Fellow Daoist, I gladly accept this heaven-defying opportunity.

At this moment, Yuan Feng and his companion finally suppressed their fear and mustered their courage to ask, "Who exactly are you? How dare you trespass into the forbidden area of ​​the Autumn Hunt!"

The young man ignored their questions, simply waving his hand dismissively, his tone as indifferent as if he were dismissing ants: "You're not qualified to know. I've finished asking, get lost."

That posture was exactly like a king dismissing servants outside the palace.

I have never suffered such humiliation before.

Their faces instantly turned a deep shade of liver, filled with shame and indignation. They simultaneously mustered their strength and lunged at the young man from the left and right, shouting, "Arrogant brat! You're asking for death!"

Despite being attacked from both sides, the young man remained calm and simply threw a single punch.

This punch, though seemingly slow, caused the surrounding earth veins to rumble, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to surge in. A faint golden dragon shadow appeared and disappeared on the fist's edge.

The moment the fist was thrown, the void seemed to freeze for a moment.

The two men, who were pouncing in mid-air, suddenly froze. The ferocity on their faces turned into extreme fear. Two muffled bangs rang out, and their two towering bodies exploded into a cloud of blood mist, gradually dissipating.

Xu Mofeng slowly withdrew his fist, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. He looked down at his fist and sighed softly, "The Great Dao Emperor Fist truly lives up to its reputation as a Heaven-Rank martial art. I have only just mastered it, yet its power is already so formidable."

On second thought, this power is not entirely due to martial arts skills.

He underwent several transformations in the royal secret realm. His physical body was like ordinary iron that had been tempered by fierce fire, its impurities removed and its essence preserved, and he had already been reborn. Then, a massive amount of earth vein dragon energy poured into his body, which was like adding heavenly treasures into refined iron, forging it a thousand times over.

Xu Mofeng's physical body is now comparable to a top-grade magic weapon, and has become extremely solid.

Not only his physical body, but also his divine sense and spiritual power were tempered by the dragon energy to the extreme of the Golden Core realm.

Having broken through the tenth level of the Golden Core realm three times, his various foundations have reached a critical point. The next step would be the Nascent Soul path.

"I've obtained another Heaven-Mending Pill from the Imperial Mausoleum, bringing my total to two. Once I condense a third-grade Nascent Soul, I can directly advance to the first grade with this pill!"

Xu Mofeng's eyes gleamed, eager to see the power of a first-grade Nascent Soul.

"This trip to the secret realm has been very fruitful. I should take this opportunity to reflect and digest what I've gained. Perhaps I should go into seclusion here, break through to the Nascent Soul stage, and then return to the Jinliang Kingdom."

With a thought, he made a casual gesture.

The storage rings of the two martial artists flew into his palm automatically. He scanned them with his divine sense and found that they were all ordinary items, so he casually put them away.

He then closed his eyes and concentrated. With the destiny of a true dragon and having absorbed a massive amount of earth vein dragon energy, he was extremely sensitive to the direction of the underground dragon veins.

With a swift movement, he traversed the mountains and forests, and soon found a point where the earth's veins converged.

With a single punch, the hard rock shattered, revealing a cave several meters deep.

Xu Mofeng slipped inside and officially began his seclusion.

Now his divine sense has more than doubled compared to before, and when fully extended, it can cover an area of ​​a hundred miles.

However, there was no need to be so ostentatious about seclusion. He simply spread his divine sense to a range of ten miles before turning his attention inward to examine himself.

Within his dantian meridians, spiritual energy was as thick as mercury, even more so, almost solidifying, far surpassing the advanced stage of the "Purple Gold True Qi".

With a thought, dense spiritual energy slowly converged into his dantian.

Within his dantian, a small glass dagger, a cluster of crimson flames, and a bolt of purple lightning floated silently, representing his three sources of power.

Below the three, a miniature vortex slowly took shape.

The moment the vortex stabilized, large swaths of dark clouds gathered in the sky outside the cave at a visible speed, stretching for dozens of miles and continuing to expand.

The Golden Core realm has been broken through, and the Nascent Soul stage is about to be formed!

……

Another place in the mountains and forests.

Several Golden Core Stage 10 martial artists knelt on the ground, trembling with fear, bowing their heads subserviently to a red-haired youth standing imposingly before them.

The red-haired youth remained expressionless, casually taking away the various command flags offered by the group. His aura was as cold as a knife, making everyone afraid to even breathe.

Suddenly, he sensed something and abruptly turned his head to look in a certain direction.

At the edge of the sky, thick thunderclouds were rapidly gathering in one direction, with flashes of lightning appearing and disappearing, creating a terrifying sight.

"Someone is attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul stage? This kind of phenomenon is definitely not something a lower-grade Nascent Soul cultivator could trigger..."

"Who exactly is this person?"

A hint of surprise flashed in the red-haired youth's eyes. He blurred into a black shadow and sped off toward the thundercloud.

……

In the swamp on the other side.

A massive crocodile let out a final, unwilling roar, its pupils dimming completely.

The aloof, black-robed man sheathed his sword, reached out and sliced ​​open the crocodile's abdomen, retrieving a fist-sized demon core.

This was a demon beast that had condensed its demon core, with strength comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm, yet it perished at his hands.

After putting away the demon core, he picked up a purple command flag from the side and was about to leave when suddenly his mind stirred and he looked up in the direction of the thunderclouds.

"Such a strong fluctuation of spiritual energy... Has someone broken through? Let's go check it out."

