Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Celestial Phenomenon of Core Formation

While Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng were deep in thought, Li Ping was thinking about other things.

’After I reach Core Formation and take control of the Immortal City, the first thing I’ll do is expel Dai Sangyu and Xiong Pohai.’ Li Ping thought silently, but he quickly shook his head. ’No, by that time, they’ll probably have died of old age. I’ll just have to throw their bones out of the Immortal City.’

The Demon Cultivator who had impersonated Hu Feng had already been killed by Li Ping.

According to the rumors that had been spread, Dai Sangyu would never be able to break through to Core Formation in her lifetime.

With her lifespan at the Foundation Establishment Stage, she would die even before Fenglan Master.

Xiong Pohai was even older than Meng Qingyi, at least one hundred forty or fifty years old, so it would be just as difficult for him to outlive Fenglan Master.

Li Ping had his own way of snatching spiritual victory from the jaws of defeat. ’It’s fine. Even if I can’t get my revenge personally, dancing on their graves after I reach Core Formation will be satisfying enough.’

Gumu Sheng had another question. "Big Brother, can I become a manager at the Ten Thousand Laws Tower?"

If he could directly become a manager at the Ten Thousand Laws Tower, he certainly wouldn’t think about opening his own shop.

After all, opening a large shop of his own came with risks.

But as a manager of the Ten Thousand Laws Tower, with his business acumen and by cooperating with Zhang Tie who managed logistics, the amount of Spirit Stones he could earn would be anything but small.

Hearing this, Li Ping smiled and said, "You are a Master’s disciple and one of the Immortal City’s own. Why couldn’t you be a manager at the Ten Thousand Laws Tower? Of course, success depends on human effort. If you were willing to do as Zhang Tie did and marry a woman from the Meng family, with Meng Qingyi speaking up for you, your chances of success would probably be much greater."

Gumu Sheng thought for a moment and realized it was true.

’With Zhang Tie’s simple and honest personality, how could he have landed such a cushy job as the Immortal City’s logistics manager if he hadn’t married a woman from the Meng family?’

’As for marrying a woman from the Meng family, he had planned to take a wife after reaching Foundation Establishment anyway. What difference did it make who he married?’

At this thought, he spoke without hesitation, "I’ll listen to you, Big Brother. I am willing to marry a woman from the Meng family."

Li Ping nodded. "Don’t be too eager; that’s no way to make a deal. There’s no rush. You’re the one these Heroic Clans will be fighting to marry their daughters to. Let’s wait for them to come knocking. Your task right now is to choose a High-tier Cultivation Technique, then enter seclusion to cultivate and stabilize your realm."

"I understand, Big Brother!" Gumu Sheng replied respectfully.

Li Ping stood up. "You may go."

"Yes, Big Brother!" the two replied hurriedly.

However, Gumu Sheng didn’t move right away. Instead, he smiled and asked Zhang Tie to head back first, saying he still had some cultivation questions for their Big Brother.

Although Zhang Tie was a bit suspicious, he didn’t overthink it and left directly.

After Zhang Tie had left, Gumu Sheng said sheepishly, "Big Brother, I failed when I used the first Foundation Establishment Pill to attempt my breakthrough. I only succeeded after using the second one."

According to what he had originally told Li Ping, if he had succeeded in his breakthrough with just one pill, he would have saved the remaining Foundation Establishment Pill for his fourth sister, Cheng Yao.

Now that he had used both pills, it was only right to inform his Big Brother.

But Li Ping wasn’t bothered by this at all. So what if he used them? For someone with Gumu Sheng’s Four Spirit Roots aptitude, using two Foundation Establishment Pills to successfully break through was perfectly normal.

He just smiled and said, "I know."

...

Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng left, but Li Ping remained in the pavilion, lost in thought.

With Zhang Tie as the Immortal City’s logistics manager, he had never considered using Zhang Tie’s connections to gather any materials.

Firstly, Zhang Tie had only recently become the logistics manager; it was his time to prove himself. Secondly, he was a rather simple and honest man who lacked real-world experience. If he were to bend the rules for personal gain, he would easily be caught.

