Chapter 206: False Core

Wrapped in heavy Spiritual Qi, Zhang Nuo dared not be the slightest bit careless; one had to know that while Spiritual Qi was a good thing, once used improperly, it could also bring disaster. Furthermore, the Spiritual Qi surrounding him was so vast that it was practically an unpredictable bomb. If there were the slightest slip-up and the Spiritual Qi went out of control, not even the dregs of his bones would remain.

Just like this, wrapped in the dense Spiritual Qi, Zhang Nuo spent half a year. For these more than six months, he was in a state of tension every single moment; the high level of mental concentration even caused him to develop a certain kind of hallucination.

On this day, while he was continuously compressing the Spiritual Qi into his Divine Sea, suddenly, sounds of rupturing erupted from the three Divine Seas within his body. At the same time, a massive amount of Spiritual Qi began to surge out from the Divine Seas, continuously gathering above his dantian.

During his internal observation, Zhang Nuo's mind stirred; it seemed the timing had matured, and the Divine Sea had begun to automatically condense a Golden Core. Thinking of this, the hand seal in his hands changed, and the fourth layer of the "Shangqing Sword Art" within his body ran rapidly, continuously injecting the Spiritual Qi absorbed from the outside world into his dantian.

Half an hour later, within the dense Spiritual Qi in his dantian, a white speck of light the size of a sesame seed appeared. Although this speck of light was not large, it was brimming with Spiritual Qi.

A burst of wild joy filled Zhang Nuo's heart. Do not look at the speck of light as small; this was a collection of countless Spirit Power and the initial prototype of a Golden Core! In order not to affect the next step of core formation, Zhang Nuo forcibly suppressed the wild fervor in his heart and continued to seize the time to inject Spirit Power into the white speck of light.

This process was extremely arduous. Countless Spirit Power filled his body, which made Zhang Nuo feel terrified; the slightest carelessness would result in all his previous efforts being wasted!

The Spirit Power absorbed into his body, through the transformation of his cultivation technique, turned bit by bit into slender threads of Spiritual Qi, running toward the white speck in his dantian.

At this moment, countless threads of Spiritual Qi formed densely within Zhang Nuo's body; it looked like a complex spider web, chaotic yet orderly!

Outside Zhang Nuo's body, at his dantian, a faint white light began to radiate. These rays were extremely gentle, just like the rising sun in the morning. Inside the Sword Box, Chunyangzi sensed the light and white, and his heart could not suppress its wild joy; this was the scene at the beginning of core formation, indicating that Zhang Nuo had already entered the first step.

As time passed, half a year later, the Spiritual Qi around Zhang Nuo began to slowly dissipate. It took nearly a full day to return to its original state.

A red shadow flashed inside the Nine Dragon Sword Case, and Chunyangzi's Remnant Soul flew out. He stared fixedly at Zhang Nuo, who was sitting cross-legged, his face full of joy.

At this moment, Zhang Nuo also slowly opened his eyes, his eyebrows lifting slightly as he revealed a brilliant smile.

"Has the False Core already been formed?"

Seeing Zhang Nuo's expression, Chunyangzi guessed the result of the matter. Nodding slightly, Zhang Nuo performed an internal observation and saw that at his dantian, a snow-white round core was being continuously nourished by the Spiritual Qi within the Three Spirit Seas.

This round core was the size of a thumb, with Spirit Power flowing incessantly across its surface, and waves of powerful Spiritual Pressure emanating from it. This was the complete Golden Core prototype, the "False Core"!

The so-called False Core is an unstable entity that has not yet fully formed into a cultivator's Golden Core. The condensation of a False Core is the first step in forming a Golden Core; only by turning the collection of Spirit Power into a False Core can the next step be the true condensation of a Golden Core.

However, a False Core will not exist within a cultivator's body for too long, at most a month. During this month, the cultivator must try their best to maintain the existence of the False Core to prepare for the further step of core formation.

Once this month passes, no matter how hard the cultivator tries, the False Core will disappear. At the same time, the process of the massive Spirit Power dissipating will also cause huge damage to the cultivator's body, which is something no one wants to see.

"I will go to the medicine room right now and get you some more Pills! You sit and do not move, and use your greatest effort to maintain the form of the False Core!"

Although Chunyangzi's face showed wild joy, his heart understood the importance of the False Core. Without further hesitation, his figure rushed rapidly toward the direction of the medicine room.

Zhang Nuo sat quietly in place, carefully using his Spirit Power to continuously nourish the False Core. Looking at this prototype of a Golden Core, he felt an indescribable joy in his heart.

About half a month later, Chunyangzi finally emerged from the medicine room. He was holding many Pill bottles in his hands, which he placed one by one in front of Zhang Nuo.

"This time, condensing the False Core into a Golden Core is the most important step. You must be careful at all times and must not be careless or sloppy. Next, I will tell you the methods for taking these types of Pills."

Zhang Nuo pricked up his ears to listen, not daring to be the slightest bit distracted. From Chunyangzi's expression, it could be seen that the use of these Pills this time was very complex; one moment of inattention could lead to big trouble.

From the first bottle of Pills, when to take them, and how to use them, Chunyangzi explained patiently. By the time he finished the last bottle of Pills, Chunyangzi had said it no less than three times, and only then did Zhang Nuo nod slightly to indicate he had remembered.

On one hand, he had to stabilize the False Core within his body, and on the other, he had to forcibly memorize the methods for taking the Pills before him. Trying to do two things at once, he inevitably found it somewhat strenuous.

