124: Ten years, the Lord of the Sky Rift

Time holds no meaning in the world of cultivation. While the hourglass inside the Immortal Cave quietly turned, ten years had already passed in the outside world.

The National War in the Nether Prison Plane had long been in full swing, with the flames of war spreading to every resource point, and the situation becoming increasingly heated.

In the major factions, Peak Core Formation Cultivators would occasionally gain enlightenment, achieve a Breakthrough, and condense a Nascent Soul.

However, there were also many newly advanced Nascent Soul Cultivators who, relying on their Realm advantage, rashly charged forward, only to eventually perish at the hands of Formations joined by hundreds or even thousands of Core Formation Cultivators... or at the hands of Core Formation Prodigies capable of fighting across Realms.

In a great cultivation domain like the Canglang Plane, Prodigies emerged in abundance. Although Cultivators who could stand their ground against a Nascent Soul with a Core Formation cultivation were few, they were by no means rare.

Over time, the spheres of influence of the major factions gradually became intertwined.

Today you occupy one of my mineral veins, and tomorrow I seize one of your fortresses.

The rankings on the points leaderboard changed three times a day; a Cultivator who was ranked very high one moment might be removed from the list the next due to their death.

On this day, in the Void Realm outside the Nether Prison Plane, seven Golden Immortal powerhouses sat discussing the Dao, their bodies surrounded by a faint immortal charm.

Suddenly, everyone opened their eyes at the same time, and their originally peaceful auras abruptly tightened.

An azure sword talisman broke through the Void Realm and floated in the center of the hall. The talisman flickered with spiritual light, and a sonorous yet urgent voice rang out:

"Fellow Daoists, the Void-Rending Monarch Zera has broken the seal and is tearing through the Void Realm to escape toward the Nether Prison Plane! Brother Shenwu and I are already in pursuit. I ask Fairy Qinglian, Immortal Venerable Xuanji, Senior Brother Mochen, and Fairy Qimeng to intercept him immediately; any delay will lead to trouble!"

"Void-Rending Monarch!"

Immortal Venerable Mochen stood up abruptly, the indolence on his face instantly vanishing, replaced by gravity. "The head of the three monarchs of the Soul Prison Plane, a top-tier demon who controls the Law of space. It is said he also cultivates both Gold and Wind Laws. Back then, it took three Immortal Venerables an enormous amount of effort to trap him."

"No wonder Immortal Venerable Yichen would ask for help."

Immortal Venerable Xuanji also slowly stood up, an ancient formation eye compass appearing in his hand, its needle spinning rapidly. "This scoundrel is most adept at spatial jumping; ordinary Formations cannot trap him at all. Only by using a Formation to lock down the Void Realm, combined with Fairy Qinglian's Law of space, can he be intercepted."

Immortal Venerable Qimeng stopped smiling and walked to Fairy Qinglian's side, her tone carrying a bit of banter but remaining serious: "Sister Qinglian's Law of space can predict his jump trajectory, and Senior Brother Xuanji's Formation can lock down the Void Realm. Combined with the attacks from Senior Brother Mochen and me, this Void-Rending Monarch won't be able to escape even if he had wings."

"There is no time to lose; we shall set out immediately."

Immortal Venerable Qinglian nodded, faint spatial ripples appearing around her as she prepared to tear through the Void Realm at any moment.

Immortal Emperor Lingtian exchanged looks with the two Immortal Venerables, Lieyang and Shuyang, and said with a hint of apology, "Chaoyin sent word recently that the Sea Race army has reached the edge of the Nether Prison Plane. I must remain here to preside over the situation and prevent the Sea Race from taking advantage of the chaos. I will not accompany you."

"The four of us taking action will be enough. It is better for you three Senior Brothers to remain here."

Immortal Venerable Mochen put the sword talisman into his Storage Ring and exchanged glances with Fairy Qinglian, Immortal Venerable Xuanji, and Immortal Venerable Qimeng.

Brilliant immortal light simultaneously erupted from the four of them, turning into four streaks of light that tore through the Void Realm and vanished... Meanwhile, in a simple Immortal Cave within the city of the Bitao Faction in the Nether Prison Plane.

"This is the last one..."

Su Ling sat cross-legged in the center of the Spirit Gathering Formation in the Immortal Cave, holding a Thunder Spirit Barrier-Breaking Pill between his fingertips.

This was an auxiliary Medicinal Pill he had specifically prepared for this Breakthrough to the Core Formation Mid-stage.

