Within the quiet courtyard of the Thunderbolt Martial Hall, Lin Sheng sat cross-legged at the very center of a complicated formation.
Countless formation runes surrounded him.
Some were carved directly into the ground, while others floated several inches above the surface, slowly rotating around his body. Every rune was connected to the next by faint strands of energy, forming layer after layer of intricate restrictions that covered the entire courtyard.
Yet the most conspicuous things weren't the formations.
They were the ores.
Black ores were scattered throughout the courtyard in every direction, some piled together while others were individually placed at specific positions within the formation. They were irregularly shaped, their surfaces rough and covered in natural patterns that looked as though lightning had once scorched them.
But beneath those black surfaces...
There was something moving.
A strange purple-black glow continuously flickered within the ores.
It was faint at first glance, almost impossible to notice, but whenever the formation circulated, the glow would become slightly brighter, as though something deep within the ores was awakening.
These weren't ordinary minerals.
They were extraterrestrial meteorite ores.
On the Martial Continent, the appearance of such ores was considered an important event among artifact refiners. They usually followed certain natural phenomena and meteorite showers, descending from the heavens before crashing into different parts of the continent.
The reason they were so valuable was simple.
They possessed qualities that ordinary earthly ores couldn't replicate.
Most profound weapons and weapons above the Profound grade contained some amount of extraterrestrial meteorite ore.
The weapon hierarchy of the continent was divided into four major grades.
Human, Profound, Earth and Heaven.
Human-grade weapons were further divided into Low, Middle and High grades, and the distinction wasn't merely based on the quality of the material.
It depended heavily upon the number of times the weapon had been tempered.
A Low-grade Human weapon generally underwent the Ten-Tempering Forge Method.
A Middle-grade Human weapon underwent the Hundred-Tempering Forge Method.
And a High-grade Human weapon required the Thousand-Tempering Forge Method.
The name itself explained the difference.
But the difference between ten temperings and a hundred temperings wasn't simply ten times.
Repeated tempering transformed the structure of the weapon itself, causing its impurities to be expelled while allowing the essence of the material to become increasingly concentrated.
The result was a qualitative amplification.
Therefore, a High-grade Human weapon wasn't merely a Low-grade Human weapon that had been tempered one hundred times more.
It was an entirely different level of weapon.
Naturally, the higher the weapon grade, the more difficult it became to forge.
Divine weapon artificers were therefore highly respected throughout the Martial Continent.
Martial artists of all kinds would seek out powerful artificers to forge weapons suitable for themselves.
A sword cultivator, saber cultivator. A martial artist who specialized in fists.
Even External Martial Artists who rarely relied upon weapons would occasionally commission special weapons capable of complementing their physical strength.
And among the many materials used by these artificers...
Extraterrestrial meteorite ore was one of the most precious.
Because these ores tended to absorb traces of the phenomena they encountered while travelling through the void, different meteorites could possess completely different characteristics.
Some contained blazing fire essence, others contained sharp metallic essence. Some carried strange icy properties.
And some contained gravity.
The black ores surrounding Lin Sheng belonged to the latter category.
They contained a strange gravitational essence.
Lin Sheng's eyes remained closed as the formation around him slowly rotated.
The gravitational force in the courtyard had already reached an astonishing level.
Ten times ordinary gravity.
Twenty times.
Fifty.
Eighty.
Finally...
A hundred times ordinary gravity.
The ground beneath Lin Sheng's body had already sunk slightly from the pressure.
Even an ordinary martial artist would have been crushed beneath such an environment.
But Lin Sheng remained motionless.
His muscles didn't tremble.
His bones didn't crack.
His breathing remained steady.
Within his body, the Five Elements Body Forging Art continuously circulated.
Metal, water, wood, fire and earth.
The five energies circulated through his flesh and bones, repeatedly tempering his physical body.
Every cycle caused his body to become slightly stronger.
At his current stage, ordinary cultivation resources were no longer sufficient to produce significant improvements.
Therefore, Lin Sheng had deliberately created this hundred-fold gravity environment.
Gravity was constantly pressing against every part of his body.
His muscles.
His bones.
His organs.
His blood.
Even the deepest structures of his physical body were being forced to adapt.
At the same time, the Five Elements energy continuously nourished and tempered him.
The combination produced an effect that ordinary cultivation couldn't achieve.
Lin Sheng's physical body had already reached the final stage of Rank 3 Body Refining.
He was close.
Very close.
Only one step remained.
Once he crossed that boundary...
He would enter Rank 4.
The Golden Body Realm.
Lin Sheng's breathing slowly deepened.
His consciousness sank into his body.
He could clearly perceive every change taking place within his flesh.
The five elemental energies were no longer as chaotic as they had been when he first began cultivating the Five Elements Body Forging Art.
They had gradually become integrated.
Metal supported Water.
Water nourished Wood.
Wood generated Fire.
Fire transformed Earth.
Earth gave birth to Metal.
The cycle continuously repeated.
The five energies formed a complete circulation within his body.
This was the fundamental reason why the Five Elements Body Forging Art became increasingly profound at higher levels.
It wasn't simply using five different energies.
It was creating a complete internal cycle.
Lin Sheng remained motionless.
Then...
His body suddenly trembled.
Boom!
