Chapter 145: Plundering and the Theory of the Golden Core

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... This wave successfully wiped out the enemy. The remaining wealth of the foe and the entire Flying Crane Immortal Workshop’s assets truly bore an auspicious and prosperous aura.

The process, however, was nothing short of complicated and hard to describe.

Fortunately, Song Zhihua and Lin Yunjiao had taken the spirit boat out for a ride; otherwise, if someone had found their weak points, who knows what might have happened.

A brief health check on Old Master Song revealed no major issues. He was about to start scavenging the spoils of war.

Suddenly, Old Master Song’s body floated up abruptly, his eyes shining with golden light as he stared blankly at Cao Chengyu.

“Damn…”

“Senior, don’t scare me like that.”

“...” Old Master Song.

“You’re unreadable.”

The aged voice came gently, tinged with a hint of awkwardness.

“If I’m unreadable, then so be it. In this world, things seldom go as one wishes. You can’t expect everything to go your way.”

Cao Chengyu spoke carelessly, though he was in fact trying to craft an image of himself as a man of loyalty and deep feeling. He held a “Qian Kun Transposition” talisman in his palm, ready to retreat thousands of miles away at any moment.

After a pause, the powerful figure continued.

“You are quite impressive. Perhaps you’ll be of help to me in the future. If you ever come to the Central Domain, you can seek me out at the Supreme Forgetting Sect.”

“Central Domain? Sect?”

“Yes. I have a technique called the ‘Buddha’s Worldly Dharma Through the Ages’ to offer as your reward for this intervention. A perceptive avatar—quite valuable to me.”

“This... Senior, why didn’t you intervene yourself?”

“Intervene myself? You overestimate me...”

As he spoke, the golden glow in his eyes faded, and the enigmatic figure vanished.

Cao Chengyu was left utterly baffled. If this was so important, why watch Old Master Song die? And why say he overestimated him...

Right, what about the promised reward? Hm?

Just as he felt cheated, a wisp of golden light floated from Old Master Song’s forehead and fell into his hand. An invisible voice sounded, heavy with fatigue.

“Absorb it into your consciousness sea to perceive the full picture.”

“...”

And just like that, he left?

Cao Chengyu hesitated to accept it outright, instead storing it within his spiritual jade slip. He would wait until the soul of Old Master Song’s corpse was fully cultivated before considering the matter further.

At the same time, he made some logical inferences based on the context.

A perceptive avatar...

He guessed that when this suspected Divine Spirit cultivator created the avatar, he left a contingency within it to protect it from a single crisis.

The distance between the Central Domain and the Wasteland was simply too great; even a Divine Spirit cultivator could not instantly project power here. He was no god of heaven and earth—that was impossible.

Hence the claim of overestimating his power.

This explanation was reasonable, especially considering the earlier grandiose speech about birth, aging, sickness, and death, and following the cycle of destiny.

In truth, the senior had gauged Cao Chengyu’s limits, doubting he could eliminate all enemies, but the intermediate treasure box he opened at the last moment reversed the tide.

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Unexpectedly, the senior rewarded him accordingly.

Central Domain... Supreme Forgetting Sect...

These were far beyond his current reach; he hadn’t even reached the Eastern Domain yet, so it was far too early to consider matters in the Central Domain.

Shaking his head, he dismissed the wild thoughts swirling in his mind.

Now was the time to enjoy the fruits of victory!

...

Aside from the stores belonging to the Che and Pang families, the Flying Crane Immortal Workshop was frequented by many wandering cultivators, with quite a few taking up long-term residence. Its scale was even larger than the market districts run by sects.

The most spirited thing about wandering cultivators was their behavior in danger and in gain: like cunning rabbits when threatened, and like wolves when harvesting.

During the clash with the four Golden Core cultivators, none appeared, but now that the battle was over, many wandering cultivators gradually appeared on the horizon.

Some fled quickly, others still had belongings within the workshop, and some were filled with malice, attempting to grab a share of the spoils.

No matter what they thought, as long as Cao Chengyu seemed unharmed, they dared not approach.

This standoff would not last long. Once they appointed a temporary leader, no matter how formidable the killer was, a confrontation was inevitable—the current stakes were simply too great.

The entire Flying Crane Immortal Workshop...

As Cao Chengyu scavenged, he filled all the storage pouches sewn inside his clothes.

He even sewed some onto his back.

In total, fifty large storage bags, each containing a space of 100×100×100 meters.

Originally, they had all been small storage pouches, but as he found more treasures, he swapped them out for larger ones.

Each spirit stone pouch could hold tens of millions of spirit stones, and that was just the small part—the materials for the Way of the Artificer were truly abundant.

After raiding just a few shops, he filled a storage bag completely.

“Eating abalone, making a fortune.”

After selectively searching the 131 most luxurious shops in the Flying Crane Immortal Workshop, Cao Chengyu’s storage bags were full...

He then pulled out a snake-skin sack and stuffed the full storage pouches inside. After filling two more sacks,

Cao Chengyu sensed a familiar aura.

It was Lin Yunjiao’s aura. She had returned with the spirit boat!

He lifted Old Master Song and also packed away his set of hidden books. They would discuss matters when he awoke.

Many small shops in the Flying Crane Immortal Workshop remained unsearched, but judging by the restless expressions of the wandering cultivators, they were growing impatient.

If he didn’t let them have a taste, there would likely be a fight in the ruins, and some jealous ones might give chase.

