Time trickled by, and before one knew it, a year had passed.

Yuan Ming's cave mansion had been closed since and had not opened once, with a layer of dust settled on the door.

Two years went by, and still, there was no sign of the secret chamber where Yuan Ming was in seclusion showing any signs of opening.

Three years...

In the blink of an eye, five years had elapsed.

On this day, Hua Zhi, Vajra, and Lei Yu were sitting at the entrance of the secret chamber in a pin-shaped formation, guarding the door with a somewhat bored expression.

For the full span of five years, aside from the occasional hurried visits from Zuo Qinghui, there had been almost no news from Yuan Ming. Worried that sending a message might disturb Yuan Ming's Core Formation, they dared not inquire about the situation inside.

Hua Zhi, by nature restless, stretched in a languid yawn, just about to get up.

Boom!

A wild wind arose near Yuan Ming's cave mansion, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged, crazily infusing into the cave mansion, forming a spiritual energy vortex several miles in size, whistling as it spiraled.

Hua Zhi's Three Beasts were also caught in this sudden spiritual energy vortex, the force of the vortex so great that their bodies were swept into the air.

"Ah ya, what's going on?" Hua Zhi extended her hands into vines, rooting them into the stone wall behind her to stabilize her figure.

"It seems the master has succeeded," Vajra said as inner breath coursed through him, nullifying the sweeping force of the spiritual energy vortex, his body landing firmly on the ground, his eyes gleaming with a hint of brilliance.

Lei Yu's body erupted with lightning, tearing through the force of the spiritual energy vortex, his eyes also revealing a touch of joy.

The astonishing phenomena around Yuan Ming's cave mansion naturally could not escape the eyes of the cultivators in Spirit Wind City.

"This phenomenon? Someone is about to form their Core!"

Many cultivators from the lower and middle strata, upon seeing this scene, flew out to observe the phenomenon in the sky, their faces showing extreme envy.

The Core Formation Stage cultivators living in the upper region kept to themselves, mostly not appearing, but such massive fluctuations in spiritual energy naturally could not be hidden from them. Powerful Divine Senses swept towards Yuan Ming's residence, only to be rudely repelled by the Five Elements Illusion Destruction Array.

Within the Spirit Wind Hall, several Core Formation Stage cultivators of the Spirit Talisman Sect also looked over, their expressions varied.

"Another person has formed their core. If we count, this would be the fourth in a hundred years," a lady in green robes said joyfully.

"The Sect Master's decision to relax the management of Spirit Wind City was truly wise. Many loose cultivators lacking a place for Core Formation have come to Spirit Wind City. Almost half of them have become guest elders of the Spirit Talisman Sect, greatly strengthening our sect's power. Everyone here has contributed," a scholarly middle-aged man nodded and said with a smile.

This cultivator had the highest cultivation, having already reached Late-stage Core Formation, and appeared to be the leader among the Core Formation Stage cultivators present.

"It is all thanks to Elder Wen's capable management that so many are willing to join our sect," another Core Formation Stage cultivator said with a smile, referring to the bald elder who had arranged for Yuan Ming's rental.

"Let's not be modest, for the year-end sect rewards, I will try my best to obtain some for you. Now that another Core Formation Stage Fellow Daoist has emerged, let's find out which cave mansion it is. We'll send someone to contact them later to see if they are willing to join our sect," the scholarly middle-aged man said.

"Judging by the location of the spiritual energy vortex, it should be cave mansion number twelve, it seems to be that person," the bald elder said.

"Elder Pi, are you familiar with the person residing there?" the scholarly middle-aged man asked.

"Hm, I was the one who handled his rental. It's been just five years, and he has successfully formed his core. He is probably the fastest to achieve Core Formation in the past hundred years," Elder Pi remarked.

"In that case, you go invite him," the scholarly middle-aged man said.

"Alright," Elder Pi nodded.

…

The colossal spiritual energy vortex lasted for a quarter of an hour before it burst open, forming a spectacular array of five-colored aurora, which then dissipated completely after a few breaths.

Inside the secret chamber of the cave mansion, Yuan Ming slowly stood up from the ground, his face covered with stubble, looking disheveled as if he were a beggar.

However, his entire demeanor had completely transformed, his eyes emitting a frightening brilliance. With every gesture, substantial waves of mana impacted against the restrictions of the cave mansion, causing them to flicker incessantly.

"Three times... I've finally formed my core." Yuan Ming looked at his hands, overjoyed with his achievement.

Although he had prepared various auxiliary methods for this Core Formation and had both the Soul Pill and Washing Elixir Spirit Liquid to aid him, his Spirit Root aptitude was indeed very low, making the process extremely arduous. His first two attempts at Core Formation had ended in failure.

Each failure not only wreaked havoc on his body, requiring a long time to recover, but also dealt a severe blow to his confidence.

Especially after the second failure, he almost doubted whether he could ever succeed in Core Formation with his aptitude. After all, Core Formation Stage cultivators are already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in the Cultivation World, and it's likely that not even one in a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators would reach the peak of Foundation Establishment and successfully condense a Golden Core.

Those who reached the peak of Foundation Establishment not only generally had better aptitude than himself but also had their own fortunes and opportunities. It was evidently an uphill battle for him to succeed.

Fortunately, Yuan Ming had been tempered in the Southern Border, and with his determined character, after a period of self-doubt, he quickly adjusted his mood, brought every aspect of his body to its best state, re-cultivated the Hidden Vein Condensing Pill Technique, and accumulated enough mana to begin his third assault.

