The Modern Martial Immortal

”A Crimson Golden Core?!”

”Yes, a Crimson Golden Core!” Li Qingshan nodded slightly. ”Back in the era of the Artifact Sect, a peak Core Formation elder attempted to switch to the Golden Core path and failed. In the end, he managed to condense a Crimson Golden Core, but he exhausted himself in the process and could not control its power. To prevent the Golden Core from exploding and devastating the surrounding lands, the sect intervened, forcibly extracting it and sealing it here, intending to use it as a one-time weapon in the great war against the Lunar Fiend Empire.”

He looked at Yaoguang, expectation filling his eyes. ”After a century of sealing and compression, its stability has improved significantly. It no longer explodes so easily. Since you intend to walk the qi refinement path, you will inevitably have to go through the Core Formation stage in the future. Take this and study it carefully. Hopefully, it will aid you when you form your Golden Core.”

Yaoguang understood Sect Master Li’s intentions. Or rather, he understood Li Hanqiu’s intentions. A treasure of this level could never have belonged to Li Qingshan, or even to the Nine Cauldrons Sect alone. They not only hoped he would cultivate all three paths simultaneously, but they also hoped that on that foundation, he would be able to form a truly stable Golden Core.

”I will accept it. I will not disappoint you or Perfected Master Li.” Yaoguang took it.

After a moment, he added, ”In terms of value, this Golden Core probably cannot be measured by a single Sky Patrol Warship. If used properly, it could even force an opponent to defend at full strength until the Golden Core lost control and both sides perished together.”

Li Qingshan laughed. ”That may be true. But if you can use this Golden Core to find the correct path to forming your own, the benefit you will ultimately bring to the Nine Cauldrons Sect will far exceed the value of this Crimson Golden Core. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Yaoguang nodded.

”By the way, the Golden Temple witnessed the clash between the Divine Might Institute, the Azure Edge Institute, and the Great Sun Sword Sect. They were quite envious of the improved Purple Firmament Type 15 flying swords and have asked whether we intend to sell them.” Li Qingshan looked at him. ”The sect has given you full authority to decide. But the export version will likely require redesign. You will need to see whether you have the time.”

”I will make the time,” Yaoguang replied at once.

Even a low-grade treasured-artifact flying sword yielded over fifty thousand spirit stones in pure profit per sword. As for high-grade treasured-artifact flying swords, earning two hundred thousand for each was not unreasonable.

Even the weakened third-generation high-grade treasured-artifact flying swords from the Infinite Star Palace sold for over two hundred thousand. The improved Purple Firmament Type 15 had already reached fourth-generation standards. Selling each for three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand would not be excessive. After all, in the entire Great Cangwu World, they were the only ones capable of selling fourth-generation high-grade treasured-artifact flying swords.

”However, this is essentially seizing market share from the Infinite Star Palace. They will likely implement countermeasures soon,” Yaoguang said.

”I know. But after the East Sea battle, we stepped into everyone’s field of vision. Hiding our strength is no longer easy. Since that is the case, we might as well seize this opportunity, while the Infinite Star Palace is tied down in its war with the Black Feather Sect, to absorb every resource we can and grow as quickly as possible.” Li Qingshan glanced at him. ”The Black Feather Sect will not be defeated so easily, will it?”

”Unless the Infinite Star Palace is willing to admit defeat, there will be no result within ten years,” Yaoguang replied precisely. ”After all, this is essentially a counterattack formed by the collapsed Northern Alliance joining forces against them.”

”That’s enough.” Li Qingshan nodded. ”Since we are preparing the Purple Firmament Type 15 for external sale, we should also begin preparing to equip our cultivators with the Purple Firmament Type 16. Shall we start by forging three hundred swords for the cultivators of our core elite battle institutes?”

He added, ”This flying sword was derived from the foundation of the Purple Firmament Type 15. The cost should be just over 200 thousand.”

”That works,” Yaoguang replied.

Li Qingshan nodded.

The Purple Firmament Institute sourced materials for its flying swords from various departments within the Nine Cauldrons Sect, thereby stimulating industries such as array pattern engraving, component processing, and mineral refinement. In other words, the money spent circulated internally, making everyone increasingly prosperous. As sect master, Li Qingshan no longer needed to be as frugal as before.

Of course, this was only possible thanks to the sect’s rising income and the compensation recently received from the Xuanming Sect. In the past, he would not even have dared to imagine spending sixty million spirit stones in one go to procure flying swords.

After Li Qingshan left, Yaoguang looked at the sealed Golden Core in his hand and felt a surge of emotion. ”Golden Core!”

In the Yaoguang World, this would have been equivalent to a nuclear weapon. Even in the Great Cangwu World, it carried tremendous influence. If he were ever forced into an extremely dangerous situation, it might be possible to deter his enemy with the threat of mutual destruction as long as he revealed the Golden Core. Of course, if he encountered a true madman, there would be no solution.

After staring at it for a moment, his gaze shifted toward the Merchant branch on the ancient tree within his mental world. The accumulated experience there surprised him.

