Chapter 780 - 389: Breakthrough to Golden Core (2)

Chapter 780: Chapter 389: Breakthrough to Golden Core (2)

His Spirit Veins grew wider and more resilient, and his Spiritual Power became purer and more profound.

When all the Qi had been refined and the Spiritual Liquid in his Foundation Establishment Dantian had turned into a "semi-solid" state, Cheng Zongyang knew it was time.

With a mere thought, ten pure Five Elements Spiritual Energy Groups materialized around him once more.

As he absorbed them, the Five Elements Spiritual Qi rushed into his Dantian. The Spiritual Liquid within began to condense and compress under the influence of this newly supplemented spiritual energy.

Slowly, under the circulation of the Five Elements Spiritual Qi, the mass of Spiritual Liquid began to rotate, forming a vortex of Spiritual Qi. A gaseous barrier formed on the outer layer, seemingly to catalyze the process of compressing the liquid into a core, while also preventing it from overflowing.

About an hour later, a powerful force suddenly erupted from Cheng Zongyang’s Dantian.

His body was enveloped in a dazzling light, and the very air around him trembled.

The round object at the center, compressed by the Five Elements Qi and radiating a five-colored light, began to spin at high speed. It shook off its cocoon of Five Elements Spiritual Qi and began to operate on its own.

To Cheng Zongyang, the sensation felt as miraculous as the birth of the universe, the formation of a planet.

Cheng Zongyang knew this was the critical moment of his breakthrough.

He focused his mind, guiding the Five Elements Spiritual Qi to cycle through his Dantian, continuously striking and compressing the spinning, round object.

After countless impacts from the Five Elements Spiritual Qi, a crack finally appeared on the high-speed, multicolored, round object.

Joy surged in Cheng Zongyang’s heart, and he pushed his Spiritual Power even harder!

The crack grew larger and larger until, with a sound that was nearly inaudible yet deafening in his mind, the outer layer completely shattered.

Instantly, after the colored shell crumbled and vanished, an Elixir Pill radiating five-colored light slowly formed in Cheng Zongyang’s Dantian.

A Golden Core wasn’t necessarily gold; the name was just a convention.

A true Golden Core was related to one’s own Attributes. His North Nether Swallowing Qi Method followed the path of repairing the Five Spirit Roots.

The process involved absorbing Yin Yang Qi to build the foundation, using Five Elements Spiritual Qi for shaping, supplementing with a Colorless Spiritual Energy Cluster, and finally absorbing more Five Elements Spiritual Qi to accelerate the Golden Core’s formation. This was what resulted in the appearance of a Five-Colored Golden Core.

This was also the manifestation of his Spirit Root aptitude!

The Five-Colored Golden Core emitted a brilliant radiance, containing immense Power.

Cheng Zongyang opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing within them. He felt the brand-new Power inside him. He had successfully broken through to the Golden Core Realm, and a powerful aura emanated from his body!

"A Five-Colored Golden Core. This marks the first step toward completing the Five Elements Body," Cheng Zongyang said calmly as he stood up.

Breaking through to the Golden Core Realm was nothing to be overjoyed about for him. In the grand scheme of the Cultivation Realm, Golden Core was merely the beginning.

There’s a saying: "A Golden Core swallowed, and I finally know my fate is my own to control, not heaven’s!"

Over the past four years, the continuous improvement of the Ring Spirit and their frequent conversations had broadened his understanding of the world beyond. As a result, he understood deeply that he didn’t need to concern himself with realms below the Immortal Dao.

Qi Cultivation was just the key that distinguished Immortals from Mortals.

Foundation Establishment, within the Cultivation Immortality Realm, was the foundation for cultivating the Immortal Dao! Only by building a solid foundation in cultivation could one truly walk this path.

Therefore, when you thought about it, the Golden Core Realm was just the entry-level.

Cheng Zongyang was well aware that while the Golden Core Realm was powerful, it all depended on who you compared it to.

Compared to the people in the Martial Arts Realm and the Immortal Realm, he was indeed in the second tier of the top level.

But these two worlds could only be considered "Newbie Villages." They were worlds restricted by the previous master. Thus, there was nothing to be happy about.

Throwing your weight around in a Newbie Village was indeed impressive, but once you left this world, a Golden Core’s Cultivation was not enough to roam the universe freely.

So, after breaking through to the Golden Core Realm, Cheng Zongyang was merely satisfied with the successful formation of his Five-Colored Golden Core.

This was because it was the first step in forging his Five Elements Body, and it also meant he could now try to cultivate by absorbing the Five Elements Spiritual Qi from the Five Elements Spiritual Vein Origin.

Next, after absorbing the remaining Five Elements Qi, he began to stabilize his Cultivation.

Frantically devouring vast amounts of human Spiritual Power, Yin Yang Qi, and the Heaven and Earth Five Elements Qi—forging a Golden Core in such an aggressive manner would naturally lead to an unstable Cultivation. It needed to be thoroughly stabilized.

Outside, while Cheng Zongyang continued his seclusion to stabilize his Realm, Luo Dingran had already begun coordinating with his staff to send out notices via the Ten Thousand Races Spirit Seal. They informed all personnel of their appointments and ordered them to report to the Immortal City within one month!

