Gu Qinghe had prepared himself for every possibility. Both of his cultivation eyes were active, clearly staring straight ahead as the formation core became visible before him.

Both of his hands formed a hand seal, summoning golden magic runes that appeared in front of his face.

After studying the formation runes enough, Gu Qinghe thrust his hands forward. Golden qi light from his magic runes was absorbed by the formation runes in front of the main hall door.

Qi explosions erupted, not once but repeatedly. Gu Qinghe tried to stay focused and not be disturbed by that force.

The female array master saw what Gu Qinghe was doing. Through her eyes, she watched the man attempt to break the formation at the main hall door.

"This is dangerous," the woman said.

Not long after, lightning struck along with the rumble of black clouds in the sky above the second mountain peak.

Gu Qinghe paused his rune formation for a moment, then turned and looked up.

It’s finally here.

Blue lightning struck down from the sky toward the main hall in the inner courtyard. Gu Qinghe stood still, unmoved, while the woman beside him gasped in shock.

Qi explosions erupted along with powerful gusts of wind. The woman, who was at Mid Core Formation, was forced to raise her hand and form a qi barrier.

At times, she glanced to the side and saw that the man was completely unaffected.

Him? Is he really that confident facing the defensive mechanism of the main hall formation?

From the lightning strike, Gu Qinghe raised his hand and gathered qi, then waved it to the side to disperse the thick smoke.

The smoke and dust scattered, revealing a blue dragon formed from lightning energy. It was ordinary lightning, not heavenly lightning.

The woman was stunned, her eyes wide. "What? A monster at the Perfect Core Formation level?"

Gu Qinghe flew forward, standing on his flying sword. One hand was raised to chest level, golden qi light radiating as his cultivation eyes activated.

He stored the formation core inside it.

ROAR!

The blue lightning dragon roared loudly toward Gu Qinghe. The man remained completely unaffected, still standing on his sword.

From its mouth, the dragon fired a sphere of lightning toward him. Gu Qinghe flew upward to dodge, moving swiftly as the lightning spheres tried to bring him down.

A high-level battle broke out in the inner courtyard. The loud blasts and explosions drew the curiosity of many cultivators in the outer courtyard.

Quite a few of them flew in to see what was happening.

They were shocked to see Gu Qinghe fighting alone against a blue lightning dragon.

The qi aura pulsing from the dragon was equal to a Perfect Core Formation cultivator.

"What did he do to provoke that crazy monster to come here?"

The female array master arrived among the other cultivators. "He’s trying to break the formation core at the main hall door."

"The main hall?"

"Yes," she explained. "It’s said that the main hall of every mountain peak palace holds high-grade treasures."

"Whoever obtains that treasure could become the most respected cultivator in the entire kingdom."

Hearing the array master’s words made them even more excited. Not to help Qinghe defeat the blue lightning dragon, but to compete for the treasure.

Not a single one of them dared to risk their life just to help Gu Qinghe. Besides fearing death, their abilities were too limited to defeat a monster at the Perfect Core Formation level.

Gu Qinghe glanced over and briefly saw the group of cultivators. His eyes sharpened as he stared at them.

If none of them were helping him, then it was obvious they were waiting for the main hall door to open.

Shameless thieves!

Gu Qinghe formed hand seals, releasing golden light into the sky and turning the black clouds into bright golden-yellow clouds.

The technique Gu Qinghe used was the Heaven Punishment Palm Technique, a high-quality Earth-grade technique.

Gu Qinghe flew higher and thrust his palm downward. A massive golden qi palm manifested and shot down with overwhelming force, accompanied by a powerful qi shockwave spreading everywhere.

The crowd raised their hands as they witnessed the power of his technique.

The blue lightning dragon paused for a moment, then flew forward and collided directly with the attack.

Stronger than the snow stone monster at the first peak.

He did not remain idle. The qi in his body was channeled into the palm technique. The additional qi increased its power, and Gu Qinghe’s golden palm began to suppress the blue lightning dragon.

BLAST!

A massive qi explosion spread across the entire second peak palace. The other cultivators gasped in shock, filled with awe and fear at Gu Qinghe’s strength.

With his cultivation only at Peak Core Formation, it was clear he could defeat the blue lightning dragon with ease.

However, none of them realized that the golden qi palm technique was consuming too much of his spiritual qi.

If he forced himself further, the next battle would be dangerous for him.

One of his hands rose and formed a simple seal, then extended forward to capture the white formation core.

He sealed the formation core from the Blue Lightning Dragon’s body within a sphere of his qi seal.

The man flew toward the main hall, stopping right in front of the door. But something happened.

"HAND OVER THAT FORMATION CORE!" several cultivators shouted.

Gu Qinghe turned sharply and raised his hand, forming a strong qi barrier to block the incoming sword attack.

His gaze turned from cold to fierce. A powerful qi aura surged from his body, targeting them.

The pressure of his cultivation crashed down on the ten cultivators. One of the men turned toward the female array master.

"You... your cultivation is higher. Help us!"

"We’ll split the treasure in the main hall evenly. We promise!"

Gu Qinghe glanced past them, straight toward the woman who called herself an array master.

She sighed, stepped forward, and cupped her hands, lowering her head. The other cultivators were shocked by her response.

"Senior has already allowed me to take the treasure in the middle hall. So this junior will not interfere in this matter," she said.

"YOU?!"

Quickly, the woman flew away, leaving the ten cultivators trapped in Gu Qinghe’s fury.

"You just stood there watching while I struggled against that lightning dragon," Gu Qinghe said firmly.

"And now you try to attack me to seize the formation core. Pathetic!"

One of Gu Qinghe’s hands formed a seal, then pointed toward the ground, creating a glowing red formation beneath their feet.

One of the cultivators gasped in shock and shouted, "What are you trying to do?"

Gu Qinghe waved his hand, lifting the cultivation pressure off them while keeping the red formation active.

From the sky, a massive white sword descended rapidly, carrying an overwhelming qi momentum.

Gu Qinghe paid them no attention. The red formation served as the target for the heavenly sword. There was no way out for them except to destroy it.

The ten cultivators unleashed different attacks, all aimed at the same point, the heavenly sword. But its power shattered their attacks.

"That’s a waste of effort," Gu Qinghe said. "Only someone at the same level can destroy it."

"You... don’t stand a chance at all!"