Golden Core is a Star, and You Call This Cultivation?

Qi Yuan opened his eyes. He couldn’t see anything, nor could he hear anything. He even felt as if his thoughts were frozen at that moment.

In the Flowing Wind Realm, his return to the past and his acquaintance with the Canary had been instantaneous. But here, using the Lost Glow Stick felt particularly lengthy. Perhaps it was because his thoughts had been frozen.

After what seemed like an eternity, a sliver of light entered Qi Yuan’s vision. He suddenly raised his head and looked up at the sky. The blood-red stars hung eerily above.

He glanced around but couldn’t spot his Stellar Golden Core. "Have I traveled back in time?" Qi Yuan wondered aloud.

The others present also wore puzzled expressions.

"Where are we?"

"This place feels strange."

"The trees here are quite dense."

The villagers gradually awakened and looked around, their faces showing signs of surprise.

"Don’t worry about where this is," Qi Yuan instructed. "Focus on visualizing and then… breakthrough!"

Upon hearing his words, the villagers quickly immersed themselves once again, beginning to visualize their respective visualization methods.

Zhu Zhuangshi’s face was filled with excitement. "Old Zhu is finally going to rise!"

The Dragon-Taming Arhat and the Tiger-Subduing Arhat were particularly astonished. They had noticed that the aura of this place could actually support their breakthrough to the True God realm. For a moment, they were puzzled, and many thoughts crossed their minds. However, they quickly remembered that it was their Guardian Deity who had brought them to this place. The Guardian Deity was all-powerful, capable of even visualizing mythical beings. So, this too, wasn’t surprising.

The villagers entered a state of meditation, their bodies floating in the air. Meanwhile, in the forest, a butterfly with black and red wings fluttered by. Qi Yuan reached out his hand, blocking the butterfly’s path. In an instant, the butterfly passed through his palm. Curiosity sparkled in Qi Yuan’s eyes.

"I can’t affect this world, and this world can’t affect me. So, how can one achieve a breakthrough here?" Qi Yuan pondered. But then he realized that he was perhaps too weak to comprehend the principles of the Lost Glow Stick—much like giving a mortal a profound cultivation technique they couldn’t possibly understand.

"Break through," Qi Yuan murmured softly.

The wind howled, and the white deer drank by the lake. In the stillness, Qi Yuan broke through silently, without fanfare. His level increased to Divine Being Level 90, and then further to True God Level 1.

Within Qi Yuan’s body, a Divine Aperture began to form. A vast amount of experience surged through his body, forming aperture after aperture—one, two, three… Until, finally, it stopped at the thirteenth aperture.

Qi Yuan squinted his eyes, "True God Level 13?" He had leaped directly to True God Level 13. "So, this is what it’s like to be a Yin God? It’s… okay, I guess." Qi Yuan felt no particular excitement, nor was he overly impressed.

"Now I guess… I’ve evolved from a fertilized egg to a slightly underdeveloped embryo." Qi Yuan’s mindset was calm. He glanced back at the others—the Dragon-Taming Arhat and the Tiger-Subduing Arhat had already broken through to the True God realm. A powerful aura emanated from them. With just one Divine Aperture, Qi Yuan estimated they could fight a Yin God with five apertures. That was already formidable.

At this moment, the Dragon-Taming Arhat and the Tiger-Subduing Arhat were still in deep meditation, attempting to condense another aperture.

Suddenly, Qi Yuan felt the world tremble violently. The ground cracked open, the lake seemed to spill over like a basin of water, and the white deer leaped in surprise, its body soaked.

The blood-red stars in the sky seemed to draw closer, as if about to descend upon the earth. Qi Yuan even felt that if he climbed the mountain ahead and reached out, he could touch those terrifying stars.

The villagers around him were still deep in visualization, unaffected by the scene before them.

"Is this… the Great Flood War?" Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, looking towards the distant southwest. The tremor seemed to have originated from the Heavenly Pillar. The Heavenly Pillar, akin to the mythological Buzhou Mountain, stood tall and indomitable.

At this moment, the pillar trembled, as if it could collapse at any moment. Qi Yuan felt a twinge of anxiety. "Hopefully, the Heavenly Pillar won’t collapse before they’ve all broken through to True Gods. That would be a joke."

