Mortal: I really didn't want to be reborn as Zi Ling!

In the secret chamber of the thirty-ninth level cave, Zi Ling was still sitting cross-legged on the futon.

Her eyes were closed, and the purplish-blue spiritual light surrounding her was extremely dense, making her seem as if she were enveloped by a blazing, cold flame.

The liquid true essence in his dantian had disappeared, replaced by an inner core the size of an egg.

The inner core floated in the center of her dantian, which was three times the size of an ordinary person's. It was a strange color with four colors: gold, blue, cyan, and purple. The cyan color slowly rotated on the outside along with the blue and gold colors, while the purple color flowed faintly inside.

The four colors intertwined and shone, and with each rotation, it drew the remaining spiritual energy in the cave to converge on it, making the inner core even more solid with each convergence.

There was a faint layer of pale golden runes flowing on the surface of the inner core. These were not carved by her, but rather marks left by the fusion of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with that wisp of demonic energy when the core was formed.

She could sense that the quality of this inner core far exceeded that of ordinary ones. The true essence of the core, compressed three times the size of her dantian, was already more abundant than that of ordinary people. In addition, with the purification effect of the Three Revolutions Replenishing Yuan Technique and the strange blessing brought by that wisp of demonic energy, her golden core was not unprecedented in the mortal world, but it was definitely unparalleled in the future.

The vortex of spiritual energy above their heads finally began to slowly dissipate.

The beam of light receded from the dome and returned to her dantian.

The protective barriers within the cave ceased trembling, and the spiritual light on the stone door gradually faded, returning to calm.

Zi Ling slowly opened her eyes.

Those were a pair of clear, almond-shaped eyes, but deep within the pupils, a fleeting glimmer of purple-gold light flashed by.

She looked down at her hands, feeling the unprecedented, immense power within her.

The three times the size of his dantian was finally completely filled with the true essence of the Core Formation stage.

The feeling of being overflowing with magical power made her clench her fists involuntarily.

"Once I swallow this golden pill, my fate will be in my own hands, not in the hands of heaven!"

It wasn't the superficial expansion she had experienced when she was forcibly elevated to the state of a fake infant; it was a real, tangible power that belonged to her.

Zi Ling laughed loudly, looking up at the sky.

She fulfilled her promise of a century in just sixty-nine years.

From then on, she was also a high-level cultivator, instead of the kind of being who could be killed or coveted at will!

Of course, Zi Ling also knew that now was not the time to be proud.

She is still some distance from reaching the Nascent Soul stage, a top-tier combat power in the human world, but she believes that with her talent, intelligence, and foresight, that day will not be too far away.

Then she raised her head, glanced at the tightly closed stone door of the secret chamber, and her divine sense swept over the silly girl outside the door who was covering her mouth and desperately trying to hold back her sobs. The corners of her mouth curved up even more.

And more and more cultivators gathered outside the cave.

Time to leave customs!

-

However, before Zi Ling could emerge from seclusion, a group of about ten people were hurrying towards her cave, wielding various magical artifacts.

Most of these people are at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, with the highest being only at the tenth level of Qi Refining.

Their robes were of mixed grades, and the flying swords and shuttles beneath their feet were of varying quality. Some even flew crookedly, stepping on wind shields with cracked edges.

But this group of people were not slow at all; they were all rushing forward with all their might, as if they were afraid that if they were late they would not get a bowl of hot food.

They rushed over in droves the moment they noticed the unusual phenomenon of Core Formation in this place.

As for the purpose, some people thought of getting a lucky charm. In case the senior had just formed his core and was in a good mood, he might give them something as a reward. That would be enough for several years of cultivation resources.

But many more people wanted to take advantage of the fact that their senior had just formed their core and was in a good mood, to see if they could become a master of core formation.

Tianxing City is not without precedent.

Some Foundation Establishment cultivators endured a hundred years of hardship to finally form their Core, only to be flattered and knelt before by a group of cultivators. In a moment of impulsiveness, they readily agreed to become disciples.

For these Qi Refining stage cultivators, even if they are just nominal disciples, as long as they can be associated with a Core Formation cultivator, they have a powerful backer.

From then on, his status in the city, his confidence when hunting demons, and even the discounts when buying pills all rose accordingly.

"Hurry up! Before the senior emerges from seclusion, get ahead of those old foxes!"

The leader was a dark-skinned, thin man at the tenth level of Qi Refining, standing on a second-hand flying sword. He turned around and shouted to those behind him.

His voice was urgent, but a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes:

"This is a Core Formation cultivator! If we can be the first to become his disciple, will we ever have to worry about spirit stones, pills, and cave dwellings again? Hurry up!"

Upon hearing this, a sense of luck and greed filled everyone's hearts.

More than ten people rushed in, ignoring the still-present spiritual light of the protective barrier in front of the cave entrance, and plunged straight in.

Of course, they're not stupid either.

After entering the restricted area, the dark-skinned, thin man who was leading the group was the first to shout at the top of his lungs.

"Congratulations, senior, on reaching the Golden Core stage!"

"Your abilities are unparalleled, senior; the path to the Great Dao is truly promising!"

"This junior sincerely pays homage to you, senior, and is willing to serve you faithfully, even at the cost of one's life—"

The people behind them joined in the shouts, their voices rising and falling.

One of the youngest boys even knelt down, his forehead touching the ground, his posture more respectful than could be.

But before they could finish speaking, they both felt a sudden dizziness.

Heaven and earth were turned upside down before my eyes, the verdant mountains and forests turned into a sky full of yellow sand, and the gale carried sand and gravel that pelted me and made a crackling sound as it hit the protective aura.

The bluestone path beneath their feet disappeared, replaced by a bottomless abyss, where black, turbid waves surged, and the spray splashing against the rocks carried a foul, eerie stench.

"Oh no! It's an array or restriction!"

"What's wrong—I can't see!"

"Don't panic! Come this way—"

Before the words were even finished, countless demonic beasts surged forth from all directions.

Some resemble giant pythons, bursting forth from the sandstorm with their gaping maws; others look like ghost bats, taking flight in swarms from beneath the abyss.

Instinctively, everyone unleashed their magical weapons to retaliate, hurling fireballs, ice spikes, and talismans at will. However, the monsters that were hit only swayed slightly before reforming.

Worse still, much of their retaliation fell on their own comrades.

"Who hit me?! Damn it—"

"Don't use spells recklessly! Those are our own people!"

"Stop! This is an illusion array, stop right now!"

The leader, a thin, dark-skinned man, finally realized what was happening and shouted at the top of his lungs.

In the midst of the chaos, his voice could not be heard more than a few steps away.

The crowd spun around aimlessly like headless flies, spells flew wildly, magical artifacts were smashed indiscriminately, and screams rose and fell.

From the outside, it appears utterly absurd.

A dozen or so Qi Refining cultivators were spinning around in a small open space, only a few feet in diameter, punching and kicking at the air and bombarding it with magical artifacts. Occasionally, they would be knocked to the ground by the aftershocks of their companions' spells.

What's even more comical is that with each turn they made, the fear on their faces deepened, as if they had encountered something extremely terrifying in a hallucination.

This was, of course, an illusion array set up by Zi Ling outside the cave.

This formation is called the "Yellow Sand Abyss Formation". Although it has little killing power, once trapped inside, even a Core Formation cultivator would not be able to escape for a while.

Using it to deal with this group of uninvited Qi Refining cultivators is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.