Chapter 349
“But... I study mathematics, and I don’t feel like I’m stronger than those before me... I can’t learn what they knew! Every time I feel like my brain is broken...” Zheng Shan suddenly said, her expression bewildered. “Is my brother lying to me?”
“…”
Old Han fell silent for a long moment, unsure how to respond.
After a while, Zheng Shan spoke again:
“My brother has been in seclusion for six months... How long until he comes home?”
“Hmm? Isn’t he lying to you?”
“... Can acting like a fool bring my brother back?”
Old Han looked toward Wuxian Island, where Zheng Fa was in seclusion. Just then, a golden crow, known for its mischief, suddenly spread its wings and let out a long cry, echoing across the sky.
He stood up abruptly, witnessing a scene he had never seen in his life—the grand spectacle of forming a Golden Core:
First, a flicker of light appeared, and then, the light burst forth!
It exploded into countless golden rays, shooting in all directions.
The brilliance was so intense that even his Yuanying couldn’t keep its eyes open; he instinctively closed them, and through his eyelids, all he could see was a blinding white.
After a few breaths, he felt the light dim slightly. He opened his eyes and saw—
The white mist of the Nine Mountains parted, revealing a golden sun accompanied by clouds of rosy light!
(End of this chapter)
**Chapter 313: Is This the Golden Core? Another Divine Power!**
Zheng Fa had heard a saying: to shine in front of others, one must endure suffering behind the scenes.
This time, he truly understood.
He had been in seclusion to form his Golden Core for half a year... No, if you count the time in the modern world, it was actually a year.
It was certainly no easy feat.
It wasn’t arrogance; he had accumulated enough spiritual power, was familiar with the secret methods of forming a Golden Core, and his soul was far beyond that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, so forming a Golden Core should have been easier for him.
But once he truly began the process, Zheng Fa realized it was not going well:
The Fusang wood required far too much Taichu vital energy, but his body’s acupoints couldn’t handle it!
To put it inaccurately, it was like being greedy but having a stomach that couldn’t hold it...
In fact, when he first attempted it, he thought he might explode.
In a moment of desperation, Zheng Fa recalled the methods for refining acupoints from the "Tianhe True Method."
Over the past year, he had been multitasking—one part focused on forming the Golden Core, while the other part refined his acupoints. It sounded simple, but it was quite exhausting:
The reaction from the Golden Core was too intense, so he had to refine his acupoints.
However, refining acupoints required a higher level of cultivation, so at a certain point, he had to continue forming the Golden Core to enhance the quality of his spiritual power.
In simple terms, it was like adding more water to flour, and then needing to add more flour to the water...
At first, he was clumsy and a bit flustered, but eventually, he found a method:
In the Nine Mountain Realm, he focused on forming the Golden Core.
But in the modern world, due to the lack of spiritual energy and insufficient Taichu vital energy, his progress was slow, allowing him more time to refine his acupoints.
Back and forth, he toiled for an entire year before finally condensing a bright, round, high-quality Golden Core!
At the moment of success, the red fruit on the Fusang wood in his dantian suddenly shrank, swallowing all the Taichu vital energy around him, and then it exploded, releasing a great sun.
Zheng Fa, feeling a surge of inspiration, quickly cast his spells, and the great sun traversed through his three gates and nine orifices, drawing in the Nine Yin Thunder Fiend he had prepared, which then burst forth from the top of his head, hanging high in the sky.
With the formation of the Golden Core, the first change was in his divine sense—previously, when he advanced to the late Foundation Establishment stage, his divine sense had already exceeded a hundred miles, comparable to an ordinary Golden Core cultivator. Now, with the official formation of the Golden Core, his divine sense had increased again, covering a radius of five hundred miles.
Zheng Fa felt a bit unsatisfied; after all, his previous growth had been tenfold. But he understood the reason—at the Golden Core stage, the maximum range of divine sense was a thousand miles, and now his divine sense strength had even surpassed that of an average mid-Golden Core cultivator.
It could be said that to achieve another leap in the breadth of his divine sense, an ordinary person might need to break their core and form an infant, while he might be able to do so in the late Golden Core stage.
However, while the change in coverage wasn’t drastic, Zheng Fa could still sense another significant difference:
The precision of his divine sense.
He could even feel the new particles forming within his Golden Core.
Though he couldn’t see them clearly, there was an indescribable sensation of new life being nurtured... it was strange.
Along with this came a change in his state of mind:
When he opened his eyes again, the world around him felt different—there was a sense of detachment, less reliance, and he could even sense a subtle change in his humanity.
