Golden Core

Lin Zhiyue pushed open the door of the dining hall, told Supervisor Zhao about the resumption of afternoon tea, and casually baked two trays of egg tarts to warm up her stall.

Business in the afternoon was as good as always. The queue was even longer than before her secluded cultivation, and she was busy until the sun began to sink westward before she packed up her stall. Just as she was wiping down the counter and preparing to head back, the system's light screen suddenly popped up.

A row of large golden characters floated right in the center of the screen:

【The Northern Realm Secret Realm will open in three months. Cultivation requirement for entry: Golden Core Stage to Nascent Soul Stage.】

【Northern Realm Secret Realm: A place jointly governed by the Six Sects. Numerous great experts have fallen here, and opportunities abound everywhere.】

【Quest Issued: Advance to the Golden Core Stage within three months and obtain entry qualification for the Northern Realm Secret Realm.】

【Quest Rewards: Premium Draw Ticket x10; unlocking of the limited-time Red Grade card pool "Mermaid's Love Song"; Red Grade equipment piece x1 (random drop).】

【Quest Countdown: 180 days】

Lin Zhiyue's hand wiping the counter paused.

She had heard Qi Yan mention the Northern Realm Secret Realm briefly before. He said it was one of the major secret realms in the Sanglan Realm, where the remains of several great experts at or above the Soul Transformation Stage were buried. Legacies of cultivation techniques, spiritual artifacts, and spiritual materials were scattered everywhere, but its level of danger was also more than a notch higher than ordinary secret realms.

It was jointly governed by the Six Sects, and the slots were limited. Those who could enter were by no means ordinary individuals.

Every time it opened, it would trigger a bloodbath—but that was for those in the Golden Core Stage to the Nascent Soul Stage. Currently at late-stage Foundation Establishment, she had not even reached the minimum threshold.

To rush from late-stage Foundation Establishment to the Golden Core Stage in three months.

For normal cultivators, going from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core took anywhere from several years to several decades. Three months—even if she possessed a dual ice- and wind-element Heavenly Spiritual Root, this timeframe was ridiculously tight.

But since the system had issued this quest, it meant it had determined she had a chance of completing it.

She rapidly calculated the feasibility and schedule in her mind.

Three months. She had to enter secluded cultivation for a final sprint, pouring all her energy into cultivation. Her afternoon tea business, which had just resumed, would have to be suspended again. However, the temptation of the Northern Realm Secret Realm was simply too great—the resting place of great experts, filled with techniques, spiritual artifacts, legacies, and opportunities. Even if she was just lucky enough to pick up one thing, it would be extremely beneficial.

Furthermore, there was the Red Grade card pool "Mermaid's Love Song" offered by the system. What did Red Grade mean? Jinyao Fairy was Red Grade, and her koi-fish constitution was still constantly bringing her little pleasant surprises even now. If she could obtain Mermaid's Love Song, there was no telling what level of skill she would get.

She put down the rag, cleaned up the items on the counter, and turned to head back.

Her pace was slightly faster than usual, and she had already mapped out about seventy to eighty percent of her plan for the next three months in her head—first, read through the Golden Core chapter of the 《Wind and Frost Void-Returning Formula》, draw up a daily cultivation schedule, ask Qi Yan for another bottle of Solidifying Essence Pills, completely halt afternoon tea, push off daily sect missions as much as possible, and devote all her energy to cultivation.

As she walked to the stone steps of the side peak, she ran into Qi Yan coming down from the direction of the main hall.

Qi Yan glanced at her, his gaze lingering on her pace, which was noticeably swifter than usual. Just as he was about to speak, Lin Zhiyue had already quickly stepped up to him.

“Master,” she said in a rush, “I heard about the Northern Realm Secret Realm, and I want to go. I need to advance to the Golden Core Stage within three months, so I might have to fully enter secluded cultivation during this time. I won't be doing afternoon tea for now, and sword lessons—” She paused, gritting her teeth. “Can we pause the sword lessons for a while?”

Qi Yan looked down at her, remaining silent for a few breaths.