It wasn’t fear that held him back, but trouble—and he hated trouble.

This haul was already more than enough. Supporting both his and Lin Yunjiao’s cultivation with the entire workshop’s resources was a luxury.

The resources would last him up to the Golden Core stage, with plenty leftover.

The abundant materials for the Way of the Artificer could also be used for other research.

The steel automaton was created for automatic combat, to protect his family. Now that his family was settled and no longer a burden, he no longer invested effort in it.

He actually wanted a special mechanical creation like the spider’s segmented limbs—not for combat, but for assistance.

For example, to modify the spirit boat, creating multifunctional tools and such.

In combat, he was already strong enough; an additional mechanical skill wouldn’t provide a substantial boost.

Cao Chengyu carried two snake-skin sacks and gripped the back collar of Old Master Song’s clothing with his right hand, flying away.

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The spirit boat was moored about a hundred miles away. Cao Chengyu had already used the Spirit Crane Communication Technique.

Within the time it took an incense stick to burn, a sneaky cultivator slipped inside. Seeing no danger, the wandering cultivators watching from afar immediately swarmed in.

Like locusts ravaging a field, spirit jade floor tiles, glazed tiles, gilded murals, even the barely three-year-old medicinal herbs in flowerpots were stripped bare.

They were used to hard times; whenever there was a chance to make a fortune, they spared not a single coin.

Meanwhile, all the Golden Core cultivators of the two great families had fallen in battle. Purple Mansion’s casualties were fewer; they huddled together, trembling, trying to prevent Cao Chengyu from exacting further retribution.

At this moment, Cao Chengyu was nearly at the spirit boat docking point.

Regarding retribution, he had intended to pursue it, but considering what Pang Rong had said—that he was a disciple of the Tianxu Sect—it was best to quickly pass through Tianxu Mountain and reach the Eastern Domain before the news spread too far.

Otherwise, complications might arise.

Perhaps eliminating all witnesses would be more effective, but those wandering cultivators had already seen him kill. Four Golden Core cultivators vanished in a misty cage.

Even fools knew it was his doing. As for Chu Liuxiang’s involvement, what did it have to do with Cao Chengyu? He doubted that true-form transformation had any effect.

Minor divine abilities might bear the name “divine ability,” but they were imperfect. Cao Chengyu needed to quickly advance to the Golden Core level and further refine the Huangting Scripture to the point where he could deduce divine abilities.

Moreover, he needed to prepare a treasure to avoid the tribulation.

Purple Mansion’s breakthrough to Golden Core would double his lifespan again, a second advancement in life’s tier, and his magical power would condense into substance—essentially crystallize.

The divine soul Purple Mansion would give birth to a visible divine soul, also called a spirit soul or life soul.

Breaking through Golden Core, the foundation laid by the Dao-body realm would have a tremendous impact.

For example, Cao Chengyu’s Dao-body was based on the Five Elements Turning Wheel, extended into the balance of Yin and Yang. Especially after devouring Yin and extreme Yang flames, his five internal organs formed the Five Elements, and his flesh, blood, and bones shaped Yin and Yang.

It could be called the Yin-Yang Five Elements Turning Wheel Dao-body, the phenomena it produced also reflected this.

Purple Mansion’s breakthrough to Golden Core required passing through the heavenly thunder tribulation. Depending on the cultivator’s fundamental attribute, they must compress their magical power into a pill.

Half of their divine soul’s power must be fused into the Golden Core, and the attribute represented by the Dao-body must also condense into substance, integrating into the Golden Core.

This was like a summary of a cultivator’s lifelong learning stage; the Golden Core was the achievement, requiring the most critical elements to be embedded within it.

The Five Elements could be refined into the Golden Core via the five internal organs, forming Five Element divine patterns. The Yin and Yang two patterns—so far he hadn’t found suitable heavenly materials to serve as a Dao guide.

A Dao guide, or “road guide,” could be a pill, a spirit herb, or even a magical artifact.

The Yin and extreme Yang flames could perhaps serve as a Dao guide, but the problem was that a Dao guide was a consumable; using the Yin and extreme Yang flame would extinguish that flame seed.

Whether he could find such a uniquely suitable exotic flame again was uncertain.

Furthermore, the strength of the thunder tribulation related to a cultivator’s lifetime deeds: many killings meant a red killing intent thunder tribulation.

Many good deeds meant a blue emotion-extinguishing thunder tribulation.

Neither evil nor good resulted in a bluish-purple normal thunder tribulation.

Besides these, there were special thunder tribulations of roughly similar intensity.

It was not true that the more talented a person was, the stronger the tribulation—this notion of heaven envying talent was false. On the contrary, the tribulation was a form of aid, a special power to help cultivators condense their Golden Core.

But if one had massacred many mortals, then sorry—the heavenly punishment thunder tribulation could reduce everything to ashes, and no one had ever survived it.

Of course, many had used life substitution methods to evade the tribulation, exchanging one life for another. To the eyes of heaven, that was fair and could temporarily escape it.

However, every time one broke through a major realm, the heavenly punishment would descend, requiring other lives to pay for one’s sins.

Cao Chengyu was curious to see what kind of method the so-called heavenly thunder tribulation aid to Golden Core condensation truly was.

Now that the opportunity presented itself, he was determined to try it. He also needed to start preparing the treasure to avoid the tribulation.