Chapter 373. Golden Core, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm)

At this thought, Eldrin sighed and said, "Enough. Remember on this journey, do not trust anyone lightly."

"I have a few items for you to take."

Before her departure, Eldrin gave her the fourth-tier defensive treasure 'Sunflare Golden Pearl' and also presented her with 3 fourth-tier spirit talismans to serve as her trump cards.

The fourth-rank spirit talismans personally inscribed by Eldrin were all exceptionally powerful. Among them was a Dual Polarity Divine Thunder talisman, capable of slaying even a cultivator at the Golden Core, Early Stage.

To inscribe this spirit rune, Eldrin even utilized the hide of a Golden Core demon king, making it her ultimate trump card.

With these treasures, her cultivation at the Golden Core, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm) was sufficient to slay even a False Core cultivator. Even an ordinary Golden Core, Early Stage (Cultivation Realm) expert would likely suffer heavy losses if they dared confront her.

Chen Silas (Person Name) took the treasure, deeply moved. With 3 backward glances for every step forward, he ultimately departed from his clan with lingering reluctance.

After seeing off Chen Silas, Eldrin returned to Spirit Isle Lake and resumed his celestial-like life with Lyra.

At times they would strum the zither and discourse on the Dao, at other times cultivate their arts and derive mystic techniques—their days passed in both carefree wandering and boundless joy.

Time thus slipped swiftly by, and in the blink of an eye, another 10 years had passed.

That day, Lyra sat by the boat's edge, bare feet dipped in the water, cheeks propped in her palms as she gazed at him—her eyes mirroring his very form.

Beneath the sunset, his snow-white robes flowed as he drifted across the lake, strumming a zither—a vision of transcendent grace untouched by mortal dust.

After an unknowable span of time, Eldrin’s melody drew to a close. He stilled the strings with a light press of his hand and smiled. "Just now, as my cultivation method completed a full cycle, I faintly sensed my magic power becoming perfectly harmonious. It seems the time has come to break through to the Golden Core, Mid Stage."

"Truly?"

Lyra beamed with joy and declared, "I shall stand guard for your cultivation breakthrough."

"Thank you for your trouble, my lady."

Eldrin stored away his guqin and rose to his feet with a faint smile.

Returning to the seclusion chamber, Eldrin took out a Returning Cloud Calamity-Breaking Pill and consumed it.

An ordinary Golden Core cultivator would typically require 2 to 3 Cloud-Sundering Tribulation Pills to break through to Golden Core, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm).

As a Great Perfection Golden Core cultivator with the aid of 5 bonded magic treasures, he theoretically faced no significant bottlenecks in breaking through to Golden Core, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm). With merely 6 decades of refinement, he could achieve the breakthrough.

Now, the Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss served merely as a catalyst. As he swallowed the pill, his spiritual power surged violently, instantly beginning to assail the threshold of Golden Core, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm).

The process unfolded as naturally as water flowing in a channel, succeeding in merely half a month.

It is done.

Sensing the spiritual power within his body, Eldrin revealed an expression of ecstasy.

Now that he had broken through to the Golden Core, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm), his magical power had surged by 40 to 50 percent. With just a bit more refinement, his mana would be comparable to that of a seventh-level Golden Core cultivator.

Most crucially, his Lifebound Talisman could advance further, transforming into a top-grade 4-Rank, Upper-Tier supreme Lifebound Talisman.

At this stage, the Natal Magic Treasure had reached its limit. If Eldrin wished to elevate it further, he would need to evolve the Natal Magic Treasure into a Natal Spiritual Treasure.

And the deduction of his Natal Spirit Treasure would also be the foremost priority in his cultivation over the next 100 years.

After leaving seclusion, Eldrin immediately visited the clan treasury and requested the allocation of the 5 Elements' essence.

However, after tallying the accounts, they discovered the family's 5 Elements essence was only sufficient to advance 2 Natal Magic Treasures.

It was Lyra (Person Name) who mobilized the accumulated 5 elements’ essence of the Heavenly Ruins Sect over dozens of years, finally gathering enough 5 elements’ essence for the promotion of the 5 peerless magical treasures.

