Chapter 113 : The Secret of the Golden Core

"I, Lyra Jiang, have always been clear about love and hate. If I like something, why would I need a reason, and why should I care about the opinions of others?"

Lyra Jiang suddenly turned to look at Eldrin Chen, her eyes deeply reflecting his image: "If a reason is needed, it is true that you are the most handsome person I have ever seen."

Eldrin Chen: "…"

"Of course, your talent is indeed quite remarkable. A Five Spiritual Roots cultivator who can achieve Foundation Establishment on his own—your potential is far greater than you imagine."

"The potential of Five Spiritual Roots is great?"

Eldrin Chen's pupils contracted, and he couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by that?"

"Because a cultivator's Golden Core [the solidified essence of one's cultivation, a core stage of power] comes in three grades of quality…"

Lyra Jiang turned slightly, gazing at the wind and snow before her, and began to explain in a measured tone.

It turns out that when a cultivator breaks through to the Golden Core realm, the Golden Core they condense can be of three different grades, depending on the solidity of their foundation.

The first is achieving the Golden Core Realm by relying on external aids—for example, a cultivator who breaks through by consuming a Five Elements Spirit Fruit [a miraculous fruit containing the balanced essence of the five primal elements]. This type of Golden Core is also called an Inferior Golden Core, and its combat prowess is the most ordinary among all Golden Core cultivators. Experience the full epic at audio‑novel.com.

Because the breakthrough to the Golden Core Realm [the third major stage of cultivation, where one's spiritual power condenses into a solid core] was achieved with the aid of external objects, while it reduces the difficulty of the breakthrough, it also renders the cultivator's spiritual power [the energy cultivated and wielded by practitioners] more placid and their foundational essence less pure.

The foundation of such cultivators becomes relatively unstable and insubstantial. If they do not rely on external aids in the future, their chances of breaking through to the Nascent Soul [the fourth major stage of cultivation, where one's spirit forms an independent entity] realm are virtually nil.

Even for cultivators with powerful backgrounds who manage to reach the Nascent Soul realm with the help of external objects like the Nascent Soul Formation Pill [a legendary pill that greatly aids in forming the Nascent Soul], most can only remain at the Nascent Soul, Early Stage.

The second type involves breaking through to the Golden Core Realm without any external aid. These cultivators are invariably endowed with exceptional talent. The Golden Core they condense possesses significantly greater potency and quality. This type of core is also known as the Middle Golden Core [a high-quality Golden Core formed without external aids].

Cultivators who forge a Middle Golden Core have, even without future external aids, a twenty percent chance of breaking through to Nascent Soul. If they obtain a treasure like the Nascent Soul Formation Pill, their odds of becoming a Nascent Soul True Lord [an honorific title for a powerful Nascent Soul realm cultivator] rise to forty or fifty percent.

The third type is the exceedingly rare Superior Golden Core [the pinnacle quality Golden Core, formed through pure self-cultivation]. To condense a Superior Golden Core, a cultivator must, starting from the Foundation Establishment Realm [the second major stage of cultivation], refrain from using any external objects for any major realm breakthrough.

Because the path to Golden Core without external aid is fraught with immense difficulty, cultivators who achieve a Superior Golden Core are exceptionally rare.

Generally speaking, only peerless geniuses with a Heavenly Spiritual Root [the highest grade of innate talent for cultivation] possess even a sliver of hope to accomplish this. As long as such cultivators do not perish prematurely, obtaining a Nascent Soul formation treasure grants them an eighty to ninety percent certainty of breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm.

Even without such a treasure, they typically possess a forty to fifty percent chance of reaching the Nascent Soul realm.

Legends of the Purple Realm [a legendary higher realm] say that almost all its Nascent Soul Dao Lord [a supreme title for a Nascent Soul realm master] once forged a Superior Golden Core in their youth, each a renowned Golden Core Great Cultivator who shook the nations.

"Those who forge a Superior Golden Core [the highest grade of Golden Core, representing immense potential], if they do not fall prematurely, will most likely become great cultivators of the late Nascent Soul [the realm of spiritual manifestation and immense power] stage in the future."

Lyra Jiang spoke, her gaze fixed upon Eldrin Chen, yet her tone suddenly shifted.

"I was born with a Heavenly Spiritual Root [a supreme-grade spiritual root granting unparalleled cultivation speed], achieving Foundation Establishment [the realm of solidifying one's cultivation foundation] on my own at fifteen. By twenty-eight, without relying on external aids like Purple Sun Jade [a rare jade that aids in breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm], I had already broken through to the Purple Mansion [the realm of opening the spiritual mansion within the dantian]."

"Two hundred years have passed since then. Do you know why I have remained at the Purple Mansion realm all this time?"

Eldrin Chen felt a tremor in his heart, struck by astonishment once more.

The world spoke of Jiang the Ancient Ancestor's astonishing mastery in alchemy, formations, artificing, and talismans, praising her as a true genius of heaven-sent talent. Yet, likely no one could have imagined she had achieved such heights.

At this moment, he understood completely: the origins of this peerless beauty before him were probably far more formidable than he had ever imagined.

Suppressing the shock within, he could not help but take up the thread of conversation. "Could it be... to condense a high-quality Golden Core [the crystallized core of a cultivator's power and lifespan]?"

Lyra Jiang nodded, her voice calm as she explained. "Legend speaks of a Golden Core even more astonishing than the Superior Golden Core. That core is named the Great Luo Golden Core [the legendary, supreme-grade Golden Core]. Once forged, it bestows the Exiled Immortal Bearing [a constitution and destiny akin to a celestial being who has descended to the mortal realm]."

