Chapter 205: Senior Brothers' Golden Core Formation Method

Lu Yang naturally turned past the page about his eldest senior sister to see how his other senior brothers and sisters formed their Golden Cores.

From what Lu Yang knew of his eldest senior sister, her method of forming a Golden Core was not reproducible.

Lu Yang heard that his eldest senior sister pushed every cultivation stage to its absolute limit. When she shattered her Golden Core to form a Nascent Soul, she drew down terrifying heavenly lightning as a form of punishment.

It is important to note that lightning tribulations typically only occur when a Nascent Soul stage cultivator breaks through to the Spirit Transformation stage. For a Nascent Soul stage cultivator to experience a lightning tribulation was unprecedented!

One senior brother attempted to imitate his eldest senior sister's method, hoping to form a Nascent Soul that would also trigger a heavenly tribulation. He poured immense effort into it, repeatedly compressing his Golden Core stage spiritual power and solidifying his foundation. Finally, he succeeded in shattering his Golden Core to form a Nascent Soul, which indeed drew heavenly lightning.

To everyone's surprise, that senior brother's Nascent Soul actively intervened, endured the might of the heavenly lightning, and ultimately dispersed it.

A Nascent Soul actively fighting was something even his eldest senior sister's Nascent Soul couldn't do. This was akin to having an extra powerful clone, causing combat power to skyrocket.

Just as people thought a new historical feat was about to be made, that senior brother's Nascent Soul, without a word, utterly thrashed him. Even with desperate resistance, the senior brother was no match.

Although that senior brother was already in the Nascent Soul stage, he couldn't defeat his own Nascent Soul.

In a sense, he truly did make history.

Daoist Buyu tried to help that senior brother control his Nascent Soul. After multiple failed attempts, he had no choice but to shatter the Nascent Soul, advising the senior brother to form his Nascent Soul through other means and not to invite trouble by seeking unusual paths.

Because this incident was too embarrassing, only those within the Dao-Seeking Sect knew about it.

As for this senior brother's name, it was rarely spoken of.

However, Lu Yang heard from Meng Jingzhou's gossip that this embarrassing senior brother was Daoist Buyu's second disciple, Lu Yang's own second senior brother.

This senior brother was currently undergoing trials in the Western Golden Buddhist Nation. Lu Yang hadn't had a chance to meet him yet, only seeing his black-and-white portrait in the Sky Gate Peak grand hall.

Sometimes, when praying for his second senior brother's smooth trials, Lu Yang would light an incense stick for him.

Lu Yang wouldn't show favoritism; he would also light an incense stick for his third senior sister at the same time.

"Let me look at Senior Brother Dai Bufan's Golden Core," Lu Yang muttered. "The Water Ruyi Golden Core, a first-grade Golden Core. It has a clear, subtle fragrance, is spiritual but not cold, golden with a hint of blue. It circulates on its own within the Dantian, cultivating automatically, transforming the user's spiritual energy into waves that spread throughout the body, ensuring spiritual energy is always at its peak."

"Cultivation Method: Drink water daily until water intoxication occurs. Afterward, immerse oneself in a lake for ten days without surfacing, imagining oneself as a fish swimming freely and gracefully. Finally, use the Dantian as a spatial storage ring, employing spatial abilities to absorb an entire lake's water into the abdomen, combining it with one's spiritual energy, and compressing it into a Golden Core."

"Precaution One: Do not imagine yourself as a fish too deeply, lest you bite the hook when you see bait."

"Precaution Two: Please report in advance when absorbing an entire lake's water into your abdomen, to avoid imprisonment like I experienced."

"Precaution Three: Water intoxication is a normal phenomenon; please prepare appropriate elixirs before drinking water."

Lu Yang saw the three precautions and found it hard to imagine what Senior Brother Dai Bufan must have encountered.

"Ah, it's a water-element Golden Core," the Undying Fairy's voice chimed in.

Lu Yang was quite surprised. "Fairy, you're not asleep yet?"

"I'll sleep when I'm done playing," the Undying Fairy waved her hand. "Speaking of water-element Golden Cores, I recall encountering two opponents with water-element Golden Cores. Both of their Golden Cores were first-grade, and they had few rivals at the Golden Core stage. If they teamed up, they were practically invincible."

