Chapter 212: To Step into the Golden Core Realm

In the Urban Version, in order to accelerate the grand tide of spiritual energy resurgence, Lu Yan had once ordered the ghosts and deities of the underworld to secretly construct a massive Northern Mang Tomb. His aim was to alter history and signal the arrival of spiritual energy revival.

Most of the artifacts within the Northern Mang Tomb were forged fakes, deduced and fabricated through the Omniscience Path of the Giant Spirit God. Even professional archaeological experts would be unable to detect anything amiss, and would simply regard it as the remnants of a lost spiritual energy era.

To enhance its credibility, Lu Yan had left behind a cultivation technique within the tomb—the Longevity Scripture, a method so common in the Cultivation Version that it could be found anywhere.

In the Cultivation Version, this Longevity Scripture was unremarkable. But in the newly awakened Urban Version, it became an unparalleled treasure. It allowed Mu Chunqiu to become the first mortal, aside from Lu Yan himself, to break through to the Qi Refining stage.

After successfully igniting the wave of spiritual resurgence and completing the act of replacing Heaven with Man, Lu Yan allowed the Urban Version to grow wild and unchecked, paying no further attention to Mu Chunqiu, the first cultivator of that world.

As for the effects of the Longevity Scripture itself, Lu Yan had completely ignored them.

In his design, the Longevity Scripture came from the Cultivation Version. Even if it had become a supreme technique in the Urban Version, once the versions updated and the worlds realigned with the Cultivation Version, its fundamental nature shouldn’t have changed.

If such power could endlessly stack between versions, the entire version update system would have collapsed long ago.

Yet from the information revealed by True Lord Wu, it seemed that the Longevity Scripture Lu Yan casually discarded had indeed transformed within the Cultivation Version. The hidden benefits were so great that even a Nascent Soul cultivator like True Lord Wu had been tempted.

“If they were merely doing a favor for Mu Chunqiu, True Lord Wu could have simply issued a decree ordering Elder Xiao to step down. There would have been no need to punish the Xiao Clan so harshly.

“What he did instead was a gesture aimed at me—an indirect show of goodwill toward Mu Chunqiu. This must be connected to Mu Chunqiu’s enlightenment of that so-called Immortal Technique of Longevity.”

“Could my assumptions about the rules of version updates be wrong? Or is it just this Longevity Scripture that’s uniquely special?”

Lu Yan felt uncertain.

Pushing the thought aside for now, Lu Yan turned his gaze toward the ashen-faced father and son of the Xiao Clan.

From the results alone, the punishment handed down by True Lord Wu could only be described as severe.

The sentence of suppressing the Sea Eye was second only to having one’s cultivation abolished or being executed on the spot.

The Southern Sea’s Sea Eye was teeming with aquatic demons and had extremely thin spiritual energy. It was no kind of paradise. Constant skirmishes with sea demons meant that even Golden Core cultivators often perished there.

Three hundred years of suppression—that was nearly half a Golden Core cultivator’s natural lifespan. If Elder Xiao and his wife didn’t die at the hands of the sea demons, then they would emerge from punishment at the brink of their life’s end.

As for Xiao Shang, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, if he failed to reach the Golden Core Realm, he might not even survive the full term of his punishment. This was essentially a death sentence for the entire Xiao family.

Xiao Shang, in particular, could not bear such a dramatic fall from grace.

With Golden Core parents supporting him, he had been the personal disciple closest to inheriting the position of true disciple. Now, in the blink of an eye, he had become a condemned prisoner.

“If not for Lu Yan, Ji Xingyao would have long since lost her position as true disciple. I would have taken her place naturally. Not even a Nascent Soul cultivator could have dismissed a true disciple without just cause.

“If Lu Yan hadn’t appeared at Clear Wutong Sect today, I wouldn’t have coveted his fortune or made a move against him.

“If Lu Yan weren’t backed by True Lord Mu, a mere outer branch disciple of the Taiyi Sect wouldn’t have drawn True Lord Wu into such a trivial matter. My father and I wouldn’t have suffered this disaster!”

“All of this—everything—is because of Lu Yan!”

As if guided by some sinister whisper, a surge of madness and demonic intent overwhelmed Xiao Shang’s mind. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Lu Yan with fury. Gripping his dust-whisk treasure tightly, he seemed ready to strike at any moment.

But just then, the pale-faced Elder Xiao raised his hand to stop him.

“Return to the cave. Pack your things. We leave for the Southern Sea immediately.”

