The numerous Golden Core early-stage and Foundation Establishment low-level cultivators, along with the enforcement officers maintaining order near the island, were deeply startled as they witnessed the earth fracturing and a colossal Golden Cocoon appearing atop the island.

They had originally intended to hunt some low-level sea beasts nearby and perhaps observe a late-stage Golden Core cultivator attempting to achieve Nascent Soul transformation and undergo the Great Heavenly Tribulation, never expecting to witness such an utterly bizarre spectacle.

“Didn’t they say a cultivator was preparing for Nascent Soul formation on the island? How could such a golden cocoon appear?!” A young cultivator wielding a cyan long sword, his face pale with alarm, frantically questioned the surrounding cultivators, “Fellow Daoists, Seniors… what in the world is happening?”

“There is no precedent for a Golden Core cultivator forming a cocoon during Nascent Soul formation,” an elderly man in yellow robes, at the early Golden Core stage, hovered over the sea nearby, gazing at the island and stroking his beard thoughtfully. “From what this old man knows, only a minority of demonic beasts exhibit this pupation when advancing in rank. For instance, lepidopteran demonic beasts spin silk to form a chrysalis before transforming into butterfly demons. This cocoon on the island is so immense; I fear only a demonic beast of the Ninth Tier or higher possesses such capability!”

“A Ninth-Tier demon cultivator? Once it breaks the cocoon, it will be a Transformation stage demon cultivator, capable of slaughtering us all. Senior, what are we to do!” the young cultivator cried out in terror.

“No need to panic! Even if a Ninth-Tier demonic beast is pupating here for transformation, it will not emerge immediately,” the yellow-robed elder said with a composed expression. “Moreover, this old man still has doubts—even butterfly demons do not weave a golden mineral cocoon! This cocoon is exceedingly strange. Does any Daoist friend know of any demonic beast that forms a golden mineral cocoon during its transformation?”

“This… we’ve never heard of such a thing!”

“Everyone, stop the random speculation. Elder Ye of the Heavenly Dao Alliance Elder Council is about to undergo his Nascent Soul formation and the Great Heavenly Tribulation on this island. Above him, there is an early Nascent Soul cultivator, Elder Ye’s transformed Skeleton Demon, and an Earth Tribe Strongman providing protection. There is absolutely no possibility of any demonic beast appearing on the island—dare to spread further rumors, and you risk your own heads!” Squad Leader Li Hua glared fiercely at the cultivators who were speculating wildly and barked out the warning.

The cultivators quickly shrank their necks. The highest among them was only at the early Golden Core stage; none dared to offend the Heavenly Dao Alliance Enforcement Team. Immediately, they dared not utter another word.

The dark clouds pressing overhead the island’s sky grew increasingly terrifying in might. The cultivators dared not linger near the island, lest they be caught in the backlash of heavenly thunder and fire, so they all flew away on their swords toward the distance.

On the island, besides the massive Golden Cocoon atop the main peak, were only Huangfu Bing’er, Bai Xiu’er, and the Skeleton Demon, currently prostrated on the ground.

“Sister Bing’er, what is going on with this Golden Cocoon?”

Bai Xiu’er stared at the Golden Cocoon on the main peak, utterly astonished.

“I’m not sure. But there’s no need to panic; when Husband formed his Golden Core, a similar strange phenomenon occurred. However, that time it was a Stone Cocoon, much smaller than this Golden Cocoon,” Huangfu Bing’er shook her head, maintaining a composed demeanor.

In fact, not to mention her, even Ye Qin himself probably could not clearly explain the reason. He himself hadn't grasped why he encased himself in a cocoon every time he achieved a breakthrough in cultivation.

The Golden Cocoon was completely sealed off from the outside world, filled with intensely rich Golden Spiritual Qi. Ye Qin, having consumed the Nascent Soul Pill, sat cross-legged inside the cocoon, his expression serene, his breathing long and almost imperceptible, having entered the Fetal Respiration state, completely oblivious to the passage of external time.

