Chapter 131: Core Formation (Part 2)

With the three cold energies merged into one, the core embryo was formed. What was needed next was its Fusion with the Physical Body. If there was no rejection, then after the impact of Spiritual Qi and the nurturing of Divine Sense, a Golden Core would finally form, marking entry into the Core Formation Stage.

The impact of Spiritual Qi required a Heavenly Separation Pill to increase the success rate. Wang Lin suddenly opened his eyes. From his head down, tiny cracks rapidly appeared on his body. These cracks grew larger and larger, quickly covering his entire body with a series of cracking sounds.

As his body moved, the cracks split even faster, and gradually several pieces peeled off. Wang Lin slowly stood up, and with a violent shake of his entire body, the fragmented cracks fell away in large quantities, like dust swept by a strong wind.

His clothes also turned into flying ash and vanished during this peeling, leaving only the slightly damaged Flood Dragon Inner Armor on his body.

Wang Lin stood silently in place, his eyes closed again. After a long while, he opened his eyes, and a blue cold light flashed within them. His fists gradually clenched. With the three cores merged into one, although his Realm could only be considered half a step into Core Formation, his Yellow Springs Ascending Aperture Art had already reached Major Achievement.

A cluster of blue flames emerged from the core embryo, flowing along the Meridians of his right hand to his fingertips, silently seeping out. At this moment, three inches above his right hand, a blue glowing flame quietly burned.

Its burning did not emit heat, but coldness. This cluster of blue ice flames was the essence of the Yellow Springs Ascending Aperture Art — the Flame of Yellow Springs.

As soon as this Yellow Springs Ice Flame appeared, a thick layer of blue crystals on the ground beneath Wang Lin's feet immediately emitted white mist, showing signs of melting. Wang Lin waved his right hand, and the Ice Flame immediately disappeared. The white mist gradually dissipated, and after the white mist cleared, a concave spot was revealed in the blue crystals on the ground.

Wang Lin was secretly surprised by the power of the Ice Flame. He looked around, took out a set of clothes from his Storage Pouch and changed into them. His gaze lingered on the beast bones for a while, falling into contemplation. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he sat down cross-legged, patted his Storage Pouch, and the Flood Dragon Skull immediately flew out.

Staring at the skull, Wang Lin's eyes flickered. He planned to go to Southern Dipper City next to exchange for a Pill Furnace, and then have Li Muwan refine the Heavenly Separation Pill. Although three years had passed in a flash, Wang Lin knew that Li Muwan was not in any danger, thanks to a faint connection with her Soul Blood.

However, after seeing the countless frozen beast bones around him, Wang Lin's idea changed slightly. The Artifact Refining technique of the God of War Hall primarily required a reaction furnace.

After the previous failure, he no longer had any Spirit Beast skulls. He had originally intended for Li Muwan to keep the Flood Dragon Skull precisely to refine a reaction furnace, but it was delayed due to the matter of the three cores merging. Moreover, Wang Lin was still unsure, as once it failed, finding another Spirit Beast skull to refine would be too time-consuming and laborious.

But now, when he discovered that the surroundings were full of beast bones, the idea of making a reaction furnace immediately resurfaced. He took a deep breath, recalling the method for making a reaction furnace from the Artifact Refining Jade Slip in his mind. Not long after, he took out the Jade Slip again and re-read it.

He clapped his hands together, and as he spread them, threads of spiritual energy shimmered with light, gradually appearing between his palms. A solemn expression appeared on Wang Lin's face. He tossed his hands upwards simultaneously, and the spiritual threads immediately flew up.

Wang Lin didn't blink. He clasped his hands together again, repeating this cycle over and over. Slowly, the spiritual threads in front of him grew more numerous and denser, eventually transforming into a spiritual silk, emitting ripples of light.

Having done this, Wang Lin breathed a sigh of relief. The first step of making a reaction furnace, drawing out the silk from the cocoon, was complete. Now, it was time to test whether the furnace embryo could withstand the melting of the spiritual silk.

He pointed at the Flood Dragon Skull, and the silk formed by spiritual threads quickly wrapped around it, adhering to the skull. Wang Lin focused his mind and observed closely, watching as the spiritual silk slowly merged into the skull. The color of the skull gradually faded from purple.

But not long after, the skull suddenly emitted cracking sounds, and then cracks appeared from where the spiritual silk was wrapped. Finally, with a bang, the entire skull shattered into pieces and fell to the ground, leaving only the spiritual silk still in mid-air, emitting waves of spiritual energy fluctuations.

