Dirty Spiritual Qi

Upon hearing that Gu Yunshu had achieved Core Formation, Hu Mang sobered up considerably, his mind filled with nothing but the word "awesome."

When Hu Mang was overseas, he consciously collected relevant information and even inquired with many teachers and seniors in academies, so he had a relatively good understanding of Core Formation.

Ordinary Golden Core cultivators have ordinary condensation methods. With sufficient preparation and insurance, they can simply draw lots to go to the Artificial Lightning Tribulation Tower. Most Lightning Tribulation Tower are located next to hospitals or temporary medical points set up by hospitals. If the tribulation fails, they can be rescued on the spot. The process is so mature that it's like going for a physical examination.

As for advanced Golden Core, and even top-tier Golden Core, such as the highest-level "National Standard Golden Core" of the Heavenly Gate, theoretically, there are only two ways to achieve it.

The first method is to join the Heavenly Gate system, accumulate the Five Virtues, and exchange merits for the opportunity to enter a large-scale cultivation project. Inside the large-scale cultivation project, one can use the artificial world to digest the Five Virtues and purify the Golden Core until it reaches the point of being Golden Nature and flawless.

Even with a clear path, most people still get stuck at this hurdle, either because they lack the Five Virtues or the talent.

The second option is to join a private sect that is about to rise to prominence, catch a legendary opportunity in a blue ocean market, and in the final wave, go public, with the sect evolving into a spiritual enterprise.

In this way, with the help of the sect's immense Fortune and some advanced cultivation techniques within the sect, there is a small chance of breaking through to the National Standard Golden Core stage.

However, the former will be bound to the Heavenly Gate system, while the latter will be bound to the Spirit Enterprise.

After all, no one would allow someone of this caliber to enter the market.

Of course, if you don't want to be bound, that's fine too; you can form your core independently.

Then Gu Yunshu successfully formed her core.

"... Awesome." Hu Mang was truly speechless except for the word "awesome."

Fortunately, after sobering up considerably, he quickly came to his senses. "Come, come, quickly open your Divine Communication and let me see what exactly this legendary National Standard Golden Core Elixir is all about."

Soon, the Divine Communication software was activated, and his Divine Sense swept across the area. He quickly "saw" Gu Yunshu.

Gu Yunshu sat cross-legged in the center of the quiet room, without any unusual phenomena around her. Even the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi were calm, like a stagnant pool. But it was precisely this calmness that stirred Hu Mang's heart.

Truly top-notch things don't need to be flaunted.

His Divine Sense continued to penetrate deeper, attempting to perceive the Golden Core within Gu Yunshu's body, and then he "saw"—

It was a perfectly round, flawless golden pill, suspended in the Dantian, slowly rotating. The surface of the pill was as smooth as a mirror, without any runes, patterns, or impurities. It was so pure that it seemed not to be matter at all, and there was not a trace of spiritual energy leaking out.

Hu Mang knew this was "the purity of Golden Nature."

The elixir body itself is a perfect closed loop, in which Spiritual Qi circulates continuously without loss or leakage, and every bit of spiritual power is utilized to the fullest extent.

Then, the Innate Qi evolved!

The same Law Technique, when cast by National Standard Golden Core cultivator, consumes ten times less spiritual energy while increasing its power tenfold!

Moreover, as the Golden Core rotated, it seemed to resonate with something deeper in the world. That resonance was extremely faint, almost imperceptible, but it certainly existed.

"Awesome!"

Hu Mang clicked his tongue and uttered "Awesome!" for the third time that night.

"I'll send you a complete copy of my Golden Nature research diary later, containing all my experiences during the process of condensing the core. The Old Third, Old Fourth, and Old Fifth also have copies."

"My ability to form my core owes much to your Corpse Liberation Book Manual. Without comprehending even Three-Part Corpse Liberation Sword, I wouldn't have been able to break through the Immaculate Golden Nature, and even if I had, I would have failed."

After Gu Yunshu's display of divine power in front of others, he decisively ended the communication; he needed to stabilize his cultivation level.

As for Hu Mang, he was pondering the other party's last sentence, about the saying "Golden Nature without impurity".

He really wanted to know how the other person did it.

According to the other party's diary, to perfectly form the Golden Core, one must achieve "pure and spotless Golden Nature."

The problem is that in order to form the elixir, one must first break through the Golden Nature, and once the Golden Nature is broken through, the state of purity is no longer pure.

This question is somewhat like trying to pull yourself up by your own hair and fly without using any spiritual power.

But Hu Mang knew that Gu Yunshu must have found her own method that could both form a core and achieve purity.

"I was thinking of taking a break after drinking today, but oh well, I'll practice my shooting. A little tipsy is just right for shooting practice."

Spurred on, Hu Mang practiced his spear all night. If his opponent's perfect Golden Core was due to the Three-Part Corpse Liberation Sword, then his own National Standard Golden Core was due to the Tribulation-Breaking Divine Spear.

After practicing shooting all night, Hu Mang was in excellent spirits. After finishing the porridge his mother had cooked, he went straight out, got on the flying shuttle he had stolen from Brother Li, and headed straight out of the city. However, he wasn't going to the Liu Household, but rather to a hidden underground medicinal herb processing plant belonging to the Bai Household.

According to the agreement between Hu Mang and Huang Jiayou, this batch of problematic Bone-Molding Pill would be placed there and handed over to Hu Mang to be transported away through special channels.

