Chapter 261: Late Golden Core, Encountering Evil Spirit

After stepping into the Point Spirit Realm, his understanding of the Spark Ignition Light deepened further.

When he employed it, his figure almost merged with the surrounding fire-attribute spiritual qi, making it nearly impossible to detect without deliberate scrutiny.

The passage twisted and turned, and the temperature rose the deeper they went.

The silver patterns on the rock walls on both sides grew denser, emitting a strong scorching aura.

Suddenly, a fierce battle sound came from ahead. The rumbling of clashing spiritual power echoed in the narrow passage, and faintly one could hear Jin Yuanzi's angry shout.

Wang Ping concealed his aura and quietly approached. Turning a bend, the sight before him made his pupils contract slightly.

He saw Jin Yuanzi locked in fierce combat with a large-bodied three-eyed fire spirit.

This fire spirit's body burned with pale golden flames; as its forehead eye opened and closed, dark golden light burst forth, each attack carrying the power to incinerate space.

Its strength had shockingly approached the Nascent Soul stage!

Jin Yuanzi was clearly in a bitter struggle. Golden light flickered around him, his dragon-pattern jade pendant transforming into a golden flood dragon that shielded him, but that dragon's phantom had already dimmed under the fire qilin's claws, obviously unable to hold much longer.

"Beast!" Jin Yuanzi roared, forming seals with both hands; a golden talisman appeared out of thin air.

Dragon patterns wandered across the talisman, emitting a heart-pounding fluctuation of spiritual power.

"Nine Dragons Seal Heaven Talisman!" He bit his fingertip, dropping a drop of essence blood onto the talisman.

Instantly, nine golden dragon phantoms shot from the talisman, roaring as they coiled toward the three-eyed fire qilin.

The fire qilin let out an earth-shaking roar, its forehead eye fully opening, and a beam of intensely condensed dark-red light shot out.

Wherever this light passed, even space began to twist, its power terrifying to the extreme.

"Boom!"

The golden dragon phantom and the dark-gold light collided violently, erupting in an energy shock capable of destroying heaven and earth.

The entire passage shook violently; the silver patterns on the rock walls flickered uncertainly, as if they might shatter at any moment.

Watching from afar, Wang Ping felt his heart leap. This clash between one person and one beast had already surpassed the limits of an ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

Especially that fire qilin, its strength likely had already half-stepped into the Nascent Soul stage.

Just at this stalemate, an anomaly occurred.

On the other side of the passage, a green silhouette appeared soundlessly.

It was Qingzhu Sou! He lightly tapped his bamboo staff, and an invisible ripple spread out, actually intending to sneak-attack both Jin Yuanzi and the fire spirit simultaneously.

"Old Qingzhu ghost, you!" Jin Yuanzi exclaimed in shock and anger, trying to pull back but it was already too late.

The three parties faced off, the situation ready to explode at a touch.

At this critical moment, Wang Ping acted.

Five-colored divine light flowed behind him, not aimed at anyone but sweeping toward the rock wall behind that fire spirit.

There, a deep-red flame stone radiating scorching energy lay quietly in a corner, obviously a treasure guarded by the fire spirit.

He seized this opportunity with exquisite precision; while the three parties were locked in confrontation, their focus entirely on each other, no one expected someone to snatch the treasure at this moment.

A sweep of the five-colored divine light, and three flame stones instantly landed in Wang Ping's hand.

They felt warm to the touch; the pure fire-origin power within startled him. This quality far surpassed the two he had previously obtained!

"Kid, you're courting death!"

"Roar!"

Jin Yuanzi and the fire spirit both flew into a rage, temporarily setting aside their grudge and jointly attacking Wang Ping.

Even Qingzhu Sou reversed direction, his bamboo staff pointing out myriad green shadows, sealing off all escape routes.

Faced with the siege of three masters, Wang Ping remained calm. He drew a deep breath and formed hand seals:

Golden Yang Scorching Heaven, Point Spirit Realm, first real combat!

A round of golden sun condensed above his head, but unlike before, this golden yang seemed to have life.

It directly transformed into a vivid three-legged golden crow.

The golden crow atop Wang Ping's head spread its wings and cried out, shaking the passage. In its eyes, formed from pure true sun fire, a flash of lively spirit flickered, as if a true ancient divine bird had descended.