Wang Lin sighed inwardly, but then an unwilling look appeared in his eyes. He swept his gaze around, leaped up, grabbed the spiritual silk in mid-air, and swiftly arrived next to a huge beast bone, pressing it down. This beast bone was about five to six hundred feet long, and the bone itself emitted a grayish-white color. Its skull was also enormous, almost comparable to the Flood Dragon bone that had just been discarded.

The moment the spiritual silk merged, it immediately passed through the beast bone. Wang Lin was stunned, and tried again. The spiritual silk passed through the beast bone without any obstruction.

Wang Lin stared at the beast bone, his eyes flickering. The surface of this beast bone was covered by a layer of blue ice crystals, making it look like crystal. He grabbed it with his right hand, squeezing the bone. With a slight force, the bone made cracking sounds but did not break.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then withdrew his hand with a wave. The Yellow Springs Ice Flame flew out from his palm. As soon as the Ice Flame approached the beast bone, waves of white mist immediately emanated from the beast bone. The closer the Ice Flame got, the more mist appeared, and the blue crystals covering it rapidly dissipated at a visible speed, eventually disappearing completely, revealing the grayish-white beast bone beneath.

Without hesitation, Wang Lin grabbed the spiritual silk and pressed it down. This time, the spiritual silk directly wrapped around the skull.

However, after half an incense stick's time, the beast bone's color changed three times, then it shattered into ash with a bang. The spiritual silk floated out, with many fewer threads and slightly weaker spiritual energy.

Wang Lin frowned. The difficulty of making this reaction furnace far exceeded his imagination. It was likely that the reason so few people mastered the God of War Hall's Artifact Refining technique was largely due to this reaction furnace.

For others, even obtaining a Spirit Beast skull was a great Opportunity, but the requirement for making a reaction furnace was that the skull of a recently deceased Spirit Beast was preferable, and the skull of a powerful Spirit Beast was superior. If a Spirit Beast had been dead for a long time, the chances of using its skull would be greatly reduced.

Of course, if one could obtain the skull of an Ancient Beast, regardless of whether it had just died, the chances would increase several times.

This naturally greatly increased the difficulty. When the Flood Dragon had just died, Wang Lin thought that if he had refined it immediately, the success rate might have been higher, but at that time, his mind was not on Artifact Refining at all; he was only thinking about forming his Core as quickly as possible.

Wang Lin snorted lightly, glancing at the boundless sea of bones around him. He couldn't calculate how many Spirit Beast bones were in it.

"I refuse to believe that with so many Spirit Beast bones, I can't refine a reaction furnace!" Wang Lin's eyes flashed. He clasped his hands together, pulled out spiritual threads to replenish the spiritual silk, then grabbed the spiritual silk and pressed it onto another beast bone.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the beast bone shattered again.

This happened repeatedly. Wang Lin himself didn't know how many beast bones he had shattered. He only knew that he had replenished the spiritual silk over a hundred times.

His brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Finally, Wang Lin leaped up, stood in mid-air, and coldly swept his gaze around. Then, he swung the spiritual silk around his body, and the spiritual silk immediately transformed into circles of ripples, rotating outside Wang Lin's body.

His hands constantly clasped and opened. Each time, some spiritual threads appeared and merged into the spiritual silk. Gradually, as Wang Lin's speed increased, the spiritual threads merged like rain, and the size of the spiritual silk gradually grew.

The ripples of spiritual silk outside his body also grew larger. Wang Lin did not stop. In one breath, he converted all the spiritual energy in his body into spiritual threads, then immediately drank several large mouthfuls of spiritual energy liquid and converted it again.

Time gradually passed. The ripples of spiritual silk outside his body grew larger and larger, already spreading out a hundred zhang away.

"Still not enough!" Wang Lin estimated the range of the bone sea and silently thought. Then he drank more spiritual liquid and continued to convert. Slowly, the ripples grew larger again, eventually reaching a thousand zhang in size. Wang Lin took a deep breath, let out a low roar, raised his hands, and his Divine Sense leaped out to control the spiritual silk ripples, pressing them down fiercely. At the same time, the Ice Flame also followed.

Amidst continuous rumbling sounds, within the thousand zhang area he pressed, beast bones surged like a giant tide, raising layers of bone ash. Waves of continuous bone ash, wherever they passed, no bones could resist, all turning into flying ash and joining the bone waves.

