Chapter 72
Translator: T_Fan
A few days later.
Scritch. Scritch.
At the faint sound from the tunnel wall, Lee Hyun turned his head.
A hole sealed with earth and hardened mucus was cracking open from the inside. A moment later, two short forelegs poked through the gap.
Crack.
Dry earth crumbled away.
A ball of golden fur poked its head out. It paused halfway through, then kicked its hind legs about as though its rump had gotten stuck.
Lee Hyun widened the entrance slightly with his finger.
Plop.
The fuzzbee dropped onto his palm and shook itself off. Its newly exposed fur was still a little damp, and a transparent membrane clung to the tips of its wings.
“You slept for quite a while this time.”
Squeak.
A familiar response came through the Spirit-Nurturing Seal.
Lee Hyun examined its body. He could sense the stable aura of a Tier 2 spirit insect within it.
It was one of the three fuzzbees that had mutated long ago after eating Meridian-Linking Jade Silkworms.
…
Over the years, Lee Hyun had also learned a fair amount about fuzzbee ecology.
Fuzzbees that had remained active for a long time would gradually eat less and move more sluggishly, until one day they dug small burrows into the wall. After sealing the entrance with earth and mucus, they would remain out of sight for years at a time.
At first, he had thought they were dead.
But after confirming that spiritual power and life force were still circulating steadily inside them, Lee Hyun had refrained from carelessly opening the burrows.
When they finally emerged again much later, they left behind thin husks.
The spiritual power and soul within them remained unchanged. The Spirit-Nurturing Seal was still intact, and they had forgotten neither the commands they had learned nor the knack for controlling Bonefuzz.
They were undergoing long periods of dormancy while gradually replacing their aging tissues.
After searching through the countless jade slips and books he had acquired over the years, he learned that there were indeed spirit insects capable of living for extremely long periods.
Even among Tier 2 spirit insects, lifespans and growth cycles varied greatly from species to species.
He had never found any records of spirit insects resembling fuzzbees, so he still had no idea how long they could live.
However, although several generations had already come and gone among the smaller fuzzbees in the spirit fields, those that had first reached Tier 2 were still alive, repeatedly falling into these long sleeps and awakening again.
…
Lee Hyun used the Spirit Rain Art over a stone bowl, then mixed in a little Hundred-Flower Honey.
The resulting liquid was one of the few things fuzzbees ate besides spirit insects.
Still sluggish after waking from its long sleep, the fuzzbee gripped the rim of the bowl with its forelegs and drank for quite some time. Once its abdomen had grown plump, it stretched its wings a few times before flying toward the workbench.
A Bonefuzz puppet that had just finished undergoing inspection lay there with its chest cover open.
Zip.
The fuzzbee slipped inside.
Click.
Bonefuzz took two steps and briefly stumbled, but quickly regained its balance. It then crouched low and lightly sprang onto the workbench.
Squeak!
Lee Hyun smiled.
“You wake up after all this time and immediately climb back in? Is it really that much fun?”
Bonefuzz raised one foreleg.
At the sound it made, fuzzbees began appearing from all over. Several that saw the first one inside circled around the closed chest cover.
“All right. It’s been a while, so let’s go out for a stroll.”
Buzzzzz―
…
A rocky mountain several hundred li (well over 100 km) from Tunnel No. 3.
Deep within layers of interlocking rocky ridges was a long, narrow valley. It was difficult to see inside from the outside, and the valley floor was covered not with water but with broken stones and dry sand.
Lee Hyun surveyed the surroundings for a while. After confirming that there were no people or demon beasts nearby, he opened his storage pouch and took out the Bonefuzz puppets.
He currently had forty-eight Bonefuzz puppets, and their designs had changed considerably compared to long ago.
The bone plates covering their backs and chests had been divided into sections so they could be easily replaced, while separate components reinforced the areas most prone to impacts. Curved plates made by layering different spirit materials had also been fitted inside their legs.
They were the result of his research into the broken bow limb he had obtained from the archer and the Spirit Bow and Arrow Maintenance Record.
Lee Hyun opened the bodies of the Bonefuzz puppets, and the fuzzbees pouring out of the spirit-insect pouch entered them with practiced ease.