"And the Great Luo Golden Core has another name: the Five Elements Primordial Great Luo Golden Core [the ultimate Great Luo Golden Core, perfectly harmonizing the powers of the five fundamental elements]."

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Eldrin Chen's pupils snapped open, instantly contracting to pinpoints.

"Indeed, it is precisely what you are thinking."

"To forge a Great Luo Golden Core [the supreme and most perfect form of Golden Core], one must not only refrain from relying on external aids like Foundation Establishment Pill [a pill that assists in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm] or Purple Sun Jade [a rare spiritual jade that aids cultivation] to ascend all the way to the Golden Core Realm, but one's Five Elements Spiritual Root [a spiritual root constitution encompassing all five elemental affinities] must also be complete."

Lyra Jiang gave a slight nod, stating calmly, "Once a Great Luo Golden Core is forged, both combat prowess and latent potential will far surpass that of cultivators in the same realm."

"To forge my Pure Yin Great Luo Golden Core [a supreme Golden Core of pure Yin nature], for two centuries I have been diligently completing my own Spiritual Root [the innate channels that determine one's elemental affinity and cultivation speed]. From an Heavenly Spiritual Root [a single, supremely pure spiritual root] to my current Four Spiritual Roots, only the final step remains." Continue reading this story at audio - novel . com.

After speaking, her gaze settled upon Eldrin Chen.

"And you were born with Five Spiritual Roots, achieving Foundation Establishment on your own while barely past twenty years of age. Henceforth, as long as you continue to break through to the Golden Core realm without relying on external aids, you can forge a Pure Yang Great Luo Golden Core [a supreme Golden Core of pure Yang nature]."

Only then did Eldrin Chen understand that Five Spiritual Roots was, in fact, a gateway to immortality, not the cumbersome burden it was often imagined to be.

Alas, cultivation with Five Spiritual Roots was notoriously slow; most cultivators would exhaust their lifespan before breaking through a major realm. Although he possessed Five Spiritual Roots, he had used Primordial Essence [the primordial, foundational energy of creation] to elevate his foundational constitution. His cultivation speed now surpassed that of an ordinary Five Spiritual Roots cultivator by more than tenfold.

A cultivator with Five Spiritual Roots [the lowest potential for absorbing spiritual energy] and no backing, even if they exhaust their natural lifespan, would likely never even reach the Qi Refinement, Mid Stage [the middle phase of the first major cultivation stage]. They would never even touch the threshold of the Foundation Establishment [the second major cultivation stage, where one builds a solid foundation], let alone break through all the way to the Golden Core [the fourth major cultivation stage, forming a core of condensed power] without relying on external aids.

Without using external resources to break through bottlenecks, a Five Spiritual Roots cultivator would need decades just to temper their foundation at the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer [the peak of the first cultivation stage]. I'm afraid even if a Nascent Soul Dao Lord [a supreme expert at the sixth major cultivation stage] poured all their resources into nurturing one, it would be exceedingly difficult to produce a Great Luo Golden Core [the highest, most perfect grade of Golden Core formation].

"The first time I saw you, I understood," she said, her voice carrying the weight of ages. "You were born different."

"We are the same kind of people. Only those like you and me can walk the path to its very end."

She gazed down upon the ever-shifting seas and fields below, her eyes mirroring the endless churn of mortal dust. "And only I," she whispered, the words barely louder than the falling snow, "can walk beside you all the way."

Eldrin Chen listened in silence, a sudden, inexplicable pang in his chest as he noticed a profound loneliness clinging to Lyra Jiang's silhouette.

That ache compelled him to speak. "What truly happened back then?" he asked, his voice soft. "What brought you from the Eastern Sea Coast to these Eastern Wastelands?"

A heavy silence settled in the air. Lyra Jiang stood motionless beneath her umbrella in the snow, offering no answer.

She seemed like a solitary wandering spirit, rooted silently to the earth, lost in remembrance of those who were gone.

Time lost its meaning. Only when the wind and snow began to relent did she finally speak, her voice a haunting whisper on the still air.

"Those people and those past events are already buried within the river of time."

"With your current level of cultivation, you should not yet know of such things."

Eldrin Chen fell silent, watching her solitary silhouette, and recalled a scene from several years prior.

That night, upon suddenly hearing the news of Second Elder's death, he had played the zither in the wind and rain, while she held an umbrella for him, shielding him from the storm throughout the long night.

Back then, he too had been like this—a lonely, wandering spirit. They were truly alike, two of a kind.

In a flash of insight, Eldrin Chen understood the sentiment in his own heart. He met her gaze, his own profound and unwavering.

It was somewhat impulsive, yet he could not help but speak the words.

"No matter what lies ahead on the path, no matter what existence you must face."

"I will walk beside you, all the way to the end."

She looked at him, at the peerlessly beautiful figure reflected in the depths of his eyes.

Goose-feather snow fell in a silent, steady cascade, blanketing the Vast and Boundless Wilderness in a thick, pristine layer. She stood atop a solitary peak, a figure frozen within the wind and snow, her stillness composing a painting of profound solitude.

The Great Dao [the fundamental principle and path of cultivation] is a solitary journey; the path of immortality stretches into eternity.

The past was like an endless night; bygone days seemed but a dream.

Lost in the recollection of memories, she remained silent for a long while. Then, a faint, poignant smile finally blossomed upon her thin lips.

"I am the last of the Jiang Clan. From now on, with you by my side on this path, I need not walk it in loneliness..."

"I believe it will be good."

Visit audio~novel.com to enjoy the complete series.