Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 346 Eagerly Awaiting
Li Ji'an was completely unaware of the commotion and disturbances outside.

He only knew that the first step of this pill-condensing process, the absorption of spiritual energy, was unexpected.

When he first condensed his core in his previous life, he took half a year to steadily adapt to the spiritual energy in his cave before he began to absorb it. As a result, on the first day, he only absorbed spiritual energy from a range of one mile before running out of energy.

Three days later, he reached his limit, but he was only half of Xiao Changfeng's strength, which was equivalent to one-tenth of the strength of the No. 3 Dojo he was in at that time.

Besides the fact that the spiritual energy borrowed from the Biyun Sect's third-tier mid-grade dojo was not pure enough and had a slightly low concentration, resulting in poor spiritual energy gathering, the main reason was that Li Ji'an's previous cultivation method was inferior, his refined magical power was not thick enough, and he lacked the tempering and refinement of combat, so his magical power was not pure. His magical power had limited nourishment for his dantian, thus his dantian's absorption of spiritual energy was insufficient.

Another reason is that in his previous life, Li Ji'an's lower-grade spiritual root talent lacked affinity for spiritual energy.

In this life, he possesses a superior spiritual root, with his affinity level doubling compared to his previous life. His cultivation technique has also reached the superior level of the Earth rank. Although these two attributes are still inferior to the current geniuses of the Wanshang Domain.

However, the little fire spirit's tireless absorption of wood-elemental magic power day and night, and its subsequent nourishment of the dantian, not only has a strong purifying effect on magic power, but also greatly enhances the dantian.

The first stage, gathering spiritual energy, ultimately depends on the dantian, provided that the affinity with spiritual energy meets the requirements.

Li Ji'an's magical power was significantly less than that of the world's most outstanding talents, and its purity was only on par. Based on his personal experience of absorbing vast amounts of spiritual energy in his previous life, he had previously estimated that he could absorb about three times the amount of spiritual energy that Xiao Changfeng could absorb in the first stage.

Unexpectedly, the effects of the little fire spirit nourishing his dantian became apparent at this moment.

Another point is that the previous Core Formation cultivator at this temple passed away a year ago, which caused the spiritual energy to stabilize for a year, giving it a slight advantage.

Of course, this stage requires not only the absorption of energy by the dantian, but also the ability of the dantian and the body to withstand the load.

For a prodigy like him, the ultimate amount of spiritual energy he can absorb depends on the capacity of his dantian and his physical body.

With such a heavenly-grade spiritual root, Tu Yifei has cultivated a true ancient immortal scripture and constantly honed his skills through combat. His dantian has sufficient capacity to withstand the effects of his magic power, which can nourish his physical body to the level of a first-tier body cultivator. The spiritual energy of one and a half dojos is roughly his limit.

Under normal circumstances, with the three dojos being of different strengths, there would be no problem for it to absorb the spiritual energy of one and a half dojos this time.

However, at this moment, they found themselves in a situation where they were competing with Li Ji'an for the spiritual energy of the temple.

Even more tragically, judging from the dantian's ability to absorb spiritual energy, his dantian was clearly inferior to Li Ji'an's.

"Keep up the good work!" Li Ji'an's mind was clear, and he continued to stimulate the absorption power of his dantian. With the physical body and the endurance of his dantian, he had clearly not reached his limit yet.

However, the outside world was already in complete chaos.

As the fifth day was about to pass and the sixth day was approaching, the spiritual energy of the entire Feihong Dojo was continuously converging on Li Ji'an's No. 3 cave.

The spiritual energy gathering speed of Tu Yifei's No. 1 Dojo has not only stopped, but also shows signs of overflowing outwards.

There is still a considerable amount of spiritual energy remaining in Bai Cailing's second dojo. Although it does not affect the spiritual energy that Bai Cailing has already absorbed into her cave for the time being, if Li Ji'an absorbs all the spiritual energy from her dojo, the hope that she could slowly gain another 10% in the second half of the month while maintaining a stable state will be shattered.

