A Discussion of the Dao: Another of Ya Zhaoying's Transactions

"Congratulations, Senior Crow, on achieving the Golden Core Stage! Your path to immortality has taken another step forward!"

In the center of Fire Crow County, atop the volcano, beneath the towering "Fire Mulberry" spirit tree, in a hall within the Crow Lineage's territory specifically used to entertain guests, Kong Wenxuan met Ya Zhaoying, who had already advanced to the Fourth Tier Golden Core Stage, and immediately offered his congratulations.

"Hehe..." Ya Zhaoying looked at Kong Wenxuan, waved her hand with a smile, and said, "Fellow Daoist Kong, you are too kind. I have only gone ahead. I believe that with your talent, you will catch up soon. Let's just address each other as fellow Daoist."

Hearing this, Kong Wenxuan seemed to understand something, but he didn't refuse. He simply bowed again and said, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Ya."

After exchanging greetings, both sides took their seats. Ya Zhaoying had spirit tea and spirit fruit served, and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Kong, this is your first time visiting our Ya Household Ya Household. Please try our 'Fire Mulberry Spirit Tea' and 'Fire Mulberry Spirit Fruit,' which are all made from the 'ancestral tree' of our Lineage."

Ya Zhaoying spoke, he pointed to the towering "Fire Mulberry" spirit tree, which was rooted in the crater, its canopy resembling a fiery cloud, and covered the entire Ya Lineage territory.

"Oh? Then I'll have to try it then." Upon hearing this, Kong Wenxuan smiled and tasted the "Fire Mulberry Spirit Tea" and "Fire Mulberry Spirit Fruit" in front of him. After swallowing them, he felt a warm, fiery energy flowing from his stomach, warming his whole body, and finally flowing into his eyes, nourishing his entire body and eyes, making him feel that his physical strength and eyesight had been slightly improved.

"Excellent tea! Excellent medicinal fruit!" Kong Wenxuan immediately exclaimed with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Ya Zhaoying smiled and said, "I'm glad Fellow Daoist Kong likes them. I'll have someone prepare some for you to take back later."

"How could I possibly accept this?" Kong Wenxuan immediately waved his hand and said, "I've come to congratulate Fellow Daoist Ya on advancing to the Golden Core Stage. I should be the one giving Fellow Daoist Ya a gift, not letting Fellow Daoist Ya spend money."

Ya Zhaoying smiled and waved her hand, saying, "It's nothing, just some leaves and spirit fruits from our own orchard. They're not worth much. Consider it a friendly exchange."

Seeing this, Kong Wenxuan could no longer refuse and could only smile and thank him.

After some casual conversation, Ya Zhaoying finally revealed the purpose of her invitation: to discuss philosophy with him.

In reality, while it was called a discussion of the Dao, given the other party's current Golden Core Stage cultivation, it was undoubtedly more about imparting some experience and lessons learned in the process of forming a Core.

This was Kong Wenxuan's main purpose in coming to "Fire Crow County"—to seek advice from the Golden Core True Person of the Ya Household on his experiences and lessons learned in breaking through to the Golden Core Stage. However, before he could even ask, Ya Zhaoying had come to him of her own accord, wanting to discuss the Dao with him and impart her experiences and lessons learned in breaking through to the Golden Core Stage.

This caught him off guard, leaving him unsure how to respond.

After pondering for a while, Kong Wenxuan decided to be direct. He bowed to the other party and said, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Ya. The experience and lessons learned in breaking through to the Golden Core Stage are indeed what I need now. I have come to your esteemed residence to congratulate you on advancing to the Seventh-Grade True Spirit, and also to see if I have the opportunity to learn from your experience in breaking through to the Golden Core Stage."

"If Fellow Daoist Crow is willing to impart his experience, I would naturally be extremely grateful. However, I wonder if there is anything Fellow Daoist Crow needs me to do? Please tell me."

Upon hearing this, Ya Zhaoying's smile faded slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Fellow Daoist Kong, do you know how many years it took our Ya Household to advance from Ninth-Grade True Spirit Lineage to Eighth-Grade True Spirit Lineage, and how many years it took to advance from Eighth-Grade True Spirit Lineage to Seventh-Grade True Spirit Lineage?"

As she spoke, she shook her head and, without waiting for Kong Wenxuan's reply, said directly, "Our Ya Household took a full 127 years and three generations to advance from Ninth-Grade True Spirit Lineage to Eighth-Grade True Spirit family; while advancing from Eighth-Grade True Spirit Lineage to Seventh-Grade True Spirit family took 398 years and nearly ten generations!"

