Chapter 230: The Divine Fetus is Formed, the Four Directions are Alarmed

There are no walls in the world that are completely airtight; the day Lu Yuan rented the cave dwelling, the news reached the ears of other Golden Core Cultivators within the Immortal City.

Although these Golden Core Real Persons were somewhat curious, they only paid a little attention and took no further action; only True Monarch Liuyun, who managed the Immortal City's affairs on behalf of True Monarch Huanglong, sent his servants to deliver a visiting card a few days later, preparing to pay a personal visit.

Lu Yuan, who had just prepared to enter seclusion, was not surprised; he accepted the visiting card immediately and ordered two maidservants to prepare some Spirit Wine and Spirit Fruit to welcome the other party.

This morning.

Three streaks of immortal light whistled over from afar and stopped before the mountain-protecting formation of Zizhu Peak. One could see True Monarch Liuyun stepping on auspicious clouds, accompanied by two young Daoist acolytes, his voice clear and resonant in the void:

"Is Fellow Daoist Lu at home? I am Liuyun, here specifically to pay a visit."

The voice drifted and lingered, and after only a few breaths, the light of the formation rippled, revealing a passage made of cloud vapor. Lu Yuan flew out gracefully with two maidservants and bowed politely:

"I, Lu, have met the Immortal City's Immortal Official. Your arrival is a great honor, and I apologize for not welcoming you sooner. Please, come in, please."

Immortal Official was True Monarch Liuyun's position within the Immortal City, representing one who was below only one person but above ten thousand; coupled with his status as the True Disciple of True Monarch Huanglong, even Golden Core Real Persons had to treat him with respect.

True Monarch Liuyun was quite satisfied with Lu Yuan's attitude, a warm smile on his face:

"Real Person Lu is too polite; it is I who am disturbing you."

As he spoke, amidst the exchange of pleasantries, both parties entered the guest hall of the Zizhu Peak cave dwelling, and the two maidservants hurriedly served Spirit Fruit and Spirit Tea.

Lu Yuan used the tea as a gesture of courtesy:

"I have just arrived and am still familiarizing myself with the environment. The conditions are a bit crude, so I hope the Real Person will not mind."

True Monarch Liuyun did not mind at all:

"How could cultivators like us care about such things? Fellow Daoist Lu, having so few servants as a Golden Core Real Person, shows that you are someone who enjoys tranquility and is single-mindedly devoted to the Dao; your future path will surely be able to go much further. I heard that Fellow Daoist Lu is a rogue cultivator?"

Lu Yuan knew that the purpose of the other party's visit was to probe his background, so he immediately brought out the prepared explanation:

"My ancestors were cultivators from the Beihao Continent. After it completely fell over a thousand years ago, my forebears crossed the ocean, endured countless hardships, and stepped onto the land of the Xiyanzhou, settling down in Zhuxing Immortal City in the Eastern Region to establish a family, and were even fortunate enough to become a Golden Core family."

"It is a pity that such a scene only lasted for a few hundred years. Later, the Corpse Demon Catastrophe crossed the sea and ravaged the Eastern Region; Zhuxing Immortal City and even my family were all wiped out. Only a few scattered descendants escaped with their lives, but they were separated from one another, leaving only my parents, who drifted about and became rogue cultivators."

This experience of his was not fabricated out of thin air, but rather, such a cultivator truly existed.

Of course, this cultivator's experience actually came from the memories of Bai Qianfeng, who was originally a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator active in the Inner Region over twenty years ago, secretly engaged in the business of a bandit cultivator.

In order to collect materials for a Condensing Crystal Pill, Bai Qianfeng himself had once gone to the Zhuque Immortal City in the Inner Region, only to have a dispute at an auction with this same bandit cultivator who was also collecting materials for a Condensing Crystal Pill, which, after a series of schemes and counter-schemes, developed into mutual ambushes and assassinations.

The final result was that this Foundation Establishment Late Stage bandit cultivator was killed by Bai Qianfeng, who was already approaching the peak of Foundation Establishment, and he was even subjected to Soul Searching, with all his possessions becoming someone else's wedding dress.

