His true essence boiled within his dantian, where a strange sensation of contraction began to gather. It felt as though something was breathing, expanding and drawing inward, and contained some mystery of life.
Yet this extraordinary sensation did not seem to occupy the same space as his true essence. It was something more mysterious, not a solid object but an intangible presence.
He had never experienced anything like it before. At that moment, however, sudden understanding came to Xu Ziqing, and he knew what it was.
A Dao seed!
He was actually about to condense a Dao seed!
But he still had not clearly understood his own Dao. Why would such a sign appear now?
Below him, Yun Tiangang continued practicing the sword, the intentions of the four seasons changing without end.
When Xu Ziqing performed the Four Seasons Sword Art, he tended to keep its power restrained. But when Yun Tiangang wielded it, the entire art was suffused with killing intent!
Spring rain and summer thunder, autumn wind and winter snow: a desire to annihilate emerged from every movement.
The longer Xu Ziqing watched, the more distant his expression grew.
Yun Tiangang was the mortal body into which his senior brother’s primordial spirit had been reborn. His senior brother had once inhabited the immortal-demonic body. At their first meeting, Yun Lie’s heavenly soul had wandered free as a spirit.
Immortal, demon, mortal and soul: all were his senior brother, and all touched upon the mysteries of life and death.
His senior brother had entered the immortal path and encountered innumerable dangers. He had even been forced to send his primordial spirit into a new birth before he could return.
A mortal’s lifespan was fragile, and mortals had no connection to the Great Dao, yet their souls could enter the cycle of reincarnation. Their next lives, however, were no longer the same as their previous lives, and they knew only their present existence.
Even more cultivators fell halfway through their journeys, or had a Nascent Soul seize another body, or were reborn to cultivate again. Who knew how many tribulations they had to endure to finally accomplish their own Great Dao? Worse still, some lost both soul and spirit, and could not even obtain the ordinary reincarnation granted to mortals.
Thus, beneath the Heavenly Dao, cultivators could follow or defy Heaven in seeking enlightenment, while mortals possessed their own path through the enduring cycle of souls. Every living being had its advantages and disadvantages; in that respect, none was fundamentally different.
A roaring filled Xu Ziqing’s mind. He seemed to understand, and yet also seemed not to understand.
He looked at Yun Tiangang, yet it was as though he were seeing his senior brother’s original body, or even his own former self.
The fine rains of spring, the booming thunder of summer, the desolate winds of autumn, the lonely cold of winter.
The Four Seasons Sword Art contained the artistic conception of all four seasons. Their meanings could be used to deduce the transformations of the myriad woods, opening an entirely different path to comprehension.
The myriad woods sprouted, flourished, withered and dried as the seasons passed, then regained their vitality in the following year. Mortals were born, aged, sickened and died, their souls entering reincarnation to return to the mortal world. Cultivators faced hardship and danger on a long and arduous path, or were reborn to begin cultivating anew. The tree of a previous life was not the tree of this one, and the person of a previous life was not the person of this one…
The mysterious sensation in Xu Ziqing’s dantian contracted still more violently.
The swelling and pulsing seemed almost to be taking control of his entire body.
Then, within his Purple Palace, a corresponding sensation suddenly arose.
It was as though a majestic voice spoke:
The four seasons return in endless succession; the myriad woods wither and flourish.
The soul and spirit are not extinguished; generation after generation turns through rebirth.
Through the myriad woods, understand the ten thousand things. Through their withering and flourishing, deduce the birth and death of all things. Through the birth and death of all things, comprehend the cycle of Heaven and Earth. This is the Dao of Life, Death and Reincarnation!
The contraction within Xu Ziqing’s dantian grew still more violent. Suddenly, something condensed, then burst forth!
Boom!
The sound echoed through his Purple Palace. No outsider could hear it, but it left him dizzy.
The Dao of Life, Death and Reincarnation!