Within the Purple Mansion void, the Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet hung suspended, bearing a radiant, golden Core, surrounded by countless white glows.

“Boom!” Shattering the Core to form the Nascent Soul!

The perfectly formed golden Core absorbed a large amount of primordial energy floating within the Purple Mansion, suddenly beginning to shrink and collapse rapidly. Then, it violently exploded, scattering radiant colors, only to suddenly contract again. Repeating this process several times, it finally settled down, transforming into a primordial infant with a naive appearance, vividly resembling Ye Qin, now seated atop the Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet.

At this precise instant, the slumbering infant awoke. It discovered its primordial energy surging wildly.

Most importantly, it possessed an extremely clear perception of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, realizing its Primordial Spirit could resonate with it and even manipulate it with ease.

Ye Qin remained motionless, greedily absorbing the residual primordial energy, carefully contemplating the control over the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

In the Golden Core stage, the Primordial Spirit could only exert its own strength, manipulating only the mana within the body, completely incapable of controlling external spiritual energy. Any combat consumed one's own mana; once the mana was depleted, casting spells or piloting a flying sword became impossible.

Now that he had reached the Nascent Soul stage, it was a delightful discovery: he could easily command the external spiritual energy for his use. This would undoubtedly greatly enhance his own strength.

The moment Ye Qin’s Primordial Spirit shattered its core to form the Nascent Soul, the Purple Mansion underwent earth-shattering changes.

The Purple Mansion—an endless void.

There were already three islands in the Purple Mansion: the Wood Mansion, the Fire Mansion, and the Earth Mansion. Now, as the purple divine lightning dissipated, a brand-new floating island appeared. This was the fourth floating island within Ye Qin’s Purple Mansion. It attracted and repelled the other three islands, drifting within the void.

Seeing the newly emerged floating island, Ye Qin, despite having anticipated it, was overjoyed.

The Nascent Soul figure flashed, instantly flying out and appearing on the new island.

In the center of this new floating island, an ancient stone tablet, about one zhang tall and three chi wide, also stood erect. The tablet was covered in fine, dense cracks, appearing like text but not quite.

This tablet was naturally formed when the floating island materialized, integrated seamlessly with the entire island, and was surrounded by a faint halo of light.

“Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet—Gold Mansion. Total Lifespan: Nine Hundred and Eighty-One Years. Lifespan Consumed…”

Ye Qin’s gaze swept over the Primordial Spirit Tablet, and he instantly understood the meaning of the cracks.

The lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator is generally one thousand years, but this is only a rough approximation. For each individual cultivator, the exact lifespan varies. This is determined by fate, and cultivators cannot know their precise longevity themselves.

However, Ye Qin could see clearly from this stone tablet that his lifespan was slightly less than a thousand years by more than ten years.

“Over a hundred years of lifespan already expended… with over eight hundred years remaining, I wonder if I can break through to the Spirit Transformation stage!”

Ye Qin pondered internally.

His cultivation speed was astonishingly fast; achieving Nascent Soul in just over a hundred years in the East Sea could be called shocking. Only cultivators with exceptional innate talent could reach the Nascent Soul stage in such a short time.

Yet, this did not guarantee anything. There were many cultivators with astonishing immortal cultivation talent in the East Sea, but few achieved the Spirit Transformation stage.

Before reaching Nascent Soul, all cultivation routines followed a clear path; he only needed to proceed step-by-step. Immortal cultivation techniques and elixir formulas were all readily available for purchase in commercial guilds.

However, after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, everything became exceedingly difficult.

He currently lacked a Nascent Soul-level cultivation technique. The Sitting in Oblivion Sutra only had the Golden Core chapter; he had yet to find the Nascent Soul chapter.

And Nascent Soul-level elixir formulas were exceedingly rare in the East Sea as well. Due to the lack of elixirs above the Nascent Soul stage, the cultivation speed of most Nascent Soul cultivators was very slow, some even having to rely on Golden Core elixirs, making guaranteed progress in speed impossible.

