’ve broken through to the fifth tier of the ultimate stage, which means that even without the Treasure Cabinet, as long as I can handle the grueling effort, I will eventually advance my cultivation to the mid-stage Bosa.”

“But how can I wait that long? I still need to rely on the Treasure Cabinet to accumulate and expend potential, forcefully lifting my cultivation higher.”

Li Hui had already dealt with the troublesome monk fruit. Since his potential and cultivation were fine, what was he waiting for? He quickly started the promotion process.

Not long after, a ringing sound emerged from within, and his spiritual sense grew.

“Crack…” A dull thunderclap sounded above.

At that moment, Li Hui felt extremely frustrated; he had never expected that ascending to mid-Condense Essence would trigger a heavenly tribulation, mixed with Zhang Daoheng’s calamity of forgetfulness.

Previously, when he was ascending, the monk fruit appeared to cause trouble. Now, just as he finally suppresses the monk fruit with his External Transformation, the heavens caused another stir.

Logically, heavenly tribulation should only come when a mid-Condense Essence cultivator advances to the early Bosa stage. He only possessed mid-Condense Essence body refinement achievements; even if he reached perfection, wasn’t this treatment too extreme?

Soon, Li Hui realized it was not he who had called upon the heavenly tribulation, but rather the Dao Rhythm Residual Talisman taking the opportunity to undergo its tribulation while seemingly intending to absorb the calamity power.

“Crack, crack, crack…” Thunder and lightning flared, flooding his vision with light.

His spiritual sense was tempered as Li Hui sat down on the ground, allowing the heavenly tribulation to fall upon him.

Magical artifacts must also undergo three tribulations before possibly becoming spirit treasures, and the Ideal Body similarly needed to face tribulations to grow.

About three incense sticks later, his body erupted with a resounding boom, like a ferocious beast roaring at the heavens, welcoming an even more brilliant flash of lightning.

This was a confrontation between man and heaven!!!

The Green Emperor Yuanhong Vine burst through his clothing, resembling two stout arms bracing against the onslaught, while the green-scaled shield whirled around.

His Personal Artifact was connected to his meridians, as fluid as his fingers, boasting immense power.

The heavenly tribulation lasted for two hours, and Li Hui felt as if he were wrestling with heaven itself, evenly matched. Both sides held back, which meant neither could overpower the other.

As the calamity clouds began to disperse, Bai Ze emerged, swallowing toward the sky, and visibly grew in size. On his second and third bites, he expanded rapidly to the size of a calf.

“Nice! I can see further now; this is getting better!” Li Hui surveyed his surroundings, satisfied with a nod. “Thanks to this thunder tribulation, I’ve consumed the spiritual talisman within the Green Emperor Yuanhong Vine. Next, I must arrange things with the Mysterious Pearl, as half of the treasures from the Green Copper Hall are prepared specifically for structuring the cave heaven’s formations.”

Not wanting Yao’er to worry, he quickly placed the Mysterious Pearl down and immediately entered it.

As soon as he stepped inside, the four fiends absolute kill suppression array activated.

“Seize the Day Talisman!” He softly murmured, and the time flow instantly reached sixty times, a tenfold increase since his elevation to mid-Condense Essence.

Li Hui took out four Pangu stones for suppressing evil and hurled them in the direction of the sources of the sinister energy.

Treasures are indeed treasures; the sinister energy immediately quelled. He hurried over to set up the formation, discovering the sinister energy emanated from four ancient beast bones, placed atop the array disk, with an array map overhead resembling a rolled-up curtain.

“So, that’s it! How fearsome the beast bones are. This is the Four Fiends Absolute Kill Suppression Array; just merely using the sinister energy is impressive. If someone were to preside over it, the power could be increased by several times.”

The array disk clanked and gradually pushed the Pangu stones aside. Li Hui dared not hesitate, correcting the array disk’s position and leaving a passage between them.

With that, the Four Fiends Absolute Kill Suppression Array became the first layer of defense.

He plunged down using Dao Traces to form an array, and that was truly impressive. Li Hui quickly took out two Awakening Grasses, stuffing them into his mouth to chew and swallow.

Awakening Grass helps people comprehend the Dao; using it on breaking arrays was a waste. If anyone knew he was so extravagant, cultivators would surely gather to protest!

“Oh? So impressive? The first layer of Dao Traces has a mesmerizing quality, and this should be called the Misty Sky Formation. The second layer’s Dao Traces dramatically increase power; it should be called the Four Symbols Decay Formation. Anyone caught within will be impacted by the traces of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, soon leading to decay.” Li Hui moved with Daoist steps, taking out three palm-sized coins to toss into the Misty Sky Formation.

The coins ascended with a golden aura, serving as a staircase, allowing him to smoothly cross into the Four Symbols Decay Formation, where he saw a giant turtle barely clinging to life.

This giant turtle had been used by the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect earlier to suppress enemies. After years of nurturing, it must have taken an immense amount of effort; otherwise, half-demons would find it hard to reach this level.

“Tsk, tsk, the shell is tough; it hasn’t completely died yet.” Li Hui stood upon the turtle’s back, surveyed the area, and pulled out a pearl, smashing it against the shell. A gentle breeze emerged as he navigated deeper into the formation.

Below the Four Symbols Decay Formation were the Waves of Light Array and Ice Freeze Array. Without treasures to decrease the difficulty, only a mid-stage Bosa cultivator could dare to attempt this, and he would need to prepare various Duobao talismans.

With a “boom,” Li Hui finally returned to the Xuancha Cave Heaven, where the majestic Celestial Tree radiated layers of brilliance, and a lake gathered beneath it.

“Father!” The Golden Jade Peach Tree swayed with splendor, and upon hearing Yao’er’s cheer, the giant turtle looked on in disbelief as dozens of demonic energies surged into the sky.