The moment he recognized this as his own Dao, the thing within his dantian leaped forth.
It resembled a seed, yet also a round, living thing. It seemed to take root within his dantian, remaining firmly fixed in place.
Xu Ziqing felt as if all his strength had drained away. Cold sweat covered his body.
The Dao seed had condensed, but his true essence boiled still more fiercely!
Countless currents of power spun within his dantian, revolving rapidly around that single Dao seed.
His true essence had long since transformed into essence liquid. Now it was continuously solidifying, diminishing little by little. At the same time, spiritual energy poured in frantically from the outside, repeatedly becoming essence liquid and solidifying in turn.
The many seeds already fused with his dantian sent forth innumerable expressions of delight.
Some seeds he had nourished in his meridians had lost vitality. At this moment, they were rapidly replenished and became extraordinarily active.
Countless kinds of will and sensation collided, leaving multitudes of powers restless within Xu Ziqing’s meridians and blood.
Even high in the sky, spiritual energy within a hundred li began gathering rapidly.
Xu Ziqing immediately understood. He was about to form his Golden Core!
Yes. Over the years he had fused many seeds into his body and read numerous miscellaneous arts while recuperating, comprehending a great many spells and techniques.
All of these had become part of his accumulated foundation. The true essence within him and the Essence of Yi Wood remaining in his flesh and blood were also part of his reserves.
Then there were the embryonic minor divine abilities, including the Qingyun Needle, and the Dao seed that had finally taken shape.
Everything indicated that his accumulated foundation was sufficient. It was time to form his Core.
The opportunity had come so suddenly, however, that Xu Ziqing sensed that breaking through in a single effort now would bring him considerable benefits.
But Yun Family Manor was full of people coming and going. How could he advance recklessly here?
And there was also his senior brother…
Xu Ziqing looked at Yun Tiangang, his emotions in turmoil.
They had been reunited for only three months. Must they separate again so soon?
He had witnessed only his senior brother’s Golden Core formation. As a sword cultivator, Yun Lie had followed a different path, and he had prepared for several decades longer. He had therefore succeeded in just one day. Xu Ziqing knew that his own breakthrough might require several years.
His senior brother could cleave through his inner demons with sword intent, while Xu Ziqing would have to endure and overcome them himself. His senior brother had formed his Core in a place rich with spiritual energy, while this small world’s spiritual energy was somewhat lacking. His senior brother had medicinal treasures with which to replenish his strength immediately, while Xu Ziqing had exhausted all his supply over these years. Yun Lie’s sword intent was itself the manifestation of his innermost heart; Xu Ziqing still had to fuse and refine the many seeds in his dantian, one by one…
Their Daos were different, so naturally their Golden Core formation would differ as well.
Moreover, his senior brother had experienced many more trials and possessed a more determined, steadfast will. Taking all these things together, Xu Ziqing knew he was still far inferior.
As he lowered his head, he discovered that Yun Tiangang had stopped practicing the sword and was looking up at him.
Xu Ziqing sighed and leaped down.
Yun Tiangang looked at him calmly. “Are you leaving?”
Xu Ziqing replied helplessly, “I have no choice but to go.”
Yun Tiangang inclined his head. “Then go. Be careful.”
Xu Ziqing smiled faintly. “I will return after I succeed.” His body was trembling, and he could barely endure the surging energy. “Please tell everyone for me that I have gone.”
With that, his figure flickered, transformed into a streak of green light, and disappeared into the sky.
Yun Tiangang remained where he was. Only after the green radiance had vanished did he resume his sword practice.
He did not know why this person had to leave, yet somehow he knew that departure was necessary.
One day, surely, they would meet again.
Meanwhile, the energies within Xu Ziqing were surging. Countless forces in his inner world were on the verge of merging, urging him toward Golden Core formation in one effort.
The sensation was too mysterious to describe, but it filled him with desperate urgency. He fled swiftly toward the valley where he had lived before.
