Chapter 613: Golden Illusion Butterfly Advances, Zhang Rong

This time in closed-door cultivation breakthrough, Song Qingming actually didn't have much confidence that he could successfully break through to the fourth layer of Jin Dan at once.

He also didn't expect that the process of breaking through this time would be much easier than he had imagined before.

You know, it has only been fifty years since Song Qingming formed a core.

Among the Xiaoyao Sect, only Yao Qianshu, Bai Yuxian, and Li Wu have done it within fifty years after forming a core to break through to the fourth layer of Jin Dan.

Even Chen Xuanxin, whose cultivation has been very smooth since forming a core, took a few years later than Song Qingming now to break through to the fourth layer of Jin Dan.

Being able to break through to the mid-stage of Jin Dan at this time, Song Qingming's current cultivation speed has already exceeded more than 70% of the Jin Dan cultivators in the cultivation world.

Being able to break through the realm so smoothly this time, in addition to the credit of the "Golden Flame Elixir," two other points also played a very critical role.

One is that Song Qingming obtained a complete set of cultivation experience of a Nascent Soul cultivator when he passed the illusion trial in the first layer of the "Tongtian Pavilion" on the ninth floor of the Tongtian Tower.

These cultivation experiences, although they cannot directly help cultivators break through the realm, can let him know in advance some places that need attention when breaking through, allowing Song Qingming to avoid many wrong choices and attempts during the breakthrough process.

Another point is that the "Tongtian Ten Thousand Spirits Decision" practiced by Song Qingming before has been helping to refine the magic power in his body all these years. This point gave Song Qingming no small help at the critical moment of breaking through the bottleneck.

Regarding the benefits and effects of this cultivation method "Tongtian Ten Thousand Spirits Decision" on himself, Song Qingming hadn't felt much before. It wasn't until this breakthrough that he suddenly discovered this unexpected surprise.

After the magic power in his body was refined by practicing the "Tongtian Ten Thousand Spirits Decision," at the critical moment of breaking through the bottleneck, it was much smoother to operate than before, which provided no small help for his breakthrough this time.

Fortunately, Song Qingming has been persistent all these years and has not slacked off on this strange cultivation method. Now he has also successfully cultivated this somewhat strange cultivation method to the peak state of Qi Condensation, and it is possible to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm at any time.

If it weren't for these two reasons that affected his breakthrough this time, Song Qingming estimated that even with the help of the "Golden Flame Elixir," the probability of his successful breakthrough this time would not exceed half, and it would likely fail.

In any case, this breakthrough was a relatively unexpected surprise for Song Qingming, and he was also very happy in his heart at this moment.

Breaking through from the third layer of Jin Dan to the fourth layer of Jin Dan is not a small realm like the previous two layers. This is a relatively large realm from the early stage of Jin Dan to the mid-stage of Jin Dan, and the difficulty is relatively much higher.

In the cultivation world, many genius cultivators who can cultivate to the Jin Dan realm will be stuck at this realm for a long time. Some people even need to spend more than a hundred years to polish their magic power before they can slowly break through to the mid-stage of Jin Dan.

Among the more than ten Elders of the Xiaoyao Sect, the latest to break through to the mid-stage of Jin Dan was Daoist Guangling Zhenren, who stayed at the third layer of Jin Dan for nearly ninety years before barely entering the fourth layer of Jin Dan.

Cultivators like Daoist Guangling Zhenren who are stuck at the bottleneck of the mid-stage of Jin Dan for nearly a hundred years basically have their potential in the Jin Dan stage exhausted. It is impossible for them to break through to the late stage of Jin Dan in this life, let alone touch the Nascent Soul realm.

Song Qingming can cultivate to the fourth layer of Jin Dan within fifty years, and his prospects are already better than the vast majority of Jin Dan cultivators.

Coupled with the fact that he had refined the "Green Spirit True Water" before to improve his spiritual root aptitude, not to mention whether he has the hope of cultivating to the Nascent Soul realm in the future, at least breaking through to the late stage of Jin Dan is certainly no problem for Song Qingming.

