Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 190 - 145: Fifth Transition Golden Core!

Chapter 190: Chapter 145: Fifth Transition Golden Core!

He was dead.

Gu Wen was certain of this as the residual image of the Immortal Sword slowly faded from his hands, a surge of intense weakness emerging.

He still had much mana left, but a one-off consumption that was too large could damage his meridians. The residual image of the Immortal Sword, the scabbard of the Immortal Sword, or the True Sword Dao—using any one of them individually would be fine, but combining the three would place an immense burden on his meridians.

At the same time, the power was also tremendous; Suan Ren was at the Fifth Level of Dao Foundation, and his Divine Beast bloodline was inherently not weak. Judged by his aura alone, he should be more or less on par with Chi Yu Zi.

Yet with one strike from Gu Wen, he had no power to resist and directly transcended the Third Level of Dao Foundation.

Part of it was due to Chi Yu Zi temporarily taking control, but it was probably only the Immortal Sword that held such power, and only the Immortal Sword that could slice and kill instantly.

The Immortal Sword could cut through anything, and to slice anything was to wear it down.

With the power of the residual image of the Immortal Sword, I now have the strength to kill enemies across three ranks, even stronger than I had imagined. How splendid would the true Immortal Sword be?

Gu Wen couldn’t help but yearn for it, wondering if the true Immortal Sword could deal actual damage, ignoring all defenses, and injuring anyone of any realm upon contact.

If the residual image of the Immortal Sword was so, it was unreasonable for the sword itself to not be capable.

Chi Yu Zi tilted his head slightly, his gaze somewhat blank.

This simple?

"Young Master!!!"

The yellow-robed old servant’s temples split, his mouth emitting a piercing wail.

He was not without reaction, nor was Suan Ren careless and unguarded; otherwise, he would not have laid out protections around himself. Everyone puts on an outward show, but when it really comes to battle, no one holds back.

There are no weak ones in Immortal Land, especially when facing one of the top three prodigies of the Human Race.

But even so, he was decapitated with a single sword strike, and even the old ancestors of the Devil Clan beyond the heavens had not reacted in time.

"You all must die! Must die! How will this old one explain this!"

The yellow-robed old servant glared at the two, his momentum climbing higher and higher. But in the next instant, a blast of golden light collided with him, and Gu Wen had already descended.

Chi Yu Zi completely unleashed himself and with the force of ten thousand jun, he punched the yellow-robed old servant, flying him away and dragging him across the ground, a series of loud booms accompanied the toppling of countless trees, and the whole forest trembled.

Punch after punch, the yellow-robed old servant, revealing his yellow weasel demon form, had no power to resist.

No matter what magic skills you have, they cannot shift the golden light even slightly.

From a distance, Gu Wen could appreciate the extent of Divine Skills and also the power of the Immortal Sword.

As strong as Chi Yu Zi but unable to defeat the enemy with one move, and as strong as the yellow-robed old servant but unable to shake the Divine Skills of the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill.

Immortal, Immortal Skill, Divine Skills—one step is a whole new world, a miss by a hair’s breadth is as good as a mile.

Whoom!

The void vibrated, and a great power crossed dimensions to arrive. Gu Wen looked up but had not yet seen the great power that caused the movement. He only saw a figure in plain white slowly descending.

Gu Wen asked, "Is it over?"

Yu Hua replied indifferently, "This is just the beginning, but you needn’t worry. When the soldiers come, we will block them; when the water rises, we will cover it with earth. The true contest is never about one single realm but the overall strength from the top down. Demi Immortals cherish their lives, the ranks of Venerable tie down Daoist Sects, and the prodigies are not even half as good as you."

Boom!

At this moment, the battle between Chi Yu Zi and the weasel demon was decided.

The golden figure punched through the heart, the entire demon body hammered into the mountain, emitting one final, pitiful howl that spread a thousand miles.

Instantly, ten thousand birds in the forest took flight, and a myriad of Divine Thoughts cast from all around.

