Chapter 543: Giving Up

Now for the main event.

No matter how powerful an external elixir is, it is ultimately an external object.

Only by forming one's own Golden Core can one truly take this step on the path of immortality.

The experiences left by the predecessors—whether true or false—can now be verified.

At this moment, Qin Sang suddenly rose and left his cave. First, he sent a message to Yun Youzi to report his safety, telling him he might need to seclude himself for a few more days. Then, he searched deep within the mountains and finally found a spiritual vein.

During the process of forming a Golden Core, heaven and earth converge, winds and clouds gather, drawing in the spiritual energy of the world to infuse the body.

Other cultivators attempting to form a Golden Core invariably sought out caves rich in spiritual energy, hoping to increase their chances of success. Qin Sang, however, feared delaying the opportune moment and didn't have time for an exhaustive search.

Although this cave was not as good as his Spiritual Spring Cave, it was still usable. If he truly succeeded in forming the core, there would be more than enough spiritual energy for body infusion, without affecting its efficacy.

Qin Sang had already confirmed that there were no great demons in this mountain range, so he wasn't afraid that the Golden Core phenomena would attract trouble.

The spiritual vein was not conspicuous, and its range was not large, but the spiritual energy was quite dense.

Qin Sang drove out the demonic beasts from the mountains and seized the best cave on the spiritual vein. To do this, he gave a good beating to a black bear at the peak of the Mortal Demonic stage that inhabited the cave.

After clearing out the foul smell from the cave, setting up a defensive formation, and adding an additional spirit-gathering array, Qin Sang sat cross-legged and circulated his cultivation technique with full effort.

Before long, his Qi Sea was finally full, and he had recovered to his peak state.

Inside the cave, due to the presence of the spirit-gathering array, the spiritual energy was extremely dense. The moment Qin Sang fully recovered, a peculiar fluctuation suddenly appeared in the cave's spiritual energy.

Simultaneously, outside the cave, the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky.

At that very moment, the light over the mountaintop suddenly dimmed. Dark clouds appeared from nowhere, and then the wind began to roar, quickly turning into a gale that flattened plants and sent dry leaves scattering.

Nearby birds and beasts were startled by the sudden phenomena. Sensing the unusual aura, they became terrified and scrambled to flee out of the mountains.

Around this mountain, in the deep forests, there were many unawakened wild beasts that, by chance, had developed some intelligence. Instinctively absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, they were beginning to transform into demonic beasts and were highly sensitive to changes in spiritual energy.

One by one, they stood upright, gazing towards the mountain. Although they didn't understand the reason for these phenomena, a sense of envy inexplicably arose deep within their hearts.

It left them scratching their heads, bewildered by its origin.

Huh?

Unaware of the changes outside, Qin Sang's attention was fully on himself. He suddenly let out a soft exclamation, surprised that such a situation would arise.

After recovering to his full strength, he had expected to need to seclude himself for some time, carefully comprehending, before gaining any insights.

Unexpectedly, the signs of Golden Core formation appeared immediately.

This feeling was akin to water flowing naturally into a channel, indicating effortless progression.

He could achieve it effortlessly, simply by willing it!

He recalled the writings left by his predecessors, which mentioned that there could be no slackness during Golden Core formation. One had to carefully comprehend and seize the fleeting opportunity to truly succeed.

Qin Sang wasn't sure if this was due to the Jade Buddha stabilizing his Dao Heart, the method of condensing malevolent energy and refining spiritual essence, his own profound accumulation, or a combination of all three.

Forming the Golden Core was, surprisingly, much easier than he had imagined!

Seeing this, Qin Sang had no hesitation whatsoever. Without a moment's doubt, he cleared all distracting thoughts, embraced profundity, maintained singular focus, and began to charge towards Golden Core formation!

As his thought arose, spiritual energy furiously rotated within his Qi Sea.

Outside the mountain, the unusual phenomena intensified.