Just returned to the cave abode, more than a dozen dark golden butterflies with wings spread flew toward Song Qingming, landing on him, emitting bursts of flashing spiritual light.

These butterflies are the "Golden Illusion Butterflies" that Song Qingming has been feeding for many years. After decades of careful cultivation, many of them have now advanced to the mature stage.

"This Ice Crystal Jade Liquid really has some effect, advancing more than a dozen to the mature stage so quickly!"

Looking at the "Golden Illusion Butterflies" whose whole body color had turned dark golden, a faint smile appeared on the corner of Song Qingming's mouth.

Since obtaining these "Golden Illusion Butterflies," Song Qingming has spent a lot of thought and resources over the years to carefully cultivate them. However, because the advancement speed of the "Golden Illusion Butterflies" is too slow, most of these spiritual insects couldn't wait for the success of advancement and had already exhausted their lifespan in advance.

In decades, only less than thirty have successfully advanced. Because the number is too small, these "Golden Illusion Butterflies" simply cannot form too much combat power and cannot provide any help to Song Qingming in Jin Dan level fighting.

Song Qingming actually rarely uses them over the years, only occasionally needing to explore the way or scout enemy situations, will he summon a few.

A few years ago, in that Nascent Soul cave abode, after Song Qingming and the others discovered that "Crystal Lotus," hearing He Mengxin say that the "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" in the pool has the effect of cultivating spiritual plants and spiritual beasts.

Song Qingming also learned from He Mengxin and installed a lot of "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" from the pool.

During the years when Song Qingming was in closed-door cultivation, he would often take out some "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" to feed the "Golden Illusion Butterflies" on him.

What made him somewhat unexpected was that after more than two years and consuming several bottles of "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid," he actually cultivated and advanced nearly a hundred "Golden Illusion Butterflies."

These "Golden Illusion Butterflies" that have advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm, although the combat power of a single one is not strong, cannot be compared with normal Foundation Establishment cultivators.

However, after the number increased, the power of more than a hundred mature "Golden Illusion Butterflies" acting together is very different.

The "Golden Illusion Butterflies" on Song Qingming now have all awakened illusion supernatural powers. As long as they are controlled properly, it should be no big problem to entangle a Jin Dan cultivator who has just formed a core for a short time.

This is only cultivating more than a hundred. If more spiritual insects that have advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm are cultivated in the future, these "Golden Illusion Butterflies" will be able to withstand the combat power of a Jin Dan stage.

Thinking of this, a look of satisfaction also appeared on Song Qingming's face.

However, this "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" does not have such a good effect on every spiritual beast. Two years ago, Song Qingming specially brought a lot to feed the "Heavenly Fire Peng" that had been living in the back mountain of Mount Funiu.

As a result, this guy swallowed and refined a large jar of "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid," and except for a slight increase in magic power on his body, there was no big effect.

This also made Song Qingming disappointed and heartbroken.

Such a large jar of "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" is enough for him to cultivate several dozen mature "Golden Illusion Butterflies." As a result, it was wasted on this foodie, the Heavenly Fire Peng. It is indeed too cost-effective.

However, there is no way. In the cultivation world, many spiritual items will have good effects on some specific spiritual beasts. This is not a very certain thing.

Just like Song Qingming now uses "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" to feed "Golden Illusion Butterflies," he will harvest good results, but he has not seen similar records in the notes recording "Golden Illusion Butterflies."

It may be that the person who recorded the notes back then didn't know these things and didn't try to cultivate spiritual insects like this. It may also be that Song Qingming was lucky, and the batch of "Golden Illusion Butterflies" in his hand happened to fit these spiritual waters, so he harvested these unexpected effects.

After checking the "Golden Illusion Butterflies" on his body, Song Qingming took out a spiritual beast bag, put all these spiritual insects into the bag, and then walked into the cave abode, to a small stone room he specially isolated to feed these spiritual insects.

After checking the state of those "Golden Illusion Butterflies" that were not yet mature, Song Qingming took out some "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" and poured it directly into a small pool.

Immediately afterward, he opened another stone jar more than a foot high placed beside the pool and took out a golden spiritual beast egg from inside.

