NOVEL FROG Chapter 50: Core Formation
Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 50: Core Formation
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Bing Meilu leapt forward. Above massive, apocalyptic tribulation gathered. Xi Fu sat at the center, laughing in disbelief. His entire body was soaked in sweat and exhausted.
"Take this," she ordered, pressing a whole bottle of Battle-Continuation pills into his palm.
Even providing slight assistance like this was interfering with a Tribulation, which brought down Heavenly Punishment... but since when did Bing Meilu care about something like that? It wasn't like she and the Heavens of the Bird Talon Continent could be any more opposed.
"The Five-Coloured Lightning is the sign of the completion of your Core Formation cultivation. Surviving it will baptize and complete your Inner Core," Bing Meilu explained. "You can block or destroy anything else, but not that."
Xi Fu numbly nodded. A hail of thunderbolts shot down towards Bing Meilu, the tribulation locking onto her. She sneered frostily, raising her hand.
"Heaven-Earth Inverting Palm!"
The lightning froze.
"You can keep attacking me if you wish, and I'll end this tribulation myself," Bing Meilu declared. "Or you can do your task and oppose Xi Fu's breakthrough. You lack the power to do both!"
"Hey!" Xi Fu looked at her in protest. "What do you mean you can end the tribulation? Do that!"
"A cultivator has to overcome obstacles," she explained wistfully as the pressure of the tribulation rose. "Trust me, one day you'll look back at these tribulations with fond reminiscence for your youth."
Xi Fu gave her a look of disbelief. With that, Bing Meilu flew out of the tribulation. She waved her hand, surges of icy wind reaching down to grab the members of her faction. Together, they flew miles away, watching as a huge thunderstorm gathered above.
---
Meanwhile, Xi Fu stood alone in the hot spring valley, staring blankly up at the tribulation gathering. Sweltering heat filled the air as Heaven Qi poured out, the 'Law' of the Tribulation locking onto him.
His spatial ring flashed, and his trusty old ebony-shafted spear flashed into his palm. The comforting weight filled his hand, his sweat soaking into the porous wood.
"You know, if I survive this, I'm definitely going to spend a week-no, a full month just relaxing with some wine and girls," the young man sighed. "If...No-When."
He could feel his meridians shaking and swelling as the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth surged into him without out, his cultivation rising and rising.
The breakthrough from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation was massive. He had not even stabilized his cultivation and he could tell he was already dozens of times more powerful.
"You know, I never imagined I'd reach Core Formation at age twenty-four," he sighed, as the first attack of the Tribulation gathered. "I think that makes me by far the youngest Core Formation in Seventieth Port Snake, except for Ji Longyi, who was nineteen."
Hundreds of lighting swords rained down on him. Spear-Intent flared out from him with a single thought, exterminating each sword.
"And like, I appreciate the progress, I enjoy being talented, and to a degree, even Bing Meilu's 'enthusiastic' teaching style... but this is a bit much, even for me, ya know?"
Xi Fu didn't know if spilling his emotions out onto a faceless tribulation was a sign of a sane mind, but he needed to vent at the moment.
Hundreds of bolts of raging lighting coiled down to bite at him. His own boiling vortex of Heaven Defying Spear Intent shot out, hundreds of spar spectral spears tearing through the lightning bolts.
"Is it too much for a man to enjoy being a Foundation Establishment for a few months before making it to Core Formation? I haven't even had the time to learn a flying technique, for Heaven's sake!"
Nine lighting orbs formed, each taking on the shape of a vaguely human body with a spear. Supposedly talented spearmen who died in the Spear-Heart Tribulation would be stored in the heavens to challenge new up-and-coming geniuses. At least, that's what people said.
The nine spearmen danced down from the sky, surrounding Xi Fi.
"Honestly, I'm just tired. Even with a bunch of pills, there is no substitute for real rest. Tribulation after fucking Tribulation, can't I get a god damned break?"
The spearmen exploded toward Xi Fu. Each moved at such incredible speed the ordinary human eye would see nothing but a blur. The man sighed.
Xi Fu narrowed his eyes.
"Cloud Carving Spear."
