Chapter 166

Spiritual sense.

His spiritual sense began to spread outward without cease, deliberately skirting and avoiding some cave-dwellings, encountering no obstruction.

Even.

Some early Jie Dan cultivators who had gone out to watch the celestial phenomena of forming a golden core could not even feel a spiritual sense sweeping over them.

Five li, ten li, fifteen li, twenty li

Seated in the cultivation chamber, Yunhe's eyes slowly widened; he had never felt his spiritual sense could be this strong!

Combining the description of spiritual sense for Jie Dan cultivators in the 'Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Art,' Yunhe formed a rough guess about his current spiritual sense.

Perhaps an ordinary Late Jie Dan cultivator's spiritual sense is no more than this.

He cannot make an accurate judgment, for he has never seen a true Late Jie Dan cultivator, let alone witnessed their spiritual sense.

But one thing is certain.

Right now his spiritual sense can absolutely crush early Jie Dan cultivators!

Just the distance and range covered by his spiritual sense is several times that of an early Jie Dan cultivator!

This is greatly related to his innate strong spiritual sense and his having cultivated the 'Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Art' to minor success in the third layer.

Relying solely on spiritual sense, a cultivator of mid Jie Dan or lower could not possibly sneak-attack me.

The strength of spiritual sense is an important factor for self-preservation, even saying it is the primary factor is not an exaggeration.

After a brief trial, Yunhe dared not be lax, lest he provoke someone he shouldn't; he immediately retracted his spiritual sense entirely.

Apart from spiritual sense, the biggest change is undoubtedly his mana.

He circulated the seventh technique of the Foundation Establishment stage of the 'Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture'; surging mana flowed through his body like rushing rivers, howling without cease.

No wonder Jie Dan cultivators can truly freely command ancient treasures; this breakthrough increased his total mana by more than tenfold!

The five-elements golden core, after nine breaks and nine unions, nine revolutions to form the core, has already compressed his mana to the extreme.

Yunhe inspected inwardly with his spiritual sense.

Within his dantian qi sea, now several times broader, the five-element spirit beast phantasms forming the five-element spirit body guard a flawless, radiant golden core.

At the center of the five-elements golden core, faintly, a strand of five-colored fire blazes fiercely.

This is the core fire!

In power it far surpasses the innate true fire of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Yunhe's core fire, due to his cultivation of the 'Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture,' is not ordinary core fire but five-element core fire, containing the five elements.

And possessing core fire means he can finally use it to refine and polish his own magic treasure; this is one of the strongest means for Jie Dan cultivators to face enemies.

Speaking of magic treasures.

In fact, Yunhe already has two in his hand.

One is the 'Black Wood Seal' taken from Wang Clan's ancestor Wang Pei; it is a demonic path magic treasure, containing yin corpse qi, unsuitable for him, so he early on threw it to the Heaven Capital Gu Corpse; now, under the corpse elixir's core fire tempering of that Gu Corpse, it is barely usable.

The other is the fire-attributed magic treasure 'Vermilion Bird Ring' obtained after killing Spirit Beast Sect's Jie Dan elder Xiao Shanhe.

This treasure's power is not weak; though a fire-attributed magic treasure cannot be said to fully suit Yunhe, it can still serve temporarily as a protective treasure.

And his ultimate goal remains to temper his natal magic treasure, and he has long had a target in mind.

Using 'Heavenly Thunder Gold Essence,' an extremely rare metal, as the main material, and following the 'Five Elements Sword Art' from the 'Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture' to refine that treasure.

However, though he has gathered the main material 'Heavenly Thunder Gold Essence,' the auxiliary fire-wood materials for refining remain undecided.

The best would naturally be 'fire-wood paulownia,' but he only has a tiny root fragment that has yet to take root and grow; waiting until it reaches usable size could take who knows how long—maybe the year of the monkey and horse.

Although he later bought 'firewood ironwood,' this fire-wood is also uncommon, a top-grade refining material, yet no matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem worthy to pair with 'Heavenly Thunder Gold Essence,' a top-tier material in the whole cultivation world.

'One who has gathered all precious main materials for refining a magic treasure yet cannot refine it due to auxiliary materials—perhaps I am the only one in the entire cultivation world.'

Yunhe gave a self-mocking laugh.

But no matter what, refining his natal magic treasure remains his primary goal for the coming period.

After all, the earlier the magic treasure is completed and tempered, the greater the benefits.

Many factors determine a magic treasure's power: the refining secret art, the materials used, and the time and intensity with which the cultivator tempers it using primordial spirit and true essence.

Needless to say, the refining secret art: with the same materials, a treasure made by ordinary methods cannot compare in power to one made by secret methods, and secret-method treasures have greater potential for improvement.

Likewise, the materials used: with the same refining method, the resulting treasure differs greatly in both power and potential.

But it does not mean that a treasure forged from the finest materials and best secret art will necessarily overpower all other treasures after completion.

A magic treasure's true power still requires the cultivator who forged it to continually temper it with true essence and primordial spirit, polishing and nurturing, to gradually reveal its true strength.

If the treasure's owner is lazy and unwilling to spend much time tempering it, then even a treasure made from the most precious materials and supreme refining method will truly not match the power of an ordinary magic treasure tempered day and night by a cultivator.

Of course.

Upon reaching the Jie Dan realm, cultivation methods and treasure tempering cannot proceed simultaneously, so many Jie Dan cultivators struggle between the two.

Should one focus desperately on raising cultivation base, or place emphasis on the treasure, tempering it to boost combat ability?