Having gathered the 5 elements' essence, Eldrin refined his life-bound magic treasure while remarking to Lyra, "To elevate a single peerless treasure requires 5 elements' essence worth 1,000,000 spirit stones."

"When we advance to the Refined Demon Treasure level in the future, a single artifact will require the consumption of 5 Elements Essence worth 10,000,000 spirit stones. Such astronomical investment would likely be unsustainable for the vast majority of Golden Core immortal families."

Lyra (Person Name)顺手帮他熬炼本命法宝，微笑着说道：“炼魔至宝威力无穷，其价值上百枚本源Heavenly Crystal (Spiritual Object)，许多Nascent Soul, Early Stage (Cultivation Realm)修士手中都只有一两件，可见此物何其珍贵。”

To refine a supreme demon-slaying treasure, 1 must not only deduce the method to advance their Natal Spirit Treasure, but also attain the Nascent Soul Realm in cultivation.

"In addition, it requires the integration of fifth-tier celestial treasures such as Star Fragment (Spiritual Object) to successfully withstand the heavenly tribulation and achieve ascension."

As she spoke, a flicker of covetousness flashed in her eyes.

Lyra (Person Name) possessed a supreme Dao Body. Once she broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, she could utilize the Dao Body's feedback to advance her Natal Magic Treasure ahead of schedule.

However, the method to advance her innate spiritual treasure remained elusive. Moreover, fifth-tier treasures were excessively valuable—worth hundreds of millions—and were as rare as they were precious. With her current means, she had yet to obtain 1.

"A fifth-tier treasure, it seems we need to devise a plan."

Eldrin said calmly, then continued refining the Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss without another word.

This arduous refinement lasted 3 months, consuming 5 100 strands of Solarflame and Auric Metal energies before Eldrin finally succeeded in elevating the Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss.

After this item successfully advanced, his eyes narrowed slightly. He sensed that the potential of this Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss (Magic Treasure) had been completely exhausted upon its promotion to a supreme-grade treasure.

To advance the Refining Demonic Treasure when he reached the Golden Core, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm), 3 conditions had to be fulfilled.

First, it requires 3 strands of Primordial Purple Qi to further enhance the foundation of the Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss (Magic Treasure), unlocking the shackles that prevent its ascension to a Soulbound Spiritual Treasure.

Second, it is necessary to elevate the formation patterns of the Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss (Magic Treasure) from a magical treasure level to that of a Life-Bound Spiritual Treasure.

Third, it required an extremely precious fifth-grade Heaven and Earth Treasure. Each of these treasures was exceptionally rare, valued at no less than 30 Heavenly Crystals (Spiritual Object), and could arguably rival the worth of a single Nascent Soul Formation Pill (Spiritual Object).

After understanding the 3 conditions, Eldrin said, "To obtain a fifth-grade heaven-and-earth spiritual treasure, we still need to devise strategies from multiple angles."

"Hmm."

Lyra nodded thoughtfully and said, "The only place where a fifth-grade heaven-and-earth treasure might exist now is the Star Fragment within the Demonic Ape Ridge's spirit spring."

"Furthermore, the ruins within the Blazing Prison Inferno of the Heavenly Abode Continent (Location) may also contain fifth-tier treasures."

"These 2 places are temporarily beyond our ability to conquer for now."

Eldrin shook his head and said, "We cannot invite experts to assist in attacking these places."

Otherwise, even if we succeed in capturing it, the most precious treasures would inevitably fall into the hands of the strongest. Thus, they must serve as the main force in the assault.

However, their current strength still fell somewhat short of what was needed to secure the ancient relics within the Demon Ape Ridge and the Flaming Prison Fire Sea.

Lyra (Person Name) pondered briefly before saying, "In a few more years, when I break through to Golden Core, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm), we can make plans for the Demon Ape Ridge."

"Besides, we must not miss the trade fair in Jizhou. What if someone offers a fifth-tier Heaven and Earth Treasure(Material)?"

"Hmm."

Eldrin nodded with a faint smile. "Once the beast tide subsides, we shall journey beyond Jizhou to seek opportunities for acquiring some Heavenly Crystals. Perhaps we might even chance upon fifth-rank heaven-and-earth treasures during our travels."