Chapter 218: Cultivating Through Opportunism

With Madam Hua’s assistance, Chen Luo swiftly established himself in Blackstone City.

During this time, he sought out Rong Qing and successfully disposed of him, even managing to obtain the man’s brain in the process. Now, all of Madam Hua’s leverage against Chen Luo had fallen completely into his hands. Despite being the sole son of Elder FusionSpirit, their relationship as cultivators was different from that of ordinary people. The father and son would occasionally meet, but their interactions were more akin to fellow practitioners. Most of the time, they cultivated separately, with ten or twenty years between meetings being quite normal.

After such a long period, Chen Luo had long earned enough benefits to make his escape.

Over the next month, Madam Hua, using her authority, provided Chen Luo with over thirty iron corpses at the Foundation Establishment stage. This again pushed the number of Foundation Establishment brains in his possession past the hundred-mark, reaching the maximum he could carry.

What he couldn’t find no matter where he searched before was now effortlessly resolved with a word, thanks to his grasp of power.

His goal surpassed, the over hundred Foundation Establishment brains significantly enhanced Chen Luo’s ‘knowledge and experience’. Furthermore, leveraging Madam Hua’s resources, he gained access to more than ten Foundation Establishment-level divine abilities. These included puppetry techniques and some common Five Elements abilities, as well as acquiring another sword cultivation technique.

Madam Hua’s cultivation room.

Now occupied by Chen Luo, this place was abundant with spiritual energy, making it suitable for cultivation.

Seated in his room, Chen Luo leafed through the pill formulas bequeathed by Madam Hua. The collection recorded over twenty types of medicinal pills from Blackstone City’s Pill Loyalty Hall, including seventeen first-rank pills and the rest second-rank. As he absorbed this knowledge, fresh inspiration stirred within Chen Luo’s mind, enriched by the four great alchemists’ wisdom.

Among the foundational corpses Madam Hua had delivered, one had been an alchemist in life. This brought the total number of alchemists’ minds Chen Luo now commanded to four.

“Running out of medicinal materials again?” Chen Luo glanced at the failed Return Essence Pill before him, his thoughts taking shape. With the combined wisdom of four second-rank alchemists, his medicinal concocting skills had leapt forward by leaps and bounds. He could now even produce second-rank medicinal pills without relying on the alchemists’ external brains.

“Send more medicinal materials,” Chen Luo instructed, without even opening the door.

“Again?” A touch of distress clouded the person outside. Chen Luo had already burned through too many spirits, pushing Madam Hua’s authority near its limit.

“If there’s an issue, direct it towards Madam Hua.” Chen Luo invoked Madam Hua’s name to resolve the matter.

“But…”

The disciple standing guard looked deeply troubled. Allowing this overdraft to continue would harm Blackstone City’s interests, and if it reached serious proportions, it might catch the attention of Ancestor Blackstone himself. When blame came down, even the Madam would be unable to shoulder it.

Inside the room, Chen Luo had already withdrawn his divine sense, causing the temperature to rise again as he commenced another batch of pill refinement.

With no other choice, the disciple ran to the front courtyard to report the matter to Madam Hua.

“Do as he asks!” Madam Hua’s face darkened, her spiritual energy fluctuating around her. It took some time for her to compose herself. Thoughts raced through her mind about how to free herself from Chen Luo’s threat. First, she had to regain her leverage; if her secret was exposed, all her previous efforts would be wasted.

“Understood.”

The guarding disciple, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, quickly retreated. In front of a Foundation Establishment elder, he felt like a transparent, insignificant presence; no one dared to offend such a powerful individual.

“You’re taking rather much,” said the voice from within.

“This is the last time.”

“You said that last time too.”

“I swear, this is truly the last time.”

“I hope you mean it!”

That evening, Madam Hua mustered the courage to negotiate with Chen Luo once more, only to be brushed off in a few curt exchanges. This scene had replayed several times recently, each with the same refrain:

This is the last time.

But then there was “one last time” after what she thought was the final encounter. Madam Hua felt as if she had fallen into a trap from which she couldn’t escape no matter how she tried.

Ten days later.

Chen Luo successfully concocted the Guiyuan Pill.

With the Guiyuan Pill, his spiritual energy growth rate returned to its previous pace. With the issue of his spirit energy resolved, all that remained was to study the divine abilities of the late Foundation Establishment stage and prepare for ascending to Foundation Establishment Perfection. Previously, he had used Madam Hua’s authority to acquire numerous late Foundation Establishment divine abilities, which he now set about practicing.

In the cultivation chamber.

Chen Luo, borrowing Madam Hua’s identity card, had boldly rented a top-tier cultivation chamber on Blackstone Mountain. The spiritual energy intensity within a top-tier cultivation chamber matched that of third-order spirit meridians. Standing inside, Chen Luo engaged in his daily breathing exercises. Under the combined influence of the pills and the spirit meridians, the number of spiritual energy dragons within him swelled to sixty.

“A shame Madam Hua’s Elder status only allows for one month of overdraft,” Chen Luo mused, a hint of regret crossing his face as he sensed the increased spiritual energy within him. He walked over to the nearby stone wall, placed his palm against it, and soon a bone scroll flew out.

This was a benefit of the top-tier cultivation chamber, containing many legacies unavailable outside. Though lacking the most crucial core, their value still far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people, making them worthy of the chamber’s exorbitant price.

Pseudo-Core Seed.

Chen Luo grasped a bone scroll, and a stream of information flowed into his mind.

