Chapter 339: Late Core Formation Stage, Before the Yin Erosion Hall

Wang Yu's Demonic Embryo Profound Origin Secret Incantation was unusual.

After Long Xingyun's essence was completely devoured, the Fire Spiritual Root within Wang Yu's Profound Origin Demonic Embryo rapidly grew, reaching parity with the Heavenly Yin Spiritual Root in a matter of breaths. Digestion was, as always, one hundred percent complete. Bloodline restrictions seemed non-existent; in fact, the process could even replenish Wang Yu's lifespan, which was consumed by non-time-flow events. It was truly mystical and unfathomable! He sometimes wondered if this secret method recognized his true nature as that of an outer-realm demonic being. After all, he had been reincarnated and was ignorant of his past in his early childhood. As he grew older, memories of his past life slowly awakened. While slightly different from a Heavenly Demon seizing a body, his fundamental origin was distinct from those born in this realm.

"Reincarnation, seizing a body..."

A long while passed. Coming out of his satisfied state, Wang Yu incinerated Long Xingyun's corpse. Instead of immediately ending his seclusion, he continued to refine the Guanghan Pill within him. One-third of the pill's potency remained. Once fully refined, he would be close to reaching the peak of the sixth layer of Core Formation, at which point he would then consume the Return True Spirit Pill. After breaking through to the late Core Formation stage, he could then visit the Yin Erosion Palace. If he could acquire the Rakshasa Blood Fruit, his spiritual sense could break through to the fourth tier. While this would boost his strength, the primary benefit was unlocking function number seven. The restrictive number of available slots would also become less constrained. This was exceptionally significant, as it would enable him to elevate his combat power to its maximum potential more quickly.

Thus, half a year later...

In early March of Wang Yu's twelfth year as an Elder, barely more than four years had passed since he entered the Blood Abyss Sacred Land. On this day, with the complete digestion of the second supreme-grade Guanghan Pill, Wang Yu's cultivation had accumulated to the maximum capacity of his Dantian Qi Sea.

In his inner vision, a five-fen blue-black Golden Core rested in the center of his Qi Sea. The Glazed Ice Heart Pagoda, Ghost Cry Flute, and Yellow Springs Demonic Sword—the three magic treasures Wang Yu used most skillfully—floated within the ocean of his spiritual power. They were nourished by his power, constantly maintained at their peak state. Only his life-bound magic treasures could draw growth energy from this, progressing alongside his cultivation. Conversely, within his dragon spine, which was entirely filled with divine marrow, the bloodline true artifact, the Fiendish Demonic Dragon Armor, also resided.

"I've reached the peak of the sixth layer of Core Formation..."

Awakening from his cultivation, Wang Yu exhaled slowly. As he sensed his escalating power, the threshold to the late Core Formation stage became apparent. This hurdle was particularly challenging; even those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots required years to consolidate and further refine the quality of their spiritual power. Yet, Wang Yu did not halt his progress.

The Return True Spirit Pill floated out from his Sea Heart Ring, exuding a rich, ethereal fragrance. A mere whiff of it brought a sensation of profound comfort throughout his entire being. As his spiritual power began to condense, Wang Yu decisively swallowed the pill. A new cycle of cultivation swiftly commenced. The six thousand strands of spiritual power filling his Qi Sea began to compress, with ten strands merging into a single stream. Each time they underwent refinement and sublimation, they would circulate once within the Golden Core. This caused its diameter to grow by an imperceptible fraction. This was both a sublimation of his spiritual power and a process of strengthening his Core, saving Wang Yu several years of cultivation thanks to the supreme-grade spiritual pill.