Among them were countless white mists, which looked extremely spectacular when viewed faintly. After the white mist dissipated, there was nothing left within a thousand zhang. Wang Lin gritted his teeth, once again converted spiritual liquid into a thousand-zhang spiritual silk, and pressed it down in another direction.

The bone waves rolled, and after the white smoke, Wang Lin's pupils suddenly contracted. He saw a small beast skeleton, of ordinary human size, standing alone in the thousand-zhang empty space.

Wang Lin's face revealed joy. His body sank, and he immediately flew over. Outside the small beast's skeleton, he focused his gaze for a moment. This was a skeleton that looked extremely ordinary, without any remarkable features.

The bones were slightly white, a bit slender, and looked very common. Wang Lin's eyes flashed. He pointed his right finger to the sky, and the spiritual silk was immediately grabbed by an invisible large hand and pressed towards the small beast's skull.

The color of the skull immediately changed, once, twice, thrice… After changing nine times, with a 'crack' sound, the skull detached from the spine and slowly floated up from the ground.

The spiritual silk had completely merged into it. After changing colors nine times, the shape of the skull gradually changed, eventually becoming bowl-shaped, with waves of spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from within.

Wang Lin held it in his hand and examined it.

The origin of the God of War Hall's Artifact Refining technique is unfathomable. Legend has it that it was discovered simultaneously with the Heavenly Dao technique by the ancestors of the God of War Hall. Later generations, after cultivating separately, devoted their efforts to studying this Artifact Refining technique, eventually categorizing and organizing a set of steps. Among them, the reaction furnace in the Artifact Refining technique was divided into ten grades.

The higher the grade, the better the effect. The method to distinguish grades is also simple: the number of color changes at the moment the reaction furnace is created represents its grade.

"Grade Nine!" Wang Lin murmured to himself, with a slight regret in his heart. After so much effort, and with the mysterious bone sea at his disposal, he still hadn't refined a Grade Ten reaction furnace.

However, Grade Nine was better than no grade. Wang Lin took out the Artifact Refining Jade Slip and carefully examined it again.

Wang Lin didn't know, and the Jade Slip didn't describe it in detail, that even the current Hall Master of the God of War Hall's Artifact Refining Hall, that Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, only possessed a Grade Six reaction furnace, and the few other reaction furnaces were all below Grade Three.

The reason Wang Lin's was a ninth-grade was directly related to that seemingly ordinary beast bone. This beast bone was an extremely rare Desolate Beast bone within this sea of bones!

After a Desolate Beast dies, its bones are not much different from other Spirit Beasts. Unless one is a researcher in this field, it's difficult to distinguish them.

Wang Lin's mind withdrew from the Jade Slip. He pondered for a moment. The Artifact Refining technique of the Battle God Hall emphasized three processes: Adjust, Fuse, and Combine. Adjust is like enlightenment, Fuse is like a solid body, and Combine is like a finishing touch.

Wang Lin composed himself, not blinking an eye. He pulled out some Materials from his Storage Pouch and threw them one by one into the skull reaction furnace. These Materials were some of the Artifact Refining Materials recorded in the Jade Slip, and Wang Lin had found some in his Storage Pouch after memorizing them.

Chicken Blood Stone, when catalyzed by Spiritual Qi, can produce high temperatures.

Purple Moon Vine, as a type of vegetation, can act as a decomposer after being catalyzed by Heavenly Gang Wood.

Heavenly Gang Wood is a wood-attribute material whose function is corrosion.

Wang Lin had all three of these Materials in his Storage Pouch. Although the quantity wasn't large, it should be enough for Artifact Refining. Before obtaining the Artifact Refining Jade Slip, Wang Lin had been completely confused by these Materials taken from the Outer Realm Battlefield and didn't recognize them. But now, he at least understood a little about Artifact Refining Materials.

He placed the Purple Moon Vine into the reaction furnace. Each time he put in a section, he used the beast bone to crush it inside. At the same time, he extended his Spiritual Qi into it, fusing it within. As more and more Purple Moon Vine was added, a viscous purple liquid gradually accumulated in the reaction furnace.

Staring into the reaction furnace, Wang Lin muttered to himself, seemingly calculating something. After a short while, his eyes flashed, and he flicked a drop of his own blood into the furnace!

At this instant, several bubbles immediately appeared in the reaction furnace. Wang Lin calmly released his Divine Sense, concentrating it on the reaction furnace, and Spiritual Qi flowed in smoothly.

