Chapter 275: Chapter 272: Second Golden Core, Clone

In fact, after reaching Core Formation.

Li Ping had already made up his mind to abandon the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill, a Cultivation Technique specializing in healing, and switch to cultivating the Nine Tribulations True Spirit Scripture.

After all, the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill prevented him from using Pills to advance his Cultivation. Combined with the slow cultivation speed of his Three Spirit Roots, it would be incredibly difficult for him to achieve Nascent Soul Formation within his remaining three hundred-plus years of life, even without any realm bottlenecks.

This was naturally not an outcome Li Ping wanted. So, even though he was reluctant to part with the miraculous healing effects of the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and switch to a Cultivation Technique that allowed him to advance his Cultivation by consuming Pills.

But the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill happened to be the perfect solution to this problem.

Because through this Secret Technique, he could forge a Second Golden Core within his body.

This way, he would only need to use the Second Golden Core to cultivate the Nine Tribulations True Spirit Scripture. He wouldn’t have to waste time dissipating his Wetland Water Nourishing Skill’s Magical Power to start over.

Moreover, according to its creator, the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill was completely different from those Demon Dao methods like ’external avatars’ or ’corpse refining’. The Second Golden Core it forged was identical to a Golden Core a Cultivator would normally form.

Once successfully cultivated, it was equivalent to possessing two Golden Cores.

Even if he exhausted the Magical Power in one Golden Core during Magical Combat, he could draw upon the Magical Power of the second one to continue fighting.

Nominally, the two Golden Cores were divided into primary and secondary, but in reality, there was no difference between them for the Cultivator himself.

Even if an enemy accidentally destroyed one of the Golden Cores, the Cultivator could still survive safely with the other.

What excited Li Ping even more was that because the Golden Core forged by the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill was no different from a naturally formed one, this Golden Core could also be used for normal cultivation to advance his Cultivation level.

One day, he could even shatter the Core to form a Soul, and the Second Golden Core would become a Second Nascent Soul.

Unlike a Golden Core, a Nascent Soul could exist outside the body.

Once he cultivated a Second Nascent Soul, Li Ping could find a superior vessel for it to inhabit.

In that case, he would possess a true clone.

Not only would he gain a Nascent Soul Level assistant, but even if his original body were unfortunately slain by a powerful enemy, as long as the clone survived, Li Ping would not die.

After all, the clone and the original body would have identical memories and souls. Both would be Li Ping.

Furthermore, if either the original body or the clone fell, Li Ping could still use the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill to expend resources and forge another Golden Core. This new Golden Core could also be cultivated until it broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm!

In other words, unless someone could kill both his clone and his original self at the same time, he could always cultivate again and return at full strength.

Of course, given Li Ping’s cautious nature, he would most likely never need to use the clone as a life-saving measure.

What truly delighted him was another effect of this technique.

Since he was the master of both Golden Cores, his lifespan limit would be determined by the Golden Core with the highest Cultivation.

For example, in the future, if he used his Second Golden Core to cultivate the Nine Tribulations True Spirit Scripture and successfully formed a Nascent Soul, his lifespan would increase to the thousand years of a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

With such a long lifespan, even with just Three Spirit Roots, he was fully confident he could cultivate the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill to the Nascent Soul Realm.

’The Wetland Water Nourishing Skill, as a Health Cultivation Skill, excels at healing!’

’The Nine Tribulations True Spirit Scripture is a technique for the Dual Cultivation of Body and Technique, specializing in defense and close-quarters combat!’

’If I cultivate both of these techniques at the same time, wouldn’t I have high attack power, incredible durability, and astonishing defense, all while possessing terrifying regenerative abilities?’

’Tsk, tsk... An immortal, muscular brute with Dual Cultivation of Body and Technique!’

As Li Ping thought of this, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

Although he had always been cautious and disliked fighting, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to possess powerful Magical Combat abilities.

To have something and not use it...

...is completely different from not having it at all.

...

His excitement aside, when Li Ping considered the method for refining the Second Golden Core, a few doubts crept into his mind.

No matter how he looked at it, the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill didn’t seem like a Secret Technique created by an Orthodox Cultivator.

Every Cultivator has only one Dantian. Limited by this, they can naturally only choose one Cultivation Technique to major in. Otherwise, if Alien Magical Powers clashed, the only outcome would be death by bodily explosion.

To forge a new Golden Core in addition to an existing one, the only feasible method was to forcibly seize another Cultivator’s Golden Core, erase all traces of their Divine Sense and soul imprint from within it, and then occupy it with one’s own Divine Sense.

In other words, to forge a Second Golden Core...

First, you had to kill a Cultivator of the same realm. During this process, you had to preserve their Golden Core completely intact, giving them no chance to self-destruct.

Second, a Golden Core is formed by a Cultivator through long years of step-by-step progress—from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment to Core Formation. It is an object that combines a Cultivator’s essence, qi, and spirit. Wiping the Divine Sense imprint from within it should be fundamentally impossible.

After all, even an external item like a Lifebound Magical Treasure could not be completely refined by another Cultivator who obtained it, let alone a Golden Core, which was intrinsically linked to a Cultivator’s very life.

According to the Secret Technique, the only way to achieve this was to rely on a specific Spiritual Object of heaven and earth: ’Wangchuan Water’.

And although ’Wangchuan Water’ was only Tier Three, its rarity was in no way inferior to those legendary Spiritual Objects. Obtaining even a small amount was harder than ascending to the heavens.

If one didn’t have Wangchuan Water and forcibly occupied another’s Golden Core, then they would have to constantly guard against the backlash of the Magical Power within the Golden Core. A single moment of carelessness could lead to a conflict of Magical Power and a swift death.

