The temperature within the medicine furnace shifted ceaselessly. The (Immortal Peach) that had been there was gone, replaced by a mass of fiery red pulp before Zhang Yang, which exuded an enticing fragrance.

“Snow Lotus, Dragon Fruit!”

A flicker of thought moved Zhang Yang again, and he tossed the two thousand-year spiritual herbs into the furnace. The fiery red pulp immediately changed its color, no longer a solid red but imbued with a faint greenish tinge, resembling an unripe apple.

“Saintess Flower, Thousand-Year Snake Derivative Grass!”

This change lasted only a moment before Zhang Yang threw two more medicinal herbs into the furnace, and the interior of the vessel shifted once more.

Over ten minutes had passed since Zhang Yang began compounding the medicine. Though the time was short, it felt like an epoch to him. At this point, Zhang Yang had forgotten everything around him, even who he was; his entire consciousness was focused solely on the pulp inside the furnace.

Now!

A sudden jolt went through Zhang Yang. He acted instantly, drawing his arms wide. With one hand, he raised a jade box, opening it to reveal the Jade-Spotted Fungus within, and with the other, he grasped the most precious item—the Six-Thousand-Year Tri-Color Fruit—ready to cast them into the furnace.

“Jade-Spotted Fungus, Six-Thousand-Year Tri-Color Fruit!”

Zhang Yang had a distinct feeling that this would be the final addition of spiritual medicine, so he chose the most precious items: the Jade-Spotted Fungus and the Six-Thousand-Year Tri-Color Fruit!

After casting the Jade-Spotted Fungus and the Six-Thousand-Year Tri-Color Fruit into the furnace at the most opportune moment, a wave of fragrance suddenly surged through the quiet room, instantly suffusing the entire chamber.

The pulp, which had shifted from red to green, began to churn violently.

The roiling pulp sent forth a cloud of white mist, and Zhang Yang watched in astonishment as this mist began to spread, quickly enveloping him entirely.

At this moment, Zhang Yang was completely shrouded within this layer of white fog.

“What… what is this?”

Within the white mist, a tiny seed core drifted down softly from above, descending slowly before Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang couldn't resist reaching out, but his hand passed gently through the core. The seed core was like the moon reflected in water, yielding nothing for him to grasp.

The small core dropped to the ground and vanished.

Zhang Yang bent down, but before he could locate the disappeared seed, a tiny green tip suddenly sprouted beneath his foot—minute yet exquisite, causing Zhang Yang’s eyes to flicker with constant surprise.

If anyone else were present in the quiet room, they would have seen Zhang Yang standing motionless, his eyes slightly vacant, his entire being in a state of utter trance.

Looking at the sprout on the ground, a tiny realization dawned in Zhang Yang’s heart: this seed core had germinated.

The sprouted seed core grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, rapidly developing into a small tree. The surrounding white mist ceaselessly circled the sapling, rapidly absorbed by it.

Zhang Yang stared blankly at the entire spectacle, and in that instant, everything became clear to him.

What he was witnessing was the growth trajectory of the Ten-Thousand-Year Immortal Peach. Though the development from seed to tree appeared swift, in reality, it demanded millennia. A thousand years, passing in the blink of an eye.

As for the white mist, it was the etherealized spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The nourishment for the Ten-Thousand-Year Immortal Peach was not soil, but this vital energy suspended in the cosmos, normally unseen and intangible.

With this understanding, Zhang Yang’s confusion lifted, and a faint, subtle smile touched the corners of his mouth.

The small tree continued to expand, sprouting more leaves. As the tree grew larger, its absorption of the surrounding white mist became more violent, and Zhang Yang even sensed that the fog around him was thinning noticeably.

Soon, the small tree became a large tree, and it began to flower.

The Immortal Peach blossoms—three thousand years.

This was myth and legend, yet on the Immortal Peach, it was fact. The peach required three thousand years to flower, three thousand years to bear fruit, and three thousand years for that fruit to mature. Perhaps the legends originated from this very process.

The Immortal Peach tree bore a single, small blossom.

The crystalline little flower swayed gently, as if shy and hesitant to reveal itself, yet simultaneously curious about this unfamiliar world, always wanting to gaze further out.

Staring at this tiny bloom, the smile on Zhang Yang’s face deepened.

Outside the quiet room, Zhang Daofeng, Long Haotian, and the others suddenly lifted their heads, looking behind them in astonishment.

Above the quiet room, a patch of gray cloud had appeared at some unknown point, hovering overhead. This cloud brought a sense of unique oppression to everyone present.

It was not just them. Everyone across the Long Family Plain sensed the change emanating from this location and turned their gaze toward it.

And at that precise moment, every spirit beast within Kunlun Mountain turned its head in unison, fixing its attention on one direction—the direction of the Long Family Plain.

More precisely, toward the quiet room where Zhang Yang resided.

In the Shu Mountain Range near Kunlun Mountain, Li Jianyi, who had been recuperating, stepped directly out of his seclusion chamber. He stood atop a peak, gazing into the distance.

His eyes constantly flickered with shifting light—astonishment, envy, mixed with regret and bitterness. These emotions intertwined, leaving even him uncertain of his own state of mind.

In the Savage Man Mountain, two chattering parrots suddenly straightened up, staring intently into the distance.

