"Was it him?"
Inside the Huanyue Cave Abode, Shi Yongheng sat on a cushion and began sorting through his insights.
Yuqing cultivated qi, Shangqing cultivated the spirit, and Taiqing continued to strengthen the primordial spirit.
Yet his golden core had clearly played a major role. After it shattered, that miniature version of himself had appeared—another crucial step.
His preliminary conclusion was a progression from qi cultivation to Foundation Establishment, then golden core, nascent soul, and primordial spirit.
The nine levels of Yuqing encompassed qi cultivation and Foundation Establishment. After years of revisions, he had no doubt about that.
After Foundation Establishment, the yuan qi within the body condensed and compressed into a core. Once the golden core in the dantian became flawless, it could be broken to form a nascent soul, which would then be cultivated further.
When the nascent soul grew to match its cultivator, it transformed into a primordial spirit. Cultivating that spirit and condensing indestructible spiritual light completed the framework he had established so far.
Yuqing's nine levels were qi cultivation and Foundation Establishment: cultivating yuan qi and compressing it into liquid.
The Nine Turns of Tongtian compressed that liquid yuan qi further into a core. At this stage, with a golden core swallowed into the belly, one's fate belonged to oneself, not heaven. Lifespan reached eight hundred years, and divine abilities arose naturally, reaching from heaven to earth.
In Shangqing, the core completed nine revolutions and became flawless before breaking to form a nascent soul. Lifespan reached two thousand years. As the nascent soul was cultivated, the Yin-Yang spirit condensed; when Yin and Yang united, they gave the nascent soul sentience.
Taiqing refined the spirit. Once the nascent soul reached Great Perfection, it transformed into a primordial spirit. The cultivator could perceive the void, comprehend