The sun shone gaily in March. It was also the period when green leaves grew once again as pinkish-red flowers revealed their vibrancy.
Beside the mirror lake, Qin Yun was sitting on the ground. He could smell the fragrance of the grass as well as the cherry blossoms that were floating over. Inside the clear lake, he could see fish swimming.
He watched the world around him and took in the sights of nature.
Qin Yun had been sitting by the lake for several days.
“The breakthrough should happen today.” Qin Yun felt that his soul and mind were in complete harmony with absolute clarity. He got up immediately and walked towards a seclusion chamber.
In the yard where the chamber was, Yi Xiao was preparing tea.
“My wife, prepare some good food and wine tonight,” said Qin Yun as he walked into the yard.
“Alright, I’ll cook for you personally, my husband. I’ll go now to buy all the ingredients for a table full of delicacies.” Yi Xiao stood up.
“Sorry for troubling you, my wife.”
Qin Yun smiled as he walked into the seclusion chamber.
Yi Xiao watched the chamber door close before she turned solemn. She muttered to herself, “The final barrier for a sword immortal is the Golden Core. As of now, Brother Yun grasps two Paramount realms and has immense accumulations. He will definitely form the Golden Core. I just wonder what stage the Golden Core he forms will be.”
Just like the False Core, there were different grades.
Golden Cores also had strength of varying levels. Reaching the Golden Core was the limit of the sword immortal lineage! Therefore, whatever Golden Core was formed would be Qin Yun’s limit. As for the idea that he might create a Dharmic formulation to condense an Essence Soul himself? That was too distant! Since ancient times, many sword immortals who stepped into the Dao, such as Elder Sword, had attempted to create Dharmic formulations but all of them failed. As such, they never lived longer than five hundred years, eventually returning to dust.
The Golden Core realm was the absolute limit a sword immortal could attain. And now, Qin Yun would be reaching that limit.
******
In the chamber.
The fragrance of incense emanated throughout the chamber. There were emerald-green crystals, each the size of a fist, hanging from the ceiling of the chamber. All of them were valuable Jade Water Core Stones. They had abstruse runic patterns engraved on them. They were also a part of chamber’s array formations. They would pull in the world’s spiritual energies constantly, enriching the chamber with worldly spiritual energies. Even mortals who lived in such an environment for prolonged periods of time could live past a hundred years old.
“Swoosh.”
Qin Yun sat cross-legged on a mat as he gently breathed out and closed his eyes.
There was no need for him to calm his mind. He had purged his mind and soul while beside the mirror lake for the past few days. He was in optimal condition.
He studied his dantian.
There was a whitish-gold True Core and a Sword Ball inside his dantian. His Intrinsic Flying Sword had undergone a long period of cultivation and nourishment. With all the treasures he had amassed, his Intrinsic Flying Sword had already reached the second-grade two years ago. A second-grade Intrinsic Flying Sword could produce strength at the level of a transcendent-grade Dharma treasure.
As for the whitish-gold True Core, its diameter was nine times that of the Sword Ball’s. It contained massive sword immortal Quintessential Essence. Although it was only a True Core, the immensity and quality of the Dharmic powers were approaching that of an ordinary Golden Core.
“Up!”
He commanded with his mind.
The whitish-gold True Core appeared to be solid but, if it were greatly magnified, one could see that there were countless thread-like Sword Immortal Dharmic Powers weaved together in layers. As it obeyed Qin Yun’s thought, the countless threads of Sword Immortal Dharmic Powers began to experience a miraculous change. From inside the True Core, half of the Dharmic powers used the Paramount realm of defense as its center. The other half used the Paramount realm of decimation as its center. Instantly, tens of millions of sword beams interlocked as they began to automatically spin outwards.
As they spiraled outwards, they began to compress and twist together, forming something more corporeal and pure.
Phew! Phew!
In just a few seconds, the whitish-gold True Core spun and disintegrated! It split into two massive blobs of Dharmic power.
The two powerful Dharmic powers were like two fishes pursuing each other in a spiraling fashion.
Logically speaking, a Connate True Core that contained immense Dharmic powers could blow Qin Yun to smithereens if it exploded completely! However, the promotion from the True Core to the Golden Core was mystical. By letting the True Core enter the dual modes of Yin and Yang, they were in a compact balance that did not explode despite containing immense powers.
But as the countless sword beams compressed and interlocked to become purer, his Quintessential Essence also underwent a qualitative change. Therefore, there was no turning back.
It needed to be condensed into a Golden Core.
He might even lose his life if he failed to form the Golden Core. Qin Yun’s realm was high so he naturally wouldn’t fail but he also sought the limit of the Golden Core. He wanted to form a superior-grade Golden Core.
“The dual modes of Yin and Yang. Yin represents defense while Yang represents decimation.”
“A single entity with two sides, condense!”
Qin Yun did not hesitate at all.
Three years ago, his Misty Rain Sword Intent had reached the Paramount realm. He realized that he needed to pursue the core ideal of defense. But when he dealt with the fiendish demons of the nineteen prefectures, Qin Yun felt that his flying sword art’s strength was lacking. Compared to Cui Lianfeng, who was also a Paramount realm sword immortal, and aside from Samsara which could achieve Infinite Converging Sword at the expense of burdening his soul, his moves were inferior.
A sword immortal could destroy all Dharma with a single sword. They were well known for decimating their foes but back when he fought the Paramount realm great fiendish demons, he found himself lacking in the offense department.
