Chapter 677: Bad News (5000+ words)

"After consulting the classics, we finally confirmed... that the array is named the 'Supreme Big Dipper Edict Array'... It is the number one array of the Ancient Xuantian Sect. The Xuantian Sect upheld the Taoism of ancient cultivators; they did not even refine Dharma Treasures. Instead, upon reaching the Golden Core stage, they would refine a divine ability into their Life-Bound Divine Ability... Within the sect, there were three sect-protecting divine abilities, each targeting the 'Fortune, Rank, and Longevity' of a cultivator's fate... Who would have thought that the most vicious one would appear in the Beidou Hall!"

Luo Kun shook his head: "Nowadays, that ruin... not many people go there anymore. After all, the benefits on the outside have been picked clean, and no one inside can break the array!"

Aaron: "To think there are such vicious divine abilities and arrays in this world!!"

"Indeed... I never expected this array to be so malicious. Many Golden Core Cultivators who approached it back then passed away because of it... Even our sect's Baifeng Xianzi unfortunately perished within it!"

"What?" Aaron's face was full of shock and sorrow: "This is truly... heaven envying the talented!"

In reality, his heart was completely unmoved; he even wanted to laugh a little.

"Sigh... who can say for sure when it comes to matters of life and death?" Luo Kun sighed.

For all cultivators who do not possess a Heavenly Spirit Root, Golden Core formation has always been a massive threshold!

Aaron felt a bit of regret and sent a Transmission Talisman to express his condolences, while also indicating that he still supported the Shen Family.

However, he had also encountered a few situations where he suffered losses. There was no helping it; he could only treat the Spirit Stones as if they had been thrown into the water.

Aaron rubbed his chin and began to ponder carefully.

This time, when Shen Qingmei attempted Golden Core formation, not only did she have the Golden Core-forming item—'Fire Origin Ganoderma'—to assist her, she even purchased a 'Duer Pill'. Originally, even if she failed, she should not have died.

When in doubt, delay!

If all else fails, just drag it out for a hundred years and see how the wind blows before deciding!

'Or... wait until I condense a Nascent Soul before exploring? By then, even if Nascent Soul old monsters surround me, I won't be afraid...'

He felt that this granddaughter of Shen Langtao had quite good aptitude, temperament, and even opportunities.

With a sigh, Aaron continued reading.

Aaron silently gave his own idea a thumbs up.

Aaron held the Transmission Talisman and sighed.

"Beidou Hall... Supreme Big Dipper Edict Array?"

Even with the guides left by predecessors, the Xuantian Sect ruins remain extremely dangerous.

"This is the Taoism of ancient cultivators; it is no longer mentioned nowadays..."

'I have always been steady. If I say I won't enter a dungeon, I won't enter a dungeon...'

The Golden Core is the product of a cultivator's essence, energy, and spirit being perfectly unified, after the three flowers gather at the crown and the five energies return to the origin; it is the entirety of one's vitality.

"Ancient cultivators condensed their Golden Cores using Life-Bound Divine Abilities. To think there was even a theory of the Nine Ranks of Golden Core formation..."

After the Shen Family exhausted their wealth to help their Ancestor attempt Golden Core formation, this was their greatest support and comfort.

Aaron was indeed somewhat interested in the method of using divine abilities for Golden Core formation.

He even had some fantasies about the three sect-protecting divine abilities of the Xuantian Sect.

He saw a white Transmission Talisman drifting aimlessly within the array, carrying an ominous scent.

And Shen Qingmei was actually already over a hundred years old...

Her longevity exhausted and suffering from severe injuries, she passed away directly in her Cave Abode!

In the top-tier Cave Abode that Aaron rented.

Perhaps if he went into seclusion, decades would pass in the blink of an eye...

Most of them are fakes, and a small portion are useless sundries; it really tests a cultivator's eye for discernment.

He held a tattered Jade Slip and pondered in silence.

After walking out of Luo Kun's Cave Abode, Aaron kept calculating in his heart: 'Is this place fated for me? But just because it's fated, must I go?'

