76: Chapter 76 One Sword

As the Golden Core formed, the very essence of his life underwent an earth-shaking transformation, and his Lifespan increased by a full five hundred years.

Within the golden pillar of light, his sallow, shriveled skin became plump and smooth again. His snow-white hair turned jet-black from root to tip like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and the wrinkles on his face vanished without a trace, as if smoothed over by an iron.

In moments, he transformed from an old man in his sixties into a handsome uncle in his early thirties.

With sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a well-defined profile, even his jawline was sharp enough to cut one's hand.

Xiao Ye touched his face and looked at his hands, dazed for a long while before laughing toward the sky: "Hahaha—it was worth it! This is a massive profit! Trading a hundred years for five hundred years of Lifespan is a net gain of four hundred years, plus a handsome face as a bonus!"

He looked down at the massive pit he had smashed into the ground, then glanced at the still-dazed Lustful Apes in the distance. He brushed the dust off his robes, picked up the seven dragons chasing stars sword, and turned to give chase.

"Now—it's your turn."

Meanwhile, throughout the Secret Realm, everyone looked up the moment the Lightning Tribulation struck.

The vast Aura of the Lightning Tribulation, the suffocating heavenly pressure, and the increasingly terrifying bolts of lightning—the same thought rose in everyone's mind: Someone is undergoing Core Formation! And it's a Golden Core Lightning Tribulation!

"Impossible!" Luo Li hovered in mid-air, staring wide-eyed at the rolling thunderclouds in the distance, his mouth open wide enough to fit a fist. "A Golden Core Lightning Tribulation? No one in the entire Great Qian Empire has ever formed a Golden Core; how is this possible? Which old monster is hiding their strength?"

Zi Yun was also stunned, her hand instinctively covering her mouth as her eyes grew slightly red.

The first person she thought of was Xiao Ye—that old man who was always joking around and acting improper. Could he actually be Undergoing Tribulation in the Secret Realm?

And it was a Golden Core Lightning Tribulation? Her heart was filled with a mix of emotions—shock, joy, and even a hint of bitterness.

Gu Jian stood above the Tianjian Sect group. For the first time, his usually calm face showed an expression of horror, and he nearly lost his grip on his sword. "Golden Core... Someone in this Secret Realm can actually form a Golden Core? If this person truly is a Disciple of the four sects, then for the next hundred years, the cultivation world of the Great Qian Empire is likely to face a massive upheaval."

Fairy Yunshang's robes fluttered in the wind, her beautiful eyes sparkling with wonder as her heart skipped a beat. "Who is it? Who is undergoing the Golden Core Lightning Tribulation? If only it were a Disciple of my Yunlan Sect..." She turned to look at the Disciples behind her, but they all shook their heads, indicating it wasn't them.

Su Wei held Xiao Yan, feeling the world-destroying Aura of the Lightning Tribulation in the distance. She murmured to herself, her voice trembling slightly, "Golden Core... Is our Great Qian Empire finally going to produce a Golden Core Master? Just who is this person?"

Xiao Yan poked his head out from Su Wei's arms, blinking his large eyes and asking in a childish voice, "Godmother, is that my daddy?"

Su Wei was taken aback. She looked down at Xiao Yan's serious little face and suddenly smiled, rubbing his head. "If your daddy can form a Golden Core, Godmother will marry him."

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up as he silently committed those words to memory.

—

The thunderclouds dispersed, and golden sunlight once again bathed the earth with warmth, as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Ye stretched his limbs, his entire body emitting crisp "crackling" sounds like a string of small firecrackers.

He pulled out a mirror to inspect himself—sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, skin so fair it seemed to glow, and even the old calluses on his hands had vanished. He looked exactly like a handsome man stepped out of a painting.

"Handsome, truly handsome." He touched his face, his grin reaching his ears as he admired himself in the mirror. "This tribulation was worth it. It's more effective than plastic surgery."

In the distance, the Yinxing King carried Lu Manman, its bell-sized eyes filled with terror.

It had just witnessed this human endure nine bolts of Golden Core heavenly lightning.

"Roar..." The Yinxing King let out a low growl, its voice clearly lacking confidence. Its shoulder holding Lu Manman instinctively slumped, and its thick legs began to tremble.

Lu Manman took the opportunity to slide off its shoulder, scrambling away to hide behind a large tree. She only peeked out with half her head, looking like a startled quail.

"Wang De... Senior! You... you've achieved Core Formation?" Her voice was shaking, whether from fear or excitement, and a few leaves were still caught in her hair.

Xiao Ye didn't answer her. Instead, he tilted his head toward the Yinxing King and slowly extended a finger, beckoning it. The gesture was as contemptuous as calling a dog. "Come here, let's continue our fight."

The Yinxing King was enraged by this disdainful gesture. It let out a furious roar and beat its chest with its fists, producing loud "thump-thump" sounds like war drums that made the pebbles on the ground jump. It took massive strides and charged at Xiao Ye, each step stomping a crater into the ground. It was a menacing, earth-shaking sight, like an out-of-control heavy truck.

One hundred meters. Fifty meters. Twenty meters. Ten meters.

The Yinxing King raised a fist the size of a mortar and smashed it down toward Xiao Ye's head. The wind from the punch howled, compressing the air into visible ripples that made Xiao Ye's robes flutter violently.

Xiao Ye sighed, his breath carrying seven parts helplessness and three parts disdain. "That's it?"

He placed his right hand on the sword hilt, and his Sword Intent erupted—with the strength of Core Formation layered onto his Sword Intent, it was more than ten times stronger than when he was at the Foundation Establishment Stage!

An extremely sharp silver light burst from his scabbard, illuminating the entire forest and even scattering a few clouds in the sky.

"Heav—en—Slay—ing—Draw—Sword—Art—"

Clang—

No one saw how he drew his sword. They couldn't even see the shadow of the blade.

A silver-white Sword Qi appeared out of thin air, as wide as a door panel and as fast as lightning. It swept across the Yinxing King's waist as cleanly as a paper cutter slicing through a sheet of paper.

Then, Xiao Ye sheathed his sword.

The movement was as smooth as flowing water, executed in one go with such precision it seemed rehearsed a hundred times; not even a strand of his hair was out of place.

The Yinxing King maintained its punching posture, charging past Xiao Ye's position and taking a few more steps forward.

Then, its upper and lower body slowly slid apart, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

Boom—

The two halves of the body hit the ground simultaneously. Blood geysered out, staining a large patch of grass red, and a heavy scent of blood filled the air.

Within the Yinxing King's bell-sized eyes, there remained only the confusion it felt before death—it hadn't even seen the opponent's sword, nor had it even had time to feel the pain.

Silence.

The entire forest fell into a deathly silence. Even the wind didn't dare to blow, and the insects didn't dare to chirp.

The remaining hundred or so Lustful Apes were collectively dumbfounded. They froze in place, mouths agape and drool pooling on the ground, yet they didn't even dare to make a sound.

Some had their legs go weak and collapsed directly onto the ground; others urinated where they stood. The pungent smell mixed with the scent of blood was incredibly unpleasant.

Lu Manman, hiding behind the large tree, had her mouth open wide enough to fit a fist, and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

One strike. Just one strike. A Core Formation Great Demon, the Yinxing King, hadn't even lasted a single move before being cleaved in two.

Just how strong was this man? Was he really just a Disciple?