Chapter 40: Breaking Through to the Golden Core

Li Moxuan returned to Peach Blossom Village with Li Moling. Xue Ming was still waiting at the entrance. Seeing Li Moxuan return with his sister, Xue Ming heaved a sigh of relief and hurried forward.

"Master, you have returned! You had your subordinate worried sick!"

Li Moxuan nodded indifferently. "Indeed."

Li Moling curiously sized up the strange-looking Xue Ming. "Brother, who is this old gentleman?"

Xue Ming looked at the adorable Li Moling and immediately broke into a ghastly grin. "Hehehe, this beautiful, breathtaking, and peerlessly stunning young lady must be the Master's sister, right?"

Xue Ming’s smile made Li Moling take a step back, yet his sycophancy left her somewhat overwhelmed. "I’m not that great!"

Li Moxuan was speechless. "You’ve used up every vocabulary word you know, haven't you?" This old man sure knew how to grovel; a real bootlicker.

Xue Ming chuckled, shamelessly, "These are all heartfelt words from this subordinate, spoken from the bottom of my soul!"

"Enough, don't be so disgusting."

Li Moling asked, "Old man, do you know my brother?"

Xue Ming began to introduce himself: "My name is Xue Ming, I am the Master's..."

Li Moxuan interrupted, "He is a friend of mine!"

Xue Ming’s heart instantly sank.

"Yes, yes, exactly!"

"You can just call him Old Man Xue!"

Li Moling scratched her small head. "The surname Xue? That’s so strange!"

Xue Ming gave a dry laugh. "It’s just one of the common surnames!"

Li Moxuan said to Li Moling, "Go back to your room first. You have classes to attend tomorrow, and we have some matters to attend to."

"Okay..." Li Moling agreed and went inside.

Li Moxuan took out paper and a pen, wrote down a prescription, and handed it to Xue Ming. "Go. Use this prescription, and your life will be secure."

Xue Ming’s hands trembled as he held the prescription. "Thank you, Master!"

"By the way, do you know the Gale Hall?"

Xue Ming immediately reacted. "Could it be that the people from the Gale Hall laid a hand on the Master's sister? They have some nerve!"

"Exactly..."

Xue Ming’s expression turned grim. "Does the Master want me to take action?"

"Tell me about the situation first!"

Xue Ming nodded and recounted everything he knew. "The Gale Hall has three hall masters, each at the mid-stage of the Grandmaster realm. Under them are a dozen or so Innate experts and hundreds of Acquired experts. Above them, there is also a mysterious Chief Hall Master and a Vice Hall Master; no one knows the details about them."

"Some say they have reached the Great Grandmaster realm. Their influence is in no way inferior to the Three Sects and Six Clans. With the Master’s strength, wiping out the Gale Hall would not be difficult, but it is rumored that they are connected to Hidden Martial Sects. The Master must be extremely cautious."

Li Moxuan asked curiously, "Hidden Martial Sects?"

"Yes. These external martial forces and families are, to varying degrees, related to those Hidden Martial Sects. They are descendants of ancient martial arts, with thousand-year legacies and deep foundations. Who knows, they might even have Martial Sages or Martial Gods backing them. They are transcendent beings who provide shelter to these worldly factions in exchange for tribute from the Gale Hall or powerful families."

"Master, you must also be from a Hidden Martial Sect, right?" Xue Ming asked, probing into Li Moxuan’s background with a fawning smile.

Li Moxuan snorted coldly. "Don't go digging into things you shouldn't know!"

Xue Ming nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, of course!"

"Alright, go tend to your business!"

Xue Ming left. Li Moxuan returned to his room and pondered privately. It seemed the world outside was not as simple as he thought. There were even hidden ancient martial sects. He wondered how they compared to his own cultivation sect.

Mentioning the sect, Li Moxuan suddenly remembered his second master, Bi Hua, who had acted as an absentee mentor after dumping him in a women’s prison. Li Moxuan wasn’t worried about her safety; with her strength, few in this world could threaten her. It was just her temperament...

Thinking of the wild life he had led with his beautiful masters, Li Moxuan couldn't help but shake his head helplessly. His beautiful masters were each more eccentric than the last; they were truly unfathomable.

Once he finished the tasks at hand, he would look for news about his second master. For now, he needed to increase his strength quickly.

Li Moxuan sat down in his room and began to absorb the Yin-Yang Stones.

He recalled his first master's words. Her crisp, elegant voice echoed in his ears: *Condense the heavenly evolution, gather it into a pill!*

The Golden Core realm and the Nascent Soul realm were the two most important stages for a cultivator, and also the watershed. It was the key for the spiritual energy within the body to undergo a qualitative change from a quantitative one. If one condensed a Golden Core, they could ride a sword in flight. If one gathered a Nascent Soul, they would have two lives with one soul.

Reaching the Golden Core realm allowed one to cast powerful arts and traverse the skies on a sword. If one cultivated a Nascent Soul, even if the physical body were destroyed, the soul could still possess another body and be reborn. This was of utmost importance to a cultivator; it was the foundation of survival.

Li Moxuan took a deep breath. "I am currently at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm, only a thin line away from the Golden Core stage. With the pure spiritual energy of the Yin-Yang Stones, it is enough to break through!"

Li Moxuan spread his hands. The Yin-Yang Stones hovered above his head on their own, releasing Yin and Yang energy. They formed a miniature Taiji diagram, with the stones themselves transforming into the Yin and Yang fish. The black and white energies blended together, pouring into the crown of Li Moxuan’s head like nectar, eventually merging into his Dantian's energy vortex.

Li Moxuan’s aura gradually condensed. His body began to emit a soft white light, his presence becoming ethereal and holy, like a celestial being. Li Moling, passing by, saw this scene, her beautiful eyes filled with stars of adoration. "Wow, Brother is so amazing. He really is a cultivator!"

...

The next morning, Li Moxuan, having meditated all night, opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air. A profound spiritual energy suddenly radiated from his body. At his Dantian, a golden, dove-egg-sized Golden Core had formed.

His five senses were heightened, his aura was condensed and powerful, and he felt reborn.

Li Moxuan wore a look of joy. "I have finally reached the Golden Core realm!"