hotmtlnovel Chapter 182 Extreme Strength, Beginning of Core Formation
Chapter 182 Extreme Strength, Beginning of Core Formation
Chapter 182 Extreme Strength, Beginning of Core Formation
Above the third-tier spiritual vein of the Miaoyin Sect, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth stirred and began to gather in large quantities.
Strange phenomena were frequently occurring in the nearby Thousand Sound Mountains area. A strong Core Formation aura surged from the depths of a third-order spiritual vein, causing all the low-level cultivators near the Myriad Sound Sect to feel a sense of unease.
"As expected, someone is attempting to break through to the Core Formation stage."
In a hidden cave in the Thousand Sound Mountains, Lin Fan and Master Long Xiang exchanged a glance, confirming that someone had sent Lin Fan this message in a timely manner.
"Don't rush to attack. Wait until the Core Formation cultivator reaches the crucial moment, then you and I will feign a battle and redirect the aftershocks of our attack towards several core array points of the sect's grand formation."
Those locations have extremely high requirements for spiritual energy. Once disturbed, the spiritual pressure of the third-tier spiritual vein will become unbalanced, and at that time, that person will inevitably fail in their Core Formation stage!
Lin Fan sneered. Under Lin Xiaoyu's secret observation for more than a year, he had become familiar with the location of some of the spiritual energy nodes of the new third-tier Grand Stage of the Wonderful Sound Sect.
Master Longxiang nodded: "This method is excellent."
Several days later, the spiritual energy vortex above the third-tier spiritual vein grew larger and larger, and the process of forming the core seemed to be at a critical juncture.
The two looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.
"The time has come, let's go!"
Long Xiang Zhenren and Lin Fan transformed into two streaks of light, swept across the mountain range ahead, and quickly approached the core of the Miaoyin Sect, the third-order spiritual vein ancestral peak.
Upon approaching, the two immortals, transformed into streaks of light, hovered in mid-air, one in front of the other.
"You old man Long Xiang, how dare you steal my opportunity for advancement?!"
Lin Fan shouted sharply, and a burst of internal energy from his sleeve blasted towards his opponent.
Lin Fan!
I spared you because of our past relationship with the Jade Dragon Sect.
If you persist, don't blame me for being ruthless!
Master Longxiang feigned anger and then used a bronze mirror-like magic weapon to deflect Lin Fan's attack with his internal energy back to the mountain below.
"boom--!"
The mountains trembled, the spiritual power of the mountain-protecting array fluctuated violently, the spiritual energy of the third-order spiritual vein became unstable, and the celestial phenomenon of Core Formation in the sky also trembled.
Seeing this, the two intensified their attacks, exchanging blows as the residual energy of their pills continuously impacted the core of the spiritual vein array.
At this moment, Qin Chengcheng, standing behind the third-order sect-protecting formation, had a gloomy expression but remained motionless.
Chen Yi was right; someone really did try to stop him when he reached the Core Formation stage.
These two people, disregarding the rules and regulations of the Xuanmen sect, openly obstructed the path, thus creating a deadly feud!
Qin Chengcheng followed Chen Yi's instructions.
He watched the two "fighting" from behind the great formation for a long time, until the spiritual power of the mountain-protecting formation was on the verge of collapse and the vortex of spiritual energy in the air was almost dissipated. Only then did he fly out and angrily shout:
"Lin Fan! Long Xiang!"
"Today, someone from my Miaoyin Sect is attempting to form their Core Formation. You all, under the guise of a private duel, have disrupted the grand formation and are hindering their progress. Do you really think the Qi Kingdom's royal family will stand idly by?"
Upon hearing this,
Lin Fan sneered, "Master Long Xiang stole my natal magic treasure, this is a life-or-death enmity! As for accidentally damaging your sect's great formation—" He deliberately dragged out his words, "it was purely an accident!"
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly made a hand seal, and a stream of Azure Wood Pill Power blasted towards True Person Long Xiang like an angry dragon.
The latter was prepared. Stepping on the dragon shadow in the void, his figure flashed and the energy of the pill fell straight into the mountain-protecting formation!
The mountains trembled, and the spiritual light of the great array fluctuated violently.
Enraged, Qin Chengcheng attacked: "If you dare attack the great formation again, you will be making enemies of my Miaoyin Sect!"
However, the two ignored him and fought even more fiercely.
The golden mirror in Longxiang Zhenren's sleeve shone brightly, deflecting Lin Fan's attack back towards the core of the spiritual vein.
The third-order spiritual energy vortex in the air twisted wildly, on the verge of collapse.
"Oh no!"
Qin Chengcheng gritted his teeth and activated his magic weapon to block, but facing two veteran Core Formation experts, especially a mid-stage Core Formation powerhouse like Master Longxiang, who was deliberately attacking the Miaoyin Sect's protective formation...