Those that failed to claim a Bonefuzz settled on Lee Hyun’s shoulders and arms instead.
When Lee Hyun stretched out a hand, a round stone buried in the sand floated into the air.
“Bring it back.”
He threw the stone deeper into the valley.
Twang!
The springy plates inside their legs bent like bowstrings, then snapped straight.
The Bonefuzz in front shot forward low enough to skim the ground, then used a boulder blocking its path as a foothold and launched diagonally into the air.
The Bonefuzz puppets behind it scattered in unison.
While one chased the stone in a straight line, two others alternated between kicking off the cliffs on either side, racing ahead as though tightening an encirclement.
Hummm―
The Bonefuzz that reached the landing point first activated its flight-suppressing restriction, causing the stone slicing through the air to lurch sideways and be dragged toward it.
Another Bonefuzz barreling in from the opposite side activated its restriction as well. The two pulls locked against each other, holding the stone taut in midair.
Taking advantage of the opening, another Bonefuzz sprang up from below like a shadow, swiftly snatched the stone with its forelegs, and hugged it against its chest.
Squeak!
With a triumphant cry, it abruptly changed direction and fled, while the other Bonefuzz puppets gave chase.
Lee Hyun stared at them in disbelief.
“I told you to bring it to me….”
The Bonefuzz carrying the stone slid behind a massive boulder. But when the group burst out from the opposite side, the stone was already in another one’s arms.
A swarm of round bodies came pouring after it.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
The lively sound of bony legs striking rock walls echoed throughout the valley.
Whenever they changed direction sharply, the plates inside their joints flexed and straightened. Any puppet that lost its balance in midair used its flight restriction to right itself before kicking off the cliff again.
Their movements as they stole the stone and shook one another off were far more agile and coordinated than before. It might have looked like simple play, but their mobility and control over rough terrain had improved tremendously.
One of the fuzzbees on Lee Hyun’s shoulder squeaked loudly beside his ear.
Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak!
“All right. You can have a turn next time.”
…
Quite some time later.
The sand was covered in a chaotic web of Bonefuzz footprints.
Lee Hyun seized the stone and pulled it toward himself. Two Bonefuzz puppets that stubbornly refused to let go were dragged along with it.
“That’s enough playing. Come out.”
Their chest covers opened, and balls of golden fur emerged before flying back into the spirit-insect pouch.
Lee Hyun put the empty Bonefuzz puppets into his storage pouch, then finally returned the fuzzbees clinging to his body to the spirit-insect pouch as well.
The valley fell silent.
“Now, then….”
It was time to examine his own body.
Lee Hyun’s feet rose into the air.
The instant he tilted his body slightly forward, the cliffs of the valley seemed to be sucked backward at terrifying speed.
Whoosh―
Before the sound of his passage through the air could even catch up, the rocky ridge that had been far in the distance was suddenly right before his eyes.
His body turned at a right angle in midair.
He flipped over, plunged downward, then shot upward again in the next instant.
After achieving Whole-Body Foundation Establishment, being in the air felt so natural that there hardly seemed any reason to keep his feet on the ground at all.
Lee Hyun came to a complete stop in midair and drew the Profound Gate Sword.
Shing.
The black line running down the center of the blade glowed white-hot and let out a piercing sword cry.
Swish.
He casually slashed the sword diagonally.
Flash!
Sword light split the air and swept across the opposite cliff.
A hair-thin crack appeared where the sword light passed, and the house-sized upper section of the cliff revealed a perfectly smooth cross-section as it slid free into the air.
Just before the enormous mass of rock plunged to the ground, Lee Hyun extended his left hand.
Humm!
A giant hand formed in midair as he unleashed the Condensed-Essence Grasping Hand.
It was on an entirely different level from before. What had once been a translucent shape now looked almost solid, with a faint blue sheen.
Boom!
The giant hand shot out as though tearing into the mountainside and caught the falling section of cliff in midair. Even after the giant hand took the full force of its tremendous fall, not a single finger so much as trembled.
Lee Hyun closed his hand.
BOOOOM!
