Mortal: I really didn't want to be reborn as Zi Ling!

This delay lasted forty years.

It took Zi Ling a full forty years to push her cultivation back to the late Foundation Establishment stage, which took nearly twice as long as before she lost her power.

Now, there are only twenty-odd years left until the hundred-year period agreed upon with Jin Kui.

Zi Ling opened her eyes and looked down at her hands resting on her knees.

A faint purple aura swirled around her fingertips, solid and pure, indeed much more refined than before her powers dissipated.

But the price is also there—forty years have passed.

If one were to dissipate their cultivation and start over, unless they consumed a large amount of pills made from the inner cores of demonic beasts, there would be absolutely no possibility of forming a core before the deadline of twenty years later.

The problem is—if you take a lot of pills made from the inner cores of demonic beasts during the Foundation Establishment stage, what will happen after you reach the Core Formation stage?

Although pills made from the inner cores of demonic beasts are extremely potent, excessive consumption can lead to drug resistance.

More importantly, once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, you've reached the end of this path. If you want to advance further after Core Formation, the required grade of pills will increase exponentially.

She wasn't as lucky as Han Li, who had the great benefactor Feng hope force-feed her Azure Flame Wine until she reached the late Core Formation stage.

There's another point—even if you take a pill made from the inner core of a demon beast, what if you fail to form a core after dissipating your power again?

After all, the cultivation technique she is currently practicing is not a true demonic cultivation method.

Although her magic power was imbued with a hint of demonic nature due to the broken pearl, and her virginal body was naturally activated to some extent, Zi Ling could sense that the activation only brought out part of the body's effects.

Perhaps the cultivation method is not suitable enough, or perhaps the broken pearl is too damaged. In any case, the complete virgin's pure yin body is definitely not limited to this.

Her special constitution was ultimately separated by something, preventing her from fully unleashing its potential.

There is still a considerable possibility of failure in the process of forming the Golden Core.

Zi Ling took a deep breath, suppressing the chaotic thoughts in her mind.

Having cultivated for sixty or seventy years, her temperament is no longer that of the little girl who wanted to calculate everything perfectly when she first transmigrated.

There are always trade-offs in everything.

If you try to grasp everything, you'll often end up grasping nothing at all.

"Forget it, I won't dwell on it anymore."

She raised her head and her gaze fell on the jade box that had been prepared beforehand on the stone platform in front of her.

The jade box is pure white, and its surface is covered with densely packed restriction patterns, with a faint spiritual light flowing through it.

"If I successfully form my core, whether I've perfected the Three Revolutions Rejuvenation Technique becomes irrelevant. With my dantian capacity being three times that of an ordinary person, no one at the same cultivation level could possibly have more powerful magic power than me. If I'm still agonizing over this, how are others supposed to survive?"

She reached out and touched the clasp of the jade box with her fingertips.

With a soft click, the lid popped open.

Four items lay quietly inside the jade box.

A Dust-Clearing Pill obtained from Elder Gu's storage bag. A drop of Heavenly Fire Liquid, entirely crimson and radiating a scorching aura. A tube of Snow Spirit Water as thin as a hair. And a Disillusionment Pill, entirely grayish-white with a thin layer of mist swirling around its surface.

Zi Ling's gaze swept over the four items one by one, finally settling on the spiritual light shining from the dome of the secret chamber, where it lingered for a long time.

A moment later, she reached out and poured the Heavenly Fire Liquid and Snow Spirit Water into her stomach one after the other.

-

one year later.

On this day, on the thirty-ninth floor of Tianxing City, above the Purple Spirit Cave, the wind and clouds suddenly changed color.

At first, it was just a gentle breeze that brushed against the spirit bamboo in front of the cave, making the bamboo leaves rustle.

Several low-level cultivators passing by did not pay any attention, taking it as just a normal fluctuation of airflow from the dome formation of Tianxing City.

But the wind blew faster and faster, and the bamboo leaves went from trembling slightly to dancing wildly. An invisible pressure spread outward from the depths of the cave, pressing heavily on everyone's hearts, making it difficult to even breathe.

Some people stopped and looked up at the sky.

Above the cave dwelling, a pale blue spiritual cloud had gathered at some unknown time.

The spiritual cloud was initially only a few feet in diameter and as thin as gauze, but in just a few breaths it expanded to a size of tens of feet, shrouding the entire street in its shadow.

