Chapter 36: Golden Core Protection

“Qu Yi, I’ve finally found you.”
In the darkness, Liu Qingfeng’s voice echoed in the air, carrying a hint of menace.
“Liu Qingfeng, why don’t you attack me secretly? With your early Golden Core cultivation level, wouldn’t it be easy for you to kill me if you tried to ambush me? Are you that confident that you can defeat me head-on?” Qu Yi said calmly.
In truth, Qu Yi really hoped Liu Qingfeng would attack him secretly—then the trap he had set up could work perfectly.
“Qu Yi, even at the brink of death, you remain so falsely calm. I wonder what kind of beast you’re reborn as. Today, I must kill you no matter what. I’ve already decided to throw your body to the White Spotted Black Snakes so they can devour your flesh,” Liu Qingfeng said viciously.
Thinking about how worried he had been these past years because of Qu Yi filled him with rage; he longed to tear Qu Yi apart right away. Now that he had reached the early Golden Core stage and seized the opportunity of the Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts, Liu Qingfeng finally showed his fangs, determined to erase Qu Yi completely.
“Liu Qingfeng, I remember saying this to you before in the Misty Demon Mountains. Back then, you were in the late Foundation Establishment stage while I was in the late Qi Guidance stage. You didn’t kill me; instead, you fled in fear. This time, you’re at the early Golden Core stage, and my strength has also reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Are you really that confident you can kill me?” Qu Yi remained relaxed.
Qu Yi only claimed to be at the Foundation Establishment stage, not mentioning that he had actually reached the middle stage, to confuse Liu Qingfeng and make him hesitate.
“Qu Yi, you’re too naive. Can you really draw parallels? Back in the Misty Demon Mountains, I didn’t fight desperately because I was wary of the strength of the Golden Crown Heron. This time, I’m already at the early Golden Core stage. You might not be able to comprehend how immense the true energy of the Golden Core stage is. Even if you’re in the late Foundation Establishment stage, you’re still far inferior to me. Yet you still think you can fight me?” Liu Qingfeng said proudly before descending from the air into the valley.
The tense atmosphere grew immediate, and both of them fell silent.
“Triple Wood Qi Attack!”
Liu Qingfeng struck first, swinging his golden-glowing wooden sword. Then, three arrows of wood-based true energy shot toward Qu Yi in a triangular formation.
After returning from the Misty Demon Mountains, Liu Qingfeng felt his Fei Wood Sword wasn’t sharp enough, so he asked his grandfather Huai Jin to go to Fire Marvel Peak and mix refined gold into the sword, resulting in the current Golden Fei Sword.

Upon seeing the three streams of true energy aimed at him, Qu Yi remained calm. The spirit deity within his soul sensed everything clearly, knowing that these three streams of wood-type true energy were not strong and were merely used by Liu Qingfeng as a test. The spiritual perception of the spirit deity was equivalent to Qu Yi’s own, as the two were directly connected through the soul. “I’ll use a move with three swords at once,” Qu Yi said softly. Immediately, he swiftly swung his Green Python Sword, making three consecutive strikes in the air. Then, three streams of metal-type true energy rushed forward to meet the three streams of wood-type true energy. Metal overcomes wood, and as the true energies collided, Qu Yi, despite using only weak metal-type true energy, instantly shattered Liu Qingfeng’s wood-type true energy. “Haha, Qu Yi, I finally understand—your cultivation level is already at the middle stage of Foundation Building. Good. Coming to find you was the right decision. If you continue to cultivate at this pace, I will eventually be unable to suppress you. But today, you, this genius, must die.” Seeing his attack blocked, Liu Qingfeng wasn’t worried at all; instead, he was pleased. It turned out that Liu Qingfeng’s earlier move was merely to probe Qu Yi’s cultivation level. Qu Yi focused intensely, not daring to be careless, and admitted in his heart that Liu Qingfeng was indeed clever and cunning. “Since your cultivation is only at the middle stage of Foundation Building, it’s simple. I’ll just erase you with one sword,” Liu Qingfeng said viciously suddenly. “If you want to fight, then fight—no need for so much talk,” Qu Yi retorted sharply. Liu Qingfeng’s eyes turned cold, as if thousands of ice knives wanted to kill Qu Yi. Then, his figure seemed to blur as he leaped through the air toward Qu Yi. This was a special speed technique Liu Qingfeng had mastered, called Tree-Moving Escape. His body moved like a tree, suddenly appearing in one place, then disappearing to reappear elsewhere. It was as if his body was pulled out from one place and planted in another, only to be pulled out again and planted in yet another place. The scene might seem comical, but the speed was extremely fast. Qu Yi wasn’t at all panicked by Liu Qingfeng’s speed technique. He quickly stepped sideways several times, moving only about ten meters before stopping. “Die!” Liu Qingfeng’s body appeared instantly five meters in front of Qu Yi as he shouted coldly. At that moment, a smile suddenly appeared on Qu Yi’s previously stern face. Seeing Qu Yi’s smile, which seemed to imply his scheme had succeeded, Liu Qingfeng immediately stepped back, flying swiftly to his original position, staring at Qu Yi with a cold gaze.