The twilight cast a layer of serene light behind him, and his deep black eyes reflected her image. He spoke, his tone steady: “You have only just stabilized your late-stage Foundation Establishment. Your foundation isn't completely solid yet—”

“I know,” Lin Zhiyue interrupted him. Then, feeling she had been too impetuous, she quickly softened her tone. “I know I shouldn't rush, but... I also want to go check out the Northern Realm Secret Realm. If you could give me another bottle of the Solidifying Essence Pills you gave me before, Master...”

Qi Yan looked at her, a complex emotion in his eyes that she could not quite read. After a few breaths, he spoke: “I will have someone deliver the Solidifying Essence Pills to your courtyard tomorrow.” He paused before adding, “There is no need to stop the sword lessons. An hour every day, I will spar with you. Groping around on your own will yield half the result for twice the effort.”

Lin Zhiyue was stunned for a moment. She had originally prepared herself for Qi Yan telling her not to go to the Northern Realm because it was too dangerous. She had not expected him to directly offer to spar with her to help speed up her progress. Her lips parted, but in the end, she said nothing more, simply bowing deeply in a solemn salute. “Thank you, Master.”

Qi Yan gave a soft grunt of assent and stepped past her. As they brushed shoulders, he tilted his head slightly, his voice lowered by the twilight: “Three months. I will train with you. If you cannot reach the Golden Core Stage by then, do not go.”

Lin Zhiyue stood up straight, watching the dark green figure walk down the stone steps.

She stood in place for a moment, then turned and quickly returned to her courtyard. The moment she pushed open the door and entered, she cleared a space on her desk, placed the 《Wind and Frost Void-Returning Formula》 squarely in the very center, and flipped open a page.

In the days that followed, Lin Zhiyue began living the most disciplined life she had ever led since entering Tiance Palace.

Every morning at the hour of Mao, she would wake up and meditate to circulate her spiritual energy for two hours.

At the hour of Chen, she would go to the martial arts field to practice swordplay with Qi Yan for one hour. Though called sparring, it was actually Qi Yan using cultivation suppressed to late-stage Foundation Establishment to trade blows with her. Every single strike forced her to circulate her spiritual energy to its absolute limit just to block it.

At the hour of Wu, she would return to meditate and stabilize her foundation. In the afternoon, she would flip through the 《Wind and Frost Void-Returning Formula》, digesting it word by word and circling the parts she did not understand.

In the evening, she would meditate for another two hours. Before night fell, she would channel her spiritual energy into the egg for fifteen minutes. Under the daily nourishment of her spiritual energy, the pale gold patterns on the shell grew brighter and brighter, and the warmth radiating from it became much more substantial than before.

Qi Yan delivered the second batch of Solidifying Essence Pills to her. This time, they were in a slightly larger jade bottle, enough to last her the full three months.

In addition, Qi Yan had also sent a scroll of handwritten annotations, which analyzed several difficult obstacles in the 《Wind and Frost Void-Returning Formula》 she was studying.

The annotations were written on fine stationery with a slender brush. The handwriting was vigorous and sharp. Though each entry was brief, they were incredibly precise and straight to the point, allowing her to progress much faster than struggling through the original text on her own.

By the end of the first month, fine, dense crystals began to form inside her body.

Every day, she used the method Qi Yan had taught her, repeatedly washing that layer of crystals with her spiritual energy, breaking them down and then reconsolidating them. With each cycle, the crystalline grains became denser and more uniform than the last.

By the second month, during her spars with Qi Yan on the martial arts field, she was already able to withstand seventy percent of his suppressed strength.

At the beginning of the third month, the clump of spiritual energy in her dantian had completely condensed into the prototype of an ice-blue core, roughly the size of a walnut. Its surface was wrapped in an extremely thin layer of frost mist, and the spiritual energy within rotated steadily and powerfully.

The prototype of her Golden Core had been condensed. Only the final hurdle remained—transforming liquid into solid, allowing this core to completely solidify and take shape.

This evening, after she finished channeling spiritual energy into the egg, she suddenly felt that the temperature of the shell's surface was slightly hotter than usual, and the golden patterns glowed so brightly they were almost blinding.

She looked down as the faint light within the shell surged for a moment before returning to tranquility. She lightly tapped the shell, thinking to herself that it would probably hatch soon. Once it came into the world, it would be just about time for her to head to the Northern Realm.

Settling her mind, she sank back into her dantian, watching the slowly solidifying core as she silently recited the mantra Qi Yan had taught her.