“But father—!”

“Silence! Didn’t you hear True Lord Wu’s decree? We are to depart today.”

With that, Elder Xiao turned to Lu Yan and cupped his hands respectfully, eyes devoid of any hatred.

Then, with a sweep of his sleeve, he took Xiao Shang and soared into the sky on a ray of light, vanishing into the distance.

Seeing this, Lu Yan narrowed his eyes.

Hot-headed fools like Xiao Shang who charge without thinking posed little threat. Lu Yan had even hoped Xiao Shang would lash out in rage, violating True Lord Wu’s decree.

If that happened, True Lord Wu would be forced to act again. Even if he didn’t execute Xiao Shang, he would at least abolish his cultivation, and Elder Xiao would be implicated as well.

But judging by what just happened, Elder Xiao was even more patient than Lu Yan had imagined.

“Dogs that bite don’t bark.”

Lu Yan muttered this to himself under his breath, moving his index finger ever so slightly. A wisp of Heavenly Dao Merit silently turned into an invisible thread and landed on Elder Xiao’s body.

The Red Lotus Karmic Fire Scripture once recorded a spell called Karmic Entanglement—a first-grade high-grade spell that would afflict one’s enemy with bad luck by transferring one’s own karmic burden.

But the karmic traces were far too obvious. Lu Yan had never used it in battle.

However, after his enlightenment during the Replacing Heaven with Man ritual, Lu Yan had modified the spell—substituting karma with Heavenly Dao Merit.

Once cast, the spell would place a wisp of Heavenly Dao Merit upon the target.

Heavenly Dao Merit carried no danger. On the contrary, it could actually improve one’s fortune. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator might not detect such a subtle trace of merit.

But for Lu Yan, this single wisp of merit acted as a marker—one that let him track his enemy’s location at all times.

“Let him rot in the Northern Seas, clinging to life and watching me from the shadows for three hundred years?

“A dog that bites is far more dangerous. Best to kill it early.”

“But before that, there’s something far more important that must be done.”

A faint glimmer of gold flashed in Lu Yan’s eyes as he turned to Su Yan beside him.

“Lead the way.”

Snapping out of her daze, Su Yan hurriedly formed a hand seal and summoned the flying boat.

The vessel drifted gently to a stop before them, and Lu Yan stepped aboard once more.

The remaining personal disciples stayed frozen in place, expressions uneasy, fearing Lu Yan might seek retribution.

But they were overthinking it. In Lu Yan’s view, these people weren’t even worth considering. They lacked the power to threaten him and held no value whatsoever.

More importantly, True Lord Wu had already punished the Xiao family but said nothing about these disciples. That silence was a statement in itself—he had chosen to spare them.

Lu Yan had no reason to offend a Nascent Soul True Lord over a few harmless Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The flying boat slowly sailed away. The surviving personal disciples exchanged glances, expressions filled with relief.

“Who would’ve thought Lu Yan is backed by the legendary True Lord Mu?”

“With such monstrous talent, and he’s not even from one of the thirteen main branches of the Taiyi Sect… Just how terrifying are those branches?”

“Forget it. With someone like him around, we can stop dreaming about the true disciple position. Better to spend our time figuring out how to reach the Golden Core Realm before we’re a hundred.”

The crowd gradually dispersed, and that corner of the Clear Wutong Blessed Land returned to silence.

Aboard the flying boat, after all that had transpired, Su Yan temporarily gave up on her plans to seduce Lu Yan.

Before knowing his true background, she had acted boldly in pursuit of her own gains.

But now, after watching a Nascent Soul True Lord call Lu Yan “young friend,” and witnessing two Golden Core elders and one personal disciple exiled for daring to plot against him, she clearly understood the vast difference between them.

Her fear of Lu Yan now outweighed her desire.

Lu Yan didn’t mind. It made things quieter.

He turned inward, focusing once more on the matter of the Longevity Scripture.

After a while, the flying boat descended slowly onto a misty mountain peak.

Before the vessel even touched down, Lu Yan sensed the activation of a second-tier array. Sword intent surged skyward, ready to tear the boat apart.

“Leave!”

An icy voice rang out from within the peak, laced with undeniable weakness despite its harsh tone.

Lu Yan stepped out of the flying boat and called toward the mountain:

“Sister Ji, it’s me—Lu Yan.”

“Lu Yan?” The voice inside was filled with doubt, but no surprise.

The mountain’s protective array didn’t open. Instead, Ji Xingyao’s voice echoed again.

