Chapter 60: Core Formation Realm
When Guo Yu rushed back to the West Mountain Stone Cliff, he found the stone cave quiet and couldn’t help but walk in quickly.
Upon entering, he saw Elder You and two other Grandmasters sitting in silence. The injured Grandmaster on the stone bed was motionless, it was unclear if he had fallen asleep or had already passed away.
“Master, where is Changxi?”
Elder You: “She went to the cliff bottom.” As he spoke, he looked at his disciple, and his expression immediately showed surprise, “You’ve broken through to the Eighth Rank?”
Guo Yu quickly handed Hua Changxi the Earthly Gang Pill he gave him and explained that he had broken through to the Eighth Rank in his sleep after taking the pill: “Master, Hua Changxi’s alchemy skills are definitely superior to most pharmacists in the Medical Affairs Department.”
Upon hearing this, Elder You looked at his two friends: “When I was injured before, that girl also treated me, and I am convinced of her medical skills. When she said she could save Yang Chuan, I believe it’s not a lie.”
Zhuo Fan and Jiang Ye exchanged a glance.
Zhuo Fan rubbed the box on the stone table and frowned, “That girl clearly has her eyes on this pomegranate that we risked our lives to get. Are you really willing to give it to her?”
Elder You and Jiang Ye were naturally unwilling.
Jiang Ye sighed: “Yang Chuan ate one pomegranate seed and almost exploded. We can only look at this pomegranate but not eat it.”
Elder You also added: “My biggest worry is that keeping this pomegranate will bring disaster upon us.”
“We know nothing about cultivators. Hua Changxi is a cultivator, she can sense the existence of the pomegranate, and so can other cultivators.”
“The people who chased us before were all Martial Artists. If cultivators are attracted, will we still have a chance to live?”
Hearing this, Zhuo Fan and Jiang Ye’s expressions became solemn.
Zhuo Fan looked at Elder You: “I don’t sense any aura of a strong person on that girl. Are you sure she’s a cultivator?”
Elder You nodded: “I told you, I almost died under the beak of a fire-breathing Red Eagle. She saved me. Although I didn’t see how she made her move, I knew that the Red Eagle was killed by her in one blow.”
Zhuo Fan fell silent.
Elder You continued: “Also, what that girl said about the pomegranate turning into an ordinary fruit if not sealed, I also believe that. Many medicinal herbs at the bottom of the stone cliff wither quickly once they are removed from the ground, I’ve seen this with my own eyes.”
Zhuo Fan was somewhat annoyed: “In that case, do we have to give this pomegranate to that girl? Then what was the point of us fighting to the death for this fruit? And it even left Yang Chuan half-dead.”
Jiang Ye: “. At least we’ve confirmed that there are cultivators above Martial Artists.” He then looked at Elder You, “Go and call that girl over. We’ll give her the pomegranate and let her cure Yang Chuan.”
Zhuo Fan moved his lips, looking unwilling, but seeing his bloodied friend on the stone bed, he ultimately said nothing.
Elder You nodded and looked at Guo Yu: “You go to the cliff bottom and call Hua Changxi up.”
Guo Yu nodded, quickly walked out of the stone cave, and leaped down the stone cliff.
At the bottom of the stone cliff, Hua Changxi came down. She originally intended to pick some Green Fruits to treat the blood-covered person, knowing that Elder You and the other two would eventually compromise.
There was no other reason; they simply couldn’t eat the Creation Pomegranate. If they ate it, they would explode and die like the blood-covered person.
To save the person, they could only trade with her.
When Hua Changxi reached the cliff bottom, she was greatly surprised.
For the past two months, she had been wandering around the South Mountain Great Rift Valley and hadn’t come to the cliff bottom. She never expected that in just two months, Third-Rank Spiritual Plants and Spiritual Fruits would appear at the cliff bottom, and there were also many more Second-Rank Spiritual Plants and Spiritual Fruits than before.
“Isn’t this growth rate a bit too fast?”
The Hundred Herbs Annotation clearly recorded that the higher the grade of Spiritual Plants and Spiritual Fruits, the older they were. Those that grew for hundreds or thousands of years were considered to have short growth periods.
Hua Changxi couldn’t understand what was happening, so she quickly picked all the Third-Rank Spiritual Plants and Spiritual Fruits, and the Second-Rank ones as well.
When Guo Yu found her, Hua Changxi was picking Third-Rank Fire Jujubes from a Fire Jujube tree.
