Immortality Cultivation

Fang Hao dragged his nearly falling-apart body, swaying as he climbed the stairs leading to the eighth floor.

Every step he took, he felt his legs trembling.

The battle on the seventh floor had almost drained him dry; if not for his Sword Intent breaking through at the last moment to counter-kill that light-shadow swordsman, he would probably be stone-cold dead by now.

"Damn it, each level is more lethal than the last..." He panted heavily, fished out two qi recovery pills, stuffed them into his mouth, and chewed them up with a crunch.

The Medicinal Pill transformed into a warm current, nourishing his parched Meridians, finally making him feel a bit better.

Stepping onto the eighth floor, the scene before him changed again.

It was no longer an empty stone hall, nor some extreme environment, but a vast, dome-shaped hall filled with countless starlight spots!

The floor of the hall was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the starlight from the dome, and nine huge stone pillars covered with mysterious runes stood all around, emitting ancient and majestic energy fluctuations.

The entire hall was silent, with only the starlight flowing, giving one a vast, mysterious, and oppressive feeling.

"What kind of trick is this now?" Fang Hao muttered to himself, operating his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to the limit, scanning his surroundings vigilantly.

He saw no Puppet, nor any enemy, but this place felt even more dangerous to him than the seventh floor!

He took a few steps forward cautiously.

Suddenly, a circle of complex runes lit up on the smooth floor beneath his feet!

Immediately after, the nine stone pillars all around vibrated simultaneously, the runes on their bodies lighting up one by one, shooting out nine beams of light of different colors that intertwined in the air, instantly forming a huge, three-dimensional light Formation that enveloped the entire hall!

Hum—!

An invisible pressure descended from the sky. Fang Hao felt as if he had been suddenly thrown into the deep sea, the surrounding air becoming incredibly viscous, making movement difficult!

Even worse, the circulation speed of the Qi in his body plummeted, as if it had been frozen by something!

"It’s a confinement and suppression type Formation!" Fang Hao’s expression changed!

This Formation was of a very high level!

Just the Aura of this opening alone was more powerful than any Formation he had seen outside!

Just then, the starlight spots on the dome began to move and combine, forming a line of ancient text that emerged:

"Break the ’Nine Luminaries Spirit Locking Formation’ within one incense stick of time. Failure means the Divine Soul will be imprisoned forever!"

Below the text, an illusory incense stick was lit, and green smoke rose in curls.

"Nine Luminaries Spirit Locking Formation? One incense stick of time? Divine Soul imprisoned forever?!" Fang Hao felt his scalp tingle!

Playing for such high stakes?!

This heaven-reaching pagoda was too ruthless!

Always threatening to annihilate one’s Divine Soul or condemn one to eternal damnation?

He dared not delay, forcing himself to calm down.

Formations were his specialty!

As a Guest Elder at the Seventh Princes Mansion, he had studied Formations extensively, and his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes were an especially weapon for breaking Formations!

But this "Nine Luminaries Spirit Locking Formation" sounded incredibly formidable; it definitely wasn’t ordinary stuff!

He took a deep breath, operated his Ethereal Art to resist the suppression of the Formation, and used his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to analyze the energy flow and node distribution of the Formation with all his might.

Upon looking, his heart sank even further!

This Formation was too complex!

The nine stone pillars corresponded to nine types of elemental Qi, the light beams intertwined into a web, layered and nested, interlocking!

The energy flow was seamless, and he could find almost no obvious weaknesses!

Moreover, the power of the Formation was constantly changing, ceaseless and endless!

"No! Rushing in or brute forcing it is definitely a dead end! I must find the Formation eye or the gate of life!" Fang Hao’s forehead broke out in sweat, his brain turning rapidly.

He tried to move and found walking difficult, each step consuming a huge amount of Qi.

He tried attacking a stone pillar, but his Sword Qi was worn away by the power of the Formation before it could even leave his body by three feet!

Time passed second by second, and the incense stick had already burned one-fifth of the way!

Fang Hao was anxious, his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes almost popping out!

Finally, at the moment when the Formation’s energy flowed into a specific cycle, he captured an extremely subtle sense of stagnation!

At the node where the cyan stone pillar representing the "Wood" attribute in the southeast direction intersected with the crimson stone pillar representing the "Fire" attribute, there was a momentary lack of coordination!

"That’s it! The gate of life flickered!" Fang Hao’s spirit was boosted!

Opportunities are fleeting!

He must break it the next time the energy cycles to that node!

He calculated the time, estimated the speed of the energy flow, and adjusted his state to the best.

The incense stick had already burned halfway!

