The sky darkened as quickly as the time took for a coin to fall from one's hand, scaring all the disciples. The dark clouds hovering above their heads brought along an unknown pressure.
The beforehand calm and ethereal mountain range seemed to be on the verge of a storm, lightning sparkled from time to time, bringing along loud but late thunders. The wind whispered horrific screams to those willing to listen.
Near the sect, a person clad in scaled armor and wearing a straw hat walked, no one could see the face hidden under the shadows. The person's steps were light but seemed to resonate with the emerging lightning.
"Senior, it has been a while." From nowhere, a middle-aged man appeared, blocking the way of the armored person. He was wearing a deep black robe, with a glistening spear in his right hand, not hiding his hostility.
"Has it?" the armored person asked back in a deep tone, having stopped walking, "I came here to take, to do what you should have done."
"No one supports you, go back to where you came from," the man said with narrowed eyes, his long hair fluttering on the stormy wind.
KACHA! A bolt of lightning fell just beside the man.
"None seems to support you either," the person mocked, pointing at the man's back.
"That's right," the man nodded and said, "So we need to decide!" Just as he finished talking, spheres of red light began to emerge around him, dimming the world.
"You aren't my opponent," the person said lightly, not taking the man's threat seriously.
"Don't be so cocky, senior, you are just an alchemist," the man shouted as he pointed the spear's tip, "Even if your realm is higher, I can still win!"
"Hehe! Just an alchemist alright! Heheheheh"
"Are you done laughing?" the man spat on the ground as if seeing something outrageous.
Suddenly, the clouds in the sky began to disperse, and the light of the sun erased the shadows hiding the person's face. An ancient face, full of marks of the time and a gloomy smile.
"I might be an alchemist, but it doesn't mean I'm weaker than others when fighting!" the old woman shouted as she took the hat off, making her long grey hair fall disorderly.
"Han Ling, please go back!" the man urged for one last time, preparing to pierce his spear with all his power.
"Come on, lad, follow me to the mirror world, it's better to not harm this place and the small disciples," the old woman ignored him and opened a portal, showing another identical world inside.
She smiled mockingly after seeing the immediate hesitation on the man's face.
.
.
"Something happened..." murmured Ji-Yoon after seeing the dark clouds appear suddenly and disappear just as fast. He was familiar with sect's plots, principally when it's related to a protagonist's transmigration.
'Generally, after joining the sect, a disaster would hit them, and the sect would be shown to be extremely incompetent and would need the MC to save their asses...' Ji-Yoon thought fearfully, "Don't tell me... Will a disaster hit the sect? No! I need to remain calm and just follow the sect's orders! I definitely shouldn't show anything out of ordinary, otherwise, I will be full of future troubles!'
He secretly decided to not go to the Old Li's cave abode for the next week, just as a precaution. Anyway, the old man needed some rest after being a punching bag for him for so many months, or so he thought.
It had been six months since he arrived at the outer sect. He was still at the Foundation Establishment Stage and hadn't attracted unwanted attention, except from the Elder Yang, which had already seen his talent for alchemy.
He already managed to buy an alchemy furnace of his own after accumulating lots of contribution points, be it by doing missions or other ways... Old Li finally fell for his temptations and agreed to give him some points in exchange for his preaching and lessons.
The thousand crystals are, of course, still well guarded by Ji-Yoon, who cares about his honor... At least, this is what Old Li tried to console himself with.
Ji-Yoon already used the crystals for 'smart times,' but he was still short of a turning point for a breakthrough on his Dao comprehension level.
He felt a strong distance between the Greater Success Level and the Profound Level. It seemed too distant and yet close. It was happening in his comprehension of both Mortal and Life Daos.
Already in his cave, sitting on his cushion, he began another round of pill refining. He was trying to refine a Foundation Establishment pill, much more difficult to refine than a Qi Condensation pill.
Various herbs were thrown within the copper furnace, which had several inscriptions and markings all over it. The herbs instantly filled the place with a strong violent smell along with the strange heat brought by the living flame, it was hot but comfy.
He and the other two disciples under Elder Yang already reached the Entry-level of the Spring Flourishing Technique, but Ji-Yoon was already on the verge of reaching Small Success on it. The living flame was such a simple technique that it wasn't divided into levels of proficiency, so they didn't spend much time particularly practicing it.
After a while, ten blue pills flew out of the furnace, they were vibrating with life force and medicinal powers. "Finally, hundred percent exploitation rate! Nothing wasted!" he shouted happily, drinking a mouthful of Mi Baijiu just after.
He was happy not only because of the perfect refinement but because of its meaning: He could now be considered a 1-Star alchemist! He could finally take a test of the Sect's Alchemy Way and get a certificate. With it, he could refine and sell pills within the sect without being questioned.
"It should be about time, check-in."
[Ding! Dong! Congratulations hist on receiving the Mortal-Grade item: Life records of a pill.]
"Hmm? What?" Ju-Yoon blinked a few times, confused, "Life records of a pill? A pill can write records? System, scan the content of the book for me."
