As'' dantian looked strange whenpared to that of an ordinary Core Formation Realm cultivator, but the process of breaking through was no different.


    Instead of a core, As had two vines surrounded by a qi mist that represented his supply. In order for a breakthrough to ur, the qi mist in the dantian had to be packed enough to overflow, providing the cultivator with enough energy to improve the dantian itself.


    As had this much qi. He always had it from the moment he broke through to the Core Formation Realm. The me vine sucked in so much qi upon its creation that it left his dantian overfilled.


    As he used his qi and replenished it, this state was rtively maintained until now. With the creation of the water vine and the same influx of energy, As did not need to wait for anything else.


    He focused on his dantian and imagined it in his mind, taking control over the qi mist. Slowly but surely, he circted it within his dantian and created a flow. The qi mist revolved around the twin vines, gradually increasing in speed.


    The boundaries of As'' dantian were pressured greatly. Due to the pressure inside, those walls expanded and expanded as they were forced to berger.


    The dantian space widening was only a temporary effect at first, but the revolving of the qi inside acted like a mechanism that forced that shape to hold.


    ''Maintain it.''


    In order to be a Sage, it wasn''t necessary to entirely shatter the dantian. However, the dangers that were avoided were only reced.


    As had to maintain the revolution of his qi at a specific speed until his dantian walls werepletely molded. Only then could he continue with his breakthrough.


    This was the first step that held many people back. If the revolution dropped in speed or became too fast, the walls would either return to their original shape or break down entirely. Both options led to a cultivator being crippled indefinitely.


    Aware of the dangers, As rid his mind of any and all thoughts, focusing only on the breakthrough.


    Minutes turned into hours and time became irrelevant in his mind by the time he felt his dantian walls settle into ce. Without even taking the time to breathe a sigh of relief, As moved on to the next step.


    The rapidly moving qi had reached a state where it was almost liquid. The mist was packed into a denseyer of qi that moved as one. As slowly used his Will topress the ring of qi, bringing it closer to the core.


    Those first few steps were taken slowly. As pulled the qi away from the walls while paying special attention to its movement. The scene in his mind was truly spectacr. When he entered his dantian, everything within scaled immensely.


    The two vines were tens of feet tall. The qi mist was like a storm raging about with the intent to destroy everything in its path.


    All of that destructive force was in his control, and all of it needed to be tamed.


    The qi waspressed andpressed andpressed. It formed a tight ring around the vines and spread its influence across the entire bottom half of the dantian space.


    ''Okay.''


    Thus far, it was perfect. The remaining steps were much calmer.


    As loosened his control over time and let the qi disperse itself into the bottom half of his dantian. As the nearly liquified energy settled, it thickened and took on the properties of earth.


    The dantian separated into two halves, one filled with solidified qi and the other remaining empty. Any excess qi mist settled into that empty space, and by all intents and purposes, that should have been the end of As'' breakthrough.


    But, of course, things weren''t so simple for him.


    The moment the earth was created, the twin vines retreated into the ground,boring holes for themselves in the earth. As gritted his teeth as his dantian was strained, but he made no moves to interject. At this point, he already understood the workings of his treasure.


    Where the vines once stood, a twin sapling appeared. It glowed with hues of red and blue, surrounded by an aura of mystery that even As couldn''t prate.


    The main bodies of the vines continued to move around in the earth of his dantian as if trying to find afortable position, but the difort caused by their movements was overshadowed quite rapidly.


    After all, the Heavenly Unification Law that As practiced had one more effect outside of its actions in his dantian.


    First it was his eyes, then it was his meridians and flesh. The order was simr to the Heavenly Path, so As knew what to expect next.


    He gritted his teeth in preparation and epted it when it came.


    All at once, every bone in his body shattered into hundreds of pieces.


    "ARGH!"


    As couldn''t hold his groan of pain. In that instant, his mind experienced so much shock that he almost instantly lost consciousness. Holding onto consciousness by the smallest thread, As summoned qi to his fingertips.


    Voom!


    The power of an Earth Sage was already his. The plumes of me he summoned were small, yet burned brightly enough to illuminate and heat the entire cave.


    Nevertheless, As didn''t summon the mes because he was cold. The bones in his body reformed within some seconds, but he knew they were going to shatter again the instant they were fully healed.


    Before that happened, As mmed his hand into his own thigh, burning himself with his mes.


    Crack!


    With a guttural sound, his bones shattered again. The same mental impact struck him, but his mind was focused on a separate pain. The searing of his skin, the burnt smell of his flesh, he focused on these and just barely kept himself conscious.


    It was a torturous process.


    His bones shattered and reformed, shattered and reformed. It happened almost ten times before they settled into ce and returned to normalcy.


    As wanted to celebrate his breakthrough. Without a doubt, the bone reformation that just urred had a simr effect to undergoing Bone Forging. He was much, much stronger to the point where he was iparable to his previous self.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have that liberty. The moment his mind gained assurance that the torturous cultivation session was over, it copsed.


    As'' body fell lifelessly to the floor. It would be several hours at the very least before his eyes saw light again.


    He was unaware of it, but his actions caused a rtivelyrge scene outside. As the vines in his dantian moved, Heavenly Lightning struck the mountain above him. If he was able to leave the cave after finishing his cultivation, he would have noticed that the mountain peak no longer existed.


    It was ttened by the Heavens in an attempt to reach him.


    "Is this the one who caused such troubles?"


    A voice appeared in the cavern just moments after As copsed, but strangely enough, there was not a second person inside.


    "Hmm…his body is not harmed, but this environment will not do."


    The voicemented on his situation matter-of-factly as if it was speaking to a third person.


    "Bring him back to the sanctum. I would like to see him myself."


    The ones who responded were not living beings, but the waters themselves.


    As'' body was moved out of the cave and taken to a ce unknown.


    Only, he would not know this until some timeter.