Chapter 59
Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Forging the Golden Core (2)
After praying to Elder Battle Guardian Buddha, I settled back onto the platform and began cultivating once more.
Most of the pure spiritual energy filling this dharma hall had been consumed in the ritual to form my golden core and take the Tower of 84,000 Sutra Texts as my lifebound dharma treasure. Still, what remained was incredibly dense and abundant, promising to greatly aid my cultivation.
Though I was dying to examine the Tower of 84,000 Sutra Texts right away, I held back. With my mind so exhilarated, any hasty movement might cause issues. Better to cultivate first, steady my heart, and elevate my cultivation level.
As I cultivated, I calmly contemplated the lifebound dharma treasure I had just acquired: the Tower of 84,000 Sutra Texts.
Lifebound Dharma Treasure.
A lifebound dharma treasure is one that fuses with its owner's very soul from the root, sharing their fate.
Because of this profound connection, such treasures can't be easily seized from their owners—like snatching another cultivator's dharma treasure, erasing the ownership seal, and claiming it for yourself.
No, it's impossible to steal one in the mortal world at all. Even in the immortal realm, it requires tremendous effort.
Even killing the owner won't work. Since the treasure shares their fate, it follows them into reincarnation. You'd have to sever their fate entirely to claim it.
From the moment refining begins, a lifebound dharma treasure gradually transforms to suit its owner.
As the owner's cultivation rises, so does the treasure's power. If the owner favors certain spells, the treasure takes on their characteristics. Moreover, when wielding it, the cultivator's own strength is amplified.
A cultivator with a lifebound dharma treasure is several minor realms stronger than one without.
With such immense benefits come equally grave risks.
If the treasure is damaged, the cultivator's cultivation will drop until it's fully repaired. If it's utterly destroyed, continuing cultivation becomes nearly impossible, inflicting catastrophic harm.
It grants tremendous power but demands a heavy burden in return.
That is the essence of a lifebound dharma treasure.
'My situation's a bit different, though.'
In my case, the Tower of 84,000 Sutra Texts is fundamentally a supreme immortal treasure—far too exalted to adapt itself to me.
That means forgoing the greatest advantage of a lifebound dharma treasure: gaining one perfectly tailored to you.
But for someone at mere Core Formation Realm to acquire a supreme immortal treasure, sacrificing that much was only right.
In exchange, even if I can't unleash its full might, the tower's fundamental nature as a supreme immortal treasure remains unchanged. With it shielding my golden core, no one in the mortal world could ever scratch it.
It's my golden core now, but later it'll protect my nascent soul, then my origin soul. Even attacks that could directly strike those will fail against me.
Just as an ant can't dent a tungsten boulder.
'My cultivation speed has increased.'
True to Elder Battle Guardian Buddha's words that it would aid my cultivation, as soon as I began, the Tower of 84,000 Sutra Texts drew in surrounding pure spiritual energy at a terrifying rate, converting it losslessly into pure spiritual power to elevate my cultivation.
Even single-element spiritual roots suffer some loss when absorbing spiritual energy and refining it into spiritual power. Not this tower—zero loss.
Unlike before, where I had to build and stabilize power slowly, now the tower stabilized it instantly. I could focus solely on absorbing spiritual energy, and cultivation progressed on its own.
'He said it contains all the Buddhist teachings. Could it hold cultivation methods too?'
No matter how I thought about it, this exceeded what a dharma treasure should do on its own. Without some special cultivation method embedded within, it couldn't be possible.
'I was worried about finding a new method after the Five Skandhas Enlightenment Art once I reach Nascent Soul Realm... but studying the sutras in the tower should solve that.'
It's acting on its own now, but to fully utilize its power, I'd probably need to comprehend the method itself.
When I finally opened my eyes, I had absorbed all the pure spiritual energy in the hall and broken through to the third layer of Core Formation Realm.
'...About three months passed?'
As I roughly gauged the time elapsed, I noticed something astonishing.
'Huh, my sense of time is back to normal?'
Until now, my senses had been suppressed by the immortal realm-like environment here. I couldn't use divine sense or even track time properly. But now, I could feel it clearly.
'No way...'
I instinctively released my divine sense, and it exploded outward in all directions, as if resentful of its prior suppression, revealing the layout of the entire primordial secret realm.
How was this possible? Merely reaching Core Formation couldn't let me adapt to the immortal realm environment...
"The tower's protecting me, so this is happening?! It's resisting the immortal realm environment in my place!"
Confirming the tower's power, I joyfully examined the changes in my body.
Upon reaching Core Formation, my divine sense had grown stronger, and the spiritual power I could store had increased over tenfold from Foundation Establishment.
My lifespan extended to 500 years, and my body had rejuvenated accordingly, filling me with vitality on an entirely different level.
It was like reverting to a child who could play in the park all day—boundless energy surging uncontrollably.
While inspecting these Core Formation changes, I noticed something odd.
