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

First grade of junior high school.

Black Crow Mountain, cave dwellings and stone chambers.

According to the Jianghuai Yue's duty roster, it's Wen Yuci's turn today.

These three months were the most magical period of her life. All the flaws in her golden core were repaired, her foundation was stabilized, and her magical power was refined.

That face-to-face ascetic practice that once humiliated her to the point of wanting to die has now become an irreplaceable opportunity for her.

However, the reality is quite ironic.

The former number one female demon of the Xuan Yin Sect now walks with a lighter pace than usual on her special days.

As she walked through the passageway and into the main stone chamber, her steps unconsciously faltered.

Lin Yuan was sitting cross-legged in the center of the stone bed, his eyes slightly closed, his face expressionless, and his spiritual energy spread outwards like an invisible ripple.

That aura...something's not right.

It doesn't seem like he's waiting for her.

It seems more like something big is brewing.

"Today I will go into seclusion to attempt to form my core."

Lin Yuan opened his eyes, his tone calm.

A sense of indescribable loss swept through Wen Yuci's heart.

She had made many preparations for this day, bringing herself to her peak condition, just waiting to have a thorough and enjoyable training session today.

"I will protect my master."

Wen Yuci said without hesitation.

She walked to the futon where she usually sat during her cultivation, sat cross-legged, and spread her divine sense like mercury, taking in every movement inside and outside the stone room.

Lin Yuan neither confirmed nor denied this, and took out two items from his storage bag.

A white jade bottle. The bottle's surface is warm and smooth, shimmering with a spiritual light.

He uncorked the bottle, and a longan-sized, bright red pill rolled out and landed in his palm.

The crimson sun condenses the golden elixir.

This was a pill formula that he had obtained at great expense, and he personally refined it in his furnace.

Judging from his skill as a fifth-grade alchemist, the quality of this pill has reached the limit that the formula can achieve—the pill pattern is clear, the medicinal power is strong, and it is the best pill he can currently obtain to increase the chance of condensing a golden core.

The second item was a cyan jade box. The moment the lid was lifted, the refreshing and invigorating vitality of the Qingyuan Gudan Grass filled the entire stone chamber.

Lin Yuan placed the two items in front of him and took a deep breath.

The mind sinks into the dantian and the sea of ​​qi.

After months of repeated tempering by the Yin-Yang Limitless Creation Technique, the superior spiritual root has reached a considerably high level of purity. The magical power within the dantian has already liquefied to its extreme, as thick as mercury, and is only one step away from completion—compression, qualitative change, and condensation into a pill.

Everything is ready.

Lin Yuan silently calculated it in his mind.

A superior spiritual root forms the foundation. The Crimson Sun Golden Elixir paves the way. The Azure Origin Solidifying Elixir Grass provides the ultimate protection. In addition, a powerful physical body tempered through twelve layers provides stable support, and the Thousand Evolutions Corpse Control Technique brings a divine soul strength far exceeding that of others of the same level for protection.

With this setup, even if a top-grade golden core like Lin Feilu's isn't formed, a flawless high-grade golden core should be a sure thing.

With the Yin-Yang Limitless Creation Technique available in the future, it will only be a matter of time before a superior-grade Golden Elixir is nurtured into a top-grade one.

Lin Yuan made this judgment in his mind.

Without further hesitation, he tilted his head back and swallowed the Crimson Sun Golden Elixir.

boom!

A surge of intense medicinal power exploded in my abdomen, as if igniting a volcano that had been dormant for millennia in my dantian.

The crimson medicinal power transformed into hundreds of scorching streams, flowing along the meridians and surging into the dantian (lower abdomen).

Lin Yuan remained expressionless.

With hands forming mudras, the fingertips moved with lightning speed.

He guided this powerful medicinal force and began to compress the vast liquid magical energy in his dantian to its limit.

Driven by the medicinal properties, the magical power visibly contracted from the edge of the dantian towards its center. The golden ocean of magical power that originally occupied the entire dantian gradually collapsed, gathered, and solidified.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Yuan opened his mouth and swallowed the entire Qingyuan Solidifying Elixir Grass.

