Fiery clouds stretched for thousands of li, blanketing the sky above.
Even from afar, the blistering heat felt as though it would singe every fine hair on one's body.
Within the wrecked training grounds, Chu Kui looked at Luo Chen with immense admiration.
"This technique of yours, channeling arts through implements, is truly wondrous. Did you learn it from Danyangzi during the Dao Seed contention?"
Luo Chen nodded.
"I felt inspired. After returning, I sought out manuals in private and figured it out."
Chu Kui marveled once more. "Very impressive. Its might is by no means inferior to Danyangzi's. It seems your attainments in magical arts truly live up to your reputation!"
Luo Chen frowned slightly.
"Is that all? Didn't you say your sparring service also included pointing out flaws and finding areas for improvement? I can hardly believe that having just learned this technique, I've already made it flawless."
Chu Kui laughed heartily.
Then, his expression turned slightly solemn.
Looking at Luo Chen, Chu Kui said earnestly, "Your means are formidable. I can tell you're still holding back a great deal. If you unleashed your full power, ordinary great cultivators wouldn't necessarily be your match."
Luo Chen made no attempt to hide it and simply nodded.
It was merely a sparring session; how could he possibly exhaust his trump cards and exert all his strength? During that bout just now, he had used at most thirty percent of his power.
"However!"
Chu Kui shifted the conversation, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked at Luo Chen. "I've discovered a weakness in you!"
"Oh?"
"Or rather, not a weakness, but the fact that you aren't making use of your greatest strength."
"Go on." Luo Chen listened intently, without the slightest annoyance.
Chu Kui pointed to the vast swath of fire spiritual qi lingering on the training grounds.
"You're overly focused on pursuing explosive power with fire arts. While you've indeed made yourself an elite among your peers, your inherent strength does not lie in fire arts.
"From what I've observed, your spiritual power is actually predominantly wood-aligned.
"For spells of the same tier, if you faced enemies with wood arts, the power unleashed ought to be several times greater than any other element!
"Your path has been skewed ever since your Qi Refinement days."
Hearing this, Luo Chen, who had been somewhat nonchalant earlier, felt his heart sink.
Indeed!
Just as Chu Kui had said, throughout his journey, his primary cultivation methods had all been wood-aligned.
Eternal Spring Art.
Yimu Medicine King Scripture.
Ageless Evergreen Scripture.
Progressing step by step to perfection, they had forged his profound and exceedingly pure wood spiritual power.
Yet in his usual battles, the various means he employed were fundamentally rooted in fire.
Fireball Art, Blazing Sun Art, Landslide.
Even his primary bonded magic treasure was the Profound Fire Sword!
To an outsider, his path looked utterly warped.
Occasionally, Luo Chen had doubted himself, but he felt that using fire arts didn't seem amiss, and their might was formidable.
So he had always overlooked the matter.
Now that Chu Kui had pointed out this deficiency with crystalline clarity, he couldn't think of an easy solution on the spot.
"Brother Chu, do you have any suggestions?" Luo Chen asked earnestly.
Chu Kui held nothing back, speaking frankly: "Either you bring your wood-aligned combat repertoire up to par, or you switch to a fire-aligned or dual wood-and-fire cultivation method."
Hearing this, Luo Chen fell into deep thought.
The former was actually not difficult.
He knew quite a few wood-aligned spells.
Entanglement Art, Healing Art, Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art, and the recently mastered Flower Fairy.
Yet these spells lacked combat power.
Most of them served auxiliary functions.
Well, augmented by pure wood spiritual power, their auxiliary efficacy was peerless!
But if he wanted to flesh out his offensive wood-aligned means...
Wood was simply not renowned for offense!
As for the latter option, that was even more out of the question.
Having gone through so much trouble to deduce the Ageless Evergreen Scripture to the grandmaster level, how could he casually switch his natal cultivation method?
Otherwise, was he even pursuing the Great Dao anymore?
For a moment, the dilemma seemed intractable.
Chu Kui patted Luo Chen's shoulder. "Of course, you don't need to overthink it. At least with your current capabilities, reigning supreme among your peers is no issue at all. Sometimes, reinforcing your strengths is better than patching up shortcomings.
"As long as your fire arts are overwhelmingly formidable, a minor imperfection is hardly a big deal.
"Besides, most Foundation Establishment cultivators rely on external objects in battle anyway. Spells and the like aren't really that crucial."
Luo Chen grunted in acknowledgment.
He thanked Chu Kui for the guidance.
If his path was skewed, so be it; forcing a correction would only waste vast amounts of time and energy.
Along his journey, the choices available to him had never been plentiful.
He could only do his best within the bounds of his capabilities.
Moreover, if he could hone this technique of channeling arts through implements to absolute mastery,
then when paired with his magic treasure, the Profound Fire Sword, to unleash fire arts,
while he might not dare claim to be invincible among his peers, he would possess the ability to protect himself against any Foundation Establishment True Cultivator!
After all, his fire arts merely lacked corresponding elemental amplification from his spiritual power.
