The Fourfold Distinction of Dharma Soul and Core Formation
The differences between the Dharma Soul Stage and the Core Formation Stage could be summarized into four major points.
First, every aspect of one’s overall ability underwent a fundamental upgrade. This was obvious, yet it had to be emphasized: it wasn’t merely a matter of strengthening the means one already possessed. It served as the very foundation that allowed the acquisition of entirely new categories of power.
Second, one could now possess a Life-Bound Magical Treasure. As long as the owner did not die, this most useful tool would grow endlessly alongside them, becoming a true companion on the path of immortal cultivation.
Third, one gained the ability to separate and operate Divine Sense independently from the main body. It could be embedded into specific objects to monitor the surroundings, respond to summons, or create unique tokens and keys that could not be replicated.
Finally, the fourth distinction was the ability to achieve a deeper, almost meditative resonance with the Primordial Realm, allowing one to earnestly explore true comprehension of the Dao. This practice of Zuowang—sitting in forgetfulness—was far more effective in locations rich with spiritual energy, places where the connection to the Primordial Realm was especially strong.
As a side note, it was precisely this fourth point that was considered the reason a cultivator became qualified to establish their own sect upon reaching Core Formation.
The ability to pursue comprehension of the Dao meant the possibility of creating new cultivation methods or spells. This, in turn, determined whether a cultivation faction could develop its own originality and identity.
Simply looking at these four differences was enough to understand the profound significance of Core Formation. Although Han Yujin had already been capable of exerting power at this level before, it had been limited strictly to the realm of raw strength.
Only now, having truly ascended to Core Formation, could he be said to have stepped out of the lower strata of the cultivation world.
Moreover, having achieved an External Core based on the terrifying vessel that was a Void Refinement-grade Dragon Heart, an enormous number of additional changes had occurred.
‘Finally… my talent…’
After tidying up the hideout that had been left somewhat in disarray by the aftermath of his Core Formation breakthrough, he sat down in a suitable spot and began examining the changes that had taken place within him, his heart filled with deep emotion.
First, his spiritual root talent—which had previously been barely in the lower ranks of the earthly grade—had improved dramatically.
‘It’s definitely at the heavenly grade now. And probably… among the upper tier of heavenly-grade roots.’
As he thought this, he breathed slowly. Even without concentrating much, the dense spiritual energy of the Primordial Forest poured into him like a raging flood, caressing and tempering both his body and soul before flowing out again.
It wasn’t an exaggeration; by his own estimation, the difference was more than ten times greater than before.
What had previously required ten years of cultivation could now be achieved in less than a year. Compared to ordinary heavenly-grade cultivators, his training speed would likely be more than a hundred times faster.
The Dharma Power flowing from his Dharma Core—now more accurately called a Core—was equally extraordinary.
If his previous Dharma Power had been close to a mysterious white light, the current one felt like a faint golden hue mixed with a flowing shade of purple. It was illusory and dreamlike, as if it didn’t truly exist, yet at the same time carried an indescribable weight. Even the slightest application of it seemed capable of unleashing tremendous force.
It was a Dharma Power so unique that it deserved a name of its own, and one immediately came to mind.
‘Dream Dragon Dharma Power.’
Since its owner, Casarnox, had been a Dream Dragon, the name could not have been more fitting.
Naturally, the name for his transformed body followed the same pattern.
‘Dream Dragon Dao Body.’
In truth, he lacked the knowledge to properly distinguish between a spiritual body and a Dao Body. He had never even seen a spiritual body before, let alone a Dao Body, so judging from books alone was difficult.
Even so.
If a body this extraordinary could not be called a Dao Body, then what possibly could? He refused to believe that something at this level was merely a spiritual body.
There was no need to mention the improvement in basic physical abilities, including the five senses. The truly noteworthy changes were two in particular.
The first was an absurd level of endurance and regenerative power that seemed to straddle the boundary between reality and illusion. This applied not only to his physical body but to his soul as well.
The second was a mysterious ability to conceal and defend his mind. Not only was its effectiveness outstanding, but its underlying principle was so profound that even he found it difficult to explain. It seemed unlikely to ever be broken.
‘Once I obtain a Life-Bound Magical Treasure that matches my current level, I doubt there will be anyone below the Nascent Soul Stage who can rival me, even if I searched the entire cultivation world.’
Such arrogance naturally rose within him, but he quickly reined himself in. In other words, he still could not contend with beings at the Nascent Soul level.
This was not a matter of raw power, but of means. The space-time perception unlocked at Nascent Soul, and the techniques that utilized it, were something his current self could not yet match.
To put it simply, it was like this:
A Nascent Soul cultivator could slightly twist space-time coordinates to launch an attack from the future, making it strike in the past. In other words, from the victim’s perspective, they would already have been hit before the opponent even performed the technique—an utterly absurd phenomenon.
Of course, there would be clear limits to twisting coordinates, but for a Nascent Soul cultivator, even 0.1 seconds would be more than enough.
The wall between realms was that high and treacherous. As one progressed further, these gaps would only widen. Complacency was forbidden.
With these thoughts in mind, he continued to carefully examine his transformed abilities one by one. It probably wouldn’t be finished in just a day or two.
It took him about half a month to fully grasp and adapt to all of his newly elevated abilities.