The function of the reaction furnace was described in detail in the Artifact Refining Jade Slip. The description stated that this Artifact Refining method was unconventional, using the reaction furnace as a medium through which the Artifact Refiner could manipulate the Materials inside to change them.

Wang Lin took a deep breath. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly took out the Heavenly Gang Wood, gently crushed it, and sprinkled it into the reaction furnace.

The purple liquid immediately began to bubble, emitting a pungent odor. Next, Wang Lin took out his only piece of Chicken Blood Stone and threw it in.

After doing all this, he showed a solemn expression, formed Hand Seals with both hands, and swiftly conjured several streaks of spiritual light. Gradually, the liquid in the reaction furnace solidified, forming a purple sphere.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then with a wave of his right hand, the sphere split into two. One floated up, and the other sank into the reaction furnace.

Under Wang Lin's control, the floating sphere slowly rose. Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then pressed his hands to his glabella and chest respectively, exerting slight force. Immediately, a mouthful of Purple Mansion Spiritual Qi was forced out from his body and exhaled. As soon as this Spiritual Qi emerged, it instantly drilled into the sphere.

The first step of the Battle God Hall's Artifact Refining technique, Adjust, was now complete. Next was the second step, Fuse.

This Fusion required an artifact embryo. Wang Lin patted his Storage Pouch, and Flying Swords of various sizes swiftly flew out. All thirty-five of them were taken out and thrown into the air one by one.

Wang Lin pointed at one of the Flying Swords, and it immediately shot out, piercing the sphere. Slowly, the sword tip melted, and eventually, the entire Flying Sword melted into it.

Next, the remaining thirty-four Flying Swords were integrated into the sphere one by one under Wang Lin's control. Finally, a multicolored light flashed within the sphere, bright and dazzling.

The entire process, from putting in the first Purple Moon Vine until now, lasted for nearly two hours. For two hours, Wang Lin had been completely focused. At this moment, not only did he not relax, but he became even more solemn. After staring at the sphere for a while, he took out the black Flying Sword from his Storage Pouch.

This Flying Sword could be said to have shared hardships with Wang Lin. From its initial acquisition, it accompanied him in slaying Master Zhang Hu, then drank the blood of Teng Li, and finally fought with him in Jue Ming Valley until his Physical Body was destroyed and his Divine Sense was taken away by Situ Nan. The sword embryo of this Flying Sword was shattered as a result, with only a trace of the sword spirit surviving because it was blood-refined with Wang Lin and thus merged with his Divine Sense.

Afterward, Wang Lin had searched for new embryos for it several times, but none had been effective. The current new embryo, this black Flying Sword, had already become dented and somewhat battered from several instantaneous attacks.

Wang Lin grabbed the Flying Sword with his right hand and gently stroked it. A sword cry immediately emanated from within the Flying Sword, followed by a faint sword shadow slowly floating up from the Flying Sword and hovering in front of Wang Lin. At the same time, the Devil Head also escaped from the Flying Sword, floating far to the side, staring blankly around, unsure of what it was thinking.

Wang Lin took a deep breath, and with a sweep of his hand, the sphere immediately flew in. He gritted his teeth, and with a thought, the Flying Sword phantom rushed into the sphere without any hesitation.

Wang Lin's Divine Sense instantly spread out, tightly enveloping the sphere. The final step of the Battle God Hall's Artifact Refining technique, Combine, thus began.

Time slowly passed. The sphere was gradually stretched and solidified. After an unknown period, a Dragon's roar emanated from within, and a crystal-clear, shimmering crystal Flying Sword slowly materialized before Wang Lin.

As soon as this Flying Sword appeared, a Spiritual Qi Vortex immediately formed. After circling Wang Lin a few times, it abruptly merged into the Flying Sword. Wang Lin gazed at the crystal Flying Sword, and after a long while, he opened his mouth wide, and the Flying Sword transformed into a crystal light, flying into his mouth.

The Devil Head was stunned, rubbed its hands, and forced a smile, "This… you swallowed it. Where will I live now?"

Wang Lin looked up at it, then with a wave of his right hand, the Flood Dragon Tendon flew out from his Storage Pouch. He scraped his hand inside the reaction furnace, and the sphere that had previously sunk into it floated out. Wang Lin's eyes flashed, and the Dragon Tendon immediately flew into the sphere.