However, Qi Yuan estimated that the eight villagers would likely need six hours to reach the peak of the Purple Mansion stage and then break through to True Gods. Judging by the state of the pillar, it wouldn’t collapse within a day or two. His concern was unnecessary.

Nonetheless, he said, "You all stay here and cultivate well. I’ll… go for a stroll."

After issuing this instruction, Qi Yuan transformed into a stream of light and headed towards the Heavenly Pillar. The Great Flood War of ancient times—Qi Yuan wanted to witness it firsthand. After all, the powerful beings here couldn’t harm him. He might as well treat it like watching a movie.

…

The mountains sank, and in the sunken craters, red and yellow molten lava flowed. A giant, snow-white hand fell from an ancient battlefield and plunged into the lava, causing it to splash and erupt like a volcanic explosion. The entire land was scarred and ravaged.

At the summit of the Heavenly Pillar, several terrifying figures stood tall. Each one was a mythical being who had taken seven steps to ascend to the heavens!

Among them was a woman clad in red robes, her eyebrows like emerald feathers, her skin as white as jade, and her figure as slender as a bamboo shoot. Around her waist was a shattered golden pendant. She looked delicate and fragile but was, in fact, the most powerful being in the Mortal Heart Realm—the Foodless Holy Mother.

"The attacks from the evil gods are becoming more frequent. Today alone, 327 True Gods have fallen," Cang Xuan Great Venerable said, gazing at the blood-red sun with deep worry in his eyes.

"The evil gods aim to sever the Heavenly Pillar; they want to cut off the very roots of our Mortal Heart Realm!" another Great Venerable said solemnly.

The seven Great Venerables gathered at the Heavenly Pillar were the last remaining mythical beings of the Mortal Heart Realm. All other myths had perished in the Great Flood War.

At this moment, the seven mythical beings were united at the Heavenly Pillar to protect it from collapsing. If they died, there would still be a glimmer of hope for the Mortal Heart Realm. But if the Heavenly Pillar were severed, the Mortal Heart Realm would become a rootless, drifting entity.

Yet, they knew that they couldn’t stop the evil gods from shattering the Heavenly Pillar.

"In two days, the beings above True Gods will act. What do you all think?" an elderly man asked in a hoarse voice.

The others fell silent. Above True Gods… Even if the seven of them joined forces, they wouldn’t stand a chance against that being.

"I’ll stop him," a cold voice declared.

The other six mythical beings all turned to look at the Foodless Holy Mother. Their eyes held admiration, sorrow, and helplessness.

"Foodless Holy Mother, how long can you hold off that being above True Gods?" Cang Xuan Great Venerable asked. "After the Heavenly Pillar is shattered, we’ll need at least twenty breaths to extract the seed from the pillar."

Within the Heavenly Pillar resided the Heavenly Dao of the Mortal Heart Realm. Contained within the Heavenly Dao was the world seed of the Mortal Heart Realm. Normally, these mythical beings couldn’t enter the pillar to touch the world seed. Only when that being above True Gods shattered the pillar would they have the opportunity to send the world seed away. As long as the seed was sent away, even if that being above True Gods entered the pillar and devoured the Heavenly Dao, they wouldn’t obtain the complete Dao. There would still be a faint glimmer of hope for the Mortal Heart Realm.

"Twenty breaths." The Foodless Holy Mother, clad in red, spoke coldly, her expression devoid of any emotion.

"Good!" the other mythical beings nodded. The Foodless Holy Mother was the most powerful being in the Mortal Heart Realm, the best choice to hold off that being above True Gods.

After speaking, the Foodless Holy Mother glanced at the blood-red stars in the sky, then vanished, her whereabouts unknown.

At the summit of the Heavenly Pillar, the remaining six mythical beings murmured softly.

"This is all we can do—to leave a glimmer of hope for future generations."

"Let’s hope… they can seize it."

Even in death, they wouldn’t be able to stop the evil gods. At most, they could leave a faint hope for future generations. Whether that hope could be grasped was beyond their control.

Their voices faded into the air.

Meanwhile, at the foot of the Heavenly Pillar, Qi Yuan stood before a lake. In the distance, by the lake, there was a bamboo house, lush and green. In the courtyard stood a jade zither. A woman in red robes seemed to be gently plucking the zither strings.

Her hair was unadorned, and she wore no makeup, yet her unique aura remained undiminished. The melodious, tranquil sound of the zither flowed like water, without any discernible rhythm.

