From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 287 Array Genius
"Golden Core Formed!"

Xu Zhongxu activated the "Shennong Creation Technique" and completed the transformation from Foundation Establishment Perfection to Golden Elixir.

The spiritual energy circulates in the meridians, pouring the boiling liquid spiritual energy into the overflowing dantian, compressing it again and again.

He wanted to internalize his entire dantian and condense it together with spiritual energy to form a golden core!

"Hu~~"

Centered on him, the air currents spun, quickly creating a whirlwind that grew larger and larger.

The air within a radius of one or two miles, and gradually spreading to a radius of ten miles, was stirred up, and all the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was attracted to the center of the vortex and poured into his body.

He had prepared thousands of spirit stones beside him beforehand. At this moment, all the spiritual energy of those spirit stones was absorbed, and they lost their luster, turning into rubble.

Ru'an Mountain was a sizable second-tier spiritual land, yet its spiritual energy was completely absorbed in a short period of time.

Where Xu Zhongxu was, the spiritual energy of the spiritual vein below was also absorbed in large quantities, and the nearby spiritual plants showed signs of withering.

Finally, his dantian (lower abdomen) began to internalize and contract...

A moment later, the dantian in his lower abdomen disappeared, transforming into a golden elixir. The meridians through which spiritual energy circulated within his body transformed into golden threads.

He remained seated cross-legged as he slowly ascended into the air, golden rays of light emanating from his skin.

Golden Core Realm!
From Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, the dantian transforms into a golden core, spiritual energy transforms into true essence, divine sense becomes stronger, life evolves again, and lifespan is extended to five hundred years.

Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator's body is still made of flesh and blood and can still be injured.

A Golden Core cultivator has only two weaknesses: the sea of ​​consciousness where their divine soul resides, and their Golden Core. As long as the sea of ​​consciousness remains intact and the Golden Core remains unbroken, even injuries like decapitation can be healed with true essence.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Is this the Golden Core?"

Xu Zhongxu opened his eyes, experiencing the changes within himself.

He hovered in the air, taking in everything around him, feeling a powerful sense of control over the world. His divine sense was more than ten times stronger, and his perception of his surroundings was much clearer.

The abundant vitality within him made him feel much younger.

He is fifty-six years old this year, which is very young for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and even younger for a Golden Core cultivator, having only lived one-tenth of his life.

"When I broke through to a higher realm just now, many of the spiritual plants nearby died."

He cultivates the "Shennong Creation Technique," which is a dual system of wood and earth, thus he can absorb the spiritual energy of the earth and spiritual plants.

With a wave of his hand, his true essence transformed into rain, nourishing the area within a ten-mile radius.

The withered spiritual plants have been revitalized and are growing even more vigorously than before.

"Upon reaching the Golden Core Realm, I gained a deeper understanding of Shennong's Creation Technique."

This was not the time for Xu Zhongxu to comprehend the cultivation technique; the Xu family members were waiting around to offer their congratulations.

"Zhongxu, you've finally reached the Golden Core stage?!"

"Our Xu family has a Golden Core cultivator!"

"Congratulations!"

Facing the Xu family, Xu Zhongxu remained as polite and courteous as ever, but his aura as a Golden Core cultivator already surpassed that of the others.

After a while, Xu Fugui, having received the news, rushed over from Baihe Mountain.

He was very happy that Xu Zhongxu had finally advanced to the Golden Core Realm, but after much consideration, he decided not to publicize the fact that the Xu family had produced a Golden Core cultivator so quickly: "Zhongxu had been hiding his identity in our family before and had never revealed the secret of his Earth Spirit Root to the outside world. No one knew that our family had such a talented clansman."

Now that he has advanced to the Golden Core stage, let's keep it a secret for now and not announce it to the outside world.

Xu Fugui didn't know what his Xu family would face after becoming a Golden Core family, so he simply continued to develop in a low-key manner, and would let Xu Zhongxu reveal his realm if necessary.

Xu Zhongxu's breakthrough just now caused quite a stir, but it was only within the Ru'an Mountain spiritual land area, and only members of the Xu family knew about it.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

a few days later.

The Xu Family Library.

"Li Kun, I've come to see the Soul Dao Secret Technique."

Xu Zhongxu came to check the Golden Core Realm content of "The Thousand Methods of Soul Path".

"Okay, Uncle Xu."

Li Kun responded, and he is still the one guarding the Xu family's library.

Xu Zhongxu entered the "Golden Elixir Study Hall" in the library to examine the Golden Elixir Realm secret techniques of the Thousand Methods of Soul Path. Previously, apart from Xu Fugui, no one else in the Xu family was qualified to view these techniques.

"These secret techniques..."

Xu Zhongxu examined the secret techniques and discovered that the Golden Core Realm secret techniques in "The Thousand Methods of Soul Path" were its essence, and all sorts of strange and wonderful Soul Path secret techniques had miraculous effects.

"Break the seal on the soul technique?"

