In the Universal Courtyard, Li Fan appeared on the surface to be quietly sitting cross-legged, just as he did during ordinary closed-door cultivation.
In reality, earth-shaking changes were unfolding within his body.
The Golden Core, seemingly black yet white, swallowed every distinct type of power swirling in the dantian's vortex, bolstering itself.
As time passed, the vortex gradually shrank.
The Golden Core, however, grew increasingly solid and spiritually vibrant.
Its shape became rounder and smoother, and the black and white hues flowing across its surface swirled ever faster.
When the vortex was completely devoured and the black and white finally merged into one at that extreme speed, a wave of ripples erupted from it, instantly sweeping across the dantian and spreading throughout Li Fan's entire body.
Wherever the ripples passed, all chaotic energies left behind across his body during Core Formation were wiped clean.
All turmoil returned to stillness.
Sweeping out in a full circle, the ripple rapidly returned, carrying along the spiritual energy distributed throughout his body, as well as the calamity bodies in his dantian used to store cultivation base.
The ball of light that [True Reversion] had transformed into also followed this ripple, turning into a wisp of clear light and plunging into the core's interior.
With this final puzzle piece slotted into place, Li Fan's Golden Core was at last fully formed.
The Golden Core fell into absolute stillness for an instant before releasing a blinding radiance that illuminated his entire body, interrupting even Li Fan's inner vision.
As the light gradually receded and Li Fan looked inward again, he saw only a seemingly ordinary, unadorned Golden Core floating quietly in his dantian.
Before Li Fan could marvel, a majestic surge of spiritual energy gushed from the Golden Core, flowing from the dantian through his limbs and bones.
It was an entirely new power that surpassed the Foundation Establishment stage by far, in both quality and quantity.
Bathed in the nourishment of Golden Core spiritual energy, every cell across his entire body seemed to cheer with joy.
A long-absent vitality and youthful vigor welled up within Li Fan's heart.
"Hardships and perils along the way, narrowly escaping death time and again."
"Today, I have finally achieved the Golden Core."
"Hard-won indeed. A lucky break, truly."
Sighing with emotion, Li Fan opened the [True Reversion] panel to inspect the changes following Core Formation.
Name: Li Fan
Cultivation Stage: early Golden Core stage
Physiological Age: 48/599
Psychological Age: 1240/4200↑
Reversion Charging Progress: 200%
Anchor Charging Progress: 2%
Current Anchors: 3
Currently Available Anchors: 0
Bound Items: Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos, Taiyan Boat, Step-Halting Broken Stele (Damaged), Essence-Blood of Ten Thousand, Dao Assimilation Stone
Cultivation Methods: Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation, Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique, Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art, Creation Furnace Technique, Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos, Mountain-Sitting Art, Intent Spirit Illusion Art
Divine Abilities: Life-Death Interlink, Formless Killing Intent, Insect Binding, Single Sword of Congyun, Heaven-Overturning Palm
Special: Eternal Remnant Thought (Tianyang) (Uses Remaining: 1)
...
"Lifespan jumped from four hundred years straight to six hundred, nearly half as much again. The upper limit of my psychological age has also started rising once more."
"The gap in cultivation accumulation between Golden Core and Foundation Establishment is immense indeed. I had thought the cultivation from those calamity bodies I saved up earlier would push me directly to the middle Golden Core stage once I formed my core. Now it's only just passed a third..."
"Perhaps it's also because I forcefully formed my core with nine laws."
"A Nine-Law Golden Core naturally can't be compared to an ordinary Golden Core."
Looking back on the process of Core Formation just now, Li Fan had to admit that his success this time owed a bit to luck.
The Five Elements power had merely been cobbled together in haste.
The powers of water and fire were far greater than those of metal, wood, and earth.
This led to the circulation of the Five Elements being neither harmonious nor smooth.
Instead, it constantly showed signs of spiraling out of control, nearly causing him to fail at the cusp of success.
"Fortunately, the final outcome wasn't bad. I barely managed to form a Golden Core of decent power."
With the Golden Core formed, it was one with Li Fan.
He naturally understood its various wondrous applications with perfect clarity.
The nine laws of Core Formation, and even the various functions of [True Reversion] as a Foundation Establishment wonder, were all united within this Golden Core.
From now on, whenever Li Fan cast Five Elements spells, they would obey his will as effortlessly as moving an arm, receiving a degree of enhancement.
Among them, water and fire saw the most pronounced boost.
The Five Elements mutually generated one another in an endless cycle. His capacity for sustained battle was uncountably many times greater than Lian Henzhi's had been.
Li Fan was confident that if he returned now to the land severed from immortality where there was no spiritual energy, he could hold out for quite a long time relying solely on his inner spiritual energy, even if constantly expending it in battle.
And the existence of the secret reservoir method allowed Li Fan to recover from wounds at extreme speed.
The two combined made Li Fan into a presence that virtually could not be worn down or broken apart.
The Blue Flame phantom spirit had vanished, no longer dwelling in his sea of consciousness. It had become part of the Golden Core's laws; now, without relying on the Blue Flame phantom spirit, Li Fan could enter that previous state of absolute rationality at any time.
And as for the final Tian Sha and Mo Sha...
At the instant he achieved the Golden Core, an inexplicable insight struck Li Fan's heart, and through pondering he devised a killing move integrating the traits of both.
Driven from within by the power of the Five Elements, with the all-destroying might of Tian Sha and Mo Sha as its blade.
Combined further with the spirit of the Twenty-Eight Congyun Swords—surging forward without retreat, every strike finding its mark.
In his conception, Li Fan named it the "Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword."
"A pity this is my bottom-of-the-trunk trump card, not to be exposed lightly. Under the heavy surveillance here in the Universal Courtyard, I cannot test its power."
After picturing the sheer might of this new divine ability, Li Fan could only reluctantly suppress the thought.
Having taken stock of his gains, Li Fan engaged in self-reflection and mapped out his future plans.
"The Five Elements lack harmony and must be perfected sooner or later. Otherwise, even if there is no issue during the Golden Core stage, I will surely suffer setbacks when seizing that flawless, self-contained Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven."
The Heavenly Venerable's new method was swift indeed. But when breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, one inevitably had to begin facing the backlash of heaven and earth.
Before, glimpsing the laws of heaven and earth had been compared to tracing onto a canvas.
In that case, plundering the essence of heaven and earth could be viewed as forcibly seizing a precious painting from a museum packed with treasures.
Naturally, one would have to face the countermeasures of the security system.
Li Fan was not yet clear on the exact details; he had merely read scattered phrases about it in the past.
"Moving forward, I will cultivate while gathering relevant information."
"Neither information on the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven nor elemental forces capable of rivaling Hanhai and Crimson Flame will be easy to come by."
"I need to plan carefully."
When Li Fan cultivated once more as a Golden Core cultivator, he felt a long-forgotten sluggishness in his progress.
He could not help but miss Xiao Heng, He Zhenghao, and Su Xiaomei.
"Xiao Heng should be in Shilin Province right now, and Su Xiaomei hasn't emerged from the Chaoyuan Sect ruins yet."
"He Zhenghao has finished his closed-door training, but he seems tied up with official duties and hasn't had much chance to cultivate."
"Well, they've all broken through to the Golden Core stage; advancing further won't happen overnight."
"Looks like it's time to cultivate some new crops."
Chapter 310