Plant VS Cultivation

Chapter 165: The Immortal Golden Core

"What is going on here?"

Upon noticing the changes within his Golden Core, Gu Mo couldn't afford to be careless. After all, his Golden Core formation was already highly unique. If something unexpected were to happen now, Gu Mo had no idea how he should handle it.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong in the end. Gu Mo successfully completed the formation of his Golden Core. Although it was larger than usual, it was a success. The profound energy within the Golden Core did not interfere with the formation; that power merely lay quietly within the Golden Core.

With the Golden Core successfully formed, a sense of enlightenment began to rise in Gu Mo's heart. His breakthrough was about to come to an end.

As this thought crossed his mind, a massive vortex of spiritual energy in the sky slowly began to dissipate. Gu Mo could also feel a sense of harmony settling in. At this moment, Gu Mo had truly become a Golden Core cultivator in the truest sense.

With the breakthrough in realm, the Golden Core began to generate its initial Golden Core power. This initial power flowed throughout Gu Mo's body, enhancing both his physique and soul. Although his body and soul had already reached the Golden Core level, this did not prevent the initial Golden Core energy from improving him further. This type of breakthrough brought the most thorough enhancement.

Especially since Gu Mo's Golden Core was nine times larger than that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, the initial Golden Core power emerging from his Core was also nine times stronger than that of ordinary cultivators.

Since Gu Mo's breakthrough did not encounter any bugs this time, he couldn't harvest any initial Golden Core energy to use in crafting his avatars. The "external body" technique required treasures imbued with the primordial force, and the first energy produced after a cultivator's breakthrough is such a treasure.

However, this primordial force is a gift from Heaven and cannot be harvested. Previously, Gu Mo had been able to obtain six droplets of liquid spiritual energy only by exploiting a bug. This time, without a bug to exploit, he could not obtain the primordial Golden Core energy. Still, without the bug, all of the Heavenly gifts from his breakthrough went into improving himself, which seemed like a good outcome.

At this moment, Gu Mo could clearly feel his body and soul rapidly improving under the nourishment of the initial Golden Core power.

After a full nine hours, the initial Golden Core power, which was nine times more potent than that of an ordinary cultivator, had fully dissipated. This wave of enhancement pushed Gu Mo's body and soul directly into the fifth transformation of the Golden Core realm.

This was the result of two transformations. The first transformation came from the Golden Core power created by the Sun Essence, which helped Gu Mo's body and soul reach the Golden Core level ahead of time. Now, with this breakthrough, the primordial Golden Core power had further upgraded his already Golden Core-level body and soul, pushing them directly into the fifth transformation right as he entered the Golden Core realm.

Moreover, Gu Mo's Golden Core was nine times larger than that of a normal cultivator, granting him far more Golden Core energy than usual. Coupled with his fifth-transformation body and soul, Gu Mo's combat power was undoubtedly equivalent to that of a fourth-transformation Golden Core cultivator.

After breaking through to the Golden Core realm, the core of cultivation shifted from the usual meridians and circulatory system to the condensed Golden Core.

Golden Core cultivators continuously refine their Golden Core, which undergoes transformations. Each transformation adds a new layer of core patterns, with nine transformations resulting in a Nine-Turned Golden Core.

Once a cultivator reaches this level, if they are lucky enough, they can break their core and become a True Monarch.

And the opportunity for this breakthrough…

Gu Mo carefully sensed the mysterious energy in his Golden Core. He quickly retrieved his cultivation manual. The manual not only described how to break through to the Golden Core level, but also classified the different types of Golden Core.

At the Golden Core level, the weakest form is the external core. However, the manual did not classify the external core as part of the Golden Core realm. Clearly, the author of the Qingmu Sutra did not consider external core cultivators as true Golden Core cultivators.

So, the manual listed the weakest level as the False core, followed by the true Golden Core. Above the Golden Core, there was another level: the Immortal Golden Core!

What is the Immortal Golden Core? To put it simply, it's a Golden Core that contains the power of immortality. What is immortality power?

