What does my ancestor's pregnancy have to do with me, a mere servant?

Wen Yuci's heart skipped a beat.

If one's spiritual root can be improved, or even further...

She dared not think any further.

"Senior sister, your training is over, please go back now."

Lin Yuan got out of bed, straightened his clothes, and spoke calmly.

Wen Yuci sat on the bed without moving.

She looked at Lin Yuan's tall and straight back, then glanced at the tidy stone chamber.

There was a few moments of silence.

"May I stay here and cultivate?"

Even Wen Yuci herself found it unbelievable that she asked this question.

At the moment she was implanted with the forbidden magic and forced to acknowledge a master, she was extremely resistant and filled with humiliation.

But after personally experiencing the benefits of face-to-face arduous practice, I felt... it was really good.

In the world of cultivation, opportunities are more plentiful than anything else.

The man before her was her greatest opportunity.

She knew those women's backgrounds all too well. Lin Feilu and Jiang Huaiyue would never stop once they tasted success.

At that time, she, as the newcomer, will be at the very end of the list, and the repair of her golden core will be a long way off.

Wen Yuci made up her mind.

Lin Yuan turned around and his gaze fell on her face.

He didn't speak.

But in those calm, unwavering eyes, the meaning was crystal clear.

Without hesitation, she patted the storage bag at her waist.

A palm-sized jade box flew out of the bag and landed steadily in her palm. She opened the lid and presented it to Lin Yuan with both hands.

A rich, refreshing fragrance filled the stone chamber.

That fragrance was unlike the delicate elegance of ordinary medicinal herbs; it was a vibrant energy that struck straight to the soul. It was like the first rays of spring sunshine shining on a frozen river, bringing with them the breath of life reviving all things.

Inside the jade box, a spiritual herb, entirely emerald green with pale golden roots, lay quietly.

The grass blades are as delicate as silk, with a layer of lustrous sheen flowing across their surface. The luster is warm and understated, making it an extraordinary specimen.

"Qingyuan Gudan Grass." Wen Yuci looked directly into Lin Yuan's eyes, her tone filled with utmost sincerity. "It was a gift from Shen Guiyan."

Lin Yuan's gaze sharpened slightly as he looked at the spiritual herb.

He had come across the name of this thing in alchemical texts more than once.

Nurturing the Golden Core, repairing its body, and slightly improving its quality—a treasure coveted by any cultivator on the verge of forming their Golden Core. On the outside market for spiritual herbs, it would be priceless and unavailable.

Wen Yuci continued, "You are now at the late stage of Foundation Establishment and will soon begin the process of condensing your Golden Core. This item will be of great use to you."

Her voice became a bit more composed.

"Although this herb can also nourish the flaws in my Golden Core, its medicinal effect is negligible compared to your cultivation method. Rather than letting it go to waste in my hands, I'd rather give it to you. It's far more valuable for you to keep it than for me to use."

Lin Yuan reached out and pinched the Qingyuan Gudan Grass between his fingertips.

It feels slightly cool to the touch and exudes a vibrant energy. The moment I held it, a warm current flowed from my fingertips, coursing through my meridians and into my body. It circulated briefly in my dantian before slowly dissipating.

The mere unintentional leakage of this trace of medicinal power was enough for him to sense the extraordinary nature of this substance.

Wen Yuci is right.

This is indeed the treasure he urgently needs right now.

For cultivators, condensing their golden core is the first true life-or-death hurdle on the path of cultivation.

Those who succeed become Core Formation stage cultivators, experiencing a significant increase in lifespan and a qualitative change in magical power. Those who fail—can only waste their lives, with no hope of achieving the Great Dao.

Golden Elixir is also divided into different grades. The quality of the elixir directly determines the upper limit of future cultivation.

The lowest grade is the low-grade Golden Core. The core is small, its magical power is mixed, and its internal patterns are chaotic and disordered.

The golden core that Wen Yuci condensed after being eroded by the cold poison was the lowest of the low—not only was it of inferior quality, but it was also flawed. A golden core of this quality would only last until the early stage of core formation in this lifetime; one could never even reach the middle stage.

A mid-grade Golden Core is the limit that most Foundation Establishment cultivators with normal talent can reach even after exhausting all their resources in their lifetime.

The elixir is round and smooth, and its magical power is relatively pure. It is expected to reach its end in the middle or late stage of the Golden Core realm.

