Convergence

"A Crimson Golden Core?!" "Yes, a Crimson Golden Core!" Li Qingshan nodded slightly. "This is a relic from the era of the Artifact Sect, left behind when an elder at the peak of Core Formation failed in transitioning to a Golden Core. He gave everything he had to complete the transition to a Crimson Golden Core, but in the end, he could not control its immense power. Lest the core erupt and lay waste to the surrounding land, the other sect elders stepped in, excised his Golden Core, and sealed it within this container. Their original plan was to use it as a disposable weapon during the war against the Moon Demon Empire." He looked at Yaoguang, his gaze filled with anticipation. "After a century of containment and compression, the stability of this Golden Core has improved significantly. It won't detonate so easily anymore. Since you intend to pursue the path of qi refining, you will inevitably have to undergo the process of Core Formation in the future. I am giving this to you so you can study it thoroughly... Hopefully, it will be of some help when you form your own core." Yaoguang understood Sect Master Li's intention. Or rather, he also understood what Perfected Li meant. After all, a treasure like this could never have belonged to Li Qingshan or the Nine Cauldrons Sect alone. They not only hoped he could simultaneously cultivate the three paths, but also that, upon this threefold foundation, he would form a truly stable Golden Core. "I accept the gift. I will not disappoint you or Perfected Li, Sect Master." Yaoguang took the sealed core. Then he added, "In terms of value... I doubt this Golden Core can truly be measured against a single sky-patrol warship. If used properly, it could force an opponent to defend with everything they have, potentially causing their own Golden Core to lose control and dragging them down in mutual destruction." "Hahaha, that is true, but if you can use this Golden Core to forge the correct Golden Core path, the benefits you will ultimately bring to the Nine Cauldrons Sect will be vastly greater than what a single Crimson Golden Core could ever offer, wouldn't you say?" Li Qingshan chuckled. Hearing this, Yaoguang nodded. "By the way, having witnessed the clash between the Shenwei Institute, Qingfeng Courtyard, and the Great Sun Sword Sect, the Golden Divine Temple has grown quite covetous of our upgraded Zixiao-15 flying swords. They specifically asked whether we would be willing to sell this model." Li Qingshan looked at him and said, "The sect is leaving this decision entirely to you. However, an export version would likely require a redesign. See if you can spare the time." "I have the time. I definitely will," Yaoguang replied immediately. Selling a single low-grade Treasure Weapon flying sword yielded a net profit of over fifty thousand spirit stones. As for a high-grade Treasure Weapon flying sword... Making a clear profit of two hundred thousand wouldn't be excessive, would it? Even the weakened third-generation high-grade Treasure Weapon flying swords sold by the Wuji Astral Palace went for over two hundred thousand. The upgraded Zixiao-15 already met fourth-generation standards; selling it for three to four hundred thousand would be entirely reasonable. After all, when it came to selling fourth-generation high-grade Treasure Weapon flying swords... In the entire Cangwu Great World, they held an absolute monopoly. "Still, doing this is equivalent to snatching market share right out of the Wuji Astral Palace's hands. They will likely roll out countermeasures before long," Yaoguang remarked. "I know. But with the battle in the East Sea Archipelago out in the open, we have stepped squarely into the spotlight. Biding our time in obscurity is no longer an easy option. Rather than trying to hide, it is better to take advantage of the Wuji Astral Palace being bogged down in their war with the Black Feather Sect to absorb all the nourishment we can, growing and strengthening as fast as possible." Li Qingshan glanced at Yaoguang. "The situation over at the Black Feather Sect won't be settled anytime soon, right?" "Unless the Wuji Astral Palace is willing to admit defeat, there won't be any definitive outcome within a decade," Yaoguang answered definitively. "After all, this amounts to a joint counteroffensive launched against the Wuji Astral Palace by the shattered remnants of the Northern Alliance." "That is plenty of time," Li Qingshan nodded. "Since we're preparing to sell the upgraded Zixiao-15 externally, let's also begin preparations to outfit our forces with the Zixiao-16. Forge three hundred swords first, perhaps? To equip our core elite battle courtyards?" At this point, Yaoguang added, "This series of flying swords was derived from the Zixiao-15, and the production cost should be just over two hundred thousand each." "That works," Li Qingshan agreed with a nod. Because the Zixiao Institute now procured all its raw materials for forging flying swords from the various departments within the Nine Cauldrons Sect, it stimulated numerous industries—formation engraving, component manufacturing, and mineral refining. In other words, every spirit stone spent circulated within the sect, enriching its people. As Sect Master, Li Qingshan no longer felt the need to pinch pennies as he had in the past. Of course, this generosity was also thanks to the sect's rising revenues and the incoming reparations from the Xuanming Sect. In the past, spending sixty million spirit stones in one go to purchase flying swords would have been completely unthinkable. ... "A Golden Core!" Once Li Qingshan departed, Yaoguang looked at the sealed core in his hands, feeling a wave of emotion. In the Yaoguang Realm, this was nothing short of a strategic nuclear weapon. Even in the Cangwu Great World, it wielded tremendous deterrence. If thrust into a perilous situation, pulling out this Golden Core could potentially deter an enemy with the threat of mutual destruction, making them think twice before acting rashly. Of course, if he ran into a madman, that would be another story. His gaze lingered on the core for a brief moment before shifting to the [Merchant] branch of the ancient tree within his mental world. However, the amount of experience accumulated on it took him by surprise. "It only