Chapter 668: Breaking Through to Golden Core (Two-in-One)

Chapter 668: Breaking Through to the Golden Core (Two-in-One)

Wen Wuya crossed his arms, listening to Zhang Yu speak, and casually adjusted the flesh on his chest before saying nonchalantly, "You want to take Zhenzhen away? No problem at all, as long as she agrees to it herself."

Zhang Yu asked, "Where is she?"

Thus, Zhang Yu followed Wen Wuya to a room, where he saw a spiraling longsword floating quietly in midair, enveloped by layers of formations, spiritual energy circuits, and mana circuits.

"A-Zhen!" Zhang Yu hurried forward, speaking to the spiraling longsword, "Come with me to Wanfa University. My master, Magnetic Pole, has already become the chancellor, and we can enjoy the perks as second-generation scions of the academy."

Seeing no response from the spiraling longsword, Zhang Yu continued, "In your current state... I'm afraid if you return to Tianjian University, someone will just use you as a mere sword servant."

Seeing the longsword remain utterly silent, Zhang Yu's heart suddenly sank.

He thought of how every university under the red moon had now become an isolated island of information, and recalled that the soul cultivators, now disconnected, were also sealed within these very islands of isolation.

Zhang Yu abruptly turned his head, looking at Wen Wuya beside him, and asked, "Has A-Zhen already been disconnected?"

"Does that mean, as a soul cultivator, she's been left behind at Tianjian University right now?"

Thinking of Bai Zhenzhen becoming a soul cultivator left behind at Tianjian University, and that the Sovereign of Seven Emotions had already departed with the sixth layer of Kunxu...

Zhang Yu seemed to already see Bai Zhenzhen, once the goddess of the school, reduced to a soul cultivator at the very bottom of Tianjian University's social hierarchy, becoming the target of countless humiliations, with new "respectful" phrases for soul cultivators coined every day...

Thinking that A-Zhen might be living just as miserably as vocational students like Zhao Tianxing, Zhang Yu felt a surge of anxiety.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from outside, and a familiar figure came into Zhang Yu's view.

"A-Zhen!" Zhang Yu looked in surprise at Bai Zhenzhen before him and said, "You've been resurrected?"

He looked at Bai Zhenzhen's current figure, only to find that she had become even more slender and elongated than before; if she had originally looked more like a gymnastics student, she now resembled a frail ancient court lady.

Bai Zhenzhen sighed, "Last time I told you not to spend money, it was actually because after the tournament ended, my master had already started arranging the means to rebuild my physical body for me."

"With this great change in heaven and earth, my master was afraid that after she left, I'd become someone else's flying sword, so she used all her power to complete the rebuilding of my new body before the connection was severed."

She looked somewhat dissatisfied at her new body, shaking her head, "I just don't know what she was thinking, cutting corners everywhere on my behalf."

Bai Zhenzhen touched her arms and thighs, evaluating, "When was I ever this frail? Sigh, the great figure I trained so hard for... now I'll have to eat and train my way back to it."

Zhang Yu asked, "A-Zhen, did you hear what I just said? Come with me to Wanfa."

Bai Zhenzhen pondered for a moment and said, "Yu-zi, I do want to go to Wanfa with you."

"But before my master left, she gave me her secret key to Tianjian University, asking me to guard and manage the Sword Pavilion in her stead, as well as her other assets left on the second layer."

"I've already promised her, so I can't just walk away like this."

Wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth, Bai Zhenzhen said with gleaming eyes, "I must guard my master's property and allow no mistakes."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "You just want to use it all for yourself, don't you?"

Zhang Yu reminded her, "Stay safe."

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Don't worry, I understand."

Zhang Yu suggested, "It's not convenient to travel at night. Let your Tianjian people hide out with us. When the incarnation of Sovereign Magnetic Pole arrives, you can set off with us, and we can escort you for a stretch of the journey."

"I think that's fine." Bai Zhenzhen nodded, looking at Wen Wuya beside her.

Wen Wuya said, "I'll go talk to the team leader. It shouldn't be a problem."

After Wen Wuya left, Zhang Yu immediately rushed in front of Bai Zhenzhen, pulling her into a tight embrace, and whispered, "A-Zhen, let's hurry and switch back!"