Among the Golden Core Realm secret techniques in "The Thousand Methods of Soul Path" are secret methods for breaking various soul techniques, including breaking soul technique seals.

"I remember seventeen years ago, when we returned from the Desolate Marsh Mountains, we obtained a jade slip containing a cultivation technique. Later, my uncle investigated for a long time before he learned that it was a jade slip sealed by soul magic, and only the souls of specific people could view the cultivation technique jade slip."

Does this "Thousand Methods of Soul Path" contain methods to break the seals on soul techniques?

Xu Zhongxu thought to himself, if he could break the soul seal on that cultivation technique jade slip, he could view the contents of the technique.

He didn't know that it was the Xiang family's ancestral cultivation technique, "Yuan Shen Yu Zhi," but a technique protected by a soul seal must not be an ordinary, common technique.

"Once I learn this secret technique, I will go and break the soul magic seal on that jade slip."

He couldn't wait to begin studying this secret technique.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Outside the main gate of the library.

"Master Kun, I've come to the library to look at some books."

Xu Renkai said to Li Kun.

What content are we planning to watch this time?

Li Kun asked casually.

"Just browsing through the plant encyclopedia or something."

"Well, you go."

Xu Renkai then entered the "Qi Refining Study Hall" in the library.

Xu Renkai is twenty years old this year. Seventeen years ago, Xu Fugui absorbed his bloodline aura to nourish the spiritual fruit and obtain the "Thousand Methods of Soul Path".

His talent for cultivation is mediocre; at such a young age, he has only reached the third level of Qi Refining.

Given the Xu family's current resources and the second-tier spiritual land of Ru'an Mountain, it is indeed quite ordinary that he is only at the third level of Qi Refining at the age of twenty.

Those who cultivate the five elements of pseudo-spiritual roots through the Five Elements Stance Technique will find it difficult to achieve success. This is beyond dispute.

Among the many cultivation techniques of the Xu family, Xu Renkai practices the "Lingnong Qi Refining Technique," which is also the most practiced technique among the Xu family members today.

Because the Lingnong Qi Refining Technique contains subsequent foundation building and even Golden Core sections, it is the Xu family's most "potential" cultivation method.

However, this dual-elemental wood and earth technique is extremely weak in combat, so the Xu family members need to learn additional combat spells such as the "Flying Sword Technique".

Xu Renkai cultivates the "Spirit Farmer's Qi Refining Technique," but his cultivation speed is not fast. He can only rely on the second-level spiritual land of Ru'an Mountain to slowly improve his cultivation.

Many members of the Xu family who practice the "Spirit Farmer's Qi Cultivation Technique" also memorize the contents of the "Spirit Plant Illustrated Compendium" to facilitate their cultivation and care of spirit plants within the spirit land. Now, the Xu family is growing larger and its members are increasing, and each member needs to complete various family tasks to obtain resources.

In short, you reap what you sow, and you can only obtain family resources by contributing to the family.

The library contains not only Xu Fugui's "Illustrated Guide to Spiritual Plants," but also various experience notes on caring for spiritual plants compiled by several older members of the Xu family.

Xu Renkai entered the library.

With his Qi Refining Level 3 cultivation, he could only see a limited amount of information.

He picked up a thick book, "Illustrated Compendium of Spiritual Plants," from the bookshelf, sat down at his desk, and began to examine it.

The Illustrated Compendium of Spiritual Plants comprises dozens of volumes, recording the growth habits, characteristics, and cultivation methods of millions of spiritual plants.

Xu Renkai yawned after watching for a while, feeling sleepy.

He had absolutely no interest in how to identify and cultivate spiritual plants, but he had no other choice.

"Ah woo~~"

About 15 minutes later, Xu Renkai yawned and almost dozed off: "I can't watch anymore, or I'll fall asleep."

In those two quarters of an hour, he only managed to memorize information about three or five kinds of spiritual plants; he was actually dozing off most of the time.

He placed the "Illustrated Compendium of Spiritual Plants" back on the bookshelf, and as he turned to leave, he noticed a thick book sitting in one corner. A thin layer of dust covered the book.

"what is that?"

Xu Renkai had never seen that book before; when he came to the library, he mostly looked at the illustrated guide to spiritual plants.

"Hu~~"

With curiosity, he picked up the book and blew away the dust on the cover.

The cover reads "Basic Formations (Part 1)".

"Basic Formations" is a Foundation Establishment cultivation technique that Xu Fugui obtained from the Enlightenment Spirit Fruit. However, due to the complexity of formations, this "Basic Formations" is of no use to the current Xu family.

Its primary function is to fill the library.

Before breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, Xu Fugui studied the "Basic Formation Techniques" for several years, but failed to even get a basic understanding, let alone master formation techniques. He divided it into two parts, placing the first half in the Qi Refining Study Hall of the Library and the second half in the Foundation Establishment Study Hall of the Library.

