CHAPTER 492: CHAPTER 477: ANOTHER CORE FORMATION!

After returning to Cangyuan Immortal City, Zhouyang’s days were quite simple.

Since his cultivation couldn’t advance further and his artifact refining skill had reached Tier Four Top Grade, he spent most of his time researching the remaining advanced sword arrays in the "Great Derivation Sword Technique" and practicing the Talisman Making Art.

Sometimes, he would take his Dao Companion Xiao Ying and concubine Qin Yue’Er on trips outside Cangyuan Immortal City, or accept invitations to participate in high-tier cultivator exchanges, or help high-tier cultivators who sought him out to refine Tier Four Spiritual Artifacts.

During this time, Zhouyang focused on one thing, which was testing Qin Yue’Er.

He didn’t believe that Guo Jinhong gave Qin Yue’Er to him as a concubine just to win him over without other motives.

Neither of them were fools, and the matter of Qin Yue’Er being controlled by the "Divine Control Art" meant that Zhouyang could never truly trust her and treat her as a genuine companion.

Guo Jinhong, living over two thousand years as a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, certainly knew this much.

Therefore, Zhouyang was always convinced that the other party gave Qin Yue’Er to him as a concubine with certain malicious intentions hidden from him.

Unfortunately, no matter what methods he used to test her, openly or secretly, he couldn’t find anything unusual from Qin Yue’Er.

She seemed just like a real minor concubine from a wealthy household, submissive to all of Zhouyang’s orders without any sign of rebellion, and didn’t exhibit any abnormal behavior.

In short, everything about her was indistinguishable from a genuinely humble concubine, making it hard for Zhouyang to discern whether she had truly been trained by Qin Zhiyun to be a submissive maid or was merely enduring humiliation in disguise.

Actually, when Zhouyang couldn’t find any suspicious signs on her, he considered ruthlessly having a cultivator dual cultivate with her to break her Primordial Yin, to see if she could continue not revealing any flaws.

But he couldn’t bring himself to execute this thought.

It’s not that he couldn’t bear letting such a beauty of his own be tarnished by another man, but his conscience didn’t allow him to achieve his goals through such evil means.

No matter what Guo Jinhong’s intentions were in giving him Qin Yue’Er, she was undoubtedly a pitiful person.

Zhouyang, as the "victim," could guard against and feel no sympathy toward Qin Yue’Er, but in the absence of any explicit malice from her, he truly couldn’t muster up the heart to harm such an unfortunate woman.

Moreover, if he truly did such a thing, whether Qin Yue’Er would cooperate was another issue, and upon his Dao Companion Xiao Ying knowing about this, she would undoubtedly be very disappointed in him.

Therefore, Zhouyang ultimately had no choice but to let go of testing Qin Yue’Er and allow her to stay by his side.

Five years passed like this. Once Zhouyang felt there were no hidden dangers in his body, he borrowed a Tier Five Cave Mansion from Cangyuan Wanderer and attempted to retreat again for Core Formation.

This time in the Core Formation, his magical power had been purified by the "Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill," making the first step "Condensing Pill" much smoother compared to the first attempt.

After two years of retreat, without using any auxiliary Core Formation treasures, he managed to complete the "Condensing Pill" step and successfully formed a Solid Pill.

With "Condensing Pill" successful, Zhouyang certainly continued his efforts to attempt the second step "He Pill."

When he followed the Core Formation experiences of elder cultivators, his divine soul stepped from the Purple Mansion into the Lower Dantian to merge with the Solid Golden Pill, his mind sank, feeling as if he was bearing the weight of a mountain.

He knew that it was because his divine soul had not yet merged with the Golden Pill and was affected by the immense power contained within the Pill.

The "He Pill" step required him to fuse his divine soul with the Golden Pill, to imprint his divine soul on the Pill, ensuring the two would never be separated again.

Zhouyang’s strong divine soul indeed made this step easier than for ordinary peer cultivators.

Based on the Core Formation experiences shared by elder cultivators, many cultivators, when first attempting this step, quickly find their divine soul overwhelmed, unable to bear the burden and forced to retract back to the Purple Mansion, thus leading to the dispersal of the Solid Golden Pill and Core Formation failure.

When he first attempted this step, however, he could calm down and proceed with the "He Pill" process.

Yet, despite this, he ultimately did not complete the "He Pill" step.

After finishing about forty percent of the entire "He Pill" process, Zhouyang’s divine soul could no longer withstand the pressure at its limit, unable to support him to continue.

Thus, like those elder cultivators who fell at this step, he was forced to withdraw his divine soul back to the Purple Mansion and watch helplessly as the Solid Golden Pill he painstakingly condensed cracked, dispersing into countless liquid magical true essence.

Phew!

A mouthful of fresh blood spurted from Zhouyang’s mouth, landing on the ground with a pool of deep red blood.

This attempt at Core Formation failure impacted his Dantian much worse than before, now feeling as if countless blades were cutting inside, the pain causing his whole body to convulse, sweat beads the size of beans rolling down his cheeks.

This pain couldn’t be alleviated in any way and could only be endured with personal willpower.

After three full days and nights, Zhou Yang finally began to feel much better. Only then did he dare to take some Healing Spirit Pills, forcing himself to meditate and heal his injuries.

Having continually nurtured his injuries for three years, Zhou Yang finally managed to control the injuries in his dantian, allowing him to slightly utilize some magical power.

With the ability to use magical power and the strength to protect himself, Zhou Yang did not continue to stay in the Tier Five Cave Mansion. Instead, he returned the mansion and quietly went to Chiyuan Villa to recuperate.

Of course, this news was kept secret by a request to Cangyuan Wanderer, and even his Dao Companion Xiao Ying did not know he had come out of closed-door training.