Feeling the spiritual root pressing against her from Zhang Yu's abdomen, Bai Zhenzhen immediately nodded, relaxing her body and mind to accept the two spiritual roots as they coursed through their bodies.

As the true spiritual root returned to its place, Bai Zhenzhen shivered slightly, rubbing her stomach with some discomfort, "It feels so bloated."

Zhang Yu also rubbed his stomach and said, "I can feel your mana; it's tingling me with a numbing sensation."

Having exchanged back the spiritual roots, Zhang Yu also breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Bai Zhenzhen and asking, "When the Sovereign of Seven Emotions rebuilt your body, did she notice the issue with the spiritual root?"

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head, "Probably not? I'm not sure either. After my master finished rebuilding my body, she disconnected. Even if I wanted to chat with her a bit more, I couldn't."

Thus, the two teams from Wanfa University and Tianjian University joined forces.

Flying ships hid within the clouds, concealing themselves temporarily while waiting for the incarnation of Sovereign Magnetic Pole to arrive.

Zhang Yu also prepared to enter the meditation chamber to break through to the Golden Core realm.

Just then, Zhang Yu felt a tremor between heaven and earth, with streaks of light flashing across the sky.

Zhang Yu quickly looked up, only to see that in the skies of the third, fourth, and fifth layers, invisible chains seemed to shoot out, sealing off each layer of the sky one by one.

And Zhang Yu, who cultivated the immortal sect's techniques, could feel even more clearly that this seal contained traces of spatial fluctuations, a kind of spatial isolation.

Zhang Yu's heart shook, "Previously, layers six through two were completely opened by the Heavenly Court. I originally thought that after the sixth layer disappeared, without the Heavenly Court's interference, layers two through five would remain connected. But now it seems... the sky has been sealed? Layers two, three, four, and five have been separated again?"

"Who did this?"

The first thought that surfaced in Zhang Yu's mind was naturally the Heavenly Court.

But he quickly shook his head, thinking to himself, "The Heavenly Court has lost contact, and if they could have sealed it, they would have done so long ago."

Just then, Fu Ji's voice rang out, "It's not the Heavenly Court. It must be Brother Dao's subordinates. The Finance Department? The Evil Gods? Or the Demon Sect? It could be all of them."

Zhang Yu's heart stirred, "Fu Ji, you're awake?"

Fu Ji said, "With such a huge commotion, how could I not wake up... it's just that I've been silently observing and thinking."

Looking at the sealed layers of the sky, Fu Ji said, "Before the great war broke out on the sixth layer, when both sides were pulling at each other, a tremor occurred in layers two through five. This is most likely that Brother Dao setting up something in layers two through five to counter the spatial interference from above."

"Now it seems, this arrangement isn't just to counter the interference from above; it can also be used to enforce a blockade."

"If they seal the sky but their own people can still travel freely between the layers, they can deploy troops at will between layers two and five, using the many to fight the few, and the strong to strike the weak..."

Listening to Fu Ji's words, a trace of unease surged in Zhang Yu's heart.

As if in response to Fu Ji's thoughts, streaks of lightning and fire soon began to flash continuously in the sealed sky of the fifth layer, as if a great war had already broken out in full force on the fifth layer of Kunxu.

Fu Ji said, "This is bad. If they gather their forces scattered across layers two through five and sweep down layer by layer, they might actually win."

Zhang Yu said with some surprise, "Fu Ji, you don't want Brother Dao and his people to win either?"

Fu Ji said, "First of all, can that Brother Dao really come back? After this battle, I don't believe he could be completely unscathed. He must have been severely wounded by those above, and might even be on the brink of death. Even if he's lucky enough to survive, can he recover his strength in just three years relying solely on the sixth layer?"

"I think his so-called promise to return might just be empty words, a slogan used to deceive the masses. Only those fools from the lower schools, vocational colleges, and demon descendants would believe him the moment he says it."

"Secondly, with Brother Dao gone now, his subordinates, the Finance Department, the Evil Gods, and the Demon Sect, are in power. If these guys conquer layers two through five, would that bring us any good?"

"Lastly, even if they don't make things worse than they are now, the Heavenly Court will eventually descend. When they see that layers two through five are all occupied, won't that just trigger another great purge?"

