The spirit-gathering array on the balcony had been running for months. The small mountain of mid-grade spirit stones had dwindled to barely a handful, and pale-blue wisps of spiritual energy drifted languidly through the morning light, coiling around my body. I stared at the Barrier-Breaking Pill resting in my palm, its surface alive with swirling violet radiance — the pill's inscriptions writhed like living creatures. This was the top-tier elixir awarded for defeating the Golden Armored Three system, said to increase the odds of Core Formation by thirty percent.

"Rookie, you sure about this?" The System Elder's voice drifted out from the bronze ring, his holographic projection hovering above a steaming cup of instant noodles. "Core Formation is nine deaths for every one survival. Your foundation's solid — peak late-stage Qi Condensation is nothing to sneeze at — but the Dao Ancestor Sword Intent and the Tidal Force are pulling in opposite directions. Push it wrong and the core explodes. I've got the Barrier-Breaking Pill and the Core-Shattering Pill both ready for you, and the coordinates for the Guixu Secret Realm are marked on the compass. Keep dithering and the spirit tide will ebb before you even start."

I drew a slow breath, feeling the indigo spirit core in my dantian spinning at tremendous speed. Since the battle at Black Reef Island, the Tidal Sacred Body Art had reached minor mastery — my physical toughness now matched that of peak late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators. The War-Wave Blade and the other two fragments resonated with me daily, and the Dao Ancestor Sword Intent had long since threaded itself through every meridian in my body.

"My mind is made up." I tucked the Barrier-Breaking Pill and the Core-Shattering Pill carefully into a jade box. "The Guixu Secret Realm has dense spiritual energy and natural suppression arrays. It's the ideal place for Core Formation."

The entrance to the East Sea's Guixu Secret Realm was still hidden in the depths of Luoxia Bay. I crushed a space-compressing talisman and dissolved into a streak of light, slipping down into the ocean floor. The curtain of water surrounding me resonated with the Tide Saint Body Art, converting the pressure of a thousand metres of seawater into a driving force. The system compass guided me through luminous blue corridors of light. Inside the secret realm, liquid spiritual energy wound around me like flowing silk — at least fifty percent richer than the last time I had cultivated here in seclusion.

"Right here." I landed beside Stillheart Reef and swept my hand outward, laying down an improved spirit-gathering array. Fifty mid-grade spirit stones locked into the reef rock; the red coral formation eye erupted in a gentle crimson glow, instantly condensing the liquid spiritual energy within a hundred zhang into a great swirling vortex. I sat cross-legged, retrieved a Foundation-Consolidating Pill and swallowed it. The cool medicinal force instantly permeated every bone and sinew, forcibly suppressing the turbulent spiritual power within me.

"The essence of Core Formation is compressing liquid spiritual power into a solid core — a dan yuan." The System Elder's voice turned grave. "This is not simple compression. You must construct an energy nucleus inside your dantian — it amounts to reforging your very Dao foundation. Remember: when the spiritual energy boils, use the sword intent of the Banishing Evil Sword Art to guide the Tidal Force and establish a yin-yang circulation cycle. If you fail to do this, the core will detonate without fail."

I nodded and slowly closed my eyes. The spiritual power of my peak late-stage Qi Condensation cultivation surged through my dantian like a cauldron of boiling water. I circulated the Tide Saint Body Art, guiding the spiritual energy along a precise orbit in an attempt to compress and solidify it. Yet at the very instant the spiritual power was about to congeal, a violent conflict erupted inside my dantian.

The Dao Ancestor Sword Intent raged like a wildfire; the Tidal Force chilled like black ice. The two forces slammed into each other in a frenzy within my dantian, and I could not suppress a muffled groan of pain. The blood vessels beneath my skin throbbed and pulsed as though a thousand needles were driving through them.

"Now! Use the Barrier-Breaking Pill!" the System Elder shouted.

I crushed the jade box with a snap. The Barrier-Breaking Pill dissolved the moment it touched my tongue, and a wave of force — gentle yet imperious — surged into my dantian and drove the two conflicting energies apart. Seizing the opening, I channelled the sword intent of the Banishing Evil Sword Art to forge a golden vortex at the centre of my dantian. The Tidal Force transformed into blue currents that spiralled around the golden maelstrom.

Yin and yang in circulation — each sustaining the other.

The liquid spiritual energy compressed at tremendous speed inside the vortex, releasing sharp crackling pops. I could feel the spirit core in my dantian shrinking and solidifying at a visible pace, its colour deepening from indigo to dark blue, radiating a dense, weighty presence.

"The yuan core is taking shape!" The System Elder's voice carried a note of elation.

Then, at that very moment, the sky above the Guixu Secret Realm convulsed.

The previously clear water turned black as ink. Savage, chaotic streams of spiritual energy swept in like a cyclone, shredding the spirit-gathering array I had laid down into nothing.

"What's happening?" My heart lurched. The yuan core was at its most critical stage of formation — I could not afford to divide my attention by even a fraction.

"A tribulation! It's a heavenly tribulation!" The little old man's voice held a trace of genuine surprise. "Blue Star's spiritual energy is too thin. There has been no record of Core Formation drawing a heavenly tribulation in a thousand years — unless the person forming the core is simply too defiant of heaven's order!"

End of Chapter 85: The Tribulation of Core Formation