amounts to the equivalent of thirty million spirit stones? Is a Golden Core really worth so little?" Yaoguang pondered for a moment. Soon, realization dawned. With this battle concluded, his fame could no longer be concealed. In the eyes of others, wielding the "Origin Realm" and displaying combat power on par with a Dharma Idol cultivator, combined with capturing two of the Great Sun Sword Sect's sky-patrol warships in succession, meant that he and the Zhenhai Courtyard he led possessed strength equal to the Sword-Bearing Institute directly overseen by Li Qingshan. Add to that his profound mastery of artifact crafting and formations... He had undoubtedly been cataloged as a figure of high interest by every major faction. His perceived importance was scarcely inferior to Li Qingshan's own. Under these circumstances, his stature was no longer confined to the Nine Cauldrons Sect, but evaluated across the entire Cangwu Realm. Calling this a qualitative leap in status and influence was no exaggeration. Because of this, trading a sky-patrol warship—which had cost substantial effort and human resources to capture—for a single Golden Core ultimately produced only enough "experience" equivalent to thirty million spirit stones. "Thirty million is still a substantial sum. It should be just enough for me to glimpse the true profundities of the Golden Core realm." With this thought, he hesitated no longer and chose to spur the growth of the [Qi Path] branch. Immediately, the [Qi Path] branch grew at blistering speed, blooming and bearing fruit in an instant. Yet during this process, the [Qi Path] branch seemed to creep toward and entwine with the [Divine Path] branch. Not just that branch—even the [Martial Path] branch followed suit. At that moment, the three branches exhibited a clear trend of convergence. Along with this convergence, information that Yaoguang had never before captured—or rather, keywords he had never triggered—began to surge forth. He had always felt that his "High-Dimensional Cognition" operated somewhat like a search engine. And a search engine... Would only retrieve what you explicitly searched for, touching on nothing else. At best, it might mention a peripheral detail or two where unavoidable. Thus, when searching for the [Martial Path], High-Dimensional Cognition gave him only the Martial Path. When searching for the [Divine Path], it gave him only content relevant to the Divine Path. As for whether flaws existed within... The searcher had to judge for himself. Now, the resonance among the [Martial Path], [Divine Path], and [Qi Path] effectively refined and calibrated his broad search parameters. The resulting insights might not be as sprawling, but they were far easier for Yaoguang to comprehend. "The Nine Layers of the Qi Path?" He recalled the cultivation system Li Hanqiu had mentioned to him, derived from the North Sea battlefield... "The cultivation here regarding the qi refining stage is also divided into Nine Layers of the Qi Path? And above the ninth layer of qi refining lies the Nine Layers of the Golden Core..." A look of astonishment crossed his face. Without pausing to inspect what kind of Dao Fruit had formed, he turned his focus entirely to assimilating information about the Nine Layers of the Golden Core—or rather, the Nine Layers of the Core Path. Foundation Establishment, Unity, Core Formation, Fission, Fusion, Crimson, Radiant Sun, Incandescent White, Azure Blue! The nine realms flowed through his mind. Foundation Establishment... Here, there was no concept of ordinary Foundation Establishment or Dao Foundations. Cultivators fundamentally forged an Immortal Foundation. In fact, it was even more profound than an Immortal Foundation; its core purpose was to allow the practitioner to cultivate the three paths of essence, qi, and spirit simultaneously. Once essence, qi, and spirit were fully merged into one—possessing the physique of a Star Lord and the divine sense of an Origin Soul—one stepped into the Unity Realm. As for Core Formation after that... "Good grief, a thousand-year lifespan right from the start? That's roughly equivalent to the first-generation Golden Cores of the Cangwu Great World, isn't it? No, wait... first-generation Golden Cores in the Cangwu Great World only lived four to five hundred years." The remaining realms—Fission, Fusion, Crimson, Radiant Sun, and Incandescent White—were very familiar. However, compared to the exceedingly extreme, volatile nature of these realms in the Cangwu Great World, the descriptions of the Golden Core here were as stable as could be, entirely normal and balanced. Furthermore... Forming a Crimson Golden Core generally granted a lifespan of over three thousand years. Yet the greatest difference between a Crimson Golden Core and a Radiant Sun Golden Core lay in the inability to collapse into a primordial chaos hole. In other words, falling short of the Radiant Sun Golden Core realm severed any possibility of reaching the Void Piercing Realm. Of course, this did not mean that forming a Radiant Sun Golden Core guaranteed entry into the Void Piercing Realm. A Radiant Sun Golden Core merely unlocked the potential. Anyone reckless enough to attempt a breakthrough at this stage faced certain death, barring the intervention of destiny itself. Even with an Incandescent White Golden Core, attempting to attain the Void Piercing Realm remained extraordinarily perilous, with only a slim chance of survival. Only those who cultivated an Azure Blue Golden Core could smoothly step into the Void Piercing Realm and become true overlords of the starry sky. Yaoguang digested each piece of information. Even though he had previously possessed some understanding of the matter, the sheer magnitude of these revelations was nothing short of revolutionary. By the time he finally finished assimilating it all, an entire month had passed. And within his mental world... The three branches of the [Martial Path], [Divine Path], and [Qi Path]—which had once grown in separate directions—had become thoroughly intertwined. Though the [Divine Path] remained dominant, the three had grown indistinguishable from one another. All that remained was for him to achieve a breakthrough into the Void Piercing Realm in the future, at which point the three branches would unite as one.