The flas in his body gradually turned a pure azure, and the Golden Core itself also gradually changed color, becoming a pure azure akin to the flas.
Waiting until the azure Golden Core could no longer draw in essence, spirit, and qi, Chen Shi’s body surged with qi-blood, and his spirit was replenished. Only then did he slowly open his eyes.
The sunlight in the temple was splendid, with the doors and windows barely holding back the sunlight coming from the ancestral land. Upon seeing this, Chen Shi felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly went outside the temple, looking up at the sky. There were no teors attacking from outer space, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"If the Outer Heaven True God notices the sunlight here, I fear a teor will co smashing down, obliterating Mountain Lord Temple and this mountain altogether!"
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Returning to the temple, Chen Shi ate so dried food, tidied up a bit, only to realize that the stone box was nowhere to be seen. He was shocked and hurriedly searched for it. Not finding the stone box, he ca across a tiny stone instead, square and similar to the stone box, but rely the size of a thumbnail, shrunk by a hundred or more tis!
"How could the stone box have shrunk?"
Chen Shi was astonished as he pinched the stone, which looked like an ordinary pebble, save for so fine textures that hinted at its extraordinary nature.
But how had the stone box shrunk?
For what reason had it shrunk?
He held the stone, surveying the Mountain Lord Temple, looking it over and feeling it was sowhat different from when he had arrived, but he couldn’t specify what exactly the difference was.
Chen Shi shook his head, carefully secured the doors and windows, and walked out of the Mountain Lord Temple.
"Normally, Golden Cores are nurtured within a shrine and taken into the mouth by the Divine Embryo. Why then is my Golden Core in a cauldron?"
Chen Shi shook his head again. Right now, his Golden Core hadn’t undergone nine transformations, having reached only the first transformation, so it couldn’t be considered a Golden Core, but rely an inner core. It was just more convenient to call it a Golden Core.
Chen Shi circulated his Righteous Qi Technique, his shrine appearing behind his head. He began to operate the Golden Core, seeing it slowly rise from the Dantian, but when it reached his throat, it could go no further.
He felt the Golden Core reach his neck, his whole body’s qi-blood also concentrating there, making his neck instantly swell imnsely, much thicker than his waist!
If this surge of qi-blood followed the Golden Core upward to the head, he feared his head would explode with a bang!
"The cultivation of the Golden Core isn’t achieved overnight; it still needs to undergo the processes of the seven returns, eight transformations, and nine restorations."
As Chen Shi walked, he recalled what he had seen on the stele.
The stele stated that the so-called seven returns involved the Golden Core returning through the channels, qi, blood, essence, bone, form, and spirit.
The Golden Core was extrely powerful, and if the cultivator’s body wasn’t strong, it would be hard to bear the power of the Golden Core.
Therefore, the seven returns would nourish the cultivator himself, strengthening his channels, qi, blood, essence, bone, form, and spirit!
The eight transformations stemd from the changes brought by the seven returns, naly the channels ceasing, qi solidifying, Blood Changes to White Milk, essence forming exquisite crystals, Bone like Red Jade, Marrow Transford into Mysterious Frost, Shape Clear Body Marvelous, Divine Transformation.
These were the eight transformations!
The nine restorations involved the Returning Kidney, return heart, return liver, returning lung, returning spleen, Returning Elixir Room, Returning Energy, Returning Essence Hall, and Returning Divine Room.
Only when he practiced until returning essence supplented the brain, and the Divine Room radiated bright light, could the Golden Core ascend to the crown and penetrate the spiritual aperture, achieving the Soul Ergence of the Golden Core.
"Strange, the son of the Zhao family who died at my hands, his Golden Core was not much stronger than mine is now, at most reaching the fifth transformation of the Golden Core. How was he able to achieve the Golden Core’s Soul Ergence?"
Chen Shi was greatly puzzled.
He was speaking of Zhao Ziyu, the eldest son of the Zhao family of Xuanying Mansion. Zhao Ziyu’s Golden Core was placed inside the Divine Embryo’s mouth, and with an exhale, the Golden Core flew out, effortlessly vanquishing enemies.
But Zhao Ziyu was killed by him in a single encounter; the strength of his physical body was nowhere near capable of achieving the Golden Core’s Soul Ergence!
