Heaven-Sent Wealth

“Shattering the core and reforming it.” These four words were easy to say, but implementing them was incredibly difficult.

Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul were the four stages most familiar to Sword School students.

Beyond that, it became very difficult to teach.

Qi Refining was the beginning of the immortal path.

Through drawing spiritual energy into the body, one’s own spirituality resonated with the spiritual energy of the outside world, and gradually transformed the spiritual energy from the heavens and earth for one’s own use.

The important tasks at this stage were to unblock spiritual meridians, clear acupoints, and open the dantian. 

When a cultivator’s physical body had undergone years of spiritual energy tempering, the dantian walls were expanded and thickened by the spiritual energy introduced in layers.

The spiritual energy gradually transformed from a thin gaseous state to a thick gaseous state, and even a liquid state.

Subsequently, the cultivator’s spiritual power, physical body, and even mental state gradually reached a completely new realm.

This was Foundation Establishment.

The characteristic of this stage was the initial manifestation of divine sense.

In addition to spiritual energy, cultivators gained a divine sense that could communicate with heaven and earth, and all natural things.

Insights into the Dao mostly began from this stage.

Foundation Establishment meant building a foundation.

Cultivators at this stage needed to fully develop their dantian and cleanse their spiritual meridians to accommodate more spiritual energy, preparing for the next stage.

The spiritual energy within the dantian gradually accumulated more and more, swirling and lingering in the sea of qi above the dantian.

After decades, even centuries of continuous refinement and compression, it gradually transformed from a gaseous state to a liquid state, and finally from a liquid state to a solid state.

Often, after enduring the rigorous tests of the Heavenly Tribulation, the spiritual energy in the dantian was compressed a millionfold, ultimately forming a crucial core that could both connect with the sea of qi and store vast amounts of spiritual energy.

This core, being an extreme compression of spiritual energy, appeared dazzling and radiated golden spiritual light, hence it was called a Golden Core.

At this stage, because the cultivator possessed a Golden Core, their spiritual power was several times stronger than in the Foundation Establishment stage, with ample capacity to perform various spells and divine abilities.

Their strength was vastly different from Foundation Establishment. 

Furthermore, Golden Core cultivators surpassed Foundation Establishment cultivators significantly in both divine sense and Dao Heart.

Though it was only one more realm, the strength difference was enormous.

And this Golden Core was the precursor to the Nascent Soul.

Cultivators in the Golden Core stage, through long periods of enlightenment and cultivation, would eventually shatter their core and form a Nascent Soul, thus reaching the Nascent Soul stage.

Nascent Soul is far off for Su Qing and the others, so let’s not mention it for now.

The focus is on the Golden Core. Shattering the core and reforming it is not as simple as merely shattering a Golden Core.

Even the dantian walls would be affected, undoing all the foundational work accumulated during the Foundation Establishment and even Qi Refining stages.

Those with better luck might suffer less damage to their foundation and start anew.

Those with worse luck, a slight oversight could completely destroy their foundation, leaving them as cripples.

Moreover, shattering the core and reforming it was not something that could be achieved merely by experiencing life and death.

It required a combination of important factors such as opportunity and luck.

If Tian Ning had been lucky, she wouldn’t have formed a pseudo-core in the first place.

This shows the difficulty of the situation.

Although cases of shattering the core and reforming it were rare in history, they were not unheard of.

These individuals weren’t necessarily due to forming pseudo-cores; some were gravely wounded in battle, their Golden Cores shattered, leaving them with no choice but to start over.

Although some of these individuals also achieved “corner overtaking” and became even stronger, more died because their lifespan was nearing its end, their bones weathering away and dissipating on their journey to the Great Dao of immortality.

Tian Ning formed a Golden Core at such a young age, so she didn’t have to worry about her lifespan nearing its end.

What she was anxious about was probably that as long as she wasn’t strong, her destiny for that day would not be in her own hands.

However, Su Qing also somewhat understood why Tian Ning had come to the Night Arena.

It was nothing more than to push herself, seeking hope in a desperate situation.

The cases of seniors all indicated that the opportunity for shattering the core and reforming it often lay between life and death.

The power that had to erupt for survival actually broke through the shackles of the Heavenly Dao’s rules, granting oneself a second chance.

She sighed and said, “Although the Night Arena here is messier than the Sword School during the day, and the arena is completely unrestricted, everyone is a student of the same sect. Certainly, no one will actually kill you.”

