Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 178 - 38 Flawless Ash Golden Core

Chapter 178: Chapter 38 Flawless Ash Golden Core

Ever since the anomaly from the Practice Hall disappeared, the Chaotic Burial Furnace has remained stable for ten years, during which Li Mo’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Every half month or so, batches of corpse wine and magic artifacts were sent out from the Practice Hall.

Rumors periodically surfaced outside that Daoist Qing Tian was on the verge of forming his Golden Core, with elaborate details, but they were proven to be mere fabrications.

Clearly, Daoist Qing Tian had already reached the Fake Core Stage, just a step away from the Established Stage.

Yet there had been no indication of Golden Core formation during these ten years.

Li Mo showed no signs of urgency to form his Golden Core, while Old Earth True Monarch had persistently urged him several times to break through his bottleneck quickly, as the Chaotic Burial Furnace could provide resources to assist in Core Formation.

Old Earth True Monarch’s response was always met with the same reply: "The foundation is still shallow."

Old Earth True Monarch was slightly helpless.

Participation in the Golden Cauldron Sect required the Established Stage at minimum, yet artifact cultivators were generally at the Solidifying Pill Stage, or even the Transformation Core Stage.

Old Earth True Monarch believed that with Li Mo’s talent, advancing to the Established Stage sooner would give him a chance to impact the Solidifying Pill Stage before the Golden Cauldron Sect.

Though it seemed like a mere small realm, the improvement in strength would be substantial and undeniable.

Old Earth True Monarch knew that Li Mo was chasing the elusive flawless Golden Core, but the problem was that even with the Five Dao Body, there was no absolute certainty of success; wasting ten years for such an attempt seemed unwise.

Little did he know, Li Mo was indeed trying to advance to the Solidifying Pill Stage—only it wasn’t through Ash Spirit Power, but Mist Fog Spirit Power instead.

The Practice Hall was silent and serene.

Li Mo repeated the circulation cycles to move Mist Fog Spirit Power.

The Mist Fog Golden Core within his multiple dantians had already swelled to more than double its size, exuding a more restrained aura with a touch of spirituality.

The Mist Fog Golden Core lightly fluctuated.

The multiple dantians boiled over, and the Detoxification Spirit fully fused with the Mist Fog Golden Core.

Li Mo let out a long exhale; the Mist Fog Golden Core advancing to the Solidifying Pill Stage was certain to aid the Ash Spirit Power in forming a flawless Golden Core.

When the Mist Fog Golden Core appeared likely to evolve into the flawless Golden Core, naturally he also hoped the Ash Golden Core could achieve the same tier.

Moreover, the Ash Golden Core benefitted from the advantages of time and environment.

With incomparably pure spiritual power, the augmentation of the Five Innate Dao Body, the furnace of Spirit Root Transformation, the auxiliary presence of Mist Fog Spirit Power, ample resources...

Li Mo stabilized the Mist Fog Spirit Power while stretching his limbs within the Practice Hall.

Sounds of air splitting rang repeatedly.

With the successive transformations of the Primordial Dao Body and the Paoxiao Swallowing Body, his physique had undergone complete metamorphosis, while the Five Organs Corpse Spirit Roots also benefited greatly, indirectly enhancing the efficiency of cultivating Mist Fog Spirit Power.

Beyond that, Li Mo fully utilized his divine skills in alchemy and gu refinement, adding at least half a percent to his confidence in forming a flawless Golden Core.

At that thought, he instinctively glanced toward the corpse mountain within his spleen.

The four mountain peaks had expanded in scale, but the most significant difference still lay within its ecological chain; the corpse mountain had begun to develop into a "small world."

The corpse mountain’s ecological chain had always faced issues.

This largely stemmed from being within the Sub-Device Sect, where Li Mo couldn’t procure natural resources, forcing the feeding of beast clusters to rely entirely on spiritual materials.

In his understanding, a small world must possess a complete ecological cycle.

However, the corpse mountain required human intervention; whether it was the beast clusters or spiritual materials, an overabundance of any would collapse its environment.

Things were different now.

Li Mo smiled faintly, seeing countless gu worms teeming across the verdant hills and mountains.

The Honey Flower Worm assisted with pollinating grasses and woods, stimulating the propagation of spiritual materials; the Water Turtle Bug purified water quality, improving the environment of the Water Element Sub-Peak; the Soil Hill Dragon loosened soil, aiding roots to sprout...