It had long been forbidden ground, with few visitors. The mountains were full of trees, which would benefit his cultivation to some extent.
Xu Ziqing flicked his fingers rapidly and cast dozens of restrictions. Wood qi overflowed from his body, causing many large trees to grow uncontrollably, stretching until they towered over the mountains, forming a natural barrier that kept outsiders away.
At the same time, white mist spread across the sky again, blotting out the sunlight and concealing every unusual sign within the valley.
Xu Ziqing sat cross-legged in the mountain cave. He had stored his senior brother’s immortal-demonic body in his storage bracelet, lest some of the body’s aura leak out and harm him. Such an incident would damage not only Xu Ziqing himself but the body as well.
After all, anything might happen during Golden Core formation. One mistake could ruin everything.
Across the sky, spiritual energy from a thousand li around gradually began gathering toward him.
There were no cultivators in the Hengwu Small World, yet its spiritual energy was somewhat stronger than in other small worlds. Now that he required it to form his Core, Xu Ziqing deliberately controlled the process, drawing spiritual energy from a wider region and taking a smaller portion from each locality so as not to disturb the vitality of this mortal world.
The spiritual energy he required was wood-attribute spiritual energy, the energy of life itself.
The faster it arrived, the faster his true essence condensed and solidified. As all his true essence gradually became viscous and then firm, the Dao seed released a strange, intangible intent and suddenly plunged into the whirlpool formed by the true essence.
From somewhere beyond perception, an ethereal, ancient will descended. The Dao seed gave a delighted, clear cry. The sensation was as though a seed had put forth leaves and branches, filled with pure joy, its artistic conception becoming still more profound and ancient.
Xu Ziqing vaguely sensed that he had touched the edge of this Great Dao. Once his cultivation grew deeper and he continued studying it, the day would come when his Dao seed was complete and he could achieve the Great Dao.
Now, with the power of the Heavenly Dao bestowed during Core formation, his Dao seed had developed the embryonic form of a Great Dao.
The Qingyun Needle and his other minor divine abilities were gradually being perfected by the Heavenly Dao, approaching maturity.
Many of the rules governing them were becoming complete.
Xu Ziqing could feel his meridians and dantian widening continuously. Under the stimulation of wood qi, sharp pains never ceased.
Yet this stinging was nothing compared with the agony of drawing threads from his soul!
Every Essence Transformation cultivator attempting to achieve Golden Core must gradually gather together the three hun and seven po and ultimately extract a strand of primordial spirit. Only then would the process be complete.
Gathering the three hun and seven po was bearable, but forcibly extracting a primordial spirit from them was agony like having the very soul torn apart!
The pain penetrated deep into the soul. It marked the beginning of Core formation, and the cultivator had to remain conscious through it or the entire endeavor would fail.
Xu Ziqing forced himself to endure. His soul felt as though it were being burned alive, as though he were trapped in a bloody hell of unimaginable torment.
It seemed to last only an instant, yet also ten million years. At last, with a sound like tearing silk, he bit his lips until they bled!
And the strand of primordial spirit was finally extracted!
But there was no time to rest.
At the same instant, the true essence he had prepared surged forth violently—
Boom!
His dantian suddenly emptied.
At its center, however, a perfectly round pearl was spinning rapidly.
It was his newly formed Golden Core.
One day, white mist had appeared in the valley behind Yun Family Manor. It remained year after year, eventually turning the valley into forbidden ground.
Later, on a certain day, the mist dispersed, though no one dared enter.
But one day the white mist gathered again. The grasses and trees on several hills surrounding the valley grew with extraordinary speed, making it even harder to see inside.
At that time, great masses of auspicious clouds suddenly gathered in the sky. Before long, they turned purple, forming an exceptionally magnificent spectacle.
Only after a full eighty-one days did the purple clouds and rosy vapors finally disperse.
Yet unusual phenomena continued around the valley, and no one dared approach.
And so, another ten years passed.