I'll make you the furnace and the cauldron, so you can refine Yin and Yang and prove the Great

Li Hanshan flew on his flying sword deep into the Monster Mountain Range for a whole day before finally stopping in a misty canyon.

This canyon was extremely well-hidden, with sheer cliffs hundreds of feet high on both sides. The entrance was hidden by dense, ancient trees, and he would never have discovered it if he hadn't stumbled in during his panicked escape from the Three-Eyed Demon Ape. At the bottom of the canyon, a babbling brook flowed, its banks overgrown with ancient spiritual herbs. The spiritual energy in the air was so dense it was almost condensed into mist—the source of the stream was a natural stone pool, and below the pool lay a small spiritual vein.

He used his Golden Core level divine sense to scan the area within a dozen miles, and only after confirming that there was no aura of third-tier demonic beasts did he land beside the stone pool. He took out array flags from his storage bag and set them up one by one according to the Four Symbols Spirit Locking Array that Luo Li had once taught him, and then took out thousands of spirit stones to embed into the array eyes.

As thousands of spirit stones were thrown down, the concentration of spiritual energy in the entire canyon suddenly surged, becoming so dense that it almost stretched one's pores open.

After completing all this, Li Hanshan sat cross-legged by the stone pool, not in a hurry to begin. Core formation was no child's play; impatience and restlessness were major taboos. Qin Muyue had said that she had only barely succeeded after a full month of seclusion. Although he had the Golden Dew and the Qi Condensation Pill to help him, he couldn't be careless. He closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for a whole day, adjusting his mind to a state of perfect tranquility before opening them.

it's time.

He first swallowed a Qi Condensation Pill. The medicinal effects dissipated, and the spiritual energy in his dantian began to circulate more slowly and rapidly. An hour later, he took a second pill, and another hour later, a third. After three Qi Condensation Pills, the spiritual energy in his dantian was boiling like magma, golden light shone brightly in his pure yang meridians, and his aura surged continuously. He uncorked the jade bottle and swallowed the first drop of golden dew.

boom!

It was as if a sun had exploded in his dantian. The immense energy surged into his limbs and bones along the pure yang pulse, and his already boiling spiritual energy began to collapse wildly—from mist to liquid, from liquid to solid. The door to the Golden Core was finally pried open with a crack.

In the sky, clouds began to gather. The once clear sky turned as dark as ink in the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and flashes of lightning could be faintly seen within the thick clouds.

A thousand miles away, on a cliff, Qin Muyue, who was gathering herbs, suddenly looked up. Although the distance was extremely far, as a Golden Core cultivator, she could vaguely sense the movement a thousand miles away.

Qin Muyue frowned slightly. Someone was forming their Core? No, this aura was far stronger than that of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. Could it be a late-stage Golden Core cultivator breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage? No, the intensity of the aura didn't match. She shook her head, not delving deeper, and continued to gather herbs.

In the canyon, Li Hanshan had already swallowed the second drop of golden dew. The liquid spiritual energy in his dantian collapsed even more violently, and a golden solid the size of a grain of rice faintly appeared at its center. He swallowed the last two Qi Condensation Pills at the same time, and then swallowed the third drop of dew. Three drops of dew, five Qi Condensation Pills.

Then, he took out several thousand spirit stones and absorbed them all.

Ten days passed. The nascent golden elixir grew from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a soybean, its surface gleaming with a pale golden luster. On the twentieth day, the golden elixir was the size of a thumb, perfectly round, with flowing patterns, and no trace of liquid spiritual energy could be seen in the dantian anymore.

The thunderclouds in the sky had expanded to over a hundred miles away, and the muffled thunder sounded like the low roar of an ancient beast, causing the monsters in the mountains and forests to tremble and prostrate themselves. Qin Muyue stood on a mountain peak a hundred miles away, looking at the terrifying thunderclouds, and for the first time, a solemn expression appeared on her face.

Yes, she couldn't resist coming over to check on the situation.

Upon seeing this, I was startled, because the sound it made resembled a legendary celestial elixir.

Even the same Golden Elixir can vary greatly, with grades ranging from mortal to earthly, heavenly, and immortal.

For ordinary people, the Golden Elixir is of the mortal grade. Only one in a hundred can reach the Earth grade, and only one in ten thousand can reach the Heaven grade.

As for divine-grade items, those only exist in legends.

"It can't be a celestial item. Could it be a cultivator from some sect breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage?"

Qin Muyue denied the possibility of a Celestial-grade Golden Core, saying that was too rare. It was more likely that someone had broken through to the Nascent Soul stage.

As for Li Hanshan, she didn't think of him. How could this old man have broken through to the Golden Core stage in such a short time?

Instead of approaching, she stepped back.

A Nascent Soul cultivator's divine sense can cover a range of over a hundred miles. If the other party were to detect this, things would be very bad.

On the twenty-fifth day, the golden core in Li Hanshan's dantian became even fuller, its patterns clearly defined, and within it, a faint golden flame could be seen flickering—his pure yang essence. The thunderclouds in the sky began to swirl wildly, forming a massive vortex. At the center of the vortex, a golden bolt of lightning, as thick as a bucket, slowly condensed. This lightning was pure gold in color, radiating an aura of destruction, yet also containing some profound and mysterious laws of the heavens.

Li Hanshan abruptly opened his eyes. The protective aura formed from pure Yang energy around him trembled violently the moment the tribulation lightning struck, its surface riddled with cracks. He groaned, a mouthful of blood rising to his throat. His pure Yang meridians circulated wildly, absorbing all the Heavenly Dao power within the tribulation lightning and channeling it into his golden core. Under the tempering of the Heavenly Dao power, the golden core shone even brighter, its patterns becoming even more dazzling.

