Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Core Formation
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What is Core Formation?
Simply put, it is the act of condensing spiritual power to form a golden core in the lower dantian.
But from a broader perspective, it is the fundamental purpose of cultivation—the process toward transcendence.
In recent times, it has become somewhat distorted, but originally, cultivation began with those who sought to break free from human limitations.
There was a fierce general who single-handedly defeated hundreds of elite soldiers.
There was a herald who outran a thousand-li steed on foot alone.
There was a master archer who shot down a man-eating monstrous bird.
With yokai and wars ravaging the world, countless heroes wandered the lands, each pursuing their own goals.
Admirers who envied their superhuman feats—feats ordinary people couldn't even imitate—gathered like clouds.
They sought teachings from these heroes and became disciples, beginning their training.
Time passed, and knowledge accumulated.
The existence of spirit roots was discovered.
The heroes who displayed extraordinary abilities all possessed spirit roots.
Spirit roots were the source that made people special.
The existence of spiritual energy was discovered.
Only those with spirit roots could sense spiritual energy.
Soon, it became known that spirit roots varied from one person to another.
The existence of impure qi was discovered.
Great cities full of ordinary people were not suitable places for cultivation.
Many cultivators retreated deep into the mountains.
Every era produces talents.
Countless geniuses were born and died.
The lives they devoted to cultivation became the soil.
Cultivation realms and methods were established.
The gathered cultivators formed cultivation sects.
The knowledge piled up through sacrifices finally bore fruit.
At last, they reached the ancient secret of ascension.
Cultivation is not merely a method for longevity.
It was a discipline born from the longing for the extraordinary.
Cultivators were scholars who devoted their lives to cultivation.
Thus, Core Formation is not simply about forming a golden core.
Cultivation is transcendence itself.
And transcendence lies in supplementation.
Supplementing the incompleteness of humanity.
Core Formation is precisely the process of transcending the limits of the flesh.
*****
Spring arrived, with snow melting and new buds sprouting.
The Black Bamboo Sect mobilized all its resources for the Core Formation ceremony.
Most secondary tasks were halted due to the tight schedule.
The planned date was next summer, just around the corner.
Seran was incredibly busy preparing for her own Core Formation.
The Little Dragon Girl, sitting across from her, spoke.
“The dragon pearl and a human cultivator's golden core differ somewhat in their formation processes. But the key commonality is how vast an amount of spiritual power you can control, and how effortlessly.”
“Doesn't the rest matter much?”
The Little Dragon Girl nodded at Seran's question.
“Correct. In the end, both are inner cores. What you'll learn from me is how to handle spiritual power.”
“Honestly, I'm confident in that.”
Seran wore a smug expression as she infused spiritual power into a stone orb she had made with earth spirit power.
It was a special rock bomb she had developed earlier.
Its power was outstanding, but it was tricky to handle, so it had been shelved.
They'll be amazed by this, right?
Contrary to Seran's thoughts, the Little Dragon Girl looked unimpressed.
“Well, for a human cultivator, it's passable.”
“What? Just passable?”
It was an utterly unfamiliar reaction for Seran.
Whenever she showed anything to the Black Bamboo Sect members, they always praised her as a once-in-a-millennium prodigy.
As Seran harbored doubts, the Little Dragon Girl demonstrated.
The Little Dragon Girl flicked her finger.
The spiritual power compressed inside the stone orb flowed out entirely and gathered into a perfect sphere in midair.
It was a wondrous technique that instantly seized someone else's spiritual power—even with a different attribute—and controlled it as her own.
Seran felt the enormous gap.
The spiritual power orb the Little Dragon Girl created was far smaller than Seran's.
And it was compressed without relying on any physical object.
Seran couldn't help but clap.
The Little Dragon Girl dispersed the spiritual power orb and said,
“You certainly have talent. Even among Core Formation cultivators, few can handle spiritual power as freely as you. But it's still far from enough to control a dragon pearl.”
The Little Dragon Girl's goal was to reclaim her dragon pearl.
To do that, she first needed to improve Seran's skills.
Reclaiming ownership of the dragon pearl would come after.
The Little Dragon Girl emphasized once more.
“Of course, you could succeed in Core Formation easily in your current state. But remember this. Half-baked success is worthless. You must form the finest golden core. Only then can you control the dragon pearl even a day sooner.”
Seran asked,
“What's the standard for the finest golden core? The color?”
“Size. The standard is size. Remember, inner cores must always be large. Inner pellets, golden cores, dragon pearls—anything called an inner core is better the larger it is, for any reason.”
The Little Dragon Girl ranted passionately.