Pain.

“Indeed.” Tian Ning deeply empathized.

She said honestly, “All ten previous arena matches combined didn’t hurt as much as today’s one.”

Strangers still held back against her, but her roommates struck one after another with ruthless precision, each move aiming for a vulnerable spot.

But after this fight, her mood was indeed much lighter.

All heavy emotions poured out along with her spiritual energy.

Her spiritual meridians and dantian were completely empty, and her heart was, for once, quiet.

“Exactly,” Su Qing said. “We’re friends, of course we wouldn’t hold back.”

Outsiders fighting would still consider manners and concealment.

Manners meant yielding, and concealment meant hiding moves.

If all moves were clearly displayed for others to analyze, it would only happen within the Sword School.

Outside, they wouldn’t even know how they died.

But among their own, they were honest.

What they had, they gave; how much they had, they gave. Swords for swords, fists for fists, certainly no holding back.

Tang Yueling was also deep in thought.

Although the matter of the pseudo-core was important, it was not something that could be rushed.

In fact, within aristocratic families, there were countless methods to shatter the core and reform it without damaging the foundation, and even form a Golden Core of better aptitude than the original.

The most common method Tang Yueling had heard of was called ‘Core Exchange’.

This involved finding dozens of mortal children with similar spiritual roots and outstanding aptitude, feeding them resources from a young age to ensure they reached Foundation Establishment and formed a Golden Core without hindrance.

Then, on an auspicious day, their dantians would be surgically opened one by one, the brightest Golden Core selected, and exchanged.

That would be it.

The Golden Core itself was formed from the internalization of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

Placing it in one person’s dantian versus another’s made little difference.

As long as it was carefully nurtured for several decades and its spiritual energy thoroughly refined, this Golden Core would be no different from one condensed by oneself.

Not to mention Golden Cores, even Tian Ning’s natural sword bone could be exchanged.

It was just that Golden Cores were easy to obtain, but sword bones were not.

If one disliked another’s core and didn’t wish for a core exchange, they could also invite powerful elders from their clan to act as protectors.

With skillful internal force, the pseudo-core would be shattered internally, and then, aided by heavenly treasures and earthly wonders, and the elders’ guidance and transmission of power, the extremely dangerous act of reforming a Golden Core would become much easier.

Although not as safe and worry-free as core exchange, it would still count as forming one’s own core, which would be more beneficial for future cultivation.

Although Tian Ning grew up in the Qi family, she was not nurtured.

Su Qing grew up untamed and had no family inheritance.

Only Tang Yueling was influenced by what she saw and heard, and thus, upon learning that Tian Ning had formed a pseudo-core, Tang Yueling’s emotions fluctuated.

In a blink, she came up with over ten ways to resolve the situation.

However, the Sword School was an orthodox sect and would never resort to core exchange.

Moreover, with Tian Ning’s personality, she wouldn’t accept another’s Golden Core, or even the protection of powerful elders.

Even if Tang Yueling offered her spiritual items for core formation, Tian Ning might not use them.

She was a genius; what she wanted, she always had to obtain herself.

What was personally acquired was truly one’s own.

So, after much thought, the only path left was to endure it herself, to contend with the heavens for her destiny, proving that she was indeed chosen and favored by the Heavenly Dao.

And this matter couldn’t be rushed. Tian Ning herself knew this.

Moreover, she was in a rather good mood. She and Su Qing had already started discussing their performances in the battle, even critiquing each other’s gains and losses, which completely eased Tang Yueling’s tension.

Tian Ning said, “Your punches are fast, and your strength is great, but attacking only acupoints on one spiritual meridian is ultimately limited. Next time, you can try attacking multiple spiritual meridians.”

Su Qing pondered, “That makes sense, but dispersed attacks are more time-consuming and easily miss good opportunities. Next time, I can try using both hands and feet.”

After all this time, why was she the only one worrying? Tang Yueling couldn’t take it anymore. “Now you’re fine again, nothing’s wrong, and you’re not anxious?”

Tian Ning stated truthfully, “It’s not that I’m not anxious, it’s just that being anxious is useless.”

Su Qing added, “She’s definitely going back to secretly fret.”

Given Tian Ning’s strictness with herself, even if she recovered, it would only be temporary.

She would inevitably push herself to the limit again in her cultivation. She always had a self-abusive tendency in that regard.

