Outside the cave, Su Qing-Er and her surviving guards waited in tense, hushed silence. None of them dared to venture too close to the cave entrance. The terrifying pressure of the slain Three-Headed Hell Hound still lingered in the air, but more than that, it was the sheer, suffocating aura emanating from the youth inside that kept them frozen in place.
Deep within the cavern, Li-Wen sat cross-legged on a flat basalt rock right at the edge of the bubbling magma pool.
The heat was intense enough to incinerate an ordinary human in seconds, yet the subtle, jade-like radiance of his Jade-Bone Foundation repelled the scalding vapors easily. Floating mid-air between his palms was the crimson, pulse-like Third-Tier Beast Core, and directly in front of him bloomed the nine-petaled Flaming Sun Lotus.
"Nine meridians fully opened, physical body hardened to perfection..." Li-Wen murmured, his voice echoing softly against the volcanic rock. "The mortal shell is complete. Now, it is time to forge the spiritual core."
SWOOSH!
Li-Wen closed his eyes and began to circulate the ancient, divine conduits of the Void Sovereign Technique.
BZZZZZT!
A blinding, silver-gold vortex of spiritual energy ignited around his body. The nine open meridians along his spine flared like nine blazing stars, creating a gravitational pull that forcibly dragged the fiery energy from both the beast core and the Flaming Sun Lotus into his palms!
RUMBLE—!
The transformation was immediate and violent.
The Flaming Sun Lotus shattered into millions of glowing, crimson dust particles, forming a river of liquid flame that flowed directly through Li-Wen's nostrils and skin pores. Simultaneously, the Third-Tier Beast Core cracked open, releasing a dense, volatile surge of wild blood essence that merged into his bloodstream.
"UGH!"
Even with the immortal soul of a former God Emperor, the physical sensation of absorbing two immense, fiery Earth-Grade treasures at once was akin to having molten lead poured directly into one's internal organs.
Li-Wen's dark hair blew back wildly from the sheer kinetic shockwave. The skin across his chest glowed translucent crimson, revealing the intricate network of his internal channels, which were expanding and fusing under the immense heat.
Ordinary cultivators entering the Earth-Realm would carefully melt their meridians over months of quiet meditation, slowly forming a fragile Qi sea in their lower abdomen. A single rush of unchecked energy would burst their veins, rendering them permanently crippled.
But Li-Wen did not build fragile Qi seas.
"Void Sovereign Technique: Four-Directions Fusion!" Li-Wen roared internally.
His divine perception clamped down on the wild, thrashing fire energy with absolute, tyrannical force. Instead of letting the fiery liquid flood his body blindly, he used his supreme Will to compress the vast lake of energy into a single, microscopic point directly at his navel—the Dantian.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
Inside his abdomen, the nine silver meridians began to bend, rotate, and fuse together!
The liquid fire from the Lotus provided the raw elemental heat, while the blood essence from the Hell Hound provided the physical weight. Under the crushing pressure of Li-Wen's silver Ki, the two forces collided and compressed at a frantic rate.
One inch... half an inch... a single millimeter!
BOOM—!
A deafening, internal explosion reverberated through Li-Wen's spiritual plane!
The nine individual meridians dissolved, reforming into a vast, swirling golden-silver vortex within his lower abdomen—a fully realized, indestructible Divine Spiritual Core!
HUMMM—!
At that exact millisecond, a towering pillar of golden-red light erupted from the top of the volcanic cavern, piercing straight through hundreds of feet of solid mountain rock and shooting into the stormy skies above!
The sky over the entire Demon-Beast Valley darkened as thunder clouds rolled in, drawn by the unnatural, divine breakthrough of a soul defying the laws of Heaven and Earth.
Outside the cave, Su Qing-Er fell to her knees, clutching her chest as a suffocating weight slammed down upon her. The surrounding guards dropped their weapons, trembling uncontrollably as the ground beneath their feet shook in violent tremors.
"T-This aura..." the captain of the guards stammered, his face bloodless. "This isn't a normal Earth-Realm breakthrough! The pressure feels like a Senior at the Peak of the Core-Formation Realm!"
Su Qing-Er looked up at the golden-red beam piercing the clouds, her heart hammering against her ribs. "Who... who exactly is this young man?"
Inside the cavern, the blinding light gradually subsided.
The air, previously suffocating and hot, suddenly became serene, quiet, and crystal clear. The liquid magma in the pool nearby had frozen into dark glass, its ambient thermal energy completely drained and converted into fuel for Li-Wen's breakthrough.
Li-Wen opened his eyes.
His pupils were no longer merely black with golden glints—they had transformed into brilliant, ancient golden suns that burned with terrifying depth. The translucent jade luster of his skin had deepened, carrying a subtle, metallic sheen.
He lowered his hands, feeling the massive, roaring ocean of energy churning inside his newly formed Dantian.
Earth-Realm—First Stage!
"Earth-Realm..." Li-Wen looked down at his fingers, lightly making a fist.
AIR CRACK!
Just the simple act of tightening his grip compressed the air so violently that it created a sharp sonic pop that echoed through the cavern.
