[1st Lightning Bolt strikes, yet you fend it off with ease]
[2nd Lightning Bolt thunders down with thrice the force, but you remain unmoved]
[3rd Lightning Bolt aims to take you down a notch, and though it slightly breaks your defenses, it fails all the same]
[4th Lightning Bolt quadruples in speed, smashing into you at velocities nearing the speed of sound. However, aside from the breaking down of your defenses and a few minor injuries, you survive]
[5th Lightning Bolt doubles in speed and attack power, causing you serious bodily harm, but you endure...]
[6th Lightning Bolt—three times larger and of a darker shade than the previous one—brings you to the brink of death. But as if by some miracle, you emerge with your life intact!]
[7th Lightning Bolt quells your ambitions...]
[100 years of lifespan have been spent on advancing your cultivation, reducing the extent to which your flesh gets cooked after the striking of the 7th Lightning Bolt!]
"...."
[150 years of lifespan have been used...]
[200...]
[350...]
[After 400 years of cultivating while attempting your Core Formation Heavenly Tribulations, you finally survive the 7th Lightning Bolt—your breakthrough is a success, and your Golden Core has formed over your Sky Core!]
[Half-step Core Formation → Core Formation (1st Layer)]
[You have spent 450 years cultivating, and because of your Inferior Yin-Yang Dao Roots and Low-Black Seven Circulatory Rebirths Cultivation Technique, you have successfully broken through to the 2nd Layer of Core Formation!]
[After 525 years of arduous cultivation, your Inferior Yin-Yang Dao Roots and Low-Black Seven Circulatory Rebirths Cultivation Technique have ignited a breakthrough!]
[Core Formation (2nd Layer) → Core Formation (3rd Layer)]
[You have invested 620 years of lifespan into cultivation, and with your Inferior Yin-Yang Dao Spirit Roots and Low-Black Seven Circulatory Rebirths Cultivation Technique, you attempted to break through. However, you ultimately failed.]
[After 650 years, you succeed in your cultivation and break through to the 4th Layer of Core Formation!]
[You have invested 800 years of lifespan into cultivation, and though you failed to break through, after 810 years, you finally succeed!]
[Core Formation (4th Layer) → Core Formation (5th Layer)]
[You have cultivated for 1000 years, and although you failed to break through three times, by 1050 years, you successfully reach the 6th Layer of Core Formation!]
[After 1250 years of cultivation, you move past four failures and obtain enlightenment, allowing for a successful breakthrough at last!]
[Core Formation (6th Layer) → Core Formation (7th Layer)]
Upon reaching this stage of lifespan expenditure, Zar felt an ocean's worth of Innate Energy bombard his Sky Core. With nearly a dozen minor breakthroughs and a single major breakthrough imminent, he had to move fast if he wanted to complete everything in time.
Moving his index fingers to the Shadow Beast section of his System Interface, Zar commenced a mass leveling spree. Thankfully, even though his cultivation improvements hadn't entirely registered yet, he could still enhance the cultivation of his Shadow Beasts to match his soon-to-be cultivation base.
[You have invested 100 years of lifespan into cultivating all 114 of your Shadow Beasts, and because you charted the path ahead of them with your own cultivation, their Lightning Tribulations crash down with less than a tenth of the potency of yours!]
[1st Lightning Bolt strikes, but all survive!]
[2nd Lightning Bolt strikes, and not even a scratch is put on the Half-step Core Formation Realm Shadow Beasts!]
[3rd Lightning Bolt strikes, but no damage is taken by the Shadow Beasts!]
[4th Lightning Bolt thunders down with thrice the power of the 3rd, dealing minor damage to the Shadow Beasts...]
[5th Lightning Bolt simultaneously hits all 114 Shadow Beasts, slightly burning them, but still causing no substantial damage.]
[6th Lightning Bolt impacts the Shadow Beasts, inflicting considerable damage upon them. However, the one showing signs of a Unique Evolution tanks it like a champ!]
[The 7th and final Lightning Bolt brings many of the Shadow Beasts to the brink of death, seriously injuring even the outlier Shadow Beast. Unfortunately, three of your Shadow Beasts perished while attempting the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation...]
[But from death rises heroes—a Unique Shadow Beast has been born! Your very first Unique Beast!]
"Hum?"