In this manner, another three months passed. The six thousand strands of spiritual power condensed into six hundred streams, and the Golden Core reached the absolute limit of what the human body could accommodate, its nine-fen diameter being truly perfect. The spiritual power, now so dense it was viscous, was just one step away from liquefying. This level of density was a prelude to the challenge he would face when cultivating to the peak of Core Formation and preparing for Nascent Soul formation, which would involve the third Core strengthening. Normally, this would be at one, three, and five fen. Not counting the initial strengthening during the Core Formation breakthrough itself, cultivators actually undergo only two further Core strengthenings. However, the cultivation world still refers to it as "three Core strengthenings." This is because the "third strengthening" is, in fact, the process of shattering the Core to form a Nascent Soul. It involves expanding the Golden Core to its absolute limit until it shatters completely, then, from destruction, arises creation as one's spirit is integrated into it, giving birth to a Nascent Soul!

As the saying goes: Gold, a substance unyielding, lasting, and indestructible. Pill, a perfectly complete, pure, and faultless entity.

However, nine represents the ultimate numerical extreme, symbolizing the limits of all things in the world. To fully shatter the Golden Core, it must expand beyond the nine-fen boundary. Therefore, cultivators with profound foundations often find it easier to break through stages, as their Golden Cores have already reached their maximum potential. Conversely, cultivators with underdeveloped Golden Cores indicate insufficient foundation. Even if they acquire spiritual treasures for forming a Nascent Soul, they might not be able to shatter it in one go, thus failing to harness this exceptionally perilous opportunity to condense their Nascent Soul. This was merely the first step toward achieving the Nascent Soul stage. The subsequent three steps—soul integration, Nascent Soul solidification, and spirit awakening—each progressively more perilous. A single misstep could lead to complete annihilation, as even breakthrough spiritual items and pills would be powerless to provide protection. Truly, a single step could lead to an abyss!

Wang Yu, being a candidate for one of the Twelve Elders of Cold Blood Peak, had long since learned this information. He could now consider it in advance without feeling overly anxious. Every major realm breakthrough signified a leap and qualitative transformation in one's life essence, inevitably involving the three components: essence, qi, and spirit. As long as he continued on this path, the Nascent Soul barrier... would not stop him!

The nine-fen Golden Core accelerated his body's spiritual energy absorption. There was no need to worry about meridian strength, as his peak third-tier body refinement realm was sufficient to withstand even the most violent spiritual energy refinement. His daily spiritual power growth rate doubled, increasing from "5 wisps/day" to "10 wisps/day." This effect was similar to the Qi Condensation in the Foundation Establishment stage. The difference was merely that the focus had shifted to spiritual power, which was more challenging to cultivate.

However, this efficiency was far less advantageous than during the Foundation Establishment stage. The benefits of a Heavenly Spiritual Root gradually diminished during the Core Formation period. Wang Yu had broken through to the seventh layer of Core Formation, beginning with six hundred streams of spiritual power. However, to reach the peak of the seventh layer, he would need a full three thousand streams, a massive gap of two thousand four hundred. Converting this to wisps, that was two hundred forty thousand wisps. Relying solely on the placement slots, he would require a daunting sixty-six and a half years! The scale of growth required was truly immense. Factoring in his own cultivation speed and the enhancements from various minor techniques, he could likely add an efficiency of "3 wisps/day" to the base rate. Even with that, it would still take a full fifty-one years! This meant he could reasonably expect to reach the peak of Core Formation in approximately one hundred seventy years. Given his current age, he would still be considered young then, not even having surpassed three hundred years old. With a Core Formation lifespan of eight hundred years, he would have ample time to break through to the next stage.

However, Wang Yu had only taken thirteen years in total to reach the late Core Formation stage. The sudden need for such an extensive period of accumulation left him feeling somewhat disheartened. "As expected, I'll still need to rely on more external aid," he murmured.

After the breakthrough concluded, Wang Yu flipped his palm, revealing a pill bottle. He inverted it, and a perfectly round spiritual pill rolled into his palm. This was his third and final supreme-grade Guanghan Pill. After refining it, he estimated it could increase his spiritual power capacity by approximately 150 streams. Cultivation spiritual pills were notoriously slow to refine, scarcely affecting one's foundational cultivation. Continuous consumption would, at most, lead to a pill barrier.