Lu Yuan had racked his brains to find a reasonable cover for his identity, and having finally discovered this memory, he immediately swapped it for his own.

"Under a collapsed nest, there are no intact eggs; under a catastrophe, all living beings fall. We cultivators of Qi Refining can only struggle to survive in the midst of great changes."

After the Beihao Continent fell, a large number of cultivators did indeed flee to the Xiyanzhou. True Monarch Liuyun sighed slightly and changed the subject:

"Observing your appearance, Fellow Daoist, you are so young; I presume you were at most a little over a hundred years old when you broke through to the Golden Core stage? I wonder in which Immortal City you achieved the Golden Core realm?"

Cultivators of Qi Refining, without taking a Face-Preserving Pill, will still have their appearance age with time, only at a much slower rate.

Generally speaking, most male cultivators would not deliberately take a Face-Preserving Pill, so any Golden Core Cultivator who looks young is highly likely to be a person of exceptional talent, having entered the Golden Core realm at around a hundred years of age.

And knowing in which Immortal City one broke through to the Golden Core stage could further trace the origin and determine if the other party's background was fake.

Lu Yuan's expression did not change as he replied:

"I have cultivated the Dao for one hundred and seventy years, and the breakthrough to Golden Core happened sixty years ago. At that time, I happened to be pursued by enemies, so I did not break through in a Spirit Pulse dojo within an Immortal City. Instead, I relied on the meager remaining resources passed down by my family to luckily achieve the breakthrough."

The process of breaking through from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core is extremely dangerous; without the abundant Spiritual Machine environment of a Spirit Pulse dojo, the success rate of the breakthrough would be greatly reduced. This explanation was clearly a bit hard to believe. True Monarch Liuyun's eyes flickered, but he did not continue to press, instead saying:

"Without the assistance of a Spirit Pulse dojo, the success rate of breaking through from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core is greatly discounted. For Fellow Daoist Lu to still be able to break through in such an environment, you are truly a dragon among men."

"Not at all, not at all."

Lu Yuan feigned humility:

"The Real Person praises me too much. Geniuses in the world are as numerous as the crucian carp in the river; my achievement really counts for nothing."

True Monarch Liuyun got straight to the point:

"This is not excessive praise. In the world of immortal cultivation, anyone who can break through to the Golden Core stage before the age of one hundred and fifty is an extraordinary figure with the possibility of touching the Nascent Soul Realm. Since you have no sect or family, it is fate that you have come to our Longshan Immortal City to stay for a while. I wonder what plans you have for the future, and if you have any interest in joining our Longshan Immortal City?"

"Our Longshan Immortal City widely recruits talented people. If a Golden Core Real Person like you joins and signs a Spirit Contract, you will enjoy very superior welfare benefits. First, this Zizhu Peak cave dwelling can be allocated to you at a discount or even for free. In addition, the exchange of various techniques, Secret Techniques, Pills, and Dharma Treasures in the Immortal City and Immortal Alliance treasury will be opened to you level by level. If you have enough Merit, you can even request my master, True Monarch Huanglong, to clear up your confusion regarding cultivation. With all these things, are you interested, Fellow Daoist?"

Lu Yuan showed a slight look of being moved, and after pondering for a while, he said:

"If I join the Immortal City, must I follow orders and frequently go to the front line to fight the Corpse Demons?"

True Monarch Liuyun said:

"That depends on what you are good at, Fellow Daoist. Those who are good at fighting and have no other specialties naturally can only exert their greatest effect on the front-line battlefield to accumulate Merit; but if you are skilled in alchemy, artifact refining, talismans, arrays, or other cultivation techniques, you naturally do not need to go to the front line and can similarly earn Merit and gain Merit within the Immortal City."

"I understand."

