Chapter 658: Golden Core Fourth Layer

Pure Nine-Lotus Treasure Lamp.

As the two walked over, Liu Wenbai's expression was relatively normal, but Song Huangda, who was beside him, looked terrified and uneasy, constantly wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

By the end of last year, Song Huangda had completed his task of guarding the Green Cicada Tea Tree in Dragon Horn Gully. Following the original plan, he then joined Liu Wenbai's lineage, becoming a registered disciple of the Minor Southern Mountain branch.

However, because Chen Mobai had slain Yan Fusheng in Hong Nation and led the Divine Wood Sect to annihilate Mount Liujia, the spies within the Divine Wood Sect suddenly went silent.

Consequently, Song Huangda's position within the Minor Southern Mountain lineage became awkward.

Since the spies no longer contacted him, he lost his value.

Liu Wenbai had brought him over precisely because of this issue.

In his opinion, since Song Huangda was no longer useful, he should be dealt with; after all, keeping him nearby would only be a potential danger.

However, Song Huangda was someone Chen Mobai had entrusted to him, so before taking action, he needed to seek his Master's instruction.

Although Liu Wenbai didn't explicitly state these thoughts, Song Huangda vaguely sensed them. Yet, as a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, under the watchful eye of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had no chance of escaping.

Moreover, even if he managed to escape from Liu Wenbai, where could he go?

Half of the Eastern Wilds were now under the Divine Wood Sect's dominion, and the Minor Southern Mountain Emporium had branches across all nineteen nations. Capturing a small Qi Condensation cultivator like him would be effortless.

Now, being brought before the foremost person in the Eastern Wilds, Song Huangda became even more nervous and anxious.

He even felt a surge of despair, thinking that this time next year might mark the anniversary of his death.

“Since you’ve accepted him as a disciple, then properly guide him. Where a person is born is not up to them, but what kind of person they become is determined by their own will.”

Just as Song Huangda closed his eyes, his face pale, preparing for death, he heard the single most memorable sentence of his life.

“Yes, Master!”

Liu Wenbai had always revered Chen Mobai like a deity. Hearing his words, he immediately nodded in respectful agreement.

Song Huangda abruptly opened his eyes. Looking at Chen Mobai, who was nearby touching a camellia and watering it, an emotion he had never felt before surged within him.

This emotion was very warm, yet also subtly cool.

It felt like falling into a clear spring, having all dust washed away, and then lying unburdened on a large rock, bathed in gentle, warm sunlight.

“Thank you, Sect Leader!”

Song Huangda wiped the sweat from his forehead and solemnly bowed to Chen Mobai.

“It's Grand-Master!”

Liu Wenbai immediately corrected his form of address from the side. Seeing no reaction from Chen Mobai, Song Huangda quickly changed his address to "Grand-Master."

Chen Mobai: “I recall you cultivate the Void Dharma Body, correct?”

Song Huangda: “Yes.”

Chen Mobai: “Recite your Void Dharma Body incantation for me.”

Song Huangda showed a hesitant expression, and Chen Mobai knew that when he obtained this body-tempering cultivation method from the Restoration Society, he must have made a Dao Heart Vow not to reveal it.

Upon asking, it turned out to be true.

Chen Mobai: “I will give you the Void Dharma Body manual that I obtained when we eradicated Mount Hanshan. Compare it and see if there are any differences. This shouldn't violate your Dao Heart Vow, right?”

Song Huangda nodded repeatedly, indicating there were no restrictions on this.

Liu Wenbai, holding Chen Mobai's personal order, quickly retrieved the Void Dharma Body manual from the scripture pavilion.

Song Huangda cautiously finished reading the first-tier Qi Condensation section. Understanding the rules, he didn't read further, and nodded, confirming that the content was identical, even more detailed than what he had received from the Restoration Society.

