Chapter 30: Condensing the Golden Core
It had been nearly two years since Xiao Chen left Feng Yue City. Perhaps the people there had already forgotten about the once useless boy; after all, no one wanted to see or interact with a good-for-nothing.
However, the Xiao family had never forgotten Xiao Chen. Since his disappearance, Xiao Changfeng had been sending people out daily to gather information about Xiao Chen, but every attempt yielded nothing, bringing heavy blows to Xiao Changfeng each time.
Nearly two years had passed with no news, leaving Xiao Changfeng in a state of deep sorrow, his complexion growing increasingly haggard. He had no interest in cultivating, and his cultivation level showed no progress.
With no heart to manage the affairs of the Xiao family, the Wang family became increasingly rampant, constantly suppressing the Xiao family. The two elders of the Xiao family, being too weak in cultivation, were no match for the Wang family, and the Xiao family's businesses were gradually monopolized by the Wang family, causing the Xiao family's economy to decline rapidly.
Xiao Changfeng's despondency led to the Xiao family disciples being bullied by the Wang family, unable to retaliate, only swallowing their anger. The two elders, both in the early stages of the Foundation Establishment, were not opponents of the Wang family head and feared that provoking the Wang family could bring about the Xiao family's doom.
Though the Wang family was arrogant, they still did not dare to disregard the Yang family. In Feng Yue City, the Wang family could only bully the Xiao family to bolster their own prestige but did not dare to act presumptuously in front of the Yang family.
"If the head of the family does not recover, no one in our Xiao family can stand against the head of the Wang family. If this continues, our Xiao family will be finished," lamented a Xiao family disciple.
"Does a useless young master warrant such sorrow from the family head? It's been almost two years, yet he still hasn't come out of his grief, and his cultivation hasn't advanced at all. Is it worth it?"
"Now the Wang family is bullying us. Several disciples were injured by the Wang family yesterday, yet the head of the family didn't react at all. The elders told us to endure, but how long must we endure? We Xiao family disciples don't even dare to leave the house now."
"Enough, stop talking. If the family head hears, it won't be good! Let's go."
Time flew by, and six months had passed. The Tian Du martial arts competition, held every three years, was about to begin in a month.
The Tian Du martial arts competition, aimed at young cultivators, was divided into adult and underage groups, seeking to select the number one genius in Tian Du. Consequently, all young disciples in Tian Du were diligently cultivating, preparing to compete for the title of the top genius.
In the adult group, the most likely to claim the top spot, in everyone's eyes, was Su Guyun from the Su family. Su Guyun was recognized as a genius disciple, the elder brother of Su Gutian, the Su family's young master. Originally, the young master position was Su Guyun's, but he preferred to focus solely on cultivation and had a deep affection for his younger brother, so he decided to pass the young master position to Su Gutian.
At 16 years old, Su Guyun could participate in the adult group. Among the disciples of his generation, those who could compete with him were naturally from the Ge and Liu families, but they were all slightly inferior to Su Guyun.
In the underage group, this year's competition was the most contentious. The young masters of the three major families were all cultivation geniuses, none of whom had participated in the martial arts competition before, leading to various speculations. Some said it would be the young master of the Liu family, some said the young master of the Ge family, and others said the young master of the Su family.
However, the actual outcome was uncertain, depending on the competition results. Most people favored Liu Feng, the young master of the Liu family.
Liu Feng, at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment, was now breaking through to the late stage, making him the fastest cultivating disciple among the three major families. Therefore, most people favored him.
The three major families, with their profound foundations, strong cultivation techniques, abundant spiritual stones, and pills to aid cultivation, naturally had a much faster cultivation speed than ordinary people.
Of course, each of the three major families hoped their young master would win the top spot, enhancing their prestige and face.
With the martial arts competition a month away, registration had begun. The venue, located in the center of Tian Du, was being prepared, with the expenses jointly covered by the three major families since the competition was their initiative.
In the Beast Mountain Range, after six months of intense cultivation, Xiao Chen's cultivation level had significantly improved, reaching the peak of the late-stage Foundation Establishment. Yuxuzi's essence blood had been completely refined.
The entire cave mansion was filled with a powerful aura, brilliant white light shining from the cave, illuminating the area above.
"Almost breaking through to the Golden Core stage! Xiao Chen, keep going!" The Ancient White Tiger thought, silently encouraging Xiao Chen. For the past six months, the Ancient White Tiger had been by Xiao Chen's side, vigilantly guarding him, showing unwavering loyalty.
