Chapter 404: Stirs Beyond the Seas — Core Formation and Magical Treasures

The stone door to the cultivation chamber finally swung open.

A figure stumbled out slowly from within—disheveled, face hidden beneath a tangle of hair.

A yellow light flickered. Qu Hun appeared silently at the figure’s side, his expression utterly wooden.

“Heh heh. Core Formation. At last, the Golden Core is complete.” The man looked around at the chamber and at Qu Hun beside him, then threw his head back and laughed. The sound carried an undertone of a dragon’s roar and a tiger’s cry.

From between the wild strands of hair, the face that emerged was Han Li’s—the same man who had entered this chamber sixty years ago.

But now, his eyes gleamed with a sharp light. Every gesture, every movement carried a tremendous pressure. He seemed like a different person.

When his laughter subsided, Han Li gazed at the familiar world beyond the chamber and felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity.

Sixty years of complete isolation from the world had left him with a profound feeling that everything had changed. The past seemed impossibly distant.

He did not linger. Following the faded map in his memory, he returned to his old bedroom.

A meal’s time later, Han Li emerged from the room, his face fresh and radiant. He had restored his appearance and attire to what they had been decades ago—still the young man of about twenty.

But his expression now was cold and clear. Unhurriedly, he made his way toward the insect chambers.

The Gold Devourer Beetles inside were nothing like they had been decades ago.

Their numbers had swelled to a terrifying tens of thousands. The silver carapaces were now dotted with golden flecks, giving them a far more ferocious and malevolent appearance.

Han Li showed no surprise at the sight.

He had learned of this development years ago through his avatar, Qu Hun. This was simply his first time witnessing it firsthand.

In truth, even Han Li had never expected it. That flash of inspiration—using the Nightshade Grass to experiment on the beetles—had accidentally solved the problem of raising them.

After he entered seclusion, Qu Hun continued feeding the beetles Nightshade Grass monthly. The leaves had unfurled, and the insects grew increasingly agitated with each feeding.

Three or four years into this regimen, the Gold Devourer Beetles finally mutated.

After devouring a batch of Nightshade Grass, they turned on each other, consuming one another in a frenzy of cannibalism.

Within days, the original several hundred beetles had been reduced to barely a dozen survivors. But these remaining insects were far larger and fiercer in presence than their predecessors.

Not long after consuming their kin, these survivors began laying eggs on their own. Each one produced over a hundred eggs before slowly dying.

Han Li had gained over a thousand eggs at once.

Within just a year, these eggs hatched on their own.

Qu Hun then resumed feeding them Nightshade Grass, letting them cannibalize and reproduce through repeated cycles.

After several rounds of this, the beetle population began to explode.

If not for the limited supply of mature Nightshade Grass and the fact that the cannibalistic phases grew longer with each generation, the number would have been far higher.

What was even more astonishing was that each generation of beetles produced through mutual consumption grew stronger, more ferocious than the last. Their pure silver carapaces now bore golden specks—specks that were steadily growing larger.

Han Li had privately speculated that once the carapaces turned entirely gold, the beetles would finally have advanced to a higher rank.

Standing outside the insect chamber, he watched the swarm for a long time without speaking.

He knew very well that this method of raising Gold Devourer Beetles was certainly not the orthodox approach used by ancient beast-taming cultivators.

He was certain that the mysterious vial’s miraculous ripening effect was unique in this world.

Perhaps this method was even superior to the ancient techniques.

At this thought, Han Li smiled faintly. He walked toward another insect chamber not far away, where two Bloodjade Spiders were kept.

Under Han Li’s orders, Qu Hun had used only a small portion of the Green Liquid produced over the years to cultivate the medicinal ingredients for Spirit Nourishing Pills. But after being fed such pills for so long, the two Bloodjade Spiders had advanced multiple stages. They were now peak fourth-rank demonic beasts.

They now looked exactly like the White Jade Spider Han Li had seen in the underground cave all those years ago—their bodies translucent, crystalline, and utterly exquisite.

Han Li’s arrival startled the two white spiders. Long since spiritually linked to him, they immediately rushed toward the stone door, eager to play and greet him.

Joy rose in Han Li’s heart. He opened the stone door at once, and the two Bloodjade Spiders leaped out, circling him excitedly.

He stroked their backs for a while, marveling at their crystalline bodies, before storing them in his spirit beast pouch and turning away.

He had no plans to use the Gold Devourer Beetles just yet.

He intended to let them breed for a few more generations until their bodies had fully turned gold before deploying them as a hidden trump card.