"Stop immediately!" Gu Tianfeng of the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce had completely lost his composure.

Seeing that Master Tong was still hesitating, he immediately disregarded everything else and flew towards Cave No. 3.

As the president of the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce, one of the giants of the business alliance, Gu Tianfeng was already at the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm and his own strength was not weak. Coupled with his status as president, Director Tong could not stop him.

"Wait!" However, just as he arrived outside Dojo No. 3, Master Yuxiao blocked his way.

"President Yuan, even at this point, don't you understand?" Gu Tianfeng said sternly.

"What do I understand?" Jade Flute Immortal raised his head slightly and asked calmly.

"This kid from your chamber of commerce has clearly run into trouble. Don't you know what kind of talent he has? Why aren't you stopping him in this situation? Are you going to let his fake Core Formation talent affect the potential of my Tai'an Chamber of Commerce for Golden Core cultivators?"

A cold smile appeared on Master Yuxiao's lips: "So it turns out that President Gu knew that the one who formed the Golden Core inside was a member of my Sishui Chamber of Commerce."

"Yuan Yuxiao, what do you mean?" Gu Tianfeng became increasingly anxious.

"I have no particular intention. I am merely following the rules of the Merchant Alliance and the Daoist Temple to support Elder Huang of my Merchant Guild in his attempt to break through to the Core Formation stage." Jade Flute Master calmly met his gaze, refusing to back down an inch.

"You... Hmph, I won't say another word to you." Gu Tianfeng snorted coldly, ignoring the other party, and was about to forcefully attack the restrictions of the No. 3 Dojo.

"Stop them!" Master Yuxiao immediately ordered.

Although she was only at the pseudo-core cultivation level, the merchant guild had a mid-core core cultivator serving as her attendant.

The old man immediately intervened and stopped Gu Tianfeng.

"Yuan Yuxiao, do you really want to oppose me?" Gu Tianfeng was extremely anxious. Even though he had called on his merchant guild's retainers, he was still unable to break through the blockade of a True Person of the same level in a short time. The main reason was that he did not dare to use lethal force, after all, this was the Feihong Dojo of the Merchant Alliance headquarters.

“I have no intention of opposing anyone. At this moment, my guild elder is working hard to form his core. Although there are some abnormalities, he is clearly not at the point of being unable to support himself or having his spiritual energy collapse. Therefore, there is still hope. On the contrary, it is because of Guild Master Gu that he wants to stop my guild elder from forming his core in order to help his own guild’s immortal seedling form his core. What kind of logic is that?”

"Your chamber of commerce has already affected Yifei's Core Formation!"

"According to the rules of the dojo, once you enter the dojo, you rely on your own abilities. Previously, your merchant guild's immortal seedlings were clearly about to absorb the spiritual energy of other dojos, but I didn't see you stop it. Now, what gives you the right to stop my merchant guild's elders?"

"How can this be compared? My Chamber of Commerce has the potential to become a Golden Core cultivator, and can absorb as much spiritual energy as he wants. But your Chamber of Commerce members are of inferior talent and have weak magical power. It is obvious that something went wrong at your Daoist temple. The final result will definitely be a shattered dantian and a broken body, leading to death. Could it be that you are unwilling to accept this and want to drag someone down with you?" Gu Tianfeng said angrily.

"President Gu has concluded that Elder Huang of my Chamber of Commerce is incapable?" True Man Yu Xiao had no hope in his heart; he was merely forcing a rebuttal.

"you……"

"Please be at ease, everyone!" Just then, Alliance Leader Tong of the Merchant Alliance flew over.

"Alliance Leader Tong, please do justice for my Chamber of Commerce!" Gu Tianfeng hurriedly said to Alliance Leader Tong.