But Gumu Sheng was different from Zhang Tie. As a mere Qi Refining Cultivator, he had not only managed to scrape together enough Spirit Stones to buy a dose of Jade Heart Liquid, but had also been able to fork over nearly a thousand Spirit Stones to cover the shortfall for the Foundation Establishment Pills.

His business skills were evident.

With such strong management skills, if he were to become a manager at the Ten Thousand Laws Tower, he would surely gain complete control of the entire place very quickly.

Secretly gathering the Spirit Medicines and Spiritual Materials Li Ping needed should not be a particularly difficult task for him.

In the future, when Li Ping needed thousand-year Spirit Medicines or other Spiritual Objects of the Core Formation Stage, he might not have to travel thousands of miles to Jixia.

’I hope the two of them can join forces and carve out a new path for themselves. And then there’s Cheng Yao; her chances of reaching Foundation Establishment are also quite high.’ A smile appeared on Li Ping’s face.

Regarding Gumu Sheng’s matter, Li Ping prepared to pay a visit to Meng Qingyi.

Back during the beast tide, he had been commissioned by Meng Qingyi to create a large number of Tier Two Spirit Talismans for the Immortal City.

Although Meng Qingyi had gifted him a Talisman Brush beforehand, after deducting its value, she still owed him a favor of considerable size.

Now was the time to call in that favor.

Sitting in the pavilion, Li Ping sighed softly. "Without even realizing it, the Friends Association has already come this far."

Of course, Li Ping knew full well.

Reaching Foundation Establishment was already the limit for the Cultivators in the Friends Association, aside from himself. For the rest of them, Core Formation was completely unattainable.

The Core Formation Cultivators in the Western Wilderness’s Cultivation Realm either had Celestial Spiritual Roots or Abnormal Spiritual Roots. It was as rare as a phoenix feather to see a Dual Spirit Root Cultivator reach Core Formation, to say nothing of those with Three Spirit Roots or Four Spirit Roots.

Ultimately, the others would gradually be left behind by him.

"Time to go back and cultivate." Li Ping stood up.

But in the instant he stood, a look of horror flashed in his eyes as he felt the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi begin to tremble violently.

Li Ping couldn’t help but look up at the sky.

He saw the vast, cloudless azure sky suddenly contort and change color!

Amid flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, a vast swathe of ink-black clouds enveloped the sky above Cyan Dragon Mountain in the blink of an eye. The roar of thunder was deafening, and electric serpents danced wildly within the dark clouds!

The instant this bizarre celestial phenomenon appeared, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi also began to gather in massive quantities, gradually forming a vast vortex of Spiritual Qi above Cyan Dragon Mountain. The vortex continuously absorbed the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, eventually growing to span several dozen li.

"This..." Witnessing this spectacle, Li Ping was utterly dumbfounded.

Gumu Sheng had previously entered seclusion on Cyan Dragon Mountain to break through to Foundation Establishment, but Li Ping, on Immortal Peach Mountain, had been completely unaware. This was because the Spiritual Qi fluctuations caused by a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment were limited to a radius of just a few li.

But these Spiritual Qi fluctuations were affecting almost the entire Immortal City, and the condensed vortex of Spiritual Qi was dozens of li wide.

Li Ping could see it clearly even from Immortal Peach Mountain!

Such a celestial phenomenon, if he wasn’t mistaken, was something that only appeared when a Cultivator was breaking through to the great realm of Core Formation and their Golden Core was about to be completed.

And in the entire Immortal City, the only person qualified to attempt a breakthrough to Core Formation was Dai Sangyu, a Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Li Ping’s expression was grimly uncertain. ’You cunning fox. Playing such a dirty trick, spreading rumors like that.’

A Core Formation Cultivator was no small matter.

If the Immortal City’s potential enemies knew Dai Sangyu was attempting to break through to Core Formation, they would certainly interfere. She wouldn’t have been able to attempt her breakthrough so smoothly!

