Core Condensation Secret Art, the Mysterious Elder Zong

Su Xing walked several dozen more steps.

At the depths of the treasure vault stood dozens of shelves several zhang tall.

The shelves bore all manner of labels. Aside from what Guardian Shadow had mentioned earlier, there were even Skill Scrolls, Recovery Potions, rare materials, and other categories.

The vast majority of the items here could be used by Professionals. The selection was even more comprehensive than the goods Su Xing had previously seen at the Jin Clan Merchant Group.

Su Xing did not linger there for long. Instead, he headed straight for the Ancient Books Area.

The Ancient Books Area did not contain the peerless cultivation manuals Su Xing had imagined. Most were cultivation insights left behind by Professionals, guides for certain Dungeons, and even secret accounts of the human race from the past thousand years.

For example, there was a book titled The Story Elder Feng Yue and His One Hundred and Eight Boyfriends Had to Tell. It seemed to record the unrestrained life of an Elder named Feng Yue, but was actually a travelogue containing many secrets about Blue Star's major factions.

There was also Layman Chang Yang's Hundred-Day Record of Sneaking into the Abyss with His Succubus Girlfriend, which described information about some of the monsters within a Dungeon called the Abyss.

Skimming through the books, Su Xing began searching for the purpose of his visit: cultivation techniques.

He opened the travelogues and secret-history books piled at the top, wiped away the thick dust, and after more than twenty minutes, he truly found two cultivation techniques.

One was called the Body Nourishing Art, while the other was called the Core Condensation Method.

Su Xing merely glanced over the Body Nourishing Art and did not take it too seriously, because it was simply the lowest-grade cultivation technique.

It would be difficult to even break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage with it. It was decent enough for ordinary people seeking to cultivate their bodies, calm their minds, and prolong their lives.

But for Su Xing, who already possessed the Evergreen Cultivation Technique, it was utterly useless.

What truly surprised Su Xing was the Core Condensation Method. According to the ancient text, it was a secret art that could help cultivators better condense their Golden Core!

The technique described the qualities of Golden Cores in detail: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and the even higher Nine Revolutions Golden Core. This perfectly matched the Golden Core grades the Simulator had told Su Xing about.

The method described in this technique for improving the quality of one's Golden Core was to compress spiritual energy and merge it into the Golden Core!

Su Xing could not determine whether this technique was genuine, but at present, he had no better method for condensing a Golden Core.

If he relied purely on accumulating time to condense one, Su Xing would likely need several dozen simulations to cultivate a Nine Revolutions Golden Core. That would be far too wasteful of Simulation Count.

But asking Su Xing not to pursue a Nine Revolutions Golden Core would be a disservice to someone with such a cheat as the Simulator.

Thus, this Core Condensation Method was essential to Su Xing. The only pity was that he had not found the Evergreen Cultivation Technique Lower Half.

At that moment, Guardian Shadow appeared behind Su Xing. Looking at the technique in Su Xing's hands, he asked in confusion, "Could it be that Elder Yao wishes to cultivate? Oh, right, I forgot—your profession is Cultivator! But our world has no spiritual energy. How can one cultivate immortality?"

Su Xing explained, "Guardian Shadow, cultivation and alchemy stem from the same source. Alchemy is the External Elixir Method, while cultivation is the Internal Elixir Method... Though I have no fate with the immortal path, I still wish to refine more and better pills for the sect. Naturally, I must study the art of core condensation!"

Guardian Shadow was left dumbfounded by Su Xing's Righteous and Stern words. After a long while, he finally nodded and said with some emotion, "Ah, Elder Yao truly is a Rising Steadily new star within the sect! Even I am ashamed of such awareness! If Elder Yao had joined the sect ten years earlier, you might already be a Guardian-level figure by now!"

After Guardian Shadow's string of praise, even Su Xing felt a little embarrassed. He was not doing this for the Advent Sect at all—he was clearly doing it for himself!

Finding the core condensation technique was indeed an unexpected gain, but the main purpose of Su Xing's visit had been the lower half of the Evergreen Cultivation Technique, and he still had not found it.

Thus, Su Xing asked curiously, "Guardian Shadow, to be honest, I greatly admire the matter of cultivating immortality and wish to glimpse ancient cultivation texts, yet I have never had the opportunity. Does our sect possess any ancient texts related to cultivation? I would like to broaden my horizons!"

Guardian Shadow spoke with considerable pride after hearing this. "Elder Yao, you have truly asked the right person! When it comes to our grasp of cultivation Dungeons, the Advent Sect is absolutely the number one faction on Blue Star! Even the Great Xia officials cannot compare!"

"However, the advanced cultivation techniques are all controlled by those people from the Fanatical Faction. If you wish to exchange for them, I'm afraid you will need to pay quite a few Contribution Points..."

Su Xing's heart stirred at this, and he asked, "Oh? Guardian Shadow... how many Contribution Points would it take? Throughout the Past Year, I completed dozens of pill-refining assignments and saved up ten thousand Contribution Points. Would that be enough?"

Guardian Shadow shook his head and said, "Ten thousand Contribution Points would be more than enough to exchange for the upper half of a technique called the Evergreen Cultivation Technique... But the lower half requires one hundred thousand Contribution Points. You are still far short..."

Su Xing froze upon hearing this. The upper half was worth only several thousand Contribution Points, while the lower half cost one hundred thousand? Was this some kind of bait-and-switch?

Feeling helpless, Su Xing asked, "Guardian Shadow, why is this technique so expensive to exchange for?"

Guardian Shadow explained, "Because Guardian Zong of the Fanatical Faction is especially obsessed with cultivation, just like you. He joined the sect very early and has been here for several centuries. He is one of the most powerful Guardians. Long ago, he used Contribution Points to buy up the vast majority of the sect's cultivation-related items. If you wish to buy them, you can only buy them from him, so naturally the price is high..."

Once powerful Professionals reached the Heavenly King Level, they underwent a transformation of life. After that transformation, their lifespans greatly increased, and they became Long-Lived Species.

If a Heavenly King Level Professional did not die in battle, living three to five hundred years was perfectly normal. As for Guardian-level Professionals, they were at least Martial Emperor Level. Living five or six hundred years was no difficult matter.

After hearing Elder Shadow's words, Su Xing's gaze flickered uncertainly. Obsessed with cultivation-related things, one of the most powerful Guardians...

Su Xing suddenly recalled the old man he had encountered during a previous simulation. Back then, that old man had taken a fancy to his Spirit Rice and wanted to torture him to death in order to force out information about it.

Now that Guardian Shadow had described him, Su Xing guessed that old man was likely Guardian Zong.

"But... why is Guardian Zong also so obsessed with cultivating immortality? Could his profession be Cultivator as well?"

Su Xing pondered for a while, then shook his head.

"Impossible. The profession panel stated that I am the only Cultivator... So Guardian Zong definitely cannot be a Cultivator. But why is he so obsessed with cultivation? There must be some greater secret behind this!"