With a smile on his face, Tong Mengzhu shook his head slightly: "President Gu, you were in the wrong this time. In any case, the young friend from the Sishui Chamber of Commerce did not violate the rules, and there is no situation where it is necessary to forcibly open the dojo at this moment."

"But... given Huang's condition, he certainly cannot withstand such spiritual pressure..."

Master Tong smiled and shook his head: "The world is unpredictable, anything is possible. Why is Chairman Gu so certain that young friend Huang cannot create a miracle?"

"In all these centuries, has anyone ever seen someone with such talent whose spiritual energy could surpass that of a mere 50% of the Daoist temple's power? Has Alliance Leader Tong ever seen such a thing?" President Gu argued forcefully.

"Just because you and I haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So-called miracles are nothing more than this." Leader Tong remained gentle.

However, he immediately added, "Even if we take a step back and ultimately cannot withstand it and die, we must wait for some signs before we can proceed. Otherwise, if we forcefully open the Daoist temple and hinder Young Friend Huang from forming his core, this precedent will have endless consequences."

Upon hearing this, Gu Tianfeng realized that Alliance Leader Tong was determined to stop him, and his expression turned somewhat grim.

Although the Chamber of Commerce is a unified alliance, internal factional struggles have never ceased. If a Golden Core or Nascent Soul seed were to emerge from the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce, it would certainly not be what the Jiuding Chamber of Commerce would want to see.

Ignoring his expression, the leader of the alliance turned around and gave a brief instruction to his juniors before disappearing again.

He didn't really want to use this to suppress the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce. Even if the other party produced a Nascent Soul seed, the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce wouldn't care too much. After all, a seed is just a seed. If it wants to truly grow to the level of a True Monarch, it still has a long way to go.

This journey is a thousand times more difficult than the Qi Refining and Foundation Building stages.

Moreover, once he truly forms a Golden Core and his realm stabilizes, at most reaching the peak of the early Golden Core stage, he will have to go to the Central Ten Domains to seek the opportunity to break through to the middle Golden Core stage.

Apart from the ten central regions, there is nowhere in the Great Swamp cultivation world that can afford to support a Nascent Soul cultivator in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

Based on Tong Mengzhu's understanding of the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce, it does not yet have a solid and powerful relationship in the central region, and cannot guarantee that its own immortal seedlings can obtain enough opportunities in the ten regions of the central region.

At that time, the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce will be unable to provide sufficient support for it.

Moreover, the higher you go, the greater the investment risk and the higher the sunk costs become.

Once the other party dies and disappears on the path to Nascent Soul, everything will be in vain.

It will severely damage the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce for at least several decades.

Of course, he wouldn't tell this to Chairman Gu, who had never invested in a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

His appearance to make the final decision was at the request of Master Chun Yuan.

After all, Huang Xiaoyou was also bait invested in by Master Chunyuan.

"Hmph!" After Alliance Leader Tong left, Gu Tianfeng snorted coldly and turned to leave.

It's unclear whether it's directed at Jade Flute Master, Alliance Leader Tong, or both.

Now, he could only hope that Li Ji'an would be unable to withstand such a massive influx of spiritual energy and would explode and die.

At this moment, Tu Yifei still had about ten days to devour his opponent. As long as the opponent died a day earlier, there would be hope of reuniting. However, the time that followed was like an eternity for Gu Tianfeng.

As the fifth day ended and the sixth day arrived, Huang Xiaoyou in Cave No. 3 still did not show any abnormality of spiritual energy collapse. In fact, the power of devouring was still advancing steadily, without any signs of decline.

"Brother Gu, such a power of devouring, if not due to an abnormality in the Daoist temple, what kind of immortal seedling with such talent could possess such might?" President Bai said calmly, even with a hint of schadenfreude in his heart.

Gu Tianfeng's expression turned solemn as he stared intently at Li Ji'an's cave: "I have never seen anything like it in my life!"