This requires Jie Dan cultivators to confidently assess and judge according to their own circumstances.

In short, the superiority in cultivation base and realm is undeniable, but at the same realm, the side that expends more energy on tempering treasures can, to some extent, hold a considerable advantage.

Therefore.

After forming a golden core, refining one's natal magic treasure as soon as possible is of paramount importance.

'Is it better to lack than to excess, refining a treasure with limitless potential, or to make do and produce one early to start tempering? This too is a problem.'

Yunhe let out a long sigh.

'How did I end up with so much 'Heavenly Thunder Gold Essence'? Tsk.'

The worries after forming a golden core are also not few.

Even if, to other cultivators, this might be a 'happy' worry.

Three days later.

The gate of the thirty‑seventh abode in District Four finally opened.

A figure flashed, Yunhe, having tidied his disheveled appearance, stepped out of the abode.

A strand of golden sunlight happened to shine on his face, adding a touch more joy to his smile.

Hehe, I've reached the Golden Core realm.

Even though several days had passed since his successful breakthrough to Golden Core, the joy in Yunhe's heart could not be suppressed.

At this moment, his every gesture bore a tremendous aura, as if he had become a different person.

He lightly calculated with his fingers.

Twenty‑five years of seclusion—another record‑breaking closed‑door period.

After two consecutive periods of seclusion, such a long time had passed in an instant, giving him a feeling as if he had been separated from the world.

It seemed that everything that had happened in the Qingzong Sect belonged to the distant past.

So I am now one hundred and ten years old?

Even a cultivator like him only reached Golden Core at one hundred ten; one can imagine how difficult it is for other cultivators to achieve Golden Core.

Of course.

Not everyone needs to prepare as thoroughly as he did.

He walked slowly to the abode's exterior, took out his token, cast a spell to dispel the barrier, and saw outside the abode's restriction dozens of message talismans of various colors and forms flying about chaotically.

Seeing this, Yunhe raised his eyebrows slightly, waved his hand to draw all the talismans into his palm, and then proceeded to examine them one by one.

After looking them over, his expression was strange.

Among these talismans, some were congratulatory messages from Golden Core cultivators around his abode, and many even invited him to visit for further exchange of experience.

Another large part consisted of recruitment overtures from various sects, big and small; some smaller sects offered to invite him as a guest elder, promising precious materials, Spirit Stones, and even furnaces for alchemy.

As for the larger sects, besides those offers, they also required various cultivation techniques and secret manuals.

Yunhe merely smiled at these, casually drew a talisman and replied with a refusal.

As for the talismans from fellow Golden Core cultivators, he pondered a bit and then carefully crafted his replies one by one.

Exchanging more with fellow cultivators is certainly not a bad thing.

Actually, the most extravagant thing is not these talismans.

Rather, as soon as Yunhe dispelled the barrier, some cultivators who had been waiting specially at this spot approached him immediately after he finished replying to the talismans.

Without exception.

These people were all there to invite him to join a certain sect or faction.

The most extravagant was a middle‑aged cultivator at the early Foundation Establishment stage who directly brought two beautiful, voluptuous female cultivators to his door, declaring that if Yunhe agreed to join their sect as a guest elder, they would regularly send him maidservants for pleasure or as alchemical furnaces.

Yunhe couldn't help but press his forehead in exasperation.

In the end, Yunhe frightened that person away by releasing his aura.

When did I give people the impression that I'm lustful for women?

After thinking, he realized that since arriving at Yun Palace City, he had hardly set foot on the streets.

This person probably just came to try his luck.

Yet from these matters big and small, one can see that even in the so‑called Myriad Immortals City of Yun Palace City, Golden Core cultivators are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

"But one cannot be careless; rarity does not mean absence, and there are even more formidable beings."

Yunhe turned his head to gaze at the towering "Heaven Pillar Mountain."

The days that followed.

Yunhe, while refining the Vermilion Bird Ring,

Although this treasure is the natal artifact of Xiao Shanhe, after his refinement it can exert at most seventy percent of its power, yet it is still far stronger than any Spiritual Artifact he previously possessed.

He also went about visiting neighbors.

He visited the Golden Core cultivators who had sent him talismans, chatting happily with them and learning many points to note after entering the Golden Core realm.

These were no secrets, so those cultivators were glad to use the opportunity to build a good relationship with Yunhe, from which he benefited greatly.

Over a not‑short period, he gradually blended into a small circle of Golden Core cultivators residing on Heaven Pillar Mountain.

At least, it appeared that he had integrated.

At the same time, he began searching Yun Palace City for rare fire‑wood spiritual materials, hoping to find satisfactory ingredients to forge his natal treasure sooner.

Naturally, he also held several small exchange meetings with those Golden Core cultivators, each contributing what they needed, making for a mutually satisfying gathering.

Upon reaching the Golden Core stage, Spirit Stones are no longer a sturdy currency unless they are of medium grade or higher, which still retain decent purchasing power.

Besides that, Yunhe once again turned part of his attention to the "Crimson Shadow Golden‑winged Bees."

After twenty‑five years of continual selection, breeding, and new cultivation, these bees finally reached a certain scale.

Although in Yunhe's view they have not yet been cultivated to the limit of their potential, the swarm already possesses sufficient power.

With the Vermilion Bird Ring, the Corpse‑Guarding Insects of Heaven, and the new bee swarm, Yunhe is now completely at ease.

Holding to the principle of "better none than excess," he resolved to find top‑grade fire‑wood materials worthy of the Heavenly Thunder Gold Essence before beginning to refine his natal treasure.

(End of chapter)