Inside the barrier.
Li Qingmu's mind was calm as an ancient well.
『Golden core complete… the supreme Heaven-Dao Golden Core. But I still have excess heavenly thunder stored by the system… enough to form a second.』
Normal cultivators could never dream of dual cores.
The energy in even the best holy lands was finite.
Many who tried were struck dead by jealous rivals before completion.
But he had massive heavenly tribulation thunder sealed within his body.
He exhaled slowly.
Golden radiance surged from his dantian to pour outward like a raging river.
Behind him, an illusory avatar manifested.
A furious red Asura with two arms and nine heavenly rings of thunder orbiting its body.
Li Qingmu opened his golden eyes.
"Now… the second core."
He guided the remaining heavenly thunder into his spiritual sea.
The thunder roared.
His meridians burned.
The illusory Asura behind him howled silently as a second torrent of golden energy poured into it.
The Asura trembled then exploded with light.
Two new arms erupted from its sides.
Its body grew larger, more majestic as its spiritually hardened skin turned from angry red to deep imperial gold etched with heavenly runes.
Four arms now flexed in the void.
Nine thunder rings became eighteen.
Nine were gold, the other nine were crimson.
And they spun in perfect harmony.
A true four-armed Heavenly Asura Dharma Idol towered behind him as it exuded pressure that made the heavens themselves bow.
The second golden core was infused with the Tyrant Body's pure destructive essence.
Because of that overwhelming power, the golden core underwent a drastic change and transformed into an extremely rare Chaos Core!
Li Qingmu coolly opened his eyes.
"Dual Golden Cores… fused into the Nine Heavens Tyrant Asura Body."
The second elder who had remained screamed.
"Only three people in the history of our Golden Sun Pavilion formed dual golden cores!"
"This boy… has joined their ranks!"
Cold sweat poured down their faces.
"Now I understand why Grand Elder Song cherishes him so deeply…"
In a heartbeat, he fled faster than the first.
Official Wong's face twisted in fury.
"Coward! All of you… COWARDS!"
He turned to the last elder… a Core Formation expert with half a foot in the next realm.
"You'd better not run."
The elder puffed out his chest.
"A mere peasant's cultivation won't scare me."
Official Wong grinned viciously.
"Good!"
They stepped forward again.
Then the sky darkened completely.
A colossal shadow blotted out the sun.
What looked like a mass of water dense as a mountain rock and vast enough to cover half the peak hung in the air above the Li family palace.
It emitted immortal ripples that distorted space.
Official Wong's mouth went dry.
"Wh-, What is that…?"
The quasi-Nascent Soul elder's voice trembled.
"Impossible! That… that is a Heavenly Water Immortal Bone manifestation! Only those born with the legendary immortal bone can summon such a phenomenon during breakthrough! How… how does a peasant like Li Qingmu possess a Heavenly Water Immortal Bone!?"
Official Wong forced a laugh.
"It's… it's nothing to fear! Just fancy trash!"
No response.
He turned and the elder was gone.
Official Wong stood alone on the ridge.
"They abandoned me…"
The massive divine organ slowly descended to merge into the barrier like a divine blessing.
[Congratulations! The host has successfully cultivated the pseudo-immortal rank divine organ known as the Heavenly Water Immortal Bone!]
‣ It is the perfect conduit for water-attribute spiritual energy and laws. They absorb it at a rate thousands of times faster than a "Heavenly Spiritual Root" genius.
‣ The bone often cultivates by itself, even when the host is sleeping or not actively practicing.
‣ It grants the host innate water daoist magic spells that your children can inherit!
Li Qingmu looked decently surprised.
"So my water spiritual root can grow passively?"
He smiled at the "YES" on the system panel.
His hands gently clasped together as he thanked his precious daughter internally.
Soon, the heavenly tribulation dissipated.
And so did the four-armed Asura behind Li Qingmu.
Official Wong watched with trembling eyes.
『No… he can't be a heaven-blessed genius! It's just not fair! If I don't find a way to kill this bastard or make him lose face, my suffering will only increase!』
He slammed his folding fan against the ground and furiously marched away.
══════
The grand hall of Zhulong Peak's central pavilion.
The three Core Formation elders returned with pale faces and rumpled robes.
They knelt before Huo Batian.
Official Wong got in a few moments later.
He was still very furious at them.
"Grand Elder!"
The first elder pressed his forehead to the floor.
"We… we returned at once. I'm sorry, but that Li Qingmu is a cold-blooded monster! We would've crushed him without a second thought, but we don't know when or how he gained such monstrous cultivation."