"Even in the thousands of years of records of Feihong Dojo, there are only two such individuals. Both are rare innate spiritual bodies and have special opportunities. Not only is their magical power extremely profound and pure, but their dantian is also extremely strong."

Then, he added firmly, "But they are definitely not mediocre people like those from the Surabaya Chamber of Commerce!"

Chairman Bai nodded in agreement.

However, the seventh day passed safely amidst Gu Tianfeng's gritted teeth.

At this moment, the No. 3 cave has not only gathered all the spiritual energy of its own dojo, but also absorbed all the spiritual energy overflowing from the three dojos.

On the eighth day, the spiritual energy from the other two dojos began to flow toward the third dojo.

On the ninth day, Bai Cailing's dojo lost 10% of its spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy that Tu Yifei's dojo had already absorbed into his cave also began to leak out, eventually flowing into Li Ji'an's cave.

……

By the twelfth day, Gu Tianfeng was in utter despair. Although the power of Li Ji'an's cave to devour spiritual energy had begun to slow down since the tenth day, it had already absorbed 20% of the spiritual energy that Tu Yifei had originally absorbed into the cave.

As for the White Silk Ribbon Dojo, 50% of it was taken away.

Currently, Li Ji'an's cave dwelling is filled with the spiritual energy of a Daoist temple plus 70%, which is 20% higher than Tu Yifei's limit. Most incredibly, there has been no spiritual collapse yet.

On that very day, Cave No. 3 suddenly stopped its voracious appetite.

"It's finally stopped!"

"It hasn't exploded yet?"

"what is happening?"

"A sudden stop—was the cave abruptly shut down? He actually withstood it!"

……

Now, hundreds of cultivators who have come from afar have gathered around the dojo, and thousands more are waiting eagerly outside the dojo.

The crowd erupted into heated discussion the moment the No. 3 dojo came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone present felt honored to witness this unique and miraculous event, which had occurred only once in a thousand years.

The three merchants waiting outside the three dojos had different expressions.

The Taian Chamber of Commerce was the first to feel resentment, bitterness, and despair. They had signed a top-tier investment contract with Tu Yifei, aiming for the Golden Core stage, and had even been regarded as a potential Nascent Soul seed within the Chamber of Commerce.

The highest level of cultivation is the True Elixir, while the Golden Elixir is a 50/50 chance.

The foundation for this is that the first stage of spiritual absorption should be able to absorb the spiritual energy of at least one Daoist temple. However, now, it is only 80% of that, which makes the upstream True Core cultivators uncertain.

To help Tu Yifei, they invested in genuine immortal scriptures and even collected the top ten Core Formation treasures for him. Previously, they had also devoted a great deal of manpower, resources, and money to honing his magical power and refining his dantian.

In the first seven days, they almost saw hope of achieving the Golden Core, but now, everything has vanished into ashes.

The way they looked at Dojo No. 3 was as if they wanted to devour the people inside!
Next were Master Yuxiao and his group outside the No. 3 Dojo.

Their initial purpose in coming here was very clear: to wait for the internal spirit to collapse so they could go in and collect the body.

But as the days went by, they watched helplessly as endless spiritual energy poured into the cave before them, yet the spiritual collapse they had anticipated never occurred.

They were all dumbfounded when the swallowing ended and the inside returned to calm.

Master Yuxiao fell into deep doubt and remained silent for a long time.

Relatively speaking, among the three chambers of commerce, the Yaochi Chamber of Commerce, where Bai Cailing belongs, is the most emotionally stable.

Bai Cailing absorbed 40% of the energy in seven days, and then it was completely stabilized in the following twelve days, increasing by nearly 10%, which was in line with their initial expectations. The anomaly in Cave No. 3 did not have a significant impact on Bai Cailing.

However, they also had no idea about the situation in Cave No. 3.

If there were an anomaly in the No. 3 dojo, and the spiritual spring in the cave was drawing in spiritual energy, it would not be unacceptable. However, what is unacceptable is that even with 70% of the spiritual energy poured into the dojo, the young friend Huang inside has not yet collapsed!
Then there are only two possibilities.

