Chapter 237
After another month or so had passed, her dantian was filled so completely that it was difficult to find even a gap.
That was the result of absorbing high-grade spirit stones for one shichen each day and regulating them with the Five-Element Technique.
The abundant world’s spiritual energy flowing from the fifth-tier spirit vein also aided her cultivation.
Now it was time to build the fourth core essence layer.
However, the transition from the third star of Foundation Establishment to the fourth was different from her previous breakthroughs.
It was a minor realm within the same major realm, and the amount of spiritual energy required was several times greater from the outset.
She could add a new layer only after compressing all the core essence she had accumulated up to the third star to a density approaching Core Formation.
No matter how excellent the Five-Element Technique’s harmony was, there was no way this could be easy.
‘I did prepare for this, just in case.’
Baek Cheong had never intended to rely on a single cultivation method for her breakthrough.
On the floor of the training room, she had deployed overlapping spirit-gathering and protective formations, and beside her sat a jade bottle containing second-tier Single-Pattern Realm-Breaking Pills.
She had reached the second and third stars without pills, but there was no reason to save them this time.
‘There’s no need to suffer for nothing.’
Soon afterward, she sat cross-legged and circulated the Five-Element Technique.
The five-colored spiritual power filling her dantian flowed according to the cycle of mutual generation and gathered into the three core essence layers.
Wood qi bolstered fire qi, and fire qi gave birth to earth qi.
Earth qi contained metal qi, while metal qi summoned water qi, which then flowed back into wood qi.
The force of mutual overcoming removed what was excessive, while harmony filled the gaps between the five elements.
Up to this point, it was not much different from her previous breakthroughs.
The problem appeared when she began compressing the three core essence layers.
The core essence, already compressed tightly, refused to yield even a little.
The more force she added from outside, the more fiercely the pressure within pushed back.
To create room for the fourth layer, she first had to reduce the entire structure.
‘This isn’t going to be easy.’
Baek Cheong awakened her divine soul and pushed her compressed divine sense deep into her dantian.
She grasped the paths of the five elements flowing through each core essence layer and slowly twisted them in the same direction.
The five-colored spiritual power swirled inward, but once it crossed a certain threshold, the flow became misaligned.
The newly gathered core essence rebounded outward and pushed her energy pathways in reverse.
Her small chest heaved, and the taste of hot blood spread through her mouth.
Rather than force it onward, she turned the spiritual power around and stabilized the core essence first.
On her second attempt, she handled the five elements with even greater delicacy.
On the third, she added her conviction as well, holding on to the flow as it scattered.
Even so, the wall of the minor realm did not open easily.
Night passed outside the training room and dawn arrived, yet no space appeared for the fourth layer.
‘As expected, I’ll have to take one this time.’
After trying with all her strength, she opened the jade bottle without hesitation.
Five-colored pill patterns clearly surfaced over the fingernail-sized pill.
When she swallowed it, pure medicinal power passed through her throat and flowed straight into her dantian.
Rather than fiercely pushing against the core essence, the medicinal power seeped into the narrow gaps between the three layers.
The force extending from the five-colored pill patterns also returned the misaligned spiritual power to its original flow one strand at a time.
‘Now.’
Baek Cheong circulated the Five-Element Technique in time with the gap widened by the medicinal power.
Mutual generation drew the core essence inward, while mutual overcoming shaved away the force pushing back.
Harmony filled every gap that opened each time she compressed it.
The three core essence layers, which had held out for some time, gradually shrank inward.
The scattered spiritual power also traced a new ring around the outside of the compressed core essence.
Before the flow could become misaligned again, she pushed in all the remaining spiritual energy at once.
The three-layered, five-colored core essence then gathered tightly into a rounded shape resembling a Golden Core.
Even so, each layer remained independent instead of merging with the others.
At last, the fourth five-colored core essence layer was fully complete.
‘The fourth star of Foundation Establishment.’
Finally, she gathered even the spiritual power circulating through her energy pathways and slowly opened her eyes.
It had gone more smoothly than expected, but without her previous experience, she likely would have struggled.
Above all, the power she had newly gained could not be compared to a single pill.
‘Can this still be called Foundation Establishment?’
Baek Cheong drew spiritual power into her palm.
Five-colored light gathered and rapidly pulled in the world’s spiritual energy within the training room.
The spiritual power that had been close to half-step Core Formation at the third star had now fully reached the threshold of the Core Formation stage.
Her actual realm was the fourth star of Foundation Establishment, but in terms of quantity and quality, it was undeniably Core Formation-level.
With this much spiritual power, she could easily withstand the incantations and energy-pathway circulation of third-tier spells.
‘My divine sense has improved even more.’
When she awakened her divine soul, the divine sense that had grown to match her new realm also spread outward.
Its range, which had been thirty zhang, increased to exactly thirty-five zhang.
In the past, it would have increased by ten zhang with every breakthrough, but after undergoing the compression of the second star of the Spirit Resonance Art, only half that amount had been added.
Although its range was not as broad as before, its density and precision were unquestionably Nascent Soul-grade.
Both her spiritual power and divine sense had far surpassed what the name Foundation Establishment implied.
‘I’ve completely surpassed Foundation Establishment.’
Baek Cheong felt awkward at a level so far beyond common sense.
Still, excess was better than insufficiency, so she nodded.
Then she left the training room and threw herself onto the bed.
With Core Formation-level spiritual power, what she wanted to do right away was forum activity rather than practice third-tier spells.
***
Even several days later, Baek Cheong was lying on her stomach on the bed, rummaging through the Nameless Room.