A warm yet powerful force of life slid down my throat and melted into my stomach.

Unlike the violent medicinal power of the Crimson Sun Golden Elixir, the power of the Azure Origin Elixir-Stabilizing Grass is like an invisible hand—gentle yet firm.

It enveloped all the rampaging magical power, calming, regulating, and restraining it, gathering the hundreds of surging streams of magical power back into place, and steadily collapsing towards the center of the dantian.

Everything went incredibly smoothly.

The liquid magic contracted and solidified at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The golden ocean of magic shrank dramatically, from the size of a fist to the size of an egg, and then to the size of a walnut.

A golden dot the size of a grain of rice quietly appeared in the center of the dantian.

The light spot grew brighter and larger.

From rice grains to mung beans.

From mung beans to soybeans.

……

The rudimentary form of a golden elixir has already taken shape in the center of the dantian.

The surface of the pill shimmered with golden light, perfectly round and flawless, with intricate and delicate patterns slowly forming.

One, two, three... the patterns are clear and regular.

Only one last step remains.

Once this prototype is completely stabilized and the cinnabar pattern is fully formed, the task will be considered complete.

however--

At that crucial moment, it felt as if they had crashed into an invisible barrier.

"Buzz..."

The nascent golden core suddenly paused.

Rotation slows down. The golden light stagnates slightly.

Lin Yuan's mind sharpened, and he immediately increased the output of his magic power.

No matter how he activated his magic power or guided the medicinal effects, the nascent golden core could not solidify even a fraction further.

The problem isn't a lack of magical power, medicinal potency, or the quality of his spiritual root. Nor is it a problem with his control.

It's like a barrier set up by heaven and earth themselves.

Invisible, without substance, elusive, yet indestructible.

The magical power within his dantian roared. The remaining medicinal power of the Crimson Sun Golden Elixir surged forth. The life force of the Azure Origin Elixir-Stabilizing Grass was still striving to maintain the stability of the elixir.

But the nascent golden core remained suspended on the verge of success, neither fully formed nor fully formed.

Just a hair's breadth away.

Lin Yuan's consciousness was highly concentrated. He tried all the methods of condensing the core recorded in the cultivation technique.

Impact, warm curing, rotation, compression...

All of them are useless.

Lin Yuan cursed inwardly.

But he remained as calm as a rock on the surface.

Time passed by, one breath at a time.

After a full incense stick's time.

The medicinal power of the Crimson Sun Golden Elixir began to wane. The scorching driving force receded like the tide, wave after wave, pulling away from it.

The life force of the Qingyuan Gudan Grass was also completely exhausted.

The nascent golden core, which had been suspended for so long, began to show extremely subtle signs of loosening. The golden light on the surface of the core stopped flowing, and in its place appeared almost invisible cracks.

"Pop..."

A very faint cracking sound rang out within Lin Yuan's dantian.

The nascent golden core, which had been hovering for so long, finally ran out of steam.

The crack started from a barely perceptible point on the surface of the pill and began to spread.

It shattered into pieces.

The golden fragments transformed back into a liquid form of magical energy, dissipating back into the dantian.

Fall short.

Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

His face was calm, and his breathing was deep and even. From his appearance, there was no indication that he had just experienced a failed Core Formation attempt.

But a hint of surprise flashed deep in his eyes.

He mentally reviewed the entire process from beginning to end.

He possesses abundant magical power, a pure spiritual root, and the medicinal effects of the elixir are perfect. His control is precise and flawless, and his physical condition is flawless.

He himself did not make any mistakes from beginning to end.

In the corner, Wen Yuci's mental defenses, which had been stretched to the limit, began to relax.

Instead of disappointment, those usually cold and sharp eyes flickered with a complex expression of solemnity mixed with amazement.

"Master, don't be discouraged."

"Condensing a golden core is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It's common for ordinary cultivators to fail three to five times, and there are even precedents of some disciples with good talent spending years and making more than ten attempts before finally succeeding. What's more..."