“You should leave. If Xiao Shang or the others find out, things will become complicated.”

Lu Yan frowned and, after a moment’s thought, retrieved three Sun Stones from his storage pouch and infused them with spiritual power, sending them through the array.

“I came to fulfill our agreement and deliver the Sun Stones, Sister Ji.”

But to his surprise, Ji Xingyao didn’t open the array to receive them. Instead, silence fell over the misty peak.

After a long pause, her weak voice finally replied:

“I appreciate your kindness, Brother Lu. But I’ve overexerted myself in past battles. My injuries have worsened beyond the help of medicine.

“Sun Stones are priceless treasures for body cultivators. You’d be better off trading them for other rare spiritual items.”

“Injuries worsening?” Lu Yan finally understood why Xiao Shang and the others had acted so brazenly.

If Ji Xingyao had even a shred of her former strength left, she would’ve stormed through the blessed land with her sword and cleaved them all apart. There wouldn’t have been any situation where he ended up trapped.

The Sun Stones returned to float in front of him, but Lu Yan didn’t take them back.

Their relationship had always been one of mutual benefit. Ji Xingyao had shaken down the other disciples and traded the loot for his Scripture Transmission Token.

Had she not done that, her injuries wouldn’t have deteriorated so quickly.

Whether out of personal feeling or the pursuit of immortal destiny, Lu Yan couldn’t abandon her now.

He asked seriously:

“Do the Sun Stones still help with your injury?”

Ji Xingyao fell silent again. After a while, her weak voice responded:

“They purify spiritual power. They can hold the damage at bay, but won’t reverse it. To fully recover, I’d need a vast quantity of them—something far beyond reach. You shouldn’t—”

Before she could finish, Lu Yan waved his hand.

With a thud, a massive wooden chest landed before the array.

The lid opened, and a mountain of Sun Stones poured forth—over a thousand in total.

So much solar spiritual energy gathered that it formed a blazing sun in the mortal world. Su Yan, just standing nearby, felt like she was basking in sunlight. The impurities in her spiritual power were already being burned away.

She stared wide-eyed, stunned by such a treasure. Desire flickered in her gaze.

“Will this be enough?”

Lu Yan looked toward the mountain and asked.

Once again, silence.

Then, Ji Xingyao’s voice floated out:

“This is more than enough. But to restore myself fully, I’ll need at least half of them.

“A thousand Sun Stones could be sold for enough to buy top-tier Golden Core artifacts and elixirs. Are you truly willing to give them to a cripple like me?”

Lu Yan smiled lightly and sent all the Sun Stones into the array.

“If Sister Ji needs them, take them all.”

Sun Stones were rare treasures in the Cultivation Version, but to Lu Yan, they were nothing. His storage ring still held tens of thousands more.

He owned almost the entire Apocalypse Version. Once the Supreme Will was dealt with, Sun Stones would be limitless.

This time, Ji Xingyao didn’t refuse. The moment the Sun Stones entered the array, she released her control.

Lu Yan stepped through the array and finally laid eyes on Ji Xingyao.

She sat in a ruined courtyard atop the mountain. The once-beautiful pavilions of spiritual wood had collapsed, covered in sword marks and rot.

Her once aloof and elegant appearance was gone. Her robes were stained with decay like a setting sun, her body surrounded by the stench of corruption.

But as the Sun Stones approached her, waves of solar essence scattered the miasma. A faint color returned to her pale face.

Ji Xingyao smiled faintly and whispered:

“I must look quite pathetic right now. I must’ve made you laugh.”

Lu Yan didn’t care in the slightest. He shook his head calmly.

“Sister Ji, refine the Sun Stones and recover your foundation. I will guard you.”

Ji Xingyao wasn’t the type to hesitate. She immediately picked up a Sun Stone.

One by one, the radiant rhombus crystals dimmed as she absorbed their energy. The refined solar essence coursed through her meridians, purging the corrupted filth.

One, ten, a hundred…

She became like a great furnace of the sun, refining and dissolving the impurity within her.

The cleansing took an entire day and night.

At last, as the final trace of corrupted energy was burned away, her aura soared to its peak.

But such prolonged spiritual exertion left her soul nearly drained.

Exhaustion overwhelmed her, and a whisper in her mind urged her to rest.

She began to relax—when Lu Yan’s voice suddenly rang beside her ear.

“Break, then rebuild. Today… step into the Golden Core Realm!”

(End of Chapter)