Chapter 164 – Breaking Through to the Core Formation Stage

Chapter 164 – Breaking Through to the Core Formation Stage

Shi Yunjie followed Shi Yuwei into the mist with a nervous expression. When they finally stopped at a location teeming with spiritual energy, he was taken aback to discover that the Grandmaster had actually agreed to let him attempt his breakthrough here—and had even arranged for such a spiritually rich place.

This would undoubtedly provide a tremendous boost to his chances of success.

After offering a respectful bow toward the center of the island, Shi Yunjie sat down cross-legged and began his preparations to break through.

At the same time, not far away, Gu Mo was silently observing Shi Yunjie, intending to witness the entire process. Shi Yuwei, who had guided him here, now stood quietly by Gu Mo's side.

Shi Yuwei herself had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Watching the transition from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation could offer her valuable insights, so Gu Mo had kept her nearby.

"It's starting."

After a short wait, Gu Mo sensed the changes in Shi Yunjie's aura. Soon after, Shi Yunjie swallowed the freshly acquired Core Condensation Pill and formally began the process of forming his Golden Core.

At the same moment, the air above the island responded to Shi Yunjie's breakthrough, swirling into a massive vortex of spiritual energy. Streams of essence spiraled downward, continuously flooding into Shi Yunjie's body, helping him forge his Golden Core.

"Someone's forming a Golden Core!"

Outside the island, cultivators also noticed the change in the sky. Among them, those at the Core Formation and pseudo-core stages were especially familiar with this kind of phenomenon.

But they had no idea who it could be. It obviously couldn't be that Yuwei girl—she had just barely reached Foundation Establishment not long ago.

"So that's how it works…"

Gu Mo quietly observed Shi Yunjie's entire breakthrough, a look of realization flashing across his face. The essence of transitioning from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation was compressing all the liquid spiritual energy in one's body into a single solid core.

During this process, a cultivator's foundation would be the key factor determining success. If their foundation was insufficient and the compressed liquid spiritual energy still couldn't form a Golden Core, the best outcome would be a pseudo-core.

And if the cultivator had other weaknesses—such as a poor cultivation method or damage to their spiritual roots—then even forming a pseudo-core might be out of reach. In that case, failure was inevitable.

With ample core-formation resources, a cultivator might still survive the attempt. Without them, death was the only outcome.

Of course, deficiencies in foundation could be temporarily remedied with breakthrough pills like the Core Condensation Pill, which would significantly increase the chance of successfully forming a Golden Core.

This was why many Foundation Establishment cultivators at the peak of their stage didn't dare to attempt a breakthrough without such a pill.

Shi Yunjie had stayed at peak Foundation Establishment for a long time, so his foundation was solid. Combined with a genuine Core Condensation Pill, the odds were definitely in his favor.

"He did it!"

Outside the island, those Core and pseudo-core cultivators observing the vortex could already tell from the shift in its pattern that the breakthrough had succeeded.

Shi Yunjie sat quietly, circulating his cultivation technique, sensing the golden core now resting in his dantian. His heart swelled with indescribable emotion. Others saw a smooth breakthrough—but only he knew how perilous the process had truly been.

Had he not possessed a genuine Core Condensation Pill and a tier-3 spiritual ground like this, any single missing element might have spelled failure.

"That Grandmaster… he's my fated opportunity as well."

At that moment, Shi Yunjie gained a deeper understanding of the concept of destiny. This Grandmaster wasn't just Shi Yuwei's stroke of luck—he was also his own. Without this Grandmaster, Shi Yunjie could never have become a Core Formation cultivator.

After briefly stabilizing his new realm, Shi Yunjie rose and offered a deep ceremonial bow toward the center of the island before departing, intending to enter closed-door cultivation for a while.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist!"

As Shi Yunjie exited the island, several Core Formation cultivators who had been waiting greeted him with congratulations—after all, he was now one of them, a true Core Formation cultivator.

"All thanks to the Grandmaster's generosity," Shi Yunjie replied with a radiant smile.

News of his breakthrough spread rapidly throughout the Crab Archipelago. Cultivators from far and wide came to offer their congratulations, and Shi Yunjie was soon compelled to hold a Core Formation ceremony to mark the occasion.

The commotion outside didn't affect Gu Mo in the slightest. After observing Shi Yunjie's breakthrough in its entirety, Gu Mo was now ready to undergo his own.