The others started talking.
"Dual golden cores!"
"A Heavenly Water Immortal Bone!"
"Y… Yes! It's beyond comprehension!"
Huo Batian's eyes narrowed into slits.
"You fled? Like cowards before a mere Foundation whelp who's just broken through? And you dare report back to me empty-handed?"
His voice boomed and shook the hall's pillars.
He slammed a fist on the armrest.
"I sent you to teach him a lesson, not to tuck your tails and run! If I take matters into my own hands, things will get too ugly for what its worth."
The second elder lifted his head slightly.
"Grand Elder… will you still go? Teach that arrogant brat a lesson yourself?"
Huo Batian sighed deeply.
"No. I won't."
The third elder blinked in surprise.
"Grand Elder, your composure… it's unexpected."
Huo Batian waved a hand dismissively.
As a grand elder, he knew the treacherous currents of sect politics better than anyone.
"Hmph. If I march over there myself, it'll spark an inter-sect war. Fenghuang Peak's Grand Elder Song Yan is a brutal demon with the face of a Heavenly beauty… she'd turn this into a bloodbath. If you three had handled it, I could've smoothed things over in court. But now? It's pointless. That Li Qingmu has Song Yan's protection."
He gritted his teeth.
"If it were anyone else, I'd have decapitated them in an instant and scattered their soul. But he's different. Every day that passes, he finds new ways to elevate his worth. Dual cores? Immortal bone? The heavens themselves seem to favor the woman-thief."
Official Wong had been seething in the corner.
But all this "cowardly" explanation infuriated him.
He slammed his fist onto the round table.
"Spineless fools! All of you—cowards, worms, gutless dogs licking the boots of a peasant! You're the elders of Zhulong Peak, yet you quiver like mortals? Pathetic! Useless sacks of qi! If I had your cultivation, I'd have torn that Li Qingmu apart limb by limb, fed his cores to the beasts!"
The elders and Huo Batian remained silent.
They refused to take the bait.
After a long moment, the first elder glanced at Huo Batian with concern.
"Grand Elder, are you alright? Your face… it's…"
Huo Batian clutched his chest tightly.
"No."
He took a deep breath.
"There's a pain in my heart."
He stood abruptly and turned to leave without another word.
Three months passed in a flash.
Li Qingmu had secluded himself in the Li family palace's cultivation chamber.
Day and night passed as he worked to stabilize his dual golden cores.
The supreme Heaven-Dao Golden Core.
And the enigmatic Chaos Core born from his Tyrant Body's destructive essence.
He didn't know anything about the latter.
『I'll keep it a secret for now…』
The outside world might as well have not existed.
Disciples from various peaks lingered at the edges of the Li Clan settlement.
They were hungry for the resources this clan would receive when it finally opened.
Many had already abandoned their original peaks and they were starting to regret it.
"When will Clan Chief Li open the gates?"
"I heard he's achieved Core Formation already… what if he's keeping all the resources for himself!?"
"Tch. I don't care!"
"Joining him means soaring to the skies!"
They decided to be more patient.
Even Zhen Rou and Su Liyue grew restless.
Their moods soured like unripe fruits.
They never got to see Li Qingmu anymore.
Zhen Rou paced the kitchens as she perfected dishes that went untasted.
"Husband hasn't been around much. He doesn't know my cooking has gotten better…"
Su Liyue scrubbed halls with a scowl.
"Hmph! Why do I do chores if he's not around?"
She missed the feeling of lifting her skirt until he could see her butt when she bent.
But she seductions never worked and she'd just get spanked like a child instead.
And sometimes… she enjoyed that more.
In fact, Su Liyue enjoyed it a lot!
"Sigh~ it's not the same, is it?"
She stopped scrubbing.
Zhen Rou had tried to befriend her several times.
"Sister Su, you're so talented and beautiful… tell me, how did you master that ethereal sword dance I always see you practicing at night?"
But Su Liyue would always retort sharply.
"Hmph. That won't work on me. Two women vying for the same man's attention shouldn't pretend to be friends so save your flattery for someone else."
Zhen Rou would tilt her head, genuinely puzzled as her tiny jade hand rested on her bump.
"Vying? But... I'm his wife, and carrying his child."
She rubbed her bump.
"When did we become rivals?"
Su Liyue would just huff and turn away as she hid a flush of embarrassment.
Deep down, she knew the truth stung yet she couldn't stop herself from competing.
She was too proud to accept defeat.