183: Chapter 183 This thunder tastes a bit crispy.

Above the firmament, that mass of purple clouds, suppressed for so long, did not strike down lightning directly.

It began to collapse.

It was like a giant purple eyeball, slowly closing. All the lightning, pressure, and aura of destruction condensed at this moment into that single point of extreme black light at the center of the clouds.

The world suddenly went quiet.

Even the wind stopped.

Gu Yan stood in the ruins atop Qingyun Peak, the scorched earth beneath his feet still emitting wisps of smoke. He did not move, only staring fixedly at that point of black light. The muscles all over his body were like drawn bowstrings, emitting extremely faint snapping sounds.

The asura armguard on his left arm seemed to sense something; the dark golden beast head roared madly, even actively extending several barbs to pierce into Gu Yan's flesh and blood, drawing blood to strengthen its own defense.

"It's coming."

Gu Yan said softly.

Before the words had faded, that point of black light suddenly plummeted.

There was no sound.

Because it was too fast, so fast that sound could not catch up to its shadow. There was no light either, because it was too black, so black that it seemed to want to swallow all the surrounding light.

This did not look like lightning; it looked more like a nail intended to pierce through the earth.

"Open... for me!!!"

Gu Yan kicked off the ground with both legs, and the entire mountain Peak sank by another foot.

Facing that black line of death, he threw the most Peak punch of his life.

The soul-shattering knuckles on his right hand and the asura armguard on his left arm lit up with blinding light at this moment. The aura of blood fiends intertwined with the recently absorbed lightning power, transforming into a giant purple-red phantom fist that surged upwards against the current.

Boom————!!!

Only when the two collided did the delayed, deafening roar finally explode against everyone's eardrums.

It was as if a purple sun had risen atop Qingyun Peak.

A terrifying shockwave swept out, instantly uprooting trees within a ten-mile radius and turning them into fly ash. Even the main Peak in the distance, which had activated its protective mountain formation, trembled under the aftermath of this strike.

At the center of the light.

Gu Yan felt as if his body was being sliced by countless dull knives simultaneously.

That black lightning was not scattered; instead, it turned into countless tiny black electric snakes, crawling along his fist into his body, and into every crevice of the asura armguard and soul-shattering knuckles.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

The originally dark golden armguard began to melt and reorganize under this destructive power. The beast head's eyes turned an eerie purple, and the scales gained natural imprints resembling lightning patterns.

The soul-shattering knuckles emitted a painful hum, and those spikes were tempered by the lightning fire to become even longer, sharper, and faintly exuded an aura of tribulation destruction.

"Want to destroy me?"

Gu Yan was covered in blood, yet he was laughing wildly.

The bones inside his body had all turned purple-gold, and every drop of bone marrow had become thicker and heavier under the tempering of the lightning.

"You aren't qualified enough!"

He slammed his hands together, forcibly pressing that black lightning ball, which was still trying to destroy his vitality, into his own Dantian.

"Refine... for me!"

Using his body as a furnace and lightning as fire.

That embryonic Golden Core, which was about to take shape, finally completed its final transformation under this last bit of external pressure.

Pop.

A light sound, as if an eggshell had shattered.

The Golden Core was formed.

But this was not the end.

The moment the Golden Core formed, a nauseating smell of blood suddenly rose from the depths of Gu Yan's Sea of Consciousness.

The scenery around him changed.

It was no longer the ruins of Qingyun Peak, but a boundless sea of blood.

In the center of the blood sea, a phantom of an old man wearing blood robes with a blurry face slowly rose. He looked at Gu Yan and let out a cackling, strange laugh.

"Brat, you borrowed my power and took my bead, and now you want to form a Golden Core?"

Ancestor Blood River.

This was the final tribulation—the Heart Demon Tribulation. A strand of this old monster's remnant Soul had been lurking in the deepest part of the blood river bead, waiting for this moment when Gu Yan was at his weakest and most relaxed, intending to perform Possession and be reborn.

"Hand over... your body to me!"

