Chapter 198: The True Secret of the Golden Core

A few days ago, Su Che’s ten ghost servants devoured the vital spirits of eight Golden Core cultivators and quickly rose to the highest level of the later stage of the Foundation Establishment phase.
However, that was as far as they went. To ascend to Ghost King status, they needed a greater opportunity, and no method for advancement had yet been discovered.
Despite their formidable strength, the ten ghost servants could only exert the combat power of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment because they had no magical artifacts, which was quite a pity.
So, Su Che thought that no matter the cost, he must equip them with ghost artifacts to give them sufficient combat power to assist him in defeating enemies.
Lei Chuang asked, “Senior Su, are there any time constraints for exchanging ghost artifacts?”
“Within twenty days,” Su Che replied. “As you should know, I will set up a Hundred Battles Arena at the Competition Peak in twenty days.”
“Yes, I’ve heard about it.”
After some thought, Lei Chuang said, “With such a tight deadline, to obtain enough artifacts, we might have to compromise a bit—swapping two top-grade spiritual artifacts for one lower-grade ghost artifact.”
“Agreed,” Su Che agreed without hesitation. By now, he no longer cared about such minor differences; time was what mattered most.
“Then that’s great,” Lei Chuang laughed. “I’m truly grateful that Senior Su takes such good care of my business.”
Twenty top-grade spiritual artifacts made this the most significant deal he had ever taken on, surely bringing many benefits.
Su Che expressed his gratitude politely and was about to leave when five people entered through the store’s main door. Judging from their identity plaques, they were all from the Sky Furnace Peak, including an old acquaintance—Hua Lu.
Four years ago, when Su Che first met Hua Lu, he was only at the second level of Qi Cultivation, while Hua Lu was already at the peak of Qi Cultivation, ranking sixth on the inner disciple rankings. Back then, Hua Lu looked down on Su Che with condescension.
Now, though Su Che was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, he was the one who had to look up to Hua Lu, who had become a true figure of prominence. Moreover, today, Hua Lu played the role of a subordinate, having to follow others as they entered the store.
The two people at the front were two true disciples of the Sky Furnace Peak, one male and one female. The male was at the early stage of the Golden Core, while the female was at the later stage of Foundation Establishment.
Like the Mysterious Secrets Peak, the Sky Furnace Peak also had only one true disciple at the early stage of the Golden Core, named Fu Wenfei—likely the person in question.
He appeared very young but actually had an age equivalent to over sixty, with earth-type celestial roots.

Judging from their expressions and postures, Su Che guessed that this wasn’t a coincidence—they had come specifically for him. Sure enough, Fu Wenfei and his five companions approached him. From a distance, they bowed and asked, “Are you Su Che, the junior disciple from Mysterious Peak?”
“That’s right,” Su Che nodded and replied, “Greeting my senior brother.”
Since they were adopting a high-profile approach, although Su Che was still an inner disciple, he didn’t bow deeply but only gave a brief, equal-level greeting.
“Hmph!”
A harsh snort came from that female direct disciple. She was in her thirties in terms of bone age but looked like an eighteen or nineteen-year-old, with a demeanor typical of a young girl.
It couldn’t be said that she was pretending to be younger. Su Che knew that many direct disciples like her grew up in powerful sects, had experienced few setbacks, and spent most of their lives in monotonous cultivation, resulting in very simple and naive minds. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say their mental age was that of teenagers.
Su Che also knew that her snort was a sign of dissatisfaction toward him. It was partly because, as an inner disciple, he only gave her a simple equal greeting despite meeting a direct disciple; it was also because he merely said “Greeting my senior brother” while ignoring her as his senior sister. Although they were both at the later stage of the Foundation Establishment phase, she being a direct disciple indeed deserved to be called his senior sister.
But what did it matter if she was dissatisfied? Su Che was too lazy to pay her attention, not even glancing at her.
Fu Wenfei said with a smile, “I just arrived at Wealthy Peak and heard people talking about you, Junior Brother Su. Out of curiosity, I wanted to meet you.”
“You’re too kind, senior brother,” Su Che replied with a gentle smile.
“Junior Brother Su really makes a grand entrance when he does show up,” Fu Wenfei continued. “I’ve never heard of your name before, and suddenly you decide to hold a Hundred Battles Arena—it really shocked all of us direct disciples…”
Before Fu Wenfei could finish, the woman beside him snorted again, “Just at the later stage of Foundation Establishment? How does she think she qualifies to hold a Hundred Battles Arena?”
Only then did Su Che turn his gaze to her face and say calmly, “If senior sister is curious, why not wait another twenty days? By then, you’ll surely find the answer on the arena.”
“What if I want to know the answer now?”
The woman stepped forward aggressively and demanded, “Can’t you get the answer right here on the arena right now?”