If Zhao Ziyu had forcibly attempted the Soul Ergence of the Golden Core, his head would undoubtedly have exploded due to the horrific impact of qi-blood carried by the moving Golden Core!
Yet Zhao Ziyu had managed to achieve the Soul Ergence of the Golden Core!
"Perhaps it’s because they practiced orthodox cultivation techniques, whereas I practice an incomplete thod."
Walking through the mountains, Chen Shi stimulated the Golden Core inside his body, practicing the seven returns, eight transformations, and nine restorations. After a long ti, the shrine showed no sign of dissipating.
Not only did the shrine not dissipate, but the True Qi in his body also remained!
Chen Shi stopped in his tracks, staring blankly ahead.
Without the Divine Embryo, how could the shrine possibly not dissipate?
Without the Divine Embryo, how could the True Qi possibly remain?
This clearly violates common sense!
He stood there dumbfounded, his mind thundering like the roar of a great storm, with bolts of shocking thunder continuously striking down, making his head dizzy and his vision blur, his mouth dry and his tongue parched.
"Wrong, everything is wrong, without the Divine Embryo, True Qi definitely cannot remain, and the shrine would certainly crumble..."
"There must be a mistake sowhere!"
"Either the common people are wrong, or the True King is wrong! Or perhaps..."
His eyes bulged roundly as he lifted his gaze to the heavens.
Or perhaps...
the True God is wrong!
Compared to the common people, compared to the True God, he was more willing to believe that the True King was wrong!
How could the common people, who have cultivated this path for thousands of years, be wrong?
If it were wrong, how could no one have discovered it?
How could the True God, who imparted this path, be wrong?
If it were wrong, would the True God not know?
Thus, the one who must be mistaken is definitely the True King, it must be Chen Shi himself!
At that mont, a gust of gloomy wind blew over, and within it, a voice called out, "Little Ten, Little Ten."
Chen Shi turned around in a daze, and imdiately an invisible pair of hands grasped his throat, attempting to twist it off.
Chen Shi, in a bewildered state, felt his Golden Core move up to his neck and saw his neck thicken even more than his waist, that Evil Spirit within the gloomy wind felt the golden light sting its body, its hands completely disintegrating, and it imdiately fled with a howl, riding the wind.
Curses and swears carried in the wind as it quickly receded.
"Ha ha, ha ha ha!"
Chen Shi started to laugh, the sound boisterous, yet sowhat awkward, "I’m just a country lad, what right do I have to question the world, to question the True God? I’m just a survivor forced to practice the True King’s Cultivation Technique due to threats from the Black Mountain granny."
The awkwardness in his laughter disappeared, replaced by hearty laughter.
Taking the path of the Golden Core was an act of helplessness, he had no choice.
But once on this path, he would not question whether it was right or wrong, he would continue down it!
Luwei Town.
After the Moon Festival, although today wasn’t market day, the town was still bustling with activity, people coming and going. Now, in the aftermath of disaster, there was much to rebuild, and it was said that the governnt had replaced so officials. Normally, it would be the day for tax collection, but no Governnt Official ca, so people were glad for the reprieve.
At this point, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads in the sa direction.
Several boys and girls were running around a peddler’s stall with pinwheels. Suddenly, the streets went quiet.
The children stopped, turned their heads to look, and saw at the end of the street, dark clouds massing, obscuring the sun in the sky. Below the clouds, rows of gray rats, larger than humans, marched toward them.
The children’s eyes widened as the pinwheels in their hands were suddenly whipped into a frenzy by the gloomy wind.
Following the procession, eight gray rats carried a large, ornate sedan chair. The gloomy wind stirred the curtains of the chair, giving glimpses of a pitch-black statue sitting within.
"From today onward, the Black Mountain granny is the godmother of Luwei Town!"
A gray rat leapt to the rooftops and declared sharply, "For the first three days of every month, a grand ceremony must be held! Every New Year, boy and girl sacrifices must be offered for granny to enjoy! Granny will ensure you have favorable weather and a life free from disasters!"
——Recomndation for new work by the author of ’Hunting Tigers in the Mountains’, ’My Father Is Working Too Hard’, a fine piece of historical writing!
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