Sacred Heaven Empire ─ The Imperial Academy

Feng Cai found the past days to be really interesting, not only because he helped Xue Lihua find an activity that brought her genuine happiness, but also because of the aftermath of that. You see, Xue Lihua wasn't great on the money side, sure her wealth was greater than any Outer Disciple but in terms of the Inner Disciples she was pretty poor and couldn't afford many of the good things that were available to the Inner Disciples.

Previously, she had been taking missions to get the necessary Spiritual Stones to buy what she wanted, but now she had another idea that worked very well. She is commissioning paintings for her follow disciples. It took some time, but soon there was a growing boon, as most Inner Disciples wanted to get their hands on one of their paintings.

As everyone could agree that her paintings are majestic and a nice decoration to their personal quarters, and it was only worth 10 Spirit Stones per painting. In short, she was both accumulating wealth and having fun at the same time, since she enjoyed doing art, even if some commissions could be rather weird.

Like the painting of a fellow disciple in a rather suggestive pose, but hey money is money, and Feng Cai wouldn't judge.

But the greatest one was the fact that his preparations for his ascension of the Core Formation Realm, he was confident now that he could survive the Heavenly Tribulation without causing damage to himself. He hoped so, at least.

It would be quite unfortunate if he failed, and the event caused him to be reset back, crippled his cultivation base, or even killed him. But Feng Cai knew that the chances of it happening were small, not only because of his preparations, but also because of the formula of the new reality he now lived in.

As a Young Master archetype, the only ones allowed to either defeat or kill him are protagonists with angsty backstories and motives. Like really, why most of the backstories of the protagonist of the cultivation novels had to be so depressing is a fact that he will never understand.

Feng Cai breathed in and out as he prepared himself, both mentally and physically, for what was about to come. He was standing in the area of the academy known simply as The Tribulation Haven. It was here that both disciples and Elders went where they were ready to face their Tribulations and enter a new state of being.

It was an area divided into different places and locations, all considering the damage of the Tribulations that either the Disciples or The Elders would trigger. As Heavenly Tribulations are without a doubt one of the Cultivation World's most dangerous phenomenons. Even the Tribulation caused by the Core Realm can cause immense destruction, which is why the Tribulation Haven had been built.

Each different area had been built using different materials to sustain whatever damage the different levels of tribulations could cause. And with each different level came a more sturdiness build as the tribulations grew in strength.

Feng Cai himself was in an isolated area. The ground was made of black rock, that was perfectly smooth. There was nothing to cover him from the clouds of the sky, neither were there walls. It was a completely open area. And even then Feng Cai couldn't see anyone for miles, which was expected, as all Disciples that underwent their own Tribulations were to be kept very separate.

'No, don't think of that now, focus,' Feng Cai thought as he cleared his mind of everything.

Of his past life, of his potential fate, and all other problems or benefits that he had in both lives. Soon, there was nothing in his mind except for one thing. Feng Cai breathed in and out through the warm air that surrounded him. And then he closed his eyes and opened the gate that held back his ascension into the Core Formation Realm.

Outside, it didn't seem like much was happening, with the clear exception of the sudden storm that had appeared right above him. But inside it was another story. The Altar and its Nine Pillars broke apart, disintegrating until nothing but pure energy remained, which then flew into the Crucible which glowed white hot as it began creating the Spiritual Core.

As it did so, multiple lighting bolts descended upon Feng Cai, and a formation appeared around him in the form of semi-transparent purple dome not completely dispersing the Heavenly Lighting but lessening it so the Lighting would not injure that Feng Cai. As the process continued, more and more bolts descended upon Feng Cai, each one stronger than the last. It was in the thousandth bolt of lighting that the formation weakened, even by a little.

Normally this would have filled Feng Cai with concern. Normally, this would make him lose his concentration, but as he had entered a state of hyper focus, he was not even aware that the magical formation had become weak.

But even as Heaven descended upon all its fury upon him, its anger did not hurt Feng Cai, and soon emerging from the crucible was Golden Violet Orb that shone its power across the grey fields of Feng Cai's Dantian. If he had not been so focused as he was, Feng Cai would have jumped with joy after seeing it.

Like many things in the Martial World, the Cores of the Core Formation Realm also have their division based on their respective colors. Mixed, Red, Orange, Yellow, Gold, and Violet Gold. Cultivators who have a Mixed Color Core will never become a Nascent Soul Cultivator and will remain forever stuck in the Core Formation Realm, while those that have Gold Cores would become Demi-Immortals at the very least.

But it wasn't just one that emerged from Feng Cai's Spiritual Crucible.

Soon another Core formed in his crucible, and this caused the Heavenly Tribulation to grow even stronger than before, sending various bolts of celestial lighting upon Feng Cai. But once again they did nothing. For the Formation held back the wrath of the heavens even as it continued to grow weak.

Then the second Core emerged, this one as well held the color of Violet Gold. Then another core started to form, and another, and another. Soon eight Spiritual Cores stood at the Dantian of Feng Cai, all of them with the same color as the one that first emerged, and waiting for the last of the Nine to appear.

At this moment, the Tribulation had grown so powerful that each lighting bolt held the power of a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator, and its strength was causing cracks to appear in the Formation as its strength was not enough to hold back the power of the Heavens. Soon, one of the two would have to break. If the formation shattered, Feng Cai would be annihilated by the lighting. But if it held for just a few seconds more, the Ninth Spiritual Core would be formed and the Tribulation would stop.

The Heavens continued to rain down their wrath, as more and more cracks emerged, it seemed like it would be the formation that would break first, but just as the most powerful lighting was about to descend, the last Spiritual Core emerged from the crucible who exploded into shards of energy that then merged with all the other Nine Cores.

Its color was the same as the other ones. Violet Gold.

The thunderstorm above stopped its wrath, and then it disappeared like it had never even existed.

Feng Cai opened his eyes and noticed two facts. 1) He wasn't dead, so it means that his gambit worked; 2) He had his Nine Spiritual Violet Gold Cores, so his path towards the highest realm was now guaranteed if nothing fatal or crippling happened to him.

The only thing that he allowed to appear on his face was a tiny smirk, but in his mind, he was shouting in joy. 'YES YES YES! I DID IT!'

The situation could be perfect... if he hadn't been feeling like he was about to explode. This was the effect that was common amongst the ones that achieved the Core Formation Realm before their bodies had completely matured. Enormous quantities of Qi now lived inside their body, which couldn't handle it, and if they stubbornly continued on their cultivation, their bodies would explode in a wave of energy as their Qi reached critical mass.

Feng Cai's case was even more intense, as the sheer quantity of Qi inside made so that he was very close to that critical mass thanks to the fact that he had not two cores but nine, which exploded the passive formation of Qi from his Dantian.

"Well, that was expected, so I can't be angry at it," Feng Cai said with a sigh as he analysed his body and saw how close it was to the Critical Mass he was warned about. With a thought, he stopped the passive method that allowed cultivators to generate their Qi by absorbing the Qi around them, by essentially shutting himself off from the world.

'Well now time to see the doctor' Feng Cai before getting up and walking away from the Tribulation Haven.