Chapter 123: The Formation of the Golden Core

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An enormous quantity of Primordial Spirit Stones! Each one was square, about the size of a palm, and resembled a royal gold ingot. The character “Li” was engraved on the back. These Primordial Spirit Stones were not the warm, lustrous white of jade, but a pale gold instead.

The two young lords of the Li Sea each possessed nearly thirty of these Primordial Spirit Stones. Top-grade Primordial Spirit Stones! There were fewer than sixty in all, yet when piled together, the majestic spiritual energy they emitted was so invigorating that every pore seemed to open.

Among the two treasure mountains, more than a dozen exquisite crystal chests were opened one after another. The dazzling brilliance within immediately drew cries of astonishment from the three Manqing sisters.

The saying that “the ocean holds countless treasures” was indeed true. Pearls, cat’s-eyes, garnets, tiger’s-eyes, black agates, gold essence, silver mother, and more—the jewels in any one chest were priceless. Materials such as gold essence and silver mother were especially excellent for refining spiritual artifacts, and could be sold to sects in exchange for a considerable number of contribution points.

Apart from the Primordial Spirit Stones and treasures, the striped treasure conch also contained a pair of icy gauntlets. They felt as cold as iron that had frozen to the marrow. Each was covered with scales the size of fingernails, every scale resembling an eyeball with a golden ring-shaped marking at its center. When lifted, they clattered like flowing water.

“These gauntlets are clearly no ordinary things. What kind of scales are these?” Lin Feng put them on and threw a punch. The scales spread wide, bristling like the quills of a hedgehog, emitting sharp whistles as they tore through the air.

“Golden-Eyed Beast scales!” Yichan cried out.

“Golden-Eyed Beast? Let me see. Yes, these are the belly scales of a Water-Cleaving Golden-Eyed Beast. I never thought I would see something like this here.” Shang Rong appeared before them in an instant and nodded. “Golden-Eyed Beasts and Silver-Eyed Beasts are relatively common immortal beasts. But making gauntlets from their scales is a waste of good material. They are best refined into leather armor or protective gear—they can resist both fire and water, and their hardness is quite good. Your pair of gauntlets is barely serviceable, but can still be considered a top-grade spiritual artifact.”

Barely serviceable?

Yichan rolled her eyes, pouted, and picked up a Primordial Spirit Stone to examine it.

“These are useful. As it happens, I once promised Brother Nie that I would find him a pair of gauntlets. Now I have something to give him.” Lin Feng stored the gauntlets in the Xuanheng Jade Bi, then took a cursory look at the other miscellaneous objects and smiled. “Yichan, you still don’t have a storage ring, do you? Take this Tiger-Patterned Treasure Conch. You can use it to organize the other things as well. Miss Manqing, take anything you like. As for these Primordial Spirit Stones, should we divide them among ourselves, or what?”

“Lin Feng, top-grade Primordial Spirit Stones are not particularly meaningful to you. The spiritual energy in Yinque Palace is more than sufficient for your cultivation. In my opinion, you should keep them. They may prove useful for something else in the future.” Shang Rong suddenly spoke up.

Yichan’s throat bobbed, and she swallowed the words she had been about to say.

“He is right, Junior Brother. Keep these Primordial Spirit Stones safe. Once you return to the sect, they may be of great use. Being able to cultivate in Yinque Palace is already an immense blessing. How could we ask for the things you risked your life to obtain?” Chen Yuxi said.

“Yes, yes, exactly. We only need to cultivate. That’s enough,” Fatty Jin hurriedly added.

“Heehee, if you don’t want any, I’ll take one.” Manqing reached out and hooked a Primordial Spirit Stone toward herself. “It’s so brilliantly golden. Placed together with these jewels, it looks quite pretty.”

She took one piece of every kind of gem and stone and arranged them around herself. Their multicolored radiance was indeed enchanting.

Everyone smiled. After sorting through the treasures and spirit stones, they each returned to cultivate. Yichan, newly promoted to both house servant and steward, was left staring worriedly at the two corpses, uncertain how to dispose of them.

“Strip off that armor; it’s yours. As for the corpses, store them for now and burn them later. Ah, wait a moment, Yichan. Would you like to learn a profound demonic art?” Lin Feng asked with a faint smile, having suddenly thought of something.

