Chapter 267: Floated

Immortal Fairy was sleeping soundly. Lu Yang, not wanting to disturb her long slumber, began to research the Invincible Core on his own.

Lu Yang's spiritual energy reserves were already higher than those of his peers at the same level, a benefit he'd gained previously. After forming his Golden Core, these reserves underwent a monumental change.

"My spiritual energy reserves have increased at least tenfold," he thought. "The speed at which I draw in external spiritual energy has also increased. If I don't use highly destructive moves like 'Severing' or 'Shattering,' I can maintain a balance between the spiritual energy I use and absorb in normal combat. This means I'll save money on Great Rejuvenation Pills in future battles."

During his battle with Mu Tiancao, he consumed Great Rejuvenation Pills as if they were free, leaving him with only a few pitiful pills. Thinking about it afterward still pained him.

"Furthermore, my physical fitness has improved significantly," Lu Yang said with a laugh, full of confidence in his current state. "My strength, speed, and reflexes far surpass those of someone in the late Foundation Establishment stage. Now, I can even compete with body cultivators at the same level!"

His physical fitness had always been his weak point, unable to compare with body cultivators like Meng Jingzhou, let alone Ru cultivators like Mang Gu. Now, he had finally overcome this weakness.

Lu Yang was very proud; his Golden Core was of the same caliber as an immortal's, second only to the Harem Golden Core, ranking second among first-grade Golden Cores! The Harem Golden Core gathers the power of an entire harem into one person; it's borrowed strength, not truly one person's power. Strictly speaking, the power of the Harem Golden Core comes from a group of people. Individually, its might is inferior to that of the Invincible Core. His own Invincible Core was, in actual terms, the number one Golden Core! According to Immortal Fairy, it was even more powerful than his Senior Sister's Golden Core!

Lu Yang felt invincible, capable of defeating anyone. In common parlance, he was getting ahead of himself.

"My spiritual sense has also increased in strength." The most direct manifestation of this was the change in Lu Yang's mental space. If it was previously a single hotel room, it was now a large flat with four rooms, two living areas, and two bathrooms! Immortal Fairy was the first to notice the change in the mental space and made an adjustment: she tripled the size of her bed, then slept comfortably.

Lu Yang released his spiritual sense, and the entire airship was within its range, something that would have been impossible before. He saw that the airship's levitation array was malfunctioning. The array repair master on board spent half a day trying to fix it, only to completely break it. Fearing discovery and the loss of his year-end bonus, the repair master then flew directly to the bottom of the airship and carried it to continue the flight.

"...Did I just witness something extraordinary?"

"The distance I can control my clones and the number of clones I can control should also have increased, though I'm not sure by how much." He couldn't exactly bring out a flower pot and create a clone on the airship; it would create a bad impression. "I'll test it once I get back."

"I just don't know what other functions my Golden Core has," Lu Yang pondered, having researched it for a long time without understanding its full capabilities. "Never mind, I'll just ask the Fairy directly when she wakes up."

The airship's journey was uneventful but not without minor scares. At the next stop, the array repair master called for help and finally managed to fix the array just before the airship departed. After stopping at several major cities, the airship landed in front of the Wen Dao Sect's entrance, and Lu Yang disembarked.

Lu Yang suddenly noticed that his dantian was empty, with no trace of his Golden Core. He had no idea when it had disappeared. "Where's my Golden Core?"

Just as he was about to enter his mental space to ask Immortal Fairy what was going on, he saw her lying on her bed, hugging the Invincible Core, sleeping soundly.

Lu Yang, feeling helpless, woke Immortal Fairy up. "Fairy, could you please stop hugging my Golden Core? You made me think it was lost."

She quickly used her extensive ancient knowledge to formulate an explanation: "You wouldn't understand this, would you? Do you know about the Way of Ancient Martial Arts?"

Immortal Fairy gently pushed the Invincible Core.

Lu Yang nodded. "I recall it's a type of martial art from ancient times?"

"Precisely," she replied. "This martial art doesn't use spiritual energy; it's purely about refining the physical body. When cultivated to its peak, the physical body can rival the Nascent Soul stage! Ancient martial arts can be categorized into Ming Jin, An Jin, Hua Jin, and Holding the Core."

"So?"

"So, by me holding your Golden Core, I'm allowing you to enter the 'Holding the Core' stage."

Lu Yang was speechless. Immortal Fairy shared Lu Yang's habit of liking to hug things while sleeping. The Invincible Core, being something she hadn't seen in a long time, felt especially familiar to her. However, she couldn't say this, as it would diminish an immortal's dignity.

"Fairy, do you really think our intelligence levels are on the same plane?"

"How could you be as smart as this immortal?"

"Fairy, you've been asleep for two days now," Lu Yang hinted, suggesting she had slept too much and should perhaps sleep less.

"What do you know?" she scoffed. "I sleep to recover my strength. If I don't recover my strength, how can I defeat that little girl Yunzhi? In ancient times, if I died, I would resurrect on the spot, and my dissipated power would immediately return to my control. Now, I've been dead for over three hundred thousand years. The power in my body when I died vanished without a trace long ago. I can only rely on sleeping to slowly recover my strength."

"So, how much have you recovered now?"

"About ten to twenty percent," she said lightly. "Without other ways to speed it up, I'll be fully recovered in another hundred or so years." To the Immortal Fairy, who was only sixteen years old, a century or more was but a flick of a finger.

"How does it feel to have formed the Invincible Core?" Immortal Fairy asked, patting Lu Yang's shoulder. "Do you feel invincible? The Invincible Core allows you to conquer any obstacle and win every battle; it's a first-grade Golden Core that I'm extremely proud of!" She looked as though she was seeing a second version of herself rising, destined to illuminate an entire era.

"So, how exactly does it work?"

Immortal Fairy chuckled. "Back when I formed the Invincible Core, I put a lot of effort into understanding its functions. With me here, you can skip the research phase and directly learn what the Invincible Core does. As the saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.' The first function of the Invincible Core is to identify an opponent's weaknesses, allowing you to formulate tactics specifically targeting them during battle. Wouldn't that guarantee victory? When I was in the Golden Core stage, I defeated Immortal Ying Tian and Immortal Qilin using this very function!"

Lu Yang's heart pounded. The Invincible Core truly lived up to its name as an immortal's core; it was indeed powerful.

"Come, I'll teach you how to use it."

"Alright!"

The method for using the Invincible Core wasn't difficult; Lu Yang just hadn't found the way. With Immortal Fairy as his guide, he quickly mastered how to use it.

"Go ahead and try it on anyone."

Following Immortal Fairy's instructions, Lu Yang targeted a senior disciple whom he remembered as one of those who had queued up to beat him after the Five Elements Sect exchange meeting. Back then, he genuinely couldn't win, taking the blame for Immortal Fairy. Now that he had the Invincible Core, he was determined to avenge himself and prove his strength.

The Invincible Core slowly rotated, analyzing the senior disciple's weaknesses. Soon, a line of text appeared before Lu Yang's eyes.

"You can't beat him. Try someone else."