Chapter 664: The Path After the Golden Core

Chapter 664: Chapter 664: The Path After the Golden Core

When Xu Yunfan returned to the Primordial Sect and ascended Divine Sky Peak, the gazes of several True Monarchs within the sect all converged on him.

Xu Yunfan’s expression was calm. He didn’t immediately go to pay his respects. He had just entered the Golden Core Realm, and although he had his Attribute Panel,

he still needed time to consolidate his breakthrough.

Especially since thousands of information alerts were flashing in his vision, and he naturally had to examine them carefully.

What filled him with the most emotion was how truly perilous this whole ordeal had been.

But now that he had achieved the Golden Core, it was all worth it.

As time passed and the news spread,

the world learned that the Divine Sky True Monarch had successfully formed his Golden Core, but they had also witnessed the terror of the Golden Core tribulation.

After all, from anyone else’s perspective, Xu Yunfan’s attempt to attain a Dao Fruit and achieve the Golden Core was a certain-death scenario.

Never mind the tribulation punishment sent down by the Celestial Dao.

That was a necessary ordeal for attaining a Dao.

The horror of this tribulation far surpassed ordinary Celestial Thunder and Earth Fire.

The root cause was that the foundation of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm had long been gnawed away by Cultivators who were like giant rats.

The One Hundred and Eight Dao Fruits of the Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends were the Celestial Dao of this realm, and also the foundation upon which one ascended to become a Golden Core True Monarch.

But how could the True Monarchs of the current era be content to stop there? Over time, they had devoured half of the Dao Fruits, incorporating them into their own Grotto Heavens and turning them into private property to consolidate their authority and delay the end of their lifespans.

As for the remaining Fruit Positions, they were either concealed by the Celestial Dao or were unattainable and hung empty.

With the world’s Origin being eroded and carved up like this, the Celestial Dao was naturally unwilling.

Logically speaking, when you’ve been cheated so badly you’ve nearly lost your shorts, you’re bound to strike back hard. This was also why it had become increasingly difficult to attain a Golden Attainment Fruit Position in the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm.

If a newcomer tried to attain a Golden Dao and dilute the already scarce Dao Fruit Origin, it would be like trying to rip off the Celestial Dao’s last pair of underpants.

How could the Celestial Dao not be furious? In its rage, the tribulation punishment it sent down was far more severe than in ancient times, exceptionally ferocious, and offered no chance of survival.

Although this Celestial Tribulation was vicious, in the eyes of many aspiring Golden Core seekers, it was still possible to fight for that slim, ephemeral chance of survival with Heaven-Reaching Wisdom, Strong Techniques, and a perfect geographical advantage.

The most terrifying and unsolvable part was the Human Tribulation.

The Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm had limited resources. One more True Monarch meant one more person sharing the already limited authority of the Dao Fruits and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism.

How could the Golden Core True Monarchs standing at the apex of the current era allow newcomers to take a slice of the pie?

So, by tacit agreement, they all loomed over the heads of every other Cultivator.

As his thoughts reached this point, Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but lift his head slightly, looking in the direction True Monarch Pu Du had departed.

He had personally witnessed how high-spirited Daoist Master Hundred Peaks, Chu Chengnan, had been when he drew upon the Immovable Profound Mountain Dao Fruit, only to have his one chance at Dao attainment—bought by burning the accumulated karma of five lifetimes—shattered at the most critical moment by a Great Arhat wielding a Spirit Treasure Demon-Slaying Pestle from across the void.

Although True Monarch Qing Yuan had intervened to block the Power of Puchen, he failed to guard against the scheme of a Bodhisattva of the same level, who killed with a borrowed knife from across the void. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The internal strife within the Primordial Sect and the other True Monarchs standing by with their arms folded were all part of the intangible Human Tribulation.

’The people here really love gearing up in full Divine Armor to go block the road in the Newbie Village.’

For a thousand years, not a single person since Ancestral Master Chunyang of the Wansheng Sword Sect had broken through this barrier. Chu Chengnan was merely the most recent and tragic example among the countless Great Daoist Masters who had fallen on the path to the Golden Core, their Cultivation utterly destroyed.

It could be said that for Xu Yunfan to become a True Monarch this time was to truly make the impossible possible, a perfect performance of dancing on a knife’s edge.

The depth of his schemes, the risk of his calculations, and the immensity of his sacrifices were all virtually unheard of throughout history.

He knew full well that although Ancestral Master Chunyang, Lv Chunyang, was powerful, the Wansheng Sword Sect was not a monolithic bloc. His clone, Han Shi, with his "muddy legs" background, would inevitably be targeted by covetous members of the sect upon attempting to attain the Cangming Dao Fruit.

The Puchen Pure Land viewed any non-Buddhist Cultivator as a devilish spawn and, moreover, a mortal enemy.