After finishing all this, Aaron came to 'Tianfeng Tower', which specialized in selling intelligence, and received another piece of news that surprised him.

The Jade Slip he was holding at the moment contained only the observations of some ancient cultivators.

But that Supreme Big Dipper life-draining divine ability array ignores all defenses and directly reduces one's longevity!

If one had this divine ability in hand, I fear even Nascent Soul old monsters would have to give way!

It is just that this divine ability seems to be something that not even True Disciples of the Xuantian Sect are guaranteed to be taught; it seems one must refine it into a Life-Bound Divine Ability to be able to cast it.

'I really am a little genius!'

"An obituary?"

It added yet another example of the failure of the Duer Pill.

Yet he never expected... she would still fall at the chasm of Golden Core formation!

'This is immortal cultivation! This is what it means to be a cultivator!'

A bad premonition immediately surfaced in Aaron's heart. He conjured a large hand of Dharma Power, snatched up the Transmission Talisman, and scanned it with his Divine Sense, discovering it had come from the Shen Family.

Fortunately, he had already reached the Golden Core stage and had profound attainments in the Four Arts of Cultivation, so he wouldn't be easily fooled by ordinary things.

During this period, besides selling off some of the talismans and pills he had accumulated from practice in batches to exchange for Spirit Stones, he had been purchasing items related to the Xuantian Sect.

"Perhaps... this is life!"

Since the appearance of the Xuantian Sect ruins, such things have been springing up like bamboo shoots after a rain in Qianyang City.

This time, there should have been a thirty to forty percent chance of success for the Golden Core formation.

If the Golden Core is destroyed, the cultivator will likely die as well...

"Shen Qingmei... Golden Core formation failed... passed away directly..."

'But I have already formed my Golden Core; I can't exactly destroy it and try again, can I?'

"Even in the Immortal Cultivation World, things don't seem to be immutable... Modern cultivation methods are not necessarily inferior to ancient ones. Perhaps current cultivation methods are more in tune with the tides of the era? Otherwise, why would the ancient ways have been eliminated?"

And the news within was, as expected, bad.

Immediately, he settled down in Qianyang City.

This completely cut off any thoughts he had of destroying his core to restart his cultivation.

Even though the "re-cultivation method" he had stumbled upon by chance seemed to have some effect on breaking through major realms, when he cultivated to the point of condensing a Nascent Soul in the future, he would at most dare to disperse his cultivation to the early Golden Core stage, and try that a few times repeatedly...

Furthermore... there might even be a Nascent Soul old monster watching!

Even if there wasn't... what if that Great Array was too Weird, and even his "immortality" talent couldn't withstand it?

What if the so-called ruins were simply a trap?

There were too many risk factors and the benefits were uncertain...

Shushan Sword Pavilion expressed their understanding regarding this.

After all, he had worked diligently and without complaint for a hundred years; he wasn't a tool, so he had to be given some time to rest.

Moreover, the concept of time for a Golden Core Cultivator is different from that of ordinary cultivators.

"Are the Nascent Soul cultivators starting to explore Beidou Hall again?"

After the Golden Core failed, his true essence suffered a Backlash, and his cultivation technique plummeted all the way back to the Qi Refining realm.

Just at this moment, Aaron frowned and came outside his Cave Abode.

After all, the Soul-Devouring Demon Flame still had many limitations.

Several years later.

Aaron pondered back and forth, and finally made a decision.

Unfortunately... the other party had encountered the worst possible situation.

His explanation to Luo Kun was that he had just finished a mission and wanted to take a break.

He sipped his clear tea and looked at the graceful female cultivator opposite him.

"Exactly..." This female cultivator had likely sold this news countless times, as she stated it extremely fluently: "This time, it is led by a Nascent Soul stage Monster Beast from the Ten Thousand Mountains; Monster Beasts have difficulty advancing, but their lifespan also far exceeds that of ordinary human cultivators..."

(End of this chapter)