Gu Wen raised his sword; the essence of the True Sword Dao spread in all directions, an invisible sword striking towards the Divine Thoughts from all sides, maiming those it touched, and those who saw it backed away.

Not one dared to advance aggressively, and the ripples that had just been stirred settled back down again.

"In the end, this old thing trapped us one last time; probably half the cultivators in Nanshui heard it."

Chi Yu Zi, carrying the huge demon body back, casually dropped it on the ground, and with the other hand handed over a yellow Demon Core to Gu Wen.

"This is greatly nourishing. As the Devil Clan practices different magic skills, they ingest various Spiritual Medicines into their bodies, slowly refining them into their flesh and blood. Therefore, unlike the Human Race where all cultivation resides in mana, theirs is more in Demon Core and flesh and blood, retaining many of the properties of Spiritual Medicine."

Now that Gu Wen was practicing the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, he was in dire need of a lot of mana and Spiritual Medicine. From how he usually scavenged for all sorts of Spiritual Medicine, even not sparing herbs that seemed like weeds, it was clear how scarce they were.

That’s why Chi Yu Zi carefully refrained from destroying the Demon Core, otherwise, she could have decided the outcome in less than ten moves—anything less would not do justice to the undestroyed Taoist Body displayed initially.

Flesh and blood and Demon Core?

Gu Wen received the Demon Core and examined it, solid and smooth as a gemstone, with a massive ’mana’ concealed within.

Upon closer inspection, it was different from mana, mixed with some sort of medicinal power.

"Can it be eaten directly?"

Chi Yu Zi nodded and said, "Yes, but it will cause a bit of a headache."

"Just a bit?"

Gu Wen gave her a dubious look, as this drunkard’s "a bit" could be a whole lot more.

He turned to look at Yu Hua, and she shook her head, "Better let the protector convert it into a Pill first. Although a Demon Core is nourishing, it ultimately contains demonic power. Ordinary people would not dare to absorb another cultivator’s Golden Core to obtain mana, let alone a demon’s."

So, the Golden Core of a cultivator also has effects?

Gu Wen stroked his chin, deep in thought.

No way around it, right now the Daoist is almost going mad with poverty; the consumption of the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill is too great.

But the Golden Light Spell used by Chi Yu Zi also made Gu Wen quite envious. This thing truly was immune to all magic skills. Any magic that struck it turned into a form of pure mana and canceled each other out, but who could compete with the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill in terms of mana?

Every additional transition adds a layer of mana; the Nine Revolutions has nine times as much as others.

Moreover, according to Chi Yu Zi, once a cultivator achieves the Ninth Transition Golden Core, their mana capacity will multiply by nine times, and not just increase—it will be a direct multiplication.

Eighty-one times—that’s how many times more powerful a fulfilled Golden Core is than an ordinary one.

This is why the prodigies all strive for fulfillment, because if you’re not fulfilled, the gap that forms will become almost insurmountable. An eighty-one times greater capacity for mana is not something that can be compensated for with just any treasure, a Divine Skill, a dose of determination, or anything of the sort.

Mana is the foundation of a cultivator, the confidence in a spell battle.

I really want a Nine Revolutions Golden Pill!

Chi Yu Zi noticed the thoughtfulness in Gu Wen’s eyes but didn’t know he was thinking about the Golden Cores of human race cultivators, assuming he was interested in the bodies of these two devils.

She said, "If you’re really in need of the power of Immortal Land’s medicinal herbs, you could try eating them, though they might be a bit hard to stomach."

"Something this big will probably take a lot of time to pass through."

Gu Wen displayed a look of concern; a bloated stomach was an issue that troubled him.

Whenever he consumed too many Spiritual Medicines, he would suffer from indigestion. In Yu Hua’s words, it was due to an excessive intake of Spiritual Medicines, leading to chaos within the Cycle meridians, and consequently causing a bloated stomach entangled with Spiritual Energy.

It wasn’t actually due to incomplete digestion but rather that the generated Spiritual Energy couldn’t be absorbed. And if one got diarrhea from eating grain in the Immortal Land, logically, the same should happen after consuming devil beast meat.