Yet in sheer might, they were not in the least inferior to those of fire cultivators—and often surpassed them!
After arranging the time for their next training session with Chu Kui, Luo Chen returned home.
Now that Gu Caiyi's injury and illness had healed and he had initially mastered the damaged magic treasure, the Ghost-God Heart-Questioning Mirror,
apart from alchemy and cultivation, a substantial amount of free time opened up.
Luo Chen planned to dedicate all that spare time to bolstering his combat capabilities.
Through multiple simulations,
he had seen that both the scope and severity of the internal war in Jade Cauldron would expand.
He had no choice but to strive to become as strong as possible for an increasingly chaotic future.
***
Time drifted by continuously.
Several months later.
Inside a Tier 2 low-grade cave abode.
In front of Gu Caiyi, Luo Chen took out a multitude of Foundation Establishment spiritual medicines.
High-grade Yang Restoring Water, superior-quality Glazed Paste, Tier 2 high-grade Meridian-Protecting Pills, Spirit Calming Incense, and a portion of Emperor's Flowing Syrup infused with Profound Yin Qi!
Looking at the dazzling array of Foundation Establishment resources, Gu Caiyi couldn't help saying:
"Even disciples of major sects probably don't have such fine resources to assist them when building their foundation!"
Luo Chen paused, then chuckled.
Indeed!
When he established his foundation back then, how could he have enjoyed such lavish treatment?
Ordinary Yang Restoring Water, ordinary Spirit Calming Incense.
Even the Tier 2 spiritual ground had been forcibly constructed using the Ice-Fire Spiritual Spring on Mount Xiaohuan along with formations and spirit stones.
During that Foundation Establishment, he had pushed through purely by relying on five portions of Foundation Establishment spiritual medicines.
Gu Caiyi was different.
Aside from these resources, she had thoroughly read the Foundation Establishment insights written by all the True Cultivators in the Luotian Association.
Not only that, he had personally cleared and guided her meridians, demonstrating the steps and procedure of Foundation Establishment multiple times.
He had even used the Ghost-God Heart-Questioning Mirror to let her simulate Foundation Establishment firsthand.
With all of this!
Let alone true disciples of major sects, even the core Qi Refinement disciples of a Nascent Soul supreme sect wouldn't enjoy such conditions.
"If I still can't establish my foundation like this, I might as well find a block of tofu and smash my head against it!" Gu Caiyi said playfully.
Luo Chen tousled her hair. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Whether you succeed or not, I will take care of you."
"Hmph, who wants you to take care of me?"
Gu Caiyi lifted her slender neck.
Yet despite her words, she took Luo Chen's hand and softly murmured, "Thank you."
"No need. As the old saying goes, when one attains the Dao, even their dogs and chickens ascend to heaven. Though I have yet to attain the Golden Core Great Dao, looking after you is more than well within my power.
"Alright, stop overthinking. Regulate your state, rein in wandering thoughts, and get ready for Foundation Establishment!"
Luo Chen released his hand and prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, a soft touch came from behind.
Gu Caiyi embraced his broad, sturdy back, whispering, "Wait for me to emerge!"
"Mm!"
Giving a firm response, he felt her loosen her embrace.
Luo Chen stepped out of the cave abode, turned to look at the woman inside, and waved.
With a rumbling sound, the dragon-severing stone descended, and Luo Chen let out a sigh.
It wasn't that he was worried Gu Caiyi would fail.
Rather, every time he witnessed this sight, an uncanny feeling welled up within him.
Like a farewell, like parting ways, or even like separation between heaven and earth.
Right now, it was merely moving from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment.
When he attained the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realm in the future, a single deep secluded cultivation session would easily span several decades. Upon emerging, how many friends and loved ones would remain to be seen?
This was also why, in his earlier years, he had been reluctant to let his heart be swayed by anyone.
Those who couldn't keep pace—even if he didn't abandon them intentionally—would inevitably fall behind.
Perhaps after emerging from seclusion, all he would find was a mound of yellow earth!
"I hope everything goes smoothly!"
***
Atop Tianlan Peak.
Chu Kui and Luo Chen sat together, sipping wine.
From time to time, they would also discuss cultivation insights.
During the first few sparring sessions, Luo Chen had compensated him lavishly.
Later, however, Chu Kui found that what he could teach Luo Chen was growing less and less.
He began to feel guilty accepting such high sparring fees.
Consequently, he would share some insights on late-stage Foundation Establishment with Luo Chen now and then as compensation.
"Remember what I told you before about divine soul foundation being vital when forming a core?
"I wasn't fooling you; it's a solid fact.
"Rumor has it there are three methods to form a core, and the supreme method relies precisely on the power of the divine soul!
"Take you alchemists, for example. When forming a pill, you often use spiritual power to manipulate the refined, pure medicinal potency across the air, kneading and shaping it into a pill.
"Forming a core is probably much the same!
"Only spiritual power is replaced by divine soul power, and medicinal potency is replaced by spiritual power."
