Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1534 - 813: Late Stage (Part 2)

Once the formation loses its utility, leaving it right here would simply doom it to annihilation by the heavenly thunder.

He had completed everything within his power, leaving the outcome to hinge on how the heavenly tribulation unfolded.

A binding order was given to the five golden corpses by him. In the process of refining these golden corpses, his personal essence blood had been incorporated, ensuring the owner recognition was fully achieved.

Spreading across five distinct zones, the five golden corpses maintained sufficient separation to endure their tribulations without mutual disruption.

They remained rooted to the earth, devoid of any unnecessary actions.

Up above, clusters of thunderclouds began to amass in five spots, swiftly coalescing into thick, ominous black masses before much time passed.

Within every one of those dark clouds, sparks of electricity flickered relentlessly, gearing up to unleash the initial strike of heavenly thunder.

Li Shiming cast a look at the thunderclouds' state, a touch of anxiety stirring within him. These thunderclouds this round were of Great Cultivator magnitude, and his familiarity with the five golden corpses' status was limited. Whether they could endure the ordeal bolstered by his Thunder Resistance Secret Method remained in doubt.

"Boom," five streaks of heavenly thunder crashed down at once, producing a resounding echo akin to harmonious thunder.

Straight from the thunderclouds plummeted five enormous bolts of heavenly thunder, slamming directly onto the five golden corpses.

Motionless as statues, the five golden corpses permitted the heavenly thunder to impact them fully.

With his vast expertise in facing tribulations, Li Shiming understood well that any being bold enough to defy the heavenly tribulation would face intensified backlash from it.

Naturally, survivors of such a challenge, baptized by amplified heavenly thunder, would reap rewards far surpassing those of a standard tribulation upon success.

Numerous sword cultivators deliberately shatter the thunderclouds amid the Nascent Soul Tribulation, pursuing enhanced boons from the heavenly laws to forge a sturdier base for their path.

Yet timing proves crucial. For golden corpses undergoing tribulation, particularly late-stage ones in this fashion, any defiant gesture against the celestial might might summon heavenly thunder at the Great Cultivator Peak intensity, or worse.

On the surfaces of the five golden corpses, the initial heavenly thunder bolt left behind faint scorch traces, though the damage proved minor; to golden corpses, such harm was utterly insignificant.

As the five golden corpses endured the heavenly thunder's descent without further resistance, the overhead thunderclouds refrained from excessive escalation, preparing the subsequent heavenly thunder bolt at the routine intensified strength.

"Boom," another unified roar echoed as the next set of five heavenly thunders descended together.

The might of this heavenly thunder round far exceeded the previous one, yet stayed within expected bounds, letting Li Shiming exhale in relief since no surprises arose.

From the ’Prohibited Book of Xuan Yin Yaksha’, he had learned of instances where Great Cultivators crafting late-stage golden corpses saw tribulations spiral out of hand, surging ten times in force abruptly and vaporizing the golden corpses outright, all without provocation.

Following the second heavenly thunder's strike, fissures emerged across the skins of the five golden corpses.

Shock gripped Li Shiming upon witnessing the crimson blood seeping from those fissures in the golden corpses' skins.

The blood of the late-stage golden corpse acquired from Central State Commerce had been golden in hue.

Central State Commerce would never mislead him, and the ’Prohibited Book of Xuan Yin Yaksha’ likewise noted that late-stage golden corpses possessed golden blood.

Nevertheless, the five late-stage golden corpses he had forged via the late-stage corpse refining technique contained red blood inside, and with skins mimicking those of regular folk, how did they differ from typical cultivators?

While he mulled this over, the damaged skins on the five golden corpses started mending gradually, the healing process evident to the eye.

A sharp inhale escaped him; these were injuries inflicted by heavenly thunder during a tribulation. Even the finest healing spirit pill couldn't mend such gashes at this pace.

The energy of heavenly thunder persistently gnaws at injuries, so the golden corpses' ability to purge that energy and recover so swiftly suggested they harbored an inner force that countered heavenly thunder.