Lu Yuan considered it for a moment, then played tai chi:

"To tell you the truth, I have encountered some bottlenecks in my cultivation during this period. The reason I came to Longshan Immortal City to rent a cave dwelling is also to borrow the local Spirit Pulse to seclude myself and cultivate for a period of time. As for joining the Immortal City, I am afraid I must weigh it carefully and cannot give you an answer immediately."

"No matter."

True Monarch Liuyun said:

"This is not a small matter; it should indeed be considered carefully. Before that, Fellow Daoist Lu can cultivate in peace. Whenever you have made up your mind, you can send someone to inform me."

Afterward.

After chatting for a while longer in a lukewarm manner, True Monarch Liuyun rose to take his leave and drifted away with his two young acolytes.

Watching the other party leave, Lu Yuan, who had personally seen him off at the door of the cave dwelling, smiled nonchalantly and then turned back into the residence.

Not immediately agreeing to the recruitment was not a tactic of playing hard to get, but because his primary task now was to break through to the middle stage of Refining Qi into Spirit.

After breaking through to the middle stage, he would fully possess the strength to contend with the Nascent Soul level, and only then could he carry out his plan of occupying the magpie's nest in this Longshan Immortal City!

At the same time.

After leaving Zizhu Peak, True Monarch Liuyun did not return to his own cave dwelling, but headed straight for the core area of the Spirit Pulse, Linglong Peak, which represented the highest authority of the Immortal City.

Linglong Peak is a thousand zhang high; looking down, the mountain ridge resembles the body of a dragon, and the peak resembles the head of a dragon, which is why it is called Linglong.

Around this peak, the Spiritual Machine is extremely dense, even forming patches of faint spirit mist that linger among the towering mountains and ridges.

True Monarch Liuyun dismissed the acolytes, flew to the top of the mountain alone, and bowed respectfully toward the mountain peak obscured by clouds and mist:

"Master, your disciple Liuyun requests an audience."

After the voice fell, the rippling spiritual mist dispersed, revealing a clear path.

Golden Core Real Person Liuyun descended, then walked straight along the stone stairs, soon arriving before a thatched cottage that looked quite simple.

Inside the thatched cottage, a figure like a sculpture sat in meditation with eyes closed; he did not even open his eyes at the arrival of Golden Core Real Person Liuyun, only saying faintly:

"What is the matter?"

Naturally, this was True Monarch Huanglong.

There was no palace, no great hall; this was the cultivation thatched cottage where this Nascent Soul Great Cultivator contemplated the nature of Heaven and Earth.

Golden Core Real Person Liuyun said respectfully:

"Master, this disciple has already made contact with that foreign Golden Core rogue cultivator. The Dharma Power aura on this person is upright and peaceful; they should be practicing a righteous path technique, not some evil path cultivation. Furthermore, the person claims to be a descendant of cultivators from the Beihao Continent, whose ancestors, after fleeing to Xiyanzhou, had established a cultivation family in Zhuxing Immortal City and had even produced a Golden Core Real Person.

It is just that later, Zhuxing Immortal City was also destroyed under the Corpse Demon Catastrophe, and this person's family fell apart along with it, making it quite difficult to verify."

True Monarch Huanglong said faintly:

"At which Immortal City did they break through and promote to the Golden Core Realm?"

Golden Core Real Person Liuyun replied:

"Reporting to Master, this person claims that at the time, they were facing pursuit from enemies, so they dared not break through within an Immortal City, but instead took a desperate gamble in a remote, uninhabited place in the wilderness and succeeded in the breakthrough.

However, this disciple believes that all of this person's claims are difficult to verify, and their identity and background clearly have some issues; it is unknown whether they committed some major crime or provoked some enemy. Moreover, when this disciple extended an invitation, this person claimed they needed to consider it; it is unknown if they are playing hard to get.

This is what this disciple thinks: although this person's background has some issues, the Immortal City is precisely in a time of lacking manpower. If they are willing to serve the Immortal City, they can be kept; if they are unwilling, this disciple intends to expel them to avoid trouble. What do you think...?"

True Monarch Huanglong did not even lift his eyelids, and his tone did not show any ripples:

"Just a Golden Core Cultivator, they cannot stir up any waves here in Longshan Immortal City. Whether to expel or recruit, you may decide for yourself."

