Chapter 146: Preparing for the Golden Core, Late Purple Mansion Stage!

…
Soon. After gathering a large cache of resources near the border of the Giant Domain, all that remained was to continuously steer the spirit vessel westward.

The Giant Domain spanned an immense territory. At the speed of a third-grade spirit vessel, it would conservatively take half a year to cross.

Therefore, it was time to plan carefully—deciding what to accomplish during this period.

When Cao Chengyu appeared on the deck carrying the elderly Song, Lin Yunjiao and Song Zhihua both rushed over simultaneously.

Lin Yunjiao embraced Cao Chengyu, while Song Zhihua looked at his grandfather in panic, her voice trembling with tears.

“What exactly happened? Why is Grandpa like this?”

“Uh…”

“Basically, Old Song offended those two families. I don’t know the details either. We should leave this place.”

“Alright.”

Wiping away her tears, Song Zhihua took out a large number of bottles and jars, forcibly feeding them to Old Song.

Now that the spirit vessel could be controlled by steel automata, pure manipulation of spiritual energy flow was still manageable, requiring minimal intelligence.

As long as the route was predetermined, there would be no issues.

Lin Yunjiao then pulled Cao Chengyu to the other side of the deck and quietly asked what had happened.

Cao Chengyu smiled wryly and recounted everything in detail, including the speculation that both Old Song and Yang Jiuxuan were incarnations of great souls at the Transforming Spirit stage.

“I never expected Mr. Yang to have such a background.”

“He himself doesn’t know, let alone us. One can only say it’s fate.”

“Very well.”

Lin Yunjiao paused briefly but then leaned into Cao Chengyu’s embrace.

“What have you decided to do about that young girl?”

“What else can I do? Wait until Old Song wakes, then ask him. If he wants to go East Domain, she can come along. Staying here is fine too; I really have no strong opinion.”

“Wait…”

Cao Chengyu suddenly widened his eyes, staring incredulously at Lin Yunjiao, suspicion flickering across his face.

“What did you mean by that just now?”

Lin Yunjiao blushed deeply and pushed Cao Chengyu playfully, scolding him.

“I was only thinking about you. At first, I thought you and Lady Luo were tangled up, but since we passed the Mountain Ridge Domain without her pursuing, I felt a bit guilty…”

“So, you’re not interested in Song Zhihua, right?!”

“No, no, no! That won’t do. She’s just a young girl from a good family. I wouldn’t want to suffer because of her.”

Cao Chengyu quickly rejected the idea. Although she was now casually introducing a potential concubine to him, if he accepted, there would be endless explanations later. But if he didn’t accept now, there would be no trouble.

“I see…”

Cao Chengyu hurriedly added, “You know, my heart has always belonged only to you…”

“That’s good, then.”

Lin Yunjiao listened, her joy as sweet as honey. Before walking away, she teased him,

“I’ll wear that outfit you gave me tonight, so be waiting.”

“…”

Swallowing hard, Cao Chengyu couldn’t help but recall the silk ensemble he had gifted her…

There were full-body styles, thigh-high suspender versions, in black, white, gray, and purple—everything except the mesh designs. From the weaving compendium obtained from the Myriad Spirit Crane, he had practically mastered them all.

But without exception, Lin Yunjiao was reluctant, finding it too embarrassing, and had never agreed.

This venture was absolutely worth the investment.

Taking a few deep breaths, Cao Chengyu suppressed the surging blood energy and prepared to visit the spirit vessel’s storage to clear out some storage pouches and tally the current assets.

“Oh, and tell Song Zhihua to notify me in the meditation chamber when your grandfather wakes.”

“Understood.”

Ignoring the two, Cao Chengyu went straight to the warehouse to begin counting.

Within just two snake-skin bags alone were nearly fifty million spirit stones. Converted to mid-grade spirit stones, that was five hundred thousand; high-grade stones numbered five thousand…

What was going on? The more he counted, the less money it seemed.

Cao Chengyu removed his clothes and counted again; his own storage pouch held about twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones worth.

Most of the spiritual herbs were first- and second-grade, with a small number of third-grade, and only thirty-seven fourth-grade specimens.