Looking at the spiritual beast egg that still had no changes, Song Qingming shook his head and sighed slightly, and put it back into the storage magic tool at his waist with a disappointed face.

The spiritual beast egg Song Qingming just took out was the "Millennium Spiritual Beast Egg" he brought out from the Tongtian Tower.

Over the years, Song Qingming has asked many beast tamers who are proficient in the way of beast control, and tried many ways to hatch spiritual beasts. As a result, after a toss, this strange spiritual beast egg still had no big changes.

Knowing that "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" has some miraculous effects on spiritual beasts, Song Qingming installed half a jar of spiritual water and tried to put this spiritual beast egg into the spiritual water to see if it could help hatch this spiritual beast egg.

Up to now, this spiritual beast egg has been soaked in "Ice Crystal Jade Liquid" for nearly a year, and the surface still looks like there is no change at all. Song Qingming, who was disappointed in his heart, could only temporarily dispel this idea.

After doing all this, Song Qingming returned to the cave abode to meditate and rest for about half an hour before getting up and leaving the top cave abode and walking toward the market at the foot of the mountain.

——

Mount Tuoyun Market, in the Immortal Phoenix Building, Song Qingming ordered a table of delicious spiritual food, ate it heartily, and soon showed a look of satisfaction.

Although Jin Dan cultivators have long been grain-free and only need to absorb heaven and earth spiritual energy on time to maintain their daily needs.

However, after being in closed-door cultivation for nearly two years, it also made Song Qingming, a Jin Dan Old Ancestor who was a bit gluttonous, feel uncomfortable. Taking advantage of his free time, he hurriedly went down the mountain to comfort his five internal organs.

Just after Song Qingming enjoyed it, a slight knock on the door sounded at the door. After Song Qingming responded, a middle-aged waiter wearing the Immortal Phoenix Building uniform carefully opened the door and walked in quickly.

"Old Ancestor, Senior Lin and Senior Zhang are here, just at the door downstairs, saying they want to see you!"

Song Qingming glanced at the waiter in front of him who was respectful and a bit nervous, and nodded calmly: "Hmm! Let them come up first, then clean up here, and make a pot of spiritual tea."

"If there is anyone else who wants to see me, just say I have something to do here and have no time today. Let them go to the top of the mountain to send a letter tomorrow!"

The waiter nodded after hearing this, and then hurriedly retreated carefully.

Song Qingming, who had just eaten his fill, was also a bit surprised to hear the news that Lin Yutang and Zhang Rong ran here to seek an audience with him.

Over the years on Mount Tuoyun, the master and apprentice had any matters, basically sending sound-transmission talismans to the top of the mountain, waiting for Song Qingming's summons. It was rare to have a situation like this, where they blocked the door directly as soon as they learned the news of his closed-door cultivation breakthrough.

After a moment, according to what Song Qingming said, after cleaning up the private room, the waiter brought Lin Yutang and Zhang Rong, the master and apprentice who had been waiting downstairs for a long time, in.

"Congratulations to Senior for your closed-door cultivation breakthrough and your cultivation advancing one step further!" As soon as they entered the door, Lin Yutang and Zhang Rong hurriedly saluted Song Qingming in front of them respectfully.

Song Qingming waved his hand, signaled Lin Yutang and the other to sit down, and then sent the two waiters waiting on the side out.

"I also just came out of closed-door cultivation and went out to walk around. I didn't expect that as soon as I arrived at the market, I would disturb you two so quickly."

Hearing this, Lin Yutang hurriedly stood up and said in a panic: "Senior, don't blame us. We didn't know the news of your closed-door cultivation breakthrough. It was just someone who happened to see you at the entrance of the market and told us two."

Lin Yutang's age is more than ten years older than Song Qingming. Although he has taken some longevity spiritual items, he is already close to two hundred and twenty years old, and his lifespan is not much left, only twenty or thirty years.

In recent years, Lin Yutang's appearance has also aged very quickly. The long hair tied up has turned white, and there are many more wrinkles on his face. In just over ten years, he has quickly turned into the appearance of an old man from a middle-aged man.