If the disturbance had been greater, even Li Ping might not have been able to resist doing something.

But Dai Sangyu had deliberately released the news ahead of time, leading everyone to believe that her state of mind was damaged and that Core Formation was impossible for her.

Once the Immortal City’s external enemies had let down their guard, she secretly attempted her breakthrough to Core Formation, and now, she was on the verge of success.

That’s right. How could Li Ping not realize it now? Everyone, including himself, had been deceived by Dai Sangyu’s disguise.

Before this Core Formation phenomenon appeared, he had still believed that Dai Sangyu, caught in his schemes, was shut away reflecting on her faults, destined only to die of old age!

But from the looks of it now, Dai Sangyu’s breakthrough to Core Formation was already in its final stage. Any interference would be meaningless; it couldn’t affect her at all.

In all likelihood, the Immortal City would soon have a second Core Formation Cultivator.

"Whew!" Li Ping let out a long breath.

He knew his carefully laid plans had come to nothing. Since Dai Sangyu was highly likely to succeed in reaching Core Formation, it would be difficult for Li Ping to seize control of the Immortal City from her, even after he reached Core Formation himself.

There was still hope for dancing on her grave, but with the long lifespan of a Core Formation Cultivator, he would have to wait at least three hundred more years.

’This is fine too. In a way, it’s a good thing. You’ve reached Core Formation, so you have enough lifespan to live until I reach it. When that time comes, I’ll settle the score with you properly!’

With his ’this is a good thing’ brand of spiritual victory, Li Ping’s mood quickly returned to normal.

Cultivators have long lifespans; there was no need to fight over short-term victories and defeats.

Dai Sangyu was only one step ahead of him for now. With his unparalleled talent, he would sooner or later leave her far behind.

So what if she reached Core Formation now?

Core Formation was the end of the road for her in this life.

And what about Li Ping?

Core Formation would only be a small, insignificant part of his journey toward the Immortal Dao.

...

「Several days later.」

Li Ping watched on as the colossal Spiritual Qi vortex spanning dozens of li above Cyan Dragon Mountain seemed to have absorbed enough Spiritual Qi. Following a clear cry that sounded like both a dragon’s roar and a phoenix’s call, it dispersed like a receding tide.

Within the chaotic Spiritual Qi, a brilliant, five-colored light faintly shimmered, like a sea of rainbows.

Then, the clouds and mist dissipated, the dancing electric serpents vanished, and everything returned to normal, revealing the azure sky and the bright, high sun!

Li Ping understood. Dai Sangyu had successfully reached Core Formation.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Li Ping turned and walked into his training room to focus on his cultivation.

Perhaps Dai Sangyu didn’t even remember the mere Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator she had humiliated ten years ago, and had never given him a second thought. But Li Ping had already decided to focus on his cultivation from now on and cause as little trouble outside as possible.

As for the plan to make Gumu Sheng a manager of the Ten Thousand Laws Tower, he only intended to mention it to Meng Qingyi, not to force the issue.

With Dai Sangyu’s successful breakthrough to Core Formation, Meng Qingyi’s days would likely not be so comfortable anymore.

After all, when the Meng family and the other Heroic Clans had demanded a thorough investigation into Ye Chen, they had pointed the finger directly at Dai Sangyu.

This ultimately led to Dai Sangyu being stripped of her position as head of general affairs, with Meng Qingyi taking her place.

Although the real reason was that she wanted to enter seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to Core Formation and had no desire to manage general affairs any longer.

But given that woman’s pettiness—she couldn’t even tolerate Li Ping coincidentally using Lin Yue’s lost Foundation Establishment Pill.

Could she really not care that Meng Qingyi had taken her position?

Li Ping thought it was impossible.

The several Heroic Clans, led by the Meng family, were probably having a massive headache right now.

The rumors Dai Sangyu had spread had fooled them as well.

If they had known Dai Sangyu could attempt her breakthrough to Core Formation as planned.

Even if they were ten times bolder, they wouldn’t have dared to point the finger at Dai Sangyu.

But now, it was too late for everything.

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