Mu Bai did not linger over the joy of his advancement. He soon calmed himself and considered the path of his cultivation from here.
In cultivating his inner core, his existing foundation in mental cultivation had allowed him to skip essence refining into qi-the qi refining phase-from the outset. He had quickly sensed and stored Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, then stepped straight into the Spirit Refining Stage. Yet in the second phase, qi refining into spirit, Mu Bai had trained bitterly for years without a breakthrough. Forming an inner core and attaining spirit transformation remained far out of reach. Judging by the might his Essence Power currently unleashed, once his inner core was fully formed, he would surely possess the combat strength of a fourth-level Xiu Zun.
At this thought, Mu Bai yearned all the more to pursue inner core cultivation. Besides, there was a treasure trove of crystals within the cliff here. Why not achieve a breakthrough here in one go?
Looking around, he saw some rare herbs and unusual plants that the Golden Roc and the Artifact Spirit Ancestor had not yet wiped out. He took the Golden Roc on another patrol nearby and gained quite a harvest. Where once even a single treasure had been hard to find, now they seemed to fill his own garden.
After harvesting those rare plants, Mu Bai let the Golden Roc roam freely while he entered the cave, which was already more than a dozen zhang deep. He quieted his mind, sat in meditation, and breathed in the vast metal-attribute essence qi.
His meridians shimmered with flowing colors. As he continuously absorbed and circulated the energy, the flecks of white light within the streams of Origin Power in his meridians grew ever more brilliant, like twinkling stars.
For more than