Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Chapter 585: Chapter 31: Forging a Golden Core with Yin-Yang Qi

It also contained a forging method.

This so-called "forging method" was the technique for shaping a Golden Core.

Different forging methods would produce Golden Cores of varying quality.

And the quality of the Golden Core directly determined how far a Cultivator could progress on their future Path.

Murphy’s consciousness delved into his mind, beginning to analyze the complex Dao Patterns contained within the information.

A Golden Core was formed from the convergence of two types of Qi: yin and yang.

Yang Qi, the pure Qi of the heavens, was Dark Energy.

Yin Qi, the murky Qi of the earth, was Dark Matter.

The pure ascends, becoming the heavens, God, and consciousness.

The murky descends, becoming the earth, form, and the physical body.

Before ascending to the Golden Core realm, the two forms of Qi were separate, entangled, and chaotic.

Pure Qi was scattered throughout the consciousness, while murky Qi settled in the physical body.

They attracted and repelled each other, maintaining a dynamic equilibrium.

But at the moment of ascending to the Golden Core realm, a special technique was required to forcibly merge the two.

This forced the pure and murky Qi to reach an unprecedented state of stability within a central core.

This was the essence of the forging method.

The complex Dao Patterns were the key to achieving this goal.

Their purpose was to construct a special structure within the Golden Core.

A structure capable of using Dark Matter to constrain Dark Energy.

Murphy dubbed this structure a "gravity trap."

In principle, the gravity trap was not complex.

Dark Matter itself possesses gravity, allowing it to attract other Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

However, a simple aggregation of Dark Matter could not effectively constrain Dark Energy.

Dark Energy is repulsive, causing the aggregate to expand outward.

It was like an ever-inflating balloon; no matter how much Dark Matter was packed inside, the balloon itself would continue to expand.

However, if a sufficiently precise structure of Dao Patterns was built within this aggregate, this state could be altered.

These Dao Patterns acted like countless invisible tethers, forcibly pulling the outward-expanding Dark Energy toward the aggregate’s center.

At the same time, they would also cause the gravitational bonds between Dark Matter to become tighter and more orderly.

It was just like the powerful electromagnetic field used to contain a nuclear reactor.

Thus, a dynamic equilibrium was formed.

Dark Matter pulled inward while Dark Energy pushed outward.

But the presence of the Dao Pattern structure allowed these two opposing forces to achieve equilibrium at a certain critical point.

A portion of the Dark Energy was permanently confined within the Golden Core, binding tightly with the Dark Matter to form a stable structure.

Meanwhile, the remaining portion of Dark Energy, which would inevitably dissipate, was guided by the Dao Pattern structure to escape outward at an extremely slow rate.

The rate of dissipation depended on the intricacy of the Dao Patterns and the quality of the Golden Core.

The higher the quality, the slower the dissipation.

This was how a Golden Core delayed the Big Rip.

It didn’t stop the Big Rip completely—that would be impossible.

A Golden Core was not powerful enough to violate the Laws of the Great Cosmos.

It merely slowed the rate of the Big Rip to a level that was acceptable for a Cultivator.

It was like replacing a leaky bucket with one that leaked more slowly.

As long as it was replenished with enough Dark Matter, the bucket could be used indefinitely.

Even though the cracks would widen over time, it was still enough to last for a very long while.

And, naturally, Golden Cores had different grades.

Lower-Grade Golden Cores had crude Dao Patterns and loose structures, causing their Dark Energy to dissipate rather quickly.

Such a Golden Core might only grant a lifespan of a few hundred years, but its power would also grow quickly.

Middle-Grade Golden Cores had intricate Dao Patterns and stable structures, with a moderate rate of Dark Energy dissipation.

Such a Golden Core could grant a lifespan of several thousand years, and its power would grow steadily.

Upper-Grade Golden Cores had perfect Dao Patterns and solid structures, with an extremely slow rate of Dark Energy dissipation.

Such a Golden Core could grant a lifespan of tens of thousands of years or even longer, but its power would also grow with excruciating slowness.

As for the legendary Top-Grade Golden Core—described only in ancient texts—it was said that they could bring the dissipation of Dark Energy to a near standstill.