Seeing Lin Yutang a bit nervous, Song Qingming sighed and said: "I am just a bit surprised, not blaming you. Coming to see me so anxiously today, could it be that you have encountered any urgent matters?"

Lin Yutang felt a bit relieved in his heart, then hurriedly took out a long wooden box from his body, placed it in front of Song Qingming, and arched his hand:

"Senior Song, this is a third-tier low-quality spiritual medicine we received at the Jin Yunge half a year ago. We don't have much use for it, so it happens to be used as a congratulatory gift for your cultivation breakthrough. Please don't dislike it."

Song Qingming glanced at the wooden box on the table, didn't say much, and his gaze soon turned back to Lin Yutang on the side.

Lin Yutang and the other came to see him so anxiously, certainly not just to send a third-tier low-quality spiritual medicine. When the other party didn't say the purpose of coming to him, Song Qingming couldn't raise much interest in this spiritual medicine in front of him.

Seeing this, Lin Yutang pondered for a moment, then said: "Senior Song, it is like this. Half a month ago, I heard people say that Senior Chen killed a demon king at Taiyue Lake and obtained a third-tier demon core."

"I and Zhang Tieyang discussed it, and wanted to ask you to come forward and help ask Senior Chen if this demon core can be transferred to us. No matter what requirements Senior Chen has, we will certainly try our best to satisfy him."

"Third-tier demon core, what do you want this thing for, could it be that you are..."

When Song Qingming's gaze turned to Zhang Rong on the side, Lin Yutang nodded directly and replied: "Senior guessed right. I and Zhang Tieyang have considered it well, and want to let him try to form a false core."

"I have already found a Du Yuchen Elixir for Zhang Tieyang. Years ago, when Senior Brother Feng formed a false core, he left a copy of the process and experience of his core formation at that time. This time, if we can successfully obtain the demon core from Senior Chen, the probability of Zhang Tieyang forming a false core is not low."

After Lin Yutang finished speaking, he pulled Zhang Rong and saluted Song Qingming, who was sitting in front of them, respectfully again.

Since Song Qingming came to Mount Tuoyun, in these decades, Zhang Rong, whose cultivation has reached 90% of Foundation Establishment, has tried to form a core twice, but failed. Just hearing Lin Yutang mention the third-tier demon beast inner core, Song Qingming also immediately thought that they wanted to use this thing to help Zhang Rong on the side to take the road of forming a false core that Feng Yangde took years ago.

Years ago, before Senior Chen sat down, he actually spent his heart and soul to pave the way for the master and apprentice.

First, he took the initiative to give up part of the benefits of Mount Tuoyun Market, made friends with the Xiaoyao Sect, and then took the

Before Chen Laozu passed away years ago, he had actually exhausted his efforts to pave the way for his fellow disciples.

First, he took the initiative to yield part of the interests of the Mount Tuoyun market to befriend the Xiaoyao Sect, then, using the pretext of the Sword Discussion Assembly, he organized an army of cultivators to eliminate the hidden threat of the Black Flame Tiger Demon King near Mount Tuoyun, and threw his full support behind Feng Hede to form a False Core.

According to Chen Jinliang's projections, after his own passing, with the support of the Xiaoyao Sect, Feng Hede and the others should have had a high degree of certainty in defending the Mount Tuoyun spiritual vein.

As long as Mount Tuoyun could safely survive the once-a-century beast tide, with the full support of his fellow disciple Feng Hede, who was a False Core cultivator, and the foundation left behind after Chen Jinliang's passing, the situation at Mount Tuoyun could be completely stabilized once Zhang Rong formed his Jin Dan in the future.

However, worldly affairs are unpredictable; Chen Jinliang had calculated the future, but he had not expected that the Ma family would choose to betray the Xiaoyao Sect after the beast tide, nor had he anticipated that Ma Hongshan and the others would directly strike at Mount Tuoyun, which had helped them during several previous beast tides.

After the Ma family joined forces with the Jiuyuan Sect to kill Feng Hede and his fellow disciples and raze Mount Tuoyun, only a very small number of Chen Jinliang's descendants and disciples, such as Zhang Rong and Lin Yutian, managed to escape this great catastrophe.