In Chiyuan Villa, Xu Song, after studying the Spirit Gathering Array for ten years, had made significant progress and was not far from formally reverse-engineering and replicating its setup method.

Upon arriving here, Zhou Yang did not interrupt his research, instead continuing to rest while also focusing on swordsmanship.

The "Great Derivation Sword Technique" is vast and profound, with its advanced sword arrays becoming increasingly difficult to practice as the technique progresses. Given Zhou Yang’s current cultivation level, learning it was no easy task.

However, this only strengthened his resolve to master it. If he could fully comprehend this sword technique, even without the corresponding sections for the Golden Core Stage, it would still serve as a powerful means for him to fight enemies after achieving Core Formation.

After spending another three years in Chiyuan Villa, Zhou Yang still had not mastered the final advanced sword array, the "Righteous and Evil Nine Palace Sword Array," when Xu Song had already succeeded in understanding the special Spirit Gathering Array and completely replicated it.

"This Spirit Gathering Array, in essence, is not of a high grade and can be set up by a Tier Four High-grade Array Master. However, to achieve the current effect over a Tier Three Spiritual Vein, the array needs to operate for over thirty years, and during its setup, five top-grade spirit stones with the attributes of the Five Elements are needed as the array base."

"Moreover, based on my deductions, this Spirit Gathering Array can raise the Spiritual Qi concentration inside the array up to at most a level equivalent to a Tier Five High-Grade Spiritual Vein, and it is impossible to reach Level Six Spiritual Vein!"

"Also, once this Spirit Gathering Array is established within the spirit vein, don’t expect to upgrade the grade of this spirit vein in the future, as this array will alter the vein’s foundation, making it impossible to advance!"

"Lastly, this jade scroll contains my research insights and the method to set up this Spirit Gathering Array. You need only find a Tier Four High-grade Array Master to follow the instructions to successfully set it up."

Inside Chiyuan Villa, Xu Song found Zhou Yang, who was resting, carelessly tossed a jade scroll to him, and with a face full of exhaustion, explained his research findings clearly.

Throughout these years, he had devoted all his thoughts to studying this Spirit Gathering Array, consuming a great deal of his spirit. His current exhausted appearance was not feigned to gain Zhou Yang’s sympathy.

Holding the jade scroll Xu Song had thrown over, Zhou Yang suppressed his excitement, bowed deeply to Xu Song with a serious expression, and said, "Elder Xu, you have worked hard. I will keep my promise and will arrange for someone to send you to Fallen Demon Valley for secluded cultivation!"

"That’s what you said, so I will be waiting for you to fulfill your promise!"

After saying that, Xu Song gave him a deep look, then returned to rest within the "Spiritual Treasure Token" hanging at his waist.

Following this, Zhou Yang wasted no time, immediately left Chiyuan Villa, and quietly handed the "Spiritual Treasure Token" to Li Hong, ordering him to personally take Xu Song to Fallen Demon Valley for secluded cultivation.

After handling all of this, Zhou Yang formally returned to his cave mansion in Cangyuan Immortal City and announced his failure at Core Formation through closed-door cultivation.

By this time, thirteen years had passed since he began his secluded Core Formation. Cultivators with some understanding of Core Formation had long expected this outcome, so even his Dao Companion Xiao Ying showed little reaction and only offered some comfort when he revealed the news.

Xiao Ying’s cultivation had reached the Seventh Layer of the Purple Mansion and was not far from the Eighth Layer. Core Formation was also not distant for her.

At this moment, there were less than two years left on the twenty-year agreement between Han Xiao of Cyan Origin Sword Sect and Zhou Yang. Zhou Yang calculated the time and thought of going to Cyan Origin Mountain in Jinyang Country to receive the "Jade Liquid Golden Pill."

However, just as he had this thought and was preparing to set out a year later, the "Profound Light Ring" he always wore on his left index finger suddenly started to shine with a bright silver light.

Upon seeing this, his expression immediately darkened.

"That damned Old Ghost Guo, it’s been less than twenty years, and he’s already after me?"

"At this critical moment, is his sudden summons related to the ’Jade Liquid Golden Pill’ that the Cyan Origin Sword Sect agreed to give me?"

"As expected, old ghosts in the Nascent Soul Stage are treacherous. At this juncture, if he summons me, unless I’m willing to forfeit that ’Jade Liquid Golden Pill,’ I have no choice but to obey his summons and go see him!"

Zhou Yang cursed incessantly, practically insulting the entire lineage of Guo Jinhong’s ancestors.

Yet curses aside, he couldn’t possibly give up on the "Jade Liquid Golden Pill" he had risked his life for. Thus, he could only respond to the summons, hurriedly making a few arrangements before taking Qin Yue’Er with him to Jinyang Country.

He had to bring Qin Yue’Er along because, firstly, Guo Jinhong had previously instructed him to bring her back to Valley of Forgetfulness once every few decades to check the "Divine Control Art" restriction issues, and, secondly, he couldn’t rest easy leaving her behind with Dao Companion Xiao Ying.

Conversely, his Dao Companion Xiao Ying was left behind in Cangyuan Immortal City this time. He entrusted her with the "Great Transposition Order" and thirty-six top-grade spirit stones.

If anything happened to him on this journey, or if there were no news of him for ten years, Xiao Ying would lead Zhou Guangxiang, Zhou Tongyue, and the others back directly to the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm and sever the teleportation array connection.

ps: By estimation, there are about six or seven Chapters left before the Core Formation. I wish the protagonist could succeed in one attempt too, but this book’s genre isn’t fast-paced. Although nowadays many people don’t like reading this kind of "struggle novel," I’m truly writing a "Zhou Yang’s Struggle for Immortality in the Otherworld"!