Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 335: Chapter 306: Two Hurried Months, Beginning Core Formation

「Half a month later.」

WHOOSH!

Chen Che exhaled a turbid breath. The divine statues and paintings before him, now drained of their Power of Faith, instantly crumbled into dust.

A small mountain of dust had already piled up in front of him.

Besides the dust, the pile also contained the remnants of most of the Fire Attribute Spiritual Objects he had used.

During this time, he had barely left his residence. He spent his days either in cultivation, practicing alchemy, or preparing for his Core Formation. Because Earth Element Star was going to film a documentary, Chen Che had temporarily changed the location for his Core Formation to the Zhurong Daoist School.

Even though the location was safe enough, there was still much to prepare, and not a single detail could be overlooked.

This was especially true for pills.

Although he couldn’t take them in front of a group of Nascent Soul True Monarchs, he could take them beforehand.

”Valley Master, the materials are ready.”

The moment he stepped out of his courtyard, Hu Yao approached him. ”The materials were delivered by Hermit Fushan and Layman Shuilian...”

”Where are they?”

”They’re all in the Sacrificial Hall. When they heard you were going to perform alchemy, Valley Master, they decided to stay and stand guard.”

Chen Che cracked a smile. ’That’s really not necessary,’ he thought.

After all, he had already refined the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill several times; it was merely a matter of proficiency. Moreover, he had been concocting pills for Thousand Eyes recently, so his technique was exceptionally polished, and his success rate was unusually high.

”Let them stay, then.”

He didn’t say much else. Chen Che knew they were worried about a powerful enemy lurking nearby, ready to cause trouble at any moment, so they were being cautious.

While he didn’t really need them, he tacitly approved.

「Three days later.」

CLANG!

A burst of energy erupted from the tranquil Chixia Tripod, radiating outward like a rosy sunset glow.

”Success!”

The moment the alchemical flame went out, Chen Che was already certain. When one’s skill reaches a certain level, one can internally gauge success or failure. Only those with insufficient skill feel anxious and uncertain.

He made a grasping motion with his hand, and the pill immediately flew out of the tripod.

”Not bad!”

A single glance was enough to tell Chen Che he couldn’t be more satisfied.

This Qingxu Guiyuan Pill was perfectly round and emanated a rippling, golden spiritual light. It was the very picture of an ideal pill—it simply couldn’t be more perfect. This single pill could increase the probability of Core Formation by fifty percent.

While he was on a roll, Chen Che refined another batch.

Unfortunately, although the Pill Formation was successful, its quality wasn’t as good as the first one.

Even so, it would be considered an extremely rare treasure in the outside world.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and swallowed the pill.

It was commonly believed that realm-breaking elixirs like this could only be taken during a breakthrough. In truth, that wasn’t the case. It was just that many cultivators, unable to take that final step, would resort to using a pill for assistance.

But Chen Che was different.

All he lacked now was True Essence. By taking the pill ahead of time, he could quickly reach Foundation Establishment Great Perfection. In the time remaining, he just needed to solidify the True Essence in his body once more, and then he could proceed with Core Formation as a matter of course.

GULP~

The pill melted the moment it entered his mouth. A warm current immediately surged from his lower abdomen, like chugging hot water on a cold winter’s day, spreading a steaming heat through his chest and belly. Then, this warm current seemed to transform into a raging tide.

Even though he cultivated the Flame Emperor Body Forging Technique and had been constantly opening his meridians, making his physical body far stronger than cultivators of the same tier, he still felt completely full, as if his body were about to explode.

’This effect is too powerful! At my current realm, I could probably attempt Core Formation even at just the Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment...’

But that was just a passing thought. He didn’t dare be careless. He operated the Ancient Energy-Introducing Technique at full power, greedily drawing the medicinal energy into its circulatory path.

WHOOSH!

INHALE!

The medicinal energy was converted into True Essence by his cultivation technique. Soon, every meridian in his body was filled to the brim. His True Essence was so abundant it felt translucent, as if it could overflow from his body at any moment. He was clearly ready for Core Formation at any time.

The excess medicinal energy, however, had nowhere to go and rampaged through his body like an unrestrained flood.

Many minor meridians were forcibly blasted open.

’It can open meridians too?’

Chen Che hadn’t expected this, but he quickly focused his mind. Adhering to the principle of not letting anything go to waste, he began to channel the immense medicinal energy once more.

Breaking a tier is, in essence, a leap in power.

In the words of Earth Element Star, it’s a quantitative change leading to a qualitative change. Theoretically, once one’s cultivation is sufficient, a breakthrough should occur naturally. However, variables such as different cultivation techniques, the quantity and density of one’s True Essence, the number of pills consumed, and even the diligence of the cultivator can introduce all sorts of changes.

Many cultivators fail to reach the theoretical values, which is why their probability of breaking a tier is low. The purpose of tier-breaking or realm-breaking elixirs is to forcibly push a cultivator to those theoretical values.

However, for Chen Che, a single Qingxu Guiyuan Pill had already pushed him far beyond the theoretical value. That was why the excess medicinal energy was so immense, leading to this result.

’This is even better than the first time I took the Leopard Embryo Elixir...’

Chen Che’s eyes lit up.

’At my current realm, opening even a single meridian is incredibly difficult. Most Tier Two body refining elixirs are almost ineffective for me. I never thought this Qingxu Guiyuan Pill would have such an effect...’

Suddenly, Chen Che felt even more motivated, full of energy.

A full day passed before he finished refining the medicinal effects. Unfortunately, more than half of the energy had still dissipated throughout his body.

