CHAPTER 148: BREAKTHROUGH, CORE FORMATION! 4

Li Ling was currently quite unhappy. Like most of his breakthrough processes, he was completely aware and idle, as he did not put in a single ounce of effort during the process when initiated through the Infinite Slaughter System, allowing him to intimately witness the process from beginning to end.

In fact, minus some sages at the Tian Shu Institute, Li Ling could be said to be the one most knowledgeable about the intricacies of sub-realm and major realm breakthroughs on the entire Tian Ming Continent.

However, he couldn’t entirely understand what was going on right now.

In the process of breakthrough to the Core Formation realm, he had easily reached the fourth step and completed it without a hitch, but before he could even enter the fifth and final step, some sort of interruption occurred as his core went ballistic and began spinning so fast it generated a vortex outside.

The Magic Power within his core had long been baptized by the newly formed core and become Dharma Power, also rapidly filling up to the brim with more Dharma Power in order to reach the peak of the first realm.

However, this was what confused Li Ling, because he shouldn’t have needed outside resources. The Infinite Slaughter System always packaged the entire affair in its Slaughter Point pricing, even giving physiques and special spirit roots out of thin air, much less mere spiritual energy.

So why was there an external absorption?

Li Ling didn’t have much time to ponder this as a strange phenomenon occurred as his core became full of Dharma Power for the first time. Immediately, all his accumulated Dharma Power was sucked out and gathered into a point, then an ethereal force manifested in this illusory space that formed a human hand that wielded what seemed to be a nondescript talisman brush.

The hand did not dawdle, dipping the talisman brush into the Dharma Power that was extracted from Li Ling and beginning to draw upon his core, a feeling which made the young man’s mind and spirit instantly succumb to a greater force that originated from the core of existence itself.

Externally, Li Ling, who had been frowning even as energy surged into his body, suddenly displayed a dazed expression as his pupils completely disappeared, leaving only the whites of his eyes.

Within the illusory space where his newly born core was being drawn upon, the hand carefully and slowly sketched out a symbol that was a mixture of the typical Mandarin-like script of the Tian Ming Continent mixed with something more diverse that resembled glyphs.

THOOM!

The first glyph was completed, and the entire area around Li Ling shook with power that did not come from him. Those of the Shen Clan who had rushed here to see what was happening were immediately blown back, spitting blood and some of their organs as they fainted in pain.

Shen Ziyan, who had been flying over to see what Li Ling was up to, immediately stopped and defended herself, being knocked to the ground the next moment in a disheveled state, her expression changing greatly. Rather than be disgusted with her current unclean state, she seemed more like a greedy pervert as she crazily sniffed the air near Li Ling’s breakthrough area, her expression becoming profound yet intoxicated.

"This... this is it! This is what I’ve been looking for! I must have it, at all costs!" She thought to herself with madness even as she didn’t dare go closer, continuing to enjoy whatever it was that only she could sense.

Outside the Shen Clan estate, a wave of power erupted that spread for miles, not damaging any buildings or houses, but any cultivator who came into contact with it unprepared suffered for it. The four Nascent Soul Core Disciples of the Six Paths Demon Sect had their pupils constrict rapidly as they felt that they had no chance to resist this wave of power, but the five Soul Formation seniors immediately protected them with their power, barely resisting the wave.

It was only after doing so that the various parties had a chance to show their shocked expressions and wonder what the hell that power was. They had never felt anything like it and it felt extremely profound, because it did not bear any malice nor offensive power, but just coming into contact with it almost crushed them to bits!

Whether it was the beauties of the Boundless Joy Sect or this group from the Six Paths Demon Sect, both were unsure of what to do, until they heard a voice from above them.

"Impossible, impossible, impossible!! This cannot be real, this cannot be real!"

Looking back, the group below were shocked to see that Path Elder Li An, who had previously adopted a grandfatherly and kind disposition, was currently pulling at his beard with red eyes, tearing patches of it off without caring for the damage he was causing himself.

He kept mumbling that it was impossible, his eyes completely locked on the center of the Shen Clan estate where the strange power erupted from, unable to tear his eyes away.

Meanwhile, Gu Yin’s puppet-like body had finally shown a change in expression this time, and it was one of dumbfounded confusion. Her previous wide-open eyes that were full of rigidity as well as her paralyzed face now looked like a person who had witnessed a pig fly right before them, speaking English as it soared to the skies.

The only one who could give clarity to the slightly more than two dozen cultivators hovering outside the Shen Clan estate was Diao Qing, whose green scales had turned gray as she trembled severely, like a mouse that had seen a cat.

"B-But how? I clearly sensed the birth of Dharma Power... so why is there Rule Power? How can there be Rule Power?" she muttered with a shaky tone, not paying attention to anyone around her.

However, when the others heard her words, their brains almost exploded in their scalps, for they knew what Rule Power was.

Rules were the subset of a Heavenly Dao Law, a set of rules that functioned within the maxim of that law and formed one of the many cogs of its operation. Rule Power was simply condensed Rules by a cultivator, forming fragmentary power allowing them to utilize the power of that rule depending on their cultivation level.

For example, a Heavenly Dao Law was something like the Law of Fire, the Law of Water, the Law of Air, the Law of Space, etc. They were the major rules that governed one aspect of reality and the continued functioning of the world.

Rules, on the other hand, were individual aspects of a law, usually indicated by a preceding defining aspect before the law when spoken out loud or written. For example, taking the Law of Fire, one could find a handful of rules within, like the Rule of Bright Fire, the Rule of Cold Fire, the Rule of Liquid Fire, the Rule of Life Fire, the Rule of Karma Fire, etc.

They were all types of flames, but their specific functions were distinguished by the preceding concept.

And what Diao Qing was suggesting was that the powerful wave of might that struck them was the aura from a Rule being utilized? Or in this case, being comprehended?

So the person breaking through right now was condensing Rule Power, or—given that the rule had already exerted its presence... they had actually succeeded?

This was why their brains were almost literally melting in their craniums: disbelief mixed with speculation inundated their thinking centers. They were in disbelief because how could it be that on a random day of no particular significance, a random person whose identity they still had no idea of would break through into the third realm and actually comprehend a rule?

And they were rapidly speculating because the significance of this was extremely explosive! In this era where there was the Dao Child of Heavenly Mandate who also revealed her brilliance around the same level, there was suddenly this monster on the side of the demonic sects.

What did this mean? Were the heavens setting up for another Righteous-Demonic War not seen in thousands of years?

More than that, how would the righteous sects react to this revelation? No, how would the demonic sects react, especially the Six Paths Demon Sect and the Seven Sins Demonic Sect?

Surprisingly, it was Gu Yin who recovered first as her expression became cold and she roared out, releasing a wave of supreme power that covered the entire outpost. Immediately, subspace was sealed shut using raw force, while all beings in the entire outpost were pressed to the ground, unable to get up regardless of their reputation or standing in the sect or in the world.

Her actions caused Diao Qing and Li An to wake up from their states, immediately understanding her intentions and internally chastising themselves for having such weak dao hearts compared to this undead woman.

A resplendent five-colored light rose from the area near the edge of the outpost in the other direction, roaring up into the sky and shooting into the horizon at the fastest speed. Immediately, the eyes of Li An and Diao Qing became cold, unleashing their full power as they shot out to pursue, leaving Gu Yin to stabilize the situation.

WENG!

Meanwhile, another wave of power was released as the second glyph was inscribed on Li Ling’s core!