But this is only the first step.

One after another, golden lightning bolts descended from the sky, engulfing the entire canyon in a sea of ​​lightning. The water in the stone pool evaporated completely, the spiritual herbs turned to ashes, and even the Four Symbols Spirit Locking Array shattered with a deafening roar during the seventh tribulation lightning strike. Li Hanshan was covered in blood, his robes tattered, but his eyes shone with astonishing brilliance. With each strike of tribulation lightning, the golden core in his dantian solidified further, its quality improving by a degree.

The fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth lightning bolts. The color of the tribulation lightning gradually changed from gold to purplish-gold, and its power became increasingly terrifying. Li Hanshan was struck so hard that his skin was torn and his pure yang meridians were throbbing with pain, but he gritted his teeth and refused to utter a sound.

Within the Demon Beast Mountain Range, countless demonic beasts, drawn by the aura of the tribulation lightning, surged towards the canyon. They dared not approach the center of the lightning, but instead formed a dense encirclement around it. Eerie green, scarlet, and deep purple eyes gleamed in the darkness, fixed intently on the golden figure in the center of the canyon. Several third-tier demonic beasts stood out—a giant tiger entirely black, a two-headed python, and a being covered in bone armor, resembling a giant ape; their eyes were filled with greed. A cultivator undergoing tribulation was a highly nutritious food for demonic beasts; to devour them while they were weakened would be no less valuable than consuming a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herb.

After the twenty-seventh lightning bolt struck, the thunderclouds in the sky finally began to slowly dissipate.

The Golden Elixir has been formed.

Li Hanshan stood up, his bones cracking and popping. The wounds inflicted by the tribulation lightning healed at a visible speed, his new skin smooth as jade, yet containing explosive power. The purplish-golden core in his dantian slowly rotated, each rotation drawing spiritual energy from dozens of miles around to converge upon it. His lifespan surged; his Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment already granted him over a hundred years more lifespan than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, and breaking through to the Golden Core stage would grant him at least five hundred years of lifespan.

"How come my golden core is so big?"

After examining his inner core, Li Hanshan was shocked; his golden core was far too large.

He heard from the maid and Qin Muyue that the size of a newly formed Golden Core cultivator usually ranges from a grain of rice to a pigeon egg.

But his golden core was the size of an egg!

This is equivalent to the size of a late-stage or even peak Golden Core cultivator!

Not only was it large, but its golden core also looked exceptionally beautiful, shimmering with golden light, flowing with strange and wonderful colors, and full of profound and mysterious patterns, as if it were engraved with the ultimate truth of heaven and earth.

"Could this be a celestial-grade golden elixir?"

When Li Hanshan was chatting with the girl, he had heard about the Immortal-grade Golden Elixir.

He was overjoyed. Even if a cultivator had just broken through to the Immortal-grade Golden Core stage, their lifespan would be over a thousand years, comparable to the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage.

"This spiritual power is incredibly strong!"

Immediately afterwards, Li Hanshan noticed another change: the range of his divine sense had increased more than tenfold, and everything within a radius of a hundred miles—every tree, every fallen leaf, and the breath of every demon beast—was within his perception.

In the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm, one's spiritual sense can only cover a distance of about a hundred miles.

This is enough to demonstrate the extraordinary nature of Li Hanshan's Golden Elixir.

"Okay, okay!"

Li Hanshan glanced at the screen and said "good" three times.

His divine sense swept over the restless demonic beasts on the outskirts of the canyon, a cold smile appearing on his lips. Perfect timing.

He raised his hand, and pure Yang fire condensed at his fingertips. After breaking through to the Golden Core stage, the color of this flame changed from gold to purplish-gold, and its temperature was terrifyingly high, even distorting and deforming the air. A second-tier peak Ironback Wolf couldn't hold back any longer and roared as it pounced. Li Hanshan flicked his finger, and a wisp of purplish-gold flame shot out, instantly piercing the wolf's head. Its massive body turned to ashes in mid-air, leaving only its inner core lying on the ground.

The surrounding demonic beasts were stunned by this scene and all took a step back. But the three third-tier demonic beasts were even more excited—the stronger this human was, the greater the benefits they would gain from devouring him. The black tiger roared and launched the first attack, followed closely by the two-headed python and the bone-armored giant ape, pouncing on Li Hanshan from three directions simultaneously. Li Hanshan neither dodged nor evaded; with a thought, his flying sword transformed into a purple-gold stream of light, too fast for the naked eye to follow. As the sword light flashed, the two heads of the two-headed python simultaneously shot into the sky, a jet of blood gushing out, and the massive serpentine body crashed to the ground.

Seeing this, fear finally appeared in the eyes of the Black Tiger and the Bone-Armored Giant Ape, and they turned to flee. But how could their speed compare to the Flowing Light Sword Technique? The purple-gold sword light drew an arc in the air, piercing through the heads of the two demonic beasts one after the other. Three third-tier inner cores were obtained.

The remaining low-level demonic beasts scattered in a panic, and Li Hanshan didn't bother to pursue them. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the spirit beast pouch in his arms. A small beast poked its head out of the pouch, its dark eyes fixed on the three third-level inner cores on the ground, its mouth practically watering.

"Hungry?" Li Hanshan smiled and handed all three inner cores to it. The little beast cried out happily twice, picked up the inner cores, which were bigger than its own head, with its tiny paws, and swallowed them clean in a few gulps. Then it burped contentedly and crawled back into the spirit beast pouch to sleep.

"You're easy to take care of," Li Hanshan shook his head.

Just then, he suddenly realized something. After breaking through to the Golden Core stage, that feeling became exceptionally clear, as if an invisible thread was gently pulling his consciousness in a certain direction.

It was that dream.

Tonight, he can enter that dream again.