[Opening my non-existent eyes, I could only feel myself and the hot furnace. Then I heard my maker shouting: "Finally, I can finally be considered an Extreme Martial Alchemist! Hahahhahahahaha!" I didn't understand at that time, but later I did. I was born as an extreme-level enlightenment pill, used by mortal martial artists to enhance their comprehension abilities.
[Destined to be eaten, I couldn't do anything. My non-existent ears were my only proof of still existence. I had no siblings, I was unique, or so my maker said. I once desired to awaken my eyes and ears, and also a pair of legs, so I could run away, but I couldn't and so I accepted, gaining enlightenment on my life just then. Before being eaten, I had the opportunity to write this record, thanks to an unknown master who pitied my existence, he praised me a lot by the way.
[The one that will eventually eat me is my own maker, that now is trying to go beyond the Life and Death Realm, I hope he manages to do it. My maker isn't my creator though, I was born with this thought, which the mysterious master agreed.]
"What a tragic but beautiful story..." Ji-Yoon sighed, feeling a bit melancholic, "I cannot fathom some mysteries in it, how interesting."
Before, he felt that he couldn't break through by relying on "brute force," he lacked accumulation, which was a great problem. But this book helped him to try grasping principles from another angle.
"All created living things can be said to be mortals... That's probably what the pill meant at the end..." he muttered with a slight smile, feeling less lost, "What a deep Life Dao insight the little pill had."
He closed his eyes and sensed his cultivation, he could try breaking through at any moment, but the flow was somewhat turbid for it as if alerting him of something. He was familiar with it, the flow was simply the world showing the potential of anything, be it a thought, person, or even stone, it was difficult to put into words.
He analyzed himself again and again but found nothing. "Is this what they call bottleneck? What pain..." he snickered, "Wait... bottleneck?" Ji-Yoon suddenly read the Pill's Records in his mind again.
'Oh! That's right, the pill once went through something similar, but eventually accepted its destiny... Obtaining enlightenment on its life...' Ji-Yoon thought, 'Is it a hint for me to put down my obsession? But am I obsessed? With what?'
He started to meditate about those things, thinking about his comportment since he began to comprehend the Mortal Dao.
He liked the way the flow pointed out his flaws in cultivation and helped him correct them, he liked how it helped him in combat. He liked how it helped him in comprehending himself and the world.
How he liked the flow and wanted to perfect his comprehension of it, just so he could also do all things perfectly.
When he realized his obsession, with the flow and the Mortal Dao, he understood what he should do from then on.
Exhaling some turbid air, he opened his eyes, smiling, and sensed the flow in his cultivation again, it wasn't turbid anymore.
"It wasn't hinting that something was missing or imperfect at all, it was urging me to look and walk forward."
He closed his eyes again, his mind came to a stillness. Lightning began to appear around him as he disappeared from the cave.
Thunderous sounds caused ripples to appear in his mind after some time, causing him to open his eyes, nothing could be seen, nothing except a neverending sea of dark clouds above and below him, he was sitting in a floating pyramidal stone, which emitted the only light in that place.
Ji-Yoon got up to his feet and cupped his hands as he shouted, "Junior Yun pay his respects to the Tribulation Plane, thanks for pitying and bringing me here for this trial for my well-being!" Nothing except thunders could be heard as an answer.
The first thing that Ji-Yoon noted was that he couldn't feel the flow in that place, "Just as expected, this dimension blocks any Dao from being sensed and utilized, I only have my cultivation base as my resource to transcend this tribulation."
Balls of light gradually began to form everywhere in the clouds, with long streaks of lightning diverging from them.
Ji-Yoon put on his gauntlets and began to prepare for combat, getting into a basic defensive stance, his eyes gradually became cold and focused.
The first ball of lightning exploded, releasing a sea of lightning that flew in his direction. Ji-Yoon lost temporarily his vision because of the brightness, he used his ethereal mind to sense and block the lightning with reddish qi-covered arms.
The more he blocked, the more his body became black and burnt all over. But he didn't stop his movements at all, or rather, he couldn't. If he stopped even once, he could bear a grave injury that would then diminish his power to fight back.
At the same time, the more he blocked, the more his core-like dantian began to transform into a true golden core. His meridians, which merged with his physical system, began to transform too to support the power of a new Realm.
His blood began to shine brightly in an extreme crimson light, like a raging flow of a red star's plasma, his skin couldn't block this light which began to emanate from his whole body.
After hours of fighting against powerful and unpredictable lightning, Ji-Yoon, who closed his eyes at some point, opened them. He saw his situation but just grinned.
He was completely charred black by the tribulation, his clothes had been destroyed and he was completely naked. His hair had been completely disintegrated, so he was bald too. His fists were the most injured, he almost couldn't feel them if not for the pain.
The clouds began to change color, from the previous black to a deep purple. At the same time, purple balls of light began to form. "Finally..." Ji-Yoon muttered with a sigh.
One by one, the balls of light began to enter his body, healing and transforming at the same time. When the process was over, Ji-Yoon could finally feel that his cultivation base stabilized, he officially broke through to the Golden Core Realm!