The clouds churned and rolled, as if something was brewing within them, emanating a faint, low hum that made the windows along the street tremble slightly.

-

The protective barrier in front of the Purple Spirit Cave began to fluctuate violently.

Streaks of cyan mixed with pale purple spiritual light emanated from the cracks in the stone door, as if something inside was eagerly waiting to break free.

The light grew brighter and denser, eventually transforming into a thick pillar of light that pierced through the stone gate, penetrated the dome, and shot straight into the cloud of spiritual energy.

boom--

A deep rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.

The spiritual cloud began to spin at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a huge vortex.

A golden light appeared at the center of the vortex, and the light spread rapidly, dyeing half of the sky a pale gold.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of dozens of miles seemed to be drawn by some irresistible force, frantically converging towards the center of the vortex from all directions.

The spiritual energy was so dense it was almost tangible, leaving visible white streaks in the air.

Those few Qi Refining stage cultivators had already been forced to their knees by this spiritual pressure.

One of the youngest boys was deathly pale and trembling uncontrollably; he didn't even dare to look up.

The middle-aged cultivator beside him was slightly better off, barely managing to support himself on his arms as he half-knelt on the ground, but his face was filled with horror—he had lived for over a hundred years and had never seen such a terrifying celestial phenomenon.

"This...this is...someone forming their Core Formation, or perhaps their Nascent Soul?"

He muttered to himself, his tone filled with disbelief.

"How is it possible to condense a Nascent Soul?! Who would condense a Nascent Soul on the thirty-ninth floor?"

The companion beside him gritted his teeth and retorted, his voice trembling, "The spiritual energy concentration here is simply insufficient. Only a madman would choose a place like this—but this commotion..."

He didn't finish speaking.

Because he knew in his heart that even if this commotion was not the formation of the Nascent Soul stage, it must be the formation of the Core stage, but this Core formation phenomenon had exceeded the scope of normal Core formation.

He himself had personally witnessed a senior forming his core in the outer sea. The spiritual cloud that senior summoned was only a few dozen feet long, and the spiritual energy vortex was only seven or eight miles in circumference.

The scene before them—the spiritual cloud covered an area of ​​at least twenty or thirty miles.

It doesn't look like a Core Formation cultivator at all.

If it's not Core Formation, then what is it?

On the other side of the thirty-ninth floor, in an ordinary cave dwelling, several Star Palace patrolling disciples also stopped.

They were on a routine patrol, but the celestial phenomenon startled them so much that they forgot their business.

"Good heavens! This weather... who on earth is this?"

"Who cares who they are? We just happened to run into them, so why don't we ask for a drink? Maybe we can even get some spirit stones..."

The other one didn't care at all. Those who were sent on patrol either had no background or limited prospects. They certainly didn't want to miss this opportunity to gain an advantage by saying a few nice words.

However, the group still looked at the person in the lead.

The slightly burly man at the head of the group looked up at the pillar of light shooting into the sky, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

"It's that Zi Ling."

His voice carried a hint of something indescribable.

More than sixty years ago, he saw Zi Ling once in the plaza on the seventieth floor. At that time, she was a twelve-year-old girl who was questioned by Brother Zhao and himself in public, but she did not change her expression.

Now, less than seventy years later, she has actually begun to form her core?

He was stuck in the late Foundation Establishment stage for seventy years, and his three attempts to break through to Core Formation all ended in failure.

What gives her the right?

Based on that face alone?

Based solely on Elder Jin Kui's favoritism?

Still relying on...

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, and roared inwardly.

"Brother Liu, do you think we should go and congratulate him?"

Seeing that the captain was not speaking for a long time, someone cautiously asked.

"Hmph~ Congratulations for what? Don't forget our duty. The Chaotic Star Sea hasn't been peaceful these past few years. If someone with ill intentions were to infiltrate, could you bear the responsibility?"

The man didn't expect that his captain would not only disagree, but also give him a severe scolding.

After reprimanding them, the cultivator surnamed Liu glanced angrily in that direction again before continuing his patrol.

"Holy crap—what is this? Does he really think he's still that Young Master Liu?"

"Keep your voice down. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. What if they give you a hard time—you'll be in trouble!"

"What a pity!"

"That's such a pity!"

The group looked in the direction of the Core Formation stage, and despite their reluctance, they could only follow Captain Liu's lead.