“The demonic path? I don’t mind. What manual is it?” Yichan raised her head and rubbed her hands together.

“Here. These two. As it happens, we can use the two princes of the Li Sea as test subjects. Yes—the empty ground in the northwest corner is yours. Just don’t splash blood everywhere.”

He handed Yichan the two manuals, The Art of Devouring Primordial Yin Corpses and The Corpse Speaks Not, then entered the main hall and sat down cross-legged.

The spiritual energy here was equally dense. In Yinque Palace, every place seemed to be filled with spiritual energy. It did not appear to be caused by the jade floor tiles.

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Refining the two golden cores was familiar work. The petals of the Flameheart Lotus finally turned red—the Karma Flame Red Lotus had reached completion! The remaining power of the golden cores flowed into his dantian, and his spiritual power instantly began to boil.

“Is this… am I about to form a golden core? Why is this happening?”

Caught completely unprepared, he hurriedly sealed his mind and focused on the changes within his dantian.

The milky spiritual power surged violently, with bubbles even churning within it. Pain followed. His dantian seemed to swell enormously, as though it were about to explode.

It was excruciating!

The sensation was like having a mass of searing air filling his stomach, desperately compressing his internal organs and meridians as it tried to burst through his dantian.

“Relax your mind! Do not resist! This is the prelude to forming a golden core. The impurities in your spiritual power must be completely expelled, and your body must undergo a thorough cleansing!” Lichī’s voice suddenly entered his spiritual platform.

At that moment, spiritual power surged around Lin Feng’s body and gathered into a faint milky-white radiance that completely enveloped him. From the outside, he looked like an egg-shaped sphere.

“Fortunately, he was here. I nearly caused a disaster!”

His heart jolted, and sweat immediately poured down. Lin Feng hurriedly relaxed his thoughts, allowing the spiritual energy in his dantian to flow freely.

The boiling, paste-like spiritual power in his dantian began to liquefy. Thick vapor then rose from it, streaming into his meridians, limbs, lungs, viscera, and bones. It seeped through every pore and acupoint in his body.

The process was unquestionably agonizing.

His meridians were being cleansed and reforged. His spiritual energy dispersed in reverse, as though countless steel needles were being driven into his flesh and bones. Only his spiritual awareness escaped the assault, leaving him conscious—and in unimaginable pain.

Wrapped within that egg-shaped sphere of spiritual energy, Lin Feng did his utmost to relax his body. Gradually, he entered a state beyond thought and desire, allowing the constantly overflowing spiritual energy from his dantian to wash through his entire body before finally escaping through his skin and pores.

Amid the mist, he gradually felt as though he had been reborn from the ashes. A lightness and comfort beyond words arose within him.

Sweat poured down like rain, and a foul stench radiated from his body. But at that moment, he had no attention to spare for its source. Within his boiling dantian, golden light burst forth. The remaining essence, like honeyed paste or molten gold, drew inward and gathered at the center.

At that final moment, the beating of his heart, the circulation of his blood, the flexing of his muscles, the movement of his spiritual energy, his hearing, his sense of smell, his sense of taste—all his perceptions became clearer and more powerful than ever before, blending together in perfect harmony.

A golden core blossomed with sunlight-like radiance, solidified, and floated within his dantian.

Never before had Lin Feng possessed such a clear grasp of his own body. He could perfectly feel the expansion of every muscle and bone. His entire body seemed flawless—light, warm, and smooth as jade—yet capable at any moment of unleashing a fatal strike. He understood his body with complete clarity.

The spiritual energy surrounding him surged toward him of its own accord, as though violently compressed, flooding into his meridians and converging upon the golden core. A layer of white brilliance coated its golden radiance.

This was the phenomenon of a newly formed golden core actively absorbing spiritual energy, like an empty bottle cast into a lake.

After circulating the Spirit-Controlling Formula several times and stabilizing his foundation, he changed into clean clothes and emerged from the main hall, radiant with vigor.

“The golden-core stage feels wonderful. Yes, the body is like a tool. Only now can I truly wield it with ease.”

At the birth of his thought, the Moyan Sword shot into the air. With the execution of the Illusory Object Art from the Spirit-Controlling Formula, the spiritual artifact suddenly expanded several times over. Its dark forest-colored radiance hung in the air like a black prison, brimming with murderous intent.