The post where she had asked how to refine an artifact whose artifact spirit had vanished was filled with all kinds of replies.
Most of them were useless suggestions to capture a new artifact spirit and put it inside.
Quite a few replies said it would be better to give up on the old artifact.
Just then, Dao Friend (2.2) appeared late.
[Dao Friend (2.2): There is a way to connect to the vacant place where the artifact spirit was without binding it.]
Baek Cheong immediately sat up and typed a reply.
[Dao Friend (913.14): Tell me quickly.]
While she was waiting for the answer, the boundary formation around the door alerted her to a visitor.
“Cheong-ah, are you inside?”
Of all times, her uncle had come just as an important explanation was about to appear.
She gazed regretfully at the Nameless Room before opening the door.
“What is it?”
“The turtle spirit beast we saw before has appeared again.”
“The turtle?”
Baek Mu-yeong nodded and explained that it was floating near the water gate of Cheonnam Immortal City.
Many outside cultivators had come to Cheonnam Immortal City seeking cultivation caves and branches.
Several Nascent Soul great cultivators were staying there as well.
Since a third-tier demonic beast had approached the water gate without warning, dharma treasures and spells might have flown first if things went badly.
Fortunately, her father had stepped forward early and announced that the turtle was a spirit beast connected to the Yeonha Baek Clan.
The turtle was also waiting obediently outside the water gate, so no incident had occurred yet.
‘It came back sooner than I expected.’
There was a high chance it had come to find her.
But an important reply was about to appear in the Nameless Room.
Moreover, she was still under house arrest by her father’s order.
“I’m not allowed to go outside, you know.”
Baek Mu-yeong narrowed his eyes as though he understood exactly what she meant.
“Your father said you must have reflected sufficiently by now, so your house arrest ends as of today.”
“I haven’t reflected enough yet.”
“You’re the only person who would be disappointed to hear that your punishment is over.”
Baek Cheong could not even hide her disappointment as she looked back and forth between the bed and her uncle.
The excellent justification for remaining shut inside her room had disappeared just like that.
With no other choice, she put on her outer robe and stepped outside her residence.
“Can’t I continue reflecting after I come back?”
“Just hurry up and walk.”
Her uncle led the way with an incredulous expression.
The streets of Cheonnam Immortal City were still crowded with cultivators, merchants, and puppets carrying cargo.
The news that the alliance leader’s daughter was heading toward the water gate seemed to have already spread, as people moved aside on both sides.
The closer they came to the walls, the denser the water qi grew, and the spiritual pressure of Nascent Soul great cultivators could be felt one after another.
When they reached the water gate where Cheonnam Immortal City met Yeonha, a massive bulk came into view.
The turtle demonic beast was waiting obediently outside the water gate, with about half of its dark blue shell protruding above the surface.
Her father stood at the spot nearest the water gate, holding back the cultivators who had gathered.
Several unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivators could also be seen on the walls and in the air.
No one had drawn a dharma treasure, but nobody took their eyes off the turtle.
As soon as she appeared above the water gate, its closed golden eyes opened.
Its enormous head rose above the water, and as it stretched out its long neck, it found her precisely among the countless people.
“Ang!”
When the turtle demonic beast’s cry reverberated through the water gate and city walls, everyone nearby looked at Baek Cheong at once.
Baek Cheong, meanwhile, sensed that something was different, so she spread her divine sense and examined the turtle’s demonic core and demonic power.
Its demonic power, which had previously been close to the beginning of the third tier, had already deepened to the middle stage.
It was an astonishingly rapid rate of growth even among demonic beasts.
However, it had previously eaten fifty high-grade spirit stones and spent time beside the liberated fifth-tier spirit vein, so it was not entirely incomprehensible.
‘It must have been eating well.’
The turtle demonic beast bobbed its neck several times as though delighted to see her.
Then, when Baek Cheong approached, it naturally opened its enormous mouth.
Its attitude of waiting obediently with its mouth open was exactly the same as when it had asked for high-grade spirit stones before.
‘Is it asking for spirit stones again?’
She had already planned to give it some high-grade spirit stones as payment for bringing her the fortuitous opportunity.
She certainly would not have minded taking out a few for it.
But the fact that it wanted high-grade spirit stones made her curious.
‘Are the spirit veins not enough?’
Baek Cheong looked back and forth between the turtle and Yeonha.
The spiritual energy from the spirit vein was denser than before, and the turtle’s demonic power was growing rapidly as well.
She could not understand why it had gone out of its way to find her and demand high-grade spirit stones.
Her hand, which had been naturally reaching for her spatial dharma treasure, stopped, and she looked around.
Hundreds of eyes watched her and the turtle from the water gate, the city walls, and the air.
If she casually took out high-grade spirit stones and fed them to the turtle in front of everyone, she could become entangled in troublesome matters.
“Let’s go somewhere without people.”
The turtle did not appear to understand her.
Even so, when she mounted her Cloud-Riding Technique and flew up, it lowered its enormous head.
She soon descended from the clouds, stepped on its head, and settled herself on its shell.
Looking around from the shell, she saw that even the Nascent Soul cultivators were staring only at her.
She patted its shell as though nothing unusual had happened.
“Let’s go out for a little while.”
The turtle demonic beast turned around as though it had been waiting for those words.
Its massive limbs pushed through the water and raised a small wave in front of the water gate.
It carried her away from the immortal city at high speed.
Before long, the walls of Cheonnam Immortal City and the crowds of onlookers had shrunk into the distance across the lakeshore.