Chapter 383 - 60: Grand Ceremony

Pei Jingque sat upright in courtly attire. A gilded, kingfisher-feather Phoenix Crown inlaid with golden pearls rested atop her Cloud-Soaring Crest. Spiritual Lights of every color shrouded her body, making her seem like a celestial or a goddess, her bearing dignified and imposingly noble.

The unique aura of Perfection, characteristic of a Golden Core Grandmaster, filled the entire hall. The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi churned like a tempestuous sea.

Zhu Ju sat to one side, his expression shifting repeatedly, his eyes filled with utter confusion.

"What in the world happened?"

He asked,

"You clearly failed."

Pei Jingque’s attempt to advance to the Golden Core realm had failed. This was undeniable. At the time, the collapse of her aura had been cataclysmic.

In fact, the very fact she had survived was a miracle in Zhu Ju’s eyes.

And now, Pei Jingque had not only survived the backlash from her failed Golden Core breakthrough, but had even broken through again.

This defied all logic!

"Junior Brother."

Lifting the tea from the table and taking a gentle sniff, Pei Jingque wore a complex expression.

"Have you forgotten... the Treasure Artifact True Man?"

Hmm?

Zhu Ju raised an eyebrow.

The so-called Treasure Artifact True Man referred to certain Cultivators he had encountered in the Otherworld.

Their Cultivation Techniques were extremely unusual; they increased their Cultivation by relying on the Visualization and refining of Magical Artifacts.

Once the Visualization Technique in their minds was made tangible and forged into a Magical Artifact using various Refining Materials, the artifact and the technique would merge into one, and their path would reach Merit Perfection.

Because their entire Cultivation resided within the Magical Artifact they refined, they were called Treasure Artifact True Men.

However, even if a Treasure Artifact True Man cultivated their strength to its peak, they would barely be at the start of the Dao Foundation stage. Their path forward was a dead end, making them completely irrelevant to his own Cultivation.

"Senior Sister..."

As a thought occurred to him, Zhu Ju’s expression changed slightly. He spoke tentatively, as if guessing at something.

"The Three-Flame Simurgh Fan?"

"Correct," Pei Jingque sighed, saying,

"After taking the Life-Taking Pill, the chances of advancing to the Golden Core were infinitesimal. I was only trying on an off-chance."

"Fortunately, besides that Method, the path of the Treasure Artifact True Man described in the *Artifact Refining Truth* you gave me was also an option."

"Now..."

She wiggled her fingers, a bitter smile on her face.

"I’m half-human, half-artifact. Or... you could think of me as an Artifact Spirit, not a Cultivator."

Zhu Ju’s expression changed drastically. He reached out and grabbed Pei Jingque’s wrist, then couldn’t help but gasp sharply.

There was no pulse!

Right now, Pei Jingque was like a corpse with all its Meridians severed.

Her Essence, Qi, and Spirit had already detached from her Physical Body and merged with the Magical Treasure, the Three-Flame Simurgh Fan.

She herself had become a being akin to an Artifact Spirit.

"I am an Artifact Refiner, so I comprehended a Method from the *Artifact Refining Truth* that allows one to house their Divine Soul."

Pei Jingque spoke slowly,

"Using the abundant Primordial Energy from the Golden Core breakthrough, I used an Artifact Refining Method to forge my Divine Soul and Magical Power into the Magical Treasure. As a result, my Physical Body is now a Puppet, and the Magical Treasure is my true body."

"Using the materials I’ve collected over the years, along with my entire life’s Cultivation, I re-forged the Three-Flame Simurgh Fan. It is now a High Grade Magical Treasure, so my strength is no less than that of a Golden Core Grandmaster."

"What about your lifespan?" Zhu Ju asked.

"A Treasure Artifact True Man doesn’t get an extended lifespan."

"..." Pei Jingque gave a bitter smile.

"I’m alright. Although I won’t reach the eight-hundred-year lifespan of a Golden Core Grandmaster, living for another three to five hundred years shouldn’t be a problem."

"The problem is..."

"As an Artifact Spirit, my Primordial Spirit is being assimilated. And since I can no longer practice Cultivation, I have no way to resist this assimilation."

Zhu Ju frowned, tapping a finger between Pei Jingque’s eyebrows.

After advancing to ’Golden Core,’ Pei Jingque’s Primordial Spirit had become exceedingly powerful, like a true Vermilion Bird.

A Divine Beast from the desolate ancient past, capable of incinerating an entire world.

The moment Zhu Ju’s Divine Thought probed inside, it was completely incinerated by a scorching Qi. It even showed signs of striking back at his Divine Soul. Fortunately, Pei Jingque took control, opening up her Primordial Spirit for his inspection.

After a long moment.

Zhu Ju slowly withdrew his finger.

"An Essence Spirit!"

He said slowly,

"Some Magical Treasures have the Essence Spirits of other beings added during their refinement to increase their power."

"You refined your own Primordial Spirit into it as if it were an Essence Spirit, and this is the result."

"Correct," Pei Jingque nodded.

"To be able to advance to Golden Core... or at least, for me to possess the combat strength of a Golden Core now, is already a great fortune. There’s no need to be upset about it."

Admittedly, ever since she took the Life-Taking Pill, her path to the Golden Core had been severed. To now possess the combat strength of a Golden Core was a stroke of luck.

"Besides," Pei Jingque pursed her lips.

"The assimilation of my Primordial Spirit won’t happen overnight. I should be able to hold on for another hundred years. Even if my Primordial Spirit’s consciousness is completely worn away by then, you, Junior Brother, and the Bright Void Sect will still get a High Grade Magical Treasure, won’t you?"

"Don’t worry about it!"

She seemed to be taking it quite well.

"Is there a way to solve this?" Zhu Ju, however, wasn’t ready to give up. After some thought, he said,

"Is there a Method to strengthen your Primordial Spirit and stop the assimilation?"

"There are, but they aren’t suitable for me," Pei Jingque said, shaking her head.

"My Physical Body is now devoid of life. My Meridians are severed and my organs are burned away. I can’t practice any Cultivation Techniques at all."

"A Divine Soul Secret Technique!" A glint appeared in Zhu Ju’s eyes.

"Some Divine Soul Secret Techniques can be cultivated without a physical body. As long as your Primordial Spirit is strong enough, Senior Sister, you can resist the Magical Treasure’s assimilation, or at the very least, delay it."

"That is true," Pei Jingque said, rubbing her temples with a sigh.

"But such Secret Techniques have only ever appeared in legends. Whether they even exist in the present day is another matter entirely."

Methods for cultivating Yin Souls and Primordial Spirits are already rare in the Cultivation Realm; those suitable for her situation were even rarer.

A few Methods did come to mind.

Unfortunately, they were all top-tier Secret Techniques that had been lost since the Ancient Era.

Putting aside whether their lineages even still existed, even if they did, why would the inheritors teach the Cultivation Technique to Pei Jingque?

"There is one other way," Zhu Ju continued.

"The Innate Origin Qi!"