455: Another version update is coming?

It is extremely difficult for a Golden Core Cultivator to break through to Nascent Soul.

First, one needs to cultivate five Divine Abilities to Perfection, then choose the most reliable Nascent Soul Formation Method to officially begin secluded meditation for Breakthrough.

The spiritual resources required just to cultivate five Divine Abilities are massive, and searching for a Nascent Soul Formation Method and preparing the corresponding spiritual resources can easily take hundreds or even thousands of years.

It often requires the accumulation of multiple generations of a Sect to allow one Genius to attempt Nascent Soul formation.

Indeed, it is just an attempt; it cannot be said to be a sure thing.

The most recent Fourth-Rank Cultivator in the Eastern Region East is the state-stabilizing seal, but he is actually a Cultivator outside the Immortal Foundation Golden Core Dao Lineage; his experience is of little help to the Immortal Foundation Golden Core Path.

Or rather, it is precisely because he does not follow the difficult-to-cultivate Immortal Foundation Golden Core Path that he was able to achieve Fourth-Rank in the relatively remote and desolate Eastern Region East.

And the Old Ancestor of He Shui Manor was once a Prodigy of an era, suppressing countless Outstanding Talents of his time and commanding the winds and clouds.

Now, however, he can only be trapped within his Immortal Cave, doing his utmost to attempt a Breakthrough, yet never succeeding.

The Old Ancestor encountered a problem similar to that of the Empress back then:

The outdated Physical Body has already dissipated during the Breakthrough, but the Divine Abilities have not yet reconsolidated into a new Physical Body, leaving only the Divine Soul to struggle and endure.

If he can pass this hurdle, the path ahead will be clear, and subsequent Breakthroughs will just be a matter of time and effort; the title of Nascent Soul True Lord will be within reach.

But if he cannot pass and gets stuck here, not only is there a risk of sudden death at any moment, but there is also the possibility of being killed by a sneak attack from others, just like the Empress.

In short, this is the most dangerous stage.

On this day, the Old Ancestor of He Shui Manor remained trapped, unable to condense a Physical Body with his Divine Abilities for a long time, only wasting his spiritual power in vain.

Seeing the Spirit Stones arranged around him becoming increasingly scarce and the effect of the Spirit Gathering Array no longer obvious, with spiritual power consumption clearly far exceeding acquisition, the Old Ancestor could not help but feel flustered.

Once the balance is lost, he can only consume his Divine Soul to force a Breakthrough, which would make the risk of failure even greater.

“Should I give up?”

Amidst such great risk, the Old Ancestor could not help but think of the backup plan he had prepared.

Although a golden body statue can carry the Divine Soul and allow a Cultivator who failed a Breakthrough and lost their Physical Body to linger on, it is not a perfect fallback method.

It requires the Cultivator, while still conscious and having the strength to forcibly stop the Breakthrough, to actively pull the golden body statue and forcibly attach the Divine Soul to it to survive.

In other words, once one decides to risk everything for a Breakthrough and gamble on destiny...

...then the golden body statue can no longer be used as a backup.

Only by actively retaining strength during the Breakthrough and cutting losses when things go wrong, forcibly preserving the most important part of the Divine Soul, can one survive.

Should he continue the Breakthrough, putting all his eggs in one basket and gambling that he can succeed?

Or should he stop now, linger on by relying on the golden body statue from now on, and seek a distant, uncertain future?

The Old Ancestor of He Shui Manor hesitated repeatedly, unable to make a decision.

Finally, he made up his mind.

“I’ll risk it! Why couldn't I be the child of destiny? If the world happens to undergo a great change right as I break through, with Spiritual Qi gushing out and the spiritual atmosphere being most suitable, wouldn't I be able to succeed?!”

Thinking of this, the Old Ancestor of He Shui Manor no longer hesitated and focused all his attention, intending to use his final strength for the Breakthrough.

But at that very moment, the instant he made up his mind...

...a faint attraction came from afar, appearing to cross the Great Void, yet also seeming to use some kind of channel.

“Hmm?”

The Old Ancestor of He Shui Manor was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted.

The golden body statue!

What's going on? The golden body statue is actively pulling him?

This unprecedented situation left the Old Ancestor completely bewildered, not knowing how to react for a moment.

And soon, he noticed that this pulling force was not quite right... the aura coming from the other side... why was it stronger than his?

It seemed to be Fourth-Rank?

The Old Ancestor was dazed.

He thought about it; while the golden body statue he crafted was indeed of excellent workmanship, it shouldn't be able to rival a Fourth-Rank Cultivator; they weren't even on the same level.

Yet the aura fluctuations coming from the other side were indeed Fourth-Rank!

“What is going on?”

The Old Ancestor was taken aback, puzzled, and shocked.

He soon thought of a possibility:

By some coincidence, during his period of secluded meditation, his golden body statue had encountered some Opportunity, gained sentience, and even reached Fourth-Rank.

However, it was still just a golden body statue after all.

The measures he had buried within it had not yet failed; the ancient golden body statue technique remained very stable.

As long as he wished, he could easily occupy the golden body statue and obtain everything it had... “This... this...”

The Old Ancestor felt his Divine Soul trembling with excitement.

Although directly occupying a Fourth-Rank golden body statue did not mean he had broken through to Fourth-Rank, as the deficiencies of his Divine Soul were hard to compensate for...

...this gave the golden body statue, his fallback, the prospect of a so-called “alternative path to Dao,” causing the scales in the Old Ancestor's heart to shift.

Finally, trembling, he made his decision... Burial Emperor Star.

When This Time Bu Ge received the pull from the Prison Land...

...Jian Linran reacted immediately, excitedly casting a spell to control him.

The golden body statue technique is an ancient method whose origins are no longer traceable, but it existed at least as far back as the era of the Kongming Dao Lineage.

And from Jian Linran's focus on the golden body statue, the origin of this technique might be even earlier, likely predating the disconnection between the Prison Land and the Burial Emperor Star.

Although This Time Bu Ge was rational and knew that older wasn't necessarily stronger...

...the Xuanhuan World did not follow logic.

Many Legacies here truly seemed to be stronger the older they were.

This Time Bu Ge could only view it as: “Being able to be passed down and cross the long river of time is itself a screening process, so being a bit stronger is normal.”

In short, the golden body statue technique is a peculiar method that can bridge spatial distances.

As long as a golden body statue is prepared in advance, mutual attraction can occur even across the divide of small and large planes.

This is somewhat similar to a High-level Cultivator's backup for Rebirth, or a method like a soul tablet to determine life and death; in any case, it is very mysterious.

And this distance-crossing characteristic was utilized by Jian Linran.

“Good! Good! Good!”

He said “good” three times in a row, clearly extremely satisfied.

Even if a normal Cultivator could capture the connection between a golden body statue and its original owner, they wouldn't be able to interfere, let alone open a channel in the process.

But Jian Linran was no ordinary Cultivator; he was a High-level Cultivator of at least the Second-Rank and the Jian Family Head, possessing an endless array of secret techniques.

This Time Bu Ge believed that Jian Linran would definitely be able to open the immortal path between the Burial Emperor Star and the Prison Land.

It would just take some time.

However... ‘Do the players really want the Burial Emperor Star to interfere with the Prison Land so soon? Is this version... updating too quickly?’

This Time Bu Ge's eyes wavered for a long time, but he eventually posted the matter on the Forum and specifically emphasized:

【At this stage, there is still a way to stop Jian Linran】

【That is to kill the Old Ancestor of He Shui Manor, who is pulling me, and completely sever the connection】