However, given the rarity of the primary ingredients for tier-three cultivation spiritual pills, there was virtually no chance of consuming a single type of pill long enough to develop a pill barrier. A prime example was the moon laurel leaf, the main ingredient of the Guanghan Pill. It was known that only the Moon Gazing Palace, one of the Seven Sects of Taihu Lake, had a stable supply. Wang Yu had only been able to refine one batch of these pills, thanks to a trade given by the Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon.

"However, during the Righteous-Demonic War four hundred years ago, it's possible that some demonic sect grandmasters plundered rare Moon Laurel Leaves from the Moon Gazing Palace. Once I'm outside, I can certainly strategize a bit. Additionally, the Yin Extreme Pill, a inherited formula from the Ten Directions Frozen Demonic Path, could also benefit me. Its main ingredient is the Purple Sun Fruit, and even its formula follows the principle of 'extreme yang begets yin'..."

After a moment of silent contemplation, Wang Yu slowly rose to his feet. After stretching his limbs, he gazed towards the distant Blood Demon Sea. During this Blood Abyss trial, the Yin Erosion Palace had long since emerged from the sea of blood. The number of Sacred Sect disciples who had entered could only be more, not fewer. After all, as long as one possessed the capability, the Yin Erosion Palace could be entered repeatedly. After years of exploration, the internal layout was largely understood. As long as one didn't court death or engage in infighting, the inherent danger of the Yin Erosion Palace itself was quite low.

However... with the unexpected appearance of the Blood Slaughter Stele this time, the layout and structure of the Yin Erosion Palace would also undergo corresponding changes. The danger would undoubtedly be significantly higher than during its activation two hundred years prior. How many would perish would simply depend on fate.

After discerning the direction, Wang Yu began his journey towards the Yin Erosion Palace, hunting Blood Demon Ghouls along the way to stock up on Myriad Spirit Blood Essence. This substance, when refined into a blood pill, could also enhance cultivation, with effects comparable to the Guanghan Pill and no pill barrier restrictions. The only downside was that its processing was somewhat tedious. To avoid its side effects, alchemical processing steps were essential. Even if it meant wasting considerable energy, he had to perform them; he certainly didn't want any issues with his Golden Core. This item was, in essence, still a rare treasure of the Blood Dao. If he could refine enough of it, the lengthy accumulation period for the late Core Formation stage could be significantly shortened. Wang Yu was greatly tempted by this prospect.

The Yin Erosion Palace was a rectangular structure that appeared to have three palace stories. It was completely sealed, making it impossible to peer inside from the outside. It measured one kilometer wide and twelve kilometers long. Predominantly black and red, its surface was carved with numerous rare and exotic beasts found only in ancient times. Its plaque featured a golden border on a blue background, with the characters "Yin Erosion Palace" strikingly written in cinnabar. It appeared to be rooted within the Blood Demon Sea. From time to time, blood beasts, demonic humans, and other creatures would suddenly surge out of the sea, attempting to force their way into the palace. However, they were all slain by the cultivators stationed at the entrance. Nearly all the sect members who had entered the Blood Abyss Sacred Land had gathered here. This included seven direct disciples, hundreds of Blood Pavilion prodigies, disciples from the Nine Peaks, and teams from various Nascent Soul families. These groups were sparse; most had already entered the Yin Erosion Palace two years prior, leaving only a few individuals guarding near the palace entrance.

The most conspicuous group among them was none other than Zhuo Shouyun's team. Over a hundred individuals, either standing or reclining, were evenly distributed near the entrance of the Yin Erosion Palace, like spiders spinning a web, awaiting their prey to walk directly into it. However, the prolonged waiting had inevitably led to some growing impatient.

"Young Master Yun, we've waited all this time with nothing to show for it, while our fellow disciples entered the Yin Erosion Palace early and are surely reaping immense rewards by now. You must compensate us for this."

This statement seemed to trigger a domino effect. Numerous sect members, with ill intentions, chimed in one after another. "Indeed, Young Master Yun is incredibly wealthy; surely you wouldn't mind tripling the agreed-upon compensation?"

"This fellow Daoist makes a valid point."

"I agree."

Zhuo Shouyun, however, sneered and replied with considerable force. "Ridiculous..."