124: Chapter 83 The Great Path of the Golden Core

Chen Xuan opened his eyes, cradling the stone in his palm.

The dim yellow light within the stone flowed slowly, resembling the silhouette of an ancient city wall under the setting sun.

He finally possessed the imagery of Heavenly Fire and City Wall Earth.

Although it was not the complete Metal Essence, it was merely the imagery.

But with the imagery, he could fish for the Metal Essence.

If he could fish for it, he would have a chance to attain the Great Dao Golden Core.

Chen Xuan put the stone into his Storage Pouch, stood up, and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the night scene of Fusheng Immortal City remained bustling.

It was brightly lit and teeming with voices.

But Chen Xuan's heart was very calm.

He was thinking about the words his Revered Master had once said.

"Metal is that which is indestructible."

There are three paths to the Golden Core.

The lowest grade is the Pill Seizure.

Refining the inner core of a Yao Beast or another person's Golden Core to achieve a False Core.

Such a Golden Core has impure magic power, incomplete Divine Abilities, and there is no hope of reaching the Nascent Soul stage in this lifetime.

The limit of one's life is merely the early stage of the Golden Core.

But the benefit is that one possesses Golden Core magic power, making it easy to deal with Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

And one possesses the Lifespan of a Golden Core Cultivator—a thousand years!

The second grade is the Heaven, Earth, and Man Three Dao Golden Core.

Collecting the Five Elements Spirit Pearls and forming the core according to the method of the Heaven, Earth, and Man Trinity.

Such a Golden Core has pure magic power and successful Divine Abilities, but the Metal Essence is not solid, so there is no hope for the Nascent Soul.

Such cultivation can at most reach the Perfection of the Golden Core, and then there is no further path.

Even the Heavenly Dao Golden Core has no path forward.

This is only because the Golden Core is false!

The third grade is the Great Dao Golden Core.

Only by refining the Metal Essence can it be called a Golden Core.

Only then can one say, "Once the Golden Core is swallowed into the abdomen, my fate is determined by me, not by the Heavens."

Metal Essence is the characteristic of eternal indestructibility.

Heavenly Fire, City Wall Earth, White Wax Metal, Long Flowing Water, Pine and Cypress Wood, and so on.

Among the Five Elements Metal Essences, obtaining one allows one to attain the Great Dao Golden Core.

Only by attaining the Great Dao Golden Core does one have the qualifications to climb toward the Nascent Soul.

This is the secret of the Golden Core.

Without the records of great sects, Loose Cultivators would never obtain this precious knowledge in their entire lives.

They would just muddle through their Foundation Establishment!

Chen Xuan withdrew his gaze and sat down by the bed.

He had now gathered several strands of Heavenly Fire imagery and one strand of City Wall Earth imagery.

It was still not enough.

Far from enough.

Metal Essence is not imagery; it is the most primal power between Heaven and Earth, the underlying logic of the world's composition.

Imagery is merely the shadow of the Metal Essence, the bait to fish for the Metal Essence.

He needed more imagery, stronger imagery.

Until one day, when the imagery was sufficient and strong enough, it could attract the true Metal Essence to descend.

At that time, it would be the moment to attain the Great Dao Golden Core.

Chen Xuan closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

The fourth layer of the Haohai Sword Art, the Shuiyue Mountain minor Divine Ability, and the Mountain Lifting Divine Ability.

He needed to cultivate these Cultivation Techniques and Divine Abilities to Major Achievement as soon as possible.

Then, leave Fusheng Immortal City to go to more places in the Southern Region to seek more Metal Essence imagery.

Half a month later.

Chen Xuan was practicing sword techniques by the Long Sea.

The Sword Dao Thunder Sound could already cover a radius of a thousand zhang; as the lightning flashed, the schools of fish on the sea surface turned belly-up one after another.

He sheathed his sword and exhaled a breath of stale air.

His aura was thick and steady; he was at the Middle Stage of the third level of Foundation Establishment.

The speed was quite fast.

The foundation of the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment was fully manifested in the early stage of Foundation Establishment; once reaching the Middle Stage, the speed would slow down.

Chen Xuan was not in a hurry.

He returned to the inn, and just as he entered, the waiter handed him a message talisman.

"Guest, this just arrived this morning."

Chen Xuan took it and probed it with his Divine Sense.

There was only one sentence in the talisman.

"Junior Brother, I have already reached Foundation Establishment. Where are you? — Liu Lili."

After reading it, the corners of Chen Xuan's mouth lifted slightly.

He took out a blank message talisman and carved a line of words into it with his Divine Sense.

"Bihai Immortal City, North City, Swallowing Whale Inn."

The message talisman turned into a ray of spiritual light and disappeared into the north.

The next morning.

While Chen Xuan was practicing sword techniques in the inn's backyard, a water-blue escape light flew from the horizon and landed in the courtyard.

The escape light dissipated, revealing the figure of Liu Lili.

She wore a water-blue long dress, a jade hairpin inserted in her hair bun, and the Bright Moon Sword hung at her waist.

Her Foundation Establishment aura was thick and steady, several times stronger than it had been half a year ago.

She looked at Chen Xuan, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

"Junior Brother, did you miss me?"

Chen Xuan put away his sword, walked in front of her, and smiled.

"I did."

Liu Lili giggled and reached out to punch him on the chest.

"I'll give you credit for being honest."

She looked around at the simple and unadorned inn courtyard and wrinkled her nose.

"You live in a place like this?"

Chen Xuan nodded.

"It's quiet."

Liu Lili shook her head, took out a token from her Storage Pouch, and handed it to him.

"Let's go. I have a residence in Bihai Immortal City; it's much better than this inn."

Chen Xuan took the token and looked at it.

A "Liu" character was carved on the token, and the coordinates of the marketplace in Bihai Immortal City were on the back.