Golden Core Real Person Liuyun immediately bowed:

"This disciple understands."

They did not know about this small interlude.

After Golden Core Real Person Liuyun's visit, Lu Yuan began his closed-door cultivation, declining all outside guests.

In the time that followed, the vast Longshan Immortal City was calm and peaceful, and the front-line positions, apart from a few scattered small and medium-sized Corpse Tides, had no other dangerous situations occur.

However, because three Golden Core combatants had been lost previously, Qin Ruoning, who had been temporarily requisitioned, became a long-term stationer at the defensive line and had not yet returned to the Immortal City.

And even so, she learned of Lu Yuan moving into Zizhu Peak and entering closed-door cultivation, and sighed at Lu Yuan's boldness born of high skill.

Su Lingyue, who was also an inside agent, learned of the situation through a message from Lu Yuan before his closed-door cultivation; although she was extremely curious about how Lu Yuan managed to fake his death and escape under the eyes of so many Golden Core Cultivators, she restrained herself from visiting, so as not to expose their relationship.

Just like that, a year passed in a flash.

This day, inside the Zizhu Peak cave dwelling.

In the vast quiet room, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, the spiritual Qi and Original Qi around his body like a sea and tide, crazily surging into his body.

When Nine Breaths Serving Qi is used without concealment, it swallows spiritual Qi and Original Qi like a whale, which would cause anomalies in the void and be sensed by other Golden Core Cultivators nearby; however, after moving into Zizhu Peak, Lu Yuan had long since used his Array Formation Supernatural Power to set up a shielding array called the Concealing Star Hiding Moon Array.

This array can isolate the divine sense scans of other cultivators and can also isolate all fluctuations of Spiritual Machine; let alone the commotion caused by Nine Breaths Serving Qi, even his current breakthrough from Refining Qi into Spirit to Refining Spirit into Void could be hidden within the array, leaving the cultivators of the entire Immortal City unable to perceive it.

Hum.

At this moment, there were rumbles in Lu Yuan's dantian, like thunder; looking inward, one could see a brilliant Original Core radiating boundless light in the Qi Sea of the dantian, emitting a miraculous rhythm, as if a tiny spirit were hidden within it, about to break out of its shell.

In fact, that was the case.

After an unknown amount of time, only a 'Crack!' was heard; the surface of the brilliant Original Core suddenly shattered, and a tiny person radiating boundless light took its place and manifested!

This tiny person resembled Lu Yuan; when it broke out of the core, the entire Qi Sea shook, as if Heaven and Earth were being created, causing his entire body's Dharma Power to ripple violently. In the Qi Sea, it faintly transformed into the vague shapes of yin and yang dragons and tigers, vivid and lifelike, intertwining with each other, running and leaping; a vigorous, majestic, and Heaven-and-Earth-integrated Immortal Machine spirituality spread out.

It was indeed the mid-stage of Refining Qi into Spirit, the God Embryo Realm comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm; it was done!

At the moment of the breakthrough, the wind and clouds in the sky stilled.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes and deliberately opened a corner of the Concealing Star Hiding Moon Array, allowing a trace of his breakthrough aura to leak out. In an instant, all trees above and below the mountain peak bowed their heads, all living things fell silent, and an invisible, sky-piercing deterrent aura swept across the eight directions, pushing away layers of clouds and mist, sweeping out from the peak of Zizhu Peak like a gale and rainstorm.

This kind of commotion was shocking enough even with only a portion; in an instant, within dozens of miles around Zizhu Peak, all the Golden Core Real Persons cultivating in their cave dwellings felt an invisible palpitation in their hearts and turned their shocked gazes toward the source of the fluctuation:

"Hmm? This aura!?"

"With this kind of Dharma Power aura, someone has broken through to the Jiedan Late Stage!?"

"In this direction, it seems like that foreign rogue cultivator on Zizhu Peak has broken through to the Jiedan Late Stage!?"