Next, Han Li made a tour of the rest of his cave estate, then returned to his bedroom in high spirits.

Lying on the comfortable wooden bed, he recalled the experience of forming his Golden Core in the cultivation chamber.

To be honest, succeeding at Core Formation so quickly had taken even Han Li by surprise.

He had not completed the full Triple Revolution of the Triple Revolving Heavy Origin Art. After more than thirty years, he had only finished the Second Revolution.

Because he had relied entirely on medicines to cultivate the Triple Revolving Heavy Origin Art, the progress had been far faster than he originally anticipated.

He had initially thought that completing all three revolutions would be extremely difficult—perhaps even impossible.

But he had finished the Second Revolution in just over a hundred years. With the lifespan remaining to him, cultivating the Third Revolution was more than feasible.

This realization stirred Han Li’s mind. He no longer dared to place all his hopes for Core Formation on the Triple Revolving Heavy Origin Art.

After all, this technique was a unique creation—no one else had ever cultivated it before.

And the technique claimed that after three revolutions, the success rate for Core Formation was only fifty percent. That meant even if he completed all three revolutions, there was still a fifty percent chance he would fail.

This thought weighed heavily on him. He began to consider other methods to increase his chances.

It was then that the words of that former Thousand Bamboo School少主, “Senior Brother Lin,” whom he had killed long ago, floated back into his mind. Lin had once said that cultivating the Great Derivative Art to a high level could increase the success rate of Core Formation.

After careful deliberation, Han Li decided to switch to cultivating the third layer of the Great Derivative Art.

“Whether it’s true or not, cultivating it can’t hurt.” That had been his simple reasoning at the time.

The third layer of the Great Derivative Art naturally took longer to master than the second.

Han Li spent a full twenty years just to barely break through the bottleneck and complete it.

As for the fourth layer, he had no intention of even attempting it.

The time required to cultivate it was not something he could afford to waste.

After that, with the help of various medicinal herbs, he began the years-long process of Core Formation.

To be honest, the disastrous failure of his First Revolution attempt had left him with little hope for the Second Revolution.

He had approached it with the mentality of simply giving it a try over a few years.

It had taken Qu Hun four years to form a Demonic Core. Because Han Li’s own aptitude was inferior, he had spent over five years before unexpectedly succeeding.

Even as he felt the spiritual energy of heaven and earth frantically pouring into his body, even as he felt his true essence churning in his dantian and condensing into a thumb-sized, four-colored orb, Han Li still felt as if he were dreaming.

“Just like that, I’ve entered Core Formation?” He could hardly believe it.

Completely unprepared for this turn of events, the shock of such incredible fortune nearly caused his unstable Golden Core to collapse.

Startled, he had to quickly calm his mind to avoid making a catastrophic mistake and falling back to Foundation Establishment.

Thinking back on it now, lying on his bed, Han Li’s lips curled slightly. A faint trace of a smile appeared.

He sat up with a whoosh and got off the bed.

Even now, so long after forming his core, the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He could not remain still.

Entering Core Formation meant that he was now considered a senior figure in the cultivation world. More importantly, his lifespan had extended to a terrifying five or six hundred years. He could finally cultivate in peace.

Most crucial of all, he could now use his Nascent Flame to refine and polish his own magical treasures.

Speaking of treasures, Han Li already had two in his possession.

The Mixed Origin Bowl had already been refined by Qu Hun. The other, the Green煌 Sword, he planned to use for self-defense in the short term.

But the true treasure he intended to forge was the one he had coveted for so long from the golden page: the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.

This was a matched set of treasures. Once successfully forged, its power would be immense—enough to sweep across cultivators of the same level.

Moreover, with his Azure Origin Sword Art having reached the seventh layer, he could finally use the Sword Image Splitting Technique.

This filled him with anticipation for the path ahead after Core Formation.

What he needed to do now was to urgently gather the materials for forging the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, so he could begin nurturing it with Nascent Flame and origin soul, granting it greater power as soon as possible.

(Heh heh, to be honest, according to my original plans, I wasn’t going to let Han Li form his core so easily. But if I dragged it out further, I was afraid I’d be cursed by my readers. So I had to cut out two less important plot points and let the protagonist form his core early. This also makes things a lot easier for me. Also, don’t wait up tonight, everyone. I don’t plan to stay up late. After so many late nights, I feel like day and night have reversed, and I really can’t take it anymore. I’ll keep writing tomorrow. You should all sleep early too. Sleeping early is happiness. Hehe. Tomorrow is the beginning of the month. Don’t forget to throw some monthly votes my way, support me a little!)