Jin Yuanzi's face changed drastically: "Dao technique taking form?! This isn't the fourth-level Point Spirit Realm!"

Qingzhu Sou's bamboo staff trembled slightly; he had lived six hundred years, yet had only seen a few instances of fourth-realm dao techniques.

The feeling the golden crow gave him was like that of an independent living being, not merely a dao-construct.

The fire spirit growled anxiously; as a sprite born of flame, it could sense that within the golden crow lay a fire origin purer and older than its own.

"Chirp—"

The golden crow suddenly let out a clear, long cry, its wings snapping open.

Countless golden feathers fell from its wings, each turning in midair into a golden arrow blazing with true sun fire.

These arrows were not shot haphazardly; under the golden crow's control they formed a mysterious array, with faint golden threads linking the arrows, creating a heavenly net that covered the entire passage.

"Not good!" Jin Yuanzi reacted first, his dragon-pattern jade pendant bursting with blinding golden light as nine golden dragon phantoms reappeared, tightly shielding him.

Qingzhu Sou stamped his foot, planting his bamboo staff into the ground; myriad azure bamboo phantoms sprang up, forming an azure bamboo forest grand formation.

The fire spirit most directly opened its maw and spat out a beam of intensely condensed dark-red fire, attempting to fight fire with fire.

Yet all these defenses appeared pale and powerless before the golden crow's arrow rain.

When the first wave of arrows fell, Jin Yuanzi's nine golden dragon phantoms, like paper, were instantly shot into sieves.

The dragon-pattern jade pendant cracked with a "click," splitting open several fissures.

Qingzhu Sou's bamboo forest formation was even worse; those azure bamboo shadows, before the true sun fire, couldn't endure a single breath before turning to ash.

He himself was even pierced through by three golden crow arrows, blood spurting wildly.

Worst of all was the fire spirit. The dark-red fire pillar it spewed, upon contacting the golden crow's arrows, was directly absorbed and assimilated, actually increasing the arrows' power.

Dozens of arrows turned it into a hedgehog, its massive body swiftly melting in the golden flames.

All this happened in the blink of an eye. Once the arrow rain ceased, Wang Ping had vanished without a trace.

Jin Yuanzi and Qing Zhu Sou were furious; this was already the second time.

On the other side, Wang Ping's face turned as white as paper; that strike almost drained all his spiritual power. Yet excitement flashed in his eyes—the Point Spirit Realm's Golden Yang Burning Heaven, its power far beyond his imagination.

Not daring to linger, Wang Ping summoned his last thread of spiritual power and cast Spark Fire Blazing Light, racing back along the way.

He could feel the two behind him rapidly approaching.

When he finally returned before the Ancient Immortal Gate, he could barely stand.

Wang Ping exhaled in relief, but did not immediately use the Blazing Stone he had just obtained to open the Ancient Immortal Gate.

Because he sensed that the Five-Colored Golden Core within him was undergoing a strange change.

In that battle just now, although he had expended greatly, at the brink of life and death his understanding of the Five-Colored Divine Light deepened further.

At this moment, as he relaxed, the Five-Colored Golden Core in his dantian began to spin on its own, emitting a hazy five-colored radiance.

"Is this... a breakthrough?"

Wang Ping was both startled and delighted. He had been stuck at the Golden Core Mid-Stage for a while, never expecting a breakthrough opportunity at this moment.

He immediately sat cross-legged and circulated the Five Elements Divine Light technique. This time he did not deliberately control it, but let the Five-Colored Golden Core change on its own.

Only seen within his dantian, the Five-Colored Golden Core spun faster and faster, its surface sprouting countless fine runes. These runes were divided into the five colors—green, red, yellow, white, blue—corresponding to the Five Elements' origin.

They wandered like living beings across the golden core's surface, sometimes separating, sometimes merging, illustrating the profound principle of the Five Elements' generation and overcoming.

Gradually, the Five-Colored Golden Core began to expand, growing from the size of a pigeon's egg to that of a chicken's egg.

The five-colored runes on the golden core's surface grew ever clearer, faintly forming five strange patterns:

Namely, the Thunder Mark, the Peak Mark, the Bird Mark, the Sword Mark, and the Droplet Mark.

These five patterns slowly rotated on the golden core's surface, interconnected in a mysterious way.

Wood gives birth to fire, fire to earth, earth to metal, metal to water, water to wood, forming a perfect cycle.