The rock crumbled like clay under the giant hand’s grip, exploding with a thunderous roar as countless fragments burst in every direction.
Lee Hyun did not retreat even as the debris hurtled toward him.
Fwoosh!
Using the spherical light screen of the Qi Sphere Barrier as its framework, the flames of the Flame-Threading Art instantly expanded into a curtain of fire.
Hissssss―
Every falling rock fragment that touched it glowed red, softened, and melted away in midair. Molten stone and scorching winds churned beyond the curtain, yet not so much as a speck of dust reached Lee Hyun inside the flames.
After withdrawing the fire, Lee Hyun looked down at the Profound Gate Sword in his hand.
Trrring….
The blade was trembling faintly. The restriction running through its center had been unable to withstand the influx of spiritual power and was giving off thin wisps of smoke.
It was sturdy even among high-grade magic tools, yet this was what happened when Lee Hyun poured his spiritual power into it all at once.
‘It can’t handle it.’
Magic tools were divided into low grade, mid grade, high grade, and supreme grade.
Among supreme-grade magic tools, those made with especially outstanding materials and craftsmanship were often called exceptional supreme-grade magic tools. Even cultivators at late Foundation Establishment or Great Perfection could not easily obtain one.
Anything better belonged to an entirely different category and was no longer called a magic tool, but a magic treasure.
Magic treasures were made primarily from Tier 3 or higher spirit materials and required the magical power and nurturing of a Golden Core cultivator during refining, making them incomparably more precious than magic tools.
Because of that, when a rogue cultivator without any backing had just achieved Core Formation, it was common for them to continue using an exceptional supreme-grade magic tool because they could not obtain a magic treasure.
‘Both the quality and quantity of my spiritual power have changed. I need at least a supreme-grade magic tool, or perhaps an exceptional supreme-grade magic tool.’
Lee Hyun put the Profound Gate Sword into his storage pouch.
He could buy a finished one, or if he obtained suitable spirit materials and a crafting method, he could try making one himself.
However, becoming a Tier 2 artifact refiner did not mean he could freely make every supreme-grade or exceptional supreme-grade magic tool.
Just as even a Tier 2 formation master was most familiar with the formations they primarily studied, refining a particular supreme-grade magic tool required separate research into how to weave together suitable restrictions and harmonize the properties of multiple spirit materials.
‘I have plenty of time. I can think it over slowly.’
After erasing the traces of his spiritual power from the surroundings, he disappeared beneath the ground.
…
A few days later, in the storeroom of Tunnel No. 3.
Lee Hyun opened the pouches containing his spirit stones one after another.
Approximately 1,200 mid-grade spirit stones.
They had accumulated from the spoils he had acquired through battle over the years, along with the spirit stones he earned by selling spirit plants and pills.
Some were also his share from brokering trades as society head of the Two Heavens Society or supplying its members with the items they needed.
Even though he kept his margins small for the members’ convenience, the steady flow of transactions brought in spirit stones little by little.
In truth, the profits accumulated that way over some six hundred years had been much greater. At one point, he had possessed nearly twice as many spirit stones as he did now.
However, he had spent almost all the profits he earned as society head of the Two Heavens Society on learning various crafts and disciplines.
His biggest expenses had been soul stones, cinnabar and refined demon-beast blood for inscribing formation inscriptions and restrictions, and high-grade spirit materials for Bonefuzz frames. The mid-grade spirit stones consumed in operating the Bonefuzz puppets were no small expense either.
Thus, once the number of Bonefuzz puppets approached fifty, he stopped increasing their numbers and focused instead on repairing and improving the ones he already had.
Lee Hyun looked at the pile of failed components beneath the workbench.
‘At least I still have what I learned from all that…’
Another cultivator in his situation might have cut spending on Bonefuzz even further, but Lee Hyun’s spirit fields were filled with expensive spirit plants. If he wanted, he could simply sell them for more spirit stones, so he considered maintaining his current stock of mid-grade spirit stones more than enough.
‘Still… this time I should sell off a few spirit plants. I need to get a supreme-grade or exceptional supreme-grade magic tool…’
Lee Hyun walked through his spirit fields, considering which spirit plants to sell.
