Preparing for the Formation of the Golden Core

Three months later.

The rain in the Western Continent always carried a lingering scent of blood.

Unlike the Azure Continent with its numerous sects and strict order, the Western Continent was a true realm where the strong preyed on the weak. There were no laws here, only fists; no morality, only survival.

On a muddy official road.

A battered and dilapidated carriage creaked forward through the rain.

Pulling the carriage was a scrawny, skin-and-bones old horse. The driver was a young girl wearing a straw raincoat that obscured her face.

Inside the carriage.

Ye Xuan leaned back on a soft couch, toying with a dark gold ore in his hand. This was "Stardust Iron," snatched a few days ago from a blind rogue cultivator who had tried to rob him.

He flicked his fingertips lightly.

Without using any spiritual fire, he simply wrapped a gossamer-thin strand of sword qi around it.

Sizzle!

The incredibly hard Stardust Iron, which even the true fire of a Foundation Establishment cultivator would struggle to melt, instantly turned into a puddle of golden liquid. It then seeped through Ye Xuan's fingertips, entering his skin and merging into his meridians.

"The second stage."

Ye Xuan muttered to himself, looking at his fingers that had become as translucent as jade.

The Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi.

This was one of the foundations of his survival in this life.

Unlike ordinary sword cultivators who needed to nurture flying swords, this cultivation method refined all things in the world into the body, turning oneself into a sword.

Over the past three months, he had not deliberately cultivated his realm.

He had simply been killing.

Killing those who blocked his path, killing the greedy, killing those who looked at him with displeasure.

With every person he killed, he looted their storage bags. Dharma treasures, flying swords, ores, and even their bones... as long as it was a hard object, he would crush it all using the Five Elements Chaos Sutra, and then devour it with the Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi.

This was an extremely extravagant and incredibly cruel method of cultivation.

But it was precisely this devouring that pushed the physical strength of his body to an unimaginable level.

"Whoa—"

Outside the carriage, Ying'er suddenly pulled back on the reins.

"Brother."

Ying'er's voice drifted in, no longer carrying its former timidity, but instead holding a trace of cold hardness:

"There is trouble ahead."

"About thirty people, all at the early Foundation Establishment stage. The leader is at the late Foundation Establishment stage."

Ye Xuan lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.

Through the curtain of rain, over thirty cultivators dressed in black and wearing grimacing ghost masks blocked the road in a fan formation. In the muddy water at their feet lay over a dozen freshly deceased corpses—clearly an unlucky merchant caravan from earlier.

This was a standard group of rogue bandits.

Like hyenas, they moved in packs, vicious and greedy.

"Yo, this little wench looks pretty good."

The leading ghost-masked cultivator carried a nine-ring broadsword over his shoulder. His lecherous gaze swept up and down Ying'er before turning toward the carriage:

"The sick bastard inside the carriage, roll on out here!"

"Leave all your valuables behind, and hand this little bitch over for your grandpas to play with for a few days. If your grandpa is in a good mood, maybe I'll leave you with an intact corpse."

The surrounding bandits erupted into a roar of laughter.

"Boss, this pretty boy looks soft and tender. He might make a good cultivation cauldron too!"

"Hahaha, perfect for the third brother to have a taste of meat!"

Ying'er sat on the carriage shaft, unmoving and unafraid.

She merely tilted her head slightly and asked:

"Brother, should I kill them?"

From inside the carriage came Ye Xuan's lazy voice, carrying the hoarseness of someone who hadn't fully woken up:

"Too noisy."

Two simple words.

Just like the stroke of the King of Hell crossing off names in the Book of Life and Death.

"Understood."

Ying'er nodded.

Buzz—

Just as the group of bandits had yet to process what kind of riddle this master and servant were playing at.

The carriage curtain was abruptly thrown open at the corner.

There was no earth-shattering spiritual pressure.

There were no blindingly radiant visual effects.

There was only a gust of wind.

A seemingly ordinary breeze, like an autumn wind blowing down withered leaves.

But wherever this wind blew, the rain suddenly stagnated.

Every single raindrop was instantly sliced into countless finer mists of water.

