Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 171: Gold Core Emerges (Long Chapter)

In the closed-off place, within the cave hall.

The remnants of the grand dao aura and spiritual energy from the outside world were all absorbed by Li An and the divine bird.

Feeling the changes in his dantian, despite being mentally prepared, Li An couldn't help but feel extremely excited!

Forming a pill!

Gold Core!!

Taking a look inside, the vast amount of spiritual liquid in the dantian had condensed into a radiant Gold Core. The surface of the Gold Core had mysterious patterns, resembling the twists and turns of an old tree.

Clouds and mist spontaneously formed around the Gold Core, emitting a green aura of life, all revolving around the Gold Core.

Not a single flaw!

"Not in vain of my three hundred years of effort!"

Li An felt gratified and satisfied.

This year, he was already 287 years old, rounding it up, that would be three hundred years.

Since the day of his rebirth, the path of the Gold Core had been Li An's goal. Over the past two hundred years, he had hidden in the Xuan Yang Sect, buried his name in the White Tiger City, endured in the Tian Yang City... and then went to the Jiang Clan, going through countless obstacles and calculations, before finally reaching this step.

It was all worth it!

He calmed his excited heart and silently sensed the changes in all aspects of himself.

Firstly, his divine sense. The range covered by his divine consciousness now reached about two hundred li, which was three to four times that of an ordinary early-stage True Pill cultivator!

Comparable to a mid-stage True Pill cultivator.

In terms of spiritual power, he had finally achieved substantialization. Now, he could condense his spiritual power into swords, arrows, shields, and more, greatly increasing his power.

It could be said that the biggest difference between Core Formation and Foundation Building lay here. The change in spiritual power brought about by Core Formation was a qualitative change. Once spiritual power could be materialized, it became a crushing and destructive blow to cultivators below Core Formation.

Wherever his spiritual power went, third-grade or lower magic tools would be directly destroyed.

What made Li An even more delighted was that the length of his substantialized spiritual power had reached five hundred meters!

For ordinary True Pill cultivators, the range covered by their substantialized spiritual power in the early stage was at most around one hundred meters.

With the support of powerful spiritual power, Li An could finally fly in the air. According to his estimate, he could travel five thousand li in a day without any problem.

At the same time, the Gold Core also brought changes to his body. He had already cultivated the Golden Treasury Technique, and his physique was far superior to ordinary people. Now, his body was even purer and flawless, with a large amount of impurities being incinerated during the process of forming the pill.

It could be called a treasure body.

"In terms of overall combat power, even if I were to face three to five early-stage True Pill cultivators head-on, I would not be afraid!"

"Against a mid-stage True Pill cultivator, I might not be unable to fight either!"

In his previous life, Li An was a True Pill cultivator, and now he truly understood the huge difference between the Gold Core and the True Pill.

Moreover, the natural aura of creation condensed within the Gold Core far surpassed that of the True Pill. This meant that his potential would far exceed that of an ordinary person.

When Li An first entered the Xuan Yang Sect, he only had a low-grade yellow spiritual root. The difference in aptitude was such that he could never forget Foundation Building in this lifetime. But now, with the achievement of the Gold Core, his starting point on the path from Core Formation to Nascent Soul was a hundred times higher than that of an ordinary True Pill cultivator.

"The third branch of the life seed has finally grown, increasing my lifespan to twelve hundred years!"

The increase in lifespan made Li An even more pleasantly surprised!

He was only in the early stage of Core Formation now, but his lifespan was already comparable to that of a late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

Ordinary Core Formation cultivators could live for at most a thousand years.

But if Li An cultivated to the late stage of Core Formation, he estimated that his lifespan could reach two thousand years...

This amount of time was too abundant!

Watching the changes in the life seed, Li An became even more aware that everything he had today could be said to originate from the Life Nurturing and Immortal Casting Technique, from this life seed.

Although the cultivation of the life seed was slow, the benefits it brought him were too obvious.

Which part should the third branch connect to?

Li An silently pondered.

The first branch connected to the Lingtai, enhancing his elemental spirit and divine consciousness.

The second branch connected to the middle finger of his right hand, greatly enhancing his poison techniques.