’But it’s enough...’

He glanced at the Micro Crystal Brain, and data quickly appeared:

[Name: Chen Che]

[Realm: Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer (100.00%)]

[Qi and Blood: Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer (100.00%)]

[Divine Sense: Golden Core Fourth Layer (29.56%)]

[Ignored Message: True Essence reserves are 2339.56% higher than cultivators of the same tier]

[Warning: User is approaching Core Formation. Please report to the relevant authorities in advance and select a suitable location for Core Formation. Do not proceed in private. Otherwise, the user will be solely responsible for any personnel and property damage caused by the Celestial Tribulation. Severe violations may result in life imprisonment...]

...

After a quick glance, he dismissed the second warning that popped up and finally walked out.

”Valley Master...”

This was the first time Chen Che had shown himself in a while. Although they couldn’t gauge his cultivation, they breathed a sigh of relief seeing their Valley Master’s relaxed expression.

”This one is for you.”

Arriving at the Sacrificial Hall, Chen Che gave the extra pill he had refined to Xiao Chan, then turned to Lu Qinglian. ”When I start the next batch, I’ll refine one for you, but you’ll have to prepare the materials yourself.”

”I get one too?”

Lu Qinglian was stunned with pleasant surprise.

This was the difference between Thousand Eyes and Chen Che. Chen Che rarely made promises, but once he did, he would never easily go back on his word. Thousand Eyes was different; everything was driven by self-interest. But this was a characteristic feature of Divine Dao cultivators.

On the path of the Divine Dao, which was fueled by incense offerings, they proclaimed themselves True Gods for the sake of their cultivation, manipulating mortals and acting with extreme arrogance.

Perhaps it could be said that most cultivators were like this.

”Can I transfer it to someone else?”

After a moment of hesitation, Lu Qinglian said, ”I... I want to give it to...”

Chen Che naturally knew what she was thinking.

The matter with Lu Ping’an had deeply hurt Lu Yuntian. She was born a member of the Lu Family, and she would die one. If she could get a Qingxu Guiyuan Pill, she would naturally want to use it to compensate him. However, Chen Che didn’t care. Since he had made the offer, it didn’t matter to him whether she gave it away or sold it.

He and Lu Qinglian had several pleasant collaborations. Even if she chose to leave one day, he didn’t want to sour their relationship:

”Handle your business well, and I’ll promise you another one.”

...

With the pill successfully refined, all preparations began to wrap up.

As the saying goes, every medicine is a third poison. The True Essence gained from pills was quick and easy, but it could leave one’s foundation slightly unstable. To ensure his Dao Foundation was solid, Chen Che continued to temper his True Essence daily.

Therefore, during this period, the data on the Micro Crystal Brain constantly fluctuated up and down within a 1% range.

This was normal.

It was like forging iron, removing impurities bit by bit to ultimately create refined steel. Only a Golden Core condensed from such immaculate True Essence could approach perfection.

As for Jinyun Valley, all was well, and its development continued in an orderly fashion.

The opinion of most cultivators was quite uniform:

’If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.’ The Meng Family had a Golden Core cultivator, who served as a perfect barrier to withstand the pressure. And indeed, that’s how it was. All the pressure from the Ye Clan was being directed at the Meng Family.

As a result, the Meng Family was currently in a difficult situation.

Seven days after the Core Formation ceremony, Ye Juming had taken up a fishing spot by a lake outside Fuyun Mountain, a lake just over a hundred li away from the Meng Family’s estate. With the Ye Clan’s other Golden Core and True Master Fake Pill cultivators out of sight, the entire Meng Family lived under his shadow, not daring to make the slightest move.

Meng Qianxun was even forced to recall her clan members stationed in various territories to avoid conflict, allowing the Ye Clan to encroach upon their interests.

In just a few short days, the Ye Clan had devoured seventy percent of the Meng Family’s accumulation over the past five hundred years.

Thousand Eyes was waiting.

Waiting for the moment the Meng Family could no longer hold on.

Meng Qianxun was also waiting, waiting for Chen Che to undergo his Core Formation.

Chen Che was waiting too.

He waited until the True Essence in his body could be solidified no further, until every single meridian had reached its absolute limit.

...

「November. It rained through the night.」

A hazy mist enveloped the Zhurong Daoist School.

But it couldn’t dampen the students’ enthusiasm. In fact, some had run to claim spots several days in advance. When Chen Che arrived at the square and looked up, he saw what could only be described as a vast, teeming sea of people.

Several reporters from the Xianmen Headquarters were making final adjustments, preparing to film his tribulation from various angles. One of the cameras was pointed directly at his face.

’I’ve met all the Nascent Soul True Monarchs from Zhurong Daoist School. Who are those people?’

Chen Che’s gaze swept over several unfamiliar faces. They were clearly teachers from other departments. The Daoist School had even set aside a special area for outside visitors to observe, with each school’s section marked by a flag.

From a distance, he could see them opening their mouths and pointing, but he heard no sound. Apparently, a Silent Realm had been established to avoid disturbing his tribulation.

’Well, would you look at that. I’m an exhibit.’

Chen Che grumbled to himself.

’Talk about perfect timing. A documentary, the student body, a Middle Spirit Root... Ye Zhihan never had it this good.’

Li Tingyu had been waiting since early morning and greeted Chen Che as he approached.

As the department head, she was in charge of everything related to Chen Che’s tribulation, including but not limited to easing the students’ tension and anxiety. ”If you’re nervous, you can rest for a while... The tribulation is expected to last for seven days.”

Chen Che took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, and walked toward the center of the square.

”No need!”