Zhang Yaqi nodded as if she understood, and sat down cross-legged with Feng Baiyi and the other two women, focusing their minds on absorbing the energy.
Xiao Wenbing finally put down his worries. Now he no longer had to worry. There were four... no, to be precise, three people and one demon absorbing spiritual energy together. It should be over soon.
Now that he had put his mind at ease, he naturally focused his spiritual energy into his dantian. Suddenly, he was overjoyed to find that his inner core was rapidly absorbing the abundant and inexhaustible spiritual energy from his dantian.
Gradually, his inner core underwent unexpected changes. In his consciousness, it was expanding continuously, a feeling that was very familiar, much like Zhang Yaqi's continuous improvement in cultivation level after passing through the Five Elements Grand Array. At this moment, because his inner core had absorbed enough spiritual energy, he too began that sudden leap forward.
The inner core gradually grew larger, as if it was about to burst through its dantian. Even the high-flying natal golden talisman and the golden core that was constantly emitting a large amount of spiritual power were compressed into a small corner.
Xiao Wenbing's expression changed drastically. If he kept pushing like this, wouldn't he rupture his dantian? Recalling Zhang Yaqi's late-stage Core Formation stage, which was the size of a watermelon, his face drained of all color.
After a while, he was able to clearly feel the deep pressure in his dantian.
A bitter smile appeared on his lips. It seemed he was about to become a cultivator whose dantian would burst open by his inner core, a truly humiliating way to die. If he had a choice, he would absolutely not want it to be this way.
However, at this moment, another change occurred. The golden talisman that shimmered with golden light seemed to suddenly grow several times larger, enveloping the inner core that had grown to its limit.
"Ah..." Xiao Wenbing let out a cry of extreme joy. "Truly, the Great Venerable One! Amitabha! May the Holy Lord protect us!"
Xiao Wenbing was almost moved to tears of joy when he realized that his natal golden talisman had such a function.
Sure enough, under the protection of the natal golden talisman, no matter how much the inner core expanded, it could not grow any larger.
"Smack..."
With what seemed like a soft, crisp sound, the large inner core finally burst open.
Under Xiao Wenbing's expectant gaze, a small golden pill, shimmering with golden light, rose up.
Success! I never thought I could cultivate the Golden Elixir like this. It's truly a blessing in disguise. Who says cultivation has to be gradual? Hehe... This is the true path of a king!
His consciousness withdrew from his dantian, and he immediately laughed triumphantly three times.
However, his smile quickly froze on his face.
Before his eyes, a tall, luminous pupa was gradually taking shape, and inside the pupa, a caterpillar lay peacefully.
Xiao Wenbing, nicknamed "Butterfly Fairy," let out a bitter groan.
The butterfly fairy transforms into a pupa, breaks through the kidney, and becomes an infant.
It just so happened that it had to come at the exact right moment, not too early, not too late. Because she had absorbed enough spiritual energy, the Butterfly Fairy had finally reached the stage of transforming into a nascent soul.
However, what followed was an incomparably terrifying heavenly tribulation.
A heavenly tribulation? Xiao Wenbing gave a bitter smile, already hearing the rumbling sounds coming from afar.
He had successfully refined a golden core, but along with it came the Heavenly Tribulation, which terrified all cultivators.
This golden elixir is truly the unluckiest golden elixir in history...
What seems like a misfortune may actually be a blessing in disguise, or a curse.
Volume 4, The Divine Artifacts, Chapter 123: A Series of Calamities
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The sky was slowly, but at a speed visible to the naked eye, gradually darkening.
Xiao Wenbing stood up, glanced at it, and sighed inwardly, feeling increasingly miserable. He never expected that his mere desire to see the Butterfly Fairy's golden elixir would lead to such a commotion.
If he had known this would happen, he would never have acted rashly.
At this moment, both Feng Baiyi and Zhang Yaqi were fully focused on absorbing spiritual energy. Judging from their current state, they had reached the most critical juncture. If they were affected by external influences at this time, the consequences would probably not be much better than falling into demonic possession.
The reason for this is that the spiritual power of the Butterfly Fairy Golden Core is, after all, produced by a demon. It is not impossible for humans to absorb it, but the process is extremely difficult. Fortunately, both women are at the Golden Core stage, otherwise they would probably be powerless.
As for Xiao Wenbing, now that he had a master-servant contract with Butterfly Fairy, he naturally no longer had such concerns. Therefore, although his cultivation level was the lowest, he was the first to wake up.
However, although he woke up, faced with the situation before him, he closed his eyes, sighed, and let out a heartfelt lament.
Sigh... it's probably better if he doesn't wake up.
It's a heavenly tribulation; there's no way to avoid it. The only solution now is to leave with Butterfly Fairy. I can't let myself drag them both down with me.
Reaching the towering luminous cocoon, Xiao Wenbing struggled to hoist it onto his shoulder. "Hey... this thing looks big, but it's incredibly light. What a showy but useless fellow!"
I wonder what it will look like after it transforms. I hope it won't be another pretty but useless monster.