“Changxi.”
Guo Yu dared not approach the Fire Jujube tree. The Fire Spiritual Energy around the Fire Jujube tree was too dense. As soon as he got close, it felt like being in a sea of fire.
Hua Changxi glanced at Guo Yu and continued picking Fire Jujubes: “Wait for me a moment.”
After picking all the Third-Rank Fire Jujubes, she jumped down from the Fire Jujube tree and walked towards Guo Yu while eating.
When she reached Guo Yu, she had already confirmed that eating one Third-Rank Fire Jujube could increase her Spiritual Energy by a thousand points.
Having witnessed Hua Changxi’s strength, Guo Yu now faced her with much more seriousness than before: “My Master and the others are looking for you, they have something to discuss with you. Let’s go up quickly.”
Hua Changxi smiled and did not go up the stone cliff with Guo Yu. Instead, she turned to pick Green Fruits.
It wasn’t that she wanted to play hard to get, but she wanted to maintain the initiative in her trade with Elder You and the other two.
Currently, Elder You and the other two had a request for her, yet they only sent Guo Yu to call her, acting as if she was at their beck and call. If she appeared too accommodating, she would be handing over the initiative to them.
Guo Yu watched Hua Changxi unhurriedly pick Green Fruits, feeling a bit anxious, but he couldn’t urge her.
While picking Green Fruits, Hua Changxi asked: “Master Guo, do you know the three people Elder You brought back? What do they do?”
Guo Yu: “They are all Master’s good friends. The injured one is Yang Chuan, Senior Yang, an Elder of the Beggar’s Gang; the refined and righteous one is Jiang Ye, the Leader of the Caogang Gang; and the hot-tempered one is Zhuo Fan, the Chief Escort of the Weiyuan Escort Agency.”
Hua Changxi looked surprised, not expecting Elder You’s three friends to have such backgrounds: “Then, among the four, Elder You is the one doing the worst.”
Guo Yu’s mouth twitched: “Master used to be the Chief Constable of the Six Doors. After some incidents, he voluntarily came to guard the Medicine Valley.”
Hua Changxi was surprised: “The Chief Constable of the Six Doors…”
Her father was from the Six Doors, so she had some understanding of it.
The Six Doors were responsible forJianghu cases and had extensive dealings withJianghu sects.
As the Chief Constable, Elder You likely accumulated a lot of connections, and if something happened, he should be able to call for help.
Knowing that Elder You and the other three had so many people at their disposal, Hua Changxi’s thoughts suddenly became active: “What kind of close relationship do Elder You and the other three have?”
Guo Yu’s expression was solemn: “A life-or-death relationship.”
Hua Changxi thought of the scene where Elder You and the other two desperately saved the blood-soaked person, and agreed with his words.
Looking at the spiritual plants and spiritual fruits at the bottom of the cliff, and thinking about the Fire Spirit Mine in the South Mountain Great Rift Valley, Hua Changxi’s desire to possess the Fire Spirit Mine became somewhat uncontrollable.
It would have been one thing if the Fire Spirit Mine hadn’t been discovered, but to discover it and then watch it be taken by others felt like having flesh cut away.
“Let’s go up.”
Originally, she had only planned to exchange with Elder You and the other two to save someone, but now that it was developing into a collaboration, Hua Changxi no longer delayed. After picking the third-tier Green Fruit, she didn’t linger and quickly ascended the stone cliff.
In the stone cave, Zhuo Fan was getting impatient: “It’s been half an hour, and they still haven’t come up. Is that little girl playing hard to get with us?”
Before he could finish speaking, Hua Changxi and Guo Yu, who was a step behind, walked in.
Seeing the two of them, Zhuo Fan snorted and turned his head away.
Hua Changxi glanced at him, guessing that this must be Zhuo Fan, the hot-tempered Chief Escort of the Weiyuan Escort Agency, whom Guo Yu had mentioned.
Jiang Ye stroked the box containing the pomegranate with some reluctance. Upon hearing Elder You’s light cough, he handed the box to him.
Elder You took the box, also with some reluctance, but still handed it to Hua Changxi: “This fruit is yours. We only ask that you can heal Yang Chuan.”
Hua Changxi took the box and, in front of everyone, gathered spiritual power in her right hand, used the Pill Sealing Technique, and sent out several streams of spiritual power to seal the box.