"Playing cheap tricks! Brothers, get them!"

The leading ghost-masked cultivator sensed something was wrong. With an angry roar, the nine-ring broadsword in his hand whipped up a violent surge of spiritual power, slashing viciously toward the carriage.

However.

The moment his blade was raised above his head.

Pfft.

A soft sound.

Like a perfectly ripe watermelon being sliced open.

That high-grade Dharma treasure nine-ring broadsword, along with the body of the late Foundation Establishment cultivator, was neatly bisected into two halves in an instant.

The cut was as smooth as a mirror. Before the blood could even spurt out, it was instantly frozen by the residual sharp qi left on the wound.

"B... Boss?"

The remaining bandits froze.

Their smiles stiffened on their faces, fear not yet having the time to climb into their pupils.

The next moment.

That breeze dispersed.

It transformed into sky-filling gossamer threads as fine as cow hair.

That was Ye Xuan's Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

It was a silent massacre.

Those sword threads seemed to possess a sentience of their own as they wove and danced through the crowd.

Protective spiritual shields? Shattered like paper.

Defensive Dharma treasures? Sliced open like tofu.

Physical bodies? Cut down like mere weeds.

In just three short breaths.

The wind stopped.

The rain continued to fall.

On the official road, the thirty-odd clamoring bandits were still standing in their original postures.

Only their boss, cleaved in two, lay on the ground.

"Let's go."

Ye Xuan's flat voice echoed from the carriage, as though he had merely swatted a few mosquitoes.

"Hyah."

Ying'er flicked the reins.

The old horse snorted and continued to pull the battered carriage forward.

The exact moment the carriage passed by the bandits.

Crash—

Over thirty bodies collapsed simultaneously.

Turning into a pile of minced meat on the ground.

Blood mixed with the muddy water, instantly dyeing the official road red.

Meanwhile, the dilapidated carriage, without a single drop of blood staining its wheels, slowly vanished into the depths of the rain curtain.

Only the storage bags scattered in the pools of blood, guided by an invisible force, flew into the carriage one after another like young swallows returning to their nest.

"Too poor."

Ye Xuan's disgusted voice came from inside:

"Thirty-something people, and combined they aren't even worth as much as the sword in my hand."

"Sure enough, murder and arson yield belts of gold, but the competition in this line of work is fiercely cutthroat too."

The rain gradually slowed, but the sky over the Western Continent remained so oppressive that it made it hard to breathe.

Ye Xuan sat in the carriage, his fingers gently stroking the piece of scrap iron whose essence he had just devoured, a playful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Just a moment ago, he had felt a prying gaze.

It was a feeling filled with a viscous, sickly sweet possessiveness, like maggots clinging to the bone.

It was a gaze from an extremely faraway place, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers, yet still capable of making one's scalp tingle.

"Ye Qingcheng..."

Ye Xuan softly muttered this name.

"It seems the commotion I caused in that broken ruin was too big, and ultimately startled an old monster like you."

If it were an ordinary cultivator, they would probably have been scared witless by now. After all, being targeted by the temperamental Grand Elder of the Joyous Union Sect, who possessed the cultivation base of the Tribulation Transcendence stage, was essentially equivalent to receiving a death sentence.

But Ye Xuan didn't care.

In fact, he almost felt like laughing.

"Come then, let them all come."

First there was my cheating fairy wife Xia Lengyue, and now there is the demoness Ye Qingcheng.

It seems my, Ye Xuan's, destiny in this life is to carve a bloody path out of a pile of scumbag women.

He withdrew his thoughts and looked out the window at the rolling mountain range.

The mortal aura he had accumulated over the past three months of travel had reached its peak. Right now, he was like a piece of refined iron that had undergone thousands of hammer strikes; all he lacked was the final fire to forge him into a peerless divine weapon.

It is about time.

Ye Xuan's gaze sharpened.

It is time to take back the cultivation realm that belongs to me.

Duanlong Mountain, the Wang Family.

This was a renowned cultivation family within the Western Continent. The Wang Family's patriarch was a mighty expert at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. The family occupied a peak Tier 3 spirit vein known as the Earth Lung Fire Vein, and the surrounding thousand miles were all Wang Family territory.