“Yay! You finally formed your golden core!”

Manqing leaped up in delight, and everyone present smiled.

A cultivator at the golden-core stage could control and transform objects, while their lifespan doubled. Female cultivators could also preserve their beauty forever, remaining youthful and ageless—a dream cherished by every woman under heaven.

After calculating silently, Lin Feng realized that more than a month had passed outside. It was time to go out and investigate the enemy’s situation. The Jiao Shark King could not possibly remain there forever.

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He quietly appeared within the Whale-Slayer Palace as though nothing had happened. Only the Hall of Eternal Joy was gone, replaced by an imperial garden. Guided by memory, Lin Feng swiftly fled toward the palace gates.

“Who goes there? You dare trespass in the Whale-Slayer Palace? Leave your life behind!”

“It must be that bandit Lin Feng! Stop him!”

“How audacious! Kill him!”

Before he had even crossed the second palace gate, three entirely different roars erupted from various corners of the palace complex, nearly shaking Lin Feng unconscious.

If they were not the Jiao Shark King, who could possess such profound cultivation?

Lin Feng had now entered the golden-core stage. Combined with the Karma Flame Red Lotus cultivated through the Heaven-Cleaving Formula, his strength far surpassed that of an ordinary early golden-core cultivator. He could even contend with experts at the mid golden-core stage.

Yet from such a great distance, the three men had nearly made him dizzy with only a few roars. Their strength was likely at least that of the late golden-core stage.

Run!

As long as the Jiao Shark King did not appear, he still had a chance to escape.

Sword light flashed. He abruptly accelerated and fled on his sword. The speed was so great that even Lin Feng found it difficult to believe. At the same time, however, he could feel three streams of spiritual awareness locking tightly onto him, like cats watching mice. He could not shake them off.

“Lin Feng, you little wretch! Surrender at once! Roar!”

Just as he shot out of the Whale-Slayer Palace on his sword, the water pressure behind him suddenly intensified. A thunderous roar violently reverberated across the ocean floor. Every drop of water seemed to transform into a sword qi, shooting viciously toward him in a concentrated barrage. The momentum was fierce and overwhelming, truly arrogant beyond measure.

The streams of water severed by the force of the roar were not as solid as real blades, but they were still sharp enough to cut. Their needle-pointed edges whistled incessantly, transmitting powerful vibrations through the depths of the sea and far into the distance.

After the first roar, two more fierce roars followed. The water vapor that had just dispersed exploded once again, chasing after him and streaking forward in pursuit.

At the same time, the identities of the pursuers from the Whale-Slayer Palace were revealed.

They were three enormous, sleek-furred Li Sea lion beasts.

The three Li Sea lion beasts revealed their true forms in order to swim faster through the ocean and pursue their target more easily. At the same time, they could unleash the battle technique they were most proud of—the sonic wave of the lion’s roar.

“Second Brother, Third Brother, His Majesty and the several lords are all in seclusion now. This is the perfect opportunity for us brothers to win merit. We must not let it slip away! You two circle around from the sides. I’ll keep a close watch on him!”

The leader of the Li Sea lion beasts urgently transmitted his voice.

He had a round, gray body covered in glossy fur, a mane of golden hair encircling his neck, and a vicious gaze. He carried himself with the arrogance of one who believed the world belonged to him.

“Don’t worry, Big Brother!”

The other two Li Sea lion beasts were somewhat smaller and moved in perfect coordination, sweeping around from the left and right to cut off Lin Feng’s escape.

Since the battle a month earlier, Xiling Bo, Xifeng Jin, Xizhen Jiang, and Xihuai Yu had died one after another. The Jiao Shark King, Xi Bing, and the unparalleled expert Bei Sajin had both entered seclusion in succession. Many of the Li Sea’s generals and strategists had likewise vanished without a trace. Some had entered seclusion and withdrawn from worldly affairs, while others had secretly defected to the side of the Deep Sea Divine Whale King.

The situation in the Whale-Slayer Palace had changed drastically. Anyone with even a little sense could tell that the Li Sea was on the verge of upheaval.

Only these three fools—Luo Xiong and his two brothers—still dreamed of earning rewards and receiving praise, volunteering to guard the Whale-Slayer Palace.