Chapter 988: The Nine-Star Tribulation

The moment Li Luo began to circulate the "Small Formless Divine Forging Art," an unexpected change immediately occurred.

On the golden terrace standing atop the mountain peak, mysterious golden light suddenly rippled forth, and the sudden commotion caused the many figures present to show expressions of shock.

Immediately, they saw those beams of golden light shoot skyward, forming a massive golden light formation in the sky above this mountain.

The golden light formation exuded an ancient and vast aura; in the center of the formation, it resembled a majestic golden eye.

From within the eye, golden light projected outward, as if scanning the crowd on the golden terrace.

Those with keen senses discovered that within the golden light, the same mysterious golden mist capable of enhancing their phasing qualities from before was pervasive, and its intensity was far greater than before.

"Is this an extra gift from the Golden Terrace?!" someone exclaimed in delight, their voice filled with thick greed.

Some even couldn't help but let saliva drool, because only those who had experienced the miraculous golden mist knew the temptation within; if such golden mist were taken out, it would surely trigger a struggle among countless people.

But the golden mist was clearly difficult to condense; even on this Golden Terrace, everyone received only a limited portion. Now, with the golden light suddenly producing such thick golden mist, how could it fail to attract covetous eyes?

Some attempted to forcibly plunder, but the attacks they unleashed vanished into thin air the moment they touched the golden light. Thus, they could only reluctantly abandon the idea of forcing their way in and began staring hopefully at the golden pillar of light sweeping back and forth, praying that this heavenly pie would fall into their laps.

Amidst countless greedy gazes, the golden light continued to sweep until, finally, it converged upon a golden lotus seat.

Seated cross-legged upon the lotus seat was a figure.

Countless angry gazes shot toward that figure; that lucky one was not them?!

"Li Luo?!"

Zhao Zhao Shenjiang looked at the figure with closed eyes on the golden lotus seat, and his expression immediately turned gloomy, for that was precisely where Li Luo was.

"How could this be! What merit does that brat have?!" Zhao Zhao Jingyu on the side also shouted in anger, the jealousy in his eyes almost becoming substantial as it surged forth.

Meanwhile, in the distance, where the students of the Tianyuan Ancient Academy had gathered, Jiang Jiang Wanyu also looked with some surprise at Li Luo's figure shrouded in golden light.

"This fellow has good luck; he actually got such an opportunity?" Jiang Jiang Wanyu muttered.

"However, with so many people here, him alone monopolizing this opportunity is likely to attract much covetousness and sabotage."

In this world, there are many with malicious hearts, especially in such a setting where everyone holds greed for that golden mist. Yet now Li Luo has become that lucky one, so others must feel unwilling to accept it.

"Sister Jiang, what should we do? Do you know if breaking that golden light would cause any golden mist to leak out?" Just as Jiang Jiang Wanyu was thinking this, a student asked quietly with ill intent.

Jiang Jiang Wanyu glanced indifferently at the speaker; such thoughts were likely what many with malicious hearts present were thinking at this moment.

"Li Luo has some connection with our Tianyuan Ancient Academy. You all saw the 'Black Dragon Netherwater Flag' he wielded earlier. While this isn't enough to make our academy help him, there is no need to kick him when he is down," Jiang Jiang Wanyu said calmly.

"Li Luo possesses three phases and has extraordinary talent; there is no need to make an enemy of him. After all, breaking the golden light might not cause any golden mist to scatter."

Hearing Jiang Jiang Wanyu say this, the person who spoke earlier could only nod resentfully.

While they were speaking there, many from the Li Li Tianwang lineage who had finished their baptism also noticed those malicious gazes directed at Li Luo.

Thus, Li Li Fuling, Li Li Fengyi, Li Jingtang, and others hurriedly rushed out, appearing around Li Luo's golden lotus seat. They unleashed surging phasing power, guarding Li Luo on all sides, and met those covetous gazes with cold eyes.

"Everyone, opportunities are determined by heaven; do not harm yourselves. The Li Li Tianwang lineage is not one to be trifled with," Li Li Fuling said coldly, issuing a warning.

Some commotion arose from the surroundings. The Li Li Tianwang lineage's power was extremely strong; after all, it was a genuine Li Li Tianwang-level faction, and on this Outer Shenzhou, few dared to provoke them.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhao Shenjiang sneered inwardly, while Zhao Zhao Jingyu on the side said fiercely, "Big Brother, should we incite people to act and destroy Li Luo's opportunity?"

Zhao Zhao Shenjiang said, "No rush. Let us wait for Clan Brother Zhao Yan to finish his baptism first. He has prepared for a long time for this breakthrough. If he succeeds, he can break through to the Nine-Star Tian Zhu Jing; if he fails, he will ride the momentum to assault the Tian Xiang Jing. We will see then whether we can destroy Li Luo's opportunity."

As he spoke, his gaze turned toward the golden lotus seat not far away. At this moment, Zhao Yan was seated upon it, and a massive, surging phasing power fluctuation erupted from his body.

Behind him, eight Tian Zhu shone brilliantly like stars, crazily devouring the energy of heaven and earth.

And behind those eight Tian Zhu, a light point was compressing and condensing.

Although this light point was dim, the fluctuation it emitted was several times stronger than any of the previous eight Tian Zhu.

