The vast ruins of Sky City spread out, and over the course of twenty days, Lin Li and Taoist Priestess Shallow Waters had not encountered any conflicts, nor had they gained anything of value.
What Shallow Waters had not expected was that just when they had finally made a significant discovery, they were immediately targeted!
Turning around, her face grew grim. "People from the Holy Empire?!"
More than ten cultivators, all at the peak of Foundation Establishment, had surrounded Lin Li and Shallow Waters.
"They're too many," Shallow Waters gritted her teeth, feeling extremely unwilling, but in the end, she resigned herself to handing over the jade slip.
However, just as she was about to give it up, Lin Li stopped her, pressing down on her hand.
She looked at him in confusion, but Lin Li shook his head and said, "If we hand this over, when the Crimson Trial ends, Baixing Kingdom likely won't provide us much help for our Core Formation."
"But…"
"No buts," Lin Li decisively interrupted. "Leave them to me."
"What?" Shallow Waters tried to stop him, saying, "They are just like us, peak Foundation Establishment cultivators! There are so many of them, and we are only two. I'm afraid…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Li had already infused all his spiritual energy into the Youyu Poison Sword in his hand!
Massacre!
Like Fish in Water!
Activating both of Ye Fan's active abilities, Lin Li erupted with an overwhelming red aura, his eyes turning crimson.
"Ha! Haha!"
"He actually dares to fight us?"
"Courting death! Fool!" The cultivators from the Holy Empire sneered mockingly.
However, to their shock, Lin Li's figure suddenly vanished!
In the next moment...
Without a sound.
One of the Holy Empire cultivators felt a sudden warmth on his face. He turned, horrified, and screamed, "Aaaah!"
He saw his fellow cultivator beside him—now headless, blood gushing like a fountain!
And then, the man felt his own body grow light. A headless, blood-spraying corpse appeared before his eyes, and his vision rapidly darkened as he, too, fell.
[Killed Holy Empire Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator, gained 9999 evolution points]
[Killed Holy Empire Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator, gained 10912 evolution points]
"What?!"
Taoist Priestess Shallow Waters was stunned as she witnessed Lin Li, moving like a specter, instantly appearing behind the enemy and killing two of them. She gasped, her face filled with disbelief!
Meanwhile, the remaining Holy Empire cultivators, all pale with fear, scrambled to retaliate!
But.
In the Like Fish in Water state, Lin Li's speed, agility, and reflexes were massively enhanced.
Their attacks couldn't even graze his clothes!
In contrast, Lin Li didn't even need to use his Jinghong Sword. Relying solely on his enhanced movements and the powerful attacks from his Massacre state, he swiftly killed all ten-plus Holy Empire cultivators!
[Killed Holy Empire Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator, gained 9876 evolution points]
[Killed Holy Empire Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator, gained 10911 evolution points]
[Killed Holy Empire Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator, gained 10004 evolution points]
[Killed Holy Empire Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator, gained 10422 evolution points]
...
"One Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator is worth about 10,000 evolution points each!" Ye Fan was ecstatic. "So, the 700,000 evolution points I need to evolve to a top-tier artifact won't be hard at all! That's just seventy peak Foundation Establishment cultivators!"
"Just now, I've already collected 180,000 evolution points!"
...
Amidst the eighteen corpses, Lin Li felt a surge of energy being fed back to him through the Youyu Poison Sword.
However, Lin Li had already reached his current cultivation limit.
So, after replenishing the energy consumed by the Massacre and Like Fish in Water states, Lin Li ceased absorbing more energy.
"I'll save the remaining energy for when I'm preparing for Core Formation or after I've formed my core," Lin Li thought to himself.
At that moment, Taoist Priestess Shallow Waters exclaimed, "Lin Li! I had no idea your strength was this incredible!"
"You single-handedly eliminated more than ten Holy Empire cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment without giving them a chance to fight back!"
"Heh." Lin Li smiled and said, "With me here, you can rest easy. During this Crimson Trial, just focus on finding the ancient legacies!"
...
In the following ten days, Taoist Priestess Shallow Waters found several more ancient jade slips.
However, word of her gaining these ancient legacies leaked out, and Lin Li and Shallow Waters became targets.
In this final stretch of time, they endured three ambushes from the Infinity Empire and one from the Holy Empire.
Each time, Lin Li utterly dominated his opponents!
These battles earned Ye Fan another 400,000 evolution points.
"The Crimson Trial is over," Ye Fan thought as Lin Li arrived at the white jade plaza in front of Sky City, feeling a bit conflicted. "I thought it would take a long time to reach 700,000 evolution points. But now, I've already gained 580,000! Only 120,000 points left until my next evolution!"
"Once Lin Li successfully forms his core, I should be able to evolve even faster!"
...
This time, Baixing Kingdom lost twenty-five cultivators during the Crimson Trial.
However, compared to the Holy Empire, which lost thirty-eight people, and the Infinity Empire, which lost forty, Baixing Kingdom's losses were the smallest.
After leaving Sky City, returning to Icefire Island, and traveling back to Baixing Kingdom, the king held a grand banquet in the palace to welcome back the heroes of the Crimson Trial.
When the king saw that Taoist Priestess Shallow Waters had brought back seven ancient jade slips, everyone was invigorated!
The king, overjoyed, immediately ordered the royal treasury opened, allowing Shallow Waters and Lin Li to choose any treasures required for Core Formation.
Taoist Priestess Shallow Waters had long been prepared, while Lin Li requested to visit the Library Pavilion first to select a Core Formation technique before entering the treasury.
The king gladly approved.
After selecting a gold-element Core Formation technique, Heaven-Splitting Sword Art, which was part of the same lineage as his Xuantian Infinite Sword Qi Art, Lin Li entered the treasury and gathered the necessary rare materials for the technique.
He then retreated to Taoist Priestess Shallow Waters' residence to begin his seclusion.
...
Six months later.
Lin Li sat cross-legged, his eyes half-closed, inwardly observing his core.
Within his dantian, the liquid sphere of his false core was slowly being compressed and solidified with the help of the rare materials he had refined into pills, guided by the Heaven-Splitting Sword Art.
Finally!
It coalesced into a thumb-sized, golden sphere!
"I've succeeded in Core Formation!" Lin Li was ecstatic!
As he opened his eyes, a flash of golden light flickered in his pupils!