The Spiritual Qi in the Immortal Cave was compressed into a pale white mist by the Star Sea Spirit Gathering Formation he had set up, seeping into his Meridians strand by strand.

Meanwhile, his Divine Sense remained fixed within the Dantian Qi Sea in his lower abdomen, staring intently at the nine-patterned purple gold core floating in the eye of the Qi Sea.

At this time, the Golden Core was still at the threshold of the Early Core Formation Stage; its body was more than rounded but lacked sufficient solidity.

The spatial capacity of the Dantian Qi Sea was also far from reaching saturation.

"One more time!"

Su Ling took a deep breath and placed the Thunder Spirit Barrier-Breaking Pill into his mouth.

The pill melted as soon as it entered his stomach, turning into a pale purple warm current that merged into the Dantian through the Meridians.

As soon as it touched the Golden Core, it burst like hot oil meeting water, and countless tiny warm currents spread along the walls of the Qi Sea.

He could clearly feel that the originally somewhat rigid invisible membrane of the Qi Sea walls was gradually becoming soft under the nourishment of the warm currents.

He could even see faint patterns slowly stretching out.

It was precisely the Thunder Spirit Barrier-Breaking Pill widening the Qi Sea space, paving the way for the subsequent expansion of magic power capacity.

He had already repeated this action five times over the past ten years.

Immediately after, Su Ling crushed three Guiyuan Pills at once, and a mellow, pale gold spiritual energy instantly flooded into the Qi Sea.

This time, the nine-patterned purple gold core had a noticeable reaction.

It began to rotate clockwise, and the spiritual energy halo on its surface gradually brightened. The originally thin halo became as thick as liquid, as if fresh water had been injected into it.

Strands of pale gold spiritual energy were continuously drawn into the Golden Core, transforming into pure Qingxiao Thunder Power.

But the key to the Breakthrough lay in breaking the hidden barriers of the Dantian Qi Sea.

Su Ling focused his mind to drive his Divine Sense, guiding the magic power within the Golden Core to form a powerful wave.

The green spiritual energy, wrapped in fine electric arcs, made a faint "crackling" sound as it slammed fiercely against the invisible Qi Sea barrier.

Once, and once again.

Until most of the magic power within the Golden Core was gathered into a single monstrous wave.

One more thunderous collision!

"Buzz!"

A dull thud suddenly sounded within the Dantian Qi Sea, and the hidden barrier shattered upon impact, turning into countless tiny points of light that merged into nothingness.

Su Ling only felt a wave of warmth in his lower abdomen as the Dantian Qi Sea, which had felt restricted by an invisible bond, expanded in an instant.

The flow rate of spiritual energy in the Meridians also accelerated several times.

And that walnut-sized nine-patterned purple gold core, after absorbing the energy from the shattered barrier, expanded in volume once more.

The patterns on the surface became clearer and more vibrant, as if they were naturally formed spiritual runes.

The color of the core became even more brilliant, with purple-gold light faintly radiating from it.

This was precisely the sign of the Core Formation Mid-stage: a solidified Golden Core, an expanded Dantian Qi Sea, and increasingly smooth magic power circulation.

"My magic power limit has doubled?!"

Su Ling's heart stirred, feeling somewhat surprised.

His magic power reserves were already far beyond those of Cultivators of the same rank.

Now that he had broken through to the Core Formation Mid-stage, they had actually doubled again.

Previously, he was nurturing the scarlet gold bow, thunder shadow sword, coiling dragon bell, ten thousand souls banner, as well as the replacement Soul-Nurturing Plaque, Mist-Hiding Robe, and Cloud-Treading Boots—seven Magic Treasures in total.

Adding the flying Magic Treasure soaring wing boat and the Medium Grade Spirit Treasure azure roc wings, there were these two treasures as well.

In Su Ling's Dantian Qi Sea, there were a total of nine treasures being nurtured.

Although the scarlet gold bow, soaring wing boat, and azure roc wings were mostly left to their own devices and didn't require much effort,

even with his massive magic power, he had felt he was reaching his limit.

But now, with the expanded Dantian Qi Sea, it seemed he could also nurture the High Grade Danxia Furnace.

Who knows, maybe one day he would need to refine Medicinal Pills himself!

Furthermore, in Su Ling's Storage Ring, there were several other high-grade magic treasures.

Just the formation eye compass seized from a Wuyun Sect Peak Core Formation Disciple, the same model as Fu Yongnian's, was worth nurturing well.