Golden Core Stage Cultivators were indeed highly alert. After thinking regretfully to himself, Lei Dong gave a slight tremble of his wings and darted backward dozens of yards in the blink of an eye, dodging the fatal blow. At the same time, Critical Ghost General surged forward, its form as dark as thick ink and wreathed in faint wisps of smoke. Shield and blade in hand, it attacked and defended with measured precision, its imposing presence chilling. In theory, a Ghost General was equivalent to a Golden Core-level expert. In practice, however, the two were fundamentally different. Human cultivators were, after all, unlike Golden Core-level Monster Beasts. Differences in Cultivation Methods, the quality of their magical treasures, whether they had clones, puppets, Ghost Servants, spirit beasts, and so on meant that even cultivators at the same first layer of the Golden Core Stage could vary greatly in strength. Put plainly, it all came down to money. There was a vast difference between a particularly wealthy Golden Core Stage Cultivator and a poor one.
However, Golden Core Cultivators differed from Foundation Establishment Cultivators in one important respect. Even if a newly promoted Golden Core Cultivator really was dirt-poor, every sect still valued such a rare combat asset and would look after him. Given time, Golden Core-level Cultivators would never remain truly poor. Their ability to make money also far surpassed that of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and they could amass a great deal of Spirit Stones in a short time. Qian Luo, for instance, could earn quite a fortune if given ten or twenty years. The problem was that pills, magical treasures, materials, talismans, and the like that were suitable for Golden Core Stage Cultivators were all extremely rare and expensive. As a result, most Golden Core-level Cultivators could only get by