The bone scroll contained a concise description of the cultivation process for the late Foundation Establishment stage and the full mastery of it. In this phase, the first two stages were dedicated to accumulation. Once the number of spiritual energy dragons within one’s body reached fifty, these energies would come alive, swirling around a central point.

As more spiritual energy dragons amassed, the swirling region would gradually shrink, giving birth to a ‘Pseudo-Core Seed’ at its core. This seed was the essence around which the spiritual energies coalesced. When the count of spiritual energy dragons reached ninety-nine, the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage had been attained, at which point these energies would approach a liquid-like state.

Upon reaching a hundred spiritual energy dragons, these liquid-like forms would begin to merge. At this juncture, with the ‘Pseudo-Core Seed’ serving as an anchor, the cultivation step would be considered complete, granting the cultivator eligibility to attempt the Core Formation breakthrough.

The final step was the compression of these hundred spiritual energy dragons into a single point, forming a ‘solid’ Pill Coat around the core seed.

Once the Pill Coat took shape, it would attract the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Heavenly Tribulation purifies the Golden Core; after enduring the thunder tribulation, the Golden Core is formed. Yet there remains the Heart Demon Tribulation as another test of the spirit. Only by overcoming both inner and outer tribulations can one truly enter the Pill Formation stage, becoming a terrestrial immortal—a Core Formation Ancestor capable of communing with the cosmos’s vital energy.

“It also depends on one’s aptitude and physiology,” Chen Luo mused after reading about ‘Pseudo-Core Seed.’

With the aid of his external brain, Chen Luo possessed complete spiritual root aptitude, his cultivation speed rivaling that of a single-element heavenly spirit root. Yet remarkably, his spiritual roots encompassed all attributes.

His physiology, too, had been profoundly influenced by the external brain. Even Void Sage had once misjudged it, mistakenly identifying him as possessing some hidden physiology.

Given these circumstances, Chen Luo surmised that the Golden Core he formed could potentially embody any attribute.

Embrace the essence, unleash the power—every move counts in this grand endeavor!

Only through Perfect Pill Formation can true mastery be achieved.

The mummy’s brain offered a brief flash of insight, further solidifying Chen Luo’s conjecture. As the volume of acquired knowledge grew, so too did the mummy’s brain activity. The Core Formation Stage brain worked much like his own; within him lay the legacy of the Cave of White Immortal, which had fallen short by a hairbreadth of forming a low-grade Crimson Pill, utterly destroying its path forward. Chen Luo was determined not to tread the same doomed path.

Having summarized the path to Core Formation, Chen Luo began to peruse the bone scrolls related to artificing.

He currently possessed very few magical artifacts, with only one high-quality soul banner. In their previous encounter, the soul banner had suffered damage and hadn’t been used consistently for some time. It was crucial to find a way to repair it.

The nine second-rank magic swords also needed strengthening, and their forging techniques required updating.

Row by row, Chen Luo searched through the bone scrolls.

Before long, he found the corresponding second-rank artificing legacy. The second-rank artificer’s brain in his head began to stir, absorbing this knowledge and awakening many ‘past memories.’ It felt to Chen Luo as if he were reclaiming lost memories.

As he read through the bone scrolls, Chen Luo’s knowledge and skills grew ever more profound.

Time slipped away like water through cupped hands, and before he knew it, three days had passed. Truly, times flies when one is immersed in knowledge.

Just as Chen Luo was about to continue reading, a commotion suddenly arose outside the cave.

“What’s going on?” Chen Luo paused his actions and walked towards the entrance. During his seclusion, he had specifically instructed that he was not to be disturbed except for urgent matters.

The stone door of the cultivation chamber opened, revealing the attendant Madam Hua had assigned to him.

“Senior Li, the deadline for the Black Crystal Mission is approaching. If you don’t complete it, your position as altro might be jeopardized. The Madam asked me to remind you. This time, the mission is personally overseen by the Elder Spirit Merger; even she cannot interfere.”

Upon seeing Chen Luo emerge, the disciple at the gate finally let out a sigh of relief.

“What mission?” Chen Luo asked, suddenly recalling that being an elder in Black Crystal City wasn’t just about enjoying perks. Everything in Black Crystal City existed to serve the Ancestor of Black Crystal, and even the elders had to fulfill missions. Only by completing the tasks assigned by the Ancestor could they obtain their corresponding rights.

“The Death Match. These individuals have all paid the required spirit stones. As one of Black Crystal City’s elders, you need to oversee their duels and ensure no one cheats.”

The gatekeeper disciple hastily responded.

“Can’t you just assign someone else to take care of it?” Chen Luo frowned, clearly reluctant to let such trivial matters disrupt his cultivation. “If worse comes to worst, Mrs. Hua can represent me.”

“Well, the old Rookie Spirit is keeping an eye on it.”

“I see.”

Setting down the bone scroll he was holding, Chen Luo stepped outside.

He decided to make a quick appearance, hoping to get rid of this task once and for all. With access to Blackstone City’s resources, his cultivation had been going exceptionally smoothly. With Madam Hua shouldering much of the burden, he was in no hurry to leave.

Leaving the main cultivation mountain, Chen Luo flew all the way to the east side of the city, where the arena district was located.

This was where the Life-and-Death Matches took place.

The cultivators who came here to fight were mostly gamblers. Rogue cultivators, seeking more resources, would often bet everything they had. The winner took all, while the loser became a stepping stone for others.

It was still rather brutal, but within Blackstone City, the arena district had always been the hottest spot.

The cultivation world’s wealth divide was also severe. Low-level rogue cultivators risked their lives for a mere handful of spirit stones, while powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators squandered them like water.