Seeing the red light appear at Hua Changxi’s fingertips, and then, with gestures they didn’t understand, the red light flew out, quickly disappearing into the box, Elder You and the other three showed expressions of shock.
After sealing the Creation Pomegranate, Hua Changxi looked at Elder You and the other two: “Are you sure you want to use this pomegranate to save Senior Yang Chuan’s life?”
Elder You and the other two exchanged glances and nodded.
Hua Changxi smiled: “I admire the deep friendship between you four seniors, but I still have to say, you giving me the pomegranate and me saving him is a fair exchange.”
Hearing this, Zhuo Fan immediately felt indignant. He genuinely felt that this little girl was extorting them, and wanted to say something, but was stopped by Jiang Ye.
Hua Changxi saw this and smiled: “I know, you three seniors must feel this pomegranate is of great value.”
Zhuo Fan couldn’t help but retort: “Isn’t it?”
They had risked their lives to snatch this fruit from a chaotic battle involving over ten different factions.
Hua Changxi: “I don’t deny that this pomegranate is indeed extraordinary, but with Senior Yang Chuan’s injuries, can you find anyone else to save him?”
“Also, even if this pomegranate is a treasure, if you don’t know how to use it and can’t eat it, then in your hands, it’s just a useless fruit.”
Zhuo Fan was still unconvinced: “How is it useless? We can use it to exchange with others.”
Hua Changxi smiled: “You four seniors are all people of extraordinary insight. If the pomegranate is useless in your hands, it’s likely useless in others’ hands as well.”
“Besides, as I said, if this pomegranate isn’t sealed, it will soon turn into an ordinary fruit.”
“In that case, even if you seniors wanted to find someone to exchange with, you probably wouldn’t get much benefit.”
Zhuo Fan snorted: “Ordinary people might not understand the function of this pomegranate, but people from Sanqing Palace and Taisu Palace would surely know.”
“If all else fails, we can give the fruit to the Celestial Master’s Mansion and earn their favor. If that doesn’t work, we can give it to the Medical Affairs Department.”
“Little girl, don’t think you’ve got us cornered. If it weren’t for saving Yang Chuan, you wouldn’t even be qualified to stand here and talk to us.”
Elder You and Jiang Ye didn’t stop Zhuo Fan. They also wanted to curb Hua Changxi’s arrogance. The four of them combined were over two hundred years old, and being dictated to by a girl in her early teens was truly embarrassing.
Hua Changxi’s eyes flickered upon hearing Zhuo Fan’s words.
Sanqing Palace, Taisu Palace, Celestial Master’s Mansion.
Very good, three more places where cultivators might exist.
Speaking of Taisu Palace, Hua Changxi couldn’t help but think of her twin sister, Hua Shiniang. She wondered how she was doing now? Would she be a cultivator?
Without dwelling on it, Hua Changxi looked at Zhuo Fan: “Then why didn’t you seniors directly take Senior Yang Chuan to those places you just mentioned to seek help?”
Zhuo Fan choked and looked at Elder You and Jiang Ye.
Elder You, while despising his old friend for being unable to outwit even a little girl, marveled at Hua Changxi’s sharp mind and could only step forward to say: “Yang Chuan’s condition is critical, and we really didn’t have time to go to other places for help.”
Upon hearing this, Zhuo Fan nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, that’s the reason.”
Hua Changxi let out a soft “Oh” with a half-smile: “So that’s how it is~”
Seeing her like this, Elder You and the other two looked somewhat sheepish.
Yang Chuan’s severe injuries were indeed one reason, but the main reason they didn’t go to Sanqing Palace and other places was their unwillingness to accept it and their lingering hope.
Going to places like Sanqing Palace would leave them with no room for negotiation; they would have to accept whatever was said. They came back to find Hua Changxi because they felt they could at least gain some leverage in front of a young girl.
Hua Changxi didn’t press the issue and began to state her purpose: “I deeply respect you seniors. I’m telling you this so that no one harbors any ill feelings.”
“A transaction where both parties are willing, where no one takes advantage of the other. By reaching such a consensus, we can get along more harmoniously in the future, don’t you agree?”
Elder You and the other two exchanged glances again.
Get along more harmoniously in the future?
What did that mean?
Did this little girl want to befriend them?
Elder You and Zhuo Fan, Jiang Ye exchanged glances, and Elder You spoke, “Of course, the pomegranates were given to you by us. It was a fair exchange.”