"So this… is the Foodless Holy Mother?" Qi Yuan muttered to himself, watching the Foodless Holy Mother.

He had thought that she didn’t eat anything and would be malnourished.

"When the Heavenly Pillar breaks, she’ll hold off the being above True Gods and perish, with her divine energy transforming into countless treasures, giving mortals a chance to break through. Is this truly selfless, or is there some ulterior motive?" Qi Yuan pondered as he watched her.

At that moment, the zither strings under the Foodless Holy Mother’s hands snapped.

The woman in red remained expressionless, but her eyes seemed to hold a trace of complex emotions.

"Since you’re here, why not come in and sit?" Her voice was as clear as a mountain spring.

Qi Yuan was taken aback. He had heard the Foodless Holy Mother’s voice. Hearing it wasn’t surprising since his ears could detect nearby sounds. But the fact that she could hear him? That was unexpected.

"Are you talking to me?" Qi Yuan asked, unable to contain his curiosity. "How can you hear me? Do you have some kind of super hearing?"

He was genuinely intrigued.

"Hmm…" The Foodless Holy Mother murmured softly, but Qi Yuan could only catch fragments, like "hmm" and "some… world beyond."

"A repeating record?" Qi Yuan asked, still puzzled as the Foodless Holy Mother seemed to patiently repeat herself for his understanding. At the same time, he was amazed by her unusual abilities. After all, he shouldn’t have been able to interact with this world. No one in this world should have been able to see or touch him. But here was an exception.

"In two days, the Heavenly Pillar will break. I can only hold out until that moment," the Foodless Holy Mother said softly, her gaze fixed on where Qi Yuan stood, though all she could see was empty space.

Qi Yuan’s attention was immediately captured. He looked up at the towering Heavenly Pillar, "Will it break in two days?"

That would be enough time. In two days, all his villagers would surely have broken through to become True Gods.

"Sigh, it seems my timing was good. The pillar will break just as my goal is accomplished," Qi Yuan remarked. He was indeed curious about the Foodless Holy Mother, this figure from ancient times.

The Foodless Holy Mother’s face, as delicate as a peach blossom, softened into a faint smile, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"After my death, all my divine energy will turn into treasures, aiding everyone in breaking through?" the Foodless Holy Mother asked, reflecting on what Qi Yuan had said earlier.

"Yes, and I’d say you helped me quite a bit," Qi Yuan replied, glancing at her. The day the Heavenly Pillar broke was the day the Foodless Holy Mother would fall. Although her body would perish, her divine energy would transform into countless treasures, helping many peak-level cultivators to break through.

The initial growth of Qing Shui Village was closely tied to these treasures.

"I’ve helped you…" the Foodless Holy Mother murmured, her gaze distant. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Oh?" Qi Yuan was intrigued. The Foodless Holy Mother seemed a bit odd, almost as if something was wrong with her mind.

To her, Qi Yuan was just a strange, unknown entity. Why would she ask for his help?

"No one in this world has ever helped me before," the Foodless Holy Mother said, looking towards where Qi Yuan was standing.

Was this desperation?

Qi Yuan could only think of it that way. If he were in such a desperate situation and encountered an unknown entity, he might also seek help. The unknown often equates to power.

"What kind of help?" Qi Yuan asked.

"In two days, when the being above True Gods makes his move, the Heavenly Pillar will shatter. After it breaks, I need to hold him off for twenty breaths. The other mythical beings will then use that time to enter the pillar and send the world seed out. Otherwise… if that being devours the entire Heavenly Dao, this world will have no future."

A being above True Gods? Devouring the Heavenly Dao? The world seed?

Qi Yuan quickly understood the Foodless Holy Mother’s plan. That being above True Gods had grand ambitions. If he devoured the Heavenly Dao of this world, it would mean the end for Qing Shui Village and possibly the entire game.

This was different from his situation with the Heavenly Dao of Wangyue Continent, where he had become its master. In the Mortal Heart Realm, the Heavenly Dao would be forcibly devoured, leading to the extinction of its inhabitants.

Moreover, it would mean the failure of Qi Yuan’s mission in the game.

"I’ll help, absolutely!" Qi Yuan quickly agreed. "I also want to see what a being above True Gods looks like! But I should warn you, I might not be able to help much."

