Chapter 224: Why Did Golden Light Appear Right at the Start?

Inside the Third‑tier Cave Residence on the main peak of the Character: Liyang Mountain Range.

Xiao Zhangqing sat cross‑legged, his internal liquid mana surged rapidly, and the mana storage in his dantian churned like a massive typhoon on the sea, raising ten‑thousand‑foot waves.

The perfected Foundation Establishment pressure now fills the entire cultivation chamber; I wouldn't claim it surpasses all ages, but in today's Da Yu Cultivation World, one could not find any cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Realm who has accumulated deeper than Xiao Zhangqing.

Even the Heaven's Proud Son Qin Feng, who forged a flawless Golden Core over a decade ago, or the two Nascent Soul True Lords of the Seven Star Sword Sect and Xingyue Palace, could not have amassed as profound a foundation at the Foundation Establishment stage as Xiao Zhangqing.

First, his spirit root is a Heavenly Spirit Root, already among the top few of ordinary cultivators—one in a hundred thousand—enough to become a core direct disciple of any top sect.

And that is merely an unremarkable detail of Xiao Zhangqing.

Numerous top‑grade spells, the third‑tier upper‑grade Body Refinement, and a Soul Transformation that has reached its limit and begun to metamorphose…

Each one continuously deepens Xiao Zhangqing's foundation.

Thus, at this moment as Xiao Zhangqing begins his breakthrough, his whole body radiates azure light, and his pressure already rivals that of a Core Formation Real Person in the early stage.

Inside the cave residence, the abundant spirit Qi supplied by the third‑tier spirit vein continuously converges, so violently that it creates gusts of wind; fortunately, the cultivation chamber is built of special materials and reinforced by a third‑tier formation, so the commotion does not leak outward.

If this were in a slum, the disturbance would be enough to lift the roof off.

"Core Formation seems not as difficult as imagined… I overestimated it."

"Condensing the True Core may not be necessary for me."

Xiao Zhangqing feels the smoothness of the breakthrough, and his previously slight tension eases.

For someone with his profound accumulation and talent, Core Formation truly is not a major bottleneck.

After all, even Qin Feng could once suppress his realm and refrain from breaking through, instead traveling the world to challenge and forge the confidence he once lacked, only returning to his sect to commence Core Formation when he could no longer hold back.

For Xiao Zhangqing to form the Core, he only needs a suitable third‑tier spirit vein and to prevent any disturbance or damage.

That is why he must return to Character: Liyang Immortal City to attempt the breakthrough.

Character: Liyang Immortal City is his territory, with Gu Zongyuan 'covering' it, making the breakthrough more secure.

Of course, besides Gu Zongyuan, several third‑tier puppets and a Second Avatar… also serve as protective measures.

……

Buzz! After an unknown amount of time, the rate at which the cultivation chamber absorbs spirit Qi surged again.

The spirit Qi not only generated gusts of wind but also formed a massive funnel resembling a tornado; even the third‑tier formation could not conceal such a huge disturbance.

The chaotic, raging spirit Qi of heaven and earth was swiftly absorbed by Xiao Zhangqing.

The Core Formation breakthrough has reached its first key step.

The liquid mana begins to condense into crystals!

For ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, at least half collapse at this step.

Because this step sounds simple, yet it is exceedingly difficult to accomplish.

First, one needs sufficiently deep accumulation and foundation, and mana intensity high enough, to successfully convert the absorbed spirit Qi into crystal mana.

At the same time, a powerful Soul Transformation is required to exert absolutely precise control over the conversion process.

Otherwise, an error mid‑process would cause the raging mana to run amok; lightly, the body suffers grave injury and the foundation is damaged, dropping from a perfected Foundation to the ninth layer or lower; severely, all meridians explode, causing an immediate fall!

Moreover, for Xiao Zhangqing, everything is proceeding far too smoothly.

After absorbing enough heavenly and earthly spirit Qi, above the sea of mana in his dantian, as a vortex forms, strands of liquid mana naturally begin converting into tiny crystal particles.

The sensation is like rain turning into fine ice shards and snowflakes, drifting down gently.

These mana crystals are minute and inconspicuous; when they fall into the dantian they cause little commotion.

But as time accumulates and they slowly fill, within less than three days the entire dantian begins to 'solidify.'

At this point, the second key step of Core Formation arrives!

Condense Core!

If this step can be completed smoothly, even if the final breakthrough fails, the cultivator will not suffer severe injury.

Because by this stage there is a 'fallback'! Even if one fails to become a Core Formation Real Person, one can still become a Fake Core True Person! "Finally feeling a hint of pressure."

Xiao Zhangqing's relaxed mindset also begins to become serious.

When the mana stored in his dantian starts to solidify after countless mana crystals fall, he feels a sensation of being 'hollowed out' inside!

