Chapter 575: Golden Core Collection

The Crimson Sun Cauldron howled in pain as it continuously spat out External Cores.

The cauldron that had suppressed the ages was now ruthlessly suppressed by Jiang Li, with no chance of ever turning the tables again.

Su Wei stood below catching the External Cores, selling them to the crowd. Everyone recognized these as valuable items and didn’t hesitate to spend their Spirit Stones. All three thousand External Cores sold out completely.

“These refined Golden Cores are stronger than ordinary Core Formation Stage cultivators,” Jiang Li said as he approached Su Wei.

The Crimson Sun Cauldron had accidentally taken a serious fall and was injured so badly it couldn’t even stand up. Jiang Li had to drag it over to Su Wei’s location.

Jiang Li continued: “However, this technique can only be used at the Core Formation Stage. These modified Golden Cores damage the core’s perfection. After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, they won’t be as powerful as Nascent Souls formed from top-grade Golden Cores.”

Golden Cores were divided into upper, middle, and lower grades, with the first-grade Golden Core among the upper three grades being the most powerful.

Upon hearing this, everyone tried using these Golden Cores to simulate Nascent Souls and discovered it was exactly as Jiang Li had said—they weren’t as good as the upper three grades. Depending on the Golden Core’s characteristics, their power fluctuated between the middle and lower grade Nascent Souls.

For example, the Tai Chi Golden Core could cultivate into a Tai Chi Nascent Soul. While the Nascent Soul’s quality would be the lowest among Nascent Souls, the Tai Chi Nascent Soul could manipulate yin and yang energies, a characteristic that allowed its combat power to rival medium-quality Nascent Souls.

Therefore, this method of refining Golden Cores could still be pursued by cultivators.

After all, those who could achieve upper three-grade Golden Cores were extremely rare—less than ten percent.

Jiang Li proposed: “Why don’t we document today’s events in a book called ‘The Golden Core Collection,’ so that future generations and newcomers can use it as reference for core formation. Those who can form upper three-grade cores should do so, while those who can’t should follow our example and put more thought into their Golden Cores like we did.”

Everyone thought this reasonable. Today had been too much fun, and not recording it felt like something would be missing.

All the Unity Stage cultivators quietly contemplated and quickly conceived what they wanted to write, documenting both successful and failed experiences.

Bai Hongtu collected the written papers and compiled them into a volume.

Yu Yin ground ink and laid out paper, drawing various Golden Core forms and scenes from today’s battles as supplementary material.

Jiang Li wanted to emulate the “Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion” by writing a “Preface to the Golden Core Collection.”

“In the 4,011th year of the Yan Calendar, in the year of Guichou, at the beginning of late spring, we gathered under the banyan tree of the Spirit Plant Sect… How did the rest go again?”

Jiang Li held his brush, contemplating for a long time, before finally choosing to assign this task to Dong Zhongren.

Dong Zhongren felt both honored and overwhelmed—Human Sovereign Jiang was actually bestowing this honor upon him. Such selflessness was truly admirable.

Finally, through everyone’s efforts except Jiang Li’s, the “Preface to the Golden Core Collection” was completed. Each person signed their name with flamboyant calligraphy, and Bai Hongtu used magic to copy the book and distribute it to everyone as a keepsake.

The original version remained in the Human Sovereign Hall, which would distribute it to cultivators throughout the Nine Provinces.

When Jiang Li handed the “Preface to the Golden Core Collection” to Commander Liu, the commander looked confused.

“Hall Master, I thought you went to face your tribulation. Why did you return with a book collecting the insights of the Nine Provinces’ top cultivators regarding the Core Formation Stage?”

Jiang Li didn’t know how to explain this either and could only laugh it off.

Jiang Li spent the night at the Human Sovereign Hall, proving he was a Human Sovereign who regularly maintained his presence there.

Early the next morning, just as he stepped out of the Human Sovereign Hall, he encountered Tianming Daoist.

“Greetings, Human Sovereign.” Tianming Daoist bowed with hands clasped.

Jiang Li was puzzled—they had just met yesterday at the Spirit Plant Sect, so why was he seeking him out again now?