At this moment, Xiao Chen's aura had reached its peak, ready to break through to the Golden Core stage at any moment, but Xiao Chen was not in a hurry.
"What is Xiao Chen thinking? His aura has reached the limit; why isn't he breaking through?" The Ancient White Tiger wondered, but dared not disturb Xiao Chen.
"Little White Tiger, how do I break through to the Golden Core stage? How do I condense the core?" Xiao Chen, in the midst of his cultivation, suddenly asked.
The Ancient White Tiger was taken aback, realizing Xiao Chen didn't know how to condense the core, as it was his first breakthrough and he hadn't heard about it before.
The Ancient White Tiger quickly responded, "Compress the true essence in your body, making it more refined until you can condense it into a golden core."
"I see!" Xiao Chen nodded, starting to compress his true essence, shouting, "Condense the core!"
"Buzz, buzz!"
As Xiao Chen began to condense the core, the violent true essence in his body started compressing, releasing a powerful force, causing the cave to tremble.
"That's it! Xiao Chen, keep going!" The Ancient White Tiger encouraged, feeling both nervous and excited.
As Xiao Chen continued compressing the true essence, his face contorted with pain, his body trembling, and he struggled, saying, "My meridians hurt so much. Could something be wrong?"
"No, you're breaking through to the Golden Core stage. The true essence in your body has become violent, filling your meridians, causing the pain. But you must persist. Failure has severe consequences! If you succeed, your meridians will expand, accommodating more true essence," the Ancient White Tiger anxiously explained, worried by Xiao Chen's words.
"Alright! I'll hold on!" Xiao Chen replied, struggling to compress the true essence in his body.
As time passed, after an incense stick's worth of time, the true essence in Xiao Chen's body, originally in a gaseous state, had been compressed into a liquid state, becoming more refined.
The liquid true essence then began to gather, forming a bead the size of a dragon's eye, the critical moment for breaking through to the Golden Core stage.
"Xiao Chen! No matter how painful, you must endure! Do not give up!" The Ancient White Tiger prayed silently, its eyes full of worry.
"Ah!"
At the critical moment, the true essence in Xiao Chen's body grew even more violent, the pain in his meridians causing him to scream. The powerful force spread, or rather, began to dissipate.
"No! Xiao Chen's true essence is dissipating! What's happening? Isn't the true essence supposed to increase? How can this be? Has he failed?" Sensing the loss of Xiao Chen's true essence, the Ancient White Tiger was horrified and panicked.
"Little... Little White Tiger, I... I can't hold on!" Xiao Chen's face turned pale, his body in extreme pain, and his eyes bloodshot, indicating he had reached his limit.
"Xiao Chen! Don't give up! Think of the Xiao family; don't you want them to look at you in a new light? Think of the Xian Dao Sect; don't you want to avenge them? And the Yang family, don't you want to make them regret?" The Ancient White Tiger urged, pacing anxiously in front of Xiao Chen.
Soon, Xiao Chen's aura weakened, the white light around him disappearing, and he finally fainted.
"Xiao Chen! Xiao Chen! Wake up! Xiao Chen! How could this happen? You were fine just now!" The Ancient White Tiger panicked, constantly nudging Xiao Chen with its paws.
The Ancient White Tiger didn't know if Xiao Chen had failed to condense the core, but regardless, with Xiao Chen fainting before completion, everything seemed lost.
However, in the midst of the Ancient White Tiger's panic, Xiao Chen's body started emitting a faint blood light, enveloping him. The blood light grew brighter, accompanied by a powerful aura spreading out.
Sensing this aura, the Ancient White Tiger looked at Xiao Chen in shock, exclaiming, "Such a powerful aura!"
"Boom!"
As the powerful aura reached its peak, there was a sudden explosion, and Xiao Chen opened his eyes, roaring. An immensely powerful force surged from his body, like a waking beast, with dazzling blood light enveloping the entire cave.
"What... what's happening? What's going on with Xiao Chen?" The Ancient White Tiger was dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the situation.
"Buzz, buzz!"
A domineering and overwhelming force erupted, causing the cave to tremble. In an instant, Xiao Chen's aura broke through the peak of the late-stage Foundation Establishment and reached the Golden Core stage!
"He broke through to the Golden Core stage! Wait, is that a golden core? No, it's blood-red. How did Xiao Chen form a blood core? Could it be because of the ancient divine blood?" The Ancient White Tiger was shocked, discovering that Xiao Chen's core was a blood core!