"The third branch should assist in defense!" Li An had a direction.

Preserving his life has always been Li An's top priority. Now, he has a life seed, and his liver has already achieved great success in storing gold. His vitality far surpasses that of ordinary people, but he can still be injured.

The divine consciousness of the Lingtai can help him anticipate the enemy, and the poison technique of the middle finger is used to win unexpectedly... but he is still relatively weak in defense.

"The defensive techniques I mastered in my previous life now seem to be of lower rank..."

As a Gold Core cultivator, he no longer values the heritage of his previous life.

"The 'Indestructible Demon Armor' in the Indestructible Demon Technique... its defensive ability is extremely strong. This small technique alone is probably not inferior to a Earth-grade technique!"

After careful consideration, he realized that the strongest techniques he currently mastered were all from the Indestructible Demon Technique.

The Indestructible Demon Technique comes from the spirit realm and has an extraordinary background. It encompasses Myriad Manifestations. In addition to the core essence of plundering and devouring, there are also various small techniques that are based on the manipulation of demonic power.

The Indestructible Demon Armor is one of them.

By using the Indestructible Demon Technique, one can plunder various divine golden qi and concentrate it in the lungs. When the demonic power in the lungs erupts, it can form a spiritual golden armor that covers the whole body, with an immeasurable upper limit.

"This coincides with the cultivation of the Gold Storing Technique!"

The five organs in the Gold Storing Technique require different materials for cultivation. Among them, the lungs belong to the metal element, so various metal spiritual qi needs to be used for tempering and strengthening.

The Indestructible Demon Armor and the lungs in the Gold Storing Technique can be cultivated simultaneously.

Li An made up his mind.

Immediately, the third branch of his life seed connected to his lungs!

Then, he took out a second-grade "Starlight Silver."

He officially used the Indestructible Demon Technique. Suddenly, the Starlight Silver in his hand quickly dimmed, as if it had lost its essence. A sharp metallic aura was plundered into his body and infused into his lungs, melting within.

After a long time.

Li An tried to use the Indestructible Demon Armor. A faint silver light sprayed out like layers of scales, covering Li An's entire body.

But it was very faint!

"It's effective, but too weak—"

However, Li An was not in a hurry.

"So fast?"

In her mind, Shangguan Xiaoxiao was surprised.

She had also been paying attention to Li An's cultivation. Because she was trapped in the Lingtai, she couldn't perceive everything in Li An's dantian, but she could sense the changes when Li An cultivated the Indestructible Demon Armor.

She came from the demonic sect and was very familiar with the Indestructible Demon Technique.

In the Indestructible Demon Technique, the Indestructible Demon Armor is also a Divine Ability that is extremely difficult to cultivate.

As far as she knew, even those with a natural demonic body who obtained the inheritance of the Indestructible Demon Technique would find it difficult to master it in the Foundation Establishment stage. Usually, they would need to transition to the Nascent Soul stage before they could truly cultivate the Indestructible Demon Armor.

But Li An...

This guy actually succeeded with just a casual attempt??

She could tell that although the second-grade Starlight Silver was nothing special, it meant that Li An had grasped the cultivation method of the Indestructible Demon Armor.

Didn't Li An seem to have not cultivated the Indestructible Demon Technique much before?

Why did he succeed on his first try?

She couldn't help but have some doubts. Is Li An really a waste or a genius?

Calling him a waste because it took him three hundred years to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, which is a shame for someone with a natural demonic body.

Calling him a genius because his control over the Indestructible Demon Technique is almost at a state of being able to do as he pleases.

It's really unbelievable!

"Does his natural demonic body have any special characteristics?"

She couldn't help but be curious. After pondering for a moment, she immediately spoke, "The greatest assistance of the Indestructible Demon Technique in the Foundation Establishment stage lies in the 'Purple Mansion'!"

Li An's heart couldn't help but tremble upon hearing this.

Although he had not cultivated, he had actually been pondering the demonic techniques all along, so he had a general understanding of what Shangguan Xiaoxiao had said.