Although the Xiaoyao Sect later killed Ma Hongshan in the Great Battle of Iron Immortal Fortress, it could be considered a great revenge for Lin Yutian and the others.

However, after this battle, the situation on Mount Tuoyun changed drastically; let alone supporting Zhang Rong in forming a core, Lin Yutian and the others no longer even had the ability to defend the spiritual vein of Mount Tuoyun.

Although they were later advised by someone, Lin Yutian and his fellow disciple found the Song family of Mount Funiu and used the cultivation techniques and alchemy heritage left by Chen Jinliang to strike a deal, inviting Song Qingming to guard Mount Tuoyun, which temporarily stabilized the situation on the mountain.

But over these years, because the two fellow disciples had no backing, they had no ability to find good spiritual items to assist Zhang Rong in forming a core, and could only let him use the "Du Yuchen Pill," which had the poorest effects, to form his core.

Over the past few decades, Zhang Rong had gone into seclusion to form a core twice in succession, but both attempts had ended in failure. Facing the cruelty of reality, the two fellow disciples were somewhat disheartened, which was why they were helplessly looking to follow the old path of Feng Hede forming a False Core.

Although the Jin Yunge still firmly controlled the Mount Tuoyun spiritual vein, Lin Yutian's lifespan was already running low. If Zhang Rong still could not find a way to successfully form a core, his path of cultivation would inevitably stop here, and he would only have a few decades left.

Among the remaining cultivators of Chen Jinliang's lineage, those with higher cultivation talent had almost all died in that great battle at Mount Tuoyun years ago.

Among those who remained, the one with the highest current cultivation base was only at the late stage of Qi Condensation. Even if they could support a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the future, a single early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator alone would have no ability to maintain the current situation.

Let alone the spiritual vein of Mount Tuoyun, even the most important industry left by Chen Jinliang, the Jin Yunge, would likely change hands soon and become someone else's possession.

Hearing the earnest words spoken by Lin Yutian, Song Qingming was silent for a moment, then sighed slightly and said: "You also know that while taking the path of a False Core is easier, the path of cultivation will basically stop there."

"Zhang Tieyang is not even one hundred and seventy years old yet. Even if he failed to break through to the Jin Dan realm now, he still has another chance to form a core. Are you not being a bit too hasty in rashly choosing to take the path of a False Core now?"

Lin Yutian replied with a helpless look: "Senior, you probably also know that we have spent a lot of effort over these years, but we have never been able to find better spiritual items for forming a core for Zhang Tieyang. Now, wanting to take the path of a False Core is a helpless move."

"According to the notes left by our senior, even if one wants to form a False Core, it is best to do so before the age of two hundred; otherwise, the probability of success will decrease significantly."

"Although Zhang Tieyang still has time, a third-tier beast core is not an easy spiritual item for us to obtain. We are also afraid that if we miss this opportunity from Senior Chen, we might not even have the chance to form a False Core in the future."

Being in the State of Wei, where cultivation resources were relatively scarce, Song Qingming naturally understood the worries of Lin Yutian and his companion very well.

A third-tier Demon King core was also a very rare spiritual item of its kind, no easier to find than the five-element core-forming spiritual items.

In the entire Xiaoyao Sect, apart from the once-a-century beast tide where there might be a chance to obtain a few, it was also very difficult to see such rare spiritual items in the Merit Pavilion at ordinary times.

Moreover, even if Zhang Rong wanted to commit to the path of a False Core, obtaining this inner core did not mean he would definitely succeed in forming a core.

Although a False Core cultivator could use an external core to help solidify the core liquid, making it relatively easier than when a general Jin Dan cultivator formed a core, the probability of success was generally only about thirty percent at most, and the probability of failure was also very high.

Seeing this, Song Qingming nodded and said: "Since you have already made your decision, I will help you write a letter to Senior Brother Chen."

"However, I must remind you in advance: although I have some dealings with Senior Brother Chen, he will not easily hand over the Demon King core to you just because of this letter of mine. Whether this matter can succeed depends on your own fortune and opportunity."

"This junior understands. Many thanks for your great kindness, Senior!" (End of chapter)