"With my physical foundation and this Divine Spiritual Core, my raw physical force alone exceeds fifty thousand pounds," Li-Wen analyzed coolly. "My Ki capacity is ten times larger than a normal cultivator at the First Stage of the Earth-Realm. Even if an expert at the Peak Earth-Realm stands before me, I can crush them with a single finger."
He stood up from the glass stone. His light-grey robes, surprisingly undamaged by the intense refining process, fluttered softly as he took his first step forward.
SWOOSH!
His figure vanished from the deep cavern, leaving behind only a fading afterimage.
Outside the cavern, Su Qing-Er and her guards were still trying to recover their breath when a light, unhurried footstep sounded from the cave entrance.
Li-Wen stepped out into the open daylight.
The bloodstains, sulfur dust, and grime of the forest seemed completely incapable of touching his clothes. He stood there quietly, yet to the eyes of the surviving guards, he looked like a towering mountain peak blocking out the sun.
Su Qing-Er quickly composed herself, stepping forward and bowing deeply, her red robes touching the blood-soaked rocks.
"Congratulations to Young Hero on successfully achieving a divine breakthrough!" Su Qing-Er said, her tone filled with genuine respect and underlying fear. "Your talent is truly unprecedented in the entire Southern Province."
Li-Wen looked down at her calmly. "You stayed."
"We would not dare leave without offering our proper gratitude," Su Qing-Er replied, raising her head slightly. "Young Hero saved our lives and eliminated the beast. The Su Merchant Association always remembers its debts. If Young Hero requires rare herbs, high-grade spirit stones, or information across the province, my association will gladly provide them."
Li-Wen's eyes flickered slightly.
A merchant network spanning the entire province was far more useful to him at this stage than a few minor spirit stones. His future path would require rare, legendary materials to restore his divine soul—materials that a small clan like the Wu Clan in Azure Mist City could never hope to obtain.
"What is your name?" Li-Wen asked smoothly.
"I am Su Qing-Er, the secondary manager of the Azure Mist Branch of the Su Merchant Association," she answered immediately, pleased that he had shown interest.
"Very well, Su Qing-Er," Li-Wen said, his golden eyes locking onto hers. "Remember this name: Wu Li-Wen. In one month, the regional selection for the Imperial Academy will begin in the provincial capital. Prepare a detailed list of all ancient ruins, rare medicinal herbs, and dark-market auctions happening in the capital before my arrival."
Su Qing-Er's heart skipped a beat. Wu Li-Wen? The famous crippled son of the Wu Clan Head in Azure Mist City?!
She had heard the rumors—that the young master of the Wu Clan was a sickly husk who couldn't even cultivate past the First Stage of Ki-Refine. Looking at the majestic, terrifying youth standing before her, who had just crushed a Third-Tier beast and triggered a heavenly phenomenon during his Earth-Realm breakthrough, she realized how absurdly blind the rest of the world was.
"Young Master Wu's request shall be carried out with the highest priority!" Su Qing-Er pledged without a moment's hesitation. She pulled out a delicate, dark gold token embedded with a shimmering violet crystal and presented it with both hands. "This is the VIP Gold-Feather Token of our association. Showing this at any branch across the empire will grant you immediate access to our highest resources."
Li-Wen reached out and casually took the token, sliding it into his sleeve.
"Good," Li-Wen said, turning his gaze toward the deep, mist-shrouded core of the Cloud-Piercing Mountains. "Our transaction is complete. You may leave."
Before Su Qing-Er could say another word, Li-Wen stepped forward into the air.
BOOM!
A shockwave of silver Ki exploded beneath his feet. His figure blurred into a grey shadow, leaping across the mountain cliffs at speeds that defied human comprehension, vanishing into the deep northern horizon within seconds.
Su Qing-Er stood on the cliff edge for a long time, watching the distant sky where the youth had disappeared.
"Manager..." the guard captain whispered, coming up behind her while wiping sweat from his forehead. "Is he really human? That pressure... it was terrifying."
Su Qing-Er clutched her hands tightly inside her long sleeves, a subtle smile appearing on her face.
"A crippled trash? What a joke," she whispered softly. "The provincial capital is going to be turned upside down in a month. The dragon has truly awakened."
Deep in the northern core of the Cloud-Piercing Mountains, Li-Wen landed on a high granite peak overlooking a sprawling, ancient valley shrouded in thick purple fog.
The environmental Ki here was volatile, ancient, and heavy with the scent of long-forgotten battlefields.
Li-Wen looked down at the dark valley, his golden eyes reflecting the swirling purple mist. He felt the newly forged Divine Spiritual Core pulsing within his chest, hungrily pulling in the surrounding energy.
"Earth-Realm First Stage is merely the beginning," Li-Wen said, his voice cold and confident as the mountain wind whipped his robes. "Before I head to the Imperial Capital, there are still ancient beasts to hunt and physical barriers to shatter. Let us see how many grand steps I can take in this wilderness."
Sitting cross-legged on the solitary mountain peak, Li-Wen closed his eyes once more, his ancient soul resonating with the untamed wilderness of the primeval realm.