It is the power that makes the True Monarch immortal. The immortal because it contains immortality power, and this immortality power is the key to breaking through to the Nascent realm.

In other words, if one can condense the Immortal Golden Core, it greatly increases the probability of breaking through to the Nascent stage True Monarch. A normal Golden Core cultivator has about a 30% chance of breaking through to the realm, but someone with an Immortal Golden Core has an extra 50% chance, bringing it to 80%. This doesn't even account for any magical treasures like the Core of Embryo Formation, which could raise the chances to over 90%.

In truth, any cultivator who successfully forms an Immortal Golden Core is almost certain to become a True Monarch.

However, forming an Immortal Golden Core is extremely difficult. It requires an extraordinary foundation built during the Foundation Establishment stage. Only those with top-tier talents, powerful backing, and access to the finest resources might have a sliver of hope of forming an Immortal Golden Core.

"So, this power within my Golden Core is immortality power," Gu Mo mused.

As he felt the mysterious energy within his Golden Core, he could now be sure that this was indeed immortality power. Gu Mo hadn't expected that the Golden Core he formed using the Sun Essence would result in an Immortal Golden Core.

Moreover, while ordinary Immortal Golden Core only have a trace of immortality power, Gu Mo's Golden Core was unusually large and contained quite a bit of immortality power.

Immortality power belongs to the realm of True Monarchs, meaning that in critical situations, Gu Mo could forcibly unleash the immortality power in his Golden Core to produce a combat power comparable to that of the Nascent realm.

The price for this would be the consumption of immortality power, which would cause his Immortal Golden Core to degrade into a regular Golden Core, losing the advantage of aiding his breakthrough to the Nascent realm.

However, Gu Mo believed that his Golden Core contained enough immortality power to trigger several Nascent-level attacks.

With this trump card, Gu Mo felt more confident about the potential arrival of a Demon King. Given the enormous disturbance caused by his breakthrough, Gu Mo knew that the Sea Demons would certainly react.

Since he had already forced back peak demons like Chisha, the only remaining choice for the Sea Demons was to summon a Demon King.

Otherwise, inviting other peak demons would be pointless.

"Well then, let's begin upgrading the plants," Gu Mo said.

Having successfully reached the Golden Core realm and significantly boosted his combat power to the mid-Golden Core stage, Gu Mo now needed to pause his cultivation. This wasn't because he didn't want to progress further, but because the Qingmu Sutra only takes him up to the Golden core realm.

The Qingmu Sutra, which was used by the Shennong Valley as a foundational technique, only goes up to the Golden Core realm. To continue progressing, Gu Mo would need to seek a higher-level cultivation technique.

This would require him to go to Shennong Valley and receive the transmission of a new technique.

Thus, for now, Gu Mo had reached a point where he could no longer make further progress in cultivation. However, upgrading plants could still significantly enhance his combat power.

He could use the Sun Essence he had gathered to upgrade the plants.

If he could produce some top-tier plants at the third rank, combined with his Immortal Golden Core's power, he would be able to fight even a Demon King.

"All done!"

Outside the island, the cultivators who had witnessed the giant vortex of spiritual energy in the sky, which had lingered there for a month, finally saw it dissipate. They couldn't help but turn their gazes towards the island, eager to learn who was behind the breakthrough that had caused such a huge commotion.

Unfortunately for them, they were bound to be disappointed. Gu Mo had no intention of leaving his home. In the face of a potential Demon King, staying put was the safest option.

"Yuwei, go inform them that a Demon King may appear soon," Gu Mo called to his disciple.

"Understood!"

Yuwei, suppressing her curiosity, bowed and retreated.

"What? A Demon King is coming?"

Soon, news about the approaching Demon King spread across the Crab Island. However, this time, the cultivators of Crab Island did not immediately flee. They had been severely burned by the previous encounter with the peak demon, Chisha.

Moreover, there was no concrete evidence that any Demon King had shown signs of movement. The probability of a Demon King intervening was already low, especially considering that Crab Island lacked any Nascent realm True Monarchs.

