Chapter 373 : Farewell Gifts and Tranquil Years

Thinking of this, Eldrin Chen sighed and said, "Let it be. Remember on this journey, do not trust anyone lightly."

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

Before her departure, Eldrin Chen gave her the fourth-rank defensive magical treasure 'Blazing Sun Gold Pearl'. He also took out three fourth-rank spirit talismans for her to use as a final trump card.

The fourth-rank spirit talismans personally inscribed by Eldrin Chen were all of Extraordinary power. One of them was the Two Polarities Divine Thunder Talisman [a talisman capable of unleashing the divine thunder of opposing polarities], a talisman potent enough to slay a Golden Core Early Stage cultivator.

To inscribe this talisman, Eldrin Chen had even utilized the leather of the Earth Lion Demon King [a powerful earth-attribute demon beast], making it her ultimate contingency.

With these treasures, even with her Violet Sanctum Late Stage cultivation base, she would be formidable enough to contend with a Pseudo-Core Realm Cultivator [a cultivator at the peak of Violet Sanctum, approaching Golden Core]. Even an ordinary Golden Core Early Stage cultivator who dared to attack her might suffer a grievous setback.

Silas Chen received the treasures, deeply moved. With a lingering gaze and three steps forward for every one glance back, she finally departed the clan, her heart filled with reluctance.

After bidding farewell to Silas Chen, Eldrin Chen returned once more to Spirit Isle Lake and resumed his days with Exquisite Jiang, living like an immortal couple.

They spent their time plucking the zither and discussing the Dao [the fundamental truth and principle of the universe], or cultivating and refining their arts. Their days were ones of carefree bliss and profound joy.

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Time flowed by in such a hurried manner, and in the blink of an eye, another ten years had passed.

On this day, Exquisite Jiang sat by the boat's edge, her bare feet dipped in the water, her cheeks propped in her hands as she watched him, her eyes reflecting his image.

Beneath the setting sun, he was clad in robes as white as snow, playing the zither while drifting on the lake, his bearing vaguely transcending the mundane world [the ordinary, mortal realm].

After an unknowable length of time, Eldrin Chen finished his melody, pressing his hand upon the strings with a smile. "Just now, as my cultivation art completed a full cycle, I felt my spiritual power [the energy cultivated by practitioners] become perfectly harmonious. It seems the time has come to attempt a breakthrough to the Golden Core Mid Stage."

"Truly?"

Exquisite Jiang's joy lit up her face. "Then I shall stand guard for you," she said.

"I am in your debt, my lady."

Eldrin Chen put away the ancient zither and rose to his full height, a smile still gracing his lips.

Returning to the Seclusion Chamber, Eldrin Chen took out and consumed a single Returning Cloud Tribulation-Breaking Pill.

For an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator seeking to break through to the Golden Core Mid Stage, it typically requires consuming two or three Returning Cloud Tribulation-Breaking Pill.

He was a Great Encompassing Golden Core cultivator, and with the aid of his five Lifebound Magical Treasure [enchanted artifacts bound to a cultivator's life force], breaking through to the Golden Core Mid Stage realm should not have presented a significant bottleneck. He merely needed to refine his cultivation for one Sixty-Year Cycle [a complete cycle of sixty years] before he could advance.

Now, the Returning Cloud Tribulation-Breaking Pill [a pill that aids in overcoming cultivation tribulations] served merely as a catalyst. As soon as he swallowed the Returning Cloud Tribulation-Breaking Pill, his spiritual power surged violently, beginning its assault on the barrier of the Golden Core Mid Stage.

This process was as natural as water flowing downhill. In merely half a month, he had succeeded.

"It is done."

Sensing the spiritual power coursing within him, Eldrin Chen revealed an expression of ecstatic joy.

Having now broken through to the Golden Core Mid Stage, his spiritual power had surged by forty to fifty percent. With just a bit more refinement, his power would be comparable to that of a cultivator at the Golden Core 7th Tier.

