As the chief shopkeeper of the Purple Treasure Pavilion, Yang Bolin's mentality could be said to be virtually flawless.

Even when concluding such transactions involving millions of spirit stones, like the Heavenly Array.

He only slightly lost control of his emotions, showing an uncontrollable hint of a smile on his face.

But in this moment.

This prominent figure, who remains composed even if a mountain collapses in front of him, was looking at Ma Ning in astonishment.

His mouth was so wide it seemed capable of swallowing a goose egg.

His corners of the eyes, eyebrows, and beard were all trembling uncontrollably, looking just like Wei the Second upon seeing Song Dandan.

It took nearly half a minute for Yang Bolin to come back to his senses.

Swoosh—

With a wave of his large hand.

A soundproofing array of the third level instantly rose, forming a visible gray barrier around him.

At the same time.

Another talisman, forged with bloodline, silently turned to ash, sending a message to Yang Wanli, who was also in the family.

He then stared intently at Ma Ning, his tone carrying a hint of menace and doubt:

"Shopkeeper Ma, how did you come to know about this matter?"

Not long ago, both sides were still addressing each other with formal titles, but in the blink of an eye, it switched to a more familiar address.

To be honest.

In that moment just now, Yang Bolin even had the thought of keeping Ma Ning and his people here permanently.

The reason being none other than.

Because Ma Ning had spoken the truth.

As he said, within the Yang Family Mansion today...

There indeed is a cultivator preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm!

But the identity and existence of this distinguished figure is an utmost secret within the clan, one of the deepest foundations of the Yang Family.

Because a Nascent Soul Realm involves far too many things.

In the common view, the Nascent Soul Realm hasn't even appeared for hundreds of years.

For instance, there is a record left in the letter by Wei Siming, noting that the last cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm in the Southern Region appeared over three hundred years ago.

Wei Siming wrote this farewell letter while preparing to undergo the great tribulation of the Core Formation Realm, which corresponds to the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer.

Even a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator who reached perfection had only once seen a Nascent Soul sword cultivator in Yaokue, demonstrating the mystery and rarity of the Nascent Soul Realm.

And in some higher-level fields, those that the Yang Family could access, the Nascent Soul Realm is certainly not something so common.

Without even mentioning Yaokue.

Yaokue gathers the top cultivators across the entire Damo Realm, akin to comparing major metropolitan cities to ordinary prefecture-level cities, lacking any reference significance.

Apart from Yaokue.

Throughout the entire Damo Realm, it's only in the Eastern Region, the strongest domain, that news of the Nascent Soul Realm can be heard relatively frequently.

The Southern Region needn't even be mentioned.

Of the seven core cities in the entire Southern Region, only Anhua City behind Tingyun Pavilion and another city have Nascent Soul Realm ancestors in charge.

And they are not in the Southern Region at the moment.

If the Yang Family could produce a Nascent Soul, it could be said that the entire structure of the Southern Region would undergo changes.

The founding ancestor of Ziqiong City's was at the fifth-layer Nascent Soul, and before passing, left behind a peerless rare treasure that could increase the chance of breaking through to Nascent Soul by about twenty percent.

The value of this peerless treasure needs no further explanation, and crucially it can only be used once.

Thus, the descendants of the Yang Family have always refrained from using this means lightly, fearing to squander this sole opportunity.

Until two hundred years ago, a single Spiritual Root genius was born in the main line of the Yang Family.

This genius was the second son of that generation's patriarch of the Yang Family, with a water-attribute single Spiritual Root, named Yang Zhengchu.

From his initial cultivation, this person flourished all the way, successively breaking through major realms.

Becoming the youngest Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator in Yang Family history.

He even had a record of counter-killing a First-Layer Core Formation Realm while at the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment, a proverbial unparalleled prodigy.

Over a hundred years ago, Yang Zhengchu broke through to the Core Formation Realm.

While becoming Yang Family's youngest Core Formation Realm cultivator, Yang Zhengchu was also moved to the shadows, becoming the invisible guardian of the Yang Family.

About more than a decade ago.

Yang Zhengchu broke through to the ninth layer of the Core Formation Realm, starting preparations to form a Nascent Soul.

Yang Zhengchu's talent was astonishing, and coupled with the frequent upheavals in the Demon Realm over the years.

Thus, under the decision of a few of the clan's most ancient elders, it was decided to give Yang Zhengchu the ancestral treasure to assist him in breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

But perhaps due to his overwhelmingly smooth journey in the earlier half of life.

Yang Zhengchu, in the face of the great realm of Nascent Soul, for the first time encountered difficulties.

He was luckier than Mo Peidong, as he successfully passed through the Heart Demon Tribulation.

But the tribulations from Core Formation to Nascent Soul were not confined to the Heart Demon Tribulation alone.

After Yang Zhengchu overcome the Heart Demon Tribulation, he got stuck before another crucial and deadly Thunder Tribulation.

Thunder Tribulation, as its name suggests.

Means being struck by heavenly lightning.

If you make it through, you can advance; if not, it's the end, there is no other choice.

Even during the ancient times when spiritual energy was abundant, the Thunder Tribulation was no easy hurdle.

According to ancient records.

The success rate of Thunder Tribulation in ancient times was roughly fifty percent.

Meaning it was a fifty-fifty chance; half would survive and drink the aunt's brewed cappuccino.

But nowadays, with the concentration of spiritual energy declining, the difficulty of the tribulation has suddenly increased countless times.

Take Wei Siming, for instance.

The Core Formation Tribulation that others in ancient times could overcome with their eyes closed became the last scene of Wei Siming's life.

The Nascent Soul Realm was even more unimaginable.

The vast Damo Realm, over the centuries, while Ninth-Layer Core Formations are rare, Yang Zhengchu was not alone.

According to information gathered by the Yang Family.

Over the past five hundred years, around thirty to forty Ninth-Layer Core Formation cultivators reached the stage of Thunder Tribulation.

These Ninth-Layer Core Formations, overt or covert.

Some chose to secretly cross the tribulation, while others openly invited various powers to witness.

Of course.

The witnessed ceremonies all turned into funerals, immediate burials.

Amongst these known thirty to forty Ninth-Layer Core Formations, none have ever passed the Thunder Tribulation!

Although Yang Zhengchu holds the treasured item left by the Yang Family's founding ancestor, and he himself has gathered some treasures over the years.

From a probability standpoint.

It's at most just over a thirty percent chance.

So Yang Zhengchu and the Yang Family have always been biding their time—either wait for well-prepared means of higher assurance for success in one go.

Or have no choice but to risk life when caught in a major change at Yaokue.

Therefore, over the years, Yang Zhengchu's existence has always been the deepest secret of the Yang Family.

Within the entire Yang Family, those aware of this matter do not exceed seven!

If not for Yang Bolin being the chief shopkeeper of the Purple Treasure Pavilion, unable to hide the mobilization of various top-notch resources.

Yang Bolin might have never been qualified to know this until his death.

Then the question arises...

How did the Taoshu Commerce Association learn about this?

Also...

Is what Ma Ning said about being able to assist Yang Zhengchu in overcoming the tribulation true or false?

.....

Note:

Maintaining three consecutive updates is quite exhausting, so today there will be two updates for health preservation, resuming three updates tomorrow.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.