36: Chapter 36 This is definitely not the Tribulation of the Three Nines, that little thief surnamed Zhao is dead for sure.

"Going into seclusion again?"

Zhou Yan became anxious.

"Zhao Yi, I'm scared!"

Mi Yao hadn't reacted yet; wasn't entering seclusion for a Breakthrough a good thing?

Then she suddenly remembered that Zhao Yi's cultivation was already at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage. If he broke through again, wouldn't that be Golden Core?

But as a Death Cultivator, how many could break through from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core? It seemed that since the term Death Cultivator existed, not a single one had succeeded.

"Can't you not Cultivate?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Mi Yao knew she had misspoke. What Cultivator didn't Cultivate?

She bit her lip.

"I meant, can you not enter seclusion?"

"Even if you enter seclusion, you should at least prepare some Medicinal Pills."

"Right, right, right! I heard that breaking through to Golden Core requires preparing Purple Spirit Pills and Thunder Profound Pills, and at the same time, one must set up a Formation to defend against the Lightning Tribulation. How can you enter seclusion so casually?"

Zhou Yan immediately took over Mi Yao's words and chimed in.

She and Mi Yao exchanged a look; they wanted to delay the time for Zhao Yi's seclusion, at the very least not letting him enter seclusion immediately.

"What you both said makes sense."

Zhao Yi also reacted. He had been a bit too presumptuous. He only wanted to quickly use up his experience points and break through his Realm, forgetting the dangers of breaking through a major Realm.

"Then let's prepare."

At the Lesser Strange Spirit Stone Mine, the thing they lacked the least was Spirit Stones. With Spirit Stones, were Medicinal Pills and Formations still a problem?

Inside the Treasure Light Pavilion.

People were coming and going, many Cultivators were bargaining—it was very lively, seeming like two different worlds compared to the mine tunnels.

"Purple Spirit Pill, sixty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

"Thank you for your patronage!"

After the Cultivator in front left, Zhou Yan immediately said, "Shopkeeper, get me a Purple Spirit Pill as well."

"One hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

Zhou Yan...

"Are you taking me for a fool? The person before me bought it for sixty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and when it's my turn, it's one hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones?"

"Do you think I'm a sucker?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Young lady, you are joking. This old man is just a small shopkeeper. However, the boss has already given the order: as long as Fellow Daoist Zhao comes, all Medicinal Pills must increase in price; we cannot look down on Fellow Daoist Zhao."

This tone...

"Is your boss also surnamed Bai?"

The shopkeeper gave a thumbs up.

"You guessed right, but there's no prize."

"You—"

Zhao Yi held back Zhou Yan, who was planning to take action.

"Forget it, it's better to avoid unnecessary trouble."

In the entire Lesser Strange Spirit Stone Mine, there were five places selling Medicinal Pills, and four of the ones Zhao Yi went to were all the Bai family's.

"This is the last one. Should we change our appearance before going in?"

On the way, Mi Yao stopped Zhao Yi and Zhou Yan and said.

Zhao Yi slapped his forehead.

"You're still the smart one. I have a Spell here called the Illusion Face Spell. Come, I'll teach you."

A moment later, the three of them, having changed their appearances, confidently walked to the fifth Medicinal Pill shop.

"Shopkeeper, do you have Purple Spirit Pills? How much are they?"

"One hundred twenty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

"So expensive?"

"There's no way around it. We just received the notice a moment ago. If it had been a day earlier, it would have only been sixty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

Zhao Yi and Zhou Yan exchanged a look; this must be the Bai family making a move.

"Forget it, Medicinal Pills are useless to me anyway."

Zhou Yan...

Mi Yao, who had been silent, said, "How about I go to Anning Prefecture?"

Zhao Yi shook his head.

"No need."

Going to Anning Prefecture would take a month for a round trip; how could he afford to wait?

Zhao Yi had a premonition that if he didn't take this time to break through, trouble would come very soon.

In fact, Zhao Yi's premonition was not wrong at all.

In the second level of the mine tunnels, three Golden Core True Persons were furious.

"What is going on? Two Lesser Strange Demon tides within a month, more than the past three hundred years combined. If this continues, how are we supposed to Cultivate? We might as well just be bodyguards for those digging Spirit Stones all day..."

