Chapter 486

The furnace was the Divine Fire Furnace, comparable to a mid-grade Dao artifact or even a supreme-grade sky-obscuring magic treasure.

As soon as these two Dao artifacts appeared in the void, they emitted boundless divine light, radiating terrifying protective radiance that shielded Fang Yu from all harms.

Within Fang Yu's body, countless Heaven-grade elixirs—such as the five Nirvana Elixirs he had commissioned Exalted Linglong to procure, along with past treasures like the Dragon God Elixir and the Five Cloud Ascension Elixir—were absorbed without restraint into his Golden Core.

Chii!

It was as if a mountain of flame had been doused with an entire lake of oil.

With such an abundance of Heaven-grade elixir Xu Yuan Qi nourishing it, Fang Yu's Golden Core underwent direct transformation, solidifying into a tangible form.

At the moment it solidified, Fang Yu's physical body vanished in a flash, having been drawn into the very core of the Golden Core.

At this moment of Golden Core transformation, all Divine Abilities and the physical body undergo refinement; ultimately, the body's lifespan greatly increases, and the Divine Abilities become more agile—this is a qualitative change.

Precisely because of this, cultivators must master as many Divine Abilities as possible before transforming their Golden Core, so that upon ascending to the Golden Core Realm, their lifespan increases further.

This is why countless cultivators spend three to five hundred years refining themselves in the Heavenly Man Realm and Return to Oneness Realm—three hundred years in the Heavenly Man Realm is not excessive, nor is two hundred more in the Return to Oneness Realm.

Who would rush into the Golden Core Realm after only a few years in the Heavenly Man Realm and Return to Oneness Realm?

Unless that person is a fool.

At this moment, Fang Yu's ninety-nine Divine Abilities merged with his flesh and blood; he was within the Golden Core, and the Golden Core was within him, becoming a wondrous existence.

Fang Yu felt all his powers fuse into one; at this moment, Great Five Elements Art, Great Primordial Art, Great Star Art, Great Cutting Art, and other Divine Ability Dao paths underwent transformation, causing his body, lifespan, and magic power to surge rapidly.

At this moment, Fang Yu had an intuitive sense of his own lifespan—he now lived for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years.

Not one year more, not reaching ten thousand.

Nor one year less, not dropping to nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight.

Precisely nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years.

He could now be respectfully called "Nine-Thousand-Year-Old."

His power also surged at this moment.

From an initial three million magic power, it quickly rose to five million, seven million, nine million, finally halting at ninety-nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.

Just one Yellow River Steed's power short of one hundred million.

Of course, his single Yellow River Steed's magic power could now shatter ten thousand Yellow River Steed's magic power from the Divine Ability Secret Realm's Magical Power Realm and True Qi Realm.

Though still called one "Horse" of power, its essence had fundamentally changed.

Simultaneously, his physical body's essence underwent transformation, reaching an inconceivable level—every inch of skin, muscle, and bone changed.

Even a single strand of his sweat hair possessed unimaginable power.

If anyone could obtain a single strand of his sweat hair, they could refine it into a powerful flying needle-like magic treasure.

Not to mention a supreme-grade magic treasure—even a high-grade magic treasure would suffice.

Sweat hair could be refined into a high-grade magic treasure.

His fingernails could easily be refined into supreme-grade magic treasure swords.

A single drop of his sweat could buy hundreds of city-states.

Because every drop of his sweat was precious, priceless Water Emperor Gang Qi.

The benefits of this Gang Qi were countless—it was an ultimate boon in the eyes of all beings.

Fang Yu's ascent to the Golden Core had grown so powerful that everyone felt it was inconceivable.

He had now officially entered the 7th Stage of Divine Abilities, the Golden Core Realm, becoming a legendary minor titan.

Yet this legendary minor titan was just one year short of ten thousand years, and his Golden Core contained ninety-nine Divine Abilities!

His current magic power strength had reached the peak of the Divine Ability Secret Realm—even Hua Tiandu could no longer surpass him in magic power.

Now, even a Longevity Secret Realm first-stage eternal titan could not kill him—he could retreat unscathed at will.

"Xing Mie Xie, won't you yield?"

Fang Yu's gaze snapped toward him.

Though lacking the oppressive force and shock of an eternal titan, it naturally carried a sovereign dominion over heaven and earth, a haughty arrogance over the world.

"I… lost."

Xing Mie Xie uttered three words, his expression somewhat dejected.

In truth, when he had prepared to self-detonate five million demonic spirits and Fang Yu instantly summoned two Dao artifacts, Xing Mie Xie already knew he had lost.

So he did not detonate those five million demonic spirits; he watched Fang Yu ascend to the Golden Core and directly declared defeat.

