In the days that followed, all the cultivators who came to Chonghua Hall to offer their congratulations were turned away. The reason given was that Li Xue had also entered seclusion, leaving the hall without anyone to manage its affairs. Some persistent visitors even sought out Yuanhua Hall, pestering Perfected Jingyuan to the point of distraction. Eventually, he too went into seclusion to refine pills. With Yu Ming away on a journey of tempering, both the massive Chonghua Hall and Yuanhua Hall were left without a master. No one dared to go to Yuhua Hall to disturb Daoist Yuhong, so after a while, the fervor of offering congratulations and seeking connections gradually cooled down.
Li Xue began her preparations for forming her Golden Core. She already possessed the Soul-Returning Pill required for the realm transition, as well as the Heavenly Heart Pill used to ward off inner demons. As far as medicinal pills were concerned, she did not need to expend much effort.
Li Lin taught her by example, meticulously explaining every detail and sensation he had experienced during his own Core Formation several times over. Daoist Yuhong also carefully outlined every precaution. Even the senior brothers and sisters who were not in seclusion—Perfected Jingliu, Perfected Jingli, and Perfected Jingyuan—offered their own insights and experiences for Li Xue’s reference.
The consensus among the members of Dongyang Palace was that the most perilous part of Li Xue’s Core Formation would undoubtedly be the trial of the inner demons. Because she had essentially bypassed this trial during her Foundation Establishment, the inner demons she would face upon reaching the Golden Core stage were bound to be a formidable obstacle. Inner demons were of vital importance to a cultivator; the earlier they were encountered and resolved, the better. If left until the Tribulation Transcendence stage, the combination of the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation and the inner demons would result in most cultivators having their souls scattered, losing even the chance for reincarnation. The reason Daoist Yuhong had hesitated so long to face the Deity Transformation Tribulation was precisely because he was stuck at the hurdle of his inner demons.
Everyone assumed that Li Ran would be Li Xue’s fatal inner demon. They did not know that Li Xue was a soul from another world. Her inner demon was not Li Ran, but rather her family from her previous life. This was the root of her greatest vulnerability, and because of it, she would struggle for over a decade within the illusion of her inner demons during her Core Formation.
After forming his core, Li Lin began preparing the materials for Nascent Soul Pills and Deity Transformation Pills. The Deity Transformation Pill required by their Grandmaster, Daoist Yuhong, also needed to be prepared in advance. In the world of alchemy, it was always better to be early; one never knew when such things would be needed.
The primary ingredients for the Nascent Soul Pill were: Heavenly Profound Fruit, Spirit Essence Fruit, Primordial Spirit Grass, Soul-Nurturing Flower, and Blood-Marrow Grass, all of which needed to be at least two thousand years old. The supplementary ingredients included: Purple Sun Ginseng, Nine-Bent Lingzhi, and Heavenly Snow Lotus, requiring a maturity of over five thousand years, along with a Rank 4 or higher monster core.
As for the Deity Transformation Pill, the primary ingredients were: Heavenly Profound Fruit, Spirit Essence Fruit, Deity Transformation Grass, Soul-Nurturing Flower, and Spirit-Marrow Grass, requiring over five thousand years of growth. The supplementary ingredients were largely the same as those for the Nascent Soul Pill, but they needed to be over ten thousand years old, and the monster core had to be Rank 6 or higher.
The reason high-level pills were so rare was primarily due to the scarcity of materials. Spirit herbs over five thousand years old were nearly extinct in the cultivation world of the Mangyun Mountains. Even if one possessed the pill formula, there was little that could be done without the ingredients.
The Dream Realm did not lack supplementary herbs, though they required time to cultivate. Among the primary ingredients, they were missing Primordial Spirit Grass, Blood-Marrow Grass, Deity Transformation Grass, and Spirit-Marrow Grass. As long as they could obtain the seeds or seedlings of these spirit herbs, they would only need to be cultivated for a dozen or so years within the Dream Realm.
Li Lin was currently busy in the medicinal fields, tending to a Soul-Nurturing Flower that had been transplanted from Daoist Yuhong’s private spirit garden. Suddenly, a ripple in space occurred, and a battered figure appeared by the small lake. Li Lin’s face twitched when he saw who it was. It was Yu Ming, lying on the ground covered in blood once again, looking severely injured.