Many amazed gazes watched this scene; this was the condensation of the Nine-Star Tian Zhu!

There were many Tian Zhu Jing experts present, so they understood even better just how vast the foundation and roots required were to condense the ninth Tian Zhu. For many lone cultivators, this step was almost unimaginable.

Indeed, not to mention lone cultivators, even among those Li Li Tianwang-level factions, not every generation's genius could reach this step.

The ninth Tian Zhu is a display of foundation and potential.

It is said that for geniuses who can cultivate to the Nine-Star Tian Zhu Jing, the probability of breaking through to the Marquis Realm in the future will be several tenths higher than for those at the Eight-Star Tian Zhu Jing.

Therefore, the Nine-Star Tian Zhu generally also bears the reputation of being a "Marquis Seed."

The Marquis Realm is the realm with the greatest degree of transformation in phasing power cultivation. Crossing this realm makes one a true powerhouse of heaven and earth; even within Li Li Tianwang-level factions, they would be pillars of support, and no one would dare to underestimate them.

Thus, when the crowd saw Zhao Yan begin to condense the ninth Tian Zhu, they all looked on with envy and sighs.

However, just as the crowd was sighing, Zhao Yan's phasing power fluctuation, which had been climbing steadily, suddenly showed signs of stagnation, as if it had reached a bottleneck at this very moment.

Zhao Yan's expression also changed drastically at this moment. He hurriedly took out some pills from a space orb, stuffed them into his mouth, and rapidly refined them.

With the support of the pills, his phasing power fluctuation did stabilize, but the ninth Tian Zhu still failed to condense into substance for a long time.

Seeing this, those with good judgment couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Zhao Yan was indeed a rare genius, and he even possessed the background of a Li Li Tianwang-level faction, but even so, condensing the Nine-Star Tian Zhu was still one step short.

What a pity.

In the distance, Jiang Jiang Wanyu was also watching. She shook her head slightly and said, "The Nine-Star Tian Zhu is indeed difficult. This extreme is far harder than the extreme of the Extreme Fiend Realm. Senior Zong Sha and that Zhao Yan both failed to achieve it."

As she spoke these words, she was also looking toward Senior Zong Sha's position. Senior Zong Sha had the same idea as Zhao Yan, wanting to use this opportunity to assault the Nine-Star Tian Zhu Jing, but unfortunately, he also lacked a bit of the necessary refinement.

The ambitions of these two for the Nine-Star Tian Zhu were both suppressed by reality.

"Clan Brother Zhao Yan failed to condense the Nine-Star Tian Zhu," Zhao Zhao Shenjiang also said in a deep voice at this moment.

Zhao Zhao Jingyu was somewhat disappointed and said, "It seems that among the geniuses of our Zhao Li Li Tianwang lineage in these two generations, only you, Big Brother, have the best hope of achieving the Nine Stars."

Zhao Zhao Shenjiang did not deny this. With his talent of the Lower-Nine Grades, in terms of foundation and potential, he was indeed several points stronger than Zhao Yan.

"It doesn't matter that Clan Brother Zhao Yan failed to condense it. He prepared the 'Phase-Transforming Pill,' so we can use the residual momentum to directly assault the Tian Xiang Jing. Although the Ling Xiang Cave Heaven has rules suppressing it, his strength will still increase greatly, far surpassing other Tian Zhu Jing experts."

"By then, who knows, we might even be able to take out some people from the Li Li Tianwang lineage." As he spoke the last words, a ruthless look appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, Zhao Yan also opened his eyes with an extremely gloomy expression. Feeling the phasing power fluctuation in his body that could not climb further, he knew he had reached his limit.

The Nine-Star Tian Zhu Jing was ultimately not achieved.

This hurdle was truly difficult.

Zhao Yan's eyes flickered, then he raised his palm, and a jade bottle appeared in his hand. He tilted the bottle's mouth and poured out a round pill of pale silver color.

The pill was quite miraculous, with pill mist faintly surfacing, evolving into strange phenomena.

This was the "Transformation Phase Pill," worth no small sum. Zhao Yan had paid an enormous price for this pill, only managing to exchange for it from within his clan, and all for the sake of today.

Although his attempt to break through to the Nine Star Tian Zhu Jing had failed, with this pill, he could use it to charge into the Tian Xiang Jing.

When the time came, borrowing the greatly increased power to root out some of Li Li Tianwang's faction would also count as earning merit, and upon returning to the clan, he would still receive rewards.

And just as Zhao Yan was thinking this, suddenly a startlingly tremendous wave of phase power erupted from afar, triggering a heavenly phenomenon.

Zhao Yan was startled, hurriedly looking toward that direction, and then his expression abruptly changed.

There, atop a golden lotus seat, Li Li Lingjing sat quietly in meditation, the energies of heaven and earth gathering above her, then cascading down like an inverted Tianhe.

Behind Li Li Lingjing, eight Tian Zhu slowly rotated, and at this moment, behind that eighth Tian Zhu, another Tian Zhu was, with a slow yet resolute bearing, gradually becoming more solid.

Whoosh!

On the Golden Dew Platform, a tidal wave of uproar erupted.

Gaze after gaze cast toward Li Li Lingjing was filled with shock.

After both Zhao Yan and Senior Zong Sha had failed, this Li Li Lingjing... had actually succeeded in condensing the ninth Tian Zhu!