Nine lines of turbulent light seared through the air. The spearmen were no more.
"Honestly, it occurs to me that all this mess is arguably your fault! Why the hell do Tribulations have to be a thing in the first fucking place? If you just stopped being such a dick, breaking through would be far less stressful for us cultivators!"
Rivers of lighting poured down to attack him. This time he dodged, dancing across the flattened ash, lines of spear light piercing the air to shatter various branches of the surging thunder.
"You know, my good friend Jiang died in his Second Realm Tribulation. Sincerely, on behalf of all cultivators... Go fuck yourself!"
The Heavens shuddered, the pressure crashing down from them rising higher and higher. Four calamitous auras appeared. One of metal, one of wood, one of fire and one of water.
A huge dragon of wood exploded down from the sky, raging down towards Xi Fu.
"Cloud Carving Spear!"
His spear intent flared out, ripping through the center of the dragon. It exploded into countless pieces, each rapidly growing outwards.
"Not on my watch!"
A second flash of Spear-Intent and the wood dragon was no more. However, Xi Fu was starting to run low on Qi.
"I'll have to fight more conservatively," he admitted, popping another Batte-Continuation pill.
A huge tiger of solid gold pranced down from the clouds, roaring angrily. When its huge claws slashed, lines of metallic light cleaved toward him. Instead of fighting back, he evaded, dodging each blow with his supernaturally fast, qi-enhanced body. Soon the next calamity came, an enormous tortoise of chilly black water and ice.
The pressure of the fight ramped up as the two huge beasts attacked him. Even with the incredible speed of a core Formation expert, it was difficult to evade the attacks.
Finally, an enormous bird of scorching inferno dived from the sky towards him.
"Sky Erasing Spear."
A line of fire ripped through the air. The Three calamity beasts blinked away.
'Killing two birds with one stone, or is it three?' Xi Fu.
Even still, that one attack had used up a huge amount of his Qi. He had perhaps one-fifth left. Popping a third Battle-Continuation pill, he felt another fifth return.
An aura reminiscent of the Elemental Five grew in the tribulation above. This must have been the 'Five-Coloured Lightning' Bing Meilu mentioned. Xi Fu steadied himself, boiling white spear intent shrouding around himself like a shield.
In a split second, the world turned white and an earthshattering explosion of thunderbolts sounded out as five bolts of lightning came from the sky. One was red, with a fiery aura, one black with a watery aura, one yellow with an aura of earth, one green with an aura of wood, and one white with an aura of metal
The light bolts slammed into him and he let out a full-throated scream of pain and rage. His skin seared and turned scrip, like well-fried pork. Blood burst out of his mouth. His legs shattered from the sheer downward pressure.
Within his Dantian, the five-coloured lightning surged into his Embryonic Spear Heart, which took the place of his Inner Core. He felt his cultivation explode forward, solidifying and deepening.
'That is it- I've reached the first stage of Core Formation!'
Above the tribulation still raged, power gathering for the next blow.
"No, I think we're done here. Go fuck yourself."
His Sky Erasing Spear stabbed through the air like a fell omen. The tribulation blinked from existence, and Xi Fu fell unconscious.
---
Xi Fu awoke atop a bed of ice. His head ached and his body was sore. Slowly blinking open his eyes, he caught sight of Bing Meilu, who sat in meditation a few feet from him.
Around her swirled a strange formation. Red light surged towards her clockwise, only to suddenly switch into a blue light, pouring into her apertures.
"You're finally awake," she said.
"How long was I out?"
"A week."
Xi Fu blinked in shock. A week? How could it have been that long? As if reading his mind, Bing Meilu answered.
"The stronger a cultivator gets, the longer it takes for them to recover and the harder it is for them to heal, generally. That's why the old monsters of a sect might slumber for centuries without making a move or spend decades recovering from a single wound."
Xi Fu stood. He could feel an intensely powerful energy within him. Compared to being in the second realm, he felt like he had experienced a metamorphosis- like he had been living wrapped in a thick woollen blanket and only now was unrestricted.
His mind flashed back to his breakthrough, to what had happened. He looked at the meditating Bing Meilu with narrowed eyes.
