CHAPTER 32: CHAPTER 32: SOUL FORGING METHOD · NINE REVOLUTIONS GOLDEN CORE_1

"The New Year has already passed, and the Dean isn’t back yet," Wang Linchi muttered, unaware of what the Dean was doing. Ever since he discovered someone had infiltrated his home without anything being stolen, he had decisively moved into Qinghe Academy, where he spent his days improving the Soul Forging Method and cultivating.

The results were quite significant. With the backing of top-tier resources, his spiritual power had already reached 93 points, successfully attaining the late stage of the White Porcelain level, and he was on the verge of reaching its peak. During this period, he wasn’t solely focused on cultivation; he was also modifying and integrating all the Soul Forging Methods in his possession into a single compendium. He had currently developed an entirely new White Porcelain level Soul Forging Method.

Just yesterday, he had completed the White Porcelain stage modification of the Soul Forging Method. He didn’t need to switch his cultivation technique because the "Book Mountain and Sea Soul Forging Method" was one of the methods he integrated; it could be simply understood that he hadn’t cultivated that particular method to its complete form previously.

Once his spiritual power reaches 99 points, he will be able to condense a Golden Core effect on his Soul Image: Book of Memories. This Golden Core will have a Mental Power Capacity Limit of 100 points and can autonomously restore spiritual power. With this Golden Core, his own spiritual power will reset to 1 point. At first glance, it might seem like his spiritual power has decreased, but in reality, he will possess a total of 101 points of spiritual power (his 1 point of current spiritual power plus the Golden Core’s 100-point capacity), comparable to someone who has just entered the Black Iron Level.

This is only the beginning. Once his own spiritual power reaches 99 points again, it will merge into the Golden Core once more, adding another marking to it. At this point, the Golden Core’s total Mental Power Capacity Limit will reach 200 points, a state Wang Linchi calls the First Revolution Golden Core. After repeating this process nine times, the Nine Revolutions Golden Core will possess a total Mental Power Capacity Limit of 1,000 points.

This might seem like a poor trade-off, as reaching the Black Iron Level also grants 1,000 points of spiritual power. However, the calculation isn’t that simple. Firstly, each re-cultivation will be easier than the last. For instance, after condensing the Golden Core, his spiritual power will revert to 1 point, but the bottlenecks will be gone. Moreover, he won’t need to rely heavily on resources for re-cultivation. Wang Linchi estimated that he could achieve a fully cultivated Nine Revolutions Golden Core in at most three years. The more re-cultivations he undergoes, the faster each subsequent one will become.

He also didn’t need to worry about others seeing through his actual state. Protected by the Soul Shield of his Soul Seed·Soul Courtyard, it would be nearly impossible for others to discern his true capabilities.

Once the Nine Revolutions Golden Core, an effect of the White Porcelain level, successfully manifests, his spiritual power will reach 1,100 points when he breaks through to the Black Iron Level. This is because the 1,000-point Mental Power Capacity Limit from the Nine Revolutions Golden Core counts towards his total. Combined with the 100 points of spiritual power he inherently possesses, his spiritual power will be ten times higher than that of a normal Black Iron Level cultivator. Perhaps there are prodigies even more exceptional than him, but for Wang Linchi, this was already an excellent outcome, especially considering he lacked any special conditions to assist his cultivation.

More importantly, the Nine Revolutions Golden Core is an effect with growth potential. After reaching the Black Iron Level, if Wang Linchi further refines this method, the Golden Core’s capacity will also increase. The drawback is that he would still need to undergo ten re-cultivations. Thankfully, since the bottleneck is cleared once, it doesn’t reappear in subsequent re-cultivations. Once he successfully cultivates it, he will possess far more spiritual power than his peers.