"Immortal Master Song, I heard from Bai Chuanzhu that these two Lesser Strange Demon tides were both caused by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator surnamed Zhao."

"He seems to have some incredible secret technique for digging Spirit Stones; every time he goes down into the mine, he makes a fortune."

"Ridiculous, what mining secret technique? It must be a deceptive trick. We don't know how many such tricks we've exposed over the past three hundred years."

"What? Immortal Master Song, do you believe it?"

That Immortal Master Song did not speak, and the other Golden Core True Person was also silent, but only the three of them knew what they were thinking.

"After dealing with these Lesser Strange Demons, I will go see that Cultivator surnamed Zhao."

"Good!"

"Then I will trouble you, Immortal Master Song."

The other two Golden Core True Persons immediately said.

"It's a pity that Fellow Daoist Bai has not left seclusion. If he had, it would be most appropriate to leave this matter to him."

Immortal Master Song, Mingyi, achieved the Golden Core three hundred and seventy years ago and joined the Lesser Strange Spirit Stone Mine three hundred and five years ago, serving as a Protector.

Bai Yi looked at the endless Lesser Strange Demons before him, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

A single flash of sword light killed a large swath. It was just that Spells couldn't be used in the mine tunnels; otherwise, a single Spell would have taken care of everything.

In fact, saying they would see Zhao Yi was actually an interrogation. For three hundred years, as long as any Cultivator claimed to have a mining secret technique, they couldn't escape the clutches of the three of them. They weren't afraid of fakes; what if there was a real one? If they bet right on even one, it would be immense wealth.

Nameless mountain peak, Zhao Yi sat cross-legged.

This was the first time since Zhao Yi came to the Lesser Strange Spirit Stone Mine that he hadn't entered seclusion in a cultivation room.

On the mountain peak was a Formation set up by Zhou Yan; Zhao Yi didn't hold much hope for these Formations.

"System, increase cultivation!"

The numbers on the System panel rose rapidly.

A massive amount of Spiritual Qi suddenly appeared inside Zhao Yi's body. This Spiritual Qi was instantly compressed into True Essence by the Azure Spirit Scripture and rushed toward his already crowded Dantian.

As the True Essence increased, the pressure on his Dantian also increased. When everything reached the critical point, it would be the moment Zhao Yi formed his Golden Core.

Below the mountain peak, Bai Chuanzhu, Bai Chuanfa, and the other few remaining Bai Family Cultivators watched Zhao Yi from afar.

"Hehe, he really doesn't know whether to live or die, actually going to break through to Golden Core."

"Come to think of it, is this thief's cultivation improving too fast?"

"It seems he hasn't even been at the Lesser Strange Spirit Stone Mine for a year, right?"

"Wait until he turns to dust in the Lightning Tribulation, then you all go and hack the two female Cultivators to death."

Bai Chuanfa was very excited, chattering on and on.

"Chuanfeng, Chuanzhi, and Chuanzheng have all fallen. You talk so much, do you want to go keep them company?"

Bai Chuanzhu couldn't stand Bai Chuanfa's nagging and retorted.

When he retorted, Bai Chuanfa stopped making a sound.

Just kidding, it was precisely because so many Bai Family Cultivators had fallen that he, Bai Chuanfa, with his Qi Refinement Stage cultivation, had so much power; how could he be willing to die?

Thinking of this, Bai Chuanfa was stunned. Should he be thanking Zhao Yi?

Boom!

The clouds gathered more and more, getting lower and lower, pitch black and looking terrifying.

"Retreat!"

"Retreat further! If we get caught in the Lightning Tribulation, we're doomed."

Normally, when breaking through from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, an ordinary Cultivator has to undergo a One-Nine Thunder Tribulation. For a Death Cultivator, it doubles; a Three-Nine Thunder Tribulation would be the absolute limit.

But looking at the range of this tribulation cloud, it was clearly much larger.

The Bai Family Cultivators retreated again and again, only stopping when they reached the edge of the Lesser Strange Spirit Stone Mine.

"This is definitely not the Three-Nine Thunder Tribulation. That thief surnamed Zhao is doomed."