Chapter 476 - 437: The Prospect of Being the Player

Chapter 476: Chapter 437: The Prospect of Being the Player

In a private room at the tavern.

Chu Mu stood before the window, gazing at the heavens. A flash of light seemed to streak by and vanish, just as the Sword Dao Nascent Soul had suddenly arrived and just as suddenly departed.

He stared blankly for a long time before slowly retracting his gaze. The Sword Dao Nascent Soul’s words still seemed to echo in his ears, chilling him to the core.

’Two Chen Families... one human, one demon...’

Chu Mu muttered to himself, the shock still lingering in his eyes.

A Human Cultivator’s bloodline was, in the end, still human.

To completely transform from a human into a demon meant becoming a true Demon Beast in every way, save for one’s thoughts.

But even then, their way of thinking would probably no longer be human.

After all, the bloodline’s path to complete Demon Transformation occurred at Tier Four.

And a Tier Four Nascent Soul had a lifespan of several thousand years!

After such a long time cultivating as a demon, how could they possibly retain a human way of thinking? Even their emotions would likely fade into indifference.

With a background like that, it was no wonder the Chen Family had been able to so easily sway the situation in Great Chu during the civil war, relying on the strength of their clan alone.

No wonder both the Righteous Alliance and the Longevity Sect were so wary of them.

Two Chen Families, each a top-tier power in the Cultivation Immortal Realm. It would be impossible not to be wary of such an existence!

As his thoughts raced, Chu Mu’s gaze shifted back to the dazzling, bizarre Chixia City before him. The relaxed, carefree feeling he’d had before was now completely gone.

In Chixia City alone, there were at least two to three hundred thousand Bloodline Cultivators.

And that wasn’t even counting the countless other Cultivators who had gathered from all over due to the current tense situation in Chixia.

Across the entire Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World, the total number had to be unimaginably vast.

From such a massive population, even if only half of the Tier Three and Tier Four beings they produced chose Demon Transformation, the cumulative number over the years would be terrifying.

In the Endless Vast Sea, the Demon Beast population wasn’t just sustained by their own reproduction... it was also constantly being supplemented by Cultivators from the Vast Sea...

’A Human World Demon Country...’

Chu Mu let out a long, heavy breath and sighed, shaking his head.

It was a good thing this Cultivation Immortal Realm didn’t have any grand sense of racial justice, nor any belief that humans and demons could not coexist.

Otherwise, this Human World Demon Country would be a massive source of chaos and disaster!

He didn’t dwell on it for too long, however. Whatever the Chen Family’s situation was, as long as the Sword Dao Nascent Soul hadn’t dragged him into it, it had little to do with him.

After a moment of thought, Chu Mu waved his hand, and the Jade Scroll gifted to him by the Sword Dao Nascent Soul appeared in his palm.

He sent a wisp of his Divine Sense inside, and several passages concerning the "Immortal Golden Core" materialized in his perception.

Though it was only a few passages containing a few thousand words of text, it took Chu Mu nearly a full hour before he slowly lowered the Jade Scroll.

’A Top Grade Golden Core...’

Chu Mu’s eyes lit up, unable to hide his excitement.

According to the Jade Scroll, when a Cultivator formed a Golden Core, it, like Magical Treasures and Magical Artifacts, could have different grades.

The grade of Magical Treasures and Magical Artifacts was determined by the quality of the Spiritual Materials used to refine them. A Golden Core’s grade, however, was determined by the Cultivator’s foundational Cultivation before the pill was formed—in other words, the foundation of their Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Before Core Formation, the stronger a Cultivator’s foundation of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, the greater the difficulty of forming the core. By the same token, the higher the quality of the Golden Core upon successful formation!

According to the text, Golden Core Grade was divided into four ranks.

Just like Spirit Stones, they were divided into Lower Grade Golden Core, Middle Grade Golden Core, Upper Grade Golden Core, and Top Grade Golden Core.

The feature that distinguished the different Golden Core Grades was the "Pill Pattern"!

A Lower Grade Golden Core had no Pill Patterns, a Middle Grade Golden Core had one, an Upper Grade Golden Core had two, and a Top Grade Golden Core had three.

Furthermore, once a Cultivator possessed the foundation to form a Golden Core with Pill Patterns, the heavens would send down a Thunder Tribulation.

The process of undergoing the Tribulation Crossing, combined with the Cultivator’s foundation of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, directly determined the final grade of the condensed Golden Core.

The differences in Golden Core Grade also had far-reaching implications.

First, it determined one’s strength within the Golden Core Realm.

A higher-grade Golden Core fused more Essence, Qi, and Spirit, making that foundation purer and more vast. Naturally, this made a Cultivator stronger than their peers in the same realm.

Second, it determined a Cultivator’s potential.

This was the meaning of an Immortal Golden Core. The Golden Core itself served as the "placenta" for Breaking the Core to Form the Infant. The better the quality of this placenta, the greater the chances of successfully achieving Nascent Soul Formation!

His Three-Patterned Golden Core was classified as a Top Grade Golden Core!

According to the text, his chances of Nascent Soul Formation were increased by thirty percent!

