He resealed the cave abode.
Qin Sang brushed his palm across his mustard seed bag and retrieved a jade box.
When the jade box opened, the entirely golden Kanli Golden Pill shone with dazzling golden light, illuminating Qin Sang and the cave abode in gold. At the top of the Kanli Golden Pill was a tiny vortex, within which black and white qi gathered, clearly delineated, resembling a dragon and a tiger.
Dragon and tiger born of the pill, vibrant and lifelike.
Yet compared to the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid beside it, the Kanli Golden Pill paled in comparison.
Seemingly stimulated by the Kanli Golden Pill, the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid gently swayed. Above the orchid flower, various illusory realms instantly materialized, flashing by in rapid succession, every illusion appearing as though it truly existed.
The Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid displayed immense splendor.
In that instant, the Kanli Golden Pill was visibly suppressed. Its light dimmed by a few notches, and the dragon and tiger qi even subtly dispersed.
He had not expected spirit medicines to contend against each other as well.
Clicking his tongue in wonder, Qin Sang waved his hand to seal off the aura of the Kanli Golden Pill, and only then did the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid settle down.
Holding the Kanli Golden Pill in his hand, Qin Sang meditated in silence for several more days. Only when he had adjusted his condition to its peak and settled his state of mind did he open his mouth and swallow the Kanli Golden Pill.
The spirit pill entered his stomach.
Before long, it melted away inside Qin Sang's body. In the end, the spirit pill's power actually transformed into two streams of medicinal energy. Tangled with each other, after entering Qin Sang's meridians, they suddenly parted, clearly distinguished, each flowing into a different meridian.
These two streams of medicinal energy were completely distinct.
One was scorching yang qi; as the yang qi flowed through, Qin Sang's meridians felt as though they were being scorched by raging fire, sending waves of intense pain.
The other was yin qi of extreme cold; touched by this yin qi, Qin Sang felt as though he had plunged into an icehouse.
At this moment, half of Qin Sang's body was boiling hot like fire, his skin flushed crimson, while the other half was on the verge of freezing into a block of ice, the chill it radiated causing a thin layer of frost to form over his body.
Just as these two streams of medicinal energy raged within Qin Sang's body, he faintly heard the roars of dragons and tigers echoing endlessly in his ears, unending.
Qin Sang had known about the anomalies accompanying the consumption of the Kanli Golden Pill long beforehand, so he did not panic.
He guarded his mind, unaffected by the dragon roars and tiger cries, constantly monitoring the movement of the medicinal energy inside his body and actively guiding the two streams toward his sea of qi.
The two streams advanced side by side, on the verge of entering his sea of qi.
Qin Sang suddenly flipped his hand. The several pills he had prepared in his palm were swiftly popped into his mouth; taking two of the healing pills among them, he healed the injuries left by the medicinal energy in his meridians, then immersed all of his focus into his sea of qi.
*Boom!*
His sea of qi shook violently.
The two streams of medicinal energy met once more inside his sea of qi.
In this moment, the spiritual power inside his sea of qi boiled violently, like seawater brought to a rolling boil.
Not only that, the transformation previously seen in the meridians began to replay within the sea of qi.
Freezing ice clashed with blazing fire!
At times scalding, at times freezing...
The sudden shifts between freezing and boiling made Qin Sang's sea of qi increasingly unstable, and this fluctuation grew more and more violent, showing no sign of ever stopping.
The impact that the Kanli Golden Pill's medicinal energy dealt to the sea of qi was terrifying. Had one taken this pill unprepared, at this juncture one would probably have had no choice but to forcefully expel the medicinal energy from one's body.
Otherwise, not only would one fail to form a core, but it could easily backfire catastrophically.
Fortunately, not every spiritual item used to aid Core Formation carried such destructive power.
Different pills possessed wildly different potencies.
The medicinal potency of the snow spirit lotus and iris flower was far gentler; one only needed to prepare some ordinary healing pills.
After holding out for a while, Qin Sang could sustain it no longer. As signs of losing control began to appear in his sea of qi, he unhesitatingly swallowed another of the spirit pills in his mouth.
The spirit pill turned into a gentle stream of medicinal energy, swiftly passing through the meridians and entering the sea of qi.
The storm inside the sea of qi grew increasingly fierce. With the addition of this medicinal energy, the violent clash finally eased somewhat, but the respite did not last long before things flared up once more.
Another spirit pill went down his throat.
...
Having taken three spirit pills in succession, Qin Sang finally weathered the most perilous period. Although his sea of qi had yet to return to calm, he could now barely keep it under control.
Countless seniors of Shaohua Mountain had taken the Kanli Golden Pill before, leaving detailed records of key junctures; sensing the state within, Qin Sang knew the situation had stabilized.
Immediately after, he steadied his mind and circulated his cultivation method with all his might.
The *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* circulated rapidly.
One heavenly circuit after another was completed.
Qin Sang's sea of qi was still boiling, unable to settle, but as time passed, the storm grew weaker and weaker. At the same time, the spiritual power within his body seemed to be undergoing a subtle transformation.
Qin Sang silently circulated the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*, concentrating on seeking the opportunity for a breakthrough.
Time slowly drifted by.
The spiritual energy of the cave abode, which had initially fluctuated because of Qin Sang swallowing the pill, now returned to tranquility.
A day and a night quickly passed.
On the evening of the second day, Qin Sang suddenly awoke.
His eyes were slightly dazed at first as he looked at the jade pool and the orchid before him. Then, he abruptly lowered his head, staring fixedly at his dantian, and muttered with disbelief in his voice:
"It's... over just like that?"
At this point, his sea of qi had completely quieted down, without the slightest sign of turbulence, appearing no different from how it was before he took the Kanli Golden Pill.
Yet this was by no means good news!
He had failed.
If Core Formation succeeded, the process would likely take a fair amount of time.
Failure, however, was determined very quickly.
Only after quite a while could Qin Sang accept reality, a trace of bitterness on the corner of his lips.
The medicinal power of the Kanli Golden Pill had been exhausted so quickly.
Throughout the entire process, Qin Sang had given his all without the slightest distraction, yet he had not felt even a hint of the so-called opportunity.
Just like before, not only had he failed to form a core, but he had not even gained any experience.
In the personal accounts left behind by numerous seniors, even if their Core Formation failed after taking the Kanli Golden Pill, they could more or less sense some difference.
Some had even exhibited signs of forming a core, only to fall short at the final moment due to an unsettled state of mind, leaving them full of regret.
That kind senior had later succeeded in forming his core and left behind words warning later generations that before forming a core, one must temper their Dao heart to avoid lifelong regret.
Qin Sang had no doubt about his Dao heart, yet he had found no use at all for that senior's experience.
What opportunity?
What signs?
There had been none at all!
The spiritual power within his sea of qi was just as before, showing no inclination to coalesce.
Perhaps there had been subtle changes in the midst of it, but they were so slight and fleeting that they vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving no time to even sense them.
Of course, every senior capable of cultivating to the False Core stage possessed talent far superior to Qin Sang's; among those who had left behind their experiences, not a single one possessed five spiritual roots like him.
Talent, was it?
Unwilling to accept this, Qin Sang pondered briefly, then re-entered meditation, circulating his cultivation method anew to begin another attempt.
One month later.
Qin Sang left the cave abode once more and took a tour around the small island. Seeing no letter left by Yunyouzi, he returned.
Over this month, he had circulated his cultivation method without interruption, hoping for a turnaround, but the outcome was disappointing. His cultivation remained unchanged.
Chapter 498