Those with exceptional talent may occasionally break through the nascent soul and achieve the Nascent Soul stage, but the probability is extremely low.

The highest grade Golden Core is truly exceptional. The core is perfectly round, with neatly arranged golden patterns inside like an array, and its magical power is profound and enduring.

Jiang Huaiyue, relying on her exceptional spiritual root aptitude and the foundation laid by Lin Yuan's Yin-Yang Limitless Creation Technique, forcibly entered the Golden Core stage and condensed a high-grade Golden Core. High-grade Golden Core cultivators, provided they have good fortune, have a very high probability of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage in the future.

Above that lies the legendary supreme golden elixir.

It was perfectly round and flawless, possessing extremely profound magical power, with nine perfect golden pill patterns naturally forming on its surface. According to ancient records, once a top-grade Golden Core cultivator breaks through to form an Infant, the quality of that Infant is so high that it allows the cultivator to have a smooth path through the Infant stage, and may even have the hope of knocking on the door of the Deity Transformation stage.

There are only two core factors that determine the quality of the Golden Elixir.

First, spiritual root aptitude. The purer the spiritual root, the higher the conversion rate of magical power during the condensation of the golden core, and the better the quality of the golden core will be.

Secondly, external assistance and accumulated resources during the condensation of the golden core. The addition of elixirs, spiritual herbs, and rare and precious materials can compensate for deficiencies in spiritual root aptitude at the crucial moment of condensation, thus enhancing the final quality of the golden core.

Take Jiang Huaiyue as an example. She possesses exceptional talent and has been paved with the Yin-Yang Limitless Creation Technique, which combined to condense a superior-grade Golden Core. If she can elevate her spiritual root to an Earth Spiritual Root in the future, the path to Nascent Soul will not be unattainable.

Lin Yuan played with the Qingyuan Gudan Grass in his hand, his face calm.

He has a mid-grade spiritual root.

The chances of successfully condensing a golden core with a mid-grade spiritual root are far lower than what outsiders imagine.

After all, one's spiritual root aptitude is limited, and there are natural bottlenecks in the purity and conversion efficiency of magical power.

Even if one manages to successfully condense the golden core, its quality will most likely not be very good.

Mid-grade Golden Core? That's his ceiling.

He was stuck at the Golden Core stage his whole life, never even getting close to the Nascent Soul stage.

Although the Yin-Yang Limitless Creation Technique can slowly improve the quality of the Golden Core through repeated arduous practice, that process is extremely time-consuming. Rather than trying to remedy the situation after the Golden Core has formed, it is better to lay a solid foundation beforehand.

Therefore, we should improve the quality of our spiritual roots from medium to high, or even top-grade, as soon as possible.

The second is to acquire rare and precious materials that can improve the success rate and quality of condensing golden pills.

Lin Yuan looked up at Wen Yuci and nodded.

"You can stay."

Wen Yuci supported herself on the edge of the stone bed with both hands and slowly stood up.

The moment my heels touched the ground, my legs felt like they were made of lead and I slumped down. My knees buckled, and I almost collapsed back onto the bed.

She bit her lower lip hard, her fingertips leaving white marks on the edge of the bed, managing to hold herself up.

A full day and night of intense arduous training.

Lin Yuan, who was at the sixth level of body tempering, remained expressionless, his blood and qi as abundant as if he had just had a good sleep.

She, a cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, had all her strength drained.

No one would believe it if I told them.

Wen Yuci loosened her grip on the bed and tentatively took a step forward.

The steps were extremely small.

The hem of her long black dress brushed past her ankles, and she walked with a limp, completely lacking the imposing presence one would expect from the "Number One Female Demon of the Xuan Yin Sect."

Lin Yuan glanced at her.

He silently sighed to himself—when this senior sister was walking around with impunity in the Xuan Yin Sect, she probably never dreamed that one day she would be walking unsteadily in a stone chamber for someone in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Life is unpredictable, and the path to immortality is even more unpredictable.

Wen Yuci moved to the northeast corner of the stone chamber, found an old, dusty futon, and sat down cross-legged.

He took out a Qi-restoring pill from his storage bag and swallowed it.

Close your eyes and regulate your breathing.

My breathing gradually became longer and more even, and I began to slowly recover from my overexertion.