"The Heavenly Demon Technique can plunder the flesh, cultivation, and spiritual roots of cultivators. But in terms of creation, it also has this effect. Just like when you used the demonic technique to devour the Golden Essence, it is similar to cultivating the Indestructible Heavenly Demon Armor."

Shangguan Xiaoxiao continued, "The Heavenly Demon Technique can also plunder the 'Yin Qi' in the spiritual veins, allowing you to forge a unique Purple Mansion. Once the Purple Mansion is formed, the Nascent Soul will come!"

——In the Foundation Establishment stage, in order to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, one must first condense the "Purple Mansion."

The Purple Mansion is the birthplace and growth place of the Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul is the embodiment of spiritual energy and spiritual consciousness, born within the Purple Mansion. It signifies the cultivation level of a cultivator, officially entering a very profound realm.

Condensing the Purple Mansion is extremely difficult, and the most important thing is to absorb the "Yin Qi."

The Nascent Soul is born from Yin!

The stage after the Nascent Soul is the Soul Formation stage, and after that is the Dao Integration stage.

Soul Formation transforms into Yang.

The Yin of the Nascent Soul and the Yang of Soul Formation combine, which is Dao Integration!

It can be seen how important Yin Qi is!

In the Foundation Establishment stage, besides continuing to absorb a large amount of spiritual energy for cultivation, the most important thing is to gather Yin Qi and condense the Purple Mansion, in preparation for the Nascent Soul.

Yin Qi is nurtured within creation, so generally speaking, spiritual veins above the third rank will contain Yin Qi. However, Yin Qi is derived from the Great Dao, profound and mysterious, and cannot be obtained.

Generally speaking, there are only two ways to obtain Yin Qi:

One is through special spiritual medicines, natural materials, etc., which condense a small amount of Yin Qi. These things are extremely expensive and rare.

The other is through supreme treasures, naturally formed creations, where Yin Qi manifests and can be easily absorbed. However, such places are even harder to find than spiritual medicines. In the entire Xiling Yuanzhou, there are probably only a few.

It can be said that these strict requirements are extremely unfriendly to Li An, who wants to leave the Jiang Clan and become an independent cultivator.

In reality, the higher one cultivates, the more difficult it becomes because resources are limited and rare. To obtain them, one must compete and fight for them.

But the Indestructible Heavenly Demon Technique can indeed help him to a great extent!

By using this technique, he can directly extract Yin Qi from the spiritual veins, which can be called a heaven-defying method.

Li An pondered for a moment and felt that this method was feasible.

In reality, it was mainly because he possessed the Life-Preserving Immortal Casting Technique, which could purify the negative effects produced by the demonic technique.

After all, using the Indestructible Heavenly Demon Technique to absorb Yin Qi from the spiritual veins and cultivate a Purple Mansion would also result in a demonic mansion filled with demonic energy. The Nascent Soul that eventually formed would be like a demonic fetus. If Li An took this step, he would completely become a demonic cultivator.

This was something Li An absolutely did not want!

"To control the demonic technique with the Life-Preserving Immortal Casting Technique, to use the demonic technique for my own benefit, but not be harmed by it..."

Li An had made up his mind and said to Shangguan Xiaoxiao in his spiritual sense, "This method is indeed good."

Shangguan Xiaoxiao smiled faintly. As long as Li An embarked on the path of demonic cultivation and continued to cultivate the Heavenly Demon Technique, her plan would also be feasible...

"By the way, do you still know how to make teleportation arrays?" Li An suddenly continued.

In fact, this was what he wanted most from Shangguan Xiaoxiao!

With a teleportation array, it would be so convenient for him to escape in the future.

"Teleportation arrays are of a high level and involve space. Even if I give it to you, you won't understand it," Shangguan Xiaoxiao ruthlessly struck him down. But since Li An had decided to cultivate the demonic technique, she was in a good mood and said, "But I can give you a set of array formations inheritance. This method was created by a master of array formations in my sect in the past. The lowest level is a third-grade array formation, which should be enough for you."

She immediately passed on the inheritance to Li An.

A large amount of array formation information was transmitted to Li An. He carefully savored it and couldn't help but feel delighted.