Over the past three years of cultivating, Qin Yun’s insight grew deeper and he was more assured in his beliefs.
“A truly perfect Sword Dao naturally separates into Yin and Yang. It can’t just be defense alone, there is a need for decimation as well.”
“Only with the two combined will it be perfect.”
With this realization, Qin Yun traveled the world to kill fiendish demons for the past three years. He was unfazed by the threat of the Nine Lineage Fiendish Demons. He remained unyielding and, powered with this Dao heart, Qin Yun gradually gained insight into a second Paramount realm of decimation for his Misty Rain Sword Intent.
With decimation, the Misty Rain Sword Intent was closer to perfection.
“Phew…Phew…”
The two immensely powerful Dharmic powers spun under the two completely different Paramount realms’ guidance. These two Paramount realms were simply two sides of the same Misty Rain Sword Intent.
Like the Yin and Yang fishes, they pursued each other, slowly…
As the two Yin-Yang fishes gradually shrank, a point of light was finally born in the middle of them. It was as though it was the first light of the Universe’s birth.
Time seemed to turn still at that instant.
“Boom.” Following that, the two Yin-Yang fishes rapidly spun as they continued their pursuit, transforming into a beam of light. Both of them rapidly contracted as the point of light gradually turned into a blinding flash. Slowly, the light converged on itself, revealing its true form.
There was a very tiny Golden Core.
It represented a form of perfection, the perfection of Quintessential Essence Dharmic powers.
The Golden Core was not golden in color as foretold in legends. Instead, it was deep purple-gold that suffused purple light. It was noble and pretty. Its existence was naturally imbued with the magnificence of the Heavenly Dao.
“Golden Core, with purple gold as an extremum.” Qin Yun felt overjoyed.
“I condensed a purplish-gold Golden Core?”
Qin Yun was full of excitement and joy.
His foundations were indeed robust. He had attained the Connate False Core after grasping sword intent. His Connate False Core was a lot stronger than that of his peers. Later on, he condensed a Connate True Core with the sword intent domain. At the Connate True Core, he was approaching the power of an ordinary Connate Golden Core. Therefore, with the Sword Intent Paramount realm… Qin Yun believed that the Golden Core he formed would be of a rather high grade.
However, a purplish-gold Golden Core was legendary.
Daoists had a saying—Golden Core, with purple gold as an extremum. It meant that the formation of a Golden Core with a purplish-gold Golden Core was perfection. It could not be any better and in such a realm, the purity of the Golden Core Dharmic powers could match that of Essence Soul immortals.
“There have been other cases in history of those who had first gained insight into the Paramount realm before forming the Golden Core. However, those with a purplish-gold Golden Core are even fewer,” thought Qin Yun. “I can attain it, firstly, because my False Core and True Core had robust foundations. Secondly, the fact that I relied on two Sword Intent Paramount realms to form the Golden Core with the dual modes of Yin and Yang played a part.”
Regardless, he had attained a purplish-gold Golden Core! Qin Yun was quite happy. After all, he had attained the Golden Core extremum as spoken in legends.
“However, the Sword Immortal Legacy has also reached an end,” said Qin Yun silently. As he absorbed the world’s spiritual energies, he constantly enlarged the purplish-gold Golden Core. At the same time, he knew that with his great improvement in strength, his Dharmic powers had reached their limit.
To make another improvement?
To condense an Essence Soul to become immortal and have everlasting youth? The path was destined to be fraught with difficulties. Could he accomplish it within five hundred years? Although Qin Yun was filled with fighting spirit, he truly did not have much confidence.
…
After ten hours, his purplish-gold Golden Core absorbed sufficient spiritual energy from the world. It reached the limit of what his dantian could withstand. In size, it was only slightly bigger than his Intrinsic Sword Ball.
In terms of Golden Core Dharmic powers, Qin Yun probably stood atop the current generation! His attainment of the purplish-gold Golden Core had even caused a qualitative change that allowed him to match the Dharmic powers of immortals of fiendcelestials.
“Creak.”
The chamber’s door opened.
Qin Yun walked out the chamber. In the yard, Yi Xiao was waiting by a table in a daze. When she heard the door creak open, she immediately stood up.
At that moment, the moon was hanging above them. Stars could be barely seen as Qin Yun looked at his wife with a smile.
“Brother Yun, how was it?” asked Yi Xiao immediately.
Qin Yun walked to the table and looked at the myriad of dishes laid out on it. When Yi Xiao saw this, she waved her hand to undo her Dharma spell. The dishes were as warm as when they were fresh.
“It smells great.” Qin Yun took a deep breath.
“I’m asking you, how’s the Golden Core formation?” asked Yi Xiao immediately.
“Golden Core, with purple gold as an extremum.” Qin Yun said as he picked up a wine flask to fill the cups. “Come on, let’s eat and drink.”
“Purplish-gold Golden Core?” Yi Xiao was astonished.
“Yea. This Lion’s Head is great. It’s firm and chewy.” Qin Yun said after biting off a Lion’s Head meatball. “My wife, your cooking has improved.”
“I’m talking to you about the purplish-gold Golden Core but you’re talking about meatballs.” Yi Xiao felt helpless.
“Haha, what’s wrong with the meatball?”
Under the night sky, the couple ate and chatted in the yard.
That night, almost no one in the world knew that a cultivator with a purplish-gold Golden Core had appeared.
(End of Volume)