Hearing her question, Su Che immediately understood that the woman’s willfulness and capriciousness were purely pretense. Her goal was simply to provoke him, to have a match at the Competition Peak, with Fu Wenfei watching to assess his strength. Thinking of this, Su Che even felt a bit of respect for her—undoubtedly, she was willing to be a test subject for her beloved. Sacrificing oneself to fulfill one’s partner’s desires was not a fault at all. On the contrary, he despised Fu Wenfei, the senior brother from the Heavenly Furnace Peak, for exploiting the woman’s devotion—clearly a hypocrite who would stop at nothing. So, Su Che said to her, “Senior sister, there’s no need for such provocation. Before facing a hundred battles, I won’t accept anyone’s challenge. Your plans are just a waste of effort.” His tone was gentle, but his words were direct and unambiguous, leaving the couple visibly embarrassed. This was Su Che’s style of acting boldly. “Junior Su, you misunderstand. Sister Minglan didn’t mean that,” Fu Wenfei explained with a smile. “It doesn’t matter,” Su Che waved his hand and smiled at the woman. “It’s obvious that Senior Sister Minglan is loyal and sincere. On the day of the match, I’ll definitely be lenient.” Minglan was stunned, not knowing how to respond. “But senior brother is different!” Unexpectedly, Su Che wasn’t easy to deal with. He shifted his tone and said to Fu Wenfei, “Senior brother has great cultivation and deep strategies. I’ll give it my all then to learn from you.” “Good, that’s exactly what I want!” Fu Wenfei laughed, but his eyes held little humor. Su Che didn’t want to waste time on such a person and planned to check out other shops. However, through his spiritual sense and Lao Hei’s detection abilities, he saw a large crowd gathering outside the shops—several groups from different directions had collided there, forming a crowd of over fifty people! “So famous already? Just a casual visit to the Material Abundance Peak has drawn so many true disciples…” At that moment, Su Che felt both amused and ironic. Undoubtedly, these people shared Fu Wenfei’s intentions—all wanting to get in touch with him early to gauge his strength.

Just as Fu Wenfei had said, someone as obscure as himself suddenly appeared, determined to compete in the Hundred Battles Arena and claim the legendary title of “Chief True Disciple”… It was like a thunderclap out of nowhere; the psychological impact on them was immense! These past few days, they must have had no appetite or good sleep… Whoosh… Over fifty people entered one after another, and the majority of them were True Disciples. “Haha, it seems Junior Brother Fu has taken the lead.” Some laughed heartily. They were all at the early Jin Dan stage, wearing jade plaques from Tianwu Peak. Just by looking at the plaques, it was clear they were Wu Ze, the eldest True Disciple of Tianwu Peak, in his sixties with a Fire-type Heavenly Spirit Root. Among the ten main peaks, aside from Tianji Peak, which focused on cultivation arrays, each of the other nine peaks had an early Jin Dan stage True Disciple. Su Che knew that these nine were the main contenders in the Hundred Battles Arena. His master had repeatedly warned him not to become complacent or arrogant just because he had killed a few Jin Dan elders from Taiyi Gate. He must remember that Jin Dan stage True Disciples from top sects were far more powerful than ordinary Jin Dan elders. After all, these True Disciples were usually exceptionally talented, able to reach the Jin Dan stage at a young age. Each had their own secrets and hidden cards. If a real fight broke out, no one could predict what astonishing tactics they might employ until the very end. Today, before even the battles began, four of these Jin Dan True Disciples were already here in this shop. Who knew what would happen next… Leichuang, hiding behind the counter, was extremely anxious, fearing that these senior brothers and sisters might start fighting inside the shop, which would surely result in punishment for him as the store manager. Su Che stood calmly, no longer greeting anyone—there were too many people to greet properly. “Is this Junior Brother Su?” Wu Ze from Tianwu Peak spoke to Su Che first. “That’s right,” Su Che replied, raising his hand in a gesture of respect. “I’m Xuanji Su Che. It’s an honor to meet all of you, senior brothers and sisters.” Everyone returned the greeting. One of the female True Disciples was Nan Xin, the eldest sister from Tianhua Peak. She nodded and said, “I heard that Junior Brother Su reached the later stage of the Foundation Building phase before he turned twenty, yet he doesn’t even have a Heavenly Spirit Root… At first, I didn’t believe it, but now that I’ve seen it, I have no choice but to believe.”

Another woman who possessed the true Golden Core cultivation method was Ling Xue, the senior sister of Xuan Yuan Peak. She took over the conversation and said, “If Junior Su puts in more effort and achieves the Golden Core stage before the age of 25, when his bone age is still low, he can surpass Tian Yin from Wu Ji Gate and claim the title of the greatest genius in the cultivation world.”
These words sounded like praise, but upon closer consideration, they either contained hidden meanings or had some underlying intent…
Su Che smiled silently without saying anything for now.
Fu Wenfei from Tian Lu Peak, Wu Ze from Tian Wu Peak, Nan Xin from Tian Hua Peak, and Ling Xue from Xuan Yuan Peak.
These four masters of the Golden Core cultivation method happened to meet by chance and trapped Su Che in a shop on Wu Hua Peak. What would they do next?