Hua Changxi smiled, “Since we’ve cleared the air, I’ll go and refine medicine to treat Senior Yang Chuan now.”
Watching Hua Changxi enter the stone room for alchemy, Elder You, Jiang Ye, and Zhuo Fan left the stone cave.
After leaving the stone cave a distance away, Jiang Ye looked at Elder You and asked, “That girl’s words had hidden meanings. What do you think she’s planning?”
Elder You shook his head, “That girl came to Medicine Valley in March. I don’t know much about her.”
Guo Yu, who had been in the background, spoke up, “Master, I think Hua Changxi might have taken a liking to the influence held by the seniors.” He then recounted how Hua Changxi had inquired about Yang Chuan and the others at the cliff bottom.
Zhuo Fan stammered, “This little girl has quite big ambitions. Could it be she wants to get involved in martial affairs?”
Jiang Ye shook his head, “I don’t think so. She probably wants to use us to obtain information.”
If they hadn’t been well-informed, they wouldn’t have had a chance in this competition for the exotic fruit.
Elder You agreed with Jiang Ye’s assessment, believing that Hua Changxi was indeed planning this. “If she truly has this intention, then it will be our turn to make a deal with her later.”
Jiang Ye said, “She’s quite a clever girl. Then let’s proactively wait for her to speak.”
Yang Chuan’s injuries were indeed very serious. Hua Changxi carefully controlled the dosage of the green fruit, using its gentle vitality and restorative properties to slowly nourish his body.
After Yang Chuan’s wounds gradually healed, she brewed a medicinal soup to replenish his blood and qi for him to consume.
Seeing Yang Chuan’s complexion gradually improve, and though he was still in a coma, his breathing was stable, Elder You and the other two finally felt their hearts settle.
The three of them had also sustained injuries during the struggle for the pomegranates. Seeing that Yang Chuan’s condition had stabilized, they finally calmed down to tend to their own wounds.
Half a month later, Yang Chuan woke up.
Although he had survived, his lifelong cultivation was completely waste (wasted/ruined). Yang Chuan’s mood was not high.
Elder You and the other two were very helpless about this and could only try to comfort him.
On the twenty-second day of July, in the Fire Spirit Mine beneath the Great Rift Valley in the heart of South Mountain, a whirlwind storm several meters in diameter began to blow. At the center of the storm, Hua Changxi sat cross-legged.
Half an hour later, the storm gradually subsided.
『 Realm: Core Formation Realm 1.01 million/10 million』
Hua Changxi successfully broke through the Qi Sea Realm and advanced to the Core Formation Realm.
Above the red qi sea, which was covered by clouds like a canopy, floated a small, radiant red dan bead.
At this moment, Hua Changxi felt as if she were that dan bead.
In the Qi Sea Realm, she observed her Dantian Qi Sea from an omniscient perspective. Upon reaching the Core Formation Realm, she discovered that ‘she’ had entered the Dantian and become that dan bead.
‘Looking’ at the boundless, vast, and surging Dantian Qi Sea, Hua Changxi felt like a speck of dust in the qi sea.
She wanted to fly. The dan bead sped across the qi sea, but no matter how she accelerated or how long she flew, she could not find the edge of the qi sea. Instead, she became disoriented and lost her way.
Hua Changxi withdrew her gaze, and ‘she’ immediately flew out of the qi sea, returning to her physical body.
Having advanced to the Core Formation Realm, Hua Changxi could clearly feel her own power, yet she felt an indescribable sense of floating.
Was it because she had been influenced by transforming into the dan bead floating above the qi sea?
The dan bead hovered above the qi sea, neither in the sky nor on the ground, truly in a state of floating.
Hua Changxi frowned slightly. Did the state of the dan bead directly affect her state of mind?
The new problem in her cultivation left her somewhat at a loss, but thinking that she had also fumbled her way through the Qi Refining Realm and Qi Sea Realm, she relaxed a little.
However, looking at the data for the Core Formation Realm, she felt a headache coming on again.
Cultivating to Perfection in the Core Formation Realm required 10 million Spiritual Energy Points. Following the pattern of breakthroughs in the previous three realms, advancing to the next realm would likely require 100 million Spiritual Energy Points.
Hua Changxi surveyed the Fire Spirit Mine, her eyes gleaming with determination.
She could already foresee that the further she progressed, the more cultivation resources she would need. She absolutely had to forge a partnership with Elder You and the others and claim this Fire Spirit Mine as her own!
