[Within your dantian, one hundred and thirty-three drops of liquid Mountain and Sea spiritual power surged with astonishing, turbulent force.]
[The might of your physical body was completely restrained. Like a black hole, it ceaselessly devoured the surrounding spiritual energy.]
[The efficacy of the Crystal Condensation Pill spread through your body, pushing your radiating spiritual pressure infinitely close to that of a False Core Master.]
['It would be great if this attempt at Core Formation succeeds, but it doesn't matter if it fails. At the very least, I can use the experience to clear obstacles for my next attempt.']
[Unlike other cultivators attempting Core Formation, you felt extremely relaxed.]
[This was just a simulation. Even if you failed, you would have the chance to try again, unlike other cultivators who almost never got a second attempt at Core Formation.]
[Whoosh—]
[With the aid of the Crystal Condensation Pill, your condition rapidly surpassed its peak. The one hundred and thirty-three drops of liquid spiritual power within your dantian began continuously compressing toward the center.]
[The most crucial step in attempting the Core Formation Realm was the solidification of liquid spiritual power.]
[This process was influenced by a cultivator's physical constitution, the quality of their spiritual power, the strength of their divine sense, their spiritual root aptitude, their potential, and their specific state of mind, among many other factors.]
[Whether or not you could form a golden core did not depend on your greatest strength, but on your greatest weakness.]
[Like a wooden barrel, the amount of water you could hold was determined by the shortest stave.]
[The purpose of the Crystal Condensation Pill was to temporarily elevate your greatest weakness, allowing you to meet the minimum requirements for Core Formation.]
[As for the specific quality of the golden core you could form, that still relied on your overall foundation.]
[Regardless of the type, a Core Formation Spiritual Item was, at most, an auxiliary aid.]
[Whoosh!]
[A massive amount of spiritual energy surged into your body. High above the immortal cave where you resided, a massive spiritual energy vortex faintly formed.]
[Endless spiritual energy poured down the vortex and into your body, converting into liquid spiritual power to endlessly support your Core Formation attempt.]
[You did your utmost to control the liquid spiritual power with your divine sense, compressing it into a solid state.]
[As time passed, drops of liquid spiritual power continuously compressed at the very center of your dantian, finally condensing into translucent, crystalline particles.]
[You immediately took out the Fire Essence Jujube and Heavenly Pure Water, consuming them one after the other.]
[More and more crystalline particles formed, converging and congealing as they spun, absorbing even more liquid spiritual power.]
[After an unknown amount of time, a perfectly round, solid core finally and slowly took shape.]
[The surging liquid spiritual power multiplied, ceaselessly pouring into this solid core to completely solidify it.]
[Outside, Wu Ming hadn't left. Instead, he quietly watched your attempt at Core Formation.]
[As a False Core Master who had once attempted Core Formation himself, Wu Ming could tell whether a golden core was forming smoothly just from the external phenomena.]
[As for why he did this...]
[If you succeeded, Wu Ming would naturally be the first to offer his congratulations.]
[If you failed and died, Wu Ming could also be the first to collect your corpse.]
[As a friend of several decades, Wu Ming didn't want your corpse to be used for other purposes.]
[A cultivator's corpse, especially that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had many uses.]
[A certain portion of the immortal city cave-dwelling district's income came from the corpses of cultivators who failed to break through.]
["Alchemist Wang..."]
[Wu Ming looked up at the sky above the cave dwelling at that massive spiritual energy vortex funnel.]
[At this moment, the spiritual energy vortex funnel began to slowly collapse from the bottom up.]
["What a pity..."]
[Wu Ming sighed.]
[The collapse of the spiritual energy vortex funnel meant that the Core Formation process had terminated. The attempt had failed.]
[Although failure was the norm among the many cultivators attempting Core Formation, Wu Ming still felt a bit of pity.]
["Alchemist Wang didn't die?"]
[Sensing that your aura inside the cave dwelling remained quite stable, Wu Ming sighed inwardly and turned to leave.]
[It wasn't that Wu Ming had a cold personality; rather, he knew you definitely wouldn't want to see anyone right now.]
[Any cultivator who failed Core Formation, even if they were lucky enough to survive, would be in a state of extreme dejection.]
[Choosing not to see them at this time was the best approach.]
[Inside the cave dwelling.]
[You focused your mind entirely on your dantian.]
[At this moment, the solid core mass you had poured all your effort into forming began to slowly collapse.]
['I failed?']
[You didn't feel any despair; instead, you analyzed the reason for your failure.]
['There was absolutely no problem with the quality of my spiritual power. My state of mind didn't hold me back, and the strength of my divine sense goes without saying...']
[You sensed it carefully. 'Is it because of my potential? My potential was too low. I took the Stage-Breaking Pill twice, which burned through a lot of my potential. This resulted in me failing to reach the minimum threshold for Core Formation, even with the Crystal Condensation Pill temporarily boosting my potential...']
[A thoughtful look appeared on your face.]
