Preparations Before Forming the Golden Core (Part 2)

"Correct. This is the Withered Wood Green Vine. And this—your Foundation Establishment Pill."

Su Min nodded as she inspected the well-preserved herb before her. Then, she retrieved several small vials and handed them to the cloaked figure in front of her.

"One Foundation Establishment Pill, one Qi-Gathering Pill, and two Qi-inducing Pills."

"Indeed."

The black-robed man carefully examined the pills before exhaling in relief. Su Min hadn't tried to deceive him.

"The materials for the Thunder-Attracting Talisman are finally complete. This will be my divine tool when facing tribulation."

As she stored the materials away, a sudden fluctuation in the air made her pause. The black-robed man had crushed a black jade pendant in his hand. In an instant—he vanished.

At the same time, a figure burst in from behind—one of the Prince Yong Mansion's Foundation Establishment experts, clearly intending to prevent the imperial spy from escaping.

"Senior, where is he?"

The man looked around frantically before turning to Su Min, who remained seated calmly.

"Summoned back by a secret technique. No point chasing him."

Su Min shook her head. The escape had been too fast—even she hadn't reacted in time. The spy must have known that even if Su Min didn't act, Prince Yong Mansion wouldn't let him leave alive. So, he had prepared a teleportation method in advance.

"This…"

The Foundation Establishment expert's face darkened. He didn't dare blame Su Min, but the failure still stung.

"Update the notice."

Su Min tossed the revised list to the bewildered man before turning to leave. Over the next six months, Jianghu descended into madness. As materials were gathered one by one, the competition grew even more brutal. The scale of the conflicts shocked even Prince Yong and the Emperor Wei Neither of them had ever commanded such fervent obedience.

Su Min herself eventually grew uneasy and issued another batch of pills. Thanks to the materials Xie Yingying had left her, she had refined another cauldron of Foundation Establishment Pills. These extra pills ensured some room for error—but the competition only intensified.

Finally, after another year, all the materials Su Min needed were collected. Her cultivation had also grown more stable. During this time, a few secret realms had emerged. But Su Min had no interest in them—especially after her system rated them as "One-Star" (Trash Tier). They were useless to her.

Then, on this day—

"This time, I take my leave. I'll be entering seclusion to break through."

With the final materials in hand, Su Min had no more reason to delay. Originally, she expected this process to take thirty years—but thanks to Xie Yingying, the timeline had accelerated. No point waiting further. The sooner she reached the Golden Core stage, the sooner she could fulfill her purpose—and enter deep stasis, awaiting the Golden Core Avenue to manifest. As for the grudges and power struggles of Weiwu Prefecture? She no longer wished to be involved.

"How long will it take?" Prince Yong asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

"If all goes well, four to five years. If not... a dozen. I'll return before Demon Queen recovers completely. Without your restraint, she would pose too much trouble."

With that, Su Min turned and left. She didn't bother explaining further. Even with her strength, facing the Golden Core tribulation wasn't something she dared take lightly.

Beyond Weiwu Prefecture's lands lay vast expanses of ocean. Even in future eras when the world was interconnected, this would still be considered a remote and desolate corner. Su Min searched for a solitary island—somewhere uninhabited, far from any coastlines. Even passing fishermen wouldn't dare venture so far.

Standing upon jagged rocks, gazing out across the boundless sea, Su Min nodded to herself. This was where she would undergo her breakthrough. With a flick of her slender fingers, a small wooden boat materialized in her palm.

[Ebony Spirit Boat (Low Yellow Grade): Can be powered by spiritual energy. Suitable for sea travel.]

Tossing it into the water, the boat instantly expanded to over twenty meters in length. Su Min stepped aboard and pressed her palm against its side—the vessel began gliding steadily into the open sea.

Crossing the ocean was perilous, even for Golden Core cultivators. Without resting points to recover spiritual energy, one could easily exhaust themselves and die adrift. Naturally, Su Min had come prepared. She'd refined several spirit boats. Wind sails were unnecessary—just a trickle of energy could keep the boat moving several hundred kilometers per day. That was more than enough to ensure her tribulation wouldn't be noticed from the mainland.

"This should be far enough. I must go further still."

Three days later.

Su Min found it—an ideal island.

It wasn't too small, with sheer cliffs surrounding its perimeter and a flat basin in the center. The sea was fickle here, stormy and loud. Even if someone caught a glimpse of her heavenly tribulation, they'd mistake it for natural lightning and steer away.

Perfect terrain. Perfect concealment.

With a light step, Su Min soared into the air. With a tug of her hand, the spirit boat shrank and returned to her palm. In a flash, she arrived at the island's central valley.

"Let's begin."

She took stock of the materials at hand.

"One Golden Spirit Pill. One Thunder-Attracting Talisman. One Thunderbreaker Sword."