The internal strife within the Primordial Sect was especially fierce, and that deadly viper, True Monarch Qing Yuan, had already seared his hatred for Xu Yunfan into his heart.

Therefore, he executed a plan to deceive the heavens and cross the sea, creating a diversion in the east to attack in the west.

He used the opportunity of Ancestral Master Chunyang overseeing the Wansheng Sword Sect to have Clone Han Stone brazenly trigger the Cangming Dao Fruit. This drew the attention of several True Monarchs in the Wansheng Sword Sect, stirring the internal opposition to action. Ancestral Master Chunyang, however, went against the consensus, forcefully suppressing the internal conflict to create a sliver of opportunity for Han Shi.

This was the first diversion.

Furthermore, he seized the opportunity of the Puchen Pure Land constructing a ritual in the Eastern Wilderness to receive the Zizai King Buddha Fruit Position. He used Clone Wukong, a Stone Embryo the Buddhist Sect had planted themselves, as a surprise weapon to execute a plan of pulling the rug out from under them.

Clone Wukong circulated the True Words of the *Great Virtuous Ming King Fighting Buddha Scripture* in reverse, using Fighting Evil Qi to pollute the Fruit Position and forcibly transform the nascent Zizai King Buddha into the Fighting King Buddha Fruit Position.

This move instantly enraged Wisdom Sun Bodhisattva, who was presiding over the ritual, triggering a backlash from the entire Puchen Pure Land. It also prompted True Monarch Pu Du to seize the opportunity to obstruct Wisdom Sun, successfully throwing the Celestial Secrets of the Eastern Wilderness into chaos and forcing the Puchen Pure Land to watch helplessly as all their efforts in the Eastern Wilderness went down the drain.

This was the second diversion.

His two clones attaining their Dao Fruits simultaneously shook the heavens and the earth, their fame resounding through the Three Sects. In reality, this was all a cover for his true body, Xu Yunfan, who was in the Eastern Wilderness Ruins. There, he used the Divine Sky Thunderbolt—forged from ninety-nine strands of Immortal Golden Nature—to destroy the Ten Thousand Laws, while the Profound Vault Undying bore the supreme Imagery of the heavens.

Then, he stalled for time to receive the favor of the long-hidden Divine Sky Dao Fruit, which ranked among the top ten of the Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends.

If it had been any other Great Daoist Master at Foundation Establishment Perfection, no one would dare claim they could break through and form a Golden Core while under attack from Golden Core True Monarchs.

Or rather, after witnessing Xu Yunfan achieve the Golden Core, all the Great Daoist Masters at Foundation Establishment Perfection fell silent, their hearts filling with despair.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult! Harder than ascending to the heavens."

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「Primordial Sect, Divine Sky Peak.」

Xu Yunfan, who was in seclusion consolidating his realm and trying to comprehend the mysteries of the Golden Core Realm, suddenly felt perplexed.

Within his Dantian, the Divine Sky Golden Core—coiled with ninety-nine Purple Gold Divine Dragons and containing the nascent form of an endless Thunder World—pulsated with a vast and majestic power, allowing him to truly feel the might of a True Monarch who wielded Thunderbolt and could destroy the Ten Thousand Laws.

The so-called Golden Core was formed when he swallowed the Dao Fruit, combined it with his own Essence, Qi, and Spirit, condensed his Imagery, and integrated his Dao Foundation Grotto Heaven into it.

’It’s a bit like a fertilized egg...’

Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but mutter to himself upon feeling this.

As the *Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture* circulated, his Magical Power surged like a vast star sea. The Dao Rhyme of the Profound Vault Undying merged with his physical body and Divine Soul, bringing a sense of eternity, as if he coexisted with the Dao itself.

But it wasn’t enough. Reaching Mid-Stage Golden Core was not the same as achieving Longevity. Only by entering the Middle Stage, further developing the Power of Dao Fruit, and making his Grotto Heaven hang completely suspended without falling could he achieve endless Reincarnation without his Innate Wisdom diminishing. This was immortality.

But what about the Cultivation Technique for after the Golden Core Realm?

Just as the Sword Dao passed down by Ancestral Master Chunyang of the Wansheng Sword Sect stopped at the Golden Core Realm, so too did the many True Techniques of the Primordial Sect, and even the Divine Sky Scripture he himself cultivated and the Cangming Sword Dao his Clone Han Stone had attained—all of their highest described realms ended at the Golden Core Realm.

The cultivation path beyond the Golden Core—be it the evolution of the Grotto Heaven, the nurturing of a Nascent Soul, or even higher-level Dao paths—was a complete blank, as if shrouded in an invisible fog.

Within the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, the high and mighty True Monarchs were profoundly secretive about this, treating it as their greatest mystery.