Perhaps because the lifebound dharma treasure connects so deeply with its owner, I could clearly sense its presence through my Kang spiritual root, even without close examination—a distinct link.
But through my Yong spiritual root... nothing.
'...Does that mean each spiritual root can have its own lifebound dharma treasure?'
Two of them, when one alone grants a cultivator such immense power?
"Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped my lips.
"Haha, hahaha! Hahahaha!!"
I'd thought I'd grasped all the benefits of my dual spiritual roots.
Twice the spiritual power capacity of others.
The flawless combination techniques I could unleash alone.
Divine sense far stronger than most cultivators'.
Those advantages were already overflowing, and I'd leveraged them to defeat even Elder Yeom.
And now... two lifebound dharma treasures?
'That means two lifebound divine abilities too.'
Lifebound dharma treasures. Lifebound divine abilities. Trump cards that multiply a cultivator's strength several times over.
And I could have multiples.
'If I get a lifebound dharma treasure or divine ability that aids combination techniques, I can maximize my power even further!'
The possibility of growing far stronger ignited ecstasy within me.
How to express this joy? In my excitement, I scanned my surroundings and realized I was still in the dharma hall.
"Ah... Should I head outside first?"
Realizing I was deep underground sobered me a bit.
With my enthusiasm cooled, I pocketed the glowing platform—whose value I couldn't yet gauge—and used the Water Escape Art to slip out effortlessly. I emerged outside and shot into the sky.
Flying near the clouds, I took in the entire primordial secret realm at a glance. What a magnificent view.
"Can't go higher than this?"
Attempting to climb further, I felt pressure bearing down physically—not the soul-crushing force of the immortal environment, but raw physical weight the tower couldn't shield against.
I gave up on ascending higher and descended back to the flower field to test the Tower of 84,000 Sutra Texts.
"...Huh."
But no matter how much divine sense I poured in, the tower stood immovable as Mount Tai, protecting only my soul and golden core while remaining inert.
"..."
After a moment of silence, I even activated the Blind Heaven Child Golden Crown to maximize my divine sense and tried in earnest, but the tower gave no response.
"What the hell!"
Does it mean no using the tower at Core Formation?!
Frustrated, I considered trying the harmony fusion art and formed the requisite seal. But I soon felt something off and stopped.
The harmony fusion art wouldn't activate.
"What's going on?"
I tried the seal again, but once more, single-origin spiritual power and pure spiritual power tangled and dispersed without merging.
Pushing harder risked internal injury, so I halted there and didn't attempt it further.
'...Can I not use harmony fusion if the two spiritual roots are at different realms?'
Minor realm differences are fine, but major realm gaps are a no-go?
Facing a problem I'd never encountered, I felt the urgent need to elevate my Yong spiritual root to Core Formation. I sought out an ideal cultivation spot.
Even within the spiritually rich primordial secret realm, I found a place thick with energy and settled there to begin breaking through for my Yong spiritual root.
I'd already gone through the process once with my Kang spiritual root, but Core Formation required melting all one's attribute spiritual roots into a single pill to form the golden core.
The more roots, the longer it took, and impurities were inevitable.
My Kang spiritual root had become single-element with the tower's aid, forming a flawless golden core. But my three-element Yong spiritual root required fusing three into one, so some impurities were unavoidable.
I drew in vast spiritual energy using my Kang spiritual root's power, directing the water, fire, and wood portions to my Yong spiritual root.
Metal and earth went to the metal root, refined into pure spiritual power by the tower effortlessly. I focused entirely on the dragon root.
'When my metal root was five-element, the dragon root seemed decent. But as a single-element now, it looks seriously lacking.'
My Yong spiritual root had doubled in size thanks to Junior Sister So, allowing more spiritual power storage—but requiring proportionally more for core formation.
For hours on end, I gathered, gathered, and compressed spiritual power repeatedly.
I amassed it relentlessly until the dragon root hit its limit, then spun it violently to shatter the root.
Creation demands destruction.
To form a golden core, one must shatter and melt the roots as raw material.
Thus, failure midway turns you into a rootless mortal.
Core Formation breakthrough demands meticulous preparation and full commitment—a critical endeavor. But trusting the primordial secret realm's immortal-like environment, I boldly proceeded.
Crack-crack-crack!!
The sound of my spiritual root fracturing and shrieking echoed within me.
Shards were sucked into the whirling spiritual power and melted away. Slowly, bit by bit, I absorbed and liquefied the root.
As Elder Geum had said, the realm's near-immortal conditions meant no heavenly tribulations to hinder a mere Core Formation breakthrough.
So the key was... whether this breakthrough would infuse me with immortal insights.
My metal root had broken through via the tower's external aid, missing that chance.
'If the tower quickly elevates my metal root's realm and I gain immortal insights here too, I'll have a shot at the 10,000-year inheritance.'
Eventually, the entire Yong spiritual root liquefied. I gathered it with all my might into a single point.
How long did I persist?
A tiny crystal began forming where the Yong spiritual root had been.