Most crucially, his Lifebound Magical Treasure could now advance further, becoming peerless Lifebound Magical Treasure of the Fourth Rank Superior Grade.

At this stage, the Lifebound Magical Treasure had reached its limit. If Eldrin Chen wished for his Lifebound Magical Treasure to continue advancing, he would need to deduce and evolve them into Lifebound Spiritual Treasure [a higher-order treasure bound to the cultivator's spirit].

Deducing the path to Lifebound Spiritual Treasure would be the paramount focus of his cultivation within the next hundred years.

After leaving seclusion, Eldrin Chen immediately went to the Clan Treasury and instructed the clan to allocate Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements].

However, after taking stock of their inventory, they discovered that the clan's Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] was only sufficient to advance two Lifebound Magical Treasure [a magical artifact bound to a cultivator's life force].

It was only after Exquisite Jiang mobilized the Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] accumulated by the Heavenly Ruins Sect over several decades that they finally gathered enough to advance five supreme-grade magical treasure [an enchanted artifact used by cultivators].

With the Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] secured, Eldrin Chen began the meticulous process of refining his Lifebound Magical Treasure [a magical artifact bound to a cultivator's life force], all the while remarking to Exquisite Jiang, "Advancing a single supreme-grade magical treasure [an enchanted artifact used by cultivators] consumes Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] worth one million Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy]."

"And when we later seek to advance a Demon-Subduing Supreme Treasure [a supreme treasure capable of subduing demons], a single one will require Five Elements Essence [a refined spiritual essence containing the power of the five elements] valued at ten million Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy]. Such an immense investment is likely beyond the means of the vast majority of Golden Core Immortal Clan [an immortal clan with a Golden Core Patriarch as its foundation]."

Exquisite Jiang assisted him in refining the Lifebound Magical Treasure [a magical artifact bound to a cultivator's life force], a gentle smile gracing her lips as she replied, "The Demon-Subduing Supreme Treasure [a supreme treasure capable of subduing demons] possesses boundless power, its worth exceeding one hundred Origin Heavenly Crystal [a primordial crystal of immense spiritual purity]. Many cultivators at the Infant Soul Early Stage [the initial stage of the Infant Soul Realm] possess only one or two such treasures, a testament to their profound rarity."

"To successfully advance a Lifebound Spiritual Treasure [a spiritual treasure bound to a cultivator's life force] into a Demon-Subduing Supreme Treasure [a supreme treasure capable of subduing demons], one must not only deduce the specific method of ascension but also attain cultivation at the Infant Soul Realm [the realm where one's nascent soul is formed]." Find this and other novels at audio-novel[dot]com.

"Furthermore, it requires the integration of Fifth Rank [the fifth and highest grade of spiritual materials] heavenly treasures such as Stellar Fragment [a fragment of a fallen star, imbued with celestial power] to enable the treasure to withstand the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation [a trial by heavenly lightning] and ascend successfully."

As she spoke these words, a flicker of deep longing passed through her eyes.

Exquisite Jiang possessed a top-tier Path Body [a special innate constitution aligned with a particular cultivation path]. Once she broke through to the Infant Soul Realm [the realm where one's nascent soul is formed], her Path Body [a special innate constitution aligned with a particular cultivation path] could provide a feedback effect, allowing her Lifebound Magical Treasure [a magical artifact bound to a cultivator's life force] to advance ahead of the usual schedule.

Yet, the method for advancing a Lifebound Spiritual Treasure [a spiritual treasure bound to a cultivator's life force], coupled with the exorbitant cost and extreme rarity of Fifth Rank [the fifth and highest grade of spiritual materials] treasures—encountered more by fate than by design—remained beyond her current reach.

"A Fifth Rank Treasure [a treasure of the fifth rank, exceedingly rare and powerful] is a rarity across the entire nation. It seems we must devise a plan to acquire one."

