68: Chapter 68 Zhao Ritian is about to achieve Golden Core?

After waiting for a few seconds...

The video connected.

The screen flickered, and the image lit up.

When Su Yun saw the other person's outfit, he almost spat out the mouthful of water he had just taken.

The audience in the livestream exploded even more.

"Holy crap? Where did this immortal come from?"

"With that look, is he going to a comic convention?"

"Is this the legendary Fellow Daoist?"

On the other side of the screen...

A young man who looked to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight was sitting cross-legged on a single bed.

He was wearing a...

How should I put it?

It was clearly one of those synthetic fiber Taoist robes from Taobao that cost 9.9 yuan with free shipping.

The color was an eye-searing yellow, printed with several crooked Bagua patterns, and the loose threads hadn't even been trimmed properly.

That wasn't even the most ridiculous part.

The most ridiculous part was his hairstyle.

This guy was probably pursuing that "transcendent and immortal" look, so he had grown his hair long on purpose.

But his hair quality was clearly poor—dry, withered, and draped messily behind his head.

He didn't look like a Taoist priest; he looked more like a homeless man who had just escaped from a mental asylum.

He was also holding a wooden sword.

The wooden sword was even more pathetic, looking like a branch just snapped off a tree in some park; the bark hadn't even been peeled off, and it still had two green leaves on it.

The background was a typical rental room.

Except the walls were covered with yellow sticky notes.

Su Yun focused his gaze.

Good grief.

What was written on them weren't talismans or spells at all.

They were all chuunibyou quotes like "I shall become an immortal," "Shattering the void," and "Mortals are all ants."

The handwriting was quite ugly, like a dog's scrawl.

"Fellow Daoist!"

As soon as the video connected, the guy couldn't wait to speak.

His voice was kept very low, with a forced, deep hoarseness.

But his face was flushed red, and his forehead was covered in sweat; he didn't look quite right.

"Fellow Daoist, do you feel it too?"

Su Yun raised an eyebrow. "Feel what?"

"Spiritual Qi!"

The guy's eyes suddenly widened, filled with fanaticism.

"Spiritual Qi is reviving!"

"When I was meditating just now, I clearly felt the spiritual Qi between heaven and earth fluctuating!"

"That feeling... it was like... like countless little snakes were burrowing into my body!"

Su Yun: "..."

Livestream audience: "..."

The bullet chat froze for a second, then exploded frantically.

"Hahahaha! I can't breathe! Help!"

"This guy has read too many cultivation novels, hasn't he?"

"Little snakes burrowing into your body? That means you should take a bath!"

"I don't think this is a revival of spiritual Qi; this is a relapse of mental illness."

"Master Su, quick, call 120 for him. This kid is seriously ill."

Su Yun suppressed his laughter and put on the air of an expert.

"This... Fellow Daoist."

"Don't get excited yet. This spiritual Qi revival of yours... is it legit?"

Hearing this, the guy looked a bit displeased.

He slapped the wooden sword onto the bed with a crisp thud.

"Fellow Daoist, what kind of talk is that?"

"We cultivators go against the heavens. How can you doubt my perception?"

"My name is Zhao Ritian, the 108th generation successor of the Heaven-Exploding Faction!"

"Tonight is the day I, Zhao Ritian, shall form my Golden Core!"

Zhao Ritian.

As soon as that name came out, the laughter in the livestream could have blown the roof off.

"Zhao Ritian? Are you Ye Liangchen's brother?"

"Heaven-Exploding Faction? I think you're from the Kitchen-Exploding Faction!"

"Forming a Core? Are you about to give birth?"

Zhao Ritian ignored the mockery in the bullet chat.

In his eyes, these mortals simply didn't understand the mysteries of cultivation.

He looked at Su Yun with a hint of expectation in his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Su, I watched your livestream just now."

"You can see through the karma of those mortals at a glance. You must also be a fellow cultivator."

"And your cultivation level should not be below mine."

Su Yun nodded, talking nonsense with a straight face.

"You flatter me. This humble Taoist only knows a bit of the basics."

"So, why did you connect with me?"

Zhao Ritian took a deep breath, and the expression on his face suddenly became painful.

He clutched his stomach, his body hunching slightly.

"Fellow Daoist, to tell you the truth."

"I feel that my Golden Core is about to be completed!"

"But this final step is too difficult!"

"My dantian feels scorching hot right now, like a ball of fire is burning!"

"And it's accompanied by intense, sharp pain!"

"This is a Heavenly Tribulation! This is the Heavenly Tribulation of the Golden Core stage!"

Zhao Ritian trembled as he spoke.

Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his cheeks, and his lips turned pale.

But he was still holding on.

"I'm afraid I can't withstand this heavenly lightning alone, so I specifically connected with you, Fellow Daoist."

"Please, protect my Dharma!"

"Once I, Zhao Ritian, succeed in forming my Core, there will be a great reward!"

"At that time, I will share half of my domain with you!"

Seeing him like this, the audience in the livestream, who were still laughing earlier, were now a bit bewildered.

"This guy's acting is quite realistic; he looks like he's really in pain."

"Could it be that something really went wrong with his practice?"

"Qi deviation? Does cultivation really exist in this world?"

"I think he just ate something bad and has an upset stomach."

Su Yun looked at Zhao Ritian on the screen.

This guy definitely wasn't acting.

The pain was real.

He was in so much pain he couldn't even hold that broken wooden sword steady.

With a thought, Su Yun called out.

"System, get to work!"

[Name: Zhao Qiang (Online name: Zhao Ritian)]

[Age: 29]

[Occupation: Unemployed vagrant]

[Recent Fortune: Great Calamity! Perforated acute appendicitis with peritonitis. If not sent to the hospital immediately, septic shock will occur within three hours, posing a life-threatening danger...]

