Our eldest brother never hides good things from us.

[This chapter describes the process of advancing in cultivation level. If you find it troublesome, you can skip to the next chapter.]

……

The Golden Core is the first insurmountable barrier on the path to immortality. The more solid one's foundation during the Foundation Establishment stage, the higher the quality of the Golden Core. You have spent a full ten years cultivating and observing the Golden Core formation techniques of various schools. Ten years of trials and tribulations have made your mindset increasingly calm, awaiting only the right opportunity.

[Ten years of honing your skills. In the eleventh year, you officially began compressing the Spirit Lake. The path to the Golden Core lies in compressing the entire Spirit Lake into an immortal Golden Core. This is a hundred times more difficult than compressing spiritual liquid during Foundation Establishment. Every inch you compress causes the Spirit Lake to rebound violently, and your Qi Sea trembles like a raging sea. You are not in a hurry; you compress it only once a year, preferring slowness to error. In this way, sixty years have passed, and the Spirit Lake has shrunk from a vast swamp into a deep pool.]

[Seventy-first year. Crystalline particles began to appear at the center of the Spirit Pool, the rudimentary form of the Core Formation. But the closer you get to success, the more intense the backlash becomes. Every time you circulate your energy, your meridians feel as if they are being torn apart by a thousand knives, and your dantian feels like it's about to explode. You grit your teeth and persevere, guarding the clarity of your mind. Thirty years later, the Spirit Pool completely disappears, replaced by a translucent core. You have officially entered the half-step Golden Core realm.]

[The nascent core has been formed, but it still needs a baptism of heaven and earth to reach the true Golden Core realm. You found a secluded mountain range, set up multiple defensive formations, and then activated the core, connecting with heaven and earth. In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a hundred miles poured into your body, the core being frantically compressed in the torrent. Three days and three nights later, the tribulation of lightning descended, your body was charred black, your dantian churned, but the core was completely solidified under the tempering of the heavenly lightning, shining brightly with golden light. You successfully formed your core, becoming a first-level Golden Core cultivator.]

[In the 150th year, within the Golden Core realm, each breakthrough requires a massive amount of resources. You no longer secluded yourself for arduous cultivation, but instead frequently ventured into secret realms and dangerous areas, gathering spiritual herbs and hunting demonic beasts to sustain yourself through battle. After fifty years of alternating between warfare and arduous cultivation, you steadily broke through to the fourth level of the Golden Core realm, entering the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.]

[In the second hundred years, from the mid to late stage of the Golden Core realm, the Golden Core needs to be refined from "solidification" to "spiritual connection." You accidentally obtained an ancient elixir formula and, with the aid of the earth's core molten fire, refined the Golden Core. Each refinement was like placing the Golden Core in a furnace for reforging, causing immense pain. You persevered with immense willpower for eighty years, and natural Dao patterns appeared on the surface of the Golden Core, allowing you to reach the eighth level of the Golden Core realm.]

In the 280th year, you paused, reflecting on your centuries of cultivation. You realized you had overexerted yourself in battle, your Dao heart tainted by murderous intent. If not cleansed, it would become a demon within you. You spent a hundred years in the mortal realm, sealing your cultivation, mingling in ordinary cities, opening a small teahouse, observing the comings and goings of people, experiencing joy and sorrow. A century of mortal life cleansed your heart, all murderous intent vanished, your Dao heart became clear as crystal, and your golden core became perfectly formed, revealing its complete perfection.

[In the 380th year, you began your attempt to reach the Great Perfection of the Golden Core. This step was no longer about accumulation, but about merging your life's insights with the Golden Core. You sat in your cave for sixty years, motionless and silent, your spirit roaming the vast emptiness, comprehending the laws of heaven and earth. Sixty years later, you opened your eyes; the Golden Core had transformed into a perfect Primordial Dao Pill, its radiance restrained, returning to its original purity. You had reached the Great Perfection of the Golden Core; the Nascent Soul Tribulation was imminent.]

[You decided to attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. The Nascent Soul Tribulation is an insurmountable barrier, and you dared not be careless in the slightest. You spent twenty years traveling the world, witnessing the changing times, and comprehending the cycle of life and death. In your fourth hundredth year, you began making final preparations for the tribulation. You gathered spiritual materials, using the molten fire of the earth's core as a catalyst, and spent ten years refining a batch of [Three Elements Nascent Soul Protection Pills]. You then spent another ten years nurturing a seventh-grade defensive magic treasure, the "Tai Xu Shield," with your own life essence and blood. With everything ready, you sat in meditation, cultivating your essence, energy, and spirit to their peak.]