The old man transformed into a giant blood-colored face that blotted out the sky and swallowed down towards Gu Yan's Divine Soul.

If this were an ordinary Cultivator, even at the Golden Core Perfection, encountering this level of Possession right after passing the Lightning Tribulation and being exhausted would mean meeting their end on the spot.

But Gu Yan just stood on the blood sea, expressionlessly watching that giant face.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Gu Yan's voice echoed in the Sea of Consciousness, chillingly calm: "I knew that an old undead thing like you would definitely have a backup plan."

He did not resist, nor did he run.

He just raised his head and snapped his fingers at the Void Realm.

"System, time to eat."

[Ding! High-purity Soul energy entity detected.]

[Source: Soul Transformation Stage remnant Soul (extremely weak).]

[Judgment: Top-tier supplement.]

[Activating predation mode...]

"What is this?!"

Ancestor Blood River in the air suddenly let out a terrified shriek.

He discovered he could not move. A power of rules, even more domineering and unreasonable than that of this Demonic Path Old Ancestor, instantly locked his Divine Soul.

Immediately after, a giant black vortex appeared above Gu Yan's Sea of Consciousness.

That vortex had no emotions, only a pure, predatory instinct.

"No! This is impossible! What is this power?! Aren't you a Body Cultivator?!"

Ancestor Blood River struggled desperately, but in the face of the System's dimensional reduction strike, his bit of remnant Soul was like a fish facing a water pump.

"Ahhh—!!!"

Accompanied by the final shrill scream, the giant blood-colored face twisted and deformed, being sucked directly into the black vortex.

[Ding! Consumption complete.]

[Obtained: Massive Divine Soul nourishment.]

[Divine Sense strength increased: Coverage area expanded to fifty miles (comparable to Golden Core Late Stage).]

[Special Reward: Golden Core quality upgraded—Mutated Asura Golden Core.]

Outside.

The smoke atop Qingyun Peak dissipated.

Sunlight spilled down once again.

Gu Yan was still standing in that deep pit. The wounds on his body were healing at a terrifying speed, and the newly grown skin emitted a faint jade-like luster, with purple-gold lightning patterns faintly flowing beneath it.

And inside his Dantian.

A Golden Core the size of a pigeon's egg, dark gold throughout, with blood-colored patterns and purple lightning arcs swirling on its surface, was slowly rotating.

With every rotation, it would exhale massive amounts of pure spiritual energy, washing over Gu Yan's limbs and bones.

This was no ordinary Golden Core.

This was the Asura Golden Core, born after the Fusion of the "Wild Tyrant Body", the blood river Legacy, and the Purple Heaven Demon-Extinguishing Lightning Tribulation.

First Grade.

Or even, Super First Grade.

Gu Yan slowly opened his eyes.

Two tangible rays of purple-gold light shot out from his eyes, striking the rock wall several yards away and leaving two bottomless holes.

"Is this the Golden Core Stage?"

He clenched his fist.

That sense of power, as if he controlled everything and could tear apart mountains and rivers with a mere gesture, made him want to let out a long roar.

But he held back.

He raised his hand and looked at his naked body.

"I need to find some clothes first."

Gu Yan took out a spare black robe from his storage ring and put it on, covering that body which could be called perfect.

Afterwards, he tapped his toes.

No need for sword flight, no need for Magic Treasure.

He just hovered in mid-air like that, step by step, treading on the Void Realm, and walked out of the ruins.

Outside the mountain gate.

Elder Su Ming was pacing anxiously, and Sect Master Ye Guyun also had a tense expression.

Suddenly, an incomparably tyrannical aura, carrying a hint of blood and the pressure of lightning, swept out from the top of Qingyun Peak.

Everyone subconsciously looked up.

They saw that above the rolling dust and smoke, a figure in black stood with hands behind his back, treading on the Void Realm, like a god or demon descending to the world.

Gu Yan lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over the dumbfounded faces below, and a faint curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry to have kept everyone waiting."

"This Lightning Tribulation..."

He brushed off some non-existent dust from his shoulder:

"Tastes a bit crispy."