She seemed to be still recovering from serious injuries, and her two fists were no match for four hands. Without drawing spiritual energy from the array, she would always be stretched thin and unable to provide adequate protection.
"Snap!"
With a cracking sound like tearing silk, the spiritual power of the mountain-protecting array was exhausted, and half of the spiritual energy of the third-tier spiritual vein was forcibly drained away.
In the air,
The vortex of spiritual energy that represented the formation of the Golden Core stage finally gave way and collapsed with a crash!
The process of forming the Golden Core was interrupted.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Lin Fan and Master Long Xiang stopped pretending and burst into laughter.
"Qin Chengcheng, don't forget!"
Lin Fan's voice drifted from afar, filled with sarcasm.
"This Miaoyin Sect was originally established by this True Man himself!"
Not only did you seize my mountain gate and occupy my spiritual veins, but now you also want someone to use this place to form a core?
snort!
"Unless I give my approval, no one in your Myriad Sounds Sect will succeed in forming their Core!"
Master Longxiang also sneered:
"If a human cultivator's Core Formation is interrupted midway, not only will the success rate plummet, but the very essence of their cultivation will also suffer irreversible damage."
This failure to form the Core means that, regardless of whether it's Chen Yi or Xu Jiu, without high-grade rare and precious materials, they won't be able to attempt to form the Core again for the next few decades!
With a bit of luck, I might be able to reach the Pseudo-Core Formation realm.
Hmph, my Jade Dragon Sect outcast, from the moment I dared to embezzle 200,000 spirit stones from the sect and flee, was destined to meet this end!
"With me here, even if you, Xu Jiu, change your appearance, you won't succeed in forming your core!"
Qin Chengcheng's face was ashen, and he remained silent, but secretly he had etched the arrogant faces of the two men into the memory stone.
Just now, she only used 30% of her full strength.
They simply tried their best to ensure the two of them succeeded in sabotaging the operation.
He felt even more approving of Chen Yi's plan.
Seeing Qin Chengcheng humiliated, Lin Fan and Master Longxiang were overjoyed, and their laughter grew even more unrestrained.
Little did they know, Qin Chengcheng was just putting on an act for them.
Having experienced the baptism of this battlefield, if things really got serious, Qin Chengcheng, relying on his third-tier formation, could easily take on both of them by himself.
……
Deep within the third-tier spiritual vein of the Miaoyin Sect, in a secret chamber.
Chen Yi sat cross-legged, with a treasure-hunting rat the size of a wildcat in front of him.
The beast now has glossy black fur all over its body, with a purple line running down the center of its back, carrying a faint electric glow.
His muscles were exceptionally well-developed, and his demonic power was abundant, almost reaching the peak of the second tier.
Having mutated a trace of its Thunder Spirit bloodline, it now has a higher probability of breaking through to the third tier.
Chen Yi approached it.
However, using the power of Taiyi Changqing, it transformed into wisps of azure spiritual mist, which slowly seeped into the body of the treasure-hunting rat, healing the injuries caused by the forced interruption of its core formation.
"What that old thief Long Xiang said is true."
Chen Yi's gaze darkened slightly as he thought to himself,
"Once a human cultivator begins the irreversible process of Core Formation, if he is interrupted, his mana, cultivation level, spiritual sense, and even his foundational talent will be damaged."
Unless a rare and precious treasure is found to compensate, the next time a core is formed, not only will the difficulty increase exponentially, but the quality of the core will also plummet…
"Fortunately, the treasure-hunting rat is a demon beast with a strong physique, so this injury is nothing."
Demonic beasts cultivate by relying on powerful bloodlines and physiques.
Even if a demon fails to form its core once or twice, the impact is far less than that on a human cultivator.
After all, their foundation lies in bloodline inheritance, so they have less need for external spiritual objects.
The prelude to the Treasure-Seeking Rat's Core Formation was a staged performance arranged by Chen Yi, intended only to allow it to first gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and comprehend the characteristics of the spiritual veins, without actually initiating the Core Formation process of condensing liquid into crystal.
Because Chen Yi was prepared, he interrupted its core formation process in time, so the injury was not serious.
With Chen Yi's Taiyi Evergreen magic healing power, the Treasure-Seeking Rat will recover completely in just half a month.
This was merely a test by Chen Yi.
Sure enough, they caught two big fish.
"Unfortunately, the demonic cultivator Han Ya Zhenren, who was in the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm, didn't fall for the trick and make a move."
Otherwise, reporting him as well would be irrefutable evidence of Lin Fan and Long Xiang's collusion with the demonic path, thus eliminating several major threats.
Chen Yi felt a pang of regret.
