The moment Ling Tian swallowed the Heavenly Tribulation Pill, the secluded cavern deep within Heavenly Sword Mountain transformed into a furnace of cosmic energy. Outside, the sky was a terrifying tableau of churning, black clouds, crackling with golden lightning.
The Pill Tribulation and Ling Tian's impending Golden Core Tribulation had fused, creating an event far more potent than the Sect Master or Grand Elder Xi had ever witnessed.
Internal Chaos and External Fury
Inside Ling Tian's Dantian, the forces were cataclysmic. The Tier-9 pill's energy, designed to force the formation of a Perfect Golden Core, slammed against his Golden Chaos Foundation. The Foundation, already imbued with Primordial Chaos, resisted the external energy, refining it violently instead of passively absorbing it.
RUMBLE!
The cavern entrance exploded as the third bolt of Heavenly Lightning—a river of pure destruction—struck the mountain core. The shockwave reached Ling Tian, tearing at his robes and searing his skin, but his enhanced physical body held firm.
"Break! Form!" Ling Tian roared, his voice echoing with Primordial Qi.
He was using the Pill Tribulation's destructive force as a hammer to forge his core. He didn't want a standard core; he wanted one that survived a true cosmic tempering.
His Golden Chaos Foundation began to dissolve, not into liquid, but into a swirling vortex of violet-gold energy. This was the most critical stage: the energy conversion from Foundation to Core.
Zzzzzzt!
A Fourth Bolt struck, so powerful it punched through the mountain's defensive formations and impacted the chamber floor near Ling Tian. The sheer destructive Qi from the lightning poured into his open Dantian, targeting the forming core.
Most cultivators would be vaporized. Ling Tian used the lightning's Qi to purge any lingering impurity in his Primordial Chaos energy.
The Perfect Golden Core
As the internal and external forces reached their peak, Ling Tian executed the final sealing technique from the Absolute Immortal Lineage.
The Primordial Chaos energy, tempered by the Heavenly Lightning and refined by the Tier-9 pill, condensed instantly.
No gradual formation. No shaky stabilization.
A single, flawless, violet-gold sphere appeared in his Dantian. It was perfectly round, shimmering with an oppressive aura of ancient power. It was not just a Golden Core; it was a Perfect Golden Chaos Core—the highest grade possible, capable of commanding the power of the Heavens.
The moment the core formed, the remaining Pill Tribulation energy and the external Heavenly Lightning vanished instantly, unable to harm the completed, supreme structure.
Ling Tian opened his eyes. He felt the terrifying strength of the Early Golden Core Realm—an energy density that surpassed Sect Master Gu's Nascent Soul energy in purity.
He had succeeded.
A Sovereign's Exit
Sect Master Gu and Grand Elder Xi rushed into the cavern, their faces etched with relief and amazement, expecting to find Ling Tian gravely injured.
Instead, they found him standing, completely unscathed, radiating an aura of absolute sovereignty.
"Sect Master Gu," Ling Tian said, his voice now deeper, carrying the subtle resonance of his Perfect Golden Core. "I have achieved the Golden Core. The debt to the Tier-9 Spirit Vein is repaid."
He raised his hand. On his palm lay a tiny, fist-sized crystal of pure, condensed spiritual essence—a relic of the leftover Tier-9 energy.
"Take this. It will stabilize your main Spirit Vein for the next hundred years," Ling Tian offered, tossing the valuable crystal to the stunned Sect Master.
Sect Master Gu caught it numbly. "A... a Golden Core in three days, and enduring a Heavenly Tribulation without injury..."
Grand Elder Xi approached Ling Tian, her wise eyes filled with reverence. "You have forged the Perfect Golden Core, Ling Tian. Even among the Immortal Realms, such a core is rare. You are now the undisputed strongest Core Disciple in the Sect's history."
Ling Tian smirked. "I am not merely the strongest Core Disciple, Elder Xi. I am the strongest force in this entire Seven-Heaven Realm now."
He paused, a flicker of boredom in his violet gaze. "The Sky Cloud Sect has served its purpose. I have the foundation, and I have the knowledge from the Forbidden Archive. The sect can no longer truly challenge me."
"My time here is limited. My next goal is to complete the Tier-9 techniques of the Absolute Immortal Lineage and prepare to ascend."
With his Perfect Golden Core, Ling Tian was no longer just an anomaly; he was a sovereign waiting to move onto the next battlefield.