The island had immense interests at stake, and many cultivators were unwilling to give up the opportunities available on Crab Island.

For a tournament at the Foundation Establishment level, Gu Mo naturally had no interest. However, this event did provide a good opportunity to assess the future potential of the Crab Archipelago.

Five years had passed, and no one knew just how much Gu Mo's strength had grown during that time. In truth, Gu Mo could already choose to leave the Crab Archipelago and head for Shennong Valley.

Over the years, Gu Mo had long since acquired maps of the surrounding sea region. After all, cultivators from various seas had gathered here, and naturally, they had brought maps of their own territories.

By piecing together those maps, he had formed a complete chart of the region. Combined with the sea chart from Qi Chunde's wooden token, Gu Mo had already identified a route to Shennong Valley.

The reason he hadn't left yet was not just because this spiritual land still provided cultivation benefits, but also because he wanted to wait for the appearance of the demon king.

Only by clashing with the demon king could the Crab Archipelago truly gain a foothold in this sea region—and Gu Mo now had the confidence to face him.

Even if he couldn't defeat the demon king, as long as the demon king couldn't do anything to him, that alone would be enough.

"Since I'm going to watch the tournament, I might as well bring a prize," Gu Mo said, tossing a jade bottle to Shi Yuwei.

"Senior, with a prize like this, those contestants will fight with everything they've got," Shi Yuwei said with a smile. She didn't open the bottle, but she already knew what was inside—after all, she had received one just like it not long ago.

Inside was a Condensing Gold Pill—an item so coveted that it could drive any Foundation Establishment cultivator mad with desire. It was a leftover from the batch Gu Mo had refined when breaking through to the Core Formation stage.

Gu Mo had no use for the extras, so he gave one to Shi Yuwei. After all, once he left, she would be the one responsible for overseeing this place, and lacking Core Formation-level strength would be a liability.

Shi Yuwei was now in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, not far from perfection. If there was still time, Gu Mo planned to personally help her reach Core Formation.

"If you want something good, you've gotta fight for it," Gu Mo said with a smile.

Soon, word spread that a Core Formation-level cultivator had offered a Condensing Gold Pill as the prize for the tournament. The entire Crab Archipelago was thrown into an uproar, and the Foundation Establishment contestants were so excited their bodies trembled with anticipation.

Whoever took first place would not only receive a nearly Tier 3 spiritual land but also the Condensing Gold Pill. With such incredible rewards on the line, the competition was guaranteed to be intense.

While the tournament was heating up, far away in the depths of the sea, several great demons stood silently around a massive whirlpool.

They had been guarding this place for five years—after all, for a demon king, a nap could last several years.

Fortunately, their lord had not gone into seclusion or fallen into slumber. Otherwise, they might have had to wait decades to see him again.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the whirlpool began to tremble. A colossal black shadow darted through the swirling waters and then burst into the sky.

It was a horned sea serpent—no, at this stage, it was better called a flood dragon.

"Greetings, Demon King!" the waiting great demons cried in unison, immediately bowing low. This was the demon king who ruled over this region of the sea.

"What is it?" asked the flood dragon, stretching its massive body in midair before rapidly shrinking down. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a black-robed young man. As a fourth-rank demon king, he had long since gained the ability to fully assume human form.

"Reporting to the Demon King…" the great demons began, hurriedly recounting everything that had happened in the Crab Archipelago.

"Useless," the black-robed youth muttered, displeasure flashing across his face. "You can't even handle a few human cultivators?"

Sending a demon king to deal with mere Core Formation humans? That would be beneath his dignity.

Still, if the reports were true—if the humans of the Crab Archipelago had managed to repel Chisha the Great Demon—then there really was no other solution except for him to personally step in.

More than that, the vast spiritual energy vortex that had recently appeared over the Crab Archipelago made the black-robed youth think of the Immortal Golden Core. As a demon king, he knew more than most.

If someone in the Crab Archipelago had truly formed an Immortal Core, that would be a serious threat. He had no intention of allowing a future Nascent Soul cultivator to rise within his domain.

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