After the shuttle left the city, the surrounding scenery began to turn desolate.

Skyscrapers are gradually being replaced by low-rise factories and abandoned farmland. The trees along the roads are becoming fewer and fewer, replaced by patches of gray-yellow wasteland overgrown with weeds. Occasionally, one can see a few abandoned brick kilns and collapsed walls, faintly visible in the morning mist.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the air began to drop noticeably—from the usual 30 or 40 points in the city, it fell to 30, 20, 10, and then, after the shuttle passed an abandoned mine, the spiritual Spiritual Qi reading on the Spiritual Qi detector jumped to 8.

Low Spiritual Qi area.

Hu Mang glanced at the reading but didn't react much.

Such areas are not uncommon outside the city, usually caused by damaged ley lines, depleted Spirit Vein, or large-scale industrial pollution.

Areas with Spiritual Qi concentration below 10 are no longer suitable for cultivation for most cultivators. In fact, staying in such an environment for a long time will cause the spiritual energy in the body to slowly dissipate, requiring the use of pills or Spirit Stone to replenish it.

However, for a body cultivator like Hu Mang, whose physical strength is abnormally powerful, the impact is not significant. His power comes more from his Qi and Blood and qi, his physical body, and Demonic Qi, rather than from his dependence on external Spiritual Qi.

The shuttle continued forward, and the surrounding fog grew thicker and thicker, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.

The Hu Mang slowed down and turned on the shuttle's front searchlight. Two beams of white light pierced the fog and illuminated the bumpy dirt road ahead.

The road surface is getting worse and worse, with cracks and potholes everywhere. In some places, the cracks are wide enough to fit a foot, indicating that it has not been maintained for a long time.

Along the roadside, one can see abandoned factories and warehouses from time to time, with rusted iron gates, broken windows, and withered vines climbing the walls, making them appear particularly desolate in the mist.

Soon, the phone's navigation system beeped – the destination was just 200 meters ahead.

The Hu Mang slowed down, and through the mist, it could vaguely see the outline of a low, half-buried building in front of it—the underground medicinal herb processing plant hidden by the Bai Household.

The Hu Mang put away its flying shuttle and landed. However, after landing, the concentration of Spiritual Qi rose rapidly, directly reaching the intermediate level of Spiritual Qi.

However, seeing the foggy surroundings, the Hu Mang quickly realized what was happening.

"Dirty Spiritual Qi, huh?"

Dirty Spiritual Qi is different from Turbid Spiritual Qi. It is closer to the Spiritual Qi produced by the compression of steam Law Artifact, which is the stuff that needs to be guided out by an "External Spirit Root".

Having flown all the way here, the Hu Mang has come to understand just how "old" this old industrial paradise truly is.

Otherwise, if you only look at the urban area, it's actually quite prosperous.

After scanning the area again, Hu Mang finally understood why he had chosen to locate the medicinal herb processing plant here.

"The Dirty Spiritual Qi energy makes it impossible for cultivators to practice here, so they try their best to avoid being seen by others."

Hu Mang walked down step by step, entered the password left by Huang Jiayou on the electronic lock, and soon the door opened wide, and a gust of dull air blew out.

This underground factory contained a large number of spirit medicine processing equipment, many of which were new models. In one of the roller-cutting medicine machines, Hu Mang quickly found the problematic Bone-Molding Pill.

Let's test it first to see if there are any hidden dangers.

The Hu Mang took out a pill, put it in its mouth, then sat cross-legged and focused its inner energy on its Dantian.

Once a pill containing Demonic Qi enters the body, it is absorbed into the Cauldron-Boiling Devil Meridian, which draws out the Demonic Qi components and melts away the rest.

This perfectly matches the function of the demonic vein—it can absorb all kinds of impure and evil energy and refine it into pure Demonic Qi.

"As expected, there's no problem."

Hu Mang was overjoyed.

Aside from the feeling of bone sculpting, the Hu Mang didn't feel anything else.

After trying it a few more times, I finally realized that this thing had absolutely no effect on me.

The rest is self-explanatory; just take the drugs and purify your demonic Root Bone.

Time passed slowly.

As the dosage increases, the effects of the potion gradually accumulate.

Finally, it was afternoon, and the effects of the medicine exploded in my stomach.

A surge of intense heat, like a flood bursting its banks, rushed from his stomach to every part of his body.

The heat current carried a large amount of turbid Demonic Qi, like black venomous snakes, frantically slithering through his meridians, trying to find a place to attach to and corrode.

If an ordinary cultivator had swallowed so many pills containing Demonic Qi, their meridians would probably be shattered and their Dantian would have collapsed by now. But the Hu Mang has the Cauldron-Boiling Devil Meridian within its body.

The demonic vein, dormant deep within the meridians, suddenly opened up like a giant python awakened the moment it sensed the influx of a large amount of Demonic Qi.

A powerful suction force emanated from the demonic veins, drawing in all the black Demonic Qi that was rampaging through the meridians like a whale swallowing seawater.

The Demonic Qi churned and compressed within the demonic vein, stripping away impurities and preserving the essence. It then transformed into wisps of pure black energy that slowly flowed into the Hu Mang's bones along the path of the demonic vein.

A deep, aching sensation spread from the spine to the ribs, shoulder blades, arm bones, and leg bones.