The materials for the spirit master’s path were abundant, including many poisonous plants, totaling tens of thousands of tons—enough for him to not run out for years.

Additionally, there were many finished pills, talismans, mechanisms, and spirit master creations. While not useful to Cao Chengyu, these would be sold for profit later.

There were also numerous scrolls. From these, he found answers about Che Miao’s puppet technique origins:

“Crossing Calamity Nerve Manipulation” and “Detailed Explanation of the Buddhist Protector Puppet.”

The former was a fundamental technique, the latter a production method for protective puppets.

Unfortunately, both were extremely incomplete, lacking core secrets.

After a brief inspection, Cao Chengyu shelved the matter for now, planning to ask Old Song directly, and perhaps request to see the scroll worth fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

Except for the fifty large storage pouches he carried personally, the rest were stored on the spirit vessel, as Lin Yunjiao sometimes needed access to resources.

Usually, Cao Chengyu refined materials into pills, and when they ran out, she would ask him for more. No choice—when he was poor, the wealthy woman took care of him.

Now that he was more confident, he could also support his own wife.

Selecting some herbs for pills, Cao Chengyu prepared to refine a batch of Thunder-Absorbing Pills.

This was a fourth-grade pill capable of absorbing thunder into the body, protecting it from harm, and using lightning to temper one’s power and flesh.

Originally intended for body refining, but materials had been scarce. The cultivator skilled in Heavenly Thunder had plenty of lightning attribute materials in his storage pouch, perfect for this batch.

While cultivating, it would also increase his resistance to lightning—an excellent step forward.

In addition, over the next half year, he needed to master four secret techniques fully, ideally innovating upon them.

His Frozen Ice Sword was broken and needed to be rebuilt, preferably replacing its ice attribute.

The Jade Pure White Lotus Platform also needed further enhancement. Within the Five Elements Sect’s Dao Treasury was a twelve-level earth calamity restriction method for the White Lotus Platform. This volume was the original; the one in the Skywatch Tower was copied from it.

Besides, Cao Chengyu planned to store away the Jade Pearl Zither and craft a lethal weapon of the sound Dao.

No choice—his true body didn’t want to use it, and Chu Liuxiang’s rampant slaughter at Feihong Immortal Workshop had sullied its reputation. Hua Wuqiong didn’t want to expose himself either, so he planned to leave his Flower Young Master identity to roam the East Domain.

Therefore, he needed a new identity, coupled with a distinctive immortal path—such as the path of music.

This suited the new secret techniques he had learned, forming a brand-new identity and power. As long as no one saw through his minor divine arts, he would avoid exposure.

I truly am a clever little fox.

Boldly praising himself, Cao Chengyu then entered a half-year seclusion.

All conversations and uniforms were cast aside.

Some things were like this—once focused, he completely lost track of time.

Unknowingly, half a year passed…

A sword, a flute, and a lotus platform—all were transformed, and even the Yin-Yang robes were reforged, undergoing earth-shattering changes from head to toe.

Finally, he had enough time to refine himself and upgrade his equipment.

A fourth-grade beginner artifact—the Divergent Sword—entirely black with silver grooves along the spine. The sword guard was cross-shaped, carved with cloud patterns.

The hilt embedded the Five Elements spirit pearls, with a Yin-Yang Taiji symbol at the base.

This was his pinnacle work in forging, featuring nine earth calamity restrictions.

Another fourth-grade beginner artifact was the Yin-Yang Flute, measuring one foot five inches, crafted mainly from black jade bamboo, with yang metal liquefied onto it, engraved with golden dragon patterns.

It was a completely new artifact developed by Cao Chengyu.

The Jade Pure White Lotus Platform also rose to fourth-grade beginner level, stored within the Heavenly Gate Divine Palace. A white lotus mark at its brow represented it, primarily used to restore mana and protect the soul.

The robe, crown, pants, and boots were all refined into third-grade beginner artifacts. No way—money made one bold.

Over the past six months, just updating equipment took over a month, stockpiling pills took another month, leaving only about three months for actual cultivation.

Prepared for the tribulation were Thunder-Absorbing Pills, Crossing Calamity Pills, Purification Pills, Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, and the Lightning-Attracting Umbrella.