"Congratulations, Fang Yu, on your Golden Core completion. A Golden Core forged from ninety-nine Divine Abilities is unprecedented in history. Yet the more Divine Abilities, the heavier the karmic burdens—your next trial will be the terrifying Wind and Fire Great Tribulation; may you pass it safely."

Xing Mie Xie rose into the air, his eyes shifting: "I lost this round, and I shall honor my vow—I will no longer remain a True Disciple, but become an Elder."

"It need not be so absolute. The Dao Cultivation World is unsettled now—we must stand united, not hostile. Brother Xing Mie Xie, if you require Huang Quan Holy Water, I have some myself."

After Fang Yu's sudden ascent to the Golden Core, he did not gloat over Xing Mie Xie's defeat but smiled as he spoke.

As he spoke, a stream of Huang Quan Holy Water shot straight toward Xing Mie Xie.

"Huang Quan Holy Water!"

Seeing the Huang Quan Holy Water, Xing Mie Xie's face lit up; he pulled out a gourd. "With this Huang Quan Holy Water, my chance to break through to the Longevity Secret Realm has greatly increased!"

At this moment, his dejection from losing to Fang Yu vanished entirely.

Huang Quan Holy Water can cleanse one's Xu Yuan Qi and solidify one's spirit—it is extremely important for any cultivator. To lose yet gain Huang Quan Holy Water was a tremendous blessing for Xing Mie Xie, for to him, no grudge or honor compared to reaching the Longevity Secret Realm.

"Thank you, Fang Yu."

Xing Mie Xie's gratitude was sincere.

"I have a matter I wish to consult you on, Brother Xing Mie Xie. You have cultivated Fomen's Divine Abilities, and I happen to possess a Fomen magic treasure—shall we jointly study it?"

Fang Yu was deeply interested in Xing Mie Xie's Lamp of Ancient Buddha Umbrella, for it could convert demonic spirits into followers—a feat seemingly possible only through the Fomen's great Dao: Great Universal Salvation Art.

"Fomen's Divine Abilities? That's no problem."

Xing Mie Xie laughed heartily. "If you asked about Qunxing Sect's techniques, I couldn't reveal them. But this technique was comprehended from the Lamp of Ancient Buddha Umbrella—I can freely share it. Long ago, during an expedition, I obtained the Lamp of Ancient Buddha Umbrella, which recorded a type of Chan Light called Great Universal Salvation Chan Light, though it is exceedingly difficult to cultivate. If you insist on refining it, I can give it to you for contemplation."

While speaking, he took out a bundle of jade slips from his robes, left his spiritual sense within them, and sent them over.

Fang Yu caught them in one hand, and indeed saw an enormous number of cultivation methods within—utterly inconceivable, vastly different from ordinary Daoist arts and the paths of immortal and demon.

Buddhist techniques.

"Come, let's go up to Star Cloud Peak and examine them properly."

Fang Yu said with a smile.

"Good, I was just about to discuss the Dao with you."

Xing Mie Xie did not refuse either, and the two immediately went up to Star Cloud Peak.

"This Fang Yu truly does not press people. After winning, he actually gave Xing Mie Xie the Water of Forgetfulness—I would love to witness it myself, it would be of great help to my cultivation of an immortal body."

Just then, within some cave-heavens of the Qunxing Sect, Elder Xingfa also saw the scene in the distance and nodded repeatedly.

"I don't want the Water of Forgetfulness, I only wish to ask him what exactly the stellar divine ability he cultivates is—how it could possibly counter our Qunxing Sect's divine abilities."

Elder Yixing, who had already cultivated an immortal body and begun to comprehend the mysteries of space, said.

This time, within the cave-heavens of the Qunxing Sect, Fang Yu was actually able to absorb the stellar force of the Qunxing Sect's cave-heavens, and even countered many of Xing Mie Xie's stellar divine abilities—this was unimaginable.

"Indeed, by all rights, within the Mysterious Yellow Great World, no house's path of the stars can surpass our Qunxing Sect, not even the Taiyi Sect. But Fang Yu seems to wish to be on good terms with us, and the Houkending Society will surely tell us the secret of this divine ability."

Elder Xingfa nodded.

"This lad Fang Yu is truly terrifying. We old fellows, even at the Golden Core Realm, could not possibly be his match. I am quite looking forward to what kind of storm he will stir up once he cultivates to the Longevity Secret Realm. For the Yuhua Sect to produce such a peerless genius, it will surely have a tremendous impact on the landscape of our Mysterious Yellow Great World in the future. Even Yan Yan Shuiyi, the number one expert of the younger generation of the Taiyi Sect, is probably not this monstrous. However, he has cultivated ninety-nine divine abilities—how he will weather the Wind and Fire Tribulation is a difficult problem."

Elder Yixing sighed with emotion again and again.

"Then we shall wait and see…"