Ye Qin knew Bai Xiuer must have succeeded, but curiosity still compelled him. “Xiuer, how do you feel? When you took the Innate Sacred Pill during your seclusion, was there anything unusual?”

“Brother Ye, taking the pill to break through was perilous. A surge of immense divine power reshaped my physical body; I almost exploded, but I managed to endure it. Beyond that, nothing felt amiss. Now, I feel an inexhaustible supply of divine power—certainly more than ten times stronger than before. Techniques from the Wu Clan that were once difficult to deploy, I can probably execute with ease now!”

Bai Xiuer’s complexion was rosy and glowing, her vital blood vigorous, and her frame appeared more agile than before. Her divine power was undoubtedly far greater. Clutching a greenish ancient halberd, she was palpably excited.

“That’s excellent. When we have time, you must spar with Sister Bing’er to see exactly how much your strength has increased. I heard the Wu Clan elders say that a Sacred Force Master’s strength might rival that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, but the Earth Clan never had one, so we never got to witness it. Now that we finally have a Sacred Force Master, I am eager to see just how formidable you are.”

Hearing this, Ye Huang smiled.

“Congratulations, Xiuer, for becoming the first Sacred Force Master of the East Sea Tribes!”

Huangfu Bing’er’s beautiful eyes swam with light as she offered a faint smile.

Bai Xiuer looked toward Huangfu Bing’er and, noticing the profound difference in her aura and bearing compared to before, intimately linked her arm with Huangfu Bing’er’s, laughing, “Xiuer also congratulates older sister! Sister has now become a Nascent Soul cultivator; your power has surged, making you even more formidable than Brother Ye!”

As the three were speaking, a streak of flying sword light rapidly approached from the distance. A Golden Core cultivator clad in golden armor landed.

Ye Qin turned his head; it was Li Hua, the small squad leader of the Heavenly Dao Alliance enforcement team guarding the island periphery.

“Elder Ye, quite a few cultivators passing by have gathered in the distance to observe the ceremony. Upon seeing the successful Tribulation transcendence, they expressed a desire to come over and ask Elder Ye and Madam Ye for celebratory gifts! Your subordinate was unsure how to proceed, so I seek the Elder’s guidance!”

Li Hua stepped forward a few paces, bowing respectfully.

“Oh, is that so!”

Ye Qin couldn't help but gaze toward the far reaches of the island.

At this moment, the tribulation clouds above the island had dispersed, leaving the sky clear for ten thousand miles. A crowd had gathered in the distance, numbering about one or two hundred people, mostly low-level cultivators at the Foundation Establishment and early Golden Core stages. They were being held back by the enforcement team members and could not approach.

“Today, my wife transcending her Tribulation to become a Nascent Soul cultivator is a monumental joyous occasion for all cultivators. Since fellow Daoists have come to offer congratulations, we should indeed distribute some celebratory tokens!”

Ye Qin paused in thought, pulling out a bag of spirit stones and handing it to Li Hua. “This bag is filled entirely with high-grade spirit stones. Distribute these as celebratory gifts to all the Daoists who watched the ceremony, and tell them they do not need to approach. Give ten to thirty stones to each Golden Core Daoist, and one to three stones to each Foundation Establishment Daoist, until the bag is empty. Also, the members of your enforcement team have worked hard; each of you take thirty stones.”

“Thank you, Elder. Your subordinate will distribute the celebratory gifts immediately!”

Li Hua’s face brightened. As a member of the Heavenly Dao Alliance enforcement team, he already received a standard stipend from the Alliance; this batch of spirit stones was an extra reward for carrying out his duties. Just as he was about to turn away, he suddenly recalled something and looked back, asking, “Right, Elder Ye, since your esteemed wife has completed her Tribulation transcendence, may we recall our squad and return to Linhai City?”

“No hurry. I plan to undergo my own Tribulation here within the next month or two. I still require you all to patrol the vicinity of the island and eliminate any disturbances!” Ye Qin said lightly.

