Taking Stock

Zixiao Institute. Yaoguang had just finished receiving Dong Liushui and the others, affirming their contributions to the Zixiao-20 flying sword. Moreover, he had directly issued a generous bonus to all the artifact refiners involved in forging the Zixiao-20 prototype. Only after handling these matters did he return to his residence. Diverting a wisp of his consciousness, he soon arrived at a place in the Virtual Spirit Realm specifically designated for recording information. Here lay detailed records regarding his current cultivation, realm, secondary professions, and status. Naturally, compared to the rather vague and broad descriptions provided by the ancient tree, the information here was far more grounded and practical. "Martial Path at third-order Star God; qi refining at Golden Core Fourth Tier, the Fission realm; spirit refining at peak Dharma Idol, or the fourth order... Speaking of which, whether it is the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique or the Heavenly Dao Sword Intent, although both methods accommodate body refining and spirit refining, they are clearly still centered on qi refining, merely patching up the shortcomings of body and spirit refining." Looking over this data, Yaoguang pondered slightly: "Taking body refining as an example, filling one hundred and eight acupoints with the power of Falling Stars makes one a first-order Star God, capable of containing the power of fission. Filling them with the power of Sky Stars makes one a second-order Star God, capable of containing the power of fusion. When all one hundred and eight acupoints are completely filled with the power of Main Stars, one becomes a third-order Star God, able to contain the power of a Crimson Golden Core." Further up, opening three hundred and sixty-five acupoints and completely filling all three hundred and sixty-five acupoints with the power of Main Stars allows one to unleash the power of a Radiant Sun Golden Core to the fullest. As for a fifth-order Star God who opens one thousand and eighty acupoints, they can unleash the power of an Incandescent White Golden Core with complete abandon. This was true for body refining, and likewise for spirit refining. Cultivation at the Dharma Idol stage involved the duration a Virtual Spirit Realm could be maintained. A year, an age, a cycle, an epoch, a cosmic cycle. It was said that the Virtual Spirit Realm opened by the most supreme Dharma Idol cultivator could endure for a cosmic cycle—that is, 129,600 years without decay. Of course, this referred to a Virtual Spirit Realm that was rarely used after being created. The more frequently it was used, the greater the wear and tear on the realm. So long as the Dharma Idol cultivator was still alive, they could maintain and repair it at any time, but without anyone to repair it, few Virtual Spirit Realms could endure for an entire cycle—namely, three hundred and sixty years. The most ancient classification of a Dharma Idol's strength was by year, age, cycle, epoch, and cosmic cycle. In more recent times, these complicated designations had been simplified into early, middle, late, peak, and perfection stages. In fact, to make things more manageable, Beihai Star even planned to emulate the first- through fifth-order divisions of Star Gods, mapping them directly to the fourth through eighth tiers of the nine Golden Core tiers. "Star Lord and Primordial Spirit replaced the first through third tiers of body and spirit refining. Based on this data, if my current cultivation were measured entirely against the system of the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique and Heavenly Dao Sword Intent, my body refining is equivalent to Star Lord Tier 3 plus Star God Tier 3—the sixth tier. My spirit refining is equivalent to Primordial Spirit Tier 3 plus Dharma Idol Tier 4—the seventh tier." Having reviewed this information, he smiled. "Since my body refining and spirit refining realms surpass the Fourth Tier Fission realm, my actual combat strength should align with Golden Core Fifth Tier. Factoring in my own realm on top of that..." He sensed the 47% progress under [Immortal Path: Void Cavern] in the ancient tree. "Factoring in my own consummate cultivation realm, my actual combat strength ranks at the peak of Golden Core Fifth Tier, the Fusion realm—and might even touch the domain of the Sixth Tier Crimson Golden Core! Moreover, because Cangwu Great World's cultivation system is flawed, a Radiant Sun Golden Core might not necessarily defeat someone at the Golden Core Fifth Tier Fusion realm... Furthermore, I possess an external core, so my true combat strength... wearing down and killing three to five Radiant Sun Golden Cores would be well within reach." Yaoguang calculated for a moment. After a brief pause, he remarked with a sigh of emotion, "It is truly complicated. I have heard that the world of the Moon Demon Empire possesses a special instrument capable of directly measuring an individual's specific combat strength. It takes into detailed account their body refining, qi refining, and spirit refining cultivation, along with their equipment, combat arts, secret techniques, and realm, all with extreme accuracy... If I had an instrument like that, knowing oneself and the enemy would make every battle a victory." As he pondered, he also thought of his Awareness secret technique. Unfortunately, such a low-level secret technique could no longer keep pace with the growth of his strength. It was just like earning top honors across an entire primary school—once out in adult society, nobody cared in the slightest. "In terms of hard power, even if I cannot be called number one in Cangwu, I probably am not far from it. As for soft power..." Yaoguang looked at his two secondary professions. In order to forge the Convergence-Dispersion Ring, his [Artifact Refining] had advanced to 61% in the domain of Artifact Saint. Converted to this world's classification, he would be a Level 12 artifact refiner. As for [Formations]... Because the growth of others was too slow, and setting up a formation solely by himself demanded too much time and energy, he had only pushed it to a level equivalent to a Level 10 formation master in this world. Breaking through in both secondary professions had each granted him a talent. Among them, [Artifact Refining] had yielded Myriad Spirit Sovereign: Spirit Treasure Chapter. A divine ability that could enlighten a spirit treasure and grant it life. Meanwhile, [Formations] had granted the talent Myriad Dharmas. It allowed him to discern formations and their flaws more readily. It could be considered a passive talent. However... For now, the Myriad Dharmas talent merely deepened his comprehension of formations. As for breaking formations... Being a Level 10 formation master, ordinary formations—which peaked at Level 8 at most—held few secrets before his eyes