Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

The Heavenly Cold Spirit Pool.

This is a top-tier cultivation sanctuary.

In the center of the pool was a lotus platform, where Yu Luoning sat cross-legged with her hands facing upwards.

A thin layer of frost gradually condensed on the crystal-clear ice platform, causing tiny ripples to spread across the originally calm spirit pool.

The next moment, the spiritual energy within a ten-mile radius seemed to be summoned by something, rushing madly towards the spiritual pool and converging on the lotus ice platform.

Cui Xiujing stood at the edge, her upper body naked, with ambiguous marks on her chest.

He stood motionless, his purple eyes fixed intently on the center of the pool.

The vital essence of a powerful cultivator is of great benefit to cultivation.

Therefore, after each time he finished absorbing the primordial yang, Yu Luoning would draw the primordial yang back into his body.

She still dared not cultivate Lianfei's inheritance, as Yu Luoning always had a feeling that the cultivators from the outer realms would not let the matter rest.

I wonder what heinous things this patriarch of the Hehuan Sect did back then that made the outer realms hate him so much.

Speaking of cultivation, she had previously extracted the vital essence of two people in the Great Dao of Ten Thousand Emotions. That one time alone allowed her to faintly break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Now, Yu Luoning clearly feels that she is about to break through again.

She immersed herself completely in cultivation, and spiritual energy circulated through her body like a tide for several cycles before finally flowing into the depths of her dantian.

At this moment, she seemed to be immersed in a hazy, ethereal mist.

The Purple Mansion Path is inherently a barrier between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core, requiring ordinary cultivators to cultivate diligently for at least several decades.

Yu Luoning closed her eyes and looked inward at her dantian. At that moment, she saw a ball of light purple light gathering in her dantian.

She focused her mind and looked through the clouds of spiritual energy, staring directly at the center of the ball of light, where she saw what appeared to be the outline of a vague palace.

Is this the Purple Mansion?

Cui Xiu, who was standing to the side, remained motionless.

He looked at Yu Luoning quietly, his eyes sparkling.

A moment later, he looked up at the sky above. Dark clouds were rolling and thunder was raging, making the sky seem to collapse.

This is the Purple Mansion Thunder Tribulation.

There are three stages of the Purple Mansion Tribulation: tempering the body, tempering the meridians, and tempering the soul.

These correspond to the physical body, the soul, and the Dao heart.

Cui Xiu wanted to take out a magic weapon to completely isolate Yu Luoning from the three lightning tribulations.

However, the essence of the three tribulations of lightning is to temper the cultivator himself. He can share the damage, but he can never be completely unaffected by the tribulations.

Otherwise, with an unstable foundation, one will be easily subject to backlash when advancing to the Golden Core realm.

For the sake of the long term, Cui Xiu suppressed the restlessness in her heart.

When the first bolt of lightning, carrying the might of heaven, struck down, Yu Luoning felt a sharp, intense soreness all over his body, as if all his bones had been broken and reassembled.

Cui Xiu looked at her charred and hideous skin, and his heart tightened instinctively.

"I...I can still hold on." Yu Luoning burst into tears from the pain, her teeth clenched tightly.

Upon hearing this, Cui Xiu had no choice but to withdraw the protective divine light that had been gathered at his fingertips.

Even though it was Yu Luoning's tribulation, he was so nervous that he clenched his fingers, and blood seeped out from between his fingers, but he was completely unaware of it.

Immediately afterwards, the Heavenly Dao brewed a second bolt of purple lightning.

Yu Luoning's spiritual meridians were expanded, causing his flesh and blood to tear apart, leaving him in a terrible state.

She suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, and her body almost fell backward and off the lotus platform.

Soon, a figure appeared behind her, steadied her, and fed her the Wanling Snow Lingzhi.

"That's enough! Stop being stubborn."

Yu Luoning weakly opened her eyes, "No, I want to... become stronger... become stronger."

Cui Xiuzi stared intently at her, her brows furrowed with tenderness.

He didn't say anything, but just kept supporting her until the third lightning tribulation was brewing, then he stepped back again.

The third tribulation of lightning is a test of one's Dao heart.

A bolt of lightning, entwined with countless illusions, struck Yu Luoning, while Cui Xiu, standing on the shore, froze.

Not to mention him, even Yu Luoning was stunned. She hadn't expected the third tribulation to be a love affair.

As the illusion descended, Yu Luoning seemed to see the many men entangled in her life: Shi Shangxu covered in blood, Li Yunyu with a gloomy expression, Feng Qiguang with indifference and aloofness, and Cui Xiu with icy opposition...