Several varieties had passed five hundred years of medicine age and become Tier 3 spirit plants. Selling only a few of them would likely bring in a considerable number of spirit stones.
The oldest were in Spirit Field No. 1-1.
The mother plants he had originally planted were already approaching seven hundred years of medicine age.
‘Selling even a few of these later should give me more than enough spirit stones.’
***
Guyan Market in northwestern Kun Kingdom.
Above the city gate hung a black flag embroidered with silver waves.
Lee Hyun followed the line inside.
The walls had grown taller.
When he had last visited a little over ten years ago, the stalls that now stood within the walls had still been spread across the open ground outside. New halls lined both sides of the streets, and the paving stones had been laid evenly enough for carts to pass.
Spirit tablets belonging to various merchant groups hung beside the toll station. Some even bore the name of the Nanming Sea.
More than six hundred years had passed since the Nanming Twelve-Sect Alliance took control of Kun Kingdom and Cang Kingdom.
During that time, the alliance had suffered several internal conflicts over the division of spirit veins. Long-serving Elders died, new Nascent Soul cultivators emerged, and the balance of power shifted.
Factions that had once belonged to the same sect sometimes split apart and raised separate banners, while sects that had declined severely came under the protection of other sects.
The sects of neighboring cultivation nations such as Xuan Kingdom had also reinforced their border strongholds. After several clashes, they established boundaries neither side would cross.
The name Nanming Twelve-Sect Alliance still remained, but for the time being, there were no signs that it intended to expand its territory further.
As time passed, the wartime tension also faded from Kun Kingdom, and the coming and going of merchant groups became commonplace.
In the Kun Kingdom of the present day, disputes over taxes and the prices of goods were far more common than anything else.
…
“We have this month’s entire quota prepared. However, the price of powdered Azure-Horn Deer is higher than last time….”
“The official procurement price is fixed.”
The gray-robed cultivator did not look up from the ledger.
The shopkeeper pressed his lips shut.
“…Understood.”
The clerks beside him began unloading wooden crates.
Not far away, two patrol cultivators were twisting a rogue cultivator’s arms behind his back as they dragged him away.
“I’m telling you, I paid first!”
“You can tell the Steward that.”
The onlookers made way on their own when the patrol cultivators approached.
The streets were crowded and business seemed brisk, but whenever someone wearing the insignia of the Nanming Twelve-Sect Alliance appeared, everyone around them became guarded.
…
Once Lee Hyun realized that Guyan Market was not suitable for trading Tier 3 spirit plants, he lost interest. After leaving the cultivator market, he stopped by the nearby county seat.
He had visited the place from time to time over the past six hundred years, yet even the city’s name had changed again since his last visit.
Women gathered around the well, while the aroma of grain dough baking over small roadside ovens drifted through the streets.
People stood in front of the government office, checking their names on a newly posted notice.
“Looks like the Gu-Rearing Institute is recruiting people again this year.”
“Think my second son could become a gu warrior if he went there?”
Lee Hyun passed through the crowd and entered a bookstore.
Many of the books on the shelves featured stories set at sea.
They told of mysterious islands, underwater cave abodes, and cultivators traveling between islands atop bizarre spirit beasts.
It was no longer unusual at all for place names from the Nanming Sea to appear in popular fiction in Kun Kingdom.
In those stories, the demonic cultivators of the Nanming Sea were usually cultured and dashing. They drank fine wine, settled grudges without hesitation, and often handed jade slips to protagonists who had lost their way.
Lee Hyun pulled out one book and flipped through a few pages.
‘This one might actually be entertaining.’
Beside it was another book collecting old accounts from the cultivation world.
He spotted the name Danxiao Sect and opened it, only to find a brief description of it as one of Kun Kingdom’s sects that had already vanished.
Below that was a note stating that several alchemy lineages of Taixuan Sect, along with small sects in Xuan Kingdom and Xu Kingdom, had carried on its inheritance.
Lee Hyun read for a moment before closing the book.
“I’ll take this one too.”
The shopkeeper approached.