He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again, a smile on his face that was tinged with either melancholy or understanding: “Complete and self-sufficient, so that’s how it is.”
What is called completeness is—having no desires.
Zheng Fa only understood some superficial biological knowledge, but he also knew that a person’s character is largely controlled by their biological nature, such as hormones and neural structures...
His previous cultivation had changed his physical body, but starting from the Golden Core, it was a completely different transformation:
From a survival perspective, he no longer needed to draw energy and matter from the outside world. This was not just a realization; it fundamentally altered his biological instincts.
This was probably what was meant by transcending the mundane and ascending to immortality—a change in essence that even surpassed Zheng Fa’s previous imagination, leaving him feeling somewhat weathered yet joyful.
A line of poetry floated to his mind: “I have a bright pearl, long locked away by the dust of toil. Today, the dust is cleared, and light is born, illuminating mountains and rivers!”
So this is what the Golden Core is like...
...
“Is the Golden Core really like this?”
On Wuxian Island, Uncle Pang stared blankly at the “sun” above him, his face a mask of astonishment.
Beside him, Elder Yuan hesitated for a moment before gently nodding.
“Then what was it that I condensed before... a bird’s egg?” Uncle Pang muttered.
Elder Sister Yuan quietly lowered her head. Uncle Pang was better off, having condensed the Longhu Yuandan. The Golden Core emphasizes abundant and rich spiritual power, and since Uncle Pang had already formed an infant, he was no longer in the same league as Zheng Fa.
But... she was still a Golden Core!
No, she didn’t lay eggs!
Sister Zhang patted her head, sighed, but felt relieved—thank goodness she had advanced quickly!
Otherwise, she would have felt inferior!
Though the Golden Core shouldn’t be judged solely by size, everyone was a Yuanying; how could they not see? Zheng Fa’s Golden Core was not just a matter of size; it was the inexhaustible vital energy, the refined spiritual power within the Golden Core, and the faint aura of might emanating from it.
Size was just a surface issue; in reality, Zheng Fa’s Golden Core was large because it was overly refined, with an excess of vital energy, even spilling over!
Zheng Fa’s Golden Core was the largest and purest, far from being a mere facade.
Uncle Pang mumbled to himself, but the smile on his face was impossible to hide.
Nearby, there were two outsiders—Xiao Yuying and Madam Xuanhua.
Xiao Yuying squinted, tilting her head back, silent.
Madam Xuanhua quietly edged closer to Sister Zhang and the others, blending in seamlessly with the Jiu Mountain Sect, appearing completely natural.
...
What they didn’t know was that in the mortal realm of the Nine Mountain Realm, there was even more to see!
In Ban Mountain City, Xiao Qing had now grown into a girl with thick hair and fair skin. She was not only serving as a temple keeper but also acting as a “teaching assistant”—Zheng Fa had been sending disciples from the Jiu Mountain Sect down to teach knowledge.
Xiao Qing’s role was to act as a bridge, supervising the children’s learning while also reporting the learning conditions in the temple to the visiting disciples from the Jiu Mountain Sect.
In essence, she was like a homeroom teacher or counselor.
This was also due to the separation between the immortal and mortal realms, making communication difficult. The disciples of the Jiu Mountain Sect each had their own tasks, somewhat akin to professors in a university, but the material taught was quite basic.
Through experimentation, it was found that having a middleman to facilitate communication worked best.
Zheng Fa planned to cultivate the first batch of qualified teachers before implementing reforms.
Naturally, the mundane world was unaware of his Golden Core formation.
Xiao Qing was helping a four-year-old boy learn grammar when, while teaching, she noticed an unusual brightness outside the temple, unlike anything she had seen before. Unable to resist, she stepped outside to take a look and saw the familiar golden bell reappearing in the sky.
What stood out the most was the sun beside the golden bell.
The Nine Mountain Realm could see the sun... but it had always seemed so far away, almost like something from another world.
But this sun felt so close, as if it were right above them.
Throughout Ban Mountain City, in the mortal realm of the Nine Mountain Realm, every household stepped out of their homes, looking up and basking in the sunlight.
In the fields of the valley below the mountain, flowers bloomed, birds chirped, fish leaped in the river, and people smiled on the shore.
“Xiao Qing, I know how to write this sentence now...” the little boy blinked and suddenly said.
“Hmm?”
“This sun is like... like the fish soup I drank last night, and it’s also like my mother...”
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