A powerful aura erupted from him.
The formation surrounding the courtyard shook violently.
The purple-black glow inside the meteorite ores surged.
At the same time, five different streams of energy suddenly erupted from Lin Sheng's body.
Five-colored energy rose into the air like five dragons before slowly intertwining above his head.
Lin Sheng's eyes opened.
For an instant...
A strange brilliance flashed through his pupils.
He had done it.
The Five Elements Body Forging Art had finally reached the peak of Minor Accomplishment.
Lin Sheng slowly clenched his fist.
Crack!
The surrounding space seemed to distort slightly beneath the pressure of his physical strength.
He could feel it.
His body had once again undergone a qualitative transformation.
His muscles contained terrifying power.
His bones were becoming increasingly dense.
His blood flowed like molten metal.
Even his internal organs had become far stronger than before.
Most importantly...
He could sense that the barrier separating Rank 3 from Rank 4 was already incredibly thin.
One step.
Only one step.
If he crossed it...
The Rank 4 Golden Body breakthrough would begin.
And once he successfully entered Rank 4...
He would finally escape the Heavenly Mechanism's observation.
Lin Sheng should have been happy.
After all, he had spent so much time cultivating precisely for this moment.
Yet his expression gradually became strange.
His brows slowly tightened.
A feeling of dread appeared within his heart.
Again.
That feeling.
Lin Sheng's eyes became solemn.
He had experienced it before.
The first time had been when the Rank 5 Void Dragon appeared.
At that time, his mind had entered a state of extreme dread before he even understood what was happening.
It wasn't ordinary fear.
Fear came from understanding danger.
This was different.
It was as though some part of his consciousness had already touched a future event.
A future in which something extremely dangerous was approaching.
Lin Sheng had initially dismissed it as instinct.
But after several experiences, he had discovered something troubling.
His premonition was surprisingly accurate.
Whenever that dreadful feeling appeared...
Extreme danger was usually nearby.
He slowly looked toward the sky.
"Could it be..."
"That the Rank 4 breakthrough is dangerous?"
His expression became ugly.
Surely not.
Right?
Lin Sheng had already investigated the matter thoroughly.
He had searched through the records available on the Martial Continent and discovered something that made his expression even worse.
Breaking through to Grandmaster wasn't as simple as accumulating enough cultivation.
There was a tribulation.
A Three-Nine Tribulation.
The tribulation would descend from the heavens and bombard the cultivator's physique.
And for an ordinary martial artist, that alone would already be terrifying.
But Lin Sheng wasn't an ordinary martial artist.
His physical body was already extraordinarily powerful.
His cultivation method was also fundamentally different from the martial arts practiced on this continent.
The moment he crossed into Rank 4...
The Heavenly Mechanism might finally notice him again.
And that meant his tribulation might not be ordinary.
Lin Sheng's expression darkened.
"Could it be worse than the records?"
The dreadful sensation intensified.
His heart sank.
Yet strangely...
The moment he stopped thinking about the tribulation, that feeling began to fade.
Lin Sheng noticed the change immediately.
He stopped.
He deliberately thought about something else.
The dread weakened.
He thought about the tribulation again.
The dread returned.
His eyes twitched.
"So it's connected to the future event itself."
This wasn't ordinary fear.
His body wasn't telling him to run away because he was afraid of pain.
Rather...
Some part of him was warning him that something would happen.
The problem was that he couldn't see exactly what.
Lin Sheng slowly exhaled.
He had no way of knowing whether the breakthrough would succeed.
Perhaps the tribulation would be ordinary.
Perhaps it would be stronger than normal.
Perhaps the Heavenly Mechanism would deliberately interfere.
Or perhaps...
His breakthrough itself would trigger something that the records of the Martial Continent had never encountered before.
He looked at his clenched fist.
"Damn it."
He finally understood the problem.
He couldn't break through yet.
Not because he lacked cultivation.
Not because his physical body wasn't strong enough.
But because his instincts were warning him that the moment he crossed that final boundary...
Something terrible would descend.
Lin Sheng rubbed his forehead.
"Looks like I'll have to delay Rank 4."
He wasn't willing to gamble blindly.
He had already survived too many situations where a single mistake could cost him his life.
There was no reason to force a breakthrough when his own instincts were screaming that something was wrong.
The Heavenly Mechanism had already caused him enough trouble.
Every time he thought he had finally escaped its attention...
Something else appeared.
Lin Sheng looked toward the black meteorite ores scattered around the courtyard.
The strange purple-black glow inside them slowly faded.
He sighed.
"At every turn..."
"The damn Heavenly Mechanism."
He leaned backward slightly and closed his eyes.
Since he couldn't break through yet...
Then he would cultivate further.
His body had reached the peak of Rank 3.
He could continue strengthening his foundation until even the tribulation couldn't shake it.
Perhaps by then...
The feeling of dread would disappear.
Or perhaps he would eventually understand exactly what the Heavenly Mechanism had prepared for him.
Either way...
Lin Sheng wasn't going to sit around waiting for death.
He looked toward the distant sky.
A faint smile finally appeared on his face.
"If you want to stop me from breaking through..."
"Then I'll become strong enough that even your tribulation can't kill me."
The five-colored energy around his body once again began circulating.
Within the courtyard, the formation activated.