The liquid mana condenses into solid mana, becoming many times more refined, yet the space does not shrink, so it cannot be filled, requiring frantic intake and absorption.

In an instant, not only does Xiao Zhangqing's cave residence exhibit anomalies, the raging abundant heavenly and earthly spirit Qi turns into a 'tornado,' but the entire main peak of the Character: Liyang Mountain Range also begins to be affected.

This is because the spirit veins of Character: Liyang Mountain are of sufficiently high grade, providing ample spirit Qi; otherwise, other cultivators' practices would likely be affected.

However, at this moment, everyone on the main peak of Character: Liyang Mountain understands one thing: someone is forming a Core!

A slight sensing can pinpoint the direction of Xiao Zhangqing's cave residence.

Countless people feel astonished.

Who could be challenging the Core Formation within Deputy City Lord Xiao's cave residence? Could it be one of the two concubines living with the deputy city, perhaps a Lin family sister? Probably not. According to reports, the Lin sisters' aptitude is very mediocre, only possessing a middle‑grade spirit root.

Such a qualification can only achieve Foundation Establishment by sheer luck, surely thanks to the many conveniences enjoyed from Deputy City Lord Xiao; aspiring to Core Formation is simply impossible.

If the Foundation Establishment realm has sufficient resources, as long as it's not abysmally poor, the chance of success is high.

In reality, the vast majority of scattered cultivators who fail at Foundation Establishment in the Cultivation World lack resources.

But the Core Formation realm cannot be built solely with resources!

A cultivator's aptitude is an insurmountable threshold.

Moreover, the Lin sisters' time spent on Foundation Establishment is not long; even the elder sister has only cultivated for a dozen years, how could she so quickly reach a perfected Foundation and challenge Core Formation? "Perhaps Dao Companion Xiao brought someone back?"

Outside the cave residence.

Gu Zongyuan, Su Wushuang, and several Core Formation cultivators who permanently reside in Character: Liyang Immortal City have arrived.

They did not only just discover that someone in Xiao Zhangqing's cave residence was attempting to condense a Golden Core.

Three days ago, when Xiao Zhangqing first began the 'mana‑to‑crystal' process, this group of Core Formation Real Persons sensed the abnormal heavenly and earthly mana.

They all do not think that Xiao Zhangqing himself is the one cultivating the breakthrough.

Because in their view, Xiao Zhangqing has long already become a Golden Core True Person!

Even Gu Zongyuan, who had known Xiao Zhangqing from early on, initially thought Xiao Zhangqing was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but later, as Xiao Zhangqing slew the Blood Crow True Person, he began to doubt; then when Xiao Zhangqing repelled Zhu Qingyun, the later‑stage Golden Core of Da Yu's First Deep Sentiment, and eliminated the evil that rivaled a Nascent Soul's existence… a series of spectacular feats made Gu Zongyuan already in his heart deem Xiao Zhangqing a Golden Core True Person disguised as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

After all, facts speak louder than arguments.

The magical power and Soul Transformation that Xiao Zhangqing displayed are all at the Golden Core level.

Moreover, the achievements that even his master Character: Liyang True Person might not have attained—how could he be a Foundation Establishment cultivator? He's just a worldly player, a "old shady one" who likes to play the pig to eat the tiger! Su Wushuang and the other Golden Core True Persons thought even more so.

Therefore, at this moment, in their minds, they do not think Xiao Zhangqing himself is achieving the Golden Core breakthrough, but that someone else is.

"So quickly starting to condense the crystal into a pill? It's been less than three days…"

"The speed is too fast; is it proceeding this smoothly?"

"It seems that after a dozen years since Character: Liyang Immortal City, we will again witness the birth of a Golden Core True Person."

Su Wushuang saw the spiritual energy vortex spreading from Xiao Zhangqing's cave dwelling, already with bursts of rosy light appearing in the sky, covering the entire main peak, and felt a pang of envy in her heart.

She herself is a Golden Core cultivator, moreover a standout in the mid Golden Core stage, and does not envy early Golden Core cultivators.

She thought of the Baihua Valley she leads, where no Golden Core True Person has appeared for a long time.

A few years ago, after the sect spent a great deal of wealth and finally obtained a Condensing True Pill, a Foundation Establishment disciple with exceptional talent broke through, but in the end the effort failed, leaving the sect with an extra Fake Core True Person.

He barely condensed a 'Dead Pill', not even managing the lowest‑grade plain white Golden Core.

Now, the vibrations emanating from Xiao Zhangqing's cave dwelling and the speed of the condensation are, with high probability, truly successful rather than a failure on the brink.

"Back then, how long did it take me to go from crystal to pill? I don't remember, but later I heard Master say it seemed to have taken five days?"