Listening to this, Luo Chen couldn't help feeling startled.
Such an analogy existed?
Chu Kui shrugged. "I only heard it through hearsay as well. Whether you believe it is up to you.
"Still, such rumors hold a certain credibility. After all, it's said that all of a Golden Core cultivator's mana is concentrated into a single Golden Core. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator kneaded the boundless spiritual liquid in their sea of qi into one grand pill,
"tell me, wouldn't that count as having formed a core?"
Luo Chen fell into deep thought.
Before long, right before Chu Kui's eyes, Luo Chen released droplets of spiritual qi liquefied from his inner spiritual power.
One drop, two drops, three drops...
He attempted to fuse them all together.
At first, it posed no challenge, but once the number reached nine drops, it became unsustainable.
Faintly, there were signs of losing control.
"Don't bother trying!"
Chu Kui shook his head. "I've tried it; it doesn't work!
"This is a rumor about the supreme method of core formation. How could it be that simple?
"Conversely, with the inferior method of core formation, one first condenses a smaller, ordinary golden core, and then uses homologous power to attract the other spiritual power in the sea of qi, slowly fusing it until the Golden Core Great Dao is attained!"
A sleek golden core floating and sinking in the sea of qi?
Speaking up to this point, he introduced a concept.
"This inferior core formation method produces a unique stage known as the False Core realm."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. "False Core realm?"
"Right!"
Chu Kui pointed in the direction of Tianlan Peak, but his words reached past Tianlan Peak, speaking of that cultivator on Peach Mountain.
"Peach Mountain's Xuan Yu previously failed when attempting core formation via the inferior method, and is currently stuck in the False Core realm.
"Of course, the False Core realm is still considered Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, just perhaps a fraction stronger.
"However, the consequences are severe: if he wants to attempt core formation again in the future, it will be vastly more difficult!"
Luo Chen drew the unfused spiritual liquid back into his body.
He murmured the terms "Foundation Establishment Great Perfection," "False Core realm," and "Golden Core" under his breath.
In his mind, he was pondering the three core formation methods mentioned in Master Nanshan's core formation insights.
Differences before and after core formation between varying methods were one thing,
but he had not expected that the inferior method would result in an existence like the False Core realm.
"Alright, that's enough talk for today. Don't look for me to spar anymore either; there's nothing left I can teach you."
Chu Kui stood up.
Luo Chen looked up at him with a smile. "How could that be? Brother Chu, your means are extraordinary, surpassing even Danyangzi in my estimation. You have plenty you could teach me."
Chu Kui curled his lip.
He could still indulge in petty vanity over other compliments, but when it came to actual combat strength, he knew better than anyone.
In his view, Danyangzi of Azure Pill Valley truly wasn't all that strong.
Provided that guy didn't use that Purple Zenith Skyfire thing, that was.
Stretching his arms, Chu Kui yawned and said, "It's not that I don't want to teach, but I have to make a long journey soon. I won't have time to be your sparring partner."
"A long journey?"
"Where to?" Luo Chen asked reflexively.
Then, he quickly added, "Pardon my presumption. I suppose Brother Chu has taken on some major job again!"
Chu Kui sighed. "This time, it really isn't about taking a job.
"Actually, there's nothing that can't be spoken of.
"I plan to try my luck on the Mount Thunder Accumulation battlefield and see if I can scavenge anything useful for core formation."
Luo Chen said in surprise, "The Mount Thunder Accumulation battlefield? Brother Chu, are you really wading into those muddy waters? As an itinerant cultivator, no one should be able to force you!"
A mountain breeze laden with moisture swept past,
stirring the thick black hair draped across Chu Kui's back.
The tall, burly man revealed a rare, self-deprecating smile.
"Itinerant cultivators may seem carefree, but beneath that glamorous freedom lies hardship only known to oneself.
"In my earlier years, I could still get by taking odd jobs from time to time.
"Yet after reaching the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, only core formation resources can move my heart. It's time I proactively took action for my own cultivation."
In this battle,
he served no one; he fought solely for himself!
How could Luo Chen not know the hardship of an itinerant cultivator? He, too, had endured and crawled his way through those days.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Which side do you plan to join?"
"Whoever offers more and better rewards, I'll kill for them!" A fierce look flashed across Chu Kui's face.
"If you have strength to spare and run into cultivators of my Luotian Association, give them a hand."
"How many spirit stones will you pay?"
Luo Chen froze, then roundly cursed,
"Get lost!"
Chu Kui burst into laughter and departed.
After he left, Luo Chen unexpectedly felt a sense of emptiness.
Although he and Chu Kui were bound by transactional interests, having interacted all these years, they had become akin to mentor and friend.
Now, another friend was voluntarily wading into the quagmire of war.
"Just like what I simulated in the Heart-Inquiring Mirror... as long as this war doesn't end, it will drag everyone in the Jade Cauldron Domain into it sooner or later.
"I wonder how much longer my peaceful days will last?"
Chapter 359