Chapter 60
Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Forming the Golden Core (3)
A single crimson crystal formed in the spot where the spiritual roots had been.
It was a crystal born from my Yong spiritual root, and it would serve as the seed for the golden core I was about to forge.
Having successfully formed the crystal that would become the golden core's seed, I now had to forge the core around it as quickly as possible.
Impurities floating in the heaven and earth began clinging to the crystal the moment it formed, so the faster I forged the core, the fewer impurities it would contain.
But while a single-element root cultivator could form their core just like this, I still needed to create crystals for my water and wood spiritual roots to complete mine, which inevitably meant impurities would mix in during that time.
I sadly watched the crystal grow dirtier in real time but pressed on with the breakthrough, successfully forming crystals for the water and wood spiritual roots as well.
Thanks to Kang Young-jun's existence, who had already broken through to the Core Formation Realm, the breakthrough for my Yong spiritual root progressed remarkably quickly. As a result, the impurities in my core would likely be quite low even for a three-element root cultivator.
At this rate, it might even have fewer impurities than a dual-element root cultivator.
I merged the three crystals into one, then gathered the spiritual energy of heaven and earth along with the shells of my melted spiritual roots to forge the golden core.
What is a golden core?
A golden core is the egg that nurtures the nascent soul.
What is a nascent soul?
It is the 'spirituality' that has gained the ability to exist independently.
What is spirituality?
It is the origin of everything that forms the foundation of a cultivator: spiritual roots, cultivation, spells, divine abilities, divine sense...
Only a human with spirituality can house a spiritual root in their soul; only one with a spiritual root can learn techniques and cultivate to walk the path of immortality; only one who walks that path can form a golden core to nurture their spirituality; and only one who has formed a core can nurture that spirituality into a nascent soul.
In other words, the Core Formation Realm is the final stage toward becoming a 'true cultivator' who possesses a nascent soul and wields divine abilities.
A true cultivator is one who does not depend on the world, who walks their own great Dao relying solely on themselves, existing independently.
One whose personal power and will align with the laws flowing through heaven and earth.
Thus, a Nascent Soul cultivator can recover even if their head is destroyed or their heart is lost, as long as their nascent soul remains intact—they become beings transcendent of mortal rules.
However, a newly formed nascent soul is extremely unstable.
This is why Nascent Soul cultivators can easily fall to heart demons, and if their nascent soul is even slightly damaged, their growth halts and their realm stagnates.
This is why the golden core is so important.
The fewer impurities in the core, the more perfectly it is forged, the healthier and sturdier the nascent soul that emerges from it will be. One must pour their entire heart into forging it.
As I forged the golden core, I watched my latent spirituality dwelling within me flow into it.
For a moment, I considered blocking it, but I decided against it and allowed the latent spirituality to enter the core.
Every fortuitous encounter has an owner from the moment it exists in the world, and it inevitably returns to them.
This latent spirituality was a fortune I had obtained, so this was merely an extension of that.
I let go of thoughts about the latent spirituality and focused solely on the core.
I straightened any twisted parts, aligned any misaligned sections, smoothed any protrusions, shaping it into a perfect sphere.
On the surface of the core I was forging, tiny scales like those of a dragon faintly protruded—likely remnants of Little Dragon's influence on my spiritual root.
This made the core itself incredibly sturdy, difficult to reshape.
As the core neared completion, I felt unfamiliar insights surging within me.
During the Foundation Establishment Realm, such insights had been so faint I barely noticed them, but now in Core Formation, their depth was on another level.
Knowledge I had never known began flowing through me.
It was knowledge of fusion arts—specifically, advanced fusion arts.
The fusion art was something I had improvised by modifying standard fusion techniques for my dual roots, but now far more advanced knowledge of fusion arts was settling into me.
As I tried to grasp these insights, a colossal force suddenly swept through my body.
"Huh?"
Having lost the insight I was about to seize, I opened my eyes in surprise to find myself not in the ancient secret realm, but in an unfamiliar place.
An endless sea of clouds. Five suns floating in the sky. A scene impossible for the mortal world.
Is this... the immortal realm?
Past? Future? Or present? When is this?
Is only my consciousness here, or my entire body?
Such thoughts didn't last long.
Suddenly, the clouds in the sky parted, revealing a dragon of unimaginable size that effortlessly enveloped all five suns.
Overwhelmed by the astonishing sight, I was utterly speechless.
The dragon swam gracefully through the sky, then swallowed one sun like a child eating candy on the street, letting out a satisfied roar as it leisurely roamed the world.