He instructed Shi Yuwei to announce his closed-door cultivation and summoned Little Carp back from the sea. The spirit beast had been wandering the ocean, collecting all sorts of rare curiosities. At this moment, the bay surrounding the island was dotted with lotus leaves, on which were piled the strange treasures Little Carp had found.

Some of them were indeed quite valuable—but to Gu Mo, who had recently earned a hefty sum through alchemy, these items held little appeal.

Many of the treasures that ocean cultivators had painstakingly gathered had ended up as payment for Gu Mo's pill refinement services—and into his pocket.

"Not bad—you've reached late Stage Tier-2."

Looking at the fish-headed spirit beast that swam over, Gu Mo noted with satisfaction that since entering the sea, Little Carp's strength had increased rapidly, now reaching late Stage Tier-2. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he advanced to Tier-3, becoming a true great demon.

"Go tend the spirit fields."

Gu Mo stuffed a few bundles of Solar Essence into the creature's mouth and sent him off to manage the spiritual farmland. With his breakthrough imminent, Gu Mo wouldn't have time to handle mundane tasks, so he entrusted the fields to Little Carp.

Little Carp had already mastered the advanced stage of the Minor Rain Technique. In terms of day-to-day spirit field management, he was even better than specialized farm cultivators.

After tidying up the loose ends, Gu Mo activated the Mist Illusion Formation, then sat cross-legged to begin his own breakthrough.

Thanks to observing Shi Yunjie's process, Gu Mo had already internalized every step of Core Formation. Moreover, the Qingmu Sutra he cultivated included a detailed guide for condensing a core, so he was thoroughly prepared.

Whooo…

Taking a deep breath, Gu Mo began circulating the core-condensation method from the Qingmu Sutra. This was the first step: gathering all his spiritual power into his dantian and compressing it using the sutra's technique, eventually forging a Golden Core.

The steps seemed simple—but there were countless variables involved. A single misstep could lead to failure.

But for Gu Mo, none of that was a concern. His physique and divine soul had already reached the Golden Core level, and there was no flaw in either. The Qingmu Sutra's core condensation method was of excellent quality, originating from a prestigious sect like Shennong Valley.

"…Hmm?"

As he ran the technique, Gu Mo couldn't help but frown slightly. Compared to Shi Yunjie's process, his spiritual power compression felt unusually slow.

But then he remembered—ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators compressed liquid spiritual energy, whereas he was compressing true core-stage solar energy. The disparity in energy levels meant some differences were to be expected.

Although the compression was a bit sluggish, the process continued steadily. It would just take more time, that's all.

As Gu Mo fully channeled the core-condensation method and compressed his Golden Core-stage power, an enormous vortex of spiritual energy began to form above the island. Its sheer scale engulfed nearly half of the entire Crab Archipelago.

The vortex created during Shi Yunjie's breakthrough paled in comparison—it wasn't even in the same league.

"Who's trying to break through to the Golden Core stage this time?!"

The disturbance was so intense that even ordinary mortals on the Giant Crab Archipelago could see it, let alone cultivators.

"Are you sure this is someone breaking through to Golden Core? Couldn't it be someone forming a Nascent Soul instead?" a cultivator asked, gazing at the terrifying phenomenon in the sky. The spectacle was on par with what usually accompanied the leap from Golden Core to Nascent Soul.

"It's definitely a Golden Core breakthrough. If it were Nascent Soul formation, it wouldn't be a spiritual energy vortex—it would be a Nascent Soul tribulation." Most cultivators had at least heard that forming a Nascent Soul invites a heavenly tribulation.

After all, once a cultivator successfully forms a Nascent Soul, as long as the soul remains intact, they won't die. The Nascent Soul doesn't age, so in theory, a Nascent Soul cultivator can live for a very long time. Even if their physical body can't endure the erosion of time, they can seize another body through soul possession. With such a heaven-defying ability, it's only natural that the heavens would punish them.

So even though the spiritual energy vortex above the archipelago was shockingly massive, everyone was still convinced that this was merely the phenomenon accompanying a Golden Core breakthrough. It just meant the cultivator attempting this breakthrough had an incredibly deep foundation.

The size of the spiritual vortex during the Foundation Establishment to Golden Core breakthrough often reflected the cultivator's underlying strength—the greater the foundation, the larger the vortex, and the higher the success rate.

By comparison, Shi Yunjie's vortex had only barely been passable. In the end, he had to rely on a Golden Core Pill and the help of a spiritual land to succeed in forming his core.