Speaking of this, Fu Ji sighed repeatedly, "Sigh, this is looking rather grim."

Watching this scene, Zhang Yu's mind was filled with the memories of Dao Qiankun trying to take him away at the very end.

He suddenly thought to himself, "Brother Dao said that because I chose Kunxu in the Palm and possess his bloodline power, staying here is too risky..."

"Kunxu in the Palm involves spatial technology, and if the bloodline power refers to the descendants of immortals, that too is a power involving spatial technology."

"So that means... Brother Dao is worried that I could interfere with the plan."

Zhang Yu looked up at the sealed layers of the sky, thinking to himself, "Is he worried that I'll use spatial technology to break through the blockade?"

Zhang Yu shared his thoughts with Fu Ji, only omitting the part about the descendants of immortals and mentioning only the matter of Kunxu in the Palm.

Hearing this, Fu Ji's eyes flickered, "What you say makes sense. Speaking of which, how did you think to choose this Kunxu in the Palm?"

"I missed too much information regarding the events before and after the Top Ten League, so tell me about it."

Zhang Yu said, "Check my Moments and the news I've bookmarked. Get a full grasp of the situation first, and then I'll fill you in on the details."

Looking up once more at the fifth layer embroiled in fierce battle in the sky, Zhang Yu shook his head, suppressed his stray thoughts, and stepped into the meditation chamber.

Zhang Yu understood that no matter what lay ahead, his own strength was of paramount importance.

And though the world before him was an era where chaos was steadily spreading, it was also an age brimming with opportunity.

Take, for instance, the Golden Core realm he was on the verge of breaking through...

Zhang Yu produced a Golden Core and swallowed it; in the next instant, rays of golden light pierced through his body, his aura surged violently, and streams of magical power rushed toward his dantian like erupting magma.

The Golden Core realm... breakthrough!

Zhang Yu knew that within the immortal path system of Kunxu, every type of Golden Core used for a breakthrough possessed different effects, and the more powerful the core, the greater the cultivation base required to drive it.

Fortunately, Zhang Yu's cultivation at the Foundation Establishment realm was already peerless under heaven; there was no Golden Core among the school's supplies that he could not propel.

Zhang Yu mused to himself, "If I were to benchmark my Golden Core with my full strength, I'd probably score over a million." "In ancient times, it would be the absolute pinnacle among supreme cores, hailed as a Heavenly Grade, Transcendent Grade, or Sovereign Golden Core."

"This is the potential I accumulated at Foundation Establishment. Though the base stats like Dao Heart, physical strength, and magical power seemed unchanged, the martial arts and Daoist spells, the military-grade powers, the immortal sect techniques, and the divine spiritual roots have vastly broadened my potential."

The Golden Core Zhang Yu chose from the school's supplies this time was called the Purple Mansion Golden Core, a variety most perfectly suited for breaking through realms.

The Purple Mansion Golden Core not only provided the greatest boost to realm breakthroughs, but upon forming the core, it offered myriad wondrous uses, enhancing the potential of Golden Core cultivators; with a market price exceeding three thousand spirit coins, it was astronomically expensive for the vast majority.

However, precisely because the Purple Mansion Golden Core was primarily used for genuine breakthroughs and of little use for self-detonating Foundation Establishment cores, it was exceedingly rare among the supplies the school prepared for the Top Ten Tournament.

"Now that so many Golden Core certificates have been issued at once, the price of the Purple Mansion Golden Core is bound to skyrocket. If not for this opportunity, I truly wouldn't know when I could ever afford one on my own."

At this moment, as Zhang Yu fully stepped into the Golden Core realm, he felt the core in his dantian boiling over; streams of magical power poured into it, then swept out, rushing through his entire body before finally converging upon his brain.

Hah!

With a soft shout, Zhang Yu circulated his full power according to the breakthrough method, and in the next instant, felt his mind undergo a sudden sublimation.

It was as if billions of thunderbolts were exploding within his sea of consciousness.

At this moment, every strand of flesh and blood, every stream of magical power, every single cell, and every layer of thought in his body... bloomed wildly before his eyes.

The myriad martial arts and Daoist spells of his past flashed through his mind like a fleeting panorama.

