The combined force of all kinds of secret arts, enough to drain a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator dry countless times over, was instead an opportunity for Li Tianwei to savor every detail.
"Is this the power of the Golden Core Realm?"
Maintaining this state, Li Tianwei began cultivating.
In his eyes, any cultivation realm raised through secret arts was ultimately false. Only his own genuine strength was real; otherwise, it was nothing more than flowers reflected in a mirror, the moon in the water.
With the enhancement of the secret arts allowing him to sense power on a higher level, Li Tianwei activated the Fission Qi Gathering Method.
The power of the Golden Core Realm already felt different from Foundation Establishment. At the very least, under such an intense boost, the pseudo-core within his body granted him greater control over spiritual qi.
Of course, reaching the Golden Core Realm could not change the dull, lightless nature of Li Tianwei's Pseudo-Spirit Root. Yet it was precisely this Pseudo-Spirit Root that allowed Li Tianwei to sense all kinds of spiritual qi between heaven and earth.
The five elemental spiritual qis, along with all manner of mixed spiritual qi of other attributes.
Li Tianwei directly triggered fission collision, and surging spiritual qi flooded into him.
A sharp pain erupted from within his body, but Li Tianwei ignored it outright. Cultivation was inherently dry and tedious, mixed with a little pain, so this was perfectly normal.
And so, Li Tianwei held firm in this state.
It could be said that Li Tianwei was now using a Foundation Establishment Realm body to contain the liquid spiritual power of the Golden Core Realm.
Rumble...
As the spiritual qi surged, Li Tianwei's immense suction force directly drew in the spiritual qi of Tianmen Peak.
Bai Muxu, who had originally been cultivating, also noticed the change and abruptly opened his eyes.
Sensing the disturbance carried by the spiritual qi, he immediately realized that Li Tianwei was cultivating.
"He's made such a huge commotion again. As expected of my disciple."
Bai Muxu could not help but sigh. He immediately chose to leave rather than contend with Li Tianwei for spiritual qi.
If Bai Muxu had truly intended to investigate and learned what Li Tianwei was doing, he probably would not have remained so calm.
The unusual sight of Tianmen Peak's spiritual qi flowing toward Li Tianwei's cave abode lasted for several days.
Inside the cave abode, Li Tianwei slowly opened his eyes. His cultivation had now reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, not far from the late stage.
"Why is it slower than I expected? Could it be because my foundation is too profound?"
Feeling that his cultivation had risen less than expected, Li Tianwei grew suspicious.
The system within Li Tianwei's consciousness, upon hearing that thought, only wanted to say that Pseudo-Spirit Roots were simply like this. Because they could not fully control spiritual qi, even after absorbing it, some would still leak away.
Li Tianwei had been able to advance directly over the past few days only because what he had done was too monstrous. If it had been any other Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, they would have long since exploded from absorbing all that spiritual qi.
Even such surging spiritual qi entering Li Tianwei's body could only raise him to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. After all, his spirit root was too mixed, and every attribute had to be replenished before he could advance.
Naturally, Li Tianwei did not know this. Instead, he attributed it to his Heavenly Spirit Root and his foundation.
Otherwise, using Foundation Establishment to contain Golden Core power yet only barely advancing one minor realm was rather pathetic.
Of course, if it had been a Pseudo-Spirit Root, breaking through might have taken more than a hundred years. Of course, there was no if—because Pseudo-Spirit Roots basically could not achieve Foundation Establishment.
As for why Li Tianwei had managed to achieve Foundation Establishment?
"Jinxu Peak, here I come, Hongmen Banquet and all."
With his cultivation improved, Li Tianwei naturally had not forgotten why he had done all this.
Originally, he had wanted to directly advance to the Golden Core Realm in these few days and give everyone a shock. Unfortunately, he had underestimated his own talent and foundation. He had actually consumed such an enormous amount of spiritual qi without accomplishing it.
"I'm still too strong."