The day after Lin Fan and Master Longxiang left the Miaoyin Sect, a secret message was sent out from the sect's communication array, traveling hundreds of thousands of miles to reach the capital of the Qi Kingdom.
Faced with the irrefutable evidence recorded on the photographic stone, coupled with Qin Chengcheng's outstanding contributions to the monster battlefield over the past year, the Qi royal family's attitude clearly shifted.
In particular, the person who handled this matter was the Ninth Princess, one of the people present when Qin Chengcheng formed her Golden Core.
She used to have some respect for Qin Chengcheng.
Upon learning that it was Qin Chengcheng who had come to file a complaint, he immediately sent a memorial to the emperor overnight.
With multiple factors combined, the Qi Emperor issued a thunderous decree in just a few days.
More than ten days later, when Lin Fan and Master Longxiang received the imperial decree, they were dumbfounded.
Lin Fan and Long Xiang openly prevented a peak second-tier demonic beast from the Miaoyin Sect from attempting to break through to the third tier, causing its attempt to fail.
You two are hereby ordered to each compensate the Miaoyin Sect with 20,000 spirit stones and apologize to the Sect Master in person!
"What?"
"We two went to great lengths, plotting and eavesdropping, even feigning a deadly battle, only to disrupt the core formation of a peak second-tier demonic beast?"
"The one who formed the Golden Core wasn't Chen Yi himself!"
"Damn it! To actually use a demonic beast to deceive us! Qin Chengcheng has no such wisdom!"
It was definitely Chen Yi, hiding behind the scenes, who did it.
This man deserves to die!
After receiving the Nascent Soul cultivator's edict, Lin Fan was so angry that the veins on his forehead stood out.
"Not only do they want us to compensate them with 2 spirit stones, but they also want us to apologize to the Miaoyin Sect?"
This is actually an imperial edict from the Qi Emperor?!
Master Longxiang was both surprised and angry.
The hidden information in this imperial edict is that Qin Chengcheng has established connections with the royal family, or at least has an important figure in the royal family pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Otherwise, this decree of punishment could not have come so quickly!
A few days after receiving the decree of punishment, before they could even decide when to go to the Miaoyin Sect to make amends and apologize,
In Lin Fan's storage bag, the communication jade slip lit up once again.
[Father, a powerful fluctuation is emanating from the third-tier spiritual vein of the Myriad Sound Sect once again.]
Here, someone else has achieved the Core Formation stage.
Seeing this, Lin Fan exchanged a glance with Master Long Xiang and secretly discussed the matter via telepathy:
"Last time, it was a beast pretending to break through to the third tier to fool us. This time, it seems that cook Chen Yi is serious."
"Fellow Daoist Long Xiang, will you make a move again this time?"
Master Longxiang sneered upon hearing this:
"Of course we should take action!"
He fooled us last time, but this time it's definitely true. We must get him! We absolutely cannot let Chen Yi succeed in forming his core!
"A mere punishment of 20,000 spirit stones is something I can afford."
A few days later, the spiritual energy vortex above the third-tier spiritual vein of the Miaoyin Sect expanded again to the Core Formation stage.
The two exchanged a glance, then suddenly transformed into streaks of light and soared into the sky.
"Old man Long Xiang!"
How dare you steal my chance for promotion again?
Do you really think Lin is made of clay?!
As Lin Fan shouted, a burst of internal energy slammed into Long Xiang Zhenren's face.
During the chase, the bronze mirror in Longxiang Zhenren's sleeve shone brightly, reflecting the attack towards the Miaoyin Sect's grand formation.
Same lines, same locations, same fighting techniques.
It is exactly the same as the one Qin Chengcheng reported to the royal family in the photo stone.
next moment,
Suddenly, a figure in palace attire emerged from the formation—the Ninth Princess, wearing a phoenix crown and holding a jade token, unleashed a beam of spiritual light that blocked the attack.
She shouted at the two of them, "Stop!"
"Previously, Fairy Qin reported that you two harbored ill intentions, but I did not entirely believe it."
Now they're doing the same thing again, without even changing their rhetoric.
Do they really think the royal family is stupid?!
The Ninth Princess's eyes flashed with a chilling light.
"He was fined 20,000 spirit stones but still shows no remorse?"
Those who dare to commit this offense again today shall each be fined another 30,000 spirit stones!
If this happens again, I will report this to Emperor Qi and have your cultivation destroyed as a warning to others!
The two were stunned.
What? The Ninth Princess of the Royal Family has come in person?
"When did Her Highness the Ninth Princess arrive at the southern foothills? I, Lin, have failed to greet her properly and have been unable to entertain her. I hope you will forgive me!"
Lin Fan hurriedly bowed, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Master Longxiang also managed a forced smile:
"Your Highness is wise. Just now, it was merely that the two of us lost our composure during our friendly sparring."
