Chapter 345: Golden Core Sects Clash Begins

Qin Ming put away his Golden Core, reached out, and scooped up Yan Laomo's storage bag into his own.

He then destroyed the withered corpse completely.

After finishing this, Qin Ming recalled his spiritual pet and returned to the island.

On Wangyue Island, the uproar outside had naturally been heard by the Wu family.

Seeing Qin Ming return unharmed, Wu Jiang finally let out a long breath of relief.

He nervously approached Qin Ming and asked:

"Master, what just happened outside?"

"Nothing happened. It's all resolved."

"You needn't worry. Go back to your duties."

Qin Ming said coolly.

"Ah? Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Jiang led the others back to the spirit fields to resume farming.

As he walked, he muttered inwardly.

"They were fighting so fiercely it shook heaven and earth—and this is called 'nothing happened'?"

"Who would believe that?"

Yet each time Qin Ming acted as if nothing had occurred, Wu Jiang had grown accustomed to it.

…

Qin Ming went to his life-spirit plant, Yin-Yang Xuan Teng, and replanted the three Wood Emperor Nails.

After this battle, he had full confidence in the power of this top-tier magic treasure.

Ordinary low-grade magic treasures shattered at the mere touch of the Wood Emperor Nails.

After incorporating Solar Essence Gold, they were especially devastating against demonic and ghostly entities.

Then, Qin Ming fed the blood pearl from Yan Laomo to the Yin-Yang Xuan Teng.

Instantly,

the black vines unfurled and danced, and the blood pearl caused the Xuan Teng to grow significantly.

More importantly, after absorbing the age-energy from the Golden Core-level blood pearl, the magic treasure had effectively been nurtured in the dantian for hundreds of years—in just this brief moment.

Far faster than nurturing it himself within his dantian.

Inside the cave dwelling,

Qin Ming took out Yan Laomo's storage bag, forcibly erased its sealing marks with his spiritual sense, and opened it to inspect its contents.

Yan Laomo was a rogue demonic cultivator outside the Six Demon Sects, cruel in method and merciless in nature.

He had roamed the demonic path for centuries, making him a notable figure.

Thus, his storage bag was overflowing: dozens of high-grade spirit stones, tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones, and countless other spiritual materials and resources.

Most of it, however, was geared toward demonic cultivation techniques.

"Why would Yan Laomo be allied with Lingyun Sect of the Jin Kingdom?"

"There must be hidden secrets behind this."

"But such petty intrigues between sects are none of my concern."

"Still… that fellow named Duanmu Sheng—I'll keep him marked for now. Let him dance a few more days."

"I've retreated here to live in peace—and yet he dares to target me…"

"I hope he's still alive when I emerge. Otherwise, I'll level his grave and scrape off the grass."

After pondering for a while,

Qin Ming summoned Wu Jiang over.

"Master, what do you require?" Wu Jiang dropped his farming tools and hurried over.

Qin Ming said coolly: "I will enter seclusion for a while. No one is to disturb me."

"If anyone comes after this, ignore them entirely until I emerge."

During this time, he had fully mastered the formula for forming a Golden Core and now felt confident enough to begin refining the elixir.

Thus, the preparatory work naturally needed to be done.

"Understood, Master. Rest assured," Wu Jiang replied quickly.

Afterwards,

Qin Ming studied Wu Jiang carefully, making him feel uneasy.

Wu Jiang hesitated and asked: "Master, is there something else?"

"Hmm. Decades have passed."

"You've served under me for so long," Qin Ming said with a faint smile.

Wu Jiang blinked, scratched his head, and chuckled: "Time really flies, huh."

Seeing his demeanor, Qin Ming sighed, as if seeing the young man who had once roamed the world.

"I observe your spiritual power is stable—you've reached Qi Refining peak."

"Given all these years, I have one Foundation Establishment Pill to sell you—for eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones."

*Buzz~* Hearing this, Wu Jiang's mind went blank. He stammered: "M-Master Qin, are you serious?"

Qin Ming found his reaction amusing and nodded.

Wu Jiang's heart surged with excitement. For years, his family had labored on the spirit island, accumulating modest savings.

Eighty thousand spirit stones—he could afford them.

Foundation Establishment Pills, as a strategic resource monopolized by major sects, were unobtainable even with spirit stones on the open market.

Even if one obtained one, one might not live long enough to use it.

Wu Jiang had long believed his cultivation path ended here, and had placed all his hopes on his two children.

Yet today, hope had reignited! He quickly retrieved the full amount of spirit stones and handed them to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming took the spirit stones and handed him a delicate jade vial.

Wu Jiang trembled as he opened it and saw a deep blue elixir resting quietly inside, radiating a stunning aura.

On the surface of the pill, five distinct pill patterns were clearly visible.

"Premium Foundation Establishment Pill!"

"Thank you so much, Master!"

Wu Jiang was overwhelmed with emotion. All these years hadn't been wasted serving Qin Ming—this premium pill was worth far more than eighty thousand spirit stones.

He hadn't expected Qin Master to give him one of premium quality. "Good. Stabilize your cultivation and strive for Foundation Establishment."

