Chapter 279: Can This Also Be Called Golden Core?
Hundreds of miles away from the Divine Firmament Small World, in the small town where the God of War Pagoda was located...
A dense crowd of cultivators was gathered. Their faces were full of glee, sadness, or worry as they engaged in an intense discussion.
“First Senior Brother and Master were captured by the God of War Pagoda.”
“Second Senior Brother and Master were captured by the God of War Pagoda.”
“First Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, and Master were all captured by the God of War Pagoda.”
“Junior Sister, we were betrothed to each other. Why have you vanished now!?”
“Hahaha, damn scoundrel. You dared to try and snatch my girl from me. I hope you die inside the God of War Pagoda!”
Several hours before...
The God of War Pagoda township was calm and peaceful. Everyone was bustling about their own business.
But suddenly, the God of War Pagoda flew up and disappeared into a hole in space. No one knew where it went.
Suddenly, the entire little town was up in arms.
Everyone was trying to contact the Divine Firmament Sacred Ground disciples and elders for an explanation.
After all, the family, masters, friends, and foes of many people were still inside the pagoda. The sudden movement by the God of War Transformation had a huge impact on them.
Luckily, they didn’t have to worry for too long.
Soon, another hole opened in space, and the God of War Pagoda reappeared before everyone’s eyes.
A number of powerful Heavenly Venerables and Sages appeared together with it.
Duang!
The God of War Pagoda landed on earth, sending strong tremors across the entire little town.
Figures flew out of the God of War Pagoda and landed on the ground. No one was hurt.
This included Fang Chang and Li Canglan. Both looked rather frantic, especially Li Canglan. He shuddered the moment he emerged from the God of War Pagoda and saw Shen Tian.
No choice. Only the heavens knew what he had experienced inside the God of War Pagoda.
Shen Tian broke out in cold sweat when he heard the anxious comments of the crowd standing near the God of War Pagoda.
This Old Man Ye was in such a hurry to bring the God of War Pagoda to the battle that he had forgotten to release the people inside the pagoda first. It was too much.
They would have to take this “God of War Pagoda disappeared with people inside” matter very seriously. After all, safety came first. The God of War Pagoda would only be able to attract customers if they could be assured of their own safety.
Nevertheless, Shen Tian didn’t have to worry about such things.
The Divine Firmament Sacred Leader had already arranged for the sacred ground elders to issue an official explanation.
They assured everyone that the God of War Pagoda would never disappear again with customers inside. They also offered those affected customers a sizable compensation for “undue emotional distress”.
It was not a difficult issue for the Divine Firmament Sacred Ground to resolve.
...
After the dust had settled, Shen Tian continued on to his own Saint Mountain.
During this ambush mission, he had seen the battle prowess of true Sage practitioners. He also realized just how weak he was.
Having talent and potential was fine but not good enough. In this cultivation world, the strong would always lord over the weak.
If one really encountered the Evil Spirit sect disciples or an ambush attack by enemies, no one would care what cultivation level you were at.
Even if you were just a weak little Golden Body cultivator, those Sage practitioners would still squash you to death with their little finger.
Thus, it was imperative to become stronger as soon as possible!
Luckily, Shen Tian had gotten another great fortuitous opportunity during this ambush mission against the Evil Spirit Sect.
He had gotten the Hurricane Lily King from the Lifeless King. Things were too messy earlier on for him to refine and absorb it.
Now that he was back at the Saint Mountain, Shen Tian started to refine the Hurricane Lily King under the guidance of Ye Qingcan so that he could completely absorb all its power into his body.
The Saint Mountain’s protective array was adjusted to the highest level, completely cutting off the whole mountain from the outside world.
Shen Tian sat cross-legged on the Saint Mountain Enlightenment Stone, immersing himself in the quiet recitation of the sutra.
The power of the Tinder Sutra surged and bubbled in his body, transmitting its deep sense of desire.
Yes, the Tinder Sutra was coveting the Hurricane Lily King. This flower born in the reincarnation land was extremely beneficial to the Tinder Sutra.
Shen Tian was naturally very pleased with this. After all, his cultivation was based on the Tinder Sutra. This sutra was just too wonderful.
If not for this Tinder Sutra, Shen Tian would never have so easily refined so many extraordinary items to enhance his body.
And according to Ye Qingcang, other prodigies who cultivated the Tinder Sutra did not become as strong as Shen Tian.
This sutra seemed to be tailor-made for Shen Tian.
As a result, even if cultivating this sutra would decrease his providence, Shen Tian never once thought of abandoning it.
The power of the Tinder Sutra inside him grew stronger. Shen Tian reached out toward the Hurricane Lily and gently stroked its petals.
Suddenly, the Hurricane Lily, which had been continuously switching between red and white, morphed into tiny pinpoints of light and shot straight into Shen Tian’s body, being completely refined and absorbed by him.
Shen Tian felt a miraculous energy that he had never felt before surge toward his liver, merging together with the Divine Devouring Vine.
He closed his eyes, immersing himself in this wondrous state and forgetting about everything else.
Strands of jade-green vines grew out of his body, quickly wrapping up Shen Tian’s body.
The most astonishing thing was that Hurricane Lilies were sprouting at the tips of those vines. Some were red as blood, others as white as snow.
Two types of extraordinary items had actually merged inside Shen Tian’s body and produced a brand new, powerful, extraordinary spirit plant.
The red Hurricane Lilies on the Divine Devouring Vine blazed like a scorching fire, exuding a powerful offensive strength.