Gu Zongyuan also muttered in his heart.

Now this mysterious cultivator's condensation speed is almost twice as fast as his! Indeed a bit exaggerated.

Of course.

The quality of the Golden Core is not judged by the speed of condensation, but when the Golden Core forms smoothly and quickly, generally the final core quality will not be too poor.

"I kind of want to ask Brother Xiao, who exactly is borrowing his cave dwelling to perform the Golden Core…"

Gu Zongyuan muttered in his mind, contemplating that if a newcomer were to form a Golden Core in Character: Liyang Immortal City with high quality and great prospects, perhaps he could win them over.

Unfortunately, Xiao Zhangqing's cave dwelling is sealed now, likely assisting in protection, so he cannot rashly disturb it.

When a cultivator breaks through, the biggest taboo is someone forming a formation.

……

"No wonder at this stage, almost all cultivators take Condensing True Pill…"

Xiao Zhangqing felt the changes within his dantian and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He could clearly feel his dantian constantly 'Boom— Boom— Boom—' collapsing.

This step first demands a very high aptitude.

The higher the spiritual root grade, the more the natural 'purification' effect on the raging heaven‑and‑earth spiritual energy absorption, making it less likely to lose control; the purified magical power flowing in quickly fills the void, preventing the flesh and dantian from being unable to endure a 'collapse'.

Ninety‑nine percent of cultivators at this stage can only take Condensing True Pill, relying on its massive medicinal power to aid the formation of the Golden Core.

Only cultivators with a Heavenly Spirit Root, when their foundation is sufficiently deep, have a slight chance to forgo Condensing True Pill and complete this step entirely on their own.

But even for Heavenly Spirit Root cultivators, doing so is extremely dangerous and can easily lose control.

Because if all attention is placed on absorbing and converting spiritual energy, the Soul Transformation becomes severely distracted and cannot focus on handling the dantian's changes.

And once loss of control occurs, the result is unbearable.

If it results in a 'Fake Pill', or fails to form a high‑quality Golden Core, the future may be completely ruined.

Thus in today's Cultivation World, even Heavenly Spirit Root cultivators condensing a Golden Core must take Condensing True Pill! No one dares to gamble.

"It seems I really could skip taking Condensing True Pill…"

Xiao Zhangqing's Soul Transformation, which has already matured to the extreme and begun mutating toward the Primordial Spirit, is not only powerful but exceedingly refined, able to clearly control every change of the flesh.

His spiritual root aptitude is sufficient, fully able to draw the magical power needed for core formation from heaven‑and‑earth spiritual energy; at the same time his Soul Transformation is strong enough to precisely manipulate every part of his body's changes.

The medicinal effect of Condensing True Pill is completely unnecessary.

"First, don't take Condensing True Pill… If I find I cannot control it, I'll take it immediately."

Xiao Zhangqing thought this in his mind.

He had already taken out the Condensing True Pill and kept it nearby.

He can take it at any time.

"Golden Core, emerge!"

After making up his mind, Xiao Zhangqing's Soul Transformation, nearly comparable to a Nascent Soul True Lord, suddenly surged with magical power, mobilizing his nearly solidified dantian and began to violently stir and rotate! Without any external aid, he could rely only on himself.

Yet even so, this crucial step of condensation proceeded very smoothly.

Buzz— a massive tremor rang out; if an ordinary cultivator lacked Condensing True Pill at this moment, they would fail outright and vomit blood.

But Xiao Zhangqing at this moment, aside from his brows tightly knit, showed no abnormality; not a single drop of sweat.

After his dantian had spun wildly for an unknown length of time, a huge 'sphere' began to take shape.

As heaven‑and‑earth magical power continuously poured in and Xiao Zhangqing's Soul Transformation 'pressured' it, the sphere rapidly began to collapse, condense, and be polished.

An inner core brimming with vitality and terrifying pressure officially formed.

For ordinary cultivators, the inner core initially forms as gray.

With continual polishing it becomes plain white; if the cultivator has talent and surplus energy, further polishing yields a faint gold hue, though with many specks; if one reaches the end, it becomes perfectly flawless, the topmost crimson Golden Core! How far one progresses depends on talent and foundation.

A Fake Pill cultivator is one whose inner core, after forming, has already exhausted its potential and cannot continue polishing; the inner core remains a gray, lifeless void, never reviving.

In the Cultivation World, Fake Pill cultivators outnumber Golden Core cultivators!

Generally, only Earth Spirit Root cultivators are qualified to continue polishing after inner core condensation, striving to achieve a 'golden' inner core.

Xiao Zhangqing is very familiar with these procedures.

But at this moment he was somewhat surprised and bewildered…

"Why is my inner pill just formed, hasn't even been refined, yet it's already emitting golden light?" (End of chapter)