Yu Hua shook her head and explained, "Devil beast meat is different from grain, especially the flesh of these extraordinary creatures. In fact, their meat can be regarded as a type of Spiritual Medicine—you’ll only experience a buildup of Spiritual Energy."

"It might taste pretty bad." Chi Yu Zi emphasized again; clearly, she cared quite a bit about flavor.

"Let’s give it a shot."

A while later, as Ao Tang leisurely arrived, he saw Chi Yu Zi using a spiritual sword to lift the grill, roasting the two huge devil corpses with Angri True Fire.

Do they kind of look like that old fellow from Angri Cave Heaven Master’s nephew?

Gu Wen picked up a roasted leg that was larger than himself, with no seasoning on top, only a faint meat aroma.

He bit down, finding the meat as tough as cowhide, the texture as firm as wood. But he was not an ordinary man, and after cultivating the Nine Revolutions Golden Core, even his teeth had gotten stronger.

The taste was a bit fishy and unpalatable, like chewing on tree bark slathered with pond scum—a challenge even for someone used to chewing on herbs.

Gu Wen forced himself to swallow and complained, "What the hell is this stuff."

The grilling Master Chi said, "You see, I told you this stuff tastes awful. These hairy and scaled creatures aren’t even as palatable as humans."

"You’ve eaten humans?"

"No, but I’ve killed devils who have, and that’s what they told me."

Suddenly, the Fate Diagram vibrated slightly, and his Heavenly Marrow increased.

[Heavenly Marrow: Fifty-Four Years]

Hisss... Immortal quality!

Gu Wen suddenly changed his expression, starting to rip into the devil beast meat like a ravenous ghost.

Gradually, he grasped the knack for it, foregoing chewing and swallowing the pieces whole, using the Chopping Clouds Sword to cut sizable chunks that he could swallow.

The two devil corpses were large, but faced with Gu Wen’s voracious eating, they were disappearing before one’s eyes.

[Heavenly Marrow: Fifty-Eight...Fifty-Nine...Sixty...Sixty-Five...Seventy...]

After gnawing through the two devil corpses, the Heavenly Marrow finally settled at one hundred and twenty years, averaging thirty years per corpse.

Mana surged within him, ready for a breakthrough.

[Fifth Transition Golden Core, requires eighty years of Heavenly Marrow]

With a thought, Gu Wen sat down in a meditative pose and closed his eyes.

Seeing this, the other three became solemn. Ao Tang’s eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "By the Three Pure Ones, this Second Ancestor truly is an exiled immortal descended."

His cultivation was progressing like drinking water, with breakthroughs happening every few days.

Chi Yu Zi looked somewhat strained. She hadn’t progressed this quickly during her own cultivation!

Suddenly, a gentle hand touched the top of Chi Yu Zi’s head. Looking up, she saw the Heavenly Girl whom she admired most, touching her head for some unknown reason.

"Heavenly Girl?"

Chi Yu Zi was both puzzled and flustered.

Yu Hua reassured her with a serious tone, "There’s no need to feel inferior."

"....."

An uneventful night passed, and the three kept watch over Gu Wen.

With eighty years of Heavenly Marrow and vast mana merging, the Golden Core in his Qi Sea gained another halo of light, shining like a radiant starry ring.

Gu Wen opened his eyes slowly and burped satisfyingly towards the morning sun; his aura had grown even more robust than the day before.

The Fifth Transition Golden Core, achieved!

[Heavenly Marrow: Forty Years]

-----------------

Thousands of miles away, in a border town by the Nanshui River, not a soul was left in a town of tens of thousands.

There were no skeletons on the ground, no traces of blood to be found.

A huge Roc, with wings spanning a hundred meters, swept through the sky, and beneath it in the center of the town, a green mass slowly unfurling—a Qing python stretching a kilometer in length.

The Qing python lifted its head, revealing a dense pile of human skulls in the central coiled mass.

A Divine Thought came from the heavens.

"Suan Ren is dead, devoured completely."