"The purity of the Way of Love lies in exclusivity. If you wish to form the Golden Core, you must sever all other branches, focus your mind on one person, and refrain from being tempted by greed..."

Yu Luoning: "..."

No, you're being a bit nosy.

Why should she care about everything, including how many people she likes?

The next second, the illusion shifted, and everyone she cared about died for her, and everyone was bleeding.

At that moment, a deep, ancient voice rang in his mind: "Your greed has ruined them. If you hadn't provoked them, they would all have achieved their own great paths. It was you who ruined them."

Yu Luoning stared intently at the illusion before her. Everything seemed so real. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed, and she was overwhelmed by guilt and despair.

"You're right, I'm the one who ruined them..."

"Then choose one person to die for, and abandon the rest."

At this moment, all around was silent, and the illusion began to change.

The saga of time and place faded into the distance, the phoenix's light departed, Li Yunyu perished in the snowstorm, and Cui Xiu vanished as starlight…

This is a dead end; if one of them goes to the other, the rest will be reduced to ashes.

Yu Luoning remained silent for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

Choose one?

Why did she choose this path? Her path has never been one of ruthlessness, nor one of unwavering devotion.

"Do you Heavenly Dao beings all particularly enjoy making others make choices?"

"The Great Way is singular, and those who are greedy cannot attain it? Who told you that if you like one person, you can't like another? Where did you come from, you old-fashioned, feudalistic type? What makes you think I'm following the path of love?"

"Let me tell you, my philosophy is to follow my heart; I like what I like. I don't accept any definition of my life from others."

"I won't choose any of them, I want them all."

The next instant, an even more powerful bolt of purple lightning crashed down, shattering the illusion inch by inch. Yu Luoning suddenly opened her hands.

Within his dantian, the Purple Mansion had solidified, and a pressure far exceeding that of the Foundation Establishment stage surged into the sky.

Is that all?

Yu Luoning opened her eyes, her mind filled with a daze.

After a moment, her mind raced, and she suddenly understood.

It wasn't a multiple-choice question; it was simply about putting the person she cared about most and couldn't bear to part with in front of her, and seeing if she would make a choice against her will in order to break through to the Purple Mansion realm.

You might be able to deceive yourself for now, but what about the future? Heaven remembers everything clearly.

If you do something against your conscience, your cultivation will stagnate forever.

Yu Luoning's face was deathly pale, and her thin back was covered in cold sweat.

I almost did, but thankfully I stayed true to myself.

All.

At the same time, countless disciples of the Dongbao Upper Sect stopped cultivating and looked up in one direction.

"Look! Someone at Zhexue Peak has broken through!"

"Isn't it just the Ancestor and his personal disciple on Zhexue Peak?"

"Besides that senior sister, who else could it be?"

"But wasn't she only at the Foundation Establishment stage? How could she break through to the Purple Mansion stage so quickly?"

The air was quiet for a moment, then the sound of breathing rose and fell.

"My God! Breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm in just half a month? Really?"

At the main peak, Cheng Min stood under the corridor of the main hall, his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.

"These people are truly incomparable," Elder Lei sighed beside him.

He added, "Back then, it took us a full thirty years to break through to the Purple Mansion realm."

Cheng Min glanced sideways, then suddenly smiled, revealing her teeth, "Remove the word 'men,' and I only needed two years."

Elder Lei: "..."

Beast Taming Peak.

Xu Bifa is feeding the spirit beast.

At this moment, he looked up at the purple light filling the sky and finally laughed, "Sure enough, I knew she wouldn't just stay at the Foundation Establishment stage forever." Then Xu Bifa continued to feed the spirit beast.

Inside the cave, Su Man'er pulled away from the embrace of the person beside her.

She straightened her clothes and in a flash, she arrived at the terrace in front of the cave. Gazing at the sea of ​​clouds, her eyes sparkled and her lips curved into a seductive smile.

"Oh, not bad progress!"

This same scenario also occurred on the other seven peaks.

"That person had only been accepting disciples for a little over half a month, and one of his disciples had already broken through to the Purple Mansion realm. Such talent is truly the envy of others."

"All disciples, listen to my command: from today onwards, each of you shall intensify your cultivation efforts."

The disciples wailed in despair.

And yet another rumor has surfaced concerning Yu Luoning.

Meanwhile, in the market town at the foot of the Dongbao Mountains, the Pan family elders, who had been expelled from the sect, gazed at the summit of a majestic snow-capped peak.

His face was ashen. "Purple Mansion? She actually broke through! We can't wait any longer..."

...This is the dividing line for the Bai family to come and propose marriage tomorrow...