Although, Su Qing didn’t really have the right to call her self-abusive.

Being exposed again, Tian Ning lowered her eyelashes slightly dejectedly.

She decided to be honest, “Although it’s a pseudo-core, looking back now, there were also four Golden Core cultivators in the first ten arena matches.”

Su Qing finished her sentence for her.

She leveled her tone and said lightly, “Although they were Golden Core, I easily defeated them. This shows that true Golden Cores are nothing special; there’s no need to take them too seriously.”

Tian Ning didn’t refute, but she showed a slight displeasure at Su Qing imitating her.

However, it wasn’t much; it manifested as a one-millimeter downward twitch of her lips.

Tang Yueling clenched her fists, her knuckles protruding. ‘Such wasted worry. Sooner or later, I’m going to fight these geniuses.’

Su Qing seamlessly switched back.

She mused, “But it’s true. The biggest difference between a pseudo-core and a true core lies in the accumulated spiritual energy. You’ve already experienced the lightning tribulation, and a double one at that. You’ve tempered your body with heavenly lightning and refined your spiritual meridians. You’ve gained all that you should.”

“Moreover, the path of the sword has little to do with spiritual power. Perhaps the pseudo-core issue isn’t as impactful as imagined. We can both wait for the opportunity to shatter the core and reform it, and practice methods that can achieve victory with less spiritual power.”
What she thought was also what Tian Ning thought. She quietly answered, “Mm.”

From beginning to end, Tian Ning didn’t mention the reason for forming a pseudo-core.

Her silence meant she didn’t want to say it, or couldn’t say it.

Although Su Qing and Tang Yueling felt indignant, they couldn’t make decisions for her. They ultimately put the matter aside for now, prioritizing finding a solution.

However, Su Qing subtly guessed that this matter must be related to twins. 

The Qi family twins must have been a deceitful exchange.

But how could the murky waters of the number one aristocratic family in the cultivation world be so easily stirred? Without a decisive kill, one could only lie low, strengthen oneself, and seek a good opportunity.

The physical exhaustion had not completely dissipated. After a heartfelt conversation, the three were utterly drained and fell into a deep slumber one after another.

Snowfall Sword was released.

When its master was in a good mood, it was in a good mood.

It was chasing and playing with Man Qing Sword in the pool, without a trace of a divine sword’s dignity, stirring up waves in the medicinal liquid.

Fire Phoenix Sword stood coldly to the side, disdaining to join in.

It had not formed a sword contract with Tang Yueling.

Compared to the destined swords held dear by their two masters, it had a detached indifference, much like a temporary worker.

When the medicinal bath was mostly absorbed, the female cultivator with white streaks in her hair came in to deliver the bill.

She had already decided what positions these three would be assigned if they were detained to work off their debt.

The one with thick skin would stay to test medicines, the icy one would be assigned to rig fights, and the fiery one would brew medicines for her day and night.

Tang Yueling took the bill, casually glanced at it, and settled the payment, making Su Qing’s heart ache. Yet, she raised an eyebrow and said indifferently, “Owe me is better than owe others. At least I don’t charge interest.”

She said it this way only to reassure the two of them, not truly intending for them to pay back.

After all, this money was less than what she lost in a single card game.

It would be good enough if these two penniless fools could earn enough resources for their own cultivation.

Her matter-of-fact demeanor made her shine even more golden in Su Qing’s eyes.

She still had to find a way to get more spirit stones; the cost of cultivation in the later stages was truly terrifying.

Leaving the Night Arena only required finding a pipe and activating the program.

The three returned to the Sword School as usual.

Su Qing’s package, which had been delayed at the relay station for too long, was actually delivered directly to her door.

Of course, this service automatically deducted twenty spirit seeds from her Lingtong.

She wasn’t so poor as to quibble over twenty spirit seeds.

It was just that she didn’t understand who would send her a package.

‘Could it be Xiu Fu? Not Ye Mingshi?’

Su Qing opened the package.

The contents were simple, clear at a glance.

It was a stack of flimsy papers, with a lot of text and a solemn, official tone.

Most importantly, the papers were stamped with a red seal and the City Lord’s Mansion’s seal, and signed.

The words on the paper jumped into her eyes, and Su Qing suddenly widened her eyes.

This thing was clearly a land deed for Yinlan City…

So many pages?!

Yan Chi had directly given her a whole street?