Their small eyes seemed veiled with a film of crystal, alight with excitement.

On Dragon Summoning Mountain, the Illusionary Mouse, whose body dwarfed that of Wuying, stood at the highest point, its gaze fixed on the distance as well, pointing toward Kunlun Mountain.

After watching for a moment, the Illusionary Mouse suddenly transformed into a colossal dragon, which let out a sky-piercing roar. All spirit beasts within a thousand miles surrounding Dragon Summoning Mountain immediately prostrated themselves, daring not to move.

In the Changbai Mountain, at Heaven Lake.

The waters of Heaven Lake suddenly surged upward, and a massive serpentine head breached the surface, stretching high into the air.

Fortunately, it was deep in the night, and no ordinary people were present. If anyone normal had been there, they would surely have been scared senseless. Even cultivators witnessing this scene would likely have been frozen in terror. This enormous serpentine head bore twelve golden crowns.

The Twelve-Crowned Golden Python stared directly toward Kunlun Mountain for a long while before submerging back into Heaven Lake.

In a mansion within Changjing City, an old man who had been leisurely reclining on a sofa suddenly flipped over, executing a perfect jump to land on his feet. The three black-robed figures seated opposite him had no time to react before the elder flung open the door, flashing into the courtyard and looking northwest.

As the old man departed, two of the black-robed figures frowned deeply, feeling a profound unease. As for the third black-robed figure, Huang Longshi, he was about to ask a question when his expression morphed into one of utter disbelief, stumbling to his feet and moving toward the courtyard.

“That little fellow… is terrifyingly powerful!”

A moment later, the old man standing in the courtyard slowly uttered these few words, shaking his head gently.

Before his words fully faded, his figure vanished, as if he had never been there at all.

In Seoul, South Korea, within a large compound belonging to the private estate of the Park Conglomerate—an area barred to everyone except a few high-ranking executives of the Park Group—the usually deserted grounds were suddenly enveloped in a dense black fog. From within, a sharp, piercing roar that struck directly at the heart emanated, causing nearly every cultivator in Korea to clutch their chests at that instant.

On this day, everyone in the entirety of the Chinese mainland with cultivation reaching the Fourth Layer or above sensed something. They did not know what had occurred, but the oppressive weight in their hearts made them intensely uncomfortable.

Outside Zhang Yang’s quiet room, Zhang Yungan watched for a long time before whispering, his lips trembling slightly, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“This… this is?”

Looking at the dark cloud, Zhang Daofeng finally nodded lightly after a pause, exclaiming excitedly, “That is… the Heavenly Tribulation!”

For many, the Heavenly Tribulation existed only in legend.

It was said that only when a cultivator reached the Great Perfection of the Fourth Layer, completely mastering the Way of Nature and preparing to advance to the Fifth Layer, would the Heavenly Tribulation manifest. It was a test sent by Heaven upon powerful cultivators. Upon surviving the Tribulation, they would ascend to become ultimate Fifth Layer experts; failure meant complete annihilation.

Many Fourth Layer experts had heard this legend, let alone Long Haotian and Zhang Daofeng, but hearing was one thing, seeing another, as Fifth Layer experts were exceptionally rare in this world.

According to lore, the emergence of the Heavenly Tribulation was generally preceded by signs, and this suffocating dark cloud was the initial precursor. Only the clouds of a Heavenly Tribulation could induce such a heavy sense of suppression in cultivators like them.

At this moment, Zhang Daofeng was so excited he could barely speak.

“Brother Zhang, could it be an Immortal Elixir emerging? The Immortal Peach is a ten-thousand-year spiritual herb!” Long Haotian suddenly recalled something and asked urgently. Zhang Daofeng paused sharply, then vigorously shook his head.

“No, impossible. Immortal Elixirs are entities surpassing Spiritual Pills; they require auxiliary compounding with intense heaven and earth spiritual energy. Only Fifth Layer experts stand even a slight chance of refining them. Zhang Yang is merely at the Great Perfection stage; he couldn’t possibly formulate an Immortal Elixir. His own cultivation level is already higher than other Great Perfection experts—this must be his breakthrough, triggering the Heavenly Tribulation!”

Zhang Daofeng spoke slowly, his expression becoming intensely resolute when he uttered the word ‘certainly’ at the end.

The legendary Immortal Elixir was desirable, and the Zhang family had never managed to refine one; it was the aspiration of many of their Great Perfection masters. But for Zhang Daofeng, the lure of an Immortal Elixir paled in comparison to Zhang Yang’s genuine breakthrough.

Zhang Yang’s current strength was Great Perfection; his breakthrough meant reaching the Fifth Layer. The Zhang family had never produced a Fifth Layer expert. If Zhang Yang truly reached the Fifth Layer, it would be an event capable of transforming the entire Zhang family, leading them to a glory he couldn't even fully imagine—much like how Shaolin and Wudang once commanded the entire cultivation world.

This potential held far greater appeal than a phantom Immortal Elixir, which explained his declaration. His deepest hope was for Zhang Yang to break through, rather than narrowly succeeding in refining the legendary elixir. Zhang Yang advancing to the Fifth Layer was clearly far more important than the ethereal promise of an Immortal Elixir.