Since he could return from the future, it meant that the Foodless Holy Mother had indeed managed to hold off that being for twenty breaths. So, whether he was there or not, it might not make a difference. He was just going to observe, to get a glimpse of a so-called Yang God—a being that was likely the final boss of the game. It was important to understand the boss’s strength in advance. He also wanted to see if his Stellar Golden Core could take the boss down.

"It’s a pity we can only hear each other’s voices and not interact. Otherwise, I’d ask for your autograph to take back with me," Qi Yuan remarked, trying to touch the zither strings in the courtyard, but his hand passed right through them.

"Stay here for the next two days," the Foodless Holy Mother suggested, turning her head to look out at the lake.

"Alright, I’ll stay. Just in case that being above True Gods shows up earlier, I wouldn’t want to miss it," Qi Yuan agreed, looking at a reclining chair in the courtyard and pretending to lie down. Although he couldn’t physically lie on it, he could at least fake it.

"You have two reclining chairs here. Do you often have guests?" Qi Yuan asked casually.

The Foodless Holy Mother hesitated for a moment before replying, "Not often."

Qi Yuan didn’t press further. "I’ll take a nap. Wake me when it’s time."

Of course, he wasn’t really sleeping. He was just passing the time by continuing to compile the Qi Yuan Sutra. Now that he had reached True God Level 13 in the game, he realized the sutra was only halfway through the Nascent Soul stage. He needed to speed things up. Otherwise, if he completed the game and the sutra was still stuck at the Nascent Soul stage, how would he advance to the Infant Spirit stage?

After a few dozen breaths, the Foodless Holy Mother glanced at the reclining chair and softly asked, "Are you on the chair?"

There was no response.

She stared at the chair, lost in thought. "It’s a shame, only two days remain."

She lifted her head, gazing at the blood-red stars. The time left for her, and for the Mortal Heart Realm, was running out.

A light breeze blew through the courtyard, bringing a slight chill to the base of the Heavenly Pillar. Compared to the devastation all around, the Heavenly Pillar seemed like a serene haven. Yet, in truth, the fiercest and most brutal battles were taking place here. In the Great Flood War, every myth of the Mortal Heart Realm would fall—none would survive.

Suddenly, Qi Yuan seemed to be roused by a faint sound. He opened his eyes to find a pot of steaming fish soup in the courtyard. A look of surprise crossed his face. "Aren’t you the Foodless Holy Mother? Why are you cooking fish?"

The Foodless Holy Mother had many followers in Feihuang City, including Nangong Wuji. Once, when Qi Yuan hosted a feast and invited Nangong Wuji, the follower had declined, saying that the followers of the Foodless Holy Mother did not consume grains. The Holy Mother herself was said to be even stricter, believing that all things were poisonous, and eating them brought great harm. Only by achieving self-realization could one find the true path.

"You’re awake?" the Foodless Holy Mother glanced at the reclining chair, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes. "I like eating fish."

"Seems like records can’t always be trusted," Qi Yuan remarked.

"Would you like to try some? I made it myself," the Foodless Holy Mother offered calmly.

"No thanks, you’re just teasing me. I can’t eat anything from this world," Qi Yuan declined.

"I regret that you can’t join me in enjoying such a rare delicacy," the Foodless Holy Mother’s voice held a trace of melancholy.

Qi Yuan didn’t respond to that.

It was normal for the Foodless Holy Mother to be emotional, considering she only had two days left to live.

"I’ll watch you eat, since there’s nothing else to do," Qi Yuan decided. After all, respect for the dying was important. He thought it might help her feel less lonely.

The Foodless Holy Mother paused for a moment, then smiled softly. She began eating slowly, savoring each bite, as if she were relishing the moment.

"What’s your current cultivation level?" she asked after the meal.

"I have two levels—Foundation Establishment in the real world and True God Level 13 in the game."

"Thirteen apertures…" the Foodless Holy Mother murmured. "Would you like me to take you on a tour of the Mortal Heart Realm? It might help you advance your cultivation."

"A tour?" Qi Yuan hesitated. His strength had always increased through combat, not sightseeing. How would touring help him break through?

But then he considered that this was a dying person’s request. Perhaps exploring the Mortal Heart Realm would aid in his spiritual growth.

After a moment of thought, he agreed, "Alright."

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