"Furthermore, if it weren't for the fact that the Demon Race colluded with the martial artists of the ' True Martial World ' to invade, allowing our Ya Household to make some contributions in resisting the invasion and killing martial artists, and receiving some rewards and support from the ' True Spirit Realm's ' Heaven and Earth Origin, it's likely that our Ya Household would have had to spend one or two more generations to reach the Seventh-Grade True Spirit position!"

"But at this point, the foundation and strength accumulated by our Ya Household over generations and hundreds of years have been almost completely exhausted."

"Next, if our Ya Household wants to break through to the Sixth-Grade True Spirit realm, and I want to advance to the Fifth Tier Nascent Soul Realm, I don't know how many centuries or how many generations it will take, and even then, the chances are still slim."

"The difficulty and the gap between advancing from Seventh-Grade True Spirit Lineage to Sixth-Grade True Spirit Lineage are greater than the combined difficulty of advancing from the ninth grade to the seventh grade."

Ya Zhaoying spoke, she shook her head with a somewhat gloomy expression, clearly not holding much hope for her family's breakthrough to the Sixth-Grade True Spirit realm and the Nascent Soul Realm realm.

Upon hearing this, Kong Wenxuan already understood the other party's meaning, but he still said, "Fellow Daoist Ya is overthinking it. The True Spirit Realm is currently in turmoil, with the Demon Race colluding with martial artists from the True Martial World to invade. This is precisely the time for us to seize the opportunity and make great contributions."

"I believe that as long as Fellow Daoist Crow and the nobles seize the opportunity, accumulate merits, and receive more support and impetus from the ' True Spirit Realm,' reaching the Sixth-Grade True Spirit position and the Fifth Tier Nascent Soul Realm be absolutely no problem."

Upon hearing Kong Wenxuan's words, Ya Zhaoying nodded and then shook her head, saying, "Suppressing the demon Demon Race, resisting the invasion of martial artists from the ' True Martial World,' and establishing more merits—this is naturally the path our Ya Household is preparing to take."

"However, this path is not easy either. Those Demon Race, especially the martial artists from the invading ' True Martial World,' are not easy to deal with. To establish enough merit for our Ya Household to advance to the Sixth-Grade True Spirit position..." Ya Zhaoying shook her head as she spoke, saying, "Difficult! Difficult! Difficult..."

"It's even possible that our Ya Household won't have enough merit before suffering heavy losses or even perishing in battles against the Demon Race and invading martial artists."

"After all, the True Spirit Realm is currently in turmoil, and there are indeed True Spirit Lineage that have been defeated and even perished due to the plundering of their ' Origin Fragment ' by Demon Race and invading martial artists."

"So..." Ya Zhaoying said, then changed the subject, looking at Kong Wenxuan, "I'm preparing another option besides this, to make a deal with Fellow Daoist Kong."

"Now, I am passing on my experience and path to the Golden Core Stage to you. When you advance to the Nascent Soul Realm, please also lend me a hand and pass on your experience and path to the Nascent Soul Realm."

Although Kong Wenxuan already had all the guesses in his heart, he still couldn't help but say after hearing the other party say this, "Fellow Daoist Ya, you really have confidence in me. Are you so sure that I can advance to the Nascent Soul Realm?"

Ya Zhaoying nodded, then shook her head and said, "I do have some confidence, after all, Fellow Daoist Kong is the most talented and gifted person I have ever seen. He not only led the Kong Household to successfully achieve the Star Inlaying, but also propelled the Kong Household to the position of Eighth-Grade True Spirit in just twenty years."

"It's only been a little over ten years, and your cultivation has already reached the Late Purple Mansion Stage. I believe your progress will not stop here."

"Besides, even if you don't ultimately succeed in advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm, I've only imparted some Core Formation experience to you, so I haven't lost anything."

Upon hearing this, Kong Wenxuan smiled and said, "Since Fellow Daoist Ya isn't worried about losing money, then I, as the beneficiary, naturally have even less reason to refuse."

As he spoke, he bowed to the other party again and said, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Ya, for imparting your experience in Core Formation."

Seeing this Ya Zhaoying smiled and nodded, saying, "Good! Good! In that case, please, Fellow Daoist Kong, listen to my Dao of Alchemy!"

As she spoke, she recounted to Kong Wenxuan her experience and process of forming her golden core, as well as the numerous materials and traditions related to golden core formation collected by the Ya Household.