Chen Mobai also had some ideas regarding the Void Dharma Body. After all, if mastered, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could perform spatial shifting techniques similar to "Void Walking," which would be very suitable for him to solidify his image as a potential Spirit Transformation realm talent in the Immortal Sect.

However, since it was obtained from Mount Hanshan, he certainly wouldn't rashly cultivate it himself.

Conveniently, Song Huangda, a self-delivered spy, was now available.

“This Void Dharma Body manual is a fragmented copy obtained after the sect annihilated Mount Hanshan, then compiled with parts I acquired from slaying enemies. It can be cultivated all the way to the perfected Core Formation realm. Since you have joined the Minor Southern Mountain lineage, I shall bestow this complete body-tempering cultivation method upon you.”

Song Huangda trembled with excitement, realizing he had just officially entered the sect and was already granted the complete first-ranked body-tempering cultivation method of the Eastern Wilds.

If only he had known earlier, he would have abandoned the darkness and embraced the light back in Yan Nation.

The Restoration Society certainly didn't offer such treatment.

The Divine Wood Sect truly deserved its reputation as the sun of the Eastern Wilds, illuminating all, the foremost great sect.

At this moment, Song Huangda completely regarded himself as a part of Minor Southern Mountain. He swore in his heart that he would become a noble and great person like Grand-Master Chen!

After dealing with this matter, Liu Wenbai reported on the earnings of the Minor Southern Mountain Emporium.

Last year, the Divine Wood Sect's puppet factory was completed. Utilizing the batch of old equipment Chen Mobai brought back from the Immortal Sect, it could produce an additional four million first-tier talismans annually, allowing the Minor Southern Mountain Emporium to earn a million spirit stones from talismans alone.

Since Chen Mobai had not returned from the Immortal Sect for the entire last year, Liu Wenbai, following previous instructions, converted these spirit stones into various spirit plant saplings and sent them to the Eastern Wilds Plateau, supporting Junior Sister Zhuo Ming's grand project of transforming the land.

In addition to the saplings, there were also expenditures for forging and purchasing various spirit tools for cultivation, custom-ordering large-scale puppet farming machinery designed by Chen Mobai from the Puppet Department, and so on.

Liu Wenbai only reserved the essential spirit stones needed to maintain the operation of the Minor Southern Mountain Emporium's branches across the nineteen nations of the Eastern Wilds. All remaining funds were used, according to his judgment, to purchase equipment, supplies, and so forth, which were then sent to Yan Nation.

Chen Mobai praised him greatly for this.

He stated that Liu Wenbai had not failed in his identity and responsibilities as the second-generation Senior Disciple Brother of Minor Southern Mountain.

“Master, you are too kind,” Liu Wenbai humbly replied. “I merely followed your instructions.”

Liu Wenbai spoke humbly, then mentioned that Zhuo Ming had entrusted him with the excess spirit rice, spirit meat, and other goods from the Eastern Wilds Plateau for distant export to nations beyond the plateau.

However, due to the increased spirit rice production and the Minor Southern Mountain Emporium selling spirit meat for the first time, the profits weren't very good.

For the entire last year, this aspect only generated an income of 200,000 spirit stones.

Regarding this, Chen Mobai merely instructed Liu Wenbai to continue selling and to stock the Minor Southern Mountain Emporium with all sorts of special products from the Eastern Wilds Plateau.

In the initial phase, they shouldn't focus on earning spirit stones but rather on opening and occupying the market first.

After Chen Mobai affirmed that the Minor Southern Mountain Emporium's primary goal for the next ten years would be to supply Zhuo Ming's efforts in developing the Eastern Wilds Plateau, with earning spirit stones as a secondary objective, Liu Wenbai felt reassured and descended the mountain with Song Huangda.

Another year quickly passed.

Because most of the power of the Dharma Body Nascent Soul was transformed from a fifth-tier Soul-Nourishing Wood, Zhou Shengqing's Nascent Soul transformation phenomenon was not particularly conspicuous.