anyway. Whether he had this talent or not made little perceptible difference. And as for Myriad Spirit Sovereign: Spirit Treasure Chapter bringing a spirit treasure to life... He had experimented by enlightening the Soul of the Stars. And then... The spirit treasure came alive. It developed its own conscious mind. And then... it refused to obey, wanting to run off and seek the meaning of its own life. He had simply refined it on the spot, turning it into part of the energy filling the one hundred and eight acupoints in his body. In the end, Yaoguang concluded that unless he wanted to play a pet-raising simulator, it was best not to endow spirit treasures with life. "Artifact refining and formations will be more than sufficient for the foreseeable future. What remains is to focus my energy on advancing the Void Cavern realm progress, hoping to reach the true Void Cavern realm as soon as possible..." Saying this, Yaoguang shook his head with a touch of helplessness. As his body refining, qi refining, and spirit refining had all reached brand-new domains, the medicinal pills currently available on the market could no longer sustain his cultivation. In other words, his level had hit a ceiling. Spirit refining was somewhat better; it was more idealistic and mind-dependent. Once his realm advanced, his divine mind could undergo transformation smoothly, rising as the waters rose. Qi refining, however... The existing Fission realm actually consumed fewer resources than the Star God body refining realm. This tier required using the stellar essence within the body as a fission energy source and employing the origin of true essence—the fission internal core—allowing one to readily derive energy and mass from such material transformations. The crucial point, however... Was that a Star God physique generated exceedingly little stellar essence. Especially for a body cultivator like him, who had reached the Main Star God stage, relying on daily absorption of spiritual energy to condense stellar power was barely enough to fill the one hundred and eight acupoints within his body. Where would he find that much essence to supply the fission internal core inside him? Fortunately, when he had advanced his realm to 41% of the Void Cavern realm, he had unearthed a secret technique. It was called the Star Devouring Technique. By refining the stellar cores of stars, it could extract stellar essence to fill the one hundred and eight acupoints in his body. "Before the Crimson Golden Core, body refining is actually the most crucial component—at least for me, who has no worries regarding realm comprehension. Relying on stellar essence during the fission process continuously impacts and raises the upper limit of the fission internal core, increasing its temperature and pressure. When the extreme temperature and pressure inside the fission internal core one day reach a pinnacle, the cultivator's utilization of stellar essence can shift from a fission state to a fusion state, obtaining even mightier power." Yaoguang pondered. Further up, at the Crimson Golden Core... The three hundred and sixty-five acupoints would take the human body as their foundation, spontaneously forming a life formation capable of continuously generating vast amounts of stellar essence. This would allow the energy utilization in the fusion internal core to achieve closed-loop recycling—an endless cycle of fusion to fission and fission to fusion. Of course, this cycle also placed demands on the environment and external energy, but... The most difficult part remained finding the point of balance from fusion to golden core and comprehending this cycle thoroughly. Only by realizing this cycle could one step into the realm of the Crimson Golden Core with an efficiency orders of magnitude beyond the Fusion realm. "For me, this is likewise an issue that warrants little concern. After all... my realm has already reached Void Cavern. Transitioning from fusion to the Crimson Golden Core is akin to cultivating anew; as long as I proceed with caution, there will be no trouble. Only for others is the Crimson Golden Core regarded as the watershed among the nine tiers of the Golden Core." Reflecting on this, Yaoguang felt that if he could solve the 'energy issue,' the road ahead would be smooth sailing. From fusion to the Crimson Golden Core was one of the greatest hurdles among the nine Golden Core tiers. As for moving from the Sixth Tier to the Seventh Tier... The leap was actually not very difficult. After all, a Crimson Golden Core lacked the basis to collapse into a black hole, which was why people classified this realm into the middle three tiers of the nine Golden Core tiers. In reality, the Sixth Tier Crimson Golden Core, the Seventh Tier Radiant Sun Golden Core, and the Eighth Tier Incandescent White Golden Core were not fundamentally different in nature; they all amounted to accumulating volume. Only upon reaching the Ninth Tier Azure Golden Core did one truly break through the limit of 'quantity' and genuinely initiate the sprint toward the Void Cavern realm. Thus, the three major hurdles of the nine Golden Core tiers were: from Core Formation to fission, from fusion to the Crimson Golden Core, and finally from the Incandescent White Golden Core to the Azure Golden Core. "Accumulating volume... this quantity refers to energy. In today's Cangwu Great World, virtually all pills have become ineffective for me. Even a Hundred Acupoint Spirit Pill can only help one open a hundred acupoints; in the future, opening three hundred and sixty-five acupoints will still depend entirely on myself, let alone filling all three hundred and sixty-five acupoints..." As Yaoguang spoke, he looked up into the distance. Beyond Cangwu Great World, one hundred and eight thousand worlds revolved in endless cycles. Relying on the Star Devouring Technique to devour and refine stellar cores, he could still fill the one hundred and eight acupoints. Yet the time required for this process was by no means short. It would take at least eight to ten years. Add to that opening three hundred and sixty-five acupoints for a fourth-order Star God, and one thousand and eighty acupoints for a fifth-order Star God... Just for his body refining to meet the standard of the nine Golden Core tiers would take a hundred and thirty to a hundred and forty years. Although in the new system the lifespan at the Core Formation stage had increased substantially, making a hundred and thirty or forty years negligible, still... To Yaoguang, this duration was still far too long. "Resources," Yaoguang muttered softly. After a moment, he reined in his thoughts, turning his gaze toward the Convergence-Dispersion Ring that he had finally finished forging after working around the clock recently. Picking up this spirit treasure, his figure rose into the air, shooting straight up toward the highest heavens.