Golden Core is a Star, and You Call This Cultivation?

Qi Yuan cautiously entered the core area.

Ahead lay an unending stretch of mountains. He stopped on a flat expanse.

Further ahead was an abyss, seemingly bottomless and shrouded in mist.

No animals or plants could be seen within it.

However, faintly visible were five colors, representing the forces of the Five Elements.

These five colors were like boiling, flowing paints. If a person fell in, their bones would likely be dissolved.

If Qi Yuan, who had yet to begin cultivation, had looked down into the abyss, his acrophobia would have made his legs tremble, and he might have felt an uncontrollable urge to jump.

But now, he didn't feel that way.

"According to typical game settings, shouldn't I have to slay all the Five Spirits here before reaching the final reward area? Unexpectedly, the Five Spirits are gone, and I can arrive here without killing any monsters."

Qi Yuan jumped into the abyss.

In an instant, he felt as if he had collided with a thin membrane.

He squeezed through it.

When he looked around, Qi Yuan saw more of the five colors.

It seemed to be a pool.

The pool was filled with the boiling colors of the Five Elements.

Qi Yuan felt a tingling sensation on his body.

He looked at Xiao Jia, who was turning an increasingly intense shade of red, as if she were in a sauna. She seemed quite uncomfortable in this place.

"United we stand!"

Qi Yuan decided to merge with Xiao Jia.

Not to enhance his strength or defense, but to protect Xiao Jia.

Xiao Jia's true form wasn't very strong, and staying here could easily harm her.

It was better to transform into armor, imprinting onto Qi Yuan's chest.

Wearing the armor, Qi Yuan moved through the pool.

But his speed was slow, as if moving through molasses.

"This place looks ordinary; there's nothing useful here, right?"

The five colors in the pool were very pure.

To use an inappropriate analogy, each color was like a pure substance made of a single element.

So, although this place was large, there wasn't much actual substance.

His eyes scanned the area, and a series of prompts appeared.

【This is Golden Quicksand, gathered from the essence of gold scorched by the great sun. Bathing in Golden Quicksand can increase the chance of sensing the essence of gold.】

【This is Wood Quicksand, gathered from the essence of wood scorched by the great sun. Bathing in it...】

【This is Water Quicksand...】

What he saw were the essences of the Five Elements, produced by a so-called great sun scorching them.

These substances could increase the chance of sensing the essence of the Five Elements.

Perhaps very useful for the three people Qi Yuan met.

But for Qi Yuan, they were almost useless.

"My drop rate is 100%, so these Five Element Quicksands are completely useless to me. Can they even push my drop rate beyond 100%?"

"However, those three NPCs I met might find them useful. Their drop rates are probably less than 1%, how tragic."

Thinking this, Qi Yuan grabbed a handful of Five Element Quicksand.

Though useless to him, they were valuable to others, so grabbing a handful wouldn't hurt.

Otherwise, coming here for nothing would be too pointless.

Suddenly, Qi Yuan paused.

He saw something other than the Five Element Quicksand.

【Great Sun's Flower. Touching it may allow one to hear some remnants of the Great Sun's thoughts. The lucky ones might even acquire some useful techniques.】

Qi Yuan looked at a wisp of light ahead, about the size of a firefly.

He grasped the light in his hand.

Disjointed whispers fell into Qi Yuan's ears.

"The Moon Continent is my foundation, how dare you!"

"Evil demon from beyond, aaahhh!"

"Great Sun's Incantation!"

...

"I am unwilling!"

Fragments of thoughts entered Qi Yuan's mind, making him unsteady on his feet.

"Is standing on the Five Element Quicksand consuming too much energy? Have I been playing too long today? I need to log out soon."

With this thought, Qi Yuan began analyzing the fragments he heard.

"It seems like a powerful being encountered another strong being, fought a battle, and lost?"

"Evil demon from beyond? Could this be referring to the game's final boss? Is the Great Sun a god? He fought the evil demon and lost badly, only managing to scorch the demon's leg?"

"It looks like this evil demon is quite strong. The god was probably level 99, and with the support of the bride princess, their combined power was around level 104, yet they still lost to the evil demon!"

"It seems I need to reach level 100 to have a chance at soloing this final boss. And after so many years, who knows if the boss has grown stronger?"

"Unfortunately, there are too few monsters in the Four Forbidden Areas. Otherwise, I'd grind to level 999 before taking on the final boss."

At this moment, the light in his hand flashed suddenly, like the last burst of life from a dying old man, then dimmed and disappeared.