Even when there were occasional intense spiritual energy fluctuations within the Longevity Wood Daoist Temple, everyone simply assumed that Chen Mobai or Fu Zongjue were practicing some powerful spell.

During this year, Chen Mobai, with the help of the Divine Wood Sect, once again gathered all the necessary materials for a batch of Golden Crow Holding Sun Pills.

This time, his refining process was much more skilled than before. Seven pills were successfully formed, and the impurity level of each pill was below 1.

Thanks to the efficacy of the Golden Crow Holding Sun Pills, his cultivation showed signs of another breakthrough.

On this very day, at the summit of Mount Danxia, beneath the Azure Jade Phoenix Tree, an immensely powerful surge of spiritual energy soared into the sky, like a magnificent heavenly pillar, cleansing the firmament into a clear blue sky!

Fourth-tier high-grade spiritual energy was continuously captured and extracted by powerful divine sense, transforming into crimson streaks of spiritual light that Chen Mobai, seated beneath the Azure Jade Phoenix Tree, refined.

Although the spirit vein of Mount Danxia was a fire vein, it also contained some earth elemental energy. Therefore, when Chen Mobai refined it, he needed to filter out the earth elemental spirit energy and only absorb the fire elemental spirit energy.

This is where spirit vein energy is inferior to spirit stones.

Spirit stones contain pure spiritual energy that can be refined and converted into spiritual power of any attribute without obstruction. However, spirit vein energy has specific attributes, requiring a cultivator's technique to be compatible.

If not for maintaining appearances, creating a buzz, and upholding his image as a potential Spirit Transformation realm talent in the Immortal Sect, Chen Mobai would have long ago taken out a pile of high-grade spirit stones and successfully broken through.

This was also Chen Mobai's first time breaking through in the Immortal Sect without external aids, following a normal cultivation path.

He found it harder than he had anticipated.

This made it difficult for him, accustomed to smooth sailing, to accept.

The breakthrough phenomenon lasted for a full two months. Chen Mobai felt that his speed of refining fire elemental spirit energy had reached a bottleneck. If he continued this way, he wouldn't be able to accumulate enough pure Yang spiritual power to break through to the fourth layer of Core Formation.

This indicated that his foundation was unstable, his accumulated spiritual power insufficient, and he needed further accumulation and refinement.

According to the established wisdom of the Immortal Sect, he should naturally disperse the gathered immense spiritual energy, halt his breakthrough, and wait for another opportunity to try again.

But that was what ordinary people would do.

Chen Mobai had openly displayed signs of his breakthrough on Mount Danxia, not to let his established image collapse.

He looked at the three items placed at his feet.

One was a spirit-gathering array formed by high-grade spirit stones.

Two was the Pure Yang Purple Qi condensed within a sealed spirit tube, a result of Yin Qingmei's continuous guidance of the Vast Heaven Mirror over the years.

Three was a blood-red pill, the Blood Spirit Pill that had allowed Fu Zongjue to break through to the mid-Core Formation stage back then.

Chen Mobai was confident that by using any one of these three items, he could directly break through to the fourth layer of Core Formation.

However, the high-grade spirit stones were his last resort. Chen Mobai wanted to appear as if he was breaking through by drawing on Mount Danxia's spirit vein energy, so he would only use them in an emergency, if consuming the other two items still failed to achieve a breakthrough.

After a moment of thought, Chen Mobai directly picked up the Blood Spirit Pill and ingested it.

This type of barrier-breaking pill from the Heavenly River Realm was most effective when breaking through from the early to mid-Core Formation stage. He had two such pills, and if he didn't use them now, they would become useless later.

In contrast, the Pure Yang Purple Qi would remain useful for Pure Yang Scroll cultivators even at the Nascent Soul realm, so it was better to save it.

Chen Mobai had already heard from Fu Zongjue about the method and experience of consuming the Blood Spirit Pill, so he easily refined it into his body.