Just as he picked up Butterfly Fairy and was about to run away, he suddenly sensed something amiss and stopped abruptly, staring intently into the distance.
Suddenly, a whirlwind swept by, and the old Taoist priest, his face ashen, stood beside him.
"Master? What brings you here?" Xiao Wenbing asked in surprise.
"With such a commotion, how could I not come?" The old Taoist's gaze was fixed on the luminous cocoon on Xiao Wenbing's shoulder. His voice held a hint of disbelief: "Why such pity? Wasn't it supposed to take at least several decades?"
Xiao Wenbing gave a wry smile. It was likely that more than half of the energy within that golden core had been absorbed by the Butterfly Fairy. If it still couldn't be equivalent to decades of cultivation, then there would be something fishy going on.
However, when he met the old Taoist's gaze, he shrugged, indicating that he knew nothing.
The old Taoist priest's gaze shifted to the two women, Feng and Zhang, on the ground. After examining them carefully, his face turned from pale to death, completely devoid of color.
"Master, what's wrong?" Even Xiao Wenbing, who was usually so audacious, felt a pang of fear.
This was the first time Xiao Wenbing had ever seen the old Taoist priest with such a horrified expression. For the old Taoist to be so frightened, what had happened must be extraordinary.
"What's going on?"
Xiao Wenbing turned around abruptly, and behind him stood the Tianyi Sect Master and Zhang Daoren, both looking dazed.
An ominous feeling quickly spread through Xiao Wenbing's heart. He took a deep breath and immediately calmed down at this critical moment: "Master, there is not much time. The heavenly tribulation is about to begin. What is it? Speak quickly."
The old Taoist priest Xianyun's lips trembled twice before he finally said, "I don't know what you three are up to, but all three of you bear the marks of a series of tribulations."
"A series of calamities?"
"That's right. In other words, this Butterfly Union Heavenly Tribulation is not only your responsibility, but also Feng Baiyi and Zhang Yaqi's."
"What?" Xiao Wenbing roared, "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"No." Behind him, the Sect Master of Tianyi had regained his composure and said quickly, "The chain of tribulations has already been sealed. Even if you immediately terminate your contract with Diexian, it will be too late."
"Not only that, but because of the increase in the number of people, the number of heavenly tribulations has also naturally increased. If it were just you and Butterfly Fairy, it would definitely not exceed three thunder tribulations, but since the two of them have been added, it will be at least four thunder tribulations." Old Daoist Xianyun suddenly said, "At this moment, the two of them are at a critical moment of cultivating their power, and even if they want to resist the heavenly tribulations, they are powerless. So... everything depends on you."
"The Four Thunder Tribulation?" Xiao Wenbing gave a bitter smile. With his meager skills, how could he possibly withstand the Four Thunder Tribulation? It was nothing short of a fool's dream.
"Alas..." The old Taoist priest Xianyun looked heartbroken: "If I had known this would happen, I would have passed on several magical treasures to you, so that you could use them to your advantage and weather this calamity. Unfortunately, I only wanted you to become a master weapon refiner, but..."
Xiao Wenbing naturally understood his meaning. Unless it was the user himself or a magical artifact that Master Lian Gudu had painstakingly crafted for the user, most magical treasures in the cultivation world could not be used immediately by anyone who obtained them.
Anyone else who wants to use a magical artifact must go through a familiarization process. The length of this process is closely related to the user's cultivation level and the level of the artifact.
In general, high-level magical artifacts cannot unleash their full power without three to five years of use. This is the main reason why the old Taoist Xianyun has not passed on any magical treasures to Xiao Wenbing.
By this point, even if he wanted to cram in the techniques at the last minute and pass them on to Xiao Wenbing, it would be too late. With his cultivation level just reaching the early stage of the Golden Core realm, it would take him several years, even decades, to become familiar with using powerful magic weapons; otherwise, it might even have a negative effect.
Just like asking a seven- or eight-year-old child to use a massive acupoint weighing tens of kilograms, without years of rigorous training, they would likely injure themselves before even managing to strike someone else.
“Master, didn’t you say that good people are always protected by heaven? I am very fortunate, so I will definitely be fine.” Xiao Wenbing smiled and casually comforted him.
"You're a lucky person, yet you've made such a mess of things. Do you still consider yourself lucky?" Old Daoist Xianyun roared angrily. Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, it was most likely related to this kid.
"The Heavenly Tribulation is approaching, Elder Daoist Xianyun, let's hurry and not drag them down," the Tianyi Sect Master sighed sadly and finally said.
Zhang Daoren shook his head silently, his eyes filled with regret, but he could not utter a word.
The so-called heavenly tribulations actually have a mutual attraction effect. Just like the Taoist Master Xianyun and others, who are in the tribulation stage, if they stay in the area of thunderstorms for too long, they may trigger their own heavenly tribulations.
Once it combines with the Heavenly Tribulation of the Butterfly Fairy to form a chain of tribulations, then there will truly be no chance of survival.
The old Taoist priest's expression changed several times. Suddenly, he reached into his robe, pulled out something, and stuffed it into Xiao Wenbing's hand, saying, "Fool, if you can't hold on later, use this to hold on."