Li Lin took out a high-grade Spirit-Recovering Pill and fed it to Yu Ming. Yu Ming hurriedly sat cross-legged to regulate his breath. Hearing the commotion, Li Xue also emerged from the Xueyu Cottage.
"Senior Brother, what happened to you?" Li Lin asked once Yu Ming opened his eyes.
Yu Ming’s eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed Li Lin’s arm and snarled, "Junior Brother, you must help me kill that damned Black Wolf King!"
"The Black Wolf King?" Li Xue asked in surprise. "Didn't you encounter it a few years ago? Why did you go and provoke it again?"
"I didn't provoke it; it provoked me!" Yu Ming barked, fuming with rage. He was usually a calm person, so it was clear he had been truly pushed to his limit this time.
Years ago, Yu Ming had accidentally stumbled into the Black Wolf King’s territory and fled back to the Dream Realm after being injured. This time, he had specifically made a detour to avoid the wolf's territory, choosing to temper himself in the depths tens of thousands of miles away. Who could have known that the Black Wolf King was so vengeful? It had actually tracked him across such a vast distance. Yu Ming was no pushover either; he had immediately unleashed his strongest attacks, thoroughly implementing Li Xue’s "talisman tactics" by throwing several mid-grade offensive talismans. This had driven the Black Wolf King into a feral frenzy. In the end, Yu Ming was outmatched and fled for his life, though the Black Wolf King had certainly lost a layer of skin as well. Those offensive talismans were not just for show; it was a case of both sides suffering losses.
Li Lin frowned deeply upon hearing this. Why would a Black Wolf King track Yu Ming across tens of thousands of miles? A monster at the Transformation Stage would certainly not go to such lengths over a trivial matter. Their intelligence was not inferior to that of human cultivators.
Seeing Li Lin’s suspicious gaze, Yu Ming quickly added, "I swear I didn't steal anything from the Black Wolf King. During that first encounter, we only crossed paths briefly. As soon as I saw it was a Rank 4 beast, I turned and ran."
Li Lin nodded. "Wolf demons are exceptionally cunning and excel at pack tactics. We must be cautious. Recover from your injuries first. Once my mother has entered seclusion, we will go and meet this Black Wolf King."
Yu Ming nodded in agreement and returned to the Mingxin Residence to heal.
Soon after, after three months of preparation, Li Xue officially began her seclusion to form her Golden Core.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 还神丹 | Soul-Returning Pill | A pill used to assist in the transition of cultivation realms. |
| 天心丹 | Heavenly Heart Pill | A pill used to guard the mind against inner demons. |
| 心魔 | Inner Demon | Mental barriers or illusions that manifest during cultivation breakthroughs. |
| 元神丹 | Nascent Soul Pill | A high-level pill used for the Nascent Soul stage. |
| 化神丹 | Deity Transformation Pill | A high-level pill used for the Deity Transformation stage. |
| 天玄果 | Heavenly Profound Fruit | A rare primary ingredient for high-level pills. |
| 灵元果 | Spirit Essence Fruit | A rare primary ingredient for high-level pills. |
| 元神草 | Primordial Spirit Grass | A primary ingredient for Nascent Soul Pills. |
| 养魂花 | Soul-Nurturing Flower | A herb used to nourish the soul/spirit. |
| 血髓草 | Blood-Marrow Grass | A primary ingredient for Nascent Soul Pills. |
| 紫阳参 | Purple Sun Ginseng | A supplementary ingredient for high-level pills. |
| 九曲灵芝 | Nine-Bent Lingzhi | A supplementary ingredient for high-level pills. |
| 天雪莲 | Heavenly Snow Lotus | A supplementary ingredient for high-level pills. |
| 化神草 | Deity Transformation Grass | A primary ingredient for Deity Transformation Pills. |
| 魂髓草 | Spirit-Marrow Grass | A primary ingredient for Deity Transformation Pills. |
| 莽云山 | Mangyun Mountains | The name of the mountain range/region in the cultivation world. |
| 雪语小筑 | Xueyu Cottage | Li Xue's residence within the Dream Realm. |
| 茗心居 | Mingxin Residence | Yu Ming's residence within the Dream Realm. |
| 黑狼王 | Black Wolf King | A powerful Rank 4 wolf demon. |
| 化形期 | Transformation Stage | The stage where a monster/beast can take human form (usually Rank 4+). |
| 符篆战术 | Talisman Tactics | A combat style involving the heavy use of talismans. |