Then, under the activation of the Lantern Illumination Art, he felt his essence, qi, and spirit suddenly increase by half. His divine sense and physical body, which had already reached their limits, instantly drew in a large surge of spirit vein energy drifting in the surrounding void.

Caught off guard, some earth elemental spirit energy was even refined into his pure Yang spiritual power.

However, at this crucial moment of breakthrough, Chen Mobai couldn't afford to care about these details. He could only rely on the Blood Spirit Pill's potent medicinal power to forcefully assault the bottleneck of the fourth layer of Core Formation.

It could only be said that the pills from the Heavenly River Realm were far more potent than those from the Immortal Sect.

Seven days later, Chen Mobai felt his pure Yang spiritual power, which had previously been lacking by a small margin, suddenly break through the limits of his Dantian Qi Sea.

Following this, it was like fish leaping in the vast sea and birds soaring high in the boundless sky!

His Dantian Qi Sea, which had seemed unable to accumulate or refine even a trace more, expanded by one-third of its previous size!

In the void, faint silver light shimmered like moonlight, sheer and misty, descending into Chen Mobai's Core Formation domain.

As endless void energy poured in, a massive space of 1280 cubic units surged into form, appearing within Chen Mobai's Sea of Consciousness.

In the center of his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, the Azure Jade Phoenix Tree, where a phoenix's illusion resided, became even more solidified and expansive. Faintly, Chen Mobai saw the phoenix's feathers dance, and more five-colored auspicious energy descended into the surroundings.

It seemed as if more auspicious blessings were bestowed upon him.

However, these could not be verified for now, so Chen Mobai set them aside and began to examine his pure Yang spiritual power after breaking through to the fourth layer of Core Formation.

However, compared to the exceptionally pure Yang spiritual power he had before the breakthrough, there was now a hint of yellowish spiritual light.

This was the drawback of forcibly breaking through with an unstable foundation, using the Blood Spirit Pill, which led to a lack of control.

He had refined both the earth and fire elemental spirit energy from Mount Danxia's spirit vein to boost his pure Yang spiritual power. Although he succeeded in breaking through, there was now a hidden problem.

However, for cultivators of the Pure Yang Scroll, this was a minor issue, as the Lantern Illumination Art could purify and refine it.

Generally, however, Pure Yang cultivators in the Immortal Sect would not forcibly break through like Chen Mobai, relying solely on the Lantern Illumination Art.

This is because the time required for subsequent purification using the Lantern Illumination Art might be similar to the time spent on solidifying one's foundation before a breakthrough.

Moreover, such a forced breakthrough carried the risk of failure.

However, Chen Mobai was a proponent of the "realm-first" school of thought. Since he could break through and had the means, he naturally wouldn't waste any more time.

At least he was now at the fourth layer of Core Formation. Although his spiritual power had some impurities, it wouldn't affect his combat strength.

As the Divine Wood Sect Leader, who frequently had to step in and stabilize situations, especially at the crucial moment when Zhou Shengqing was about to successfully form his Nascent Soul, he felt he needed to do this.

Originally, he estimated it would take eight years to achieve this breakthrough, but now it had happened three years ahead of schedule.

Besides the potent efficacy of the Blood Spirit Pill, it was also due to his annual consumption of Golden Crow Holding Sun Pills.

A clear comparative example was True Monarch Shaoyang, Chen Mobai's mentor from the Martial Artifact Daoist Academy. He spent a full fifteen years to break through from the third to the fourth layer of Core Formation.

Of course, in addition to cultivating Pure Yang spiritual power, he was also held back by the restrictive condition that he could only break through after perfecting the Seven Yang Body.

Later, when True Monarch Shaoyang was cultivating the Eight Yang Body, he calculated his remaining lifespan and compared it to his actual progress. In despair, he directly switched to cultivating the Sky-Burning Art.