Chapter 571: External Golden Core
Under the great banyan tree, Jiang Li sat calmly and scanned his surroundings. Everyone present felt that the Human Sovereign Jiang had made eye contact with them, feeling deeply honored.
“Once, immortals used the Golden Core Great Way to represent the path to immortality, which sufficiently demonstrates the importance of the Golden Core within the entire cultivation system.”
“Gold represents something firm, strong, and eternally indestructible; the Core represents something perfect, luminous, and flawless. The Golden Core represents the nature of perfect enlightenment and true spirit.”
“When forming the core, one must use the human body as a furnace, spiritual energy as the guiding force, the essence and energy within the body as medicinal ingredients, and use spirit to refine them, requiring exactly eighty-one days of time.”
“When the core is completed, that marks the beginning of the Core Formation Stage.”
“The Core Formation Stage is the process of polishing the Golden Core, interrogating one’s true heart, and achieving clarity of mind and nature. Only with an empty and clear spiritual platform and a full Golden Core can one shatter the core to form the infant, becoming a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.”
These things were all orthodox cultivation methods. The demonic path emphasized speed and ruthlessness, and their methods of achieving the Golden Core were vastly different from the orthodox path.
Besides the orthodox and demonic path core formation methods, there was another opportunistic method—using a pill to act as the Golden Core, which was the so-called false core.
What Jiang Li was explaining today were all common, basic contents. He had already written everything he wanted to say in his book “Comprehensive Cultivation Outline” long ago.
However, writing it in a book was one thing, while having Jiang Li personally explain it was another matter entirely.
What Jiang Li was currently doing was taking the knowledge he had popularized throughout the Nine Provinces, breaking it down thoroughly, and explaining it from another perspective, allowing the Spirit Plant Sect disciples to gain new insights.
Jiang Li’s voice possessed a mysterious magic that made people fascinated, enchanted by it, forgetting the passage of time, and devoting themselves entirely to indescribable, elusive realizations.
Whether they were at Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, or Nascent Soul stage, they all entered meditative states.
The great banyan tree seemed as if it was about to develop spiritual intelligence, its branches and leaves shaking to form a canopy that maintained absolute silence in the vicinity, ensuring no disturbances would interfere with the disciples’ meditation.
The Spirit Plant Sect disciples could still hear Jiang Li’s voice while in their meditative states, and the effect was even better than when they were awake. They gained new insights about the Core Formation Stage.
Once their meditation ended and they digested what they had learned today, it would inevitably allow their mental states and strength to advance to a higher level.
Bai Hongtu listened to the lecture with extreme seriousness, holding a pen and writing swiftly.
The Wishful Gourd curiously leaned over and discovered that Bai Hongtu wasn’t taking notes, but rather drawing.
The drawing content could be summarized in one sentence—Core Formation Stage Bai Hongtu brutally beating up Jiang Li.
The Wishful Gourd felt genuine admiration for Bai Hongtu, who actually dared to draw such things right under Jiang Li’s nose.
If it had such courage, why worry about great achievements, why worry about Jiang Li not beating it back into raw materials.
Thinking this, the Wishful Gourd flipped over on Yu Yin’s thigh, grateful that it didn’t possess such courage.
Jiang Li’s voice possessed a mysterious magic that made people fascinated, enchanted by it, forgetting the passage of time, and devoting themselves entirely to indescribable, elusive realizations.
A day and night passed, with Jiang Li holding nothing back and teaching everything he knew. When the teaching session ended, the group of disciples still maintained their meditative states.
Jiang Li didn’t give closing remarks. Seeing that the Unity Stage cultivators below wanted to speak, he placed his index finger vertically against his lips, indicating that those with questions should ask them outside the range of the great banyan tree.
Jiang Li, the Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators, and Unity Stage cultivators walked out from the green curtain formed by the great banyan tree.
“Human Sovereign Jiang’s lecture was truly excellent. If I had the opportunity to attend such a class back then, the time for my advancement to Unity Stage could have been moved up by fifty years.”
“Absolutely, absolutely. I truly envy these juniors living in such an era, being Human Sovereign Jiang’s juniors, unlike us who are of the same generation as Human Sovereign Jiang.”
Among these people were many who were close in age to Jiang Li, and there were even several who were Human Sovereign candidates from the same period as Jiang Li.