At present, he was leisurely flipping through a book made of unusually refined leather from the very first page. Since he had already memorized its entire contents long ago, this was simply an act of sentimentality. And it was more than justified.
Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art.
He had finally reached the point where he could train and cast the Ohaeng Sect’s supreme escape technique. Previously, his cognitive ability had been insufficient to properly execute it even once…
But that was no longer the case.
Fire Escape, Lightning Escape, Wind Escape, Water Escape, Earth Escape.
The five elemental escape techniques were nothing more than subordinate arts to the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art. Despite how incredibly useful they had been until now.
There was therefore no need to doubt the utility of this supreme technique.
He slipped the book back into his sleeve and sat quietly for a moment with his eyes closed, lost in thought.
Then, at a certain instant—
His figure dissolved into a streak of purple light and shot toward the sky like a beam of radiance. Just as quickly, he changed direction mid-flight and plunged straight toward the ground.
The moment he seemed to collide, he passed through the earth like an illusion without the slightest impact, racing through the soil at terrifying speed.
It wasn’t a matter of drilling or pushing through. He was literally passing through. It was similar to Earth Escape, but the clear difference was that it was almost completely unaffected by spiritual energy.
A short while later, he materialized once more at his original spot, wearing an utterly satisfied smile. The speed was impressive, of course, but the sense of liberation—that nothing in the world could restrain him—was truly wondrous.
‘It doesn’t seem like it’ll take long to get used to this.’
Probably thanks to his constant use of the lower-level escape techniques until now.
His figure transformed into a purple streak of light once again and instantly reached a corner of the hideout. There, Mu-yong was busy hunting and happily munching on a fish.
“You’re going to wipe out the entire fish population at this rate.”
Jjik-! Jjik-!
He waited patiently while the little one cried out in protest, then watched as she used a purification technique to clean up after herself. Only then did he pick her up and begin organizing the hideout.
“Before we leave, I plan to take one last good look around this place.”
He answered the question that came through their Tongmyeong Eosu-gyeol contract even without any audible cry.
After finishing all the preparations, his figure—along with Mu-yong—dissolved into a streak of purple light and shot forward. The acceleration was so smooth and devoid of any backlash that it felt almost like a dream.
In less than a few dozen seconds, they passed the familiar lake and continued flying. As he did so, he thought about Mu-yong for a moment.
Thanks to the benefits of their lifespan-linked contract, she was growing without any bottlenecks. In just a few months, she would likely reach the Dharma Soul Stage and possess power surpassing that of an ordinary S-rank hunter.
‘The day this glutton becomes stronger than an S-rank hunter…’
He couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
He also planned to teach her the Taiyi Five Elements Dao Scripture. He was slightly curious whether the Origin Power Great Hand she learned would take the shape of a weasel’s paw or a human hand.
In any case.
The direction he was heading was the place where he had sensed something unusual while scouting for dangers before his breakthrough to Core Formation. He had detected a slight increase in the concentration of spiritual energy.
In a place like the Primordial Forest, which was already overflowing with spiritual energy, any further increase was certainly worth investigating. Rather than it being a simple environmental factor, it was far more likely that some special creature or object was responsible.
‘That bear cub can’t possibly be the strongest thing in this forest.’
If Core Formation-level beasts existed, then there was no reason Nascent Soul-level beasts wouldn’t exist as well. If a powerful being truly resided in the direction he was heading, approaching it would be extremely dangerous…
But since he had already planned to leave anyway, the worst that could happen was a bit of pain and a bad mood.
The reason he wasn’t staying here to continue his training was simple: there was no longer any benefit to practicing the Hoe-won Gong.
He had already perfectly acquired the Origin Power Great Hand, and the body-and-soul strengthening effect unique to Hoe-won Gong no longer provided any benefit to him.
In other words.
It was time to return to reality and accumulate far more Karma.
After obtaining a much greater amount of Karma than he currently possessed, he needed to visit the Ohaeng Sect ruins and, above all else, obtain the Five Elements True Spirit Great Stone.
‘Only then can I acquire the Taiyi Five Elements Dao Scripture.’
Fortunately, there were still plenty of ways to gather large quantities of Karma.
The dissemination of basic cultivation methods, spell knowledge, and the Wonryeok Mudo he had personally created had not yet been carried out. The same went for the Awakening Grass and Awakening Incense.
The matter of the Aheti race’s Maigbra Settlement within the Great Rift had only just begun to be addressed.
Now that he had reached Core Formation, he could also try visiting Beijing himself to find clues about the Eternal Goddess Cult and resolve the issue.
‘Simply sweeping through the Great Rifts and discovering several mana stone mines would also yield excellent results…’
If necessary, he could even travel to other Great Rifts to search for something special there.
For example, the Great Rift on the African continent—known as the most dangerous in the world—or the one in Alaska, considered the second most dangerous.
The more his abilities improved and his perspective broadened, the more problems seemed to pile up that only he could solve.
Earth’s humanity clearly lacked the ability to handle the Great Rifts. They struggled even to explore their interiors, and in the case of the African continent, the surrounding nations had all been destroyed, leaving the area practically abandoned.
All of these would become responsibilities he must bear if he truly intended to claim the entire Earth as his domain.
While organizing these various thoughts, thanks to the incredible speed of the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art, he had already arrived at the location where he had previously sensed the anomaly.