This set of array formation inheritance was enough to support him in refining third-grade and fourth-grade array formations.

Moreover, it was obvious that Shangguan Xiaoxiao hadn't given him everything.

"The foundation of the demonic sect should not be underestimated..."

He couldn't help but sigh. Even though he had obtained the supreme Heavenly Demon Art, the other inheritances were also extremely useful and worth studying slowly.

After receiving the array formation inheritance transmitted by Shangguan Xiaoxiao, Li An finally opened his eyes.

First, he checked the current state of the divine bird.

The divine bird radiates a divine light and possesses an extremely powerful aura. It is in complete harmony with the divine bird's intentions, so the divine bird is completely defenseless, making Li An's investigation very smooth.

"I can't believe it... it's also... a Gold Core?!"

After Li An finished his investigation, he was shocked. The divine bird actually also cultivated a Gold Core!

For a moment, Li An, who was just extremely happy and joyful, felt a complex mix of emotions. He had spent over two hundred years calculating and hiding in order to obtain a Gold Core. And yet, this flat-haired beast was able to easily reach this stage...

It's somewhat hurtful, to say the least...

But in reality, thinking about it, it's normal. This divine bird egg had been tempered in the endless evil aura of the Abyss for countless years, and later it received Li An's breath of life. Its good fortune and mutation are understandable.

"Fortunately, this Gold Core divine bird now belongs to me!"

Thinking of this, Li An felt relieved.

The stronger the divine bird, the better!

Li An himself is a Gold Core, and with an additional Gold Core divine bird... even if facing a mid-stage True Dan cultivator, he could most likely kill them in an instant.

Next, Li An began to consider leaving seclusion.

Even though he had cultivated a Gold Core, he hadn't forgotten the dangerous situation he was currently in.

He was still in the Jiang Clan!

The Jiang Clan is not an ordinary force. Just in terms of Nascent Soul cultivators, they have three on the surface.

After leaving seclusion, Li An won't have a chance to escape.

His only protection is this divine bird.

The divine bird has already recognized him as its master. If the Jiang Clan is unfavorable towards Li An, they will also lose a Gold Core divine bird. Moreover, if this divine bird dies, the Jiang Clan's plan to breed the Green Flame Divine Sparrow will fail. When both divine birds in the clan die, it's likely that the Jiang Clan's glory will come to an end.

Therefore, the higher-ups of the Jiang Clan will definitely weigh their interests.

In this situation, winning over Li An is a very attractive option.

After all, if they kill Li An, everything will be in vain. But if they win over Li An, they can still use his divine bird and the Jiang Clan's divine bird to breed and produce offspring, ensuring the Jiang Clan's prosperity.

The choice is obvious.

This is the confidence that allows Li An to venture into dangerous territory and seek a Gold Core.

And he will agree to it and stay in the Jiang Clan.

Firstly, finding an opportunity to leave will take time.

Secondly, the Jiang Clan has abundant internal resources, which is very suitable for Li An's cultivation. Moreover, now he is also preparing to cultivate demonic techniques.

The spiritual veins of the Jiang Clan are perfect for that, aren't they?

"I can't appear too strong, otherwise the Jiang Clan will be cautious and nervous, but I can't be too weak either, otherwise they will look down on me..."

With a thought, he immediately activated his breath of life, concealing the aura of his Gold Core.

Only the True Dan!

"Is Jiang Ruoxu dead..."

Mentally prepared, he narrowed his eyes slightly, showing more concern about this matter.

During the process of refining the pill, the Taiyi Phase Formation has been continuously operating, affecting this side, and Li An cannot determine its life or death.

If Jiang Ruoxu is not dead, the Jiang Clan might take the risk of trying to seize the divine bird.

After all, the divine bird had previously absorbed Jiang Ruoxu's blood, so from the Jiang Clan's perspective, there is a slight chance for Jiang Ruoxu to become the divine bird's master again.

After careful consideration, Li An prepared himself and immediately touched the divine bird's head, saying, "Xiaoqing, let's go—"

Xiaoqing is the name he gave to the divine bird.

One person and one bird slowly walked out of the seclusion.

The huge stone door opened...

...

(End of this chapter)