A fragmentary technique entered Qi Yuan's mind.

"Daydreaming Technique?"

Upon learning that this technique was called the Daydreaming Technique, Qi Yuan was stunned.

"Daydreaming? This isn't even as good as daydreaming! No wonder the god couldn't defeat the evil demon," Qi Yuan muttered, "This god is even less reliable than me!"

Then, he absorbed the fragmented information of the technique.

The Daydreaming Technique, true to its name, involved fantasizing about the stars.

The technique focused on devouring everything. The early stages were relatively normal, but the later stages were wildly ambitious, aiming to devour the stars and grow stronger.

"The universe is so vast, am I supposed to take just one bite?"

"Unfortunately, this technique is destined to fail!"

Qi Yuan's gaze pierced through the abyss, looking at the starry sky above.

【This is the Moon, the Moon's projection.】

【This is the Soul-breaking Star, the Soul-breaking Star's projection.】

The starry sky was filled with stars, but they weren't real, just projections, reflecting in the heavens.

The stars and moon were fake, so how could one devour them?

"But if he lived on Blue Star, this technique might have great potential. There are so many stars; eating one a day from the Paleolithic era until the end of Blue Star, and you'd still have some left."

Qi Yuan's thoughts wandered.

"I need to get out; the energy consumption is too high."

After obtaining the fragmentary Daydreaming Technique, Qi Yuan left the abyss and found a secluded spot. He dug a big hole and buried himself and Xiao Jia again.

After logging out of the game, Qi Yuan felt a bit better.

"After foundation establishment, I must cultivate techniques to enhance my soul!" Qi Yuan resolved.

"The Daydreaming Technique is too fragmented, but some of its content seems compatible with the 'Qi Yuan Sutra.' However, I need to find some similar techniques for reference."

Qi Yuan was a man with a plan.

Unfortunately, Black Mountain Sect probably didn't have similar techniques.

He could ask Jiang Lingsu.

His junior sister seemed like a wealthy, knowledgeable person.

After tidying up, he prepared to visit the thatched cottage next door to see Jiang Lingsu.

Meanwhile, in the thatched cottage, Jiang Lingsu's face was covered in frost.

She opened her eyes, the frost dissipated, and a trace of bitterness appeared on her youthful face: "Is this the price of wielding the Heaven and Earth Mirror?"

After awakening her bloodline, she had a chance to wield the Heaven and Earth Mirror, seeing a glimpse of the future.

But such a treasure wasn't something her level of cultivation could wield without consequence.

She was left with a significant ailment.

Every so often, frost would invade her body, causing immense pain.

This time was mild and bearable.

In severe episodes, the pain could be intense enough to cause unconsciousness.

To alleviate this pain, she needed the help of a cultivator with a water attribute heavenly root at the Purple Mansion stage.

The Jiang clan knew some Purple Mansion stage great cultivators, and the clan had Purple Mansion stage elders, but none with a water attribute heavenly root.

Even if there were, spending a great deal to alleviate such "trivial" pain wasn't worthwhile.

Sensing something, Jiang Lingsu got up and walked outside. She saw Qi Yuan at the door: "Senior brother, are you looking for me?"

Qi Yuan glanced at Jiang Lingsu and stared at her face. "Junior sister, are you sick?"

"Do you want me to make you some chicken soup?" Qi Yuan offered enthusiastically.

Jiang Lingsu sighed, "Senior brother, no need. I just didn't sleep well."

"What did you come for, just say it."

Seeing this, Qi Yuan didn't hide his intention and explained his purpose.

Hearing this, Jiang Lingsu gave Qi Yuan a strange look.

"Senior brother, such techniques should not exist in this world. However, it is said that in ancient times, in the East Sea, there was a race called the Giants whose techniques were similar. Unfortunately, this race has long been extinct, and it's unknown if any inheritance remains in the world."

"Thank you, junior sister," Qi Yuan felt a bit disappointed but also found it reasonable. Not everything he encountered could be easily resolved. He looked at Jiang Lingsu, "Junior sister, if you have any problems, just tell me. Your senior brother's strength is decent; I can handle ordinary matters."

Caring for a wealthy sister was everyone's responsibility.

Moreover, his junior sister had helped him quite a bit.

Qi Yuan understood the principle of "You threw me a peach, I'll return you a jade."

Hearing this, Jiang Lingsu smiled gently: "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother."

Although Senior Brother was foolish, behaved inappropriately, and wasn't very strong, his nature was still good.

...