Eldrin Chen stated calmly, then returned to tempering the Solar Fire Returning Abyss Sword [a legendary sword forged from solar fire and abyssal essence], saying nothing more.

This process of tempering lasted for three months. Eldrin Chen expended five hundred streams each of Solar Fire [the pure essence of solar flame] and Metallic Gold [the refined essence of metallic gold] energies, successfully advancing the Solar Fire Returning Abyss Sword.

Once the sword's advancement was complete, his eyes narrowed slightly. He sensed that upon reaching the pinnacle grade of magical treasure [an enchanted artifact used by cultivators], the Solar Fire Returning Abyss Sword had exhausted its latent potential.

If he wished to elevate it to a Demon-Subduing Supreme Treasure [a supreme-grade treasure capable of subduing demons] while still at the Golden Core Late Stage [the late stage of the Golden Core cultivation realm], three conditions needed to be met.

First, he required three wisps of Primordial Chaos Violet Aura [a primordial energy of chaos and creation, tinged with violet], to further elevate the sword's foundational nature and shatter the shackles preventing its ascension to a Lifebound Spiritual Treasure [a spiritual treasure bound to its wielder's life force].

Second, the sword's array patterns [the mystical circuits that channel power] needed to be evolved and advanced from the grade of a magical treasure to that of a Spiritual Treasure [a treasure imbued with sentient spiritual energy].

Third, he needed a piece of exceedingly precious Fifth Rank Heaven and Earth Treasure [a natural treasure of the fifth rank, born from heaven and earth]. Such a treasure is extraordinarily valuable, each piece worth over thirty Heavenly Crystal [a crystal of immense spiritual purity], a price not inferior to that of a Nascent Soul Formation Pill [a legendary pill that aids in forming the Nascent Soul].

Having understood these three conditions, Eldrin Chen said, "To obtain a Fifth Rank Heaven and Earth Treasure, we will need to scheme and plan from multiple angles."

"Indeed."

Exquisite Jiang nodded thoughtfully and said, "The places where a Fifth Rank Heaven and Earth Treasure [a supreme-grade spiritual treasure of immense power] might currently exist are likely the Stellar Fragment [a rare ore containing condensed stellar energies] within the Demonic Spring [a demonic energy-infused spring] of the Demonic Ape Ridge [a mountain range inhabited by powerful ape demons]."

"Beyond that, the ruins within the Flaming Prison Sea of Fire [a vast, perpetually burning sea of flames] on the Tianlu Continent [the Celestial Deer Continent] might also hold a Fifth Rank Treasure [a treasure of the fifth rank, denoting immense power]."

"For now, neither of these places is within our ability to conquer,"

Eldrin Chen shook his head as he spoke. Attacking such places was not something where they could invite powerful allies for assistance.

Even if they succeeded with outside help, the most precious treasures would undoubtedly fall into the hands of those stronger allies. Therefore, they themselves had to be the main force in any assault.

Yet, given their current strength, they still fell short of being able to take the Demonic Ape Ridge or the ruins within the Flaming Prison Sea of Fire.

Exquisite Jiang pondered for a moment, then stated, "In a few more years, after I break through to the Golden Core Late Stage [the late stage of the Golden Core cultivation realm], we can make plans for the Demonic Ape Ridge."

"Furthermore, we must not neglect the Barter Convention [a grand gathering for cultivators to trade rare items] on Ji Continent [the Ji Continent]. What if a Fifth Rank Heaven and Earth Treasure is offered for sale there?"

"Agreed."

Eldrin Chen nodded with a faint smile. "Once the Beast Tide [a periodic, massive onslaught of demonic beasts] concludes, we shall journey to Ji Continent. We will seek ways to acquire some Heavenly Crystal [a highly purified and potent form of spiritual crystal] and also see if we can find a Fifth Rank Heaven and Earth Treasure." Published by audio-novel*com. All rights reserved.