A being with such a core could, in theory, live until the end of the universe.

In theory, of course.

In reality, it was nearly impossible to achieve.

But what about its strength?

At the Golden Core stage, one’s power grew automatically over time.

This was because the dissipation of Dark Energy was, in itself, a process of Dark Matter and Dark Energy continuously re-congregating.

These pure substances were the very source of one’s power.

Furthermore, the Dark Energy would interact with the Dark Matter inside the Golden Core, producing all sorts of byproducts—stronger gravitational fields, for instance, or more complex Energy Fluctuations. These principles all served to reveal the natural phenomena of the universe.

By studying these natural phenomena, one’s understanding of Dao Patterns would reach a higher level.

It was like deepening one’s understanding of a subject by conducting experiments.

The more one personally observed the natural phenomena of the universe—especially their effect on and feedback to one’s own consciousness—the more their understanding of Dao Patterns would align with their own mind and its functions.

After all, no matter how one used Dao Patterns to manipulate the natural phenomena of the universe, the most direct point of contact was still the consciousness.

As a material structure itself, consciousness naturally influenced the effectiveness of the Dao Patterns.

Therefore, only Dao Patterns that were aligned with and refined for oneself could possess the greatest power.

These byproducts were also a source of power.

Thus, at the Golden Core stage, the longer one lived, the stronger one became.

A ten-thousand-year-old Golden Core cultivator was far more powerful than one who had just reached the realm.

That was only natural.

But as stated before, the faster the dissipation, the faster the increase in power.

The higher the quality of a Golden Core, the more stable its internal structure, and the slower its rate of Dark Energy dissipation.

This meant that a high-grade Golden Core granted a longer lifespan, but its power growth was also slower.

A low-grade Golden Core granted a shorter lifespan, but its power growth was faster.

A hundred-year-old cultivator with a Lower-Grade Golden Core might be more powerful than a hundred-year-old cultivator with a Middle-Grade one.

But the cultivator with the Lower-Grade Core might not live to see two hundred years.

Whereas the one with the Middle-Grade Core could.

This was the trade-off of the Golden Core.

However, in terms of pure power, the difference wasn’t as significant as it seemed.

In the world of observable matter, a disparity in power often meant an absolute rout.

A hundred-kilogram strongman could easily defeat a fifty-kilogram weakling.

But in the world of unobservable matter, the situation was completely different.

The interaction between Dark Energy and Dark Matter was simply too faint.

If a being at the early Golden Core Level were to truly fight one at the peak of the Golden Core Level, the result wouldn’t necessarily be a one-sided defeat.

The former might be unable to harm the latter, and the latter might be unable to kill the former.

It was like two clouds passing through each other, leaving behind a chaotic ripple before both returned to their original forms.

To completely kill a Golden Core Level being required extremely specialized methods.

One had to shatter their invulnerability.

This was difficult.

Extremely difficult.

But it was not impossible.

Cheris’s capture of Dumasong’s dream core was a case in point.

Murphy had seen her methods clearly.

She hadn’t attacked the core directly.

She simply stood before it and used her own, much larger aggregate of Dark Matter to form a gravitational field.

The core was simply drawn to her.

Like a black hole pulling in a star.

It was just like in the ancient myths: why were demons and fiends always sealed away, rather than killed by the great rulers of the past?

It was because they truly were unkillable.

Even an entity with Attack Power that far surpassed their defenses couldn’t kill them.

They could only resort to sealing them away, waiting for the passage of time and the eventual Big Rip to erode their consciousness.

But if they were accidentally released before that could happen...

...they would be even more powerful than when they were first sealed.

They would unleash an irreversible, world-ending calamity.

Moreover, the powerful entities who sealed them often vanished, because in order to obtain the power for the seal, they had to irreversibly accelerate their own Big Rip. This amplified their power, but at the cost of rapidly consuming their own lives.

Their brilliance was tragically brief.

’Murphy had no desire to be such a fleeting powerhouse, nor did he pursue absolute power.’

’But Cheris’s existence was forcing him to choose.’

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