With the experience from the two previous attempts, the third effort finally paid off, as the mana within his Dantian finally merged Yin and Yang, condensing into a Golden Core.

The Golden Core flickered with gold, green, blue, red, and black lights; the first four colors represented his Four Spirit Roots physique, while the last black light signified the yin attribute.

Because Yuan Ming used the Soul Pill secret technique during his Core Formation attempt, after forming his Golden Core, the Soul Pill's mission was complete, and it returned to the Sea of Consciousness along with the main soul.

However, during the Core Formation process, a significant portion of Soul Power was absorbed by the Golden Core, resulting in the emergence of the fifth color of light.

The Jade Scroll of Xi Cangqiong had no record of such a circumstance, and Yuan Ming did not know whether it was good or bad.

After advancing to the Core Formation Stage, not only did his Golden Core solidify, but the mana inside his Dantian also underwent an earth-shattering change, becoming several times denser and extremely pure.

Now, he could condense Pill Fire within his body to nurture rune formations and refine magic treasures.

After the excitement had passed, Yuan Ming quickly calmed down, sorted out his appearance, and then sat down cross-legged again to run the Nine Elements Technique to stabilize his surging mana.

Seven days and nights later, the mana within his body had completely settled down.

Yuan Ming cycled his thick mana and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Having broken through to the Core Formation Stage, his lifespan increased to five or six hundred years. He no longer needed to worry about insufficient lifespan like before and could settle down to do things he enjoyed aside from cultivation.

More importantly, breaking through to the Core Formation Stage meant that Yuan Ming finally had a certain say in the Cultivation World. His strength had greatly increased, and coupled with the Divine Power of Soul Cultivation from the fifth layer of the Moonlight Technique, he was no longer the small character who could be easily manipulated by others.

Whether it was Guiyuan Sect or Five Thunder Sect, or even the threat from Chang Chun Temple, he now had enough confidence to resist. He wouldn't be as suffocated as before when the opponent merely sent a Core Formation Stage cultivator to pressure him.

Yuan Ming steadied his mind, contemplating his next plan.

Having just broken through to the Core Formation Stage and yet to refine a magic treasure, he was at a disadvantage in combat against cultivators of the same rank. His current top priority was to refine a lifebound magical treasure for himself.

Yuan Ming had already decided on his lifebound magical treasure and with a flip of his hand, he summoned a Black Sword, which was none other than the Soul Destroying Sword.

The main material of the Soul Destroying Sword was Nine Nether Iron, which had immense potential and was exceptionally compatible with his Soul Cultivation Divine Power and did not conflict with the Nine Elements Technique, making it highly suitable to be refined into his lifebound magical treasure.

However, the Soul Destroying Sword currently only had four runes installed; he needed to add one more to form a rune formation and thereby advance it into a magical treasure.

Yuan Ming had not yet decided which rune would be the final addition.

Refining a lifebound magical treasure requires caution; once completed, it cannot be changed, and he must carefully consider all details, as the slightest oversight cannot be afforded.

Moreover, Yuan Ming's artifact refining skills still needed improvement. Although he was already capable of refining top-grade magical tools, he was not confident about adding the last rune to the Soul Destroying Sword, nor did he have a trustworthy Artifact Refiner acquainted well enough to complete this step for him.

"Forget it, this matter can be considered slowly. After all, I still have other magic treasures at hand," said Yuan Ming as he took out three magic treasures: the Golden Sun Ruler of Zuo Qinghui, the White Bone Knife of Elder Hai, and the Bronze Small Tripod of Elder Guo.

The Purple Star Nine Dragon Spear was with Vajra, as the spear greatly enhanced Vajra's combat power, so he did not take it back.

Picking up the Golden Sun Ruler, Yuan Ming exhaled a green flame that enveloped it, as he began to refine it with incantations between his hands.

Yet, a surge of golden light arose from the Golden Sun Ruler, obstructing the penetration of mana.

However, having reached the Core Formation Stage, Yuan Ming's mana had undergone a qualitative transformation. With the operation of the spell, he quickly broke through the barrier of the golden light and penetrated into the innermost core of the Golden Sun Ruler, making contact with its most central rune formation.

The golden rune formation consisted of five intertwined runes, forming an entity similar to an array.

"A rune formation?" This was Yuan Ming's first time truly encountering the rune formation within a magical treasure.

The power of the five golden runes was amplified by the rune formation, increasing their might several times, not something magical tools could compare to, which is why magical tools stood no chance against a magical treasure.

Yuan Ming scanned the five runes of the Golden Sun Ruler, recognizing them as Armor Breaking, Sharpness, and similar runes, except for one rune he didn't recognize.

This rune was rather special, appearing as though two runes were superimposed on each other.

Yuan Ming recalled Zuo Qinghui's use of the Golden Sun Ruler, which had created multiple ruler shadows. Those shadows were not remnants but possessed considerable power, likely an effect of this unknown rune.

Activating his mana, he poured it into the rune formation, rapidly refining and allowing his Divine Sense to seep into the formation.

After a magical treasure is refined, a Divine Soul Mark remains within the rune formation. Unless the mark is completely expelled by a new owner, they don't truly possess the treasure.

Yuan Ming's Divine Sense quickly encountered the core of the rune formation and saw a dim Divine Soul Mark floating there.

He stimulated his Divine Sense to envelop the Divine Soul Mark, attempting to remove it.

The Soul Mark was deeply embedded in the rune formation, and although Yuan Ming's Divine Power was formidable, it was stifled and thus slow to act.

At this rate, it would take several months to completely expel the mark.

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