[Past: Obsessed with cultivation web novels for over ten years. Once reported by the Chaoyang masses for disturbing the peace while "practicing Qi" in a park! Three days ago, began fasting to "impact the Golden Core stage," eating only expired instant noodles, leading to bodily dysfunction...]

[Future: Taken away by 120 for emergency appendectomy. After surgery, the "Golden Core" is shattered. He comes to his senses, leaves the cultivation circle, and finds a job as a delivery driver...]

[Sin Value: 0]

[Detailed Crimes: None! Although no laws were broken, long-term abuse of his own digestive system constitutes self-harm...]

Looking at the information on the system panel, Su Yun almost lost it.

Perforated acute appendicitis.

And he was fasting?

And eating expired instant noodles?

This wasn't cultivating immortality; this was cultivating a death wish.

Su Yun sighed and put his thermos back on the table.

He looked at Zhao Ritian on the screen, who was still gritting his teeth with an "I control my own fate, not the heavens" look, his eyes full of the kind of compassion one has for the mentally challenged.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao."

Su Yun spoke, his voice very gentle.

"This Golden Core of yours... it might not be properly 'ripe'."

Zhao Ritian paused, asking through gritted teeth in pain, "Why do you say that, Fellow Daoist?"

"The fire in my dantian is clearly burning bright!"

"This pain is precisely the sign of a complete transformation!"

Su Yun shook his head.

"That fire of yours is indeed burning quite bright."

"However, it's not a dantian fire; it's the fire of inflammation."

"Press down on your lower right abdomen, that area to the bottom right of your belly button."

Although Zhao Ritian didn't understand why, he subconsciously reached out and pressed down.

"AAAAAHHH!!!"

A tragic scream rang out.

It was as shrill as a pig being slaughtered.

Zhao Ritian literally bounced off the bed, then fell back heavily, clutching his stomach and rolling around on the bed.

Even the wooden sword was snapped under his weight.

"It hurts, it hurts! I'm dying! I'm dying!"

That "transcendent expert" persona from earlier was completely gone the moment he pressed down.

The audience in the livestream was startled by that shriek.

"Holy crap! What happened?"

"Master Su, can you hit pressure points through the screen?"

"One touch and he explodes? Does this guy really have something in his belly?"

Su Yun watched Zhao Ritian rolling on the bed, his tone still flat.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, stop forcing it."

"You aren't undergoing a tribulation."

"You have perforated acute appendicitis."

"And it's already suppurated."

"That ball of fire you feel is a fever."

"The sharp pain you feel is your appendix protesting against you."

"As for the spiritual Qi fluctuations you mentioned..."

Su Yun pointed at the pile of instant noodle cups behind Zhao Ritian.

"That's your stomach and intestines twitching after eating expired instant noodles for three days."

Zhao Ritian's face was covered in tears from the pain, and a snot bubble even popped out.

He struggled to lift his head, looking at Su Yun with a face full of disbelief.

"App... Appendicitis?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"This is clearly a sign of the Great Dao of the Golden Core!"

"I can feel it, there's a flow of Qi inside my body..."

Su Yun interrupted him ruthlessly.

"That's biogas."

"It's waste gas in your intestines."

"Zhao Qiang, take my advice."

Su Yun looked at him with the gaze one might give a disobedient, foolish son.

"You can't undergo this tribulation in a rental room."

"You need to go to the hospital to undergo it."

"Throw away that rotten wooden sword and hurry up and pick up your phone to call 120."

"Another half hour, and your Golden Core is going to turn into a sarira."

Zhao Ritian was still hesitating.

He truly believed in cultivation.

If he called 120, wouldn't he be breaking his own Dao heart?

"But... but what if it's real?"

Zhao Ritian wouldn't give up.

"What if it really is a Golden Core? If I go to the hospital and the doctor cuts it out, what then?"

"Won't I be ruined?"

Su Yun was so exasperated he laughed.

"Cutting it out is good."

"Cut it out for eternal peace."

"If you don't cut it out, by this time tomorrow, we'll all be attending your funeral feast."

"At that time, we can carve a line on your tombstone:"

"Zhao Ritian, died of cultivation. Cause of death: Exploding appendix."

This sentence was too devastating.

The audience in the livestream was already laughing so hard they couldn't stand up straight.

"What the hell is 'cut it out for eternal peace'!"

"Exploding appendix? That's way too hardcore a way to die, isn't it?"

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, listen to Master Su. Your life is more important!"

"Stop cultivating immortality; cultivate your brain first."

Just then, another wave of intense pain hit Zhao Ritian.

This time, it was even more violent than before.

Dao heart, Golden Core—everything collapsed at this moment.

"HELP!"

"I'm not cultivating anymore! I'm done!"

Zhao Ritian cried and shouted as he grabbed his phone, his hands trembling as he dialed the number.

"Hello! Is this 120?"

"Come quickly to save the King... no, come quickly to save me!"

"I'm dying! My insides exploded!"

"Waaaah, I want my mommy..."

Looking at Zhao Ritian, who had been shouting about "going against the heavens" just moments ago and was now crying like a three-hundred-pound child, Su Yun shook his head helplessly.

This generation of netizens is really hard to lead.

He raised his hand and cut the connection, leaving Zhao Ritian with a bit of his final dignity.

The screen froze on a close-up of Zhao Ritian's face covered in snot and tears.

Su Yun looked at the camera with an expression of compassion for the foolish.

"Alright, everyone, stop laughing."

"This fellow Daoist has used his personal experience to teach us a lesson."

"Believe in science; take medicine when you're sick."

"As for this cultivation business, let's leave it to the novel protagonists."

"For us ordinary people, let's just protect our appendices first."