"I've never heard of any such freakishly talented cultivator in the surrounding seas," someone murmured. A Foundation Establishment cultivator with such overwhelming depth would not have gone unnoticed—yet no one had ever heard of this person.

"Maybe it's a disciple of that Grandmaster?" someone speculated.

The vortex clearly centered over the ring-shaped island, suggesting a connection to that powerful Grandmaster. But no one thought for a second that the person breaking through might actually be the Grandmaster himself.

After all, how could anyone believe that a cultivator who had killed the Golden Claw General and forced back the Grand Demoness was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator?

But Shi Yuwei believed it—because she knew that aside from her esteemed senior, there wasn't another cultivator on the ring island. The only other living creature there, a little koi, was currently by her side.

So no matter how absurd it seemed, the truth was right in front of her: that senior was indeed only at the Foundation Establishment stage. It was just that his foundation was so terrifyingly deep that he could fight across realms, even against peak third-rank demon beasts.

"…He should be fine, right?"

Inside his spiritual sea, Gu Mo examined himself. At this moment, his Golden Core energy was continuously gathering in his dantian, compressing into a concentrated mass. The torrent of spiritual energy from the vortex above acted like a powerful press, providing the immense pressure needed to condense his core.

But this pressure machine was struggling. It wasn't quite strong enough to compress energy at the Golden Core level effectively, which was slowing the process.

If the energy in his body were only liquid spiritual power, the core would've already formed by now.

Still, as long as the process kept moving forward, Gu Mo didn't mind spending a bit more time. What worried him was the possibility of hitting a "bug" like last time—getting stuck midway during the breakthrough, just as had happened when going from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment. That would be fatal.

Several days later…

What began as shock among the cultivators of the Giant Crab Archipelago had now turned to numbness. The massive vortex in the sky had persisted for days. Normally, a Golden Core breakthrough took only a few hours. This? This was a first.

"Has it succeeded or failed already?" someone asked, puzzled.

"Who knows anymore."

The cultivators, who had been debating the matter for days, were now simply out of ideas. The situation had gone far beyond their realm of understanding.

Outside the Giant Crab Archipelago—

Many powerful sea beasts had also turned their attention to the giant vortex lingering over the archipelago. The phenomenon caused by Gu Mo's breakthrough was simply too immense. The spiritual vortex continuously drew in energy from all directions, and at this point, any sea beast with even a modest cultivation could sense that the spiritual energy of the surrounding seas was flowing toward the archipelago.

It wasn't even an exaggeration to say that once Gu Mo's breakthrough ended, the ambient spiritual energy in the entire region would increase by a noticeable margin.

"Is a top-tier human cultivator about to emerge?" a demon beast muttered, staring in the direction of the archipelago, deeply worried.

If not for the absence of heavenly tribulation, many of them would've assumed that the Grandmaster was breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.

While it wasn't the Grandmaster, this Golden Core breakthrough was still so overwhelming that it clearly signaled one thing: the humans were about to welcome a second Grandmaster-level powerhouse.

Two Grandmasters… that was very bad news for the sea demons. If the humans ever decided to expand outward, the demon beasts of the nearby seas would be the first to suffer.

"Report this to Lady Lord Chisha—no, report it directly to the Demon King!"

Without delay, a nearby demon beast turned to report the matter. This time, they weren't going to stop at Lord Chisha. Since even she couldn't deal with the Grandmaster at the archipelago, there was only one option left—have the Demon King himself step in.

"It should be almost done now."

Gu Mo muttered in boredom. Sweeping his senses through his dantian, he saw that the Golden Core energy had already been completely compressed into it. A massive Golden Core was now slowly taking shape.

And yes—"massive" was the right word. Gu Mo's Golden Core was nine times the size of a typical one.

It had taken him a whole month to condense it—a nearly unheard-of duration for core formation. Gu Mo suspected that if he hadn't been using a top-grade core-condensation method, the core might not have formed at all.

Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly in the end. Though it had taken longer than expected, he succeeded. Even if his core was a bit too large.

He hadn't even used the Golden Core Pill he had prepared. In fact, he discovered that boosting his foundation any further would have slowed the process. Using the pill might have actually hindered him. That was definitely a new and unexpected issue.

"Hm? Why isn't it over yet?"

The core had clearly formed in his dantian. By all accounts, Gu Mo should now officially be in the Golden Core realm. But he could feel that the process wasn't quite complete.

Inside the enormous Golden Core, he sensed a mysterious force beginning to stir—something profound was gestating within it.

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