From birth until now, Zhang Yu had never understood or perceived himself as clearly as he did in this very moment.

Especially as his mind fluctuated with every thought, the Purple Mansion Golden Core in his dantian pulsed in response, swiftly becoming a part of his body, aiding his will to perceive his whole being and stabilize his sea of consciousness, thoroughly unleashing the potential he had amassed through countless sessions of training and military-grade powers.

And the Dao Heart, once rigidly capped at level twenty during Foundation Establishment, now began to surge violently.

Level 20 (15.21%)

Level 21 (44.89%)

Level 22 (78.56%)

The Dao Heart skyrocketed in one breath to level twenty-two, nearing the threshold of level twenty-three.

Following the breakthrough of his Dao Heart, Zhang Yu immediately felt his physical body shatter some invisible shackle, breaking past its original limits; infused with the power of the Golden Core, every thread of flesh and blood fused even more tightly with his magical power, transforming into an existence of far higher quality.

Explosive power surged back and forth through his flesh and blood, and Zhang Yu's physical strength, which had seen no growth for a long time, now began an unprecedented, meteoric rise.

20.05!

21.55!

23.46!

His physical strength surged by a full 3.46 levels before finally halting; feeling the surging power within, Zhang Yu mused, "Truly worthy of my million-point Golden Core benchmark, and truly worthy of the Purple Mansion Golden Core worth over three thousand on the market—it pushed my Golden Core physical strength up by a third in a single breath."

"Next is magical power!"

Accompanied by the intense operation of the surrounding formations, thick waves of spiritual energy surged forth, drawn into Zhang Yu's dantian and continuously converted into magical power.

As the Purple Mansion Golden Core truly became a part of Zhang Yu's body, under the blessing of this core, his efficiency in converting spiritual energy, gathering magical power, and circulating it all multiplied manifold.

Vast amounts of magical power converged toward the Purple Mansion Golden Core.

And his magical power value, which had not increased for a long while, now gradually loosened its bounds and began to surge!

1512!

2122!

2890!

As a plume of white breath exhaled from Zhang Yu's lips, he felt a swelling pressure from within the Golden Core; the magical power inside had reached the absolute limit of what he could control.

"That's about it. The potential I accumulated at Foundation Establishment has been completely unleashed."

"From now on, it's a matter of steady cultivation, continuing to enhance my physical strength, magical power, and Dao Heart."

At the same time, he sensed the dantian within him, perceiving the wondrous benefits brought by the Purple Mansion Golden Core.

"First is the Dao Heart. After entering the Golden Core realm, elevating the Dao Heart increases one's computational power, allowing the cultivator to command more spell shells and magical treasures."

Zhang Yu mused, "After breaking through with an ordinary Golden Core worth a few hundred spirit coins, even if the Dao Heart reaches level thirty and computational power increases, one can master a dozen military-grade treasures at most."

"But breaking through with the Purple Mansion Golden Core, my computational limit exceeds thirty military-grade treasures."

In thought, Zhang Yu clenched his fist, feeling the surging power in his flesh and blood, and thought, "Then there's the physical body. The Golden Core body is a complete fusion of magical power and flesh; besides merely boosting physical strength, it can also develop physical expression factors, known as Dao Foundations."

"A Golden Core worth a few hundred coins can develop ten layers of Dao Foundation, each granting a passive attribute to the body, and because of the unity of flesh and magical power, the Dao Foundation can also buff spell shells."

"But my three-thousand-coin Golden Core can develop twelve layers of Dao Foundation, offering a much higher ceiling."

Zhang Yu recalled the Golden Core materials he had read, knowing that different directions of Dao Foundation enhancement would lead to entirely different specializations for cultivators of the same physical strength, ranging from logistics to combat to research, presenting vastly different paths of development.

According to Zhang Yu's own understanding, the so-called twelve layers of Dao Foundation simply meant twelve extra passive skills to enhance the physical body.

Meanwhile, as the magical power within him surged back and forth like a great river, Zhang Yu felt something faintly stirring within, as if it were about to sprout.

"Beyond the mere accumulation of magical power, the Golden Core realm can also use magical power to open the extraordinary meridians and construct spell formulas, thereby passively amplifying the might of a specific technique."