Although the gu worms appeared to deplete nutrients from the corpse mountain, they didn’t impact the yield of spiritual materials at all, instead greatly enhancing their quality.

Based on Li Mo’s estimation, after eighty refinements of the corpse mountain, select mid-grade spiritual materials might transform into top-grade spiritual materials accumulated over time.

Li Mo approached the gu worms reared at the summit of the Earth Element Main Peak, storing them in a glass bottle.

[Qiu Jin Worm]

[Sacrifice its own blood and flesh, add two taels of bone powder, and trace amounts of metallic spiritual material powder; its eggs may germinate in a designated organ.]

The Qiu Jin Worm was merely the size of a grain of rice, favoring the consumption of impurities from spiritual power.

Li Mo laid out the Qiu Jin Worm in front of him, numbering approximately three thousand in total—this gu worm had been specially prepared for Core Formation.

He then retrieved a hundred pounds of corpse wine from a grave mound within the corpse mountain.

[Soul Summoning Wine]

[With the furnace of an artifact refiner as the medicine guide, coat the surface with powdered Golden Crystal Stone; aged seventy years inside a corpse belly yields the wine, increasing the efficiency of spiritual energy absorption.]

The nutrients of the corpse mountain significantly accelerated the wine’s brewing time; though merely ten years had passed externally, the actual age of the Soul Summoning Wine had surpassed one hundred years.

The milky-white corpse wine bubbled faintly at the bottom.

Li Mo looked somewhat dissatisfied with corpse wine but accepted its necessity for pursuing the flawless Golden Core—at least its absorption through skin pores was an option.

A single step away from achieving a flawless Golden Core, forfeiting it due to avoiding corpse wine and ending up with a fractured core exterior was unthinkable.

Li Mo sent a mental transmission to Old Earth True Monarch, notifying the latter of his intention to form his Golden Core.

Old Earth True Monarch’s spirits were invigorated; he immediately delivered pre-prepared resources to the Practice Hall and activated the Mountain Protection Array’s spiritual energy gathering effects.

BOOM...

Ash Spirit Qi from a ten-mile radius converged on the Chaotic Burial Furnace.

Before the artifact cultivators could react, Old Earth True Monarch’s thunderous voice bellowed, "Disciples, retreat from the mountain gate immediately!"

They instantly understood: Daoist Qing Tian was finally forming his Golden Core.

Silhouettes streaked through the air one after another.

The Taoist inheritances competed with each other, as in many ways, Li Mo’s Core Formation might sway the balance of the Golden Cauldron Sect.

Of course, the key factor was still the extraordinary allure of the flawless Golden Core.

In the Sub-Device Sect’s millennia-long history, a flawless Golden Core had never been attained, and Daoist Qing Tian was undoubtedly the closest aspirant.

If even the Five Dao Body failed to produce a flawless Golden Core, there could be only one conclusion:

The flawless Golden Core simply didn’t exist.

Nascent Soul Great Powers followed closely behind, this time appearing in their true forms rather than descending through divine senses, standing firmly within a hundred miles of the Chaotic Burial Furnace.

The spectacle caused by Daoist Qing Tian’s Golden Core Formation rivaled past events like the Quiong Battle.

However, what left them exasperated was Li Mo’s unhurried manner; he first pushed his state as close to its peak as possible.

The fake core within the furnace rotated clockwise, its surface gleaming like new.

"This should suffice."

Li Mo abruptly opened his eyes, ignoring the commotion outside the Practice Hall and carefully reading the human slip gifted by Old Earth True Monarch.

It recorded potential complications during Core Formation.

Li Mo committed the notes to memory, then placed the "Iron Sand Pill" under his tongue, an elixir also crafted by Old Earth True Monarch to stabilize his furnace.

Lastly, the transplantation of the meat limb.

Top-grade meat limb [Heavenly Cloud].

It was evident that Old Earth True Monarch spared no expense; Heavenly Cloud, as a meat limb aiding Core Formation, could fetch a hundred high-grade spirit stones at a marketplace despite being for single-use.

With a thousand mid-grade spirit stones equating to one high-grade spirit stone, Li Mo’s wealth barely permitted the purchase of Heavenly Cloud meat limb.

Heavenly Cloud’s function was to facilitate the absorption of external spiritual energy.

Li Mo scrutinized the meat limb briefly before transplanting it at the back of his neck, immediately sensing his consciousness clearing profoundly.

He finally understood the nature of the Heavenly Spirit Root—it felt like summoning spiritual energy with a mere thought.