An inner core is the focal point for controlling one's own spiritual power and drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Naturally, the larger the inner core, the stronger its pull on spiritual power and energy.
The size of the inner core was a crucial matter.
The model student Seran asked,
“Dragon Maiden, then what about the Black Scale Reverse Flow Blood Snake's inner pellet? That was much larger than a dragon pearl.”
The Black Scale Reverse Flow Blood Snake's inner pellet was the size of a decent boulder.
That's why they couldn't carry it directly and planned to transport it via a logistics hub.
A galley-type spiritual tool was essential for moving it.
In fact, among the Foundation Establishment robbers who took the inner pellet, the ones with it were caught first.
Their galley was too slow.
The Little Dragon Girl shrieked,
“That isn't an inner core!”
After her intense reaction, an explanation followed.
The Black Scale Reverse Flow Blood Snake's inner pellet was called that for convenience, but in truth, it was just an accessory like bile or antler.
The very idea that a weak yokai, exterminated by a few Core Formation cultivators, had a true inner core was laughable.
It could gleefully torment clueless labyrinth beasts, but a handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators could handle it easily.
Seran, who had hunted one herself, quickly understood.
“Then the chance is only once.”
“Yes. Hone your skills until next summer and form the largest possible inner core. Average Core Formation cultivators have golden cores the size of beans... At least larger than a walnut, I suppose. I don't even hope for it to match my dragon pearl.”
For reference, the Little Dragon Girl's dragon pearl was fist-sized.
Though she was now weakened to Core Formation cultivator level without it, she had originally been a dragon on the verge of ascension.
Once she could wield her full power, even a Primordial Spirit cultivator wouldn't be her match.
Seran and the Little Dragon Girl began their training.
The goal was a walnut.
*****
The entire sect was abuzz because of the Core Formation ceremony.
To set up the formation at the ceremony site.
To select suitable support staff.
To cobble together the messed-up schedule.
But the noisiest place was elsewhere.
It was the Medicine Hall, brewing the ceremony elixirs.
The place was half a battlefield.
All because of the elixir's main ingredient: the inner pellet.
Officially, the Black Scale Reverse Flow Blood Snake had gone extinct centuries ago.
In other words, none of the Black Bamboo Sect's alchemists had ever made elixirs with its inner pellet.
They had to rely solely on recipes recorded centuries ago.
At this point, it was less alchemy and more archaeology.
The alchemists suffered as they pored over ancient texts.
A man who kept twisting in agony at the archaic notation finally shouted,
“Why is the recorded amount like this! 'Add as needed'—how much is that exactly?! What alchemist relies on gut feeling every time! Write it to standard measurements!”
This sparked curses from all around.
“Damn it! Why use such primitive measurements! It's been thousands of years since standardization! Kill all the idiots who used these ancient units!”
“The herb names are all obsolete terms! Using words no one else does just to feel clever?! Speak so others can understand!”
Just then, the lab door creaked open.
The on-edge alchemists glared at the entrance in unison.
Yi Agum, who had come with an armful of ancient texts for errands, panicked at the volcanic atmosphere.
Fortunately, the alchemists quickly regained their composure.
They were people who had tempered their minds through long cultivation.
Moreover, as a gathering of intellectuals, they calmly resumed research, and progress began bit by bit.
Then someone proposed a brilliant solution.
Why not reverse-engineer the process from finished products, inferring auxiliary ingredients, quantities, and processing steps?
As expected, unity made the group strong.
After tireless days and nights, the alchemists successfully restored the recipe.
It was a historic feat.
Overjoyed alchemists embraced each other, sharing their triumph.
Then one voiced a concern.
“But what now? What we've restored is mostly approximations based on estimates. We need to fine-tune the tiny errors...”
“Well... we'll just trial-and-error it...”
“Auxiliaries are one thing, but what about the main ingredient, the Black Scale Reverse Flow Blood Snake inner pellet? We can't get more, so we have ridiculously little for research.”
The alchemists fell silent.
Errors had to be corrected.
But too many experiments were impossible.
They needed a groundbreaking way to calculate precise quantities in few trials.
“What if we experiment with tiny amounts? We could do more tests without wasting much main ingredient.”
“As long as ratios are right, it shouldn't matter much... But how do we verify results with such small quantities? Will we even taste it properly?”
“Doesn't it just need heightened taste and smell?”
“Even cultivators don't have senses that sharp...”
Silence fell for a moment.
Sensitive taste and smell—there was a cultivator in the Medicine Hall who fit.
All the alchemists thought of one girl.
It was Yi Agum, the Medicine Hall cultivator who utterly despised the smell of herbs and decoctions.