Meanwhile, the white Hurricane Lilies on the vine were as cold as ice. They looked both real and like an illusion as if they belonged to another universe.
Able to control life and death, reverse Yin and Yang, and alter illusion and reality—this was the Hurricane Lily King’s special ability. And this ability had been perfectly transferred to this new spirit plant.
After the Divine Devouring Vine and Hurricane Lily King merged, Shen Tian’s force of attraction grew even stronger.
All the Spirit Qi in the Saint Mountain was surging wildly into Shen Tian’s body. But even so, it was still a drop in the ocean.
It was like even if all the Spirit Qi of the Saint Mountain had been sucked dry, it would still be far from enough to fill Shen Tian.
“This constitution of his is perfectly ridiculous.”
Ye Qingcang appeared before Shen Tian and sized him up before tutting in marvel. “If you were born in the Celestial World, you could probably fight with someone at the Celestial King level.”
Ye Qingcang reached out his right hand, which held a shining golden relic.
Following this relic’s appearance in Saint Mountain, a clear Buddhist chanting could be heard echoing throughout the entire mountain.
One could even vaguely see the faint image of Buddha. But as the relic was cracked, the image of Buddha was also cracked.
This was the relic which the Lifeless King had used to cultivate. It was also an ancient Buddhist legacy relic that used to belong to the Sonic Thunder Sacred Ground. It possessed tremendous power.
A pity that during one of the Immeasurable Ancient State battles, the Lifeless King’s old body had been destroyed. As a result, the relic had also suffered damage and was cracked.
“Never mind. Anyway, even if this relic was not damaged, it wouldn’t be able to repair the God of War Pagoda. You can have it!”
With that, Ye Qingcang tossed this golden relic toward Shen Tian.
Bang!
The golden relic split into pieces in mid-air, and surging golden energy shot out like a ferocious wave.
Even damaged, it was still an ancient Buddhist relic, and it possessed boundless spirit energy.
The moment the golden relic split on top of Shen Tian’s head, that boundless golden energy surged wildly into his body, being refined and absorbed.
Following that, the relic’s power was relentlessly being swallowed by Shen Tian. His Golden Body and Golden Core cultivation levels rapidly improved.
His body emitted a continuous dazzling golden light before gradually fading. Cracks then started to appear, and a new body emerged.
Golden Body Fourth Refinement Stage!
Golden Body Fifth Refinement Stage!
...
At the same time, Shen Tian’s dantian was also undergoing massive changes.
The Dharmic foundation on his Five Lightning figure originally only had a green dragon, white tiger, crimson phoenix, black tortoise, and qilin on it.
But as the Hurricane Lily bloomed and reversed Yin and Yang, there was no longer a clear line between the Five Elements Yin and Yang sides. It all merged into one vast pathway.
The different wood elements, metal elements, and fire elements were merging...
Brand new divine beasts started to emerge on Shen Tian’s Dharmic foundation, making his foundation firmer, more solid, and more refined.
After some time, the golden energy in mid-air finally started to drain.
Shen Tian had successfully reached the Golden Body Seventh Refinement Stage. When he clenched his right fist, even the fabrics of space would vibrate.
Meanwhile, his Dharmic foundation had reached maximum refinement. Or at least, Shen Tian couldn’t see any more areas for improvement. He could begin his breakthrough now.
“With a Golden Core refined by a merged Yin-Yang Five Elements Dharmic foundation, I wonder if it already has some innate emblems,” Shen Tian murmured to himself.
The Golden Core Ninth Refinement Stage was different from the Golden Body Ninth Refinement Stage.
A Golden Body Ninth Refinement Stage cultivator had to start from the first stage and steadily make their way through all the stages.
Meanwhile, not all Golden Core Ninth Refinement Stage cultivators had to start from the first stage. If one had a more solid foundation, one could leap over several stages at one time.
For example, when Zhang Yunxi had broken through the Foundation Establishment stage to the Golden Core stage, she had directly reached the Third Refinement Stage.
In Shen Tian’s opinion, his foundation had already been strengthened by all 10 lightning arts in the Five Heavenly Lightning Cultivation Technique. They were all imprinted in his Dharmic foundation.
Given such a Dharmic foundation, he should at least reach the Fifth Refinement Stage!
...
Shen Tian performed some hand seals with high expectations. “Golden Core, appear!”
The Enlightenment Stone shone with a hundred beams of light, and a brilliant core appeared on top of Shen Tian’s head.
The moment this core appeared, Shen Tian felt like he was viewing the world through different eyes.
He could feel his divine consciousness increase in strength. He could even clearly see two ants fornicating over 1,000 meters away.
At the same time, he suddenly started to grasp the high-level concepts of many complex lightning arts techniques, which had befuddled him previously.
He reached out his right hand and snapped his fingers. A dazzling of Mixed Divine Lightning formed.
It was not formed by the Mixed Divine Lightning Power Source at Shen Tian’s brow area. Instead, it was formed by directly using pure Spirit Qi.
This meant that he no longer had to worry about depleting the Mixed Divine Lightning Power Source at his brow area.
As long as his internal Spirit Qi was not exhausted, Shen Tian could keep forming Five Elements Mixed Divine Lightning all day long.
Was this the Golden Core Stage?
One Golden Core inside my tummy, and I am now the master of my own fate?
Shen Tian smiled as he looked up at the Golden Core above his head. His eyes were full of eager anticipation.
He was very curious how many emblems would his Golden Core have.
Three? Five? Or seven?
Shen Tian’s face instantly darkened when he finally saw how his Golden Core looked like.
This... Can this also be called a Golden Core!?