Zhang Yu mused, "Upon reaching the Golden Core realm, depending on which extraordinary meridians are opened and which spell formulas are constructed, the primary techniques enhanced and the direction of that enhancement will differ."

"Some cultivators will enhance their interference capabilities over a wider material range for extreme work efficiency, some will gain faster displacement speeds to flee more swiftly, while others will enhance their professional skills."

"Dao Foundations combined with extraordinary meridians give every Golden Core cultivator a unique direction of enhancement."

"And compared to the eight extraordinary meridians that a few-hundred-coin Golden Core can open, my Purple Mansion Golden Core can open nine."

"Opening nine extraordinary meridians within the body is equivalent to nine passive skills that enhance designated techniques."

Feeling the Purple Mansion Golden Core circulating quietly in his dantian, Zhang Yu grew ever more satisfied with the potential this supreme core brought.

However, Zhang Yu had no intention of rushing to continue his cultivation just yet.

"After all, the supplies we took were prepared for the Top Ten Tournament, all tailored for Foundation Establishment."

"Now that I've broken through to the Golden Core realm, there are very few useful items for me in this batch, and nothing at all for Golden Core cultivation."

"I wonder how many cultivation supplies Master will allocate to me once we return to the University City? If it's not enough, I'll have to buy my own, won't I?"

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu let out a long sigh and looked at the cold one thousand spirit coins in his account.

These were the compensations given by various companies for endorsements and advertisements around the finals and the award ceremony.

And now, though heaven and earth had undergone a great change, spirit coins were, in Zhang Yu's view, a kind of digital currency that would not become invalid with the severing of the Spirit Realm; they could be used even if the transacting parties were offline.

"Though a thousand spirit coins may seem like a lot, I next need to upgrade my entire set of equipment, Daoist spells, and martial arts to the Golden Core realm, and push my physical strength, Dao Heart, magical power, and magical power quality... as well as strengthen the Dao Foundations and open the extraordinary meridians..."

As he tallied his accounts, Zhang Yu once again felt his funds falling woefully short, nowhere near enough to sustain his cultivation to the very peak of the Golden Core realm.

"Enough of this, I shall cast these worries aside for now."

Shaking his head, Zhang Yu banished all thoughts of wealth from his mind and turned his focus back to his cultivation.

Without the essential resources required for Golden Core cultivation, toiling away in bitter isolation would yield painfully meager results.

Thus, Zhang Yu resolved to devote himself to the practice of martial arts.

"Kunlun in the Palm," Zhang Yu mused silently, "is precisely the martial art that offers me the greatest return for my efforts at this very moment."

Ever since he had chosen this immortal sect martial art, one momentous event had chased on the heels of another, leaving him with no opportunity to devote his full strength to its practice.

Now, with his mind firmly made up, he decided his immediate priority would be to elevate this martial art to the Golden Core realm.

As Zhang Yu circulated his technique, continuously invoking Kunlun in the Palm, ripples of spatial distortion surged outward from his palms in all directions, subtly warping the very light around him.

Amidst this warping of light, the currents of air within his palms churned violently, surging outward in fierce expansion one moment, then contracting the next to unleash powerful waves of suction.

The illumination cast upon his hands flickered and flared in alternating rhythm, pulsing as though it were breathing in time with his own breath.

Kunlun in the Palm consisted of a mere three moves, which Zhang Yu could cycle through in a matter of seconds; in less than a single minute, he had already advanced the technique to the second tier, and pressing on with his cultivation, he drove it onward to the third tier, the fourth, and beyond, all the way to the eleventh.

And so, this immortal sect technique was propelled forward at a breakneck pace beneath his hands, reaching the twentieth tier after little more than two hours of relentless practice.

All the while, a myriad of visions depicting his martial practice churned endlessly through his mind, bringing forth profound and multifaceted insights into the essence of Kunlun in the Palm.

"Ah, yes..."

A glint flashed in Zhang Yu's eyes as he thought to himself, "It is time to test Inverted Kunlun."

With the Seven Absolutes of Earth and Wood combined with Kunlun in the Palm, the eight sets required for Inverted Kunlun within the chained diagram were finally complete, unlocking the effects of the second layer.

Now, Zhang Yu fully intended to put this newly awakened second layer to the test.

(End of Chapter)