After a period of refining, the sphere grew smaller and smaller, eventually transforming back into a Dragon Tendon. However, the color of this Dragon Tendon had turned golden yellow. Wang Lin glanced at the Devil Head, and the Devil Head immediately obediently drilled into it.

With a call of his right hand, the Dragon Tendon descended. Wang Lin observed it intently for a moment, then put it into his Storage Pouch. He looked up at the blue-crystal wall above, raised his right hand, and the Yellow Springs Ice Flame immediately appeared. He pushed off with his body and instantly flew upwards.

Like a broken bamboo, he shot straight out from thousands of feet beneath the ground. His speed was too fast, coupled with the destructive power of the Yellow Springs Ice Flame. With this charge, the entire ground outside Corpse Valley immediately shook. The Cultivators who were searching for beast bones in the valley all changed their expressions drastically, bewildered and confused, and scattered from Corpse Valley. The ground tremors became increasingly violent.

Several sharp-eyed Cultivators immediately saw a roar coming from the direction of Fourteen Valleys, followed by a black shadow shooting up, instantly flying into the mist above and disappearing.

After a long time, these Cultivators looked at Fourteen Valleys with confusion. Various speculations slowly spread, eventually even circulating that a ten-thousand-year-old corpse was sleeping in Corpse Valley. This corpse, having slept until now, suddenly awakened, causing the violent tremors in Corpse Valley, and the flying black shadow was actually this corpse that had cultivated into a spirit.

After flying out, Wang Lin did not stop, swiftly heading south. According to the information he had previously obtained from Sang Mu Cliff, Southern Dipper City was in the far south, about 300,000 li from Corpse Valley.

Wang Lin knew that his Artifact Refining had already consumed some time, so he flew at top speed. At this moment, he had only one thought: to exchange for a Pill Furnace and refine Heavenly Departure Pills!

Two days and two nights later, a huge black city appeared in Wang Lin's sight. This city was enormous, stretching as far as the eye could see from a distance. This was Southern Dipper, one of the nine hundred ninety-eight cities in the Cultivation Devil Sea.

The reason it was called Southern Dipper was due to the name of its City Lord, City Lord Southern Dipper, who possessed Nascent Soul Stage cultivation and had countless experts under his command, making him a true overlord of one region.

Basically, within the Cultivation Devil Sea, possessing a city signified a certain status, and a City Lord held a renowned name. Below the City Lord's manor were various large and small Schools. The strength of these Schools varied, but no matter what, they could not compare to the prestige of a City Lord.

Fortunately, the City Lord of Southern Dipper City had been missing for five hundred years. The area within a million li was like a headless Dragon, allowing various large and small Schools to develop, with several large Schools like the Dou Xie Sect emerging.

Southern Dipper City even became an ownerless city in the Cultivation Devil Sea, jointly governed by several large Schools. However, Southern Dipper City was, after all, located in the remote outer periphery of the Cultivation Devil Sea, with scarce resources and a lack of Spiritual Veins. Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators generally wouldn't deign to come here, which resulted in no Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators within a million li, while Core Formation Stage Cultivators were numerous.

It was once prophesied that if a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator were to emerge here, they would naturally become the new City Lord of Southern Dipper City.

In these five hundred years, it wasn't that no Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators had come here wanting to seize control and become City Lord, but each time, they couldn't endure the sparse Spiritual Qi and barren environment for long and eventually gave up.

Over time, no Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were willing to come here anymore. After all, there were nearly a thousand cities in the Cultivation Devil Sea, so there was no need to stay in this godforsaken Southern Dipper City.

At this time, Southern Dipper City was jointly governed by the Zhu Tian Sect, Mie Hun Gate, and Tian Yi Dao Sect. Although the Dou Xie Sect was qualified to enter, the alliance of the three sects prevented it from taking even a single step in.

After all, governance by three sects was vastly different from governance by four sects, and no one was so short-sighted as to watch the Dou Xie Sect destroy other sects and grow powerful. Therefore, the three sects were completely unified in their stance on this matter.

After paying ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones and obtaining an entry token, Wang Lin hurriedly entered Southern Dipper City, heading straight for the Artifact Refining Pavilion in the east of the city.

The Artifact Refining Pavilion had three floors; each higher floor meant the Magic Treasures within were several times more expensive. When Wang Lin arrived, there were seven or eight Cultivators on the first floor, haggling with several accompanying shop assistants.

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The update was late, but thankfully, I made it. I'm truly sorry!