“That one isn’t a novel, but a history book. I’m afraid it won’t be very entertaining…”
“I know.”
***
A little over twenty days later.
Lee Hyun entered western Xu Kingdom for the first time in quite a while.
Along the way, he passed through several cultivator markets and Two Heavens Society contact points, where he also confirmed the date of the gathering to be held in the west.
There was still plenty of time before the gathering.
While heading west, he changed course in front of a low mountain range.
A familiar stream ran down the slope and into the valley.
Lee Hyun took a small jade token from the storage pouch at his waist and brushed his thumb over its surface.
Eldest Senior Brother Song Qiming had given it to him long ago.
…
Yanxia Sect’s Mountain Gate stood atop a flight of stone steps.
Doors and a roof had been added where there had once been only pillars, and a low wall extended behind them.
Beyond the Mountain Gate was a courtyard where medicinal ingredients were laid out to dry. Higher up the slope stood tier upon tier of halls and disciples’ residences.
Thin smoke from the alchemy chamber drifted through the valley.
‘They’ve managed surprisingly well all this time.’
Lee Hyun gazed at the scene for a while.
During the first few decades, he had visited several times, but afterward, he stopped coming because of how old Li Dongsan should have been by then in the eyes of outsiders.
A very long time had passed since he had last personally entered this valley.
The Qi Refining disciple guarding the Mountain Gate rose to his feet.
“Greetings, Senior. What brings you here?”
Lee Hyun held out the jade token.
“I brought something belonging to someone with ties to this place. May I see your sect master?”
The disciple examined the jade token, then called another disciple from inside.
A short while later, a Foundation Establishment cultivator descended to the Mountain Gate.
He appeared to be a man in his forties. His clothes were neat, and his fingertips bore faint traces of handling medicinal ingredients.
“I am Xu Zheng’an, the sect master of Yanxia Sect.”
He cupped his hands, and Lee Hyun returned the greeting.
Xu Zheng’an accepted the jade token and examined both sides before sending his divine sense into it. When a faint pattern appeared within the token, his expression changed.
“May I ask… what relationship do you have with Senior Li Dongsan?”
“His inheritance passed through several generations before reaching me.”
Xu Zheng’an looked at the jade token once more.
“Please, come inside.”
…
Xu Zheng’an was the sixth sect master of Yanxia Sect.
The sect was still relatively small.
The disciples made their living primarily through alchemy and preparing medicinal ingredients, while a few learned formations and artifact-refining arts to maintain the sect’s various implements.
Two Qi Refining disciples were carrying medicinal ingredients across one side of the courtyard.
Xu Zheng’an led Lee Hyun into one of the halls.
It was the Ancestral Hall, where memorial tablets and portraits were enshrined.
Song Qiming.
Fang Jiyun.
Yue Wugou.
Lee Hyun’s gaze moved over the names one by one.
Beneath each was a brief account of their deeds and the years of their birth and death.
Mei Sujun’s memorial tablet was there as well. Beside it was a record somewhat longer than those accompanying the other tablets.
The only Golden Core cultivator in Yanxia Sect’s history.
She had supported the sect for many years and expanded its dealings with Baoguang Temple.
‘Come to think of it, I vaguely remember hearing that Senior Sister Mei had achieved Core Formation….’
Lee Hyun accepted a stick of incense and placed it before the tablets.
Xu Zheng’an waited silently beside him.
After leaving the Ancestral Hall, they headed to the neighboring building.
It was where documents from the sect’s founding and old artifacts were kept.
Several paintings hung on the walls.
Lee Hyun stopped in front of one of them.
「Founding Benefactor Li Dongsan」
The man in the painting was enormous.
Compared with the people painted beside him, he looked to be around nine chi (about 3 m) tall. His shoulders were broad, his arms thick, and he held a sword as tall as a man in one hand.
That much was fine.
The problem was his eyes.
Piercing blue sword light streamed from both of them.
‘…Who is this supposed to be?’
Lee Hyun stared at the painting for a moment.
Xu Zheng’an explained.
“No portrait from his lifetime survived, so later generations painted this based on accounts of his deeds.”
“His deeds?”