Fortunately, he himself was a Divine Alchemist; otherwise, obtaining even the elixirs necessary for daily cultivation would have been difficult.

Most importantly, he had absolutely no idea how to break through to the Spirit Transformation realm, which was truly vexing.

Ye Qin’s Primordial Spirit finished absorbing all residual primordial energy and returned to its optimal state. His divine sense withdrew from the Purple Mansion. The outside world was pitch black, feeling incredibly stifling.

Having experienced breaking through bottlenecks several times, he knew he was trapped within the cocoon. Without further thought, he opened his mouth, and the five Primordial Spirit Flying Swords of the Great Five Elements Sword Array within his abdomen shot out.

Five thin streams of five-colored sword light roared out, their bodies expanding instantly as they slammed against the golden mineral shell of the cocoon outside.

“Boom! Crackle!”

A fissure was blasted through the impervious mineral shell of the Golden Cocoon.

Various colors of light and spiritual energy leaked out.

In the island sky, the dense black clouds had been searching fruitlessly for a target to strike and had held back the heavenly lightning. Now, with the Golden Cocoon showing a crack, a massive dark lightning bolt, hundreds of zhang thick, smashed straight down. “Boom!” The Heavenly Thunder and Fire struck the Golden Cocoon.

This cocoon was so incredibly tough that it took three bolts of heavenly lightning before the immensely thick shell was blown open with dense, myriad cracks.

“Swish!”

A white figure shot out from the fissures in the Golden Cocoon towards the sky, enveloped by five dazzling flying swords. These five high-grade Primordial Spirit artifacts formed the Great Five Elements Sword Array, squarely taking a strike from the descending heavenly lightning.

If this were before his Nascent Soul breakthrough, this enormously potent Tribulation Lightning would have been enough to knock Ye Qin down, leaving him half-dead.

But now, Ye Qin had early Nascent Soul cultivation; not only was his Primordial Spirit stronger, but his physical body was also much tougher. He merely grunted, his whole body numb from the electricity, and endured it, suppressing a mouthful of bright blood.

A sharp glint flashed in Ye Qin’s eyes as he stood tall in the air.

He could clearly feel the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within a hundred-mile radius, everything entirely under his command. A surging mana within his body resonated with the surrounding spiritual energy. With a casual cast, the Great Five Elements Sword Array exerted its strongest offensive and defensive power; the sword array merged, the mana flowed inexhaustibly, possessing a power not far inferior to a minor Divine Ability artifact.

He looked up at the weakening tribulation clouds in the sky and couldn't help but smile faintly.

Nine bolts of heavenly lightning—four had already been removed. The remaining bolts were growing weaker and posed no threat to him. Moreover, with Huangfu Bing’er and the transformed Skeleton Demon on the island, they could join forces to withstand the final few bolts.

As Ye Qin resisted the heavenly lightning, on the island, Huangfu Bing’er saw Ye Qin break free from the Golden Cocoon and rejoiced. “Husband has successfully formed his Nascent Soul, he’s finally out!” Huangfu Bing’er maneuvered the dual Ice and Fire swords and instantly shot into the sky to help Ye Qin eliminate the lightning tribulation. With her cultivation and strength, eliminating two bolts of lightning was no issue.

The transformed Skeleton Demon, which had remained silent, suddenly opened its dark eye sockets, let out a low roar, and spat out its black Corpse Core. The Core shot out a black beam of death light hundreds of zhang long towards the final heavenly lightning descending from the sky. After a direct clash with one bolt of heavenly lightning, its Corpse Core became somewhat listless. Heavenly lightning was its nemesis; it had to expend several times its Corpse Qi to block a single bolt of lightning.

After the fierce lightning tribulation concluded, the dark clouds dispersed, and the island enjoyed clear skies for ten thousand miles.