"You're not young anymore. Advanced-age Foundation Establishment demands high vitality."

"But over these years, your daily farming has strengthened your body well, heh!"

"Though old, you should still manage it."

"History records cultivators who achieved Foundation Establishment even in their seventies."

Qin Ming said calmly, then instructed Wu Jiang on key points to note during Foundation Establishment.

Wu Jiang bowed deeply, thanking him profusely.

With the instructions complete,

Qin Ming dismissed him.

"Now, I too shall begin refining the Golden Core Elixir!"

Qin Ming's gaze was sharp, his every movement radiating strong confidence.

In an instant,

countless third-grade spiritual materials flew from his storage bag and hovered around him in the air.

Most prominent were the ice-blue Huanyou Zhen Yin Flower and the crimson-gold Yuhuo Jin Lian.

Qin Ming had preserved the spiritual seeds of these high-grade materials; he could cultivate them again if needed.

Qin Ming took out the Xuan Jade Furnace, exhaled, and released a third-grade Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame, which took the form of a blue-green firebird.

All preparations complete, Qin Ming began refining the Golden Core Elixir, following the formula with practiced ease.

…

Half a year passed.

Inside the cave dwelling,

Qin Ming reached out, drew forth a clump of blackened medicinal residue from the bottom of the furnace, and gently pinched it between his fingers to examine.

Inside, a small half-formed crimson-gold pill was visible.

"Third failure."

"But this time, I'm much closer to success."

"The difficulty of refining the Golden Core Elixir is truly extraordinary."

He had secluded himself for over half a year and decided to step outside for fresh air—to reset his mind. Perhaps next time, he'd succeed.

Qin Ming walked outside the cave and saw the Spirit-Devouring Rat grinning as it ran up to him. "Master, during your seclusion, that little vixen from Jingxue Pavilion came to see you several times."

"Since you were in seclusion, she didn't disturb you."

Qin Ming was somewhat surprised. "Gu Qingzhao came looking for me? Why?"

"Could it be another demon in disguise?"

"Heh! It's really her—I had Wu Jiang write down her message as a letter."

"Here, it's all inside." With that, the Devouring Rat handed Qin Ming a jade slip.

After Qin Ming scanned the contents of the jade slip, his brows knitted into a deep frown.

Seeing Qin Ming's rare solemn expression, the Devouring Rat asked, "Master, has something happened?"

"Yes, the situation has grown chaotic again."

"The final decisive battle between the Spirit Feather Sect and the Lei Yuanzong will happen soon."

"The heavens of Wei State may soon change."

From intelligence provided by Gu Qing, Qin Ming learned that over the past six months, the Spirit Feather Sect and the Lei Yuanzong had secretly withdrawn large numbers of personnel and made frequent strategic deployments.

They were likely preparing for their final, life-or-death clash.

After his last meeting with Yuwen Hong, Qin Ming had already suspected as much, and had foreseen the coming war—though he never expected it to arrive so swiftly.

Gu Qing had urgently sought Qin Ming because the spiritual energy Archipelago, though resource-poor and not a strategically vital region, had become critical.

In recent years, the ghost plague ravaging Liang State had spilled into Wei State, severing many key routes and territories under ghost control.

The spiritual energy Archipelago had thus become the unavoidable passage for both sects' armies, and risked being caught in the crossfire.

Suddenly, it had been thrust to the center of the storm.

In every line, Qin Ming could sense Gu Qing's deep concern for his safety.

"Sigh—the cultivation world is ever-changing, truly unpredictable."

Qin Ming immediately wrote a letter, summoned Wu Jiang, and ordered him to deliver the reply to Gu Qing.

…

Time passed, and before long, two months had gone by.

One day.

Above Wangyue Lake, a vast dark shadow suddenly appeared.

Qin Ming, who was refining pills in his cave, naturally sensed the disturbance outside; he immediately released his spiritual sense to survey the sky.

There, countless magic warships surged en masse through the spiritual energy Archipelago, advancing toward the Lei Yuanzong.

The sheer might of the massive cultivation army was terrifying—greater than any force Qin Ming had ever witnessed.

On every mast hung the emblem of the Spirit Feather Sect, uniform and unyielding.

Behind them followed numerous smaller factions allied with the Spirit Feather Sect.

Such scale made heaven and earth tremble.

On the thousand-zhang flagship leading the Spirit Feather Sect stood a man of ethereal bearing—Yuwen Hong, the sect's Jin Dan Ancestor.

As he passed, he stood at the prow and gazed deeply, from afar, toward Wangyue Island.

It took two full days for the entire Spirit Feather Sect army to pass over the spiritual energy Archipelago.

"I never expected the Spirit Feather Sect to strike first."

"It seems Yuwen Hong has some advantage in mind."

Qin Ming gazed at the clear sky, lost in thought.

…

As days passed, news of the clash between the two Jin Dan sects trickled back to Wangyue Island.

Yet at this critical moment, Qin Ming paid no heed to the outside world, devoting his full attention to pill refining.

…

(End of Chapter)