“The records left by Ancestral Master Yue Wugou describe them in detail. They say that every time he swung his sword, enemy cultivators fell one after another.”
Lee Hyun read the inscription beneath the painting.
「His gaze was like a sword, and his enemies dared not meet his eyes.」
Xu Zheng’an asked cautiously,
“Is it very different from what you were told he looked like?”
“Haha… I wouldn’t know either.”
…
While they were drinking tea, Xu Zheng’an brought over a small ledger.
“There is something I need to give you.”
He pointed to an entry in the ledger.
“These items were left with instructions that they be handed over if a successor of Senior Li Dongsan ever came here. They have been on the handover list for a very long time.”
Lee Hyun set down his teacup.
“What are they?”
“Would you like to visit somewhere first?”
…
On a low hill behind the sect.
Stone monuments stood in rows beneath old trees.
Xu Zheng’an stopped in front of one of them.
It was Yue Wugou’s grave.
Beside the gravestone was a round stone lid half buried in the earth.
Xu Zheng’an formed a hand seal, and a small formation inscription around the edge of the lid lit up. The earth shifted aside and the stone lid rose.
A narrow stone coffer lay beneath it.
Xu Zheng’an took out a wine jar.
Several layers of Spirit-Sealing Talismans covered the black earthenware jar. The outermost talisman was not particularly old, but those farther inside had yellowed with age.
A thin stone plaque was tied around the neck of the jar.
「To be given to Junior Brother Li or his successor if either comes.」
Xu Zheng’an said,
“We replaced the Spirit-Sealing Talismans at regular intervals. The seal beneath them is still intact.”
“I see.”
“I’m told Ancestral Master Yue buried this separately because it was excellent spirit wine. He drank every last drop of his own share… and ordered everyone not to touch this one.”
The corner of Lee Hyun’s mouth twitched slightly.
Xu Zheng’an set down the wine jar and two cups.
“I’ll return for you shortly.”
He descended the hill.
…
Lee Hyun removed the seals from the wine jar.
When he pulled out the stopper, a rich, mellow fragrance drifted out.
He poured one cup and placed it in front of the gravestone, then filled his own.
“So you did end up buying it after all, Senior Brother.”
Lee Hyun raised his cup.
The wine was surprisingly smooth.
…
That evening.
A wine jar and a small wooden box sat on the table in the guest room Yanxia Sect had provided.
Inside the wooden box were a letter from Mei Sujun and a jade slip.
Xu Zheng’an had said that the sect also kept a copy of the jade slip, so Lee Hyun was free to take the original and the letter with him.
Lee Hyun unfolded the paper.
The handwriting was small and neat.
「To Junior Brother Li.
If the person reading this letter happens to be your successor, you can skip the beginning and dismiss it as the pointless ramblings of an old cultivator. The jade slip I enclosed should at least be of some help to anyone learning alchemy.
I have no idea how likely it is that this will ever reach you in person.
Still, every now and then, I found myself thinking that if it was you, perhaps you were still alive somewhere, advancing your realm. Even long ago, whenever something difficult happened, you were always the calmest of us. You seemed somehow like someone who stood beyond the passage of time itself.」
Lee Hyun turned to the next page.
「The sect we founded has held together surprisingly well.
At first, we all thought we could earn spirit stones as long as we practiced alchemy, but even securing medicinal ingredients on time proved difficult. Only then did we realize how fortunate the environment at Danxiao Sect had been, with its countless spirit fields and spirit-plant cultivators.
Senior Brother Fang, Senior Brother Yue, and Senior Brother Song had a rough time of it.」
Lee Hyun chuckled under his breath.
The letter contained all sorts of little stories, such as the time Yue Wugou got an upset stomach after improperly preparing demon-beast meat, and how Song Qiming passed on the position of sect master but continued teaching disciples even in his later years.
It also recorded who passed away first and what those left behind did afterward.
Mei Sujun did not dwell on any of it with lengthy lamentation. She had simply written down their names and what had happened in a calm, matter-of-fact way.
…
「I eventually succeeded in Core Formation, late though it was.
I used Baoguang Temple’s Golden Core Condensing Pill.
