125: Increased strength, changes in the rankings

Several months later, Su Ling's eyes snapped open, a flash of azure spiritual light flickering within them.

This was a sign of magic power being refined to the absolute limit.

The moment he opened his eyes, he noticed that the Spiritual Qi within the Immortal Cave had long since become as thin as a thread.

The faint white spiritual mist that had originally swirled around his body had vanished without a trace, leaving only a lingering essence of spiritual power in the air.

Glancing toward a corner of the Immortal Cave, he saw a thick layer of grayish-white Spirit Stone powder, half a foot deep, piled around the Star Sea Spirit Gathering Formation Flags.

These were the Low-Grade Spirit Stones consumed to support the operation of the Spirit Gathering Formation for ten years.

By a rough estimate, there were as many as two million.

"It's finally done."

Su Ling muttered softly to himself.

With several months having passed, his Core Formation Mid-stage Realm had finally stabilized.

With a casual flick of his finger, a beam of Azure Sky Finger light suddenly shot out.

The azure beam, wrapped in fine arcs of lightning, slammed directly into the stone wall of the Immortal Cave.

After a dull 'boom,' a deep pit the size of a washbasin appeared on the stone wall.

Crushed rocks fell pattering down, and the walls of the pit still bore charred marks from being scorched by the lightning arcs.

"The power has actually increased this much!"

A flash of pleasant surprise crossed Su Ling's eyes, and he subconsciously clenched his fist.

He clearly remembered testing the strength of the stone wall with the Azure Sky Thunder Finger when he first entered the Immortal Cave.

At that time, even a full-power strike had only left a shallow pit the size of a bowl on the stone wall.

Now that he had reached the Core Formation Mid-stage, both the upper limit of magic power output and the degree of refinement for the Azure Sky Thunder Finger had risen accordingly.

With just a casual flick, the power had actually increased several times over.

This was a direct manifestation of his explosive growth in strength.

One must know that this Immortal Cave was condensed with great magic power by a Soul Transformation Deacon of the Bitao Sect.

The material of the stone wall was comparable to a Magic Treasure; the attacks of ordinary Core Formation Cultivators could hardly leave a mark.

The heavy sensation of spiritual power currently coming from his fingertips, as well as the smoothness of the instant Spell casting,

All told him: breaking through to the Core Formation Mid-stage was by no means a simple increase in Realm.

Su Ling then sank into internal vision, where a nine-patterned purple gold core floated in the center of his Qi Sea.

The nine deep blue patterns on the core's body flowed slowly like living things, and the magic power around it surrounded the core like a tide, each surge carrying a heavy sense of pressure.

This was the result of ten years of time and countless resources.

"For those with great talent, breaking through a minor Realm takes only a few years and a million Spirit Stones, yet I had to spend twenty years and ten million in resources... My Aptitude really is quite poor!"

Su Ling couldn't help but sigh, his fingers rubbing the empty Medicinal Pill bottle. "Ten years in the illusory rainbow flying cloud bell, and another ten years in seclusion in the Immortal Cave. In terms of time alone, it's about the same as the ordinary children of cultivation families, but this resource consumption is likely enough for others to break through minor Realms ten times."

But this sentiment was quickly replaced by joy.

He could clearly perceive that the connection between his Golden Core and Divine Soul was several times tighter than before; previously, using the Ghost Soul Arrow required concentrating to mobilize thirty percent of his Divine Soul power to guide it.

Now, with just a thought, the Spell could be cast instantly.

Even basic Spells like the Azure Sky Thunder Finger or the Thunder Gathering Hand no longer required hand seals to build up power; they could be released with a lift of his hand.

Even more surprising was the effect of the bodhi soul nurturing plaque.

Su Ling calculated silently for a moment, the smile in his eyes deepening. "Previously, fully straining my Divine Soul to cast the Ghost Soul Arrow would take over half a year to recover. Now, with the soul nurturing plaque nourishing it day and night, it can be completely restored in three months at most; if supplemented with a Grade 4 Soul Calming Pill, the recovery time could even be compressed to within a month!"

This meant that in future battles of the National War, Su Ling would no longer need to worry about Divine Soul depletion as he did before.

As long as he kept Divine Soul Medicinal Pills on hand, he could continuously use the Ghost Soul Arrow, truly bringing the power of this trump card to its limit.

Su Ling stood up and stretched his limbs, his magic power flowing through him and creating a slight current of air.

After these ten years of seclusion, his rank on the Points Leaderboard had certainly dropped from the top to outside the top thousand, but the increase in his strength was real.

His current magic power reserves and Divine Soul strength had long since far surpassed those of Core Formation Cultivators at the same Middle Stage.

"Next, I just need to develop steadily, slowly fill the remnant souls within the ten thousand souls banner, and get more familiar with my magic power control in the Middle Stage..."

A confident curve hooked at the corner of Su Ling's mouth. "Fighting my way back into the top fifty of the Points Leaderboard is only a matter of time."

...As Su Ling stepped out of the secluded area where his Immortal Cave was located, he felt a completely different atmosphere wash over him.

In the past, although there were Cultivators moving through the base city, most of them carried a bit of leisure.

They were either teaming up to go out and hunt Demon Species or occupy resource points.

Or they were haggling and exchanging what they needed in the spontaneously formed markets.

But today, the Cultivators on the streets were all in a hurry, their brows tightly furrowed.

Even their conversations were kept extremely low, and when eyes occasionally met, there was only gravity and vigilance.

It was as if an invisible layer of pressure was condensed in the air.

"What's going on? To think it would become so different after just ten years of seclusion?"

Doubts sprouted in Su Ling's heart, and his pace subconsciously quickened as he headed toward the plaza in the center of the city.

That place not only had the real-time updated Points Leaderboard but was also a gathering spot for Cultivators to exchange information; he would surely find an answer there.

But when he arrived at the plaza, the scene before him made him even more confused.

The plaza, which used to be shoulder-to-shoulder and bustling with noise, was now exceptionally empty.

A scattered hundred or so Cultivators were spread out in various places, without any of the past clamor.

Some stared up at the Points Leaderboard, their brows knotted, leaving in a hurry after a moment of silence with a shake of their heads.

Others leaned against the stone pillars at the edge of the plaza, their fingers unconsciously rubbing their Magic Treasures, staring blankly into the distance, not even noticing Su Ling's approach.

Su Ling's brow gradually furrowed as his gaze quickly swept across the giant Points Leaderboard in the center of the plaza.

The list, condensed from spiritual light, still floated in mid-air, but the names and numbers on it had a bit more cold strangeness compared to before his seclusion.

At the top of the list, the name of the Bitao Sect's direct disciple Nascent Soul, Liu Muyao, still firmly held the first place, with points exceeding three million.

In second place was the Bitao direct disciple Wu Yuanpeng, following closely behind, with a difference of no more than a hundred thousand points from Liu Muyao.

The names of the two were like two unshakable monuments, no different from ten years ago.

What surprised Su Ling slightly was that the third place had actually changed to Lu Tao, whose points had also broken three million.

He formed a 'triangular balance' with the top two, the gap between them being only a hundred thousand or so.

Clearly, during these ten years, as Lu Tao stabilized his cultivation, the three of them had competed extremely fiercely in the National War.

Looking further down, the fourth to thirtieth places were all occupied by Nascent Soul Cultivators.

Each of their points was stable at around two million, though some of the names had been replaced by new faces.

It was likely that some old-timers had fallen and newcomers had filled the gaps.