Li Mo reached into the wine jar and absorbed all the Soul Summoning Wine, then swallowed the entirety of the Qiu Jin Worms, allowing the gu worms to spread through his internal organs.

"Huff..."

As Li Mo closed his eyes, clouds surged, and Ash Spirit Qi transformed into a tornado.

The moment Core Formation began, the Chaotic Burial Furnace’s elevation increased by half a meter, and the tide of spiritual power swept by with a momentum comparable to breaking the Golden Core to form the Nascent Soul.

The artifact cultivators gasped in astonishment, realizing why Nascent Soul Great Powers were present to witness.

Rumors suggested Daoist Qing Tian intended to join the Golden Cauldron Sect; if not for Chaotic Burial Furnace’s decline over the past century and the inevitable resistance from Core Formation artifact cultivators, he might have entered the Inner Sect.

Hundreds of artifact cultivators exchanged heated discussions as clouds overhead revealed gaps, with Ash Spirit Qi showing signs of reverse flow.

In contrast to ordinary cultivators, the Nascent Soul Great Powers’ focus remained steadfast on the Core Formation process.

If they could witness the birth of a flawless Golden Core, they might replicate the process, further enriching the Sub-Device Sect’s inheritance.

"Unfortunately, the Mountain Protection Array still falls short."

Big Deer Thousand Feet’s comment gained agreement among the other Nascent Soul Great Powers; as much as Old Earth True Monarch wanted to refute, he found no counterarguments.

The decline from Zone 9 to Zone 8 for the Chaotic Burial Furnace was not without cause.

Ultimately, as a Taoist inheritance focused primarily on cultivating spiritual materials, any interruption in discipleship would rapidly lead to the sect’s strength deteriorating.

Li Mo had somewhat alleviated the sect’s situation, but only temporarily halted its decline.

The Nascent Soul Great Powers grew increasingly envious of Old Earth True Monarch’s fortune; they believed they could offer far more favorable conditions than the Chaotic Burial Furnace.

BOOM!!!

The Chaotic Burial Furnace rose three meters as Ash Spirit Qi surged directly into the Practice Hall.

The Nascent Soul Great Powers simultaneously frowned; even with the Heavenly Cloud meat limb, Li Mo’s absorption rate of spiritual energy was nearly absurd.

Old Earth True Monarch couldn’t help but marvel, "Does forming a Golden Core require this much spiritual energy?"

Fan Mu murmured to himself, "A top-grade Golden Core typically requires no more than one-tenth this amount. Perhaps the Five Dao Body’s unprecedented foundation demands vast spiritual energy to coalesce the Golden Core into a single entity?"

"Only Qing Tian himself can answer this."

Old Earth True Monarch replied while covertly observing the Nine Nether Immortal Energy beneath the ground, relieved that it hadn’t breached the Mountain Protection Array.

Under the astonished gaze of the artifact cultivators, something seemed to be writhing at the base of the Chaotic Burial Furnace.

The Nascent Soul Great Powers remained silent except for Big Deer Thousand Feet, who turned to inquire, "Old Earth, is Dome Mountain dead or alive?"

"The old shell has perished; the new shell has yet to take form..."

Before Old Earth True Monarch could finish his sentence, he looked upwards in disbelief and exclaimed, "This is?"

"Qing Tian truly acts with reckless abandon."

......

Li Mo’s breathing grew labored.

The Ash Golden Core progressed more smoothly than anticipated; with the influx of resources, it steadily advanced toward the flawless Golden Core.

Yet faint voices repeatedly rang out beside his ears, seemingly originating from the depths below Dome Mountain:

"Disciple."

"I’ve come to find you. Quickly awaken, save us, hurry..."

"Damn it."

Li Mo cursed under his breath; despite the protection of the Heavenly Man within his Mud Pill Palace, Dome Mountain’s words inevitably disrupted his mental realm.

Moreover, as time passed, the voice seemed to draw closer, almost as if approaching the Practice Hall from underground.

Realizing he couldn’t delay further, Li Mo forcefully activated his Ancient Sacred Body.

The sound of whales reverberated thunderously.

Before the eyes of countless artifact cultivators, a seventy-meter Kun Whale streaked through the clouds.

Spiritual power converged into the furnace.

Achieving a flawless and perfect Golden Core.

Li Mo declared boldly, "The Golden Core will be formed, and Qing Xiao Miao ascends lightly."