"Crossing tribulation here? Either that person's insane, or they've been pushed to the edge! Could it be for the spirit mine?"
A sly-looking demon cultivator licked his lips, his gaze flicking toward the mine. But when he saw the ashen landscape, his expression turned sour. "Tsk, the essence's gone. No profit left."
"Typical demon cultivator, short-sighted as always!"
A white-robed elder in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm snorted coldly. "Nine layers of Purple Heaven Divine Thunder! The last one was pitch black, carrying the aura of annihilation itself! That's the legendary World-Destroying Tribulation!"
"Since ancient times, thunder tribulations have always followed the cycle of three nines. But this seventh bolt... I've never even heard of such a thing!" another sect elder said grimly, disbelief flashing in his eyes. "Could the Heavenly Laws actually change because of one person? Who is this tribulation-crosser? Or... what kind of forbidden power could they possibly hold?"
"The entire mine's been completely wiped out, not even a trace of spiritual essence left. That level of precision and destruction isn't something caused by a mere aftermath of lightning. It's more like... Heaven itself erased all traces related to it," a meticulous demon cultivator muttered, narrowing his eyes. The words made the others around him look uneasy.
The valley was deathly silent, only the mournful wind whispering through.
A strange, heavy pressure filled the air.
Everyone realized this wasn't just some ordinary Golden Core tribulation.
Something monumental was hiding behind it.
"Someone who can summon lightning like that isn't someone we can take lightly," a burly late-stage Golden Core cultivator said, his voice low and steady, though his eyes flickered with both greed and caution. "Even if they really died under the thunder, their remains must hold incredible treasures. Not to mention..."
He paused, glancing around before lowering his voice. "I think that person... isn't dead."
"What?" gasps erupted around him.
"Not dead? After taking a hit like that?"
"Impossible! Even from this distance, the last black thunder made our Primordial Souls tremble!"
The man gave a cold snort. "Someone capable of drawing down a tribulation like that, their fate and foundation can't be measured by common sense. The harder Heaven tries to erase someone, the more defiant they are against it! I'd bet my life that person's still alive—and maybe even successfully formed their core!"
That possibility made everyone's breathing quicken.
A cultivator who'd survived nine layers of Purple Heaven Divine Thunder, forging an unprecedented Golden Core—just what kind of secrets and potential would they hold?
Find them.
They had to find them.
Whether to seize that fortune or to eliminate a future threat, no one could stay still now.
The tension in the valley grew sharper by the second.
Between human cultivators, beasts, and rival factions, suspicion and hostility surged.
Yet no matter how carefully they searched, there was nothing but charred earth and destruction. Not a single clue pointed to where the tribulation-crosser had gone. It was as if the person—and everything connected to them—had been completely erased by the lightning.
"Nothing! Not even a hint of spiritual residue!" someone roared, frustration burning in their voice.
"Either they perished body and soul, returning to the earth, or..." the white-robed elder said, his face dark, "their methods are beyond imagination. Maybe they survived and had enough strength left to erase all traces before leaving."
That second possibility made everyone tense up. If that were true, just how terrifying was that person's power and cunning?
"Keep searching! Expand the area! They can't have gone far!"
"Send word to the sects and families! Use every resource we've got to track any Foundation peak or newly advanced Golden Core cultivator spotted near the Endless Beast Plains!"
"Inform the black market! Offer a bounty for any information on this thunder or the person who crossed it! Make the reward... the highest!"
Orders were shouted and dispatched in every direction.
Before long, shocking rumors swept through the Cultivation Realm like wildfire:
"Nine Layers of Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Appears in the Endless Beast Plains!"
"A Seventh Unknown Thunder Tribulation Recorded!"
"Mysterious Cultivator Suspected of Defying Heaven and Forming a Core!"
Each rumor hit like a thunderclap, shaking the world to its core.
Every sect, hidden family, loose cultivator, and even old monsters who hadn't emerged for centuries turned their gaze toward the Beast Plains.
Speculations ran wild.
Some said an ancient treasure had appeared, triggering Heaven's wrath.
Some said a mighty being had reincarnated and rebuilt their path, angering the Heavenly Dao.
Others whispered that a forbidden existence had tried to defy the order of Heaven and Earth—and paid the price.
But one thing became clear to all: whether alive or dead, that tribulation-crosser carried a world-shaking secret.
A storm of greed and ambition began to swirl around that barren valley, spreading across the entire Cultivation Realm.
Yet, Xie Zhaolin, the center of all this chaos, knew nothing of the uproar she'd caused. And even if she did, she wouldn't care. Her focus was on the Annihilation Yinsha Core she'd just forged, still unstable within her dantian.
Logic told her to flee this place, to get as far away as possible. But every instinct screamed otherwise. Right now, at this exact moment, was the perfect chance to stabilize her realm, absorb the gains of the tribulation, and maybe even push further!
After facing life and death, her body and soul had reached a delicate balance between destruction and rebirth. Her insights were sharper than ever.
Cultivating now would yield twice the result with half the effort.
"Fine," she murmured, a trace of determination flashing in her eyes. "The most dangerous place might just be the safest. They'll assume I've run far away, but they'll never imagine I'd dare to stay right here."
Gritting her teeth, she didn't flee farther. Instead, relying on her familiarity with the Beast Plains and her sharp divine sense, she found a natural cave hidden deep within a mountain fold near the plains' edge.
Layer after layer of concealment and defensive barriers quickly surrounded her as she sealed off her aura completely, then entered deep seclusion without hesitation.
Xie Zhaolin sank her focus into her dantian, guiding the raging baleful qi to blend with the lingering vitality of the Rebirth Flower, stabilizing her cultivation.
Perhaps the final bloom of Hun Yu—the Condensed Soul-Nurturing Flower—played a crucial role, soothing the thunder's damage to her soul and helping her reach a state of complete stillness.
Or perhaps it was the Rebirth Flower itself, whose essence of reincarnation and renewal harmonized with the Annihilation Yinsha Core, creating a strange stabilizing effect.
In just five days of seclusion, the unstable aura from her breakthrough had completely settled. Her presence grew solid and restrained, her realm firmly stabilized at the peak of early Golden Core. There was no longer the slightest trace of weakness in her foundation.