Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 434: Chapter 206: Qi Blood Forms a Double Golden Core, Spirit Grass Bounty

In the small courtyard of the inn, the Nine Orifice Linked Array fully unfurled.

Nine overlapping layers of runic light screens crisscrossed, completely enveloping the main hall.

Even if a Golden Core cultivator suddenly attacked, it could withstand the attack for a moment on its own.

’Holding the Essence and Guarding the One, Spiritual Fusion...’

Inside the main hall, Xiao Chen sat cross-legged in the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, mobilizing his Qi Blood according to the Secret Technique.

Within a quarter of an hour, the immense volume of Qi Blood throughout his body was roused and began converging on his Dantian.

Before long, the massive amount of Qi Blood coagulated until it resembled a mercurial paste, growing increasingly viscous. His Dantian, in turn, felt heavier and heavier.

’Body as a furnace, intent as the guide.’

The muscles all over Xiao Chen’s body bulged, and his body temperature rose sharply, as if he had turned into a blacksmith’s forge.

At the same time, a large amount of Divine Sense branched out from his Sea of Consciousness, guiding the residual Qi Blood from his limbs and bones into his Dantian.

This process is normally very difficult.

This is mainly because a cultivator’s Divine Sense is typically not strong enough, and they usually need to consume a spirit medicine that enhances it to aid in the breakthrough.

However, for Xiao Chen, this was no issue. He already had a Golden Core cultivation base and possessed Divine Sense that far surpassed any Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

He completed this step with ease.

As sufficient Qi Blood gathered in his Dantian and was compressed to the extreme by the Secret Technique, a critical mass was reached, triggering a qualitative transformation.

A thread of vital life force emerged and immediately split into one hundred and eight life lines, connecting to the acupoints throughout his body.

Normally, the life lines would unite the acupoints with the Dantian, allowing the Life Pill to condense.

However, Xiao Chen had already formed a Golden Core. Sensing the unusual activity in his Dantian, his Flawless Golden Core gave a nimble spin and repelled all the life lines.

This Dantian was already its domain; it would tolerate nothing else within it.

Although Xiao Chen could have forced the connection, doing so would have damaged his Flawless Golden Core.

But he had no need to do so.

With a flicker of his Divine Thought, all the life lines surged toward the Fake Pill. Using the Fake Pill—which was in no way inferior to the Dantian of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator—as its foundation, the process of commanding the body’s acupoints and forming the Life Pill began.

The subsequent process of condensing True Essence was also incredibly smooth.

But as the new True Essence emerged, the most difficult part arrived: ’Thunderous Roar of Sinew and Bone, Inner and Outer Unite!’

Unlike Magic Cultivators, who condense True Essence outside the Golden Core before gathering it back inside to be nurtured, Body Cultivators condense True Essence within the Life Pill. They then disperse it all along the meridians to the major acupoints throughout the body.

From there, it would penetrate deep into the bone marrow, refining the physical body and forging a Golden Body and Jade Bones.

This process was extremely perilous. The slightest misstep would cause one’s body to explode, resulting in death.

In most cases, without a Spiritual Object or a life-saving Secret Technique, ninety percent of Body Cultivators failed to overcome this trial.

The moment the Life Pill was formed, a massive amount of True Essence took advantage of the brief window before the life lines dissolved, surging into his limbs and bones.

Xiao Chen’s heart began to pound like a war drum—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. A RUSHING sound filled his ears as his blood surged, as if a raging torrent was tearing through his veins.

His bones cracked and popped all over his body. His sinews, bones, skin, and membranes vibrated in unison, producing the legendary Thunderous Roar of Tiger and Leopard to temper his organs.

This tempering by the thunderous roar was both a transformation and a trial.

If he could endure it, his internal organs would be significantly enhanced, becoming dozens of times stronger than they were during his Foundation Establishment days.

But if he failed to endure, the light consequence would be hard-to-heal internal injuries; the heavy one would be a failed breakthrough, his body perishing and his Dao vanishing on the spot.

At this point, a typical cultivator would have to focus with every ounce of their being.

They would have to go all out, relying on their Cultivation Technique to strengthen their body and repair the damage in real time.

Although Xiao Chen had forged a Golden Body before, the version achieved by a Magic Cultivator couldn’t be compared to that of a Body Cultivator.

As the True Essence ran rampant, beads of blood immediately began to seep from the surface of his skin.

As the thunderous roar boomed, cracks began to appear throughout his internal organs.

Just as Xiao Chen was busy mobilizing True Essence for healing, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that his All Things Rejuvenation Scripture had suddenly kicked in.

As a Yellow Level Cultivation Technique, its only notable feature, aside from cultivating True Essence, was its ability to heal injuries.

Most Wood Element Techniques shared this trait; after all, the Wood element governs life and vitality.

However, this trait, which was normally little more than better than nothing, happened to be the perfect solution to his current problem.

With a single sweep of the Golden Core’s True Essence, the damage caused by the Life Pill’s True Essence healed on the spot, as if it had never been there.

’Woah, so a Wood Spirit Root has this kind of benefit?’

Thank the heavens. His inferior-grade Spiritual Root had always been a liability, but he never thought it would one day have its moment to shine.

Then again, his situation was unique.

Even a normal cultivator with a Wood Spirit Root wouldn’t attempt the path of Dual Cultivation of Body and Technique, so they would never be able to use this benefit.

After all, Dual Cultivation of Body and Technique meant consuming extra cultivation resources.

Talented individuals tended to specialize in one path to pursue breakthroughs into the next Major Realm.

Those with poor talent often lacked sufficient cultivation resources; they had the ambition but not the means.

’Fuse the Yang into the Pill, become a single whole, Combine!’

With that final mantra, the Life Pill successfully connected to all his meridians and forged his Golden Body and Jade Bones, taking on a radiant golden hue itself.

With a thought, Xiao Chen turned his Divine Sense inward to observe his own body.

He saw that within his Dantian space, two resplendent golden Treasure Pills now shone in mutual brilliance.

The Double Golden Core!

"Whew, incredible!"

Feeling the immense True Essence within his body, Xiao Chen was overjoyed.

The first and most obvious benefit of forming a Double Golden Core was that his total reserves of True Essence had nearly doubled.

The Life Pill could also provide one hundred and eight streams of True Essence, a number that would continue to grow as he opened new acupoints in the future.

This also meant he finally had enough True Essence to simultaneously deploy the three Spiritual Artifacts in his possession.