Today, the Wang Family welcomed a special guest.

I am Li Xiaoyao, a mere rogue cultivator.

Ye Xuan stood before the Wang Family's magnificent mountain gate. Dressed in a green robe and exuding an elegant, scholarly aura, he handed over a gold-stamped visiting card along with a heavy storage bag.

The Wang Family deacon in charge of receiving guests originally had his nose turned up to the sky, but after sweeping his divine sense over the storage bag, his expression instantly changed.

Inside, neatly stacked, were a staggering one hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones!

Daoist Li, this is... The deacon swallowed hard, his attitude immediately becoming respectful.

I have heard that your noble clan's Earth Lung Fire Chamber is unparalleled in the Western Continent and has miraculous effects for breaking through the Golden Core bottleneck.

Ye Xuan smiled faintly, his tone modest yet carrying a hint of pride.

I have been stuck at the great perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage for many years. During my travels here, I suddenly gained some enlightenment. I wish to borrow your treasured land to achieve my breakthrough.

These one hundred thousand spirit stones are the rental fee.

Of course! Of course!

The deacon smiled so widely his eyes narrowed into slits.

One hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones! This was no small sum. Even for a prominent clan like the Wang Family, it was considered a windfall. Moreover, the other party was merely borrowing the fire chamber, not taking up permanent residence. This was a guaranteed profitable deal.

Please come in, Daoist Li! I will go report to the Patriarch immediately!

Half an hour later.

Ye Xuan smoothly entered the Wang Family's back mountain forbidden grounds, the Earth Lung Fire Chamber.

This was a secret chamber buried a thousand meters underground.

The surrounding walls were carved with complex defensive formations. In the center of the floor was a circular hole from which dark red earth fire surged out, illuminating the entire chamber in a crimson glow.

As the heavy stone door slowly descended, it isolated all aura from the outside world.

The elegant smile on Ye Xuan's face vanished instantly.

He waved his large sleeve.

Whoosh!

Countless formation flags flew out from his sleeve. In an instant, within the chamber's original formations, he set up three layers of the Five Elements Reversal Grand Formation and one layer of the Divine Sense Isolation Grand Formation.

Even though he had paid, he did not trust the integrity of these cultivation families.

Having done all this, Ye Xuan sat cross-legged above the fire eye.

He took a deep breath and began taking things out of his storage ring.

Three bottles of Nine-Revolution Heart Protection Pills.

Two catties of Ten-Thousand-Year Stalactite Milk.

One Clear Heart Soul-Stabilizing Pendant.

Two Tribulation-Substitute Puppets...

One by one, natural treasures that would be enough to cause a reign of terror and bloodshed in the outside world were casually tossed in front of him like items at a street stall.

These were all given to him by Xia Lengyue.

There was even a yellowed little booklet.

Ye Xuan picked up the booklet. On the cover, a few elegant characters were written: Core Formation Insights - For My Husband.

It was written in Xia Lengyue's own handwriting.

He opened the booklet.

Inside, it was densely packed with all the insights she had gained when forming her own core back then, as well as various unorthodox core formation techniques she had collected later on.

Every word, every sentence, revealed a cautious and meticulous care.

In the corner of one page, there was even a long-dried tear stain.

Beside it was a line of small text: Writing up to here, I miss you dearly. I wonder if my husband is cold or warm at this moment...

Ye Xuan looked at that line of text and remained silent for a long time.

His fingers gently brushed over the tear stain, his eyes filled with complex, indescribable emotions.

Xia Lengyue, oh Xia Lengyue...

Ye Xuan sighed, closed the booklet, and placed it carefully on his lap.

Why do you bother?

You know full well that I hate you, that I want to escape from you.

Yet you have paved the entire way for me, practically spoon-feeding me.

With these resources you have given me, let alone someone with a Five Elements Spirit Root, even a pig could be piled up into a Golden Core demonic beast.

What use is there in doing this, other than making me feel indebted to you, making me feel disgusted?

Do you really think that just because of these things, I would forget the humiliation of my past life?