[At the same time, you realized that if you had just taken one less Stage-Breaking Pill, leaving your potential a bit higher, you would have had more than enough to form a false core this time, even if you failed to form a golden core.]
[Sometimes, an attempt at Core Formation came down to missing by just a hair.]
[Although a False Core Master's strength was inferior to that of a golden core master, and their cultivation would be stuck at the Core Formation Initial Stage for life, they were still Masters after all.]
[If you had never taken the Stage-Breaking Pill and your potential remained intact, there would have been an extremely high chance of forming a Lower-Grade Golden Core this time.]
[The quality of your spiritual power, the strength of your divine sense, and your state of mind had all reached the standard for an Upper-Grade Golden Core.]
['There's also my spiritual root aptitude. It's only a Mid-Grade Spirit Root, which severely held me back during the Core Formation process...']
[You thought to yourself.]
[Attempting Core Formation with a Mid-Grade Spirit Root was simply pushing it too far.]
[Why was attempting Core Formation so effortless for Heaven Spiritual Root cultivators? It was because their aptitude was so high that cultivating high-quality spiritual power was as simple as eating and drinking. The same logic applied to the strength of their divine sense. As for their state of mind? Heaven Spiritual Root cultivators swept through their peers from a young age; how could any of them have a poor state of mind?]
[In the current era, the only thing that might slightly hinder a Heaven Spiritual Root cultivator's Core Formation attempt was likely their physical constitution.]
[But they could just casually take a Core Formation Spiritual Item to temporarily elevate their physical foundation.]
[Moreover, Heaven Spiritual Root cultivators could also choose to practice body refinement to make up for this shortcoming.]
[The goal Heaven Spiritual Root cultivators pursued was to form a Flawless Golden Core, not simply to succeed in Core Formation.]
[It was said that in ancient times, true monstrous geniuses possessed both top-tier spiritual root aptitudes as well as Treasure Bodies, Dao Bodies, and many other talents, giving them a flawless, unblemished physical form.]
[As long as they reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, they could directly attempt Core Formation without needing any external items.]
['If my spiritual root aptitude reaches the High-Grade Spirit Root, and my physical body steps into the sixth layer of the Shanhai Body Tempering Art... then with the help of the Crystal Condensation Pill and other Core Formation Spiritual Items, I would have a chance at forming a Middle-Grade Golden Core...']
[Your thoughts churned.]
[You had cultivated the Shanhai Body Tempering Art to the peak of the fifth layer a long time ago. It was only out of fear of the Heavenly Tribulation that you had delayed stepping into the sixth layer.]
[Now that you had the experience of attempting Core Formation, you planned to take a slight risk and step into the sixth layer of the Shanhai Body Tempering Art in your next simulation.]
[As for your spiritual root aptitude... with the help of the Biyue Pool, reaching a High-Grade Spirit Root was just a matter of time.]
[Furthermore, with your current means, you had also mastered other methods of improving your spiritual root aptitude. It was just that all these methods were, at most, only effective for spiritual roots below the Earth Grade.]
Outside the simulation, Zhou Qing nodded slightly.
Although this Core Formation attempt was unsuccessful, learning all his flaws and hidden dangers made it completely worth it.
When other Foundation Establishment cultivators failed Core Formation, even if they learned their hidden dangers and flaws, they wouldn't get a chance to try again.
Failing Core Formation caused a backlash. Even if one survived, it resulted in a severe depletion of their origin potential. Even with a second chance at Core Formation, their hopes would be incredibly slim.
But Zhou Qing was different. Every simulation was a new beginning, and all of his depleted potential would be restored.
'I was able to survive this Core Formation attempt because my physical body was strong enough to withstand the backlash...' Zhou Qing thought silently.
The vast majority of Foundation Establishment cultivators who attempted Core Formation would die from being unable to withstand the backlash upon failure.
This was exactly what had happened to Shen Lingxiu.
'Shen Lingxiu?'
Zhou Qing's expression shifted slightly as he looked toward a certain part of the immortal city.
During this time period, Shen Lingxiu's parents should still be alive, and she herself would be blissfully happy under their care.
[After summarizing the reasons for your failed breakthrough, you began to recover.]
[Failing Core Formation caused the core mass in your dantian, which had almost condensed into a solid, to disintegrate and revert into liquid spiritual power.]
[The process of collapsing from a solid state back to a liquid state placed tremendous pressure on the physical body. Although you withstood it, your internal organs still suffered some injuries.]
[However, these injuries weren't significant. With a physique comparable to a cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, you would recover after resting for just a few days.]
[There was still a lot of time left on the lease for this Tier Three immortal cave.]
[Half a month later, you completely recovered.]
[Even though your Core Formation attempt failed, you were still a Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator.]
[You were still an all-rounder cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection with comprehensive methods, proficient in numerous crafts.]
[You walked out of the cave dwelling.]
[The female reception cultivator refunded your remaining spirit stones based on the exact number of days leased.]