With that thought, Li Tianwei used the Air-Riding Technique and flew toward Jinxu Peak.
Since arriving at Lingxu Sacred Land, Li Tianwei had only gone down the mountain twice. He was also unfamiliar with the Twelve Peaks of Lingxu Sacred Land.
Still, Li Tianwei found Jinxu Peak.
After all, among the entire Lingxu Sacred Land, only Jinxu Peak had two enormous characters, "Jinxu," carved into its mountainside. It was the most eye-catching sight in the whole sacred land, its sign impossible to miss.
Seeing this, Li Tianwei began to wonder whether he should learn from it and carve the two characters "Heavenly Gate" onto Tianmen Peak with his own power. It would make the mountain look more imposing and no less impressive than Jinxu Peak.
"I can consider it later. Consider it."
With that thought in mind, Li Tianwei flew straight toward Jinxu Peak.
Just as Li Tianwei left Tianmen Peak, Liu Muyu also received news that Li Tianwei had gone down the mountain.
He immediately began making arrangements.
At this moment, quite a few new disciples had gathered in the main hall of Jinxu Peak.
Since this was a trap Liu Muyu had set to deal with Li Tianwei, he had put quite a bit of effort into it.
The entire hall was filled with tables, and there was more than enough spirit fruit, spirit beast meat, and spirit wine to go around.
For this, Liu Muyu had even invited famous cultivators from the Qing Shang Sect to perform an immortal dance. Whatever else could be said, the new disciples who had just joined Lingxu Sacred Land were stunned by Liu Muyu's extravagant display.
As for the spirit fruit, spirit beast meat, and other things on the tables, they had no idea how many missions they would need to complete to obtain them.
The scale of the event, the dance troupe, and the many disciples meant to sing Li Tianwei's praises were, in Liu Muyu's view, already more than enough.
At this moment, Liu Muyu did not notice that the new disciples, along with disciples familiar with one another from other peaks, were communicating through glances as they wandered throughout the hall.
No one noticed this strange situation at all, except for Li Tianchen, who was sitting off to one side with his head lowered.
"Elder Ling, why do I feel like something is wrong with this banquet?"
Noticing the strange behavior of some disciples in the hall, Li Tianchen could not help reaching for the ring on his hand.
"Those people carry an aura similar to the one on the person who attacked you before."
"And there are many of them. Liu Muyu, however, does not."
Seeing the unusual atmosphere in the hall, Elder Ling transmitted his voice to Li Tianchen.
"I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this."
Li Tianchen felt intense unease in his heart. He somewhat regretted coming here so rashly.
Just as he was thinking this, a figure flew in through the air outside the hall, landing steadily on the ground with his hands behind his back. His slightly raised head carried a faint air of arrogance.
Upon seeing him, Li Tianchen could not help clenching his fists.
"Li Tianwei."
After landing, Li Tianwei also felt countless gazes fall upon him from within the hall—envy, jealousy, respect, and even more inexplicable meanings.
"This aura."
Having comprehended the three Great Dao Intentions of death, resentment, and evil, Li Tianwei immediately sensed all kinds of conspicuous auras within the hall—chilling, violent, and evil in nature.
Li Tianwei swept his gaze around. Half the people in the entire hall had them.
At this moment, Liu Muyu saw Li Tianwei arrive and immediately came before him.
"Hahaha, Junior Brother Li, the banquet has already been arranged for you. Hurry and take the seat of honor—you are the protagonist of this victory feast!"
Liu Muyu narrowed his eyes as he smiled, looking genuinely somewhat sly.
Seeing him, Li Tianwei could basically determine that he was Liu Muyu, the one who had delivered the invitation.
Li Tianwei looked him up and down, then discovered to his surprise that this fellow did not carry the aura of those Evil Demons. He was a normal person.
"Human traitor."
He had not become an Evil Demon, yet he worked for Evil Demons. Li Tianwei immediately slapped a label onto Liu Muyu.