Core Quality

"Father, agree to Young Master Lin Chen's request. The place at the back mountain is quiet, perfect for condensing a Core."

The one who answered Lin Chen was not Lin Zhentian, but Lin Xiao. Clearly, Lin Chen's proposal suited Lin Xiao's wishes quite well.

"Since that is the case, we shall follow Young Master Lin Chen's arrangements. Should Young Master Lin Chen require anything in the future, my Lin Family will certainly do everything in its power."

Lin Chen did not pay much attention to Lin Zhentian's final promise. What concerned him now was Lin Xiao's adopted daughter, Lin Qingtian.

Compared with the temptation of the Ancestral Stone, Lin Chen was far more interested in the high-grade Yin Sha Energy within Lin Qingtian's body, for it would be the foundation of his condensation of a "Nine-Star Core."

However, without the Ancestral Stone's help, he would be unable to absorb the high-grade Yin Sha Energy within Lin Qingtian's body. To him at present, neither could be spared.

Compared with his Spiritual Power cultivation, his Origin Energy cultivation speed was not particularly outstanding. At fifteen, he had only reached the initial stage of the Heavenly Origin Realm. Such cultivation might be considered extremely impressive within the Great Yan Dynasty, but across the entire Tianxuan Continent, it was simply not worth mentioning.

Of course, this was not entirely because he had suppressed his Origin Energy realm to focus on Spiritual Power cultivation. Aside from wanting to condense a higher-quality Core and lay a solid foundation for his future cultivation, it was also because he had cultivated for too short a time.

On the Tianxuan Continent, people generally did not cultivate Origin Energy before the age of twelve. People like Lin Langtian, who had encountered some fortuitous opportunity and had no choice but to begin early, were exceptional cases.

The path of cultivation began with tempering the body. Everything started from oneself. The human body itself was among the most profound and mysterious things between heaven and earth. Therefore, before one's bones and meridians had fully taken shape, it was unsuitable to temper the flesh, strengthen the sinews, bones, and marrow, form an Origin Energy seed within the body, and absorb the world's Origin Energy.

The Body Tempering Realm was divided into nine levels and formed the fundamental basis of Origin Energy cultivation. These nine levels were crucial to future cultivation. Cultivating and strengthening oneself too early brought no benefit; instead, it could even leave one permanently crippled.

By then, narrow meridians and slow absorption of the world's Origin Energy would be minor issues. If one's bones were damaged and unable to produce an Origin Energy seed, rendering one incapable of cultivating Origin Energy for life, that would be no laughing matter.

Of course, the Tianxuan Continent did not lack spiritual pills and wondrous medicines that allowed people to cultivate early, but Lin Chen clearly did not have such good fortune.

For that reason, he had not begun cultivating Origin Energy prematurely. Rather than rush things, he only began tempering his body thirteen years after arriving in this world. With Lin Mu providing and assisting him with all kinds of medicinal herbs, he reached the sixth level of the Body Tempering Realm in three months, formed an Origin Energy seed within his body, and truly became an Origin Energy cultivator.

Afterward, however, he inadvertently discovered that he absorbed this world's Origin Energy many times faster than others. Not only that, but when it came to Origin Energy cultivation, he seemed not to have any cultivation bottlenecks at all.

Back when he had just reached the ninth level of the Body Tempering Realm and completely finished tempering his body, he merely absorbed the lowest-grade, ordinary Yin Sha Energy present in the world and entered the Earthly Origin Realm without the slightest obstacle. Over the following year, even though he deliberately suppressed the speed at which he absorbed the world's Origin Energy, reaching the Heavenly Origin Realm still took little effort.

However, everything had its pros and cons. Although his Spiritual Power had already achieved modest success at that time, enough to conceal his true strength and prevent him from attracting hostility due to his personal power, it still brought him one problem.

Lin Chen knew very well that within the Lin Clan, if he continued cultivating step by step, condensing a Core would not be difficult. Yet the quality of that Core would likely be appalling—without a doubt, the lowest-grade one-star Core.

The so-called Core quality referred to the differences in the Cores formed when one's Origin Energy cultivation reached the peak of the Heavenly Origin Realm and the yin and yang within the body merged. There were nine grades in total: the one-star Core was the lowest, while the Nine-Star Core was the highest.

The Core's final quality depended on the grade of Yin Sha Energy and Yang Gang Energy absorbed by the body during the Earthly Origin Realm and Heavenly Origin Realm. Both realms served to build one's foundation for entering the Core Formation Realm.

A Core quality like a "one-star Core" was obviously unacceptable to Lin Chen. Although he believed his cultivation would not encounter any bottlenecks, the cultivation systems of the Tianxuan Continent and even the Great Thousand World were exceedingly complex. As for whether he could continue cultivating as smoothly in the later realms as he had in the early stages, Lin Chen did not possess absolute confidence.

Therefore, laying a perfect foundation for his cultivation and leaving as few flaws as possible was extremely important in Lin Chen's view. It would constantly affect everything in his future on the Tianxuan Continent and even in the Great Thousand World.

"This is Lin Dong's younger sister, Qingtan, isn't it...?"

Lin Chen looked at the little girl in blue beside Lin Xiao, who tightly clutched the hem of Lin Dong's mother Liu Yan's clothing. Though he already knew the answer, he still asked.

Even from several meters away, Lin Chen's Spiritual Power could still sense the icy aura emanating from within Qingtan's body, and he could not help feeling delighted.

"Worthy of the Fiend Demon Body, the very pinnacle of Yin Sha Constitutions. With the Yin Sha Energy produced within Lin Qingtian's body, along with the Yang Gang Energy hidden in the Yang Yuan Stone Vein of Ironwood Manor under the Lei Family in Qingyang Town, the Core's quality can certainly be improved."

"Yes, this is Dong'er's younger sister, Qingtan."

Lin Xiao nodded in agreement. He did not think much about how Lin Chen knew Qingtan's name, subconsciously assuming that Lin Dong, who had ridden in the same carriage as Lin Chen all the way back from Lin City, had told him.

"This girl has an unusual constitution, and the Yin Sha Energy within her body is dense. Presumably, every so often, the icy energy in her body erupts, causing her agonizing pain, while you are powerless to do anything about it. Am I correct?"

Lin Chen rose from his seat and took a few steps forward. He carefully examined Lin Qingtian, who was only five or six years old, then looked at Lin Xiao and asked with certainty.

"Young Master Lin Chen truly has keen insight. To be honest, this girl Qingtan has suffered greatly because of this strange constitution. I once tried to use Origin Energy to drive the icy energy from her body, but in the end, I was instead eroded by the icy energy within her. I lay bedridden for more than half a month before finally expelling it."

Lin Xiao sighed in admiration at Lin Chen's discernment, then shook his head repeatedly. His gaze toward Qingtan was filled with confusion and helplessness.

"Could Young Master Lin Chen have a way to save her?"

Upon hearing Lin Chen's certain words, the shrewd Lin Zhentian, who had secretly guessed the deeper meaning behind them, hurriedly rose from his seat and slightly bowed as he asked Lin Chen.

Because he favored Lin Xiao, although Lin Qingtian did not share the Lin Family's bloodline, Lin Zhentian regarded her no differently from his true granddaughter. Now that he learned there might be a way to free his granddaughter from her suffering, how could he not be overjoyed?