In that case, the Second Golden Core would not only be useless, it would become a constant harbinger of death.

All in all, to forge a Second Golden Core, one needed a ready-made Golden Core, and two, one needed the assistance of a Spirit Liquid like Wangchuan Water to erase the original Divine Sense and soul imprints within it.

Besides these two points, other minor issues like the pain of splitting one’s Divine Soul, or the severe damage to the original body’s Divine Sense if the clone fell, were nothing significant.

...

Li Ping pondered for a moment before taking out a Jade Bottle and a Jade Box from his Storage Bag.

The Jade Box contained Yan Liming’s Golden Core.

Back then, Yan Liming had been beaten so badly by a powerful enemy that he had no choice but to undergo Possession and start his cultivation anew. Right after the Possession, he was taken to an Immortal City by Gumu Sheng to cultivate, leaving him with absolutely no opportunity to deal with his own belongings.

Thus, his Golden Core, Magical Treasures, and the wealth he had accumulated over many years were all left behind.

After a series of twists and turns, all these items ended up in Li Ping’s hands, including this Golden Core.

The cyan vial contained more than half a bottle of a pale golden Spirit Liquid.

Li Ping had obtained this bottle of Spirit Liquid in a secret-realm grotto in the Western Wilderness. Along with it, he had also found a Purple Qi Fruit.

He had already refined the Purple Qi Fruit into a Yuan Condensing Pill. As for this half-bottle of Spirit Liquid, he had never been able to figure out its origin.

Even an old-timer like Gao Ji Taoist had failed to identify what the Spirit Liquid in the bottle was.

Li Ping once thought that he might have to wait until he went to the Great Zhou to figure out the Spirit Liquid’s origin.

But now, after carefully reading the description in the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill, he was certain that the contents of the cyan vial were none other than the Tier Three Spirit Liquid, ’Wangchuan Water’.

And this amount of Wangchuan Water was more than enough for him to erase the residual soul and Divine Sense imprints within Yan Liming’s Golden Core.

CLICK!

The Jade Box was opened, revealing a glittering, soybean-sized golden orb inside.

Although Yan Liming was also in the Early-stage Core Formation, he had cultivated in that stage for several hundred years, and his Magical Power was far more profound than Li Ping’s.

Naturally, his Golden Core was also quite a bit larger than the one in Li Ping’s body. However, this would have no effect on its use in cultivating a Second Golden Core.

POP!

Li Ping pulled the stopper from the cyan vial.

Without much hesitation, he picked up Yan Liming’s Golden Core and dropped it into the cyan vial.

The Wetland Water Nourishing Skill and the Nine Tribulations True Spirit Secret Scripture could complement each other, and he already had the necessary Cultivator’s Golden Core and Wangchuan Water Spirit Liquid to cultivate a Second Golden Core.

He could find no reason not to cultivate this Secret Technique.

As for whether the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill was a Demon Dao technique?

Li Ping believed that Cultivation Techniques themselves had no righteous or demonic alignment; whether one fell into the Demon Dao depended on the user.

The Cultivator’s Golden Core he needed for this Secret Technique didn’t come from killing another Cultivator. Instead, he had obtained it from the Demon Dao Cultivator Yan Liming in the course of slaying demons and defending the righteous path.

He felt no psychological burden in re-refining this Golden Core.

"According to the Secret Technique, the Golden Core must be soaked in the Wangchuan Water for at least eighty-one days to completely erase the residual soul and consciousness within." Li Ping stood up. "I’ll use this time to fully comprehend the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill and also prepare the other Spiritual Materials needed to refine the Second Golden Core."

Since he couldn’t find a way to control the Tier Three Array, and forcibly destroying it might expose the Spirit Vein, when he left, Li Ping still summoned the Desolate Fire Sparrow. He had the Spiritual Bird forcibly tear a hole in the Tier Three Shield, through which he and the Desolate Fire Sparrow flew out.

"Ancestor!"

Yan Hengchuan called out hurriedly when he saw Li Ping fly out.

During the time Li Ping was inside the Tier Three Array, he was busy putting the poisonous Demon Beast flesh into his Storage Bag to feed to the Blood Banner for refining later. At the same time, he was separating the useful Spiritual Materials to be made into Dharma Artifacts by the family’s Artifact Refiners.

He was also using a Cultivation Technique to refine the non-poisonous Demon Beast Essence Blood. It was safe to say he was as busy as could be.

Due to the large number of Demon Beasts, plus the fact that the poisonous ones required careful handling, by the time Li Ping came out, he still wasn’t finished.

Li Ping stood by the Cold Pool and said with a smile, "No rush. Take your time."

"Alright, Ancestor!"

...

Gazing at Yan Hengchuan, Li Ping began to reflect on his gains from this trip.

The greatest prizes were, of course, the Taixu Jade Liquid Golden Pill Skill and the Teleportation Array leading to the Great Zhou.

Besides those, dozens of thousand-year-old Spirit Medicines were also a decent haul.

In comparison, besides the Demon Beast materials, the Yan and Ji families were only left with a promising Tier Three Spirit Vein for the future.

Although Yan Hengchuan was delighted to have obtained so many Demon Beast materials, Li Ping knew in his heart that he was the one who had truly profited the most.

He didn’t care about others, but the Yan and Ji families were his own juniors...

Li Ping made a decision in his heart. ’I took the lion’s share, so I can’t let them suffer too much of a loss. Of the three Golden Marrow Jade Ginsengs, I’ll refine two of them into two batches of Foundation Establishment Pills and leave them for the families.’

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.