“Rest assured, Elder. We will do our utmost to ensure your Tribulation transcendence proceeds without interference!”

Li Hua was momentarily stunned. Not daring to ask further questions, he cupped his hands and swiftly departed on his sword.

Before long, the large crowd of low-level cultivators in the distance cheered excitedly after receiving their spirit stones. For Foundation Establishment cultivators, several high-grade spirit stones represented a considerable fortune, and the Golden Core Daoists were equally delighted to receive over ten high-grade stones.

Of course, to Nascent Soul cultivators, these spirit stones seemed trivial; a few kills of eighth or ninth-tier demonic beasts could earn that back effortlessly.

“Bing’er, you becoming a Nascent Soul cultivator is a tremendous joy. We should invite friends and kin, fellow Daoists, to celebrate for months, letting all quarters know! It’s just a pity we cannot return now. Distributing those simple tokens today feels a little too brief!” Ye Qin said apologetically, holding Huangfu Bing’er’s delicate hand.

“Husband, it’s fine! Once you also become a Nascent Soul cultivator and successfully pass the Grand Heavenly Tribulation, we can return to Baifu City and celebrate with all our martial brothers. Let’s not speak of this further for now; Husband, you should prepare to break through to the Nascent Soul realm!” Huangfu Bing’er shook her head and chuckled softly.

Ye Qin nodded, and together with Huangfu Bing’er and Bai Xiuer, they began cleaning up the island, which had suffered from the heavenly lightning strikes, preparing to construct several new secluded caves for their impending seclusion and Tribulation.

Soon, tranquility returned to Wudong Island.

On the nameless island thousands of miles from Linhai City, a Golden Core cultivator transcending the Grand Heavenly Tribulation to reach the Nascent Soul realm would normally draw attention and inquiries from various powers vying to recruit the newly ascended Nascent Soul expert.

However, with the Immortal-Demon War in the Blood Sea raging fiercely, all Nascent Soul cultivators were preoccupied with hunting the Demon Clan, and the focus of all powerful cultivation sects was directed towards the front lines, competing for rankings on the Nascent Soul Demon Slaying List. No one paid heed to a cultivator breaking through in the rear. Furthermore, Golden Core cultivators dared not interfere in the affairs of Nascent Soul experts.

Ye Qin possessed as many as ten Nascent Soul Pills. He entered a life-and-death seclusion within his cave dwelling to force his way past the Nascent Soul bottleneck.

As for Huangfu Bing’er, Bai Xiuer, and the Corroding Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon—three entities at the Nascent Soul level—they acted as Ye Qin’s close-protection detail on the island. With such a formidable guard formation for the Tribulation, few would dare to provoke interference.

The enforcement squad from the Heavenly Dao Alliance Elder Council kept watch on the island's periphery. This squad’s strength was not great, and their utility was limited, serving mainly to prevent low-level cultivators or sea beasts from accidentally trespassing.

Ye Qin spent several days arranging seven or eight sword protection grand formations, which he had acquired at great expense, both inside and outside his cave dwelling, before commencing his seclusion to assault the Nascent Soul bottleneck.

His cultivation was at the early stage of the ninth layer of the Golden Core realm, still slightly short of the peak of the ninth layer. Normally, this level met the minimum requirement for challenging the Nascent Soul bottleneck, but it was not the optimal time for the breakthrough. However, Ye Qin did not wish to waste over a decade lingering at the ninth layer of the Golden Core, so he opted for a forceful breakthrough.

Ye Qin sat cross-legged, retrieving an exquisite jade vial from his storage bag. Upon opening it, a heady fragrance rich with spiritual energy wafted out. He drew forth a pill slightly larger than a longan, which shimmered with an ethereal glow—a Nascent Soul Pill.

“One Nascent Soul Pill, combined with several auxiliary spiritual herbs, gives me a thirty percent chance of piercing the Nascent Soul bottleneck. I have prepared ten Nascent Soul Pills, which should allow me to break through to the Nascent Soul realm in one go! If I truly cannot break through, then I can only accept my bad luck.”