It amounts to only thirty million spirit stones? Is a Golden Core really worth so little? He pondered briefly.

He soon understood why. After the last battle, his reputation could no longer be concealed. In the eyes of others, he wielded the Origin World and displayed combat strength comparable to a Dharma Form cultivator. He had successively captured two Sky Patrol Warships from the Great Sun Sword Sect. His strength, and that of the Sea Guardian Institute under his command, rivaled that of the Sword-Wielding Institute under Li Qingshan.

Combined with his ability as an artifact-refinement grandmaster and his knowledge of array arts... He had undoubtedly been marked by every major power. His importance now likely rivaled Li Qingshan’s.

His importance was no longer confined to the Nine Cauldrons Sect but extended across the entire Cangwu World. It was no exaggeration to say his status and importance had taken a major leap.

Because of his increased value, trading a hard-won Sky Patrol Warship for a Golden Core had ultimately yielded experience equivalent to only thirty million spirit stones.

Thirty million is not a small sum. It should allow me to barely glimpse the true profundities of the Golden Core Realm. With that thought, he did not hesitate. He immediately used all of the experience he had just earned to nurture the Qi Dao branch. Instantly, the Qi Dao branch grew at astonishing speed, once again blossoming and bearing fruit.

It was during this very process that the growth direction of the Qi Dao branch seemed to begin climbing toward the Psyche Dao branch. The Martial Dao branch did the same.

All three displayed a clear tendency toward fusion. As they merged, certain pieces of information that Yaoguang had previously failed to capture, or rather, had failed to trigger through the appropriate keywords, began to surface.

He had long felt that his high-dimensional cognition functioned somewhat like a search engine. And a search engine only retrieved what one explicitly searched for. It did not extend into unrelated domains. At most, it would bring up a few details when they inevitably overlapped with other things.

When he searched the Martial Dao using high-dimensional cognition, he received only details about it. When he searched the Psyche Dao, he received only content related to it. As for whether flaws existed within that information, that was left to the searcher’s own judgment.

Now, however, with the Martial Dao, Psyche Dao, and Qi Dao resonating with one another, it was as though the overall search query had been refined. The information he obtained might not have been as broad, but it was far easier for him to comprehend.

Nine realms of the Qi Dao? He recalled the cultivation system Li Hanqiu had once mentioned regarding the North Sea battlefield.

Does this describe the qi refinement stage as the nine realms of the Qi Dao as well? And above that are the nine realms of Golden Core? A trace of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

He did not even bother examining what kind of Dao Fruit had just formed. Instead, he immediately began absorbing information about the nine realms of the Golden Core, or rather, the nine realms of the Core Dao.

Foundation Building, Unity, Core Formation, Fission, Fusion, Crimson, Radiant Sun, Blazing White, and Azure! The nine realms revolved through his mind.

There was no distinction here between ordinary Foundation Building and Dao Foundation. One simply established an immortal foundation. In fact, it was even more profound than what he had previously understood as an immortal foundation. Its core significance was that it enabled the cultivator to cultivate essence, qi, and psyche simultaneously.

When essence, qi, and psyche were fully integrated as one, and one possessed the physique of a star lord along with the spiritual consciousness of a primordial psyche cultivator, one stepped into the Unity Realm. As for Core Formation that followed...

Good heavens, this alone grants a thousand years of lifespan? That is roughly equivalent to the first-generation Golden Core cultivators in the Great Cangwu World... But that can’t be right. The first-generation Golden Core cultivators in the Great Cangwu World seemed to have only about four or five hundred years of lifespan.

The subsequent realms of Fission, Fusion, Crimson, Radiant Sun, and Blazing White were all familiar to him. However, unlike the extreme instability of these realms in the Great Cangwu World, the descriptions here portrayed each stage of the Golden Core as extraordinarily stable, entirely normal.

Moreover, as long as one could form a Crimson Golden Core, one could generally live for over three thousand years. The greatest difference between a Crimson Golden Core and a Radiant Sun Golden Core was that the former could not collapse into a Primordial Void.

In other words, without reaching the Radiant Sun Golden Core Realm, the possibility of advancing into the Void-Piercing Realm was effectively cut off.

Of course, that did not mean forming a Radiant Sun Golden Core guaranteed entry into the Void-Piercing Realm. It merely granted the qualification to attempt it. Attempting a breakthrough at that stage, unless blessed by destiny, would almost certainly result in death.

Even those who reached the Blazing White Golden Core Realm faced extreme peril in advancing. Only those who formed an Azure Golden Core could truly and smoothly step into the Void-Piercing Realm and become genuine overlords of the cosmos.

Yaoguang digested all the new information piece by piece. Even though he had possessed prior knowledge, the impact of this revelation still felt nothing short of world-shattering. By the time he fully absorbed everything, an entire month had passed.

Within his mental world, the three branches of the Martial Dao, Psyche Dao, and Qi Dao, which had once grown in separate directions, had now completely intertwined. Although the Psyche Dao still formed the core, the three were no longer distinguishable from one another.

Once he achieved a breakthrough at the Void-Piercing Realm in the future, the three branches would surely fuse into one.