[Year 420. You take a deep breath and point a finger at your dantian. The Primordial Dao Pill shatters instantly. The quality of the golden core is too high, and the energy it unleashes far exceeds expectations. A violent torrent instantly tears apart your dantian, blood spurts from your seven orifices, and your soul is in so much pain that you almost lose consciousness. The Three Yuan Protecting Infant Pill takes effect, barely managing to keep your mind clear. You grit your teeth and use all your willpower to control this world-destroying power, attempting to reshape the nascent nascent soul.]

[But you underestimated the difficulty of shattering the nascent soul to form a nascent soul. The nascent soul you forcibly condensed only lasted for half an incense stick before collapsing violently. The remaining energy scattered and collided, severing your meridians and shattering your dantian. At the critical moment, the Void Shield automatically activated, shielding you from the fatal impact. You used your last strength to lock the dissipated energy back into your dantian.]

[You failed, but you survived. The price was severe damage to your Dao foundation, fragments of your Golden Core scattered across your Qi Sea, and your cultivation level plummeted back to the sixth level of the Golden Core realm. You slumped in your cave, silent for three months, without uttering a word.]

[In the 421st year, you rose from the pool of blood, your eyes showing no despair, only a profound clarity. The defeat at the cost of your shattered core allowed you to see your true path.]

[You're too hasty. You're too confident in your own accumulated knowledge, forgetting that the Nascent Soul Tribulation doesn't rely on accumulation; it's a test from the Great Dao.]

Instead of rebuilding your Golden Core, you dragged your crippled body back into the mortal realm. This time, you weren't there to experience the myriad aspects of human life, but to search for the final missing piece of the Great Dao. You spent fifty years sealing your cultivation, walking the mortal world. You lived on wind and dew, enduring ridicule and the erosion of time. In the humblest of circumstances, you observed yourself; in the most ordinary of lives, you comprehended the Dao.

[Year 470. After fifty years of wandering the wilderness, you have finally discovered the root cause of your failed attempt to shatter your elixir.]

Although your Dao heart has attained clarity, you still have attachments. You cannot let go of the fruits of hundreds of years of arduous cultivation, nor can you relinquish your obsession with achieving the Great Perfection of the Golden Elixir. Therefore, when you shattered your elixir, you were not giving up, but gambling.

[With this understanding, you returned to your cave to rebuild your shattered Qi Sea. Rebuilding is far more difficult than the initial attempt; a shattered golden core cannot be restored. Therefore, you decided not to repair the old core, but instead used the fragments as seeds to re-form it. You followed the will of the Great Dao, allowing the golden core fragments to regrow according to the laws of nature.]

[In the 499th year, your Golden Core did not return to its perfect state; instead, it transformed into an irregular, chaotic Golden Core, yet its aura was stronger than that of a perfect Golden Core.]

[You invite the calamity of shattered core once more. With a flick of your finger at your dantian, the golden core shatters instantly, the violent energy tearing apart your dantian. Blood flows from your seven orifices, and your soul is in excruciating pain, but you no longer resist, no longer try to control it.]

You have relinquished your attachment to this physical body, and to the fruits of centuries of arduous cultivation. Your mind is as clear as the primordial chaos, allowing the fragmented energy to flow freely.

[Reversal is the movement of the Tao; a miracle occurs.]

When you don't consciously control the energy, it naturally begins to condense according to your Dao intent. It's not that you are shaping the Nascent Soul, but rather that the Great Dao is using your body to nurture the Nascent Soul.

[In the five hundredth year, the nascent soul took shape.]

[The Nascent Soul is born. The Forty-Nine Thunder Tribulation and the Yin Fire Wind follow in quick succession, at least thirty percent more intense than a typical Nascent Soul Tribulation. You will face the heavenly lightning with your physical body, enduring it for nine days and nine nights.]

Finally, the thunder subsided and the fire died down. A radiant golden nascent soul emerged from the old shell, bearing your exact appearance.

[Heaven and earth bestowed sweet rain, bathing the Nascent Soul in its spiritual nectar, completely stabilizing its energy. The nascent soul shattered to form the nascent soul, breaking through and then rising again. You have officially entered the first level of the Nascent Soul realm, your lifespan increasing to three thousand years.]

"In the blink of an eye, five hundred years have passed, and the world has changed dramatically. From now on, in this golden age of cultivation, I, Chang Wen, will surely have a place."

Chang Wen opened his eyes and found himself to be a Nascent Soul cultivator. His foundation was solid, and his aura was perfectly natural.