Seeing Zhang Nuo nod, Chunyangzi returned to the Sword Box; all he could do was wait!

Recalling the process of using the Pills that Chunyangzi had just mentioned, Zhang Nuo sorted through it again. Seeing there were no omissions, he felt relieved. Afterward, he carefully stabilized the False Core at his dantian, patiently waiting for the arrival of night!

The temptation of the Golden Core was truly too great for him. Zhang Nuo had an inexplicable urge; recalling everything those Golden Core Stage cultivators had done before, he wished he could succeed in forming his core immediately. But the facts were before him: the road must be walked step by step, and a meal must be eaten mouthful by mouthful; being too hasty would only harm himself.

The excitement in his heart that was difficult to suppress caused the False Core within his body to become restless. Zhang Nuo was greatly alarmed; if something went wrong at this time, it would not be a good thing!

He hurriedly cast aside the distracting thoughts in his heart and concentrated all his focus on the False Core. Only then did the False Core quiet down. Under internal observation, the Spirit Power on the surface of the False Core became increasingly turbulent, just like boiling water, with Spiritual Qi continuously flowing across its surface.

Occasionally, a wisp of unstable Spirit Power would be expelled, leaving a long trail of Spiritual Qi above the Divine Sea. At this time, the surrounding threads of Spiritual Qi would immediately re-absorb this unstable Spiritual Qi.

Zhang Nuo did not know how many times he had performed such a process. Every time, he would do it with extreme caution, fearing that some problem might arise.

The sky finally turned dark. The Spiritual Qi within the Cave Abode was slowly gathered by the Nine Dragon Sword Case. Very quickly, Spiritual Qi like thin mist formed again. Zhang Nuo's hand seal changed slightly, and he pointed into the void of Spiritual Qi in front of him; immediately, countless Spiritual Qi began to gather crazily.

The next moment, Zhang Nuo pointed toward the Nine Dragon Sword Case again. Suddenly, three dragon carvings leaped up from the surface of the Sword Box. With their mouths wide open, they sucked the newly gathered Spiritual Qi to their mouths and continuously compressed it.

Very quickly, three white Spiritual Qi light clusters the size of thumbs formed at the mouths of the three dragon carvings. Seeing this, Zhang Nuo's brows furrowed slightly, revealing a look of solemnity. He licked his dry lips, opened his mouth wide, and sucked one of the Spiritual Qi light clusters into his mouth.

The moment the Spiritual Qi was sucked into his mouth, a massive amount of Spirit Power rushed rapidly toward his dantian. In a flash, it merged into the False Core. A muffled "Boom" sound erupted from within his body, and Zhang Nuo almost fainted from the pain; the forced collision of the two streams of Spirit Power was no small burden on his body.

Only by doing this could the False Core be strengthened and finally turned into a true cultivator's Golden Core! Very quickly, Zhang Nuo sucked the second Spiritual Qi light cluster into his mouth. Another muffled sound came, and his dantian erupted with dazzling white light, so bright that even outside his body, the radiance was blinding.

A trail of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. If he had not tempered his body with Red Glow Fire, the two consecutive impacts just now would have caused an ordinary cultivator to faint from the pain long ago. Despite this, Zhang Nuo still took a deep breath.

After resting for a moment, Zhang Nuo sucked in the third Spiritual Qi light cluster. This time, the impact was even greater. After the muffled sound, Zhang Nuo's whole body trembled, and the hand seal he was holding became scattered.

After a long while, he finally felt a bit more comfortable. He reached out and pointed at the Nine Dragon Sword Case again, and the three dragon carvings began to gather Spiritual Qi light clusters at their mouths again.

At this time, Zhang Nuo picked up a small medicine bottle from his side, opened the stopper, and poured out three cyan Pills, throwing them into his mouth without a second thought.

As soon as the Pills entered his mouth, a delicate fragrance followed, instantly spreading throughout his entire body. Under the nourishment of the medicinal power amidst the intense pain, Zhang Nuo felt much more comfortable. After regulating his breath for an hour, his body recovered as it was before!

A slight joy filled his heart; he had not expected at all that the Pills refined by Chunyangzi would have such miraculous effects. In just an hour, the damage caused to his body by the impact of the three Spiritual Qi light clusters just now had been completely wiped away. The next moment, Zhang Nuo continued to inhale the Spiritual Qi light clusters gathered by the Nine Dragon Sword Case!

Just like this, relying on the powerful supply of Spirit Power, Zhang Nuo began a core formation process that lasted for a full year. Over this year, countless impacts of Spirit Power left him covered in wounds. Although he had Chunyangzi's Pills to regulate his body, as the intensity of the Spirit Power impacts increased in the later stages, the medicinal effects appeared increasingly insignificant.

One day, a year later, above the valley where Zhang Nuo was located, patches of white spots began to appear in the sky. These spots were not very large; at the beginning, they were only about a zhang in size.

As the days passed, the white spots began to grow larger, some even reaching several tens of zhang in size. These white spots continuously gathered in the sky, one right next to another like fish scales.

At this time, a streak of light passed by here. The cultivator within the light suddenly looked up and saw the changes in the sky, immediately stopping his figure. His brows furrowed tightly, and the person lowered his head to ponder for a moment before whispering to himself:

"Could it be that someone is forming a core here? I haven't heard of any Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators in this area?"

The person in the streak of light was an old man. He continuously recalled the cultivators who might be practicing in the surrounding area, but he never guessed who was forming a core here.