Chapter 382: The decision: "Bonus update for recommendation votes!"
Zhao Qingran stepped into the cave abode.
Passing through a short passage, he arrived in a fairly spacious hall.
The furnishings were simple, with only a few luminous pearls giving off a gentle glow.
At the head of the hall, an old man with sparse white hair and a face etched with deep wrinkles sat cross-legged on an old gray meditation cushion.
His aura was obscure and unreadable.
He was none other than the Zhao Clan's patriarch, Zhao Qiyang.
Two low tables and meditation cushions stood on either side below him.
"Sit."
Zhao Qiyang raised his eyelids slightly, his voice flat. "I have no spirit tea to offer you here. You'll have to make do."
"You jest, Sixth Granduncle."
Zhao Qingran sat on a cushion to the left as instructed and asked with concern, "Granduncle, you've been in seclusion for two years. Has your attempt to reach the Golden Core realm gone smoothly?"
At those words, a bitter smile tugged at Zhao Qiyang's lips.
He let out a long sigh, heavy as a lingering illness. "My magic power crystallization has stalled at seventy percent.
"The remaining thirty percent is like being mired in a swamp. Even an inch of progress is hard to come by.
"As for breaking through the final bottleneck and forming a golden core, I fear there is no hope in this lifetime."
Zhao Qingran's heart sank as well.
Something occurred to him, and he asked with a sliver of hope, "What if you had abundant spiritual energy to assist you?"
"A second-tier spirit vein might help me complete the remaining magic power crystallization within half a year.
"But to help me break through the Golden Core bottleneck..."
Zhao Qiyang slowly shook his head, a flicker of longing