Firstly, this young friend Huang not only has an unusual dantian, but also an unusual physical body.

The physical body is manageable; with peak first-order body refinement and a special dantian to share the burden, it's possible.

However, the dantian can only be nourished and honed by one's own years of refining magical power, and it is closely related to magical power. Huang Xiaoyou's magical power is obviously insufficient.

Secondly, Huang Xiaoyou, being a second-stage body refiner, had been using his physical body to withstand such immense spiritual pressure, but his dantian had not absorbed it, thus preventing his dantian from collapsing.

Not only them, but all the thousands of people who are paying attention to this matter at this moment actually prefer to believe the second one, and are even certain of it.

However, although it has temporarily withstood the attack, the next hurdle, the explosive power, will force the powerful spiritual pressure to compress the foundation-building liquid in the dantian, and the dantian will eventually have to bear it.

If he were to tough it out with his physical strength while slowly introducing spiritual energy into his dantian, it might seem possible, but the risks would be just as great, and it would inevitably affect the formation of the Golden Core.

In short, even at this point, no one was optimistic about the Core Formation cultivator in Dojo No. 3.

Some people have even started betting: the odds for Li Ji'an to die from the second stage explosion are 1 to 1, the odds for him to pass safely are 1 to 10, and the odds for him to condense a cloud of clouds over eight miles long and successfully form a true core are 1 to 100.

"It has begun! The No. 1 training ground has formed a Core Formation Cloud!"

Shortly after Li Ji'an's cave abruptly finished absorbing spiritual energy, the No. 1 Daoist Temple, which had been silent for many days, once again surged with spiritual energy. However, it could no longer absorb spiritual energy. Instead, taking advantage of the calming of the spiritual energy and the fact that it was no longer leaking out, it began the most crucial step in the formation of the core: the explosion of the technique.

The first stage of the explosive technique mainly involves the first step of continuously absorbing spiritual energy into the dantian, forming immense spiritual pressure within the dantian, which directly affects the liquid mana of the Foundation Establishment stage.

When the spiritual pressure is sufficient, the magical liquid can be squeezed into a solid pill. The more sufficient the pressure, the more solid and substantial the pill will be.

The initial spiritual pressure depends on the spiritual energy swallowed into the cave during the first stage.

The Tai'an Chamber of Commerce originally estimated that if Tu Yifei could absorb enough spiritual energy to fill a Daoist temple, the initial cloud formation might break through fifteen miles. With the help of the top ten Core Formation spiritual treasures, it was expected to eventually reach twenty-five miles.

If there is a twenty-five-mile-long cloud formation as a base, and another purification treasure is available during the third stage of purifying the elixir, the chances of achieving the Golden Elixir are very high.

At this moment, they no longer dared to hope for the Golden Core, but they still hoped that the Cloud of Core Formation could break through twenty miles, so that the upstream True Core could be preserved.

Therefore, as soon as the rosy clouds of spiritual pressure appeared above Cave No. 1, everyone from the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce held their breath and looked over.

"The White Fairy of Dojo No. 2 has also begun."

Before Tu Yifei could officially condense the rosy clouds, the spiritual energy in Cave No. 2 began to fluctuate.

However, most people focused their attention on the sky above Cave No. 3.

Besides the stakes involved, I also wanted to witness this extraordinary event of Core Formation, which is destined to become a legend for thousands of years to come.

Half a day later, when rosy clouds began to gather above the two Daoist temples, the spiritual energy above the No. 3 cave also began to surge.

"here we go!"

Is the end finally approaching?

"I was even more nervous than when I formed my own core."

Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Danding Pavilion of the Jiuding Chamber of Commerce.

The two most powerful late-stage Core Formation cultivators present no longer concealed their intense focus as they stared intently at Li Ji'an's cave.

(End of this chapter)