Chapter 27 - Core Forming Stage_Our God Was Just Bored

The two-month timeframe had almost ended. The Blossom Tournament was in a couple of days, and everyone was putting the last finishing touches on their strategies. Yàn Lìqín was in his office, talking through a jade tablet.

“Yes, Head Elder. Things are moving smoothly.”

A woman with a commanding yet gentle voice answered back. “That is good to hear, Grand Elder Yàn. But that is all you have told me for the past four months. Tell me about these disciples you’re raising. I want to know about the future of our plans.”

Yàn Lìqín smiled. “Very well. First, Liàng Píng.”

“Liàng Píng, 5th level Bone Tempering Stage. He specializes in strength and body refinement. He has spent the past couple of months focusing on cultivation. Since his path is body refinement, he should get through as much of the Body Tempering realm as possible before using any special methods.”

“Yes, yes, I remember Liàng Píng. He was but a boy when he first appeared at our academy gate. How far he’s come!”

“Next, Yin Mengxia, 7th level Muscle Tempering realm. She is following the yin path of her clan and the path of the moon that her branch family specializes in. She has been practicing footwork in the day and cultivating at night. Footwork should compensate for her weaknesses; nighttime under the moon is the only time she can cultivate her Heavenly Moon Body.”

“That’s that girl Liàng Píng fell in love with when you guys went to Blossom Falls, right?”

Yàn Lìqín smiled. “He wouldn’t appreciate you saying that.”

“Bah~ what woman will accept him if he’s too scared to admit it? Grand Elder Yàn, I know these two already. Tell me about the two new ones!”

“I would, but I don’t know their current state. They came to me with paths and cultivation already decided, so I let them be. I’ll update you when I see their new strength.”

“Good. You must obtain at least three spots in the top five, or the plan will be halted by another five years. I don’t know if we have that long…”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Head Elder. I have a gut feeling we’ll do well.”

“Tch~ you and your gut feelings.”

…

Crack~

Yù Quán let out a sigh of relief. He had finally reached the Core Forming Stage. His dantian was full of pure essence. He thought about taking a break, but he wanted to try and get through the Core Forming Stage in a few days if possible. It sounded unbelievable, but it all depended on his cultivation method.

Breakthrough Detected… Updating System…

System Update Complete.

Cultivation Information Available.

Just as Yù Quán thought, it was just an information update. He opened his information to see what was new.

Yù Quán

Realm: Qi Focusing Realm

Stage: 1st Level Core Forming

Main Cultivation Art: [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body](Level 3)

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Strange Fire: (Level 2)Murderous Flame(x1)

Techniques:

[Mùmùlián Eye Stealing](Level 3)

[Mùmùlián Eye Refining](Level 3)

[Murder Mantra](Level 1)

Attributes:

[Strange Fire: Murderous Flame]

[Star Gazing Eyes](Level 1)

[Top-Quality Mortal Avarice Eyes](Level 1)

[Top-Quality Three-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 5)

[Top-Quality Three-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 1)(x5)

[Top-Quality Five-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 1)

Yù Quán saw that the Murderous Flame he created with the [Murder Mantra] was added to his attributes. He found it odd that there was no level next to it.

“Hmm… it must mean I can’t level it up. Is that because they way to level it up is the [Murder Mantra]? If I got the Murderous Flame any other way, would I be able to level it up?”

Yù Quán also noticed a new line of text called ‘Strange Fire.’

“This must be where stats will go. But why does it have a level in front and a number at the end…? System?”

Note: Strange fires can grow from level 1 to level 9. You can also combine strange fires of the same affinity. If you have two level 9 flames, it will be displayed as follows -

(Level 9)[Strange Fire](x2)

“Ah~ I see. So even when I get the flame to level nine, it will still be able to grow stronger.”

After analyzing his new information, Yù Quán began reading the Core Forming method for the [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body]. A diagram showed the shape of the core he had to make. It had a hundred sockets for eyes. The parts that weren’t sockets were thicker to compensate for the missing pieces. Other than that, there wasn’t any particular method. Typically, it would still take him longer to get through the Core Forming Stage, but he still had the refined cores. The refined cores helped with the process. If he used all of them, Yù Quán hoped he could get through the Core Forming Stage so he wouldn’t need to refine essence again.

Yù Quán began right away, getting into lotus and starting the process. He first released the essence from his dantian. Then he brought it all back and controlled it to surround the walls of the dantian. This took much of his essence, but he still had plenty. Usually, a cultivator would just form a sphere, but he was cultivating the [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body]. He started creating his core into the shape he saw in the diagram. It took him a few hours, but he finally finished.

“Fwoo~ that should be the most challenging part. Next, the more time-consuming part.”

Yù Quán began funneling the rest of his essence into the core walls he had just created. This was a slow process. The essence had to travel into the walls while the walls were kept in shape to increase the density, but not the size. Some might be able to do this quickly, but they would also be prone to mistakes, which could mean the quality of your core and a lot of time spent fixing it. This is where the refined cores came in. If the cores didn’t match your core’s affinity, you could break them down in the dantian. Then you have two choices.

Use the essence in them, but they had varying purities, and Yù Quán’s essence was all pure anyway, so there was no point. The other choice was to activate the essence by breaking it down to empower the core and make it work more efficiently and effectively. Refined cores were powerful, but what stopped people from doing what Yù Quán was doing was usually their price and their being taboo and illegal.

Fortunately for Yù Quán, he had found a moral high ground in using them and having an ample supply. Seeing how many he had, he almost wished he asked Rèn Chāngmíng to use less. But, it was too late; he could only make do with what he had and try and reach the Body Tempering realm as soon as possible.

…