Dark clouds, a dense, oppressive mass, gathered more and more, at some point engulfing a large area around the mountain. Within the dark clouds, faint silver threads flickered, and the muffled rumble of thunder grew increasingly distinct.

Inside the mountain, gales howled, sweeping up sand and stones.

The spiritual energy from the surrounding mountains was drawn by the aura, converging towards the cave's location. Centered on the cave, a faint, visible funnel shape began to form.

Just as the celestial phenomena accumulated to a certain degree, on the verge of manifesting the true wonder of Golden Core formation,

Suddenly, the winds and clouds dispersed, and the lightning vanished.

Cracks appeared on the funnel, then it abruptly shattered, and spiritual energy dissipated.

In an instant, heaven and earth returned to peace. The scorching sun illuminated the mountain range, dispelling all gloom, and the previous phenomena seemed as if they had never existed.

Inside the cave, Qin Sang clasped his hands tightly over his Dantian, his face flushed, panting heavily. In the depths of his eyes, hesitation and resolve still lingered.

If others knew someone voluntarily gave up forming a Golden Core, they'd surely call me a fool, wouldn't they?

Qin Sang steadied his breathing and murmured to himself.

The Golden Core formation hadn't failed; he had actively halted it!

The spiritual energy hasn't reverted, and the opportune moment is still there; I can form the core at any time in the future. Otherwise, I probably couldn't have refused such a great temptation...

Qin Sang gave a self-deprecating smile, lowered his head, and looked at his Qi Sea. Fortunately, he had made up his mind quickly; he forcefully stopped the Golden Core formation as soon as the signs appeared, preventing himself from being injured.

The reason he did this was that, at the last moment, Qin Sang realized with alarm—the hidden injury to his foundation would adversely affect the Golden Core!

It wasn't that Yun Youzi's Martial Uncle was wrong.

Indeed, a damaged foundation did not hinder Golden Core formation; Qin Sang's process was very smooth.

However, just as he was about to complete the core formation, Qin Sang suddenly understood that if he formed the Golden Core with a damaged foundation, the resulting core would also be affected.

He recalled what Yun Youzi had once said.

Regarding the term "Golden Core":

"Golden" signifies something solid, enduring, and indestructible; "Core" signifies something complete, luminous, and flawless.

The Golden Core Qin Sang would form, due to his incomplete foundation and deficient Qi Sea, would be a flawed core. Just like in the Foundation Establishment stage, he would naturally be inferior to cultivators of the same realm.

Only now did Qin Sang realize that if his foundational injury wasn't healed, it would continue to affect him. Moreover, this influence would grow larger and more apparent as his cultivation advanced!

As the saying goes, once formed, a Golden Core is irreversible.

Once such a flawed core was formed, attempting to remedy it would likely be even harder than repairing his foundation. Qin Sang wasn't even sure how effective the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit would be then.

Precisely for this reason.

At the very last moment, Qin Sang resolutely made a decision that would leave countless cultivators dumbfounded: he resisted the immense temptation and actively aborted the Golden Core formation.

If he hadn't received news of the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit, he might have hesitated. But now, it was different; the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit was in Ziwei Palace, and he could enter within the next two years.

He possessed external elixirs, a Flying Yaksha, Void Sky Thunder, and magical artifacts...

With all his abilities, even without forming a Golden Core, he still had no fear of Golden Core cultivators.

Furthermore, his superficial cultivation was only at the False Core realm, which might lead others to underestimate him, providing an opportunity to feign weakness to ambush a tiger.

However, these were not the main reasons.

After its transformation, his spiritual energy was incredibly stable. For Qin Sang, forming the Golden Core was as natural as daily cultivation, a matter of course.

As soon as his mind willed it, the core could be formed.

As long as Qin Sang wished, he could attempt Golden Core formation anytime, anywhere.

Even within Ziwei Palace, it was the same; it was not a spiritual energy desert.

Given this, why risk the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit being ineffective just to gain a year or two?