At the same time, an apparition appeared outside Wang Ping's body. The Five-Colored Divine Light spontaneously manifested, condensing above his head into a five-colored light wheel.

The light wheel turned slowly, showering down rays of rosy light that bathed the entire Ancient Immortal Gate space like a fairyland.

Even more miraculously, the Ancient Immortal Gate seemed to resonate with this aura.

The chaotic patterns on the gate flowed faster, and the starlight points on the doorframe brightened somewhat, as if responding to Wang Ping's breakthrough.

Wang Ping was completely immersed in the wondrous realm of breakthrough. He felt his divine sense rapidly increasing, and his perception of heaven and earth's spiritual energy became sharper.

Especially his understanding of the Five Elements reached a new height.

If before he merely used the power of the Five Elements, now he seemed to have touched the threshold of the Five Elements Origin Grand Dao; a single thought could summon the surrounding Five Elements' spiritual energy as effortlessly as moving a limb.

After an unknown period, the Five-Colored Golden Core finally ceased changing. At this point the golden core was the size of a fist, its surface flowing with five-colored radiance, the five holy beast patterns lifelike, emitting a mighty surge of spiritual power.

Golden Core Late-Stage, achieved!

Wang Ping opened his eyes; a flash of five-colored radiance flickered in his pupils. Feeling the surging power within, a smile curled his lips.

This breakthrough gave his strength a qualitative leap. Even without relying on the Point Spirit Realm's Golden Yang Burning Heaven, he now had confidence to fight a False Infant cultivator.

He rose to his feet and gazed at the Ancient Immortal Gate. The deep-red Blazing Stone in his hand emitted a warm aura, as if urging him to open the mysterious gate once more.

But Wang Ping hesitated. After breaking through to Golden Core Late-Stage, especially after Golden Yang Burning Heaven entered the Fourth Realm, he could sense that the Five-Colored Divine Light had become slightly unbalanced.

His intuition told him he must not let the Fire Element's power grow any stronger.

"Never mind, first consolidate the realm."

He rose, gave one last look at the Ancient Immortal Gate, then turned and left. This journey to the earth's core had already yielded abundant gains; it was time to return to the Dao Academy, a pity he had not seen the Golden Blazing Stone.

But before leaving, there was still a score to settle!

Wang Ping's eyes turned cold; murderous intent flickered in his gaze.

Wang Ping restrained his aura and swiftly moved along the passage he had come from.

This time he employed a Tracking Butterfly he had not used in ages; after a day of searching, Wang Ping confirmed that Jin Yuanzi and Qing Zhu Sou had clearly left the area.

"They got away fast."

The cold light in Wang Ping's eyes slightly eased; since those two old monsters had left, he did not wish to linger either.

The urgent task was to return to the surface as quickly as possible to consolidate his newly broken-through realm.

The passage twisted upward, the temperature gradually dropping.

The silver patterns on the rock walls grew sparse, replaced by familiar dark-red strata.

Wang Ping estimated the distance; after passing three more forkways, he should reach the middle layer of the Blazing Flame Valley.

Just as he was about to reach the second forkway, a bone-chilling chill suddenly surged up from deep underground.

"What is it?"

Wang Ping abruptly halted, his entire spiritual power instantly tensing.

This feeling was more terrifying than any aura he had sensed before; even the fire spirit nearing the Nascent Soul Stage seemed insignificant by comparison.

The passage began to shake violently, gravel rattling down from the rock walls. The formerly scorching air turned suddenly icy and piercing, a strong stench of blood rising from the depths.

Wang Ping could even hear faint howls, their voices filled with endless resentment and madness.

Wang Ping thought of the extremely dangerous thing in the Blazing Flame Valley: the undying evil spirit.

Without hesitation he activated Spark Fire Blazing Light, his form turning into a stream of light shooting upward.

Against such an ancient evil spirit of unknown age, he had no chance of victory.

Yet the sight ahead made his heart sink—the once clear passage had somehow been sealed by a layer of dark-red blood membrane.

The blood membrane constantly writhed, within which countless distorted faces could be faintly seen struggling and wailing.

"Blood Slaughter Seal!" Wang Ping recognized this evil technique.

This evil sealing formation, refined from the essence blood of myriad beings, was designed specifically to trap and slay cultivators.