Chapter 508 - 477: Golden Core and Luck

In the Void Space, countless chaotic images flew and spun through Song Ciwan’s Sea of Consciousness.

Each image carried intense emotions that threatened to pull Song Ciwan’s entire consciousness in, inviting her to sink into despair with them, to forget herself and lose her way.

Song Ciwan focused her mind. The Samadhi True Fire burned quietly as the Heart Demon Seed devoured the demonic thoughts. Her consciousness was like a small boat on the waves, tossed and turned by the fierce gales.

Yet no matter how fierce the storm or how violently the boat rocked, the little vessel always forged steadfastly onward.

Even sailing against the wind, it was determined to ride the gales and break the waves!

Every one of Zhang Ping’s experiences, every turning point in her life, every step on her descent into ruin, had left a deep scar on her heart. This pain inevitably affected Song Ciwan.

But Song Ciwan didn’t truly empathize. Even as the Heart Demon tried to pull her into its dance, she always maintained a sliver of clarity.

It was simply that, to Song Ciwan, all of Zhang Ping’s experiences had elements that were absurd and incomprehensible.

’The most incomprehensible part is that the Chuzhou Zhang Family, an Ancient Noble Family from the previous Ancient Era, chose to solve their decline by... breeding?’

’Isn’t that ridiculous?’

’If you give birth to duds, a hundred litters will do you no good. If you give birth to a hero, you don’t need many—one is enough.’

’Instead of pinning your hopes on the next generation, or the one after, or an infinite number of generations to come, why not just try a little harder yourselves?’

’Or they could concentrate the entire family’s resources on supporting a few outstanding talents. That would be better than this endless cycle of breeding and culling, like they’re raising Gu worms.’

Yes, the Zhang Family’s rules were, first, to breed, and second, to compete.

The family’s resources were limited, but the population was snowballing out of control. How were resources to be allocated then? Aside from expanding outward, the only other option was internal competition.

The strife within the Zhang Family was so intense it bordered on perverse. The reason Zhang Ping fell from her positions as the Master of the Skill Transmission Pavilion and Preaching Hall Master, ultimately ending up "banished" to this Giant Spirit Realm, was because she had lost ground in the family’s internal struggles.

Her rival had cultivated a Celestial Pride Level descendant!

But among Zhang Ping’s own descendants, a top-tier genius was slow to emerge. In the end, unable to bear the ostracism, Zhang Ping made an oath and traveled far to the Nine Provinces to seek her fortune—

And as it turned out, she found exactly what she was looking for!

The Five Elements Crystal Pearls in the Giant Spirit Realm seemed similar to those in the outside world but were, in fact, quite different.

The Five Elements Crystal Pearls mined from this world could help Golden Core Dao Cultivators advance rapidly!

And that wasn’t all. This world’s Five Elements Crystal Pearls also had an extremely powerful suppressive effect on its various insects. Any giant insect struck by a Five Elements Crystal Pearl, no matter how powerful, would have its strength weakened by seventy percent or more.

So, Zhang Ping led her branch of the family to acquire Five Elements Crystal Pearls in the Giant Spirit Realm, which they then used to hunt the various giant insects there.

They then used the insect carcasses as materials to create all sorts of Spiritual Objects to sell to the outside world.

The giant insects of the Giant Spirit Realm were not to be underestimated. If released into the outside Mortal World, even the weakest among them were equivalent to the Spirit Communication Stage of the Demon Race. Those on par with the Demon Core Stage were also commonplace.

Such insect carcasses, whether sold directly or after being refined, could fetch an enormous profit.

Zhang Ping reaped huge benefits in this Giant Spirit Realm, gaining the foundation she needed to rise again and reclaim her influence within the family.

But her ambitions didn’t stop there. She wanted to go one step further and make a truly glorious return!

This so-called "one step further" involved spreading the Golden Core Cultivation Method farther and wider throughout the Mortal World, gaining more followers for her faction.

As for why the Zhang Family was so intent on aggressively promoting the Golden Core Method in the Nine Provinces, Song Ciwan found the answer within the fragmented memories of the Heart Demon.

It all began, naturally, with the opening of a Spirit Realm Secret Realm.

As it turned out, the Spirit Realm Secret Realm didn’t just exist in the Nine Provinces. It also existed in a lost land of the Nine Provinces—the world of Chuzhou, a fragment of an Ancient State!

What was particularly different was that although the Spirit Realm Secret Realms seemed to pop up everywhere in the Nine Provinces, they were actually quite rare relative to the sheer vastness of the provinces.

Furthermore, the Spirit Realm Secret Realms in the Nine Provinces weren’t permanent. A typical Secret Realm Light Gate might last for three to five days at minimum, or just over a month at most. Regardless, they would always dissipate on their own after a month.

But the Spirit Realm Secret Realm in Chuzhou, though it was only a single, solitary one, was permanent!

Ever since that Secret Realm Light Gate appeared eleven years ago, it has not closed.

In this Spirit Realm Secret Realm, the Chuzhou Zhang Family obtained the Golden Core Luck Method.

The more Foundation Establishment Pills distributed by the Chuzhou Zhang Family, the stronger the family’s luck would become!

If one of these people successfully formed a Golden Core, the luck generated would be equivalent to that of a hundred cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage.

If someone reached the Nascent Soul Stage, then the luck generated by that single individual would be equivalent to that of ten thousand cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage!

Song Ciwan struggled to piece together this information from amidst the chaotic, demonic thoughts. For a moment, she was both enlightened and deeply shaken.

’But there was still something she didn’t quite understand—’

’The Chuzhou Zhang Family is said to be a noble family of the Human Race that has survived since the Ancient Era. If so, they must have experienced the ancient Golden Core calamity and the plague of the Insect Race.’

’Were there really no warnings about the Insect Race left in their family’s legacy?’

’Even if they couldn’t pass down the core secrets directly, surely some peripheral warnings should exist... right?’

But that was a question Song Ciwan couldn’t answer right now.

At least, Zhang Ping’s Heart Demon could offer no explanation.

Zhang Ping finished reviewing her life and, at some point, found herself sitting in a pool of blood, her face streaked with tears.

Her life, while not epic in scope, had been filled with its own unique trials and tribulations.

It had only taken her one hundred and eighty years to cultivate to the Divine Refining Stage, which was on par with the Nascent Soul Stage!

Yes, Zhang Ping was currently only one hundred eighty-seven years old.

She began her studies at three and formally embarked on the path of Cultivation at seven. One hundred and eighty years had passed in a flash.

That age might seem long, but in the context of the entire Great World, it was nothing at all.

After all, even without practicing the Golden Core Dao, an ordinary Earth Immortal of the Human Race could live for over a thousand years. At one hundred eighty-seven, Zhang Ping should not have looked so old.

Yet she was. The damage from childbirth was the main reason.

After all, this was childbirth for a Cultivator, which consumed many times more vital essence and blood than it did for a mortal!

Especially since Zhang Ping wanted to birth a true genius, she had resorted to consuming all sorts of wondrous medicines and performing various Secret Techniques, all to infuse spirituality into her offspring.

So in the end... did she get the genius descendants she longed for?

Objectively speaking, she did have a few genius descendants.

But the interesting thing was, to this day, not a single one of her genius descendants had surpassed her in Cultivation!

Not one. Not a single one had surpassed her...