Eventually, it settled in one spot.
The dragon shattered several massive mountains and laid them down softly, creating a nest atop them where it began laying eggs.
After laying four eggs in succession, as it prepared to lay the fifth, enormous wings tore through the sky.
The gigantic bird that ripped open the heavens attacked the dragon mid-lay, and the dragon plummeted through the clouds below alongside it.
The moment the dragon and bird vanished beneath the clouds, something immense burst within me.
"...!!"
I snapped my eyes open in shock and found myself back in the ancient secret realm. Inside my golden core—more precisely, the latent spirituality within it—was reacting intensely.
Before I knew it, my Yong spiritual root's core had formed a perfect sphere and completed. My breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm was over.
The completed Yong spiritual root core was twice the size of the Kang spiritual root core, befitting its larger root size. But I was more concerned with something else than the completed core.
"What the hell was..."
The scene I had just witnessed.
I had clearly seen the immortal realm, but why had I seen a dragon attacked by a bird while trying to lay its fifth child?
As I thought it too abrupt, unfamiliar knowledge began gushing forth within me.
A vast amount that felt like it would split my head open, much of it forbidden knowledge of the immortal realm inaccessible to mortals.
Some was information I already knew from Black and White Immortal Chronicle, and some was new.
This information dramatically heightened my understanding of the immortal realm, and the more I understood, the clearer and stronger the spirituality within me grew.
"Urgh...!"
But as the influx of insights overwhelmed what I could handle, my soul felt crushed under their weight.
At that moment, radiant light flowed from the Pagoda of the Eighty Thousand Sutra Gates, shielding my soul and allowing me to safely absorb all the insights without it shattering.
I had only absorbed them; they were too vast to fully digest. But as I advance my realm, I should be able to process more.
I sat back on the formation platform, catching my breath as I pondered.
'I expected insights from the pagoda's karma to be Buddhist-related since it grants immortal realm enlightenment, so why a dragon out of nowhere?'
Those who gained immortal realm insights in such places usually had ties to it from past lives.
For example, their past life being an immortal from the immortal realm or a fragment of a great one's soul, awakening past memories as insights.
'Yong Yoo isn't a character connected to the immortal realm.'
If there was such a setting, he'd have reappeared in the immortal realm arc; he wouldn't have been forgotten after losing an arm early on.
'Dragon. If it's dragon-related... could it be Little Dragon?'
I'd have to talk to Little Dragon once it hatches from the egg and can speak human tongue.
Putting that aside for later, I focused on cultivation.
After breaking through both spiritual roots to Core Formation, I devoted all remaining time to cultivation.
During a break midway, I tested the fusion art and used it flawlessly this time.
I couldn't use it when only the Kang spiritual root was at Core Formation, but could right after the Yong spiritual root reached it—suggesting the fusion art fails if the power gap between roots is too wide.
Learning this, I let out a brief sigh of relief.
If I'd received the Anti-Robbery Pill at the Sword Dao Tournament, broken through the dragon root, and participated, I would've been eliminated early without the fusion art.
In a way, not getting the pill worked in my favor.
Looking back further, training both roots alternately in the cultivation cave—without focusing one to break through first—had helped.
I'd regretted and reflected on it then, but in hindsight, both decisions were wise and beneficial to my current self.
'Life is full of blessings in disguise.'
Sensing the world's mysteries, I continued cultivation, balancing the two roots as best I could.
One day on the steel root, five on the dragon root—that roughly evened out their progress.
'The pagoda makes the steel root cultivate too fast...'
Before, the steel root struggled to keep up with the dragon root; now it soared ahead, with the dragon root chasing.
Sometimes, to compensate for the steel root growing too fast, I'd skip its daily session and train only the dragon root for ten straight days.
After about half a year of such focused cultivation, I safely aligned both roots at the 4th layer of Core Formation.
Three months for the pagoda and steel root cultivation, one for the breakthrough. Plus half a year training.
I'd spent ten months here already.
A twinge of regret hit me as I realized it was time to leave the ancient secret realm. At the same time, the realm's spiritual energy had noticeably dwindled during my seclusion, so staying longer wouldn't yield much anyway.
'More importantly, there's barely any spiritual energy left to absorb? But I still have two months...'
Judging further training here pointless, I stood up.
Might as well explore the ancient secret realm for the remaining two months.
Who knows? I might find an undiscovered fortune.
Due to the immortal realm's pressure, no cultivator who'd entered had reached the mountain peak, so if any fortunes remained, they'd surely be there.
I collected the glowing formation platform and headed straight for the summit.