Besides granting Wang Linchi a vastly superior amount of spiritual power compared to his peers, the Nine Revolutions Golden Core has another excellent feature: its recovery capability. Even if Wang Linchi were to lose some of the Mental Power Capacity Limit stored within the Nine Revolutions Golden Core, this lost capacity would gradually recover. The time required for recovery is uncertain and depends on his diligence in cultivation; more practice leads to faster recovery, and less practice means slower recovery.

This effect was, naturally, something Wang Linchi designed for himself. After all, his Book of Records consumes Mental Power Capacity Limit. To conduct his experiments, he absolutely needed a way to restore this capacity. The Nine Revolutions Golden Core was perfectly suited for this.

The reason he hadn’t taken action before was that if he were to damage his own Mental Power Capacity Limit, it would take a tremendous effort to re-cultivate it. However, if he used the Nine Revolutions Golden Core to absorb such damage, the impact on him would be far less significant. Furthermore, a higher Mental Power Capacity Limit would enhance the effectiveness of his Soul Seed·Hall of Thoughts. Although its parameters had improved from 8 millimeters and 8 milligrams to 9 millimeters and 9 milligrams—a direct increase of one-eighth—it was still of limited use. As for using his Thought Field to interfere with atoms or molecules, firstly, he couldn’t even observe them. And even if he could, could he actually affect them? If he truly possessed such capabilities, he wouldn’t need to search for combat-type abilities; he could effortlessly trigger a Nuclear Explosion.

"`The remaining 6 points of spiritual power are proving a bit tricky,`" Wang Linchi thought, glancing at the spiritual power value reflected in his Thought Mirror with a sense of helplessness. Just 1 more point of spiritual power is needed to successfully condense the ’Mountain of Books’, and the remaining 4 points will be used to condense the ’Ocean of Knowledge’. The difficulty is considerable.

Wang Linchi’s Nine Revolutions Golden Core was, of course, based on the Mountain of Books and Ocean of Knowledge effect derived from the "Book Mountain and Sea Soul Forging Method"; otherwise, how could it have been created from nothing? This wasn’t a case of switching cultivation methods but rather one of completion. It was akin to supplementing the Mountain of Books and Ocean of Knowledge with other Soul Forging Methods to perfect the Nine Revolutions Golden Core. This achievement was largely thanks to the Secret Silver Level Soul Forging Method the Dean had gifted him. Otherwise, relying solely on Black Iron and Mountain Copper Level methods, he might not have succeeded.

I’ll wait for now. When the Dean returns, I’ll see if I can obtain some special resources from him, beyond the Level Four subsidy. Ideally, a treasure that can help me break through the Mental Power Capacity Limit at the White Porcelain level. It’s undoubtedly precious, but the Dean should be able to provide it.

Once spiritual power reaches 100 points, being able to break past this limit offers benefits when advancing to the Black Iron Level. Such items aren’t difficult for an Elite Gold Level expert to obtain; it all depends on whether they’re willing to part with one. They might not need such Natural Treasures themselves, but their descendants or disciples certainly could. Even without descendants or disciples, these items are valuable for trade, as others also have descendants and disciples.

However, Wang Linchi couldn’t fathom the Dean’s intentions, so he remained uncertain. Anyone capable of reaching the Elite Gold Level and becoming a Dean must possess unique abilities, making their thoughts difficult for Wang Linchi to penetrate. Furthermore, judging by the Dean’s past behavior, he seemed quite frugal. Otherwise, why would the resources he provided be just barely enough for Wang Linchi to break through to the Black Iron Level, without a shred more?

Pausing cultivation now might delay my progress, but I understand that my current strength won’t diminish because of it. Conversely, rushing things could potentially cause harm. I’m safe within the academy, and I don’t have any mortal enemies at the moment. Why should I rush and needlessly expose myself to danger for a moment’s gain?

I hope the Dean pays some attention to his own official career, Wang Linchi mused, still unsure of the Dean’s true thoughts but resolved to keep some plans in reserve. If he worked hard to earn merits for the Dean, only to be fobbed off with standard rewards from the Court, then Wang Linchi would just slack off and go through the motions.