The man in black robes vanished in a flash.

……

"Is someone attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul realm?"

"Who's so bold as to dare to break through to a higher realm during the autumn hunt?"

"This thundercloud phenomenon indicates at least a mid-third-grade Nascent Soul cultivator!"

"Is another prodigy about to emerge? Which one from our Wu-Yue Elite List could it be?"

"Let's go! Let's go take a look!"

The thunderclouds stretching for hundreds of miles were so large that they quickly alerted the martial artists throughout the entire mountain forest.

The crowd was both surprised and curious, and they all rushed towards the cave to watch.

At first there were only a few people, but as time went on, there were more and more people. On the rocks and among the bushes, there were many figures, each of whom was at least at the seventh or eighth level of the Golden Core stage.

Several more people were suspended in mid-air, their auras either as blazing as the sun or as cold as the moon. Only those in the Nascent Soul Realm could briefly fly. To have reached the Nascent Soul Realm at such a young age was undoubtedly a top giant among the younger generation in Wu and Yue.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on the entrance to the cave on the mountain wall.

Above the cave, layers of thunderclouds piled up for nearly a hundred miles, obscuring the sky and the sun.

A huge vortex of spiritual energy, shaped like a funnel, frantically poured boundless spiritual energy into the cave.

Such a magnificent sight caused everyone's expressions to change drastically, and they exclaimed in surprise.

"What kind of monster is in that cave? So much spiritual energy poured in; even an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator would be burst!"

"I remember a few years ago when those prodigies condensed their fourth or fifth-grade Nascent Souls, the thunderclouds only stretched for a dozen miles. Compared to this, it's nothing... Could it be that he's going to condense a third-grade Nascent Soul?!"

"It must be a prodigy from Wuyue! I can sense the aura of the Autumn Hunting Command Flag in the cave!"

"Who could it be? They've been working hard for this moment, and they're about to make a name for themselves!"

In mid-air, the red-haired youth and the black-robed man stood side by side, their faces filled with solemnity and apprehension as they looked at the terrifying force before them.

"Do you know who broke through here?"

The red-haired youth asked in a deep voice.

The man in black robes shook his head, his tone icy: "No matter who it is, once this person reaches the Nascent Soul stage, they will definitely become our number one enemy."

"Well said."

A murderous glint flashed in the red-haired youth's eyes.

The two of them took a step forward simultaneously with perfect coordination, raising their hands to unleash an attack on the cave, interrupting this breakthrough.

Suddenly, a powerful divine thought erupted from the depths of the cave, exuding a chilling killing intent.

This divine sense was as sharp as a knife, chilling to the bone, and the air around it hissed softly.

The surrounding cultivators were swept by the divine sense, and their faces turned pale instantly. They felt as if a cold knife was pressed firmly against their brows, and even their breath caught in their throats. They subconsciously staggered backward.

The red-haired youth and the man in black robes in the crowd were not spared either, and a look of surprise flashed across their brows at the same time.

"He's a swordsman! Even his divine sense carries the intent of a sword; this person cultivates the sword!"

"There are only a handful of swordsmen listed on the list of talents, when did such a ruthless character suddenly appear?"

The two men had grim expressions, and the killing intent in their eyes burned even brighter. Far from being deterred by the divine sense, they moved even faster, clearly intending to take advantage of the other's breakthrough to deliver a fatal blow.

Just as the two approached the cave entrance, a bright white crack suddenly tore open in the sky.

Click!

A bolt of lightning struck straight down, hitting the top of the cave.

The already small cave collapsed instantly, sending debris and dust billowing into the sky, forcing the red-haired youth and the man in black robes to stop in their tracks and look up in surprise.

The Nascent Soul Tribulation has officially begun.

"Fine, he's not going to have an easy time today anyway. I want to see how many Nascent Soul tribulations this cowardly fellow can withstand."

The red-haired youth scoffed, abandoning his plan to interrupt, and stood aside with his arms crossed, observing coldly.

The man in black robes nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the churning thunderclouds above, his eyes unfathomable.

The first bolt of lightning disappeared into the ruins, followed closely by the second and third, almost without any interval.

Click! Click! Click!

Three bolts of lightning struck in quick succession, blasting the small hill where Xu Mofeng was in seclusion into a scorched wasteland.

The vegetation on the hillside instantly turned into ashes and charcoal. The earth-shattering power made the surrounding cultivators' hearts tighten.

This is the power of the Heavenly Tribulation, the life-and-death force held by Heaven and Earth.

Even the older generation of cultivators who have already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage would never want to experience it a second time.

boom!

The fourth bolt of lightning crashed down, its power even greater than the previous three combined, and its beam was a full circle thicker.

"Reaching the middle third rank already? That seems too easy..."

Someone in the crowd couldn't help but mutter to themselves.

The words had barely left his mouth when someone next to him scoffed and retorted, "Easy? You must have been struck by lightning and are talking nonsense. If achieving a mid-level third-grade Nascent Soul was that easy, the cultivation world wouldn't be full of useless people stuck at the peak of the Golden Core stage. This person's rapid breakthrough is purely due to his ridiculously deep foundation. Four lightning tribulations? Perhaps they haven't even reached his limit yet!"

As the man said, after the four bolts of lightning struck, the dark clouds in the sky not only showed no signs of dissipating, but instead grew thicker and thicker, pressing down heavily on the mountaintop, as if brewing an even more terrifying killing move.