Even with a blood feud, they would never dare to act recklessly on the territory of the Wonderful Sound Sect! What do you think, could you waive the 30,000 spirit stones?
Master Longxiang's heart was bleeding.
The loss of 20,000 spirit stones wasn't exactly painful, but it was like throwing good money after bad—gone forever.
This time, although he was willing to pay another 20,000 spirit stones as a fine, that was on the premise of successfully preventing Chen Yi from forming his core.
They haven't even managed to stop it yet, and now they're already throwing away another 30,000 spirit stones.
His heart was bleeding.
However, just as they were trying to get a smaller penalty of spirit stones,
The vortex of spiritual energy above their heads suddenly underwent a strange change.
The already unstable vortex of spiritual energy collapsed just as it was about to initiate the formation of the core!
Another failure?!
Long Xiang and Lin Fan stole glances at the dissipating Core Formation phenomenon in the air, their eyes flashing with wild joy:
"Your Highness is wise! We did not interfere this time; he failed to form his core on his own!"
"Hehe, Core Formation is a low-probability event. He's just a mortal cultivator who started as a cook, and he has a low-grade spiritual root. Reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment is already a blessing he's accumulated over several lifetimes."
"If I fail to form my core, I have no regrets."
Lin Fan and Master Long Xiang beamed with joy, in high spirits.
The Ninth Princess's phoenix eyes were frosty as she stared at the gradually calming vortex of spiritual energy at the core of the spiritual vein.
"How could it fail? If you can't even do this first step of liquidification and crystallization, then..."
Why would Qin Chengcheng invite me to come and oversee things?
Little did she know...
This was still Chen Yi's test.
Even with the Ninth Princess in charge, Chen Yi was still worried that Lin Fan and his companion might take a risk.
Therefore, the treasure-hunting rat was made to simulate the aura of a Core Formation cultivator a second time.
This time, the treasure-hunting rat only probed briefly, without sustaining even the slightest injury, before dissipating the Core Formation Qi vortex.
This test had proven effective, as the two men, drawn by the smell of blood, came to stop them again.
Afterwards, under the stern gaze of the Ninth Princess,
After some haggling, the two finally paid a fine of 4 spirit stones each, and personally apologized to Qin Chengcheng. They then made a vow to their inner demons, promising not to fight near the Miaoyin Sect again, and not to intentionally or unintentionally affect any cultivator in the Miaoyin Sect who was forming their core.
Lin Fan didn't have 40,000 spirit stones on him at all. In the end, it was Master Longxiang who lent Lin Fan 20,000 spirit stones so that he could pay the compensation.
Fortunately, this time they witnessed firsthand the failure of a Jade Dragon Sect cultivator to form his core.
Although the fine was paid, I wasn't too upset, since it had hindered Chen Yi's successful formation of the Golden Core.
Afterwards, the Ninth Princess issued a decree, strictly forbidding the two from approaching any area within a radius of ten thousand miles of the Thousand Sound Mountains for one year.
The two nodded and obediently left.
That night, at Qin Chengcheng's warm invitation, the Ninth Princess temporarily stayed at the Miaoyin Sect.
That night,
Within the sect, all disciples received a strict order:
During the month that the Ninth Princess stayed at the Miaoyin Sect, no one was allowed to step out of their cave dwelling, all cultivation activities were suspended, and all efforts were focused on maintaining the stability of the third-tier spiritual vein.
So as not to disturb the cultivation of the royal family and nobles.
At the same time, Chen Yi secretly set up a high-level shielding formation outside Lin Xiaoyu's cave, completely isolating her from the spiritual vein fluctuations.
After these two tests of feigned Core Formation, Chen Yi felt the time was about right.
At midnight
He quietly arrived at the core of the third-tier spiritual vein of the Miaoyin Sect and sat cross-legged in the center of the platform.
The power of Taiyi Changqing surged through his meridians like a tide.
The body is filled with energies such as gold crystal and thunder crystal.
His divine sense condensed into a three-inch, five-colored ray of light above his head. This time, he was fully prepared and began his true attempt to break through to the Core Formation Realm!
The core of the third-tier spiritual vein where Chen Yi was located was surrounded by piles of pure spirit stones.
The spiritual energy inside was incredibly rich.
It can provide powerful spiritual energy support when Chen Yi needs it.
Simultaneously,
In the early stages of the Core Formation process, the spiritual energy will not dissipate outwards, forming a Core Formation phenomenon above the spiritual veins.
However, this method of forming a core at the center of a spiritual vein will be subjected to a much stronger impact of spiritual energy from the very beginning.
The physical requirements for Core Formation cultivators are extremely high; 99.9% of Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn't dare choose this path.
Because their meridians will be burst the moment spiritual energy enters their bodies.
(End of this chapter)