“Haha, Liu Qingfeng, you cowardly scoundrel! You ran away last time in the Misty Demon Mountains. This time, I deliberately smiled, and you’re already scared and fleeing at the thought of some scheme I might have. Why even come here to practice cultivation? Just commit suicide instead.” As soon as Liu Qingfeng flew away on his own, Qu Yi started mocking him recklessly.

“You…” Liu Qingfeng realized he had been tricked, and his inner weakness had been completely exposed. Being laughed at by this mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator filled him with anger.

Since childhood, Liu Qingfeng had been under the protection of his grandfather, Jingu Jin, and thanks to his innate Wood-type single spiritual root, he had progressed exceptionally fast in Wood-related cultivation techniques, always leading among his peers and receiving much praise. However, behind his outstanding cultivation achievements lay a fatal weakness: he had very little experience facing real dangers, and he harbored a deep fear of life-and-death battles.

It was the same last time in the Misty Demon Mountains, and it was the same now.

“Liu Qingfeng, what do you think? Are you considering my proposal? I think you’d better find a nicer place and dig your own grave.” Qu Yi provoked him again with words.

Liu Qingfeng was well aware of Qu Yi’s intentions.

Anger slowly burned within him, but at that moment, his heart was undergoing a profound change.

“Qu Yi, great. Before you die, you’ve helped me overcome my psychological barriers. From today on, a desire for killing will forever reside in my heart. You’ll be my first victim under my sword.” Liu Qingfeng’s eyes turned blood-red suddenly, his voice grew stronger, and his entire being radiated killing intent.

“That’s right, Liu Qingfeng. I also want to have a proper duel with you to see what a high-level early-stage Golden Core cultivator is like.” Qu Yi said calmly, gripping his Green Python Sword tighter.

The true energy on Liu Qingfeng’s Golden Jade Sword surged violently. It seemed he no longer wanted to hide it, determined to use all the true energy in his Golden Core to boost his strength at will.

“Horizontal Sweep!”

Liu Qingfeng waved lightly, but the Wood-type true energy he released formed a large fan-shaped energy blade, swift as lightning, capable of cutting through anything in its path.

Qu Yi didn’t expect Liu Qingfeng to change so drastically. Last time, he had only released a small amount of true energy to test his strength, like sprinkling water. But now, due to Qu Yi’s mockery, his attitude had changed completely, and he unleashed 10% of his true energy at once.

10% of true energy from an early-stage Golden Core cultivator required at least a full effort from a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to possibly block it.

“Perfect!” Qu Yi’s body trembled as he shouted loudly.

Qu Yi solemnly held the Green Python Sword, converting all the metal energy in his lungs and the fire energy in his heart into metal energy, which was then released from both organs.
“Green Python Patrol!”
At that moment, a 20-meter-long green python leaped out from the sword, moving swiftly as it used its entire body to withstand the fan-shaped energy blades.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the energy blades dissipated, the green python’s body exploded into a wave of energy that scattered into the air.
The instant Qu Yi launched his attack to defend against Liu Qingfeng, his body vanished suddenly, as if dissolving into darkness. The next moment, he appeared right in front of Liu Qingfeng.
It turned out that Qu Yi had used the metal-element speed technique from “Five Energies and Three Flowers”: Wanli Cunjin. By this point, he was at the middle stage of the Foundation Building phase, and with this technique, his speed was no less than that of a cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Core phase.
Qu Yi dared to confront Liu Qingfeng precisely because of this technique. The moment Liu Qingfeng made a careless move, Qu Yi quickly converted all the wood-element true energy in his liver into metal-element true energy and used this technique.
“You…”
Liu Qingfeng, still thinking that his true energy had defeated Qu Yi and with energy waves swirling between them, was shocked to see Qu Yi appear right in front of him, the top-tier magical weapon Green Python Sword just a meter away.
“Golden Core Protection!”
Liu Qingfeng reacted quickly. Realizing it was too late to boost his true energy further, he resolutely activated his Golden Core, consuming 20% of its energy to create a barrier of true energy in front of him.
Qu Yi continued to charge with full force. When the Green Python Sword penetrated the barrier, he found it to be like a stone wall—each layer broken only to reveal another, with the true energy never ceasing and the wall remaining intact.
“Convert all earth-element true energy!”
Perceiving the strength of Liu Qingfeng’s true energy barrier, Qu Yi realized that if he increased his own true energy further, he could still pierce through it. With this realization, he made up his mind and converted all the earth-element true energy in his spleen into metal-element true energy, pouring it into the Green Python Sword.
“Ah!”
Liu Qingfeng let out a scream as he flew backward, a large blood hole appearing in his chest.
Qu Yi added more true energy to his attack, finally breaking through Liu Qingfeng’s protective barrier and piercing him.
With this successful strike, only the true energy in his kidneys remained in Qu Yi’s body, reducing his strength to 20% of its original level. Yet Liu Qingfeng wasn’t killed. After flying backward, his true energy circulated throughout his body, healing the blood hole.