It’s now!

A sharp light exploded in Fang Hao’s eyes!

Shrinking the Ground to an Inch was suddenly activated!

Under the powerful suppression of the Formation, this step was extremely difficult to take, like struggling in a quagmire!

But he still forcibly moved to the predicted position!

"Seven Absolutes Sword Seal—Break the Formation!"

His hands were as fast as phantoms, forming a breaking seal specifically targeted at the Formation node!

At the same time, he condensed the one-tenth Sword Intent he had just broken through with onto his fingertips, turning it into a point of extreme sharpness, and fiercely pointed it at the node where the energies converged!

Chir—!

His fingertip made contact with the light wall of the Formation, emitting a harsh friction sound!

The Sword Intent and the power of the Formation fought crazily!

Fang Hao felt his finger was about to be crushed!

But he gritted his teeth and held on, frantically injecting all his Qi into it!

Crack!

A barely audible crisp sound!

At that node, a needle-sized hole was pierced through the light wall!

The entire Formation shook violently!

Although it recovered instantly, that momentary loosening was enough!

"empty clarity mirror! Shine!"

Fang Hao had been prepared; the empty clarity mirror he had been clutching in his hand was instantly offered up, its mirror light accurately passing through that small hole and shining on a key rune in the internal structure of the Formation!

Hum—!

Shone upon by the mirror light, that rune instantly dimmed and distorted!

The operation of the entire "Nine Luminaries Spirit Locking Formation" immediately experienced a slight disturbance!

Although it was quickly corrected by the power of the Formation itself, this fleeting disturbance created a loophole in the suppression power of the Formation!

"Charge!"

Fang Hao seized this fleeting Opportunity, Divine Spirit Steps and Shrinking the Ground to an Inch exploding to the limit simultaneously, and like a fish, he forcibly drilled through that loophole!

Poof!

It was as if he had passed through a film of water!

The pressure around him lightened!

He had successfully broken out of the core suppression range of the Formation and landed in the safe zone on the other side of the hall!

Almost at the same time he landed, the incense stick burned to the end and dissipated into green smoke.

The starlight on the dome condensed into text again: "Formation broken successfully. Reward."

Boom—!

A beam of energy, larger and purer than any previous time, descended from the dome with a bang, completely enveloping Fang Hao!

"Ah—!" Fang Hao couldn’t help but let out a comfortable groan!

This energy was too vast!

Like a bursting dam, it rushed into his body crazily!

The seven-colored Golden Core in his Dantian spun at an unprecedented speed, greedily absorbing the energy!

The Qi that had been somewhat withered due to consecutive fierce battles and breaking the Formation was instantly replenished and began to skyrocket!

The Golden Core expanded and solidified at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The light on its surface became increasingly brilliant!

That trace of Sword Intent also became more refined under the nourishment of the energy!

Fang Hao felt his Meridians being stretched and swollen, bringing a tearing pain, but he knew this was the Opportunity for a Breakthrough!

He hurriedly sat cross-legged, fully operating the Chaos Derivation Art, guiding this vast energy to impact the barrier of the Middle Golden Core Stage!

Crack! Crack!

A faint shattering sound came from within his body!

The barrier of the Middle Golden Core Stage was easily shattered like paper under the impact of this terrifying energy!

Hum—!

Fang Hao’s whole body shook violently, and his Aura suddenly skyrocketed!

The Golden Core in his Dantian expanded by a large circle, its light restrained, becoming more solid and heavy!

The total amount of Qi and its purity had increased by more than several times!

Middle Golden Core Stage! Breakthrough!

The energy light beam lasted for about an incense stick of time before gradually dissipating.

Fang Hao slowly opened his eyes, his pupils shining with divine light, feeling filled with strength!

The previous fatigue and injuries were swept away, and his state was better than ever!

"Hahaha! A blessing in disguise! A blessing in disguise!" Fang Hao couldn’t help but laugh out loud!

The reward for this eighth floor was too generous!

It directly allowed him to break through to the Middle Golden Core Stage!

His strength had skyrocketed!

Feeling the surging Qi and more refined Sword Intent in his body, his confidence doubled!

With his current strength, if he met the light-shadow swordsman from the seventh floor again, he could definitely crush it easily!

"The ninth floor! I wonder what kind of perverted trial it is?" Fang Hao looked at the stairs leading to the ninth floor with burning eyes, not only not afraid, but full of anticipation!

The greater the risk, the higher the return!

This heaven-reaching pagoda was simply here to send him Opportunities!

He adjusted his state, took firm steps, and stepped onto the stairs of the ninth floor.