Entering the game again, Qi Yuan suddenly found that in the core area of the Five Elements Trial Ground, those five elemental souls that had gone out to party had all returned.

Qi Yuan was particularly happy.

"Little Jia, why don't you hide in the hole, I'll be back soon," Qi Yuan said to Little Jia.

Little Jia's cold little hand, which was her sleeve, gripped Qi Yuan's clothes.

A wooden tag with a crying face slid out of the sleeve.

The crying face represented Little Jia's meaning, she didn't want to.

"Sigh, do we have to merge every day?"

"How does it feel like we're married and have to pay the conjugal debt every day!"

As he spoke, he instantly merged with Little Jia.

Blood-red armor covered his body, with sharp spikes all over, dangerous and cold.

The huge body, coldly beautiful blood-red, formed a stark contrast with the five hun souls.

"My sword thirsts for blood!"

"Unfortunately, you won't bleed!"

"Then, die!"

Qi Yuan raised his forty-meter great sword, without any fancy moves, simply using the strongest force to slash down.

Technique? That's something close combat and ranged spellcasters should consider.

He was now just brute force.

One sword slash down, raising several meters high heat waves.

In an instant, dozens of five elemental souls couldn't dodge in time and became lost souls under Qi Yuan's sword.

Level 90 and level 89 were completely different concepts.

Moreover, with Little Jia's enhancement, in the core area, as long as he wasn't surrounded by several level 90 five elemental souls, he could kill at will!

Of course, he had to be mindful of his consumption.

"Kill!" Qi Yuan was like a monster, crashing into a country with a good life, charging and slashing wildly with his great sword.

However, apart from the first sword's surprise attack where many five elemental souls didn't react in time, killing nearly a hundred five elemental souls.

Afterward, the killing speed obviously slowed down.

"Too slow, at this rate, it might take half a month to gather all five elements!"

"Sigh, I'm so useless, too incompetent!"

At this time, at some distance from the core area, four pairs of eyes were watching Qi Yuan entangled with the five elemental souls.

Apart from the original trio, there was now a small, thin man.

He watched Qi Yuan killing indiscriminately, perceiving the five essences' qi as if it cost nothing.

He widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

The man in red clothes reached out his hand smugly: "Li Qin, hand over the water element crystal."

Li Qin looked pained: "This is too outrageous, why?"

Originally, the man in red told him that the new Clothing Department Head perceived water essence qi very quickly, almost one per elemental soul.

He naturally didn't believe it.

The man in red took the opportunity to bet with him.

He agreed without thinking.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be true.

The man in red got the water element crystal, extremely smug.

At this time, Tang Yan was staring intently at Qi Yuan's figure, his face showing disbelief.

"Look, he has also perceived earth essence qi, no, and fire essence qi too!"

The others looked, only to see Qi Yuan kill a water elemental soul and charge towards the other four elemental souls.

Instantly, a large amount of five essences' qi that made people's faces hot spread out.

The four people present were dumbfounded.

Originally, Tang Yan thought the Clothing Department Head only had the top-tier talent in water attributes.

Now it seems, this is... top-tier in all five attributes.

Beside him, the man in red clothes saw this scene and couldn't help but blurt out: "Doesn't this mean he might achieve Five Elements Perfection in less than a month?"

After saying this, the man in red's face reddened a bit.

Last time he had just talked behind the Clothing Department Head's back, saying he was arrogant and conceited, having wild fantasies about achieving Five Elements Perfection.

Now it seems, that wasn't a fantasy, it was real.

Moreover, it might only take a month or two for the Clothing Department Head to achieve it.

Tang Yan gritted his teeth, the usually elegant man now lost his composure: "Five Elements Perfection, ah, he really can master the Five Elements Forbidden Ground!"

"This kind of talent, this kind of talent..."

He spoke and suddenly wept with joy: "Could it be that the heavens are taking pity on us."

The strength of the Outer Realm Demon was unfathomable.

Even the Heavenly Lord at his peak was defeated by the Outer Realm Demon.

Later, in the forbidden grounds, there were also strong cultivators who had reached their limits and rushed into the Ground of Absolute Destruction to explore the Outer Realm Demon's true nature.

But most... returned empty-handed.

Forget about the Outer Realm Demon, they couldn't even defeat the First Demon Spawn under the Outer Realm Demon, the former Heavenly Lord's Golden Armor!

The Outer Realm Demon seemed to have gained immortality and simply couldn't be killed!

If they couldn't even defeat a Demon Spawn, how could they hope to defeat the Outer Realm Demon?

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