“Please forgive my intrusion, Human Sovereign. After I returned to Tianji Tower and recounted yesterday’s events, my newly accepted disciple proposed writing an article about you. I thought it was a good idea and agreed.”

Behind Tianming Daoist stood a young cultivator who must have been his newly accepted disciple.

“I don’t mind. What does your Tianji Tower want to report?”

“I want to write an article called ‘A Day in the Life of Human Sovereign Jiang.'” The young disciple looked at Jiang Li with admiration.

“This is my youngest disciple, named Xiaoshi. Before this, he was actually the Second Senior Brother of the Great Vehicle Observation Sect.”

“Xiaoshi pays respects to the Human Sovereign.”

“…You don’t screen your disciples’ backgrounds when accepting them?” Jiang Li felt like members of the Great Vehicle Observation Sect were everywhere.

“Human Sovereign, you may not know this, but my young disciple shows exceptional talent in writing news about you. He’s also an outstanding prospect in cultivating our sect’s technique ‘Grasping the Heavenly Secrets.'”

Jiang Li always felt Tianming Daoist had ulterior motives for accepting Xiaoshi as a disciple.

“What do I need to do?”

“You don’t need to do anything special. Just allow Xiaoshi to accompany you during your activities today. Xiaoshi will use a Spiritual Treasure to record your daily behavior.”

“Of course, Xiaoshi might have some questions about certain things you do and may ask you about them. You can answer as you see fit.”

Jiang Li nodded, thinking this wasn’t a big deal, and agreed.

Tianming Daoist gave Xiaoshi a few instructions before disappearing into the air, while Xiaoshi quietly followed behind Jiang Li like a transparent person.

Looking at Jiang Li’s back, Xiaoshi couldn’t help but recall the instructions from his Big Senior Brother, Third Junior Brother, Fourth Junior Sister, and others.

Members of their Great Vehicle Observation Sect were scattered throughout the Nine Provinces. One could say that besides the Human Sovereign Hall, you could find them everywhere.

Their purpose was to observe Human Sovereign Jiang and deduce changes in the Human Reincarnation Path.

He would definitely live up to their expectations and carefully observe Human Sovereign Jiang.

Most major powers knew something about the Great Vehicle Observation Sect’s activities, but none paid much attention to it. There was no particular reason—they simply felt there should be a sect responsible for recording Jiang Li’s movements.

It definitely wasn’t because they found it amusing and allowed the Great Vehicle Observation Sect to operate freely.

They dared to swear this by Bai Hongtu.

…

Jiang Li disguised his appearance and randomly selected a city to eat breakfast in. He ordered a bowl of millet porridge and two steamers of buns, eating with great relish while occasionally chatting with nearby diners about amusing stories from all over, such as Human Sovereign Jiang having passed his sixteenth Ascension Tribulation, Human Sovereign Jiang making another breakthrough in the swordpath, Human Sovereign Jiang returning from death to become an immortal existence…

Xiaoshi diligently recorded: Human Sovereign Jiang maintains a low profile, operates in disguise, personally investigates local conditions, conducts firsthand research on local breakfast situations, checks whether commoners’ meals are expensive or good quality, while also paying attention to his own reputation among the people, constantly reflecting on himself.

“Human Sovereign, may I ask why you still eat breakfast when you’ve already achieved abstinence from grains?”

“Because this place’s millet porridge and buns are truly delicious. I’ve eaten here several times.” Not satisfied yet, Jiang Li ordered two more steamers of buns—one for himself and one for Xiaoshi.

When he ate, it was for the flavor—feeling full was impossible.

Cultivators who practiced abstinence from grains existed in a perpetual state of neither hunger nor fullness.

Xiaoshi thanked Human Sovereign Jiang, then diligently recorded: Human Sovereign Jiang consistently eats breakfast at the same establishment to monitor price fluctuations.

Xiaoshi took a bite of the bun and found it indeed tasty, so he asked the shop owner how they achieved this. The owner didn’t hide anything and explained the preparation process.

Xiaoshi recorded: The best ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods…