Chapter 168: The Completed Soul Palace, Impossible Transformation and Breaking Through The Core Formation Realm

Inside the cultivation room, Yu Liang who was little drenched in a sweat with his chest heaving violently. His entire body was tense like a bowstring pulled to its limit. That terrifying, invisible gaze from the before felt like a sharp sword resting against his throat, ready to sever his head at any given moment.

But suddenly, just as quickly as it had appeared, the oppressive gaze vanished completely!

It was as if that eye from before vanished into thin air but what he didn’t know was the connection was completely severed. So, the invisible threat was gone now.

"Phew..." Yu Liang let out a long, trembling breath, his tense muscles finally relaxed. He wanted to collapse back onto the platform but he can’t, then a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"System, thank you," he praised and he’s right about it as If it weren’t for the System’s heaven defying nature, his fate threads would have been completely exposed, and he would have been effortlessly traced by that divination.

He casually swept his gaze to the inventory.

Empty.

His inventory was wiped completely clean. He was practically penniless now, not even a single low grade spiritual stone left to his name.

But Yu Liang just chuckled softly. "So what if I’m broke? With my current abilities, replenishing this wealth is just a matter of one or two transactions. Money and resources are just numbers to me now." He didn’t dwell on it, his mind already shifting to more important matters.

Now that the external threat was completely neutralized, his attention immediately returned to the miraculous transformation taking place within his body, which he had been forced to neglect until now.

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the grand construction of the Soul Palace had reached its final, most critical step.

The four massive Dragon-Subduing Pillars stood firm, the golden lotus walls was filled with indestructible Dao runes, and the grand doors were tightly closed. High above, the massive vortex of lotus energy and Water attribute laws was finally condensing into the palace’s grand roof.

The energy was so dense that it turned into a physical, translucent azure material. Tiles of pure, solidified Dao intent layered themselves one by one, interlocking perfectly. The eaves of the roof curled upwards like the wings of a divine phoenix, emitting a faint, soothing energy fluctuation that resonated with his heartbeat.

Finally, at the very top of the roof, the remaining core of the lotus energy condensed into a magnificent, throne like Dao Core.

Clack!

The Soul Core embedded itself into the apex, locking the entire structure into place.

BOOOOM!

A majestic, earth shaking resonance erupted within his Sea of Consciousness!

The Soul Palace was officially constructed.

It was no longer just a building, it had become a living, breathing, indestructible sanctuary for Yu Liang’s Soul. The four pillars glowed with runes, pumping pure soul power into the palace. The golden walls radiated a soft, protective light, completely isolating his soul from any future mental attacks or spiritual sense probes. The Water attribute laws flowed through the palace like a protective cover, making the entire structure infinitely adaptable and unbreakable.

This was a perfect Soul Palace, forged at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

But the miracle didn’t stop at the completion of the palace.

The moment the Soul Palace was constructed, it released a terrifying wave of energy feedback to his body. This wasn’t just any ordinary spiritual energy, it was a mixture of soul energy, the pure essence of the Heaven’s golden lotus reward, and the profound Dao laws of his newly forged sanctuary.

This ocean of energy didn’t stay in his Sea of Consciousness. It violently poured downward, flooding into his physical body and crashing directly into his dantian.

Yu Liang’s eyes snapped wide open. His Peak Stage Foundation Establishment dantian, which was already like a vast ocean, instantly reached its limit.

The "bottle" was simply too small to contain this "ocean" of energy.

’Break through?!!’ Yu Liang thought happily, completely surrendering to the surging power.

Then the breakthrough process began with a terrifying ferocity.

The liquid spiritual essence in his dantian was forced to spin at an incomprehensible speed. It formed a massive, swirling vortex. The energy, guided by the Origin Realm Limitless Water Cloud Shifting Art, acted as the ultimate binder and compressor.

The liquid was violently squeezed and the impurities instantly vaporized.

Then liquid turned into mist, and then the mist compressed into solid, crystalline golden sand.

Crack!

The invisible barrier of the Foundation Establishment Realm shattered like cheap glass. The golden sand fused together, forming a solid, spherical core.

Early Stage of the Core Formation Realm Achieved!

But the feedback energy from the Soul Palace was endless, roaring like a tsunami that refused to be contained. The newly formed Early Core was instantly submerged in the ocean of energy.

The core began to melt and fuse again, undergoing a rapid, qualitative change. It turned back into a sphere of liquid gold, but this time, the liquid was infinitely denser, containing the profound laws of Water and Space. The sphere solidified once more, this time forming a massive, flawless Golden Core. Natural Dao runes, shaped like flowing water, spontaneously carved themselves onto the surface of the core.

This transformation should never have occurred at this stage. Such profound qualitative changes to a Golden Core were never supposed to be happening, it only happens at the higher realms, when a cultivator’s understanding of the Dao reaches an entirely different level.

Yet, it was happening right now, within Yu Liang’s body! If the ancient records were to be believed, he might very well be the first cultivator in the entire history to achieve such a feat at his current realm.

BOOOOOM!

Mid Stage Core Formation Realm Achieved.

But the energy still didn’t stop! The Soul Palace was acting like an engine, pumping pure power into his dantian. The Golden Core began to rotate on its own, creating a terrifying gravitational pull. It sucked in all the energy in his body, refining it instantly.

The color of the Golden Core shifted immediately.

The pure gold deepened, merging with the azure light of his Water spiritual root and the golden light of the lotus energy, turning into a breathtaking, translucent azure gold. The Dao runes on the surface lit up, connecting with each other to form a complete, perfect, and endless cycle of energy circulation. His meridians expanded again, turning from rivers into vast, golden lakes.

Crack!

Late Stage of the Core Formation Realm Achieved.

But once again another most massive surge of feedback energy hit him.

The sheer quantity was so staggering that even he couldn’t help but be astonished. Yet, his Soul Palace proved worthy of its name, like an unfathomable thing, spewing out seemingly endless torrent of energy without the slightest sign of reaching its limit.

The Late Stage Golden Core didn’t grow anymore now as it underwent a terrifying compression. It shrank rapidly, from the size of a fist to the size of a pigeon egg. But with every time it shrank, its density literally increased a thousandfold. It became so dense that it looked like a miniature, perfect universe, containing a terrifying, world shaking power within its tiny form.

The spiritual liquid in his meridians completely transformed, turning into a thick, golden, syrup like essence. His dantian expanded one last time, becoming a boundless, internal golden sea, with the a tiny, impossibly dense Golden Core sitting at the very center like a blazing sun, ruling over all.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

A explosion echoed in his soul.

He finnally broke through to the Peak Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

Slowly, Yu Liang opened his eyes.

Two beams of light, one azure like the deepest ocean, and one golden like the Heaven’s lotus was seen for a short movement on his pupils.

He raised his hand and gently clenched his fist. The space around his fingers instantly rippled, emitting a crisp, cracking sound as the surrounding spiritual energy was forcefully crushed by his mere physical grip.

He could feel it. The terrifying power flowing through his body.