In other words, if he reached the Golden Core Perfection stage, these three Pill Patterns, a creation of heaven and earth, would give him an extra thirty percent chance of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm!

’Thirty percent!’

Chu Mu’s excitement grew. He didn’t much care about the difference in Combat Power that came with a higher Golden Core Grade.

After all, both his Artifact Refining Skill and his Sword Intent were enough of a boost to his strength to let him crush anyone at his level.

But an increased thirty-percent chance of Nascent Soul Formation...

Thirty percent might not sound like much, but this was for achieving Nascent Soul Formation!

If he was fortunate enough to one day attempt Nascent Soul Formation, and he managed to find some Spiritual Objects to assist the process, his chances of success would be unimaginable to the average person!

No wonder that Sword Dao Nascent Soul’s attitude had changed upon seeing his Top Grade Golden Core. He’d even taken the initiative to pull Chu Mu out of the trivial affairs of the Vast Sea!

"To think that I, Chu Mu, would get to enjoy the treatment of a genius..."

Chu Mu chuckled, teasing himself as the excitement in his heart grew ever stronger.

He had already reached the Golden Core Realm, with a lifespan of seven or eight hundred years; how could he not harbor extravagant hopes for the Nascent Soul Realm!

And now, a Three-Patterned Immortal Golden Core meant a thirty-percent chance of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm...

Chu Mu stood before the window with his hands clasped behind his back. As he looked out at the Human World Demon Country again, his gaze, fueled by his surging excitement, was no longer troubled.

All living beings are like pieces on a board.

When he was a piece, he naturally had to be cautious and look over his shoulder.

But if he were the one playing the game...

Whether human or demon...

It was nothing more than a difference of race.

"I swallow a Golden Core into my gut, and only then do I know my fate is my own, not decided by the heavens..."

Chu Mu murmured. At this very moment, he finally understood the true meaning of that phrase.

With a Top Grade Golden Core, in this Cultivation Immortal Realm, the possibility of his fate being his own and not decided by the heavens was now within reach!

His figure flickered, leaving an afterimage in the private room. The afterimage flashed, streaked across the sky, and finally landed within the True Understanding Pavilion.

Chu Mu briefly checked on Wangcai’s transformation, then sat cross-legged in the bamboo forest, the Sword Dao Nascent Soul Jade Bottle in his hand.

The seal dissipated, revealing nine vibrant, emerald-green Elixirs within the Jade Bottle.

Chu Mu picked one up and briefly examined it with his senses. Almost instinctively, the names of various Spirit Medicines flashed through his mind.

The Elixir’s effects, the combination of Spirit Medicines, the way its medicinal power would be released—all speculations related to this pill surfaced in his thoughts.

’So that’s what this is...’

Chu Mu was slightly surprised.

The nine green Elixirs before him were remarkably similar to the healing mist from the Immortal Dao Sect’s Inheritance Land.

The only difference was that the healing mist had been condensed from the pure essence of Spirit Medicines, without a single trace of impurity.

These nine Elixirs, however, seemed to be imitations. While they were also condensed from the essence of Spirit Medicines, other Spiritual Materials had clearly been added.

Although their medicinal power was a tier weaker than the healing mist, the Spirit Medicines used to extract the essence were all at least a thousand years old. The effects were comprehensive, capable of treating injuries to one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

For him, these nine Elixirs were more than enough to let him make a full recovery.

As his thoughts turned, Chu Mu consumed one of the Elixirs. He closed his eyes and circulated his Magical Power. As the medicinal power surged, the festering wounds hidden deep within his body began to heal at an unprecedented rate.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed.

The injuries that had plagued him for over a decade and refused to heal were completely cured in a little over ten days, all thanks to just nine Elixirs.

Though his injuries were fully healed, Chu Mu showed no signs of waking.

With his eyes shut tight, for some unknown reason, wisps of sharp Sword Intent began to slowly coil around his body.

The Sword Intent was pure and flawless, sharp and formless. Faintly, it seemed as if countless blades were swirling in the space just inches from Chu Mu’s body. The sight was dazzling, yet a closer look revealed nothing at all.

After a moment, as if something had been triggered, the sharp Sword Intent that had been flickering around Chu Mu began to spread with incredible speed.

In an instant, the spreading Sword Intent completely enveloped the entire bamboo forest.

It was not until it reached the edge of the Array Prohibition that the spreading Sword Intent finally slowed to a halt.

The Sword Intent crisscrossed through the air, suffused with a biting killing intent.

Under the influence of this pervasive sharpness, the entire bamboo forest seemed to come alive, as if it had been infused with Spiritual Wisdom.

The once-ordinary Spiritual Bamboo now seemed to have become vessels for the Sword Intent!

Every leaf, every inch of every branch, was like a gleaming blade.

As they swayed, the crisscrossing sharpness instantly transformed the bamboo forest into a forbidden ground!

The snakes, rodents, insects, and ants—the countless mundane creatures living in the bamboo forest—were all annihilated in that single instant!

Aside from Chu Mu, who sat cross-legged at its center, not a single living thing remained in the entire bamboo forest!

...