"The 'Swordfather' you showed me in that parable... I saw him. In Ji Hui's Meridians."
"After you comprehend the secret behind Dragon Scales, I was wondering if you'd be able to discover the secret of the Meridian System," Bing Meilu smiled.
Xi Fu gave her a probing look.
"So, that's the origin of human cultivation then? A Heavenly Law created by that swordsman?"
"Not quite. At the start of cultivation culture, humans, through the use of their exceptional intelligence, created and grafted onto themselves the Meridian system, in order to steal and wield the Spiritual Power of Heaven and Earth that was denied to them."
"However, like all overstep of the bounds of nature, they incurred the wrath of Providence and were struck down with constant tribulations and heavenly punishment. Those who were able to endure and rise up the unknown ranks of cultivation through determination and sheer chance became known as the Dao Fathers. In the end, only twelve of them managed to survive and reach the peak."
"...But that kind of Heavenly Punishment doesn't happen anymore, because of that man carving a law into Heaven? And now, all humans are born with an innate meridian system, rather than having to be given one?"
"Indeed."
"How do you know all this? I've never even heard an inkling of any of the information."
"I'll tell you one day," Bing Meilu waved her hand dismissively. "When you're strong enough."
Xi Fu frowned, feeling his Spear-Intent rage at the dismissive treatment. Uncompromising, and dominant, that was the nature of Heaven-Defying. He was in Core Formation now, a realm above Bing Meilu, and yet she still treated him like a pathetic weakling. Still, he could never try and rebel against her because of the blood contract. It wasn't that he was ungrateful for her guidance, but the least she could do was show her strongest subordinate some respect, right?
Bing Meilu slowly opened her eyes, staring at him. An amused smirk covered her face at his obvious anger.
"If you think you've strong enough to matter because of a mere Core Formation, then let's spar. I'll give you a hundred free blows. If you can manage to make even a strand of my hair move an inch out of place, I'll free you from the Blood Contract and become your subordinate."
Her Qi aura exploded outwards, like seventy-two people superimposed. Xi Fu felt his knees shudder. There was something deeply terrifying about her freezing Yin Qi, like he was facing something so far beyond him that he was an ant. Even the double tribulation had not given him a sense of danger like her aura.
"No-no, forgive this lowly slave for his slight," Xi Fu grimaced, bowing in apology.
"Hmph. There's nothing wrong with being arrogant, so long as you have the strength," she waved her hand. "So, if you don't want to be treated as a weakling, naturally you can remedy that by becoming stronger."
The young man nodded at her words obediently.
"Now, I want to see the move you used to summon the Tribulation of Art backed by your Core Formation cultivation base." Bing Meilu said. "Give it your all."
Xi Fu nodded. He pointed his spear in a random direction-
"Use it against me," she ordered, rolling her eyes.
"Sky Erasing Spear!"
---
Omake
"Did you just dual cultivate with Ji Hui?" Bing Meilu's frosty voice rang out, interrupting his internal thoughts.
Xi Fu spun to stare at her, a look of horror and disgust on his face.
"...What?"
"You poured your Qi into him and suddenly rose up several ranks. Don't tell me you dual cultivated with an unconscious man?!" she narrowed her eyes.
Xi Fu's jaw dropped. No matter how you looked at it, the situation she described did sound incredibly suspicious.
"Whoah, whoah, it's not like that. I'm not into men that way- I just received a piece of enlightenment while studying his meridian system!" he waved his hands defensively.
"I know. I was joking."
Xi Fu blinked in complete shock and confusion. Bing Meilu frowned.
'Humor is a tool that can be used to foster closer relations with a subordinate, correct?' she remembered the words of Shui Wu, her junior disciple sister.
Honestly, Bing Meilu had spent little time on anything other than growing stronger. Her power had been the backing of the Crystal Providence Heavenly Palace. She had not spent very much time actually getting to know her subordinates personally. That was a task left to her attendants, Sect Elders and so on.
Perhaps she had not properly employed it? Well, like all aspects of natural law, she would eventually attain enlightenment of it. Bing Meilu was a genius after all.
'Perhaps I'll divine its true use in the Ancient Sage Realm,' she shrugged.