This was both fortunate and unfortunate.
Fortunately, they personally witnessed how a great power who achieved emptiness throughout eternity rose to prominence. Unfortunately, Jiang Li, Bai Hongtu, and Yu Yin—these three—overshadowed all their contemporaries.
Before Yu Yin reached the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, she was also an empress of a nation. In terms of combat power, she could press down and beat Ji Zhi, who was also a sovereign.
“After listening to Human Sovereign Jiang’s teachings, I’ve developed new ideas about the Core Formation Stage, such as attaching yin and yang energies to the Golden Core to form a Tai Chi Golden Core. It’s just too bad I’m already at Unity Stage and can’t re-cultivate the Core Formation Stage, otherwise I’d really like to test whether the Tai Chi Golden Core idea is feasible.”
“Me too, me too. I considered engraving patterns on the Golden Core to increase its power, but I also have no opportunity to try. I can’t just grab a junior and experiment on them. If it succeeds, that’s fine, but if it fails, that junior’s entire life would be ruined.”
Everyone expressed that they had novel ideas but no experimental path, feeling deeply regretful.
“If you all want to refine Golden Cores again, I actually have a method here.” Su Wei said leisurely.
Alchemy was a skill evolved from the Golden Core, and re-learning about the Golden Core could help improve alchemy skills.
“Quick, tell us, what method is it?”
“I’ve been researching external Golden Cores and just achieved results.”
Su Wei took out a Golden Core from her bosom: “This is the external core I refined. It can help Foundation Establishment cultivators conduct core formation rehearsals, testing which core formation methods and which types of Golden Cores are most suitable for them. We Unity Stage cultivators can also use it. Here, try one.”
One person attached yin and yang energies to the external core, then swallowed it in one gulp. He suppressed his strength to the Core Formation Stage, operated the Tai Chi Golden Core, and performed several divine abilities, with power slightly greater than the original Core Formation Stage.
“This is a good item.”
Thinking this, the Wishful Gourd flipped over on Yu Yin’s thigh, relieved that it didn’t have such audacity.
“Give me ten.” Hearing the price, everyone present didn’t care—if Nascent Soul stage cultivators could afford it, could it even be called money?
“Give me five.”
“I want twelve.”
“Everyone, wait a moment.” Su Wei quickly called for a stop. “I didn’t anticipate today’s situation. There are only about a dozen here total, not even enough for one per person.”
“That’s no problem. Brother Su Wei, don’t forget that this is our Spirit Plant Sect, where rare treasures grow everywhere. Whatever materials you lack, just tell us, and our Spirit Plant Sect will provide them.” Elder Zhang Sen waved his hand grandly, appearing immensely generous.
Su Wei didn’t stand on ceremony either, pulling out a long list specifying quantities and time periods, then also giving the spirit stones to Zhang Sen.
Zhang Sen originally wanted to refuse, but the items on this list weren’t expensive individually, yet the quantities were extremely large. If they directly gifted them to Su Wei, their Spirit Plant Sect would suffer significant losses. Based on this consideration, he accepted the spirit stones.
Su Wei began refining pills on the spot, with everyone watching.
“Grandmaster Alchemist, aren’t you going to show off your skills?” Bai Hongtu provoked Jiang Li.
Jiang Li glanced at Bai Hongtu and said kindly: “No need for such trouble. If you want to experience the Core Formation Stage, I can send you back to the Core Formation Stage to re-cultivate, designing your Golden Core however you like.”
“No need, no need.” Bai Hongtu shook his head like a rattle-drum.
Soon, Su Wei mass-produced external cores, with everyone receiving one, including Jiang Li, Bai Hongtu, and the others.
After obtaining his external core, Bai Hongtu proposed: “How about this—we each design our own Golden Cores, control our strength to the Core Formation Stage, then use the Spirit Plant Sect as our battlefield to fight and see who is the strongest at Core Formation Stage.”
The Spirit Plant Sect’s vegetation was dense and of hard texture, making it very suitable as a combat backdrop.
“Jiang Li, are you coming?”
“Might as well give it a try.” Jiang Li said lightly.
He said it casually, but his level of interest in this matter was no less than Bai Hongtu’s.
Yu Yin stretched her limbs, attached the Wishful Gourd to her waist, and eagerly prepared, wanting to challenge Jiang Li at the Core Formation Stage.