"One of them had the 'Three Rivers and Five Lakes Elixir' Golden Core, which could control the power of three rivers and five lakes, summoning river water. The other had the 'Boundless Sea Elixir' Golden Core, which could control the power of the ocean, summoning vast seawater."

"Which of these two Golden Cores is stronger? Is it the Boundless Sea Elixir?" Lu Yang asked, curious. After all, how could the power of rivers compare to the ocean?

The Undying Fairy shook her head. "The power of rivers indeed cannot compare to the ocean, but cultivators at the Golden Core stage cannot fully mobilize all of it at once; there's a limit. The maximum power of these two Golden Cores is quite similar, so there's no real distinction of superiority."

Lu Yang grew even more curious. Both were first-grade water-element Golden Cores, and their functions sounded quite similar, with no discernible difference in power.

"Then what exactly is the difference between these two Golden Cores?"

"Well, one releases freshwater and the other releases saltwater, of course," the Undying Fairy stated matter-of-factly, looking at Lu Yang as if he were incredibly dim-witted.

Lu Yang was speechless.

He thought to himself, "You cultivators in ancient times really had nothing better to do, did you, categorizing Golden Cores into freshwater and saltwater types?"

"Although those two were quite powerful, they were no match for my Water Evasion Art," the Undying Fairy tried to say nonchalantly, attempting to exude the confidence of someone who could make enemies vanish in a casual conversation. However, Lu Yang saw the fairy's lips, which she couldn't help but press together in a barely concealed smirk, and knew how triumphant she truly felt.

Lu Yang secretly sighed with admiration. "She truly is a Fairy, after all," he thought. Though she was often unreliable and impractical, on closer inspection, the ancient era was brimming with exceptional talents, a glittering constellation of geniuses, making it the most prosperous cultivation period in history.

Furthermore, competition in ancient times was fierce. In such an environment, for the Undying Fairy to become one of the five ancient immortals, she must have triumphed gloriously throughout her path to immortality, defeating numerous seemingly insurmountable foes. How could such a person's combat power be low?

Golden Cores are graded into nine ranks, with first-grade being the strongest and ninth-grade the weakest. First-grade Golden Cores are extremely rare, like finding gold in sand. Even in a cultivation sect like Dao-Seeking Sect, where all disciples are considered prodigies elsewhere, they can only ensure that everyone achieves at least a third-grade Golden Core, with first-grade Golden Cores being a minority.

This alone illustrates the immense power of a first-grade Golden Core.

It goes without saying that two first-grade Golden Cores working together would be unimaginably formidable. Yet, she defeated them with a single move. Such a feat was absolutely terrifying.

"By the way, Fairy, what was your cultivation level back then?"

"Nascent Soul stage."

"...I knew it."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Lu Yang continued reading. After Senior Brother Dai Bufan's entry was Senior Brother Ji Hongwen's.

"The 'Four Seasons Green Bamboo Elixir' Golden Core, a first-grade Golden Core. Its core pattern resembles a bamboo forest, cycling through the four seasons while the green bamboo remains unchanged, perpetually verdant. It embodies tranquility, elegance, unwavering resilience, and the gentle demeanor of a true gentleman."

"Cultivation Method: Like the nascent bamboo, which sprouts just an inch yet contains its nodes and leaves, one must first envision the perfected bamboo within their mind before drawing, holding the brush and observing it closely. Afterward, one must subsist on bamboo, drink bamboo, commune with nature, and comprehend nature. Only when everything seen is green can the Golden Core be formed."

"Precaution One: Those with poor drawing skills should not attempt to form this Golden Core."

"Precaution Two: Be wary of attacks from Iron-Eating Beasts while meditating in bamboo forests; they will perceive you as stealing their food."

"Precaution Three: This Golden Core formation method is limited to green bamboo. Do not extrapolate it to plants like cacti or corpse flowers."

It was clear that both Senior Brothers Dai Bufan and Ji Hongwen had some unexpected experiences when forming their Golden Cores.