[Walking along the streets of Taiyuan Immortal City, you suddenly felt somewhat lost.]
[The Luofeng Mountain Market had been sold to the Zhou Family, and you had no intention of returning. In this vast cultivation world, you felt like a lone wanderer.]
['I might as well take advantage of this remaining time to properly travel around the Taiyuan Region.']
[You decided to travel while simultaneously studying your crafts.]
[Year 185: You were 201 years old.]
[You arrived at the extreme east of the Taiyuan Region, where it bordered the Zixiao Domain.]
[The ruler of the Zixiao Domain was the Nascent Soul-tier faction, the Zixiao Palace.]
[Year 187: You were 203 years old.]
[You arrived at the extreme south of the Taiyuan Region.]
[You gazed far into the distance. Several hundred li further in this direction was the Moon Demon Domain.]
[In other words, the great domain opened up by True Lord Biyue, or rather, Demon Lord Biyue.]
[Beyond the great domain lay the Savage Wilderness.]
[The spiritual energy in the Savage Wilderness was volatile and unsuitable for low-level cultivators to cultivate.]
[Therefore, if a Nascent Soul True Monarch wanted to open up a great domain and establish their own orthodox inheritance...]
[They would have to find a large Tier Four spiritual vein in the Savage Wilderness, then use Nascent Soul-tier grand methods, taking the Tier Four spiritual vein as a starting network, to pacify the volatile spiritual energy within a radius of a million li.]
[Only then would it become suitable for low-level cultivators to survive. From this massive population of low-level cultivators, mid-level and high-level cultivators would then emerge.]
[This was the developmental process of a great domain.]
['That Xuanwang Island... still hasn't been swallowed up by any True Monarch...'] you thought to yourself.
[Now that the regional war was coming to an end, Xuanwang Island still existed.]
[Year 190: You were 206 years old.]
[You returned to Biyue Immortal City.]
[To be precise, it was Linglong Immortal City.]
[The hundred-year regional war had given birth to a total of seven core formation masters.]
[Of course, the number of fallen core formation masters had reached eight.]
[One of these core formation masters was known as Master Linglong.]
[After the war, they used their massive contributions to lease the super-large Tier Three Spiritual Vein beneath the former Biyue Immortal City from the Taiyuan Palace.]
[And on the original site of Biyue Immortal City, they established Linglong Immortal City.]
[You didn't enter Linglong Immortal City. You merely watched quietly from afar.]
[Even though Linglong Immortal City had just been established, the number of cultivators coming and going was already quite high.]
[Having survived the regional war, the remaining cultivators had basically all accumulated substantial wealth, and they began purchasing properties in Linglong Immortal City...]
[Linglong Immortal City had a Master presiding over it. Whether in terms of reputation or safety, it was definitely much better than those markets.]
[As for the fate of Linglong Immortal City's predecessor, Biyue Immortal City? Not many cultivators paid attention to it anymore. After all, Master Linglong wasn't that Biyue demoness.]
[Your mind was flooded with thoughts. From Biyue Immortal City to Linglong Immortal City, it seemed like a cycle of reincarnation, and tens of thousands of cultivators could only drift with the tide within this cycle.]
[You wore a thoughtful expression, faintly feeling as if you had grasped something.]
[Several days later, your eyes regained their luster.]
["So that's how it is."]
[You muttered to yourself. Over these past few days, you had fallen into a state of epiphany.]
[Through this epiphany, your divination craft finally stepped into Tier Two.]
[Tier Two Divination!]
[This was the seventh Tier Two craft you had mastered, and it was the extremely niche craft of divination at that.]
[For the past hundred years, you had been firmly stuck at the high-grade in the Dao of divination.]
[More than once, you had planned to forcibly elevate this craft's realm at the cost of your lifespan.]
[But you gave up on it in the end.]
[Sacrificing lifespan to advance in the Dao of divination... was only a last resort.]
[What if you sacrificed decades of your lifespan and still failed to elevate the Dao of divination to Tier Two?]
[Yet now, you had unexpectedly obtained such a pleasant surprise.]
['Let me see what my recent fortunes are...']
[Full of interest, you began to perform a divination for yourself.]
[Tier Two divination could already divine the good and bad fortune of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.]
[Even though you were at Foundation Establishment Perfection, you were still in the Foundation Establishment Realm in the end. It was just that the resulting divination would be a bit blurry and unclear.]
[A moment later.]
[You completed the divination for yourself.]
['An omen of minor misfortune?']
[You looked at the divination result in front of you and fell deep in thought.]
[Right at this moment—]
[Over ten streaks of light suddenly sped over from not far away.]
[They then came to a halt. The auras of several Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators and multiple Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators erupted outward.]
[One of the female Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators pointed at you, gritting her teeth as she spoke to the middle-aged man at Foundation Establishment Perfection leading the group, "President, it's him! He borrowed two hundred thousand spirit stones from our merchant guild and still hasn't paid it back..."]
['Huh?']
[Your expression shifted slightly.]
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