The Golden Spirit Pill was the key. It would allow her to rapidly accumulate energy and draw down heavenly lightning. Even after summoning the tribulation, its residual potency could help protect her and assist in surviving the thunderbolts.

One pill could increase a cultivator's chances of surviving tribulation by ten percent.

As for the talisman and sword, they were well-known among tribulation tools—artifacts forged solely for this moment. With these three treasures, Su Min felt confident, even if ninefold heavenly tribulation descended.

Especially when she still had the elusive, invisible blessing of merit on her side—a mysterious force not easily quantified, but hers was certainly abundant.

"Only the Golden Spirit Pill will be difficult to craft. The other two are just high-grade Yellow artifacts. For me now, they pose no challenge."

After a short pause, Su Min closed her eyes and began crafting. Instantly, the entire valley was engulfed in a wave of scorching heat. Alchemy demanded precision, control, balance. Artifact forging, however, required searing temperatures to melt and temper rare metals. The two arts called for completely different skills.

~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~

Almost all high-level cultivators knew some rudimentary smithing. But without a true heaven-grade flame, even they could only craft weapons slightly inferior to their personal cultivation levels. Steam rose from the valley. The moss and grasses below withered at speed. Even now, Su Min couldn't craft Earth-Grade artifacts—she lacked the materials, and her cultivation was still insufficient. Time passed. Slowly, painstakingly, she forged the tribulation tools.

Three months later.

"Phew… this poor island has suffered greatly."

Su Min opened her eyes and glanced around at the now-barren island. She let out a dry laugh. The forging process had demanded constant release of her Nanming Lihuo. She herself was protected—clad in enchanted armor—but the land had no such blessing. Every leaf, every stalk of grass had been incinerated. Still, she now held her prizes. A talisman humming with thunder essence. A longsword that shimmered with lightning.

[Thunder-Attracting Talisman (High Yellow Grade): Greatly enhances lightning resistance when worn.]

[Thunderbreaker Sword (High Yellow Grade): Deals devastating damage against lightning-based forces and entities.]

These two weren't versatile in general combat. The talisman, against anything other than lightning, was little more than a pretty charm. The sword, in ordinary fights, was just a slightly better-than-average Yellow Grade weapon.

But in their intended domain, they rivaled even Earth-Grade artifacts. For transcending tribulation—they were divine tools. With these in hand, Su Min's odds of survival… had soared.

"Now, the final step—the Golden Spirit Pill. Once this is done, I'll rest before breaking through."

Storing the artifacts, Su Min summoned her cauldron and dozens of materials. The gap between third-grade and fourth-grade pills was vast. Since reaching late-stage Foundation Establishment, she had been pushing her limits. Now, she was ready. If she succeeded, great.

If she failed? No matter—she'd just spend another decade tempering her spiritual energy until it could naturally trigger the tribulation. The leap from third-grade to fourth-grade alchemist was like the gap between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core—a chasm between mortal and immortal.

But for Su Min, it wasn't as daunting. The Nanming Lihuo made refining far easier than for others.

As time passed, the materials were consumed one by one. A week later, when Su Min opened her eyes, only a golden demon core and a cluster of herbs remained in the cauldron.

"The consumption is immense. If someone ambushed me now, it'd be the end."

She took a deep breath. Refining a fourth-grade pill demanded absolute focus. Now came the most dangerous step—forming the pill. If interrupted here, the result would be catastrophic—shattered pill, dead alchemist. That was why she had chosen this isolated island, thousands of kilometers from shore. Even if she detonated a nuclear bomb here, no one on the mainland would notice. And even if a Foundation Establishment expert sensed it, reaching her would take days.

Su Min severed all external awareness, pouring everything into the refinement. For an entire week, the medicinal essence repeatedly washed over the demon core, infusing it with potency.

Finally—

"Done."

A golden pill flew out of the cauldron and into her palm.

Crack.

A splitting sound echoed through the valley. Su Min blinked—then watched as her trusted cauldron shattered into pieces.

"Close call. But it was at the end of its lifespan anyway."

She smiled wryly. Even if it hadn't broken now, she would have replaced it after reaching Golden Core. This cauldron had never been meant to withstand fourth-grade pills.

"Everything's ready. After recovering, I can face the tribulation."

This month of alchemy had been a grueling test—but it had also tempered her soul and spiritual energy. Once she recovered, she'd be even stronger. And for the tribulation, she needed to be at her absolute peak.

The recovery took a full week. When Su Min opened her eyes again, a flicker of joy passed through them. She had reached true Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. "There's nothing left to improve. Twenty years of Heavenly -Foundation Establishment have solidified my foundation completely."

Without hesitation, she tossed the golden pill into her mouth. A warm, overwhelming power flooded her body.

And above her—

Thunder rumbled. The Heavenly Tribulation was coming.