Ye Qin fell silent for a moment, then swallowed the pill. He then sat in meditation, circulating his energy. The Nascent Soul Pill began to dissolve in his lower Dantian extremely slowly.

Day one, day two… Ten days later, the medicinal power of the Nascent Soul Pill had completely dispersed.

How potent the power of a Nascent Soul Pill was! A surging tide of medicinal power gathered in Ye Qin’s meridians, continuously washing and cleansing his physical body, bones, and marrow, which slowly transformed and strengthened under the influence of the medicine. This vast spiritual energy flowed through the Niwan Acupoint, as if falling into a vortex, rushing madly into the Purple Mansion, transforming into wisps of incomparably pure Primordial Qi.

Within the Purple Mansion's floating island, in a dusky, endless void:

Tens of thousands of streams of Primordial Qi, like tens of thousands of beams of light, illuminated the floating island brightly.

The Golden Core, a sphere of liquid light about the size of a chicken egg, rested upon the island’s Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet, greedily absorbing vast amounts of ambient Primordial Qi from the surrounding space. After absorbing the essence from one Nascent Soul Pill, this ball of liquid light became plump and round, even emitting a faint, dazzling, otherworldly luster, growing brighter and brighter.

However, this Golden Core, shaped like a chicken egg, though perfectly round and full, was missing a tiny fragment. If Ye Qin were to open his eyes and observe internally at this moment, he would realize this was the sign of the Golden Core achieving great perfection.

The Sitting-in-Oblivion Scripture’s Holding-the-Primal-Essence-and-Guarding-Deficiency chapter, in its opening lines for the Golden Core section, states: “Primordial essence exists inherently, but perfection appears incomplete.” This was the highest realm a cultivator practicing the Sitting-in-Oblivion Scripture could reach during the Golden Core stage.

Yet, Ye Qin’s spiritual consciousness was currently clear and empty, completely detached from self. He paid no mind to whether his Golden Core was perfectly complete or deficient. He had already entered a state of nothingness, allowing everything external to unfold naturally.

In this void, lost in a blur, an unknown amount of time passed.

Just as Ye Qin was assailing the Nascent Soul bottleneck, within the Purple Mansion, in the endless void, countless streams of purple divine thunder gathered, coalescing into a thousand-foot-long bolt of lightning that spanned the void. With a deafening CRACK, the terrifying might churned the deep gray mist. After immense effort, the gray dust cloud finally formed into a colossal vortex thousands of feet wide. This vortex of mist intertwined with the purple divine thunder, brewing a new floating island within the Purple Mansion.

Ye Qin’s seclusion lasted a full year. During this time, no unusual celestial phenomena occurred, which somewhat surprised Huangfu Bing’er. Fortunately, she and Bai Xiuer kept themselves occupied by cultivating and occasionally sparring with spells and techniques on the island, so time did not drag heavily.

On this day, the Jin-element spiritual energy within a hundred-mile radius of the island suddenly surged madly toward the mountain peak where Ye Qin was secluded. The entire island shook violently, the earth trembling and mountains groaning. Large chunks of rock cracked off the peak, tumbling down and destroying countless plants. Within the mountain’s rock strata, veins of various gold ores and cold iron ore, several feet or tens of feet in size, floated into the air, shooting towards the surging Jin spiritual energy like iron filings drawn to a magnet.

Before long, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of ore fragments fused together into a gigantic, thousand-foot-tall golden chrysalis, standing majestically halfway up the island’s mountain peak, an utterly strange sight.

Simultaneously, the sea surface and the sky became instantly overcast with rolling storm clouds, whipping up violent winds and waves that towered toward the heavens.

Huangfu Bing’er and Bai Xiuer on the island were stunned. The enforcement squad from the Heavenly Dao Alliance guarding the periphery had endured a year of monotonous duty, yet they dared not leave without permission. Low-level cultivators hunting demonic beasts nearby also witnessed this astonishing spectacle, leaving them slack-jawed and uncertain what to do. This was an unprecedented marvel in the East Sea Cultivation World.