That opened a new chapter in my life. Thanks to it, I was able to do many of the things I had wanted to do.
Later, when I looked down at the sect from the sky, I found it a little funny. After forming my golden core, my standards rose, and the valley where I had lived suddenly looked rather rustic.
Even then, I rarely felt as though I had time to spare.」
At that moment, the sound of leaves rustling in the wind came from outside the window.
Lee Hyun read the rest.
「I also discovered something interesting about the Golden Core Condensing Pill.
If you are still alive, then you have probably already formed a golden core or nascent soul, so this may not be of much help. But after going to all the trouble of researching it, I felt I wouldn’t be satisfied unless someone learned what I had found.
And if the person reading this is your successor rather than you, perhaps it will be useful.
The claim that using this pill for Core Formation completely cuts off the path to Nascent Soul does not appear to be entirely accurate.
This is not something I guessed on my own. I asked Baoguang Temple’s alchemists as well, and repeatedly compared the records they had accumulated over many years with the changes in my own golden core.
I wrote the details in the jade slip.
I also left behind a few other things I found useful while practicing alchemy, so whether it is you or your successor, I hope whoever needs them can make use of them.
Wherever you are, take care of yourself. I hope you live happily.」
The letter ended there.
Lee Hyun folded the paper, placed it back inside the wooden box, and closed the lid.
Then he sat by the window and drank a little more of the wine Yue Wugou had left behind.
…
At dawn the next day.
Lee Hyun withdrew his divine sense from the jade slip.
Several sheets of paper were spread across the table.
He redrew on them the diagram of a golden core he had just seen.
At intervals of several decades, Mei Sujun had examined her own golden core and repeatedly drawn the same section.
In the later diagrams, some of the lines gradually grew fainter.
They were demon markings.
…
Baoguang Temple’s Golden Core Condensing Pill was a pill that borrowed the power of a demon core to aid Core Formation.
During the alchemy process, repeated refinement stripped away the demon beast’s fierce aura and impurities, but not every trace remaining in the demon core could be erased.
There remained a structure in which demon power had been condensed in a fixed pattern over long years. The Golden Core Condensing Pill used part of that very structure to help a cultivator’s true essence condense into a golden core.
Some called it a trace of demon intent.
It did not mean that the thoughts or soul of a living demon beast remained. What lingered was the pattern by which spiritual power had flowed and gathered within the demon core.
After Core Formation, those traces took root within the cultivator’s golden core as well, and the portions visible on its surface were known as demon markings.
The problem came afterward.
To form a nascent soul, one normally had to merge one’s qi and spirit, that is, one’s spiritual power and primordial spirit, within the golden core. Only after breaking through the golden core could they be reborn as a nascent soul.
However, the externally borrowed structure of the demon markings interfered with that transformation.
The magical power that needed to merge with the cultivator’s primordial spirit continued to preserve the original flow pattern inherited from the demon core.
Because the demon markings were connected to the golden core’s internal structure, they could not simply be scraped away from the surface. Removing them required changing the flow itself.
The natural method for removing the demon markings was to nurture the golden core for a long time with one’s own magical power and, by following refining formulas, gradually assimilate those foreign flow patterns until they became one’s own.
That exact process was recorded in the series of diagrams Mei Sujun had drawn.
Baoguang Temple had apparently been observing the same phenomenon for a very long time.
The problem was that the refining took far too long.
The speed of refining differed from cultivator to cultivator. However, based on Baoguang Temple’s accumulated records and the rate at which demon markings faded, changing the structure of the entire golden core was estimated to require roughly one thousand years.
A Golden Core cultivator, on the other hand, could live at most six hundred years.
Moreover, they did not gain a fresh six hundred years of life from the day they achieved Core Formation. Cultivators who formed their cores late had already used up a considerable portion of their lifespan beforehand.
Naturally, their lives ended before the demon markings could disappear.
That was why the belief had spread that cultivators who used Baoguang Temple’s Golden Core Condensing Pill would find it difficult to reach Nascent Soul.
Lee Hyun rubbed a fingertip over the lines on the paper.
‘If these records are really correct… then this pill isn’t a problem for me at all, is it?’
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