Regrettably, with the five golden corpses in the midst of tribulation, he was barred from linking his Divine Sense to them or engaging in any interaction throughout.

Doing so would count as aiding the tribulation, drawing the tribulation's fury to encompass Li Shiming too.

All he could manage at present was to observe from the sidelines.

The disturbance here drew notable attention, prompting distant cultivators from the Ten Thousand Beast Sect Tai Chu Branch to gear up for an approach.

Such a spectacle of five Great Cultivator-level tribulations was unheard of on the Dongqi Continent, likely absent from the broader cultivation realm; and this unfolded in a grotto heaven's secluded domain.

Even with Li Shiming's earlier directives, the cultivators' inquisitiveness and apprehensions persisted unchecked.

Still, this wasn't a concern for Li Shiming to handle. Great Cultivator Luo Pei guarded the outer edge; his aura flared powerfully, issuing a stern deterrent that halted the approaching onlookers.

Those cultivators held no interest for Li Shiming at the moment; his gaze stayed locked on the five thundercloud clusters overhead.

Electric lights piled up increasingly within the thunderclouds, but no heavenly thunder bolt came down right away. This buildup of electricity signaled that the concluding heavenly thunder would pack even greater punch.

Worry etched across his features, for that final heavenly thunder posed a real threat of severe damage to the golden corpses.

Every extra moment of delay diminished the odds of the golden corpses triumphing over the tribulation.

In his anxious state, the thunderclouds at last appeared saturated with electric light, unleashing a heavenly thunder bolt double the size of the second one.

Lightning from the heavenly thunder swallowed the golden corpses whole, and despite employing ’Divine Eye’, Li Shiming couldn't glimpse the state of the golden corpses amid the blaze.

Through his bond with the golden corpses alone could he detect their excruciating agony.

Sensing pain was actually a positive sign; total silence in feedback would spell disaster.

Linked to the five golden corpses and sharing their feelings, the duration of the third heavenly thunder dragged on endlessly, feeling like multiple hours crammed into its short span.

At long last, the third heavenly thunder's force ebbed away, and the five skyborne thunderclouds scattered into nothingness.

His five golden corpses came into view, over half their skin and flesh torn away, revealing the underlying bones.

For regular living beings, wounds like those would mean death multiple times over.

Yet the golden corpses' formidable life force ensured every one of the five endured.

Before Li Shiming could activate the ’Innate Wood’ divine skill, the heavenly rewards descended, enveloping the five golden corpses in their purifying grace first.

Under the influence of this peculiar energy, the lost flesh on the five golden corpses regrew at a startling speed, returning them to flawless human cultivator forms within mere breaths, free of scars.

With the heavenly rewards finished, Li Shiming extended his Divine Sense repeatedly to examine one golden corpse's status.

By probing the golden corpse's core, he verified that his golden corpses had reached late-stage, determinable directly from the core.

The golden corpse's body concealed the core, blocking any aura escape, so a cultivator scanning it would detect only a Great Cultivator practicing Yin Cold Spiritual Power, mistaking it for nothing more than that, not a golden corpse.

To an extent, this core mirrored a Great Cultivator's Nascent Soul, and with its aura contained, it could seamlessly impersonate a true Nascent Soul.

Besides the ’Speed Rule Imprint’ on the core, two more rule imprints had formed: a ’Power Rule Imprint’ and a ’Defense Rule Imprint’.

Li Shiming had never anticipated that etching four billion ’Refining Corpse Runes’ onto a Great Cultivator's form would yield such results; he had only speculated on a potential shift in quality from that rune volume.

During artifact refining, achieving four billion runes triggers the emergence of matching rule imprints post-Artifact Tribulation conquest.

However, employing four billion ’Refining Corpse Runes’ resulted in his late-stage golden corpses bearing two unforeseen extra rule imprints.

After brief reflection, he deduced that standard golden corpse refinement emphasized power and resilience above all.

Quite likely, the ’Refining Corpse Runes’ amplified the corpse's power and resilience, and scaling to four billion runes birthed the ’Power Rule Imprint’ and ’Defense Rule Imprint’.