The book "Fundamentals of Formations" contains a lot of material, totaling dozens of volumes. The first half also consists of many volumes.

"Let me see."

As Xu Renkai was about to review "Fundamentals of Formations," he noticed a notebook next to it containing Xu Fugui's notes. These notes represented Xu Fugui's insights gleaned from several years of studying "Fundamentals of Formations."

Xu Renkai casually picked up the notebook and "Basic Formations (Part 1)" and took them to his desk to start browsing.

He was immediately captivated by what he saw.

Those diagrams of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, the Nine Palaces and the Eight Trigrams seemed incredibly magical to him.

"Just the order in which the array is arranged has countless variations. Amazing, truly amazing!"

By arranging several array objects in specific locations and harnessing the power of heaven and earth, one can unleash incredible power far exceeding individual strength…

He was looking at "Illustrated Guide to Spiritual Plants" when he got drowsy after a quarter of an hour.

Now, when he read "Basic Formations," he didn't even notice the passage of time after two hours.

"I don't understand this. Let me look at the ancestor's notes."

"Oh, I see."

Whenever there was something he didn't understand, Xu Renkai would consult Xu Fugui's notes.

Once you understand that, continue reading.

What he didn't know was that the "Fundamentals of Formations" was so profound that no one in the Xu family studied it. When Xu Fugui first obtained the "Fundamentals of Formations," he studied it with great enthusiasm.

As a result, it took several years to understand only a little bit of the basics, and he didn't even understand one-tenth of the content of "Basic Formations".

It should be noted that this is merely the Foundation Establishment level "Basic Formation Techniques," which is the introductory content of the Way of Formations, and not the true Great Way of Formations.

At that time, Xu Xiaoniu, Xu Xiaohou, and other members of the Xu family had also read this book, "Basic Formation Techniques," but they all gave up after a few days.

Among the common skills in cultivating immortality, such as elixirs, talismans, weapon crafting, and beast taming, the most difficult is "array formations".

"Huh, where did it go?"

Xu Renkai didn't know how long he had been watching; it might have been three hours, or it might have been five.

He had finished reading "Basic Formations (Part 1)" and started looking at the second volume, "Basic Formations (Part 2)".

He encountered more content he couldn't understand, but then discovered that he had finished reading the notes left by Xu Fugui.

Xu Fugui's notes, which he had studied for several years, were read through in half a day.

"I don't know where the notes are. I'll study them myself first, and only look for the notes if I really can't understand them. I can't always rely on the ancestor; I have to understand them through my own efforts first."

This time, without Xu Fugui's notes, he pondered for a quarter of an hour, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him and he understood.

"That might be the case. I'll write it down and verify it later."

Xu Renkai picked up a pen and paper from his desk and wrote down what he was thinking.

Two more hours passed, and he had already written down a dense amount of information on the paper.

At this moment, Li Kun interrupted him: "Ren Kai, it's time for you to come out. You've been in the Qi Refining Hall for too long; it's someone else's turn next."

"Master Kun, it's my fault, it's my fault. I was so engrossed in reading that I forgot the time."

All three reading rooms in the library are open for limited hours.

“I know, I didn’t disturb you because I saw you were engrossed in your thoughts.”

Li Kun said, "What are you looking at? I remember you finished looking at the Spirit Plant Encyclopedia in less than half an hour before. What happened this time?"

"I'm studying the basics of formations, and I've gotten completely absorbed in it. By the way, Master Kun, I'd like to ask where the later parts of the Ancestor's notes are kept? I couldn't find them on the bookshelf. Could they be stored in the Foundation Establishment Study Hall?"

Xu Renkai inquired about the follow-up parts of Xu Fugui's notes.

The ancestor's notes?
Li Kun was puzzled. He had been guarding the library and knew all the books and jade slips inside like the back of his hand: "You mean the notes on the basics of formations? Just that one volume, there are no further contents."

Perhaps my great-grandfather had some follow-up content that he didn't save in the library.

"You understand the basics of that formation? I've already looked at it, but I don't understand it at all."

He had studied the basics of formations long ago, but like everyone else, he couldn't even grasp the slightest bit of it.

"Is that so? Then I'll ask the ancestor when I have time."

Xu Renkai was unaware of his talent in the art of formations; he only realized that his interest in formations far outweighed his interest in spiritual plants.

After returning, aside from his daily cultivation practice, he immersed himself in the array formations he had studied. He constantly reflected on what he had learned in "Fundamentals of Array Formations" and repeatedly verified it with array diagrams.

After some time, he went to the library again to look at "Basic Formations".

This time, he didn't waste time thinking about the content. Instead, he read it first, keeping any doubts to himself and memorizing the content.

After leaving the library, he spent a lot of time thinking about those difficult points.

Several months passed in this way.

Xu Renkai found that the content of "Basic Formations" was becoming increasingly difficult, and he could hardly comprehend it on his own.

So he decided to consult Xu Fugui.

(End of this chapter)