Because he needed Heavenly Thunder to strike his body, he did not prepare artifacts to block the tribulation, instead only enhancing his resistance to lightning, ready to endure it head-on.

The Lightning-Attracting Umbrella, as its name implied, was to draw down additional lightning if the tribulation wasn’t strong enough to help him form the Golden Core.

With everything ready, Cao Chengyu opened his physical examination report.

[Cao Chengyu]
Age: 18.7
Cultivation: Mid Purple Palace Realm (75%), Four Extremes Realm (89% “Body Refining Realm”)
Techniques: Yellow Court Scripture, Azure Dragon Yin-Yang Dao Treasury, Immortal Soul Undying Chapter, Flame-Devouring Glazed Body.
Skills: Mysterious Yin Pill Scroll (Fourth Grade Beginner 18%), Radiant Sun Artifact Scroll (Fourth Grade Beginner 23%), Spirit Plant Classic (Third Grade Upper 31%), Life Puppet Technique (Third Grade Middle 30%), Universe Formation Classic (Fourth Grade Upper / Proficient)
Spells: Twin Dragon Twisting Wheel (Transcendent 36%), Five Elements Dragon Control (Transcendent 70%), Life-Giving Celestial Water Shield (Transcendent 32%), Cloud Riding Technique (Transcendent 86%), Proud Nine Songs (Transcendent 50%), Curse Binding Shadow Claw (Transcendent 8%)
Mysteries: Undying Poison Eye (Transcendent 41%), Qimen Bagua (Transcendent 93%), Sky Lock Technique (Transcendent 97%), Yin Seal Condensed Sword Walk (Transcendent 67%), Five Thunder Celestial Prison Tribulation (Transcendent / Proficient), Radiant Sun Falling Gold Bow (Transcendent 3%)
Martial Arts: Eight Extremes Mountain Pulling Hexagram (Spirit Martial 4%), Divine Elephant Prison Suppressing Strength (Spirit Martial 1%)
Divine Arts: Derivative Arts (?), Yin-Yang Five Elements Divine Wheel (Enhanced by Exotic Fire, usable at basic level), True Form Transformation (Perfected)
Artifacts: Divergent Sword (Fourth Grade Beginner), Jade Pure White Lotus Platform (Fourth Grade Beginner), Yin-Yang Flute (Fourth Grade Beginner), Yin-Yang Dragon Pattern Needle (Fourth Grade Beginner), Six-Eyed Flying Snake Belt (Fifth Grade Middle), Demon Binding Chains (Third Grade Upper), Complete Set of Garments (Third Grade Beginner)
Exotic Fire: Yin Extreme Yang Fire (Yin-Yang).

[Evaluation]: Before attempting to reach the East Domain, you aimed to break through the Golden Core stage but lacked mid-grade treasure chests in reserve. You plan to avoid Lin Yunjiao and seek a suitable target to obtain mid-grade treasure chests.

Many commonly used transcendent spells are already on the verge of transformation, soon to break through to a higher level.

As for Spirit Martial Arts, Cao Chengyu’s derivation is extremely poor, progressing at a turtle’s pace.

This is because he possesses too little related knowledge; the “database” for deriving divine arts lacks sufficient foundational information.

Having reached this level, he is already in the late Purple Palace stage—at eighteen years old, late Purple Palace, hehe.

Luo Yuzhu, who advanced faster, is probably still stuck in the early stage—this is the terrifying speed granted by cultivation methods, comprehension, resources, talent, and cheats.

Perhaps he will break through to the Transforming Spirit stage before fifty, reach the peak before one hundred, and then wander the Void?

With his cultivation progressing greatly, Cao Chengyu was in high spirits. On the night he emerged from seclusion, he shared an intimate moment with Lin Yunjiao. After six months of restraint, the sensation could be summed up in one word: moist!

The next day, the four of them sat on the deck.

Cao Chengyu, Lin Yunjiao, Song Zhihua, and Old Song—only four people in total.

Old Song’s injuries had long since healed, and after half a year, it was about time for a meeting to discuss matters and hear his thoughts.

But before that, Cao Chengyu waved his right hand, summoning a large number of classic scriptures and texts from the library of the Confusing Dao Pavilion, now returning them to their rightful owner.