66: Chapter 66 Secluded Cultivation for Core Formation! Five Elements Colored Golden Core

[Boom!!!]

[The Medicinal Pill melted the moment it touched your tongue, transforming into an incomparably pure and violent torrent of medicinal power. Like a bursting Yangtze River, it surged down your throat and frantically flooded into your limbs and bones, finally converging into your Dantian and Qi Sea!]

["Holy crap! This kick is too intense!"]

[You felt as if ten volcanoes were erupting simultaneously inside your body!]

[That terrifying medicinal power was frantically scouring and tearing at your Meridians, your Dantian, and every inch of your flesh and blood!]

[The extreme pain nearly caused you to pass out on the spot.]

[You bit down hard on the tip of your tongue, using the pain to maintain a sliver of clarity, and channeled the Five Qi Towards Origin Sword Canon with all your might.]

[At the same time, the Epiphany (Purple) trait activated once again!]

[Hum—!]

[Your mind instantly entered an ethereal, mysterious, and tranquil state.]

[The entire world seemed to slow down and become clear. You knew every flow of that violent medicinal power within your body, and every tremor of your Meridians, like the back of your hand.]

[The torrent of medicinal power that was originally rampaging through your body like a wild horse, under the blessing of the Epiphany (Purple) state, seemed to transform into a well-trained, disciplined army of veteran soldiers.]

[You began to guide this massive power, no longer trying to crash against that invisible Bottleneck like you did during Foundation Establishment.]

[Instead... compress it!]

[Compress your liquefied, vast ocean-like five-colored mana toward the very center of your Dantian, toward that infinitely small "point," to the extreme!]

[This is Core Formation! It is the process of condensing gaseous and liquid mana into a solid Golden Core! It is another leap in the level of life!]

[This process is a hundred times more dangerous and a hundred times more painful than Foundation Establishment.]

[You felt as if your Dantian were a black hole constantly collapsing inward, wanting to devour and crush everything you are, and finally, condense it into that eternally immortal point.]

[Time lost all meaning in this moment.]

[You did not know how much time had passed—a day, ten days, or a year.]

[You simply, mechanically, and continuously took those perfect-quality Medicinal Pills from your Storage Pouch, one by one, into your mouth, transforming them into the purest energy to sustain this high-stakes gamble.]

[Your body, amidst the repeated compressions, constantly collapsed and constantly reconstructed itself.]

[Your Meridians fractured inch by inch, only to be instantly repaired by the surging medicinal power, becoming even tougher.]

[Your bones turned to dust, only to condense again, becoming as crystalline as jade.]

[This process was simply an inhumane torture.]

[If it were anyone with slightly weaker willpower, they would have likely given up long ago, or suffered a mental breakdown and fallen into Qi Deviation.]

[But you, relying on your far-surpassing tenacious willpower and the belief boost brought by the Effort Will Be Rewarded (Green) trait, gritted your teeth and carried on.]

[Just as you felt you could no longer hold on, with both your mind and body teetering on the brink of collapse.]

[Within your Dantian, the vast lake of five-colored mana had been compressed until only the very last drop remained.]

[And at the very moment this last drop of mana was about to be devoured by that "point."]

[A vision suddenly appeared in your mind.]

[The Heart Demon had arrived!]

[Holy crap, a Heart Demon during Core Formation.]

[The Heart Demon did not take the form of Liu Ruyan again.]

[Instead, it transformed into various things from your past life.]

[The crowded subway, the cold office buildings, the boss's scolding, the exclusion from colleagues, the endless mortgage, the 996 work schedule with no end in sight...]

[Scene after scene, filled with exhaustion, numbness, and despair, flashed continuously through your mind.]

[A voice full of temptation rang in your ears.]

["Give up, Tang Xun."]

["What's the point of cultivating immortality? What's the point of achieving the Dao? In the end, isn't it all just empty?"]

["Look at you, how painful, how pathetic you are now. This is ten thousand times more tiring than working in your past life."]

["Give up. As long as you give up, you can return to that world that was ordinary but comfortable. There, you have air conditioning, cola, and the movies and novels you love most..."]

["Come back..."]

[The voice, like the devil's whisper, continuously tempted your already strained nerves.]

[Your rock-solid Dao Heart actually wavered, just a little, at this moment.]

[Yes, cultivating immortality is too bitter.]

[Rather than suffer this inhumane torture here, it would be better to go back to being a corporate slave; at least you could occasionally slack off and play games.]

[Just at the moment your will was about to be completely dissolved.]

[You suddenly remembered Wang Hao's arrogant and overbearing face.]

[You remembered Su Qinghan's high and mighty gaze, looking at you as if you were nothing.]

[You remembered the days you begged and groveled, watching people's expressions, just for a few Fasting Pills.]

[You remembered those eighteen years living like a dog in this world of immortal path where the strong prey on the weak!]

[An unspeakable rage and unwillingness erupted from the deepest part of your heart, like a volcano!]

["Get lost!!!"]

[You let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar from the depths of your Soul!]

["My life, Tang Xun's life, is decided by me, not by the heavens!"]

["I struggled so hard to jump out of that damned Reincarnation! I finally have a chance to change my destiny! And now, you want me to go back?"]

["In your fucking dreams!"]

["Break for me!!!"]

[With your roar, your last trace of wavering Dao Heart instantly became harder than diamond!]

[You mobilized your last bit of strength and slammed that last drop of five-colored mana toward that "point"!]

["Crack—"]

[A crisp cracking sound, as if the Universe were first created and the Grandmist was breaking dawn, resonated through your Soul!]

[The "point" that devoured everything exploded at this moment!]

[But it did not dissipate; instead, at the moment of the explosion, it suddenly shrank inward!]

[Finally, it transformed into a Dragon-eye-sized, flawless... five-colored Golden Core, displaying the five colors of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, which were constantly flowing and changing!]

[On the Golden Core, there were even naturally formed, incomparably profound Five Elements Dao patterns, emitting an immortal aura that would last as long as heaven and earth, and shine as brightly as the sun and moon.]

[Five Elements Colorful Golden Core! It's done!]

[The moment you succeeded in Core Formation, the wind and clouds changed within a hundred-mile radius. The Spiritual Qi in the world frantically gathered toward the small valley where you were, forming an incomparably huge five-colored Spiritual Qi vortex!]

[Auspicious signs descended from the heavens, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth!]

[An unprecedented sense of power, so strong that it shocked even you, spread throughout your entire body.]

[Your Dantian, which had originally reached its limit, expanded frantically once more at this moment, its area becoming more than a hundred times larger than before!]

[Your Divine Sense also skyrocketed amidst this transformation, its perception range expanding tenfold, easily covering hundreds of miles!]

[Your Lifespan even skyrocketed directly to five hundred years!]

[Core Formation Stage! You successfully leaped from a small Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage to become a Core Formation True Person who has truly stepped onto the immortal path and is respected by others!]

[Feeling the Five Elements Colorful Golden Core spinning in your Dantian, connected to your heart and mind, and feeling the surging, sea-like power of the Golden Core essence operating freely within it, you couldn't help but want to roar to the sky.]

["Is this... the power of Core Formation?"]

["Awesome! This is so damn awesome!"]

[You slowly opened your eyes, a flash of five-colored divine light passing through your eyes. You could even see the floating, invisible Spiritual Qi particles in the air.]

[The entire world, in your eyes, had become different.]