"Where did you get the Spirit Stones?"

Liu Lili proudly lifted her chin.

"After I reached Foundation Establishment, it was a congratulatory gift from the clan."

"There was also what Revered Master gave, what Senior Sister gave, and what Senior Brother gave."

"It adds up to several tens of thousands of Spirit Stones."

Chen Xuan smiled and put the token into his bosom.

The two left the inn and walked south along the central street.

Liu Lili walked beside him, turning her head to look at him from time to time.

"Junior Brother, are you at the third level of Foundation Establishment?"

"Yes."

"How come it's so fast?"

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"It's not fast anymore. The foundation of the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment is almost exhausted, and it will slow down from here on."

Liu Lili nodded, appearing thoughtful.

She had reached Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, and her current cultivation was also at the second level of Foundation Establishment.

Most Cultivators with deep foundations could break through the first level of Foundation Establishment when they established their foundation, saving years of bitter cultivation.

After walking for half a stick of incense, the two stopped in front of a quiet alley.

Deep in the alley, there was a small courtyard; the walls were covered with vines, the gate was vermilion, and two Spirit Locust trees were planted at the entrance.

Liu Lili pushed open the gate. In the courtyard, there were several clusters of Spirit Bamboo, the leaves emerald green and swaying in the wind.

Directly facing the gate were three rooms, with bright windows and clean tables, and several lanterns hanging under the eaves.

"How is it?" Liu Lili asked, her eyes sparkling.

Chen Xuan scanned the courtyard.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi was not low; there should be a second-tier Spirit Gathering Array.

There was also a Spirit Spring in the courtyard, with clear water emitting a faint Spiritual Qi.

"Very good."

Liu Lili smiled and pulled his sleeve as they walked into the main room.

The main room was arranged simply: a table, a chair, and a meditation cushion, with a landscape painting hanging on the wall.

It was a painting of Qingming Peak.

"I painted this picture. Does it look like it?" Liu Lili pointed at the painting, looking proud.

Chen Xuan looked at the painting, then looked at her.

"It doesn't."

Liu Lili's smile froze.

"Where does it not look like it?"

"Qingming Peak is not this short."

Liu Lili rolled her eyes at him and reached out to pinch his arm.

"Can't you say something nice?"

Chen Xuan smiled and said nothing.

He sat down on the meditation cushion, closed his eyes, and circulated the Haohai Sword Art.

Liu Lili stood beside him, watched him for a while, and then sighed.

"You're cultivating again."

"I flew all this way, can't you keep me company and talk?"

Chen Xuan opened his eyes and looked at her.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Liu Lili sat down opposite him, rested her chin in her hands, and thought for a moment.

"Let's talk about where we are going next."

"The Southern Region is so big; we can't just stay holed up in Bihai Immortal City forever, right?"

"I heard from my Great-Grandfather that you want to attain the True Golden Core?"

Chen Xuan nodded, paused for a moment, and said, "Go north."

"Ten Thousand Demon Immortal City?"

"No, further north."

"Deep into the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range."

Liu Lili's smile froze.

"Are you crazy?"

"There are still Golden Core Great Yao there."

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"The Cloud-Swallowing Eagle is severely injured, the Iron-Backed Flood Dragon is dead, and the Nine-Tailed Fox is missing."

"There is not a single Golden Core Yao King in the northern part of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range right now."

"It is the perfect time to explore."

Liu Lili bit her lip and looked into his eyes.

"Are you going to find the Cloud-Swallowing Eagle?"

Chen Xuan did not answer.

But he did not deny it.

Liu Lili understood his silence.

She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay, I will go with you."

Chen Xuan looked at her, his gaze flickering slightly.

"Senior Sister, you don't have to..."

"Shut up." Liu Lili interrupted him. "I said, you cultivate your Dao, and I will be your Dao Companion."

"Wherever you go, I will go."

"You are not allowed to leave me behind."

Chen Xuan was silent for a long time.

Then he nodded.

"Okay."

Liu Lili smiled, reached out, and flicked his forehead.

"That's more like it."

"We leave tomorrow. Get some good rest tonight."

She stood up and walked toward the room next door.

When she reached the door, she turned back to look at Chen Xuan.

"Junior Brother, no matter what you are looking for, I will help you."

"But promise me you will come back alive."

Chen Xuan nodded.

"I promise you."

Liu Lili smiled and pushed the door open to enter the room.

The door closed behind her.

Chen Xuan sat on the meditation cushion, listening to the faint sounds coming from the next room.

Liu Lili was humming a song; the sound was very light, like the wind blowing through a bamboo forest.

He closed his eyes and continued to cultivate.

The fourth layer of the Haohai Sword Art was already at Perfection; the next step was the fifth layer.

The Shuiyue Mountain minor Divine Ability was also approaching Major Achievement.

The Mountain Lifting Divine Ability still needed to be comprehended; this Divine Ability had high requirements for affinity with Earth-element Spiritual Qi.

Although he had the City Wall Earth imagery, he had not yet refined it; it was only being nurtured in his Dantian.

Chen Xuan looked inward at his Dantian.

The five-colored light in the Purple Mansion within his Dantian flowed, and the imagery of the City Wall Earth was floating in the center.

That mass of dim yellow light resembled a miniature ancient city wall, standing quietly in the Purple Mansion.

His Divine Sense probed into it, feeling the Earth-element power contained within.

Thick, steady, and indestructible.

This is City Wall Earth.

The earth of a city wall protects the region.

Chen Xuan withdrew his Divine Sense and opened his eyes.

Outside the window, it was already dark.

Moonlight shone in from the window, falling onto his face.

"Junior Brother, let's go to sleep."

A pair of gentle hands reached out and extinguished the moon.

...