Subsequent appointments of Immortal Officials were announced with similar notices.

People who had been appointed long ago, such as Li Cungang and Lin Feng, were all assigned to specific positions.

Beneath the three major departments—the Public Security Department, the Justice Department, and the Dou Department—there were four functional divisions for Humans, Demons, Spirits, and Monsters respectively.

Based on these four functional divisions, there were various distinct and shared positions.

For example, there were roles like Celestial Patrol Immortal Envoy, Celestial Law Judge, Precepts Steward, Law Enforcement Spirit Official, Inspector Immortal Envoy, Purification Law Immortal Official, and Law Enforcement Immortal Guard.

Among these, law enforcement-type roles existed not only in the Human division but also in the Demon, Spirit, and Monster divisions.

The Demon division also had positions like Demon Extermination Captain, Exorcist Celestial Master, Demon-Controlling Captain, Demon-slaying Envoy, and Demon Purification Envoy.

The Spirit and Monster divisions had Demon-Suppressing Immortal Master, Demon Purification Envoy, Demon Subduing Immortal Official, and so on.

These positions all existed within the four functional divisions, and the recruited Immortal Officials would be assigned to serve in these various departments.

Within these departments, there were also different position levels, all with room for advancement and their own distinct benefits and compensation.

Luo Dingran and the others had already detailed these divisions, and Cheng Zongyang had added a few more, so the overall administrative system for the Realm of Ten Thousand Races and the Immortal Realm could now be considered comprehensive.

Although the population of the Cultivation Immortality Realm was small, the initial administrative staff was large. This was all with long-term considerations in mind.

As the days passed, more and more people gathered in Jade Peak Immortal City.

Everyone who arrived was settled into a Magical Treasure Space by Zhou Zhendong.

Many of these items had been obtained through sacrifice, and Cheng Zongyang had naturally brought back a good number of them, which could be used for various purposes.

Using them to create temporary living quarters for the new Immortal Officials, as well as a venue for future meetings, was more than sufficient.

「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」

In the backyard of the Commerce Association, at the entrances to two Magical Treasure Spaces, Luo Dingran and Li Xuejin exchanged a look, gave a slight nod, and walked inside.

The Cabinet was effectively divided into three factions—Civil, Martial, and Neutral.

Luo Dingran and Li Xuejin were the current heads of the Cabinet’s Civil and Martial officials, respectively, so it was natural for them to hold a meeting.

As for Zhou Zhendong, although he was also in the Cabinet, he belonged to the Neutral faction and was responsible for Jade Peak Immortal City and the Martial Arts Realm. There wasn’t much for him to do at the moment.

Li Yihuo had also joined the Cabinet and was part of the Neutral faction as well.

This was because he was in charge of all commercial operations in the Immortal Realm; you could even call him the minister of commerce for the Immortal Realm and, by extension, the Realm of Ten Thousand Races.

As for Cheng Zongliang, Cheng Zongwen, Li Lu, and the others, they had not joined the Cabinet.

This was because the darknet had been integrated by Cheng Zongyang into the Public Security Department of the Immortal Official system and renamed the Intelligence Information Department.

Cheng Zongliang, Zhou Zhenqi, Zhou Zhennan, and Ye Shaoning were the four co-directors of this department.

Their area of responsibility included not only the Realm of Ten Thousand Races but also the Martial Arts Realm. The Martial Arts Realm was managed by their deputies, but the four of them were still ultimately in charge.

Li Lu was a power from the Martial Arts Realm. His capabilities were limited, making further promotion impossible. Maintaining his current status was the best arrangement, and he was placed under Zhou Zhendong’s jurisdiction.

Cheng Zongwen was responsible for all matters of the Cheng Clan Commerce Association, which had branches in both the Martial Arts Realm and the Immortal Realm. He fell under the jurisdiction of Li Yihuo’s commerce division.

Although Cheng Zongyang considered showing favoritism to his relatives, he also took their individual abilities into account. He wouldn’t actually place incapable family members in high positions.

That would only create trouble for himself. It was the pitfall of a "family business."

Even for the many members of the Cheng Family’s Earth Branch Lineage, he only assigned them to positions like Immortal Official team captain, vice-captain, or Immortal Official’s deputy based on their abilities and personalities, so they could gain experience.

In the future, if their abilities proved sufficient, they could be promoted. If not, they would have to remain where they were, or even be demoted to other positions.

He even entrusted his younger female cousins, Cheng Zongyan and Cheng Zongying, as well as his teenage male and female cousins from his two maternal uncles’ families, to Zhou Zhendong, Cheng Zongwen, and Cheng Zongliang. They were to arrange for them to gain experience according to their own wishes.

The Cabinet was initially planned to have ten members, but currently there were only four. More would be added later.

But all of this, while serving himself and the Ring Spirit, was also a way to elevate his subordinates.

This way, if he were to leave the Immortal Realm or the Realm of Ten Thousand Races in the future, he could entrust the management to them. They could then continue to supply resources from this rear base to help the Ring Spirit keep improving.