Chapter 4: I Need a Golden Core

Qu Yi and Bai Man stood on the middle slope of Chuiyun Peak.
After a fierce battle, the entire summit of Chuiyun Peak had been stripped away, with only a few trees remaining on the slope. The rest of the area must have been searched by the people from the Fire Moon Sect, with traces of magical attacks everywhere.
Bai Man quietly looked at Chuiyun Peak, where she had grown up. Seeing that only the Chuiwu River was still flowing while everything else had been completely destroyed, tears streamed down her face.
“Senior sister, we can leave now,” Qu Yi said, unable to bear the sight of such devastation. How much more so must Bai Man feel?
Her hometown, the Xianyun Sect, was gone; the Golden Crown Heron was gone; and most painfully, her father was dead. Facing such a tragic scene, Bai Man’s mood must have been terrible.
“Qu Yi, let’s go,” Bai Man said calmly, her tearful eyes suddenly clearing.
In an instant, Qu Yi took Bai Man back inside the Dimension Sphere.
“Qu Yi, let’s find a place to cultivate. Only the two of us can avenge the Xianyun Sect,” Bai Man said calmly.
“Okay!” Qu Yi didn’t say much, knowing that although Bai Man seemed calm now, she was surely undergoing a fierce internal struggle.
The two fell into silence.
Suddenly, the Voice of the Artifact God rang out, “Qu Yi, it seems there’s someone coming to Chuiyun Peak. Oh, it seems to be Wan Chang.”
As Qu Yi’s cultivation reached the early stage of the Golden Core, the spiritual awareness of the Artifact God also advanced to the Outward Emergence stage, allowing its perception range to expand. Naturally, Wan Chang, who was only in the late stage of the Yuan Ying stage, couldn’t sense the Artifact God, but the Artifact God could clearly sense him.
Wan Chang landed on Chuiyun Peak. After scanning the area with his spiritual awareness, he immediately took out his life artifact, the Star-Burning Spear, and released a sea of fiery clouds into the air—so intense that it could be seen from a hundred miles away.
A day later, thirty people at the Golden Core stage gradually returned from all directions.
The Fire Moon Sect had left behind thirty Golden Core-level elders, whose sole task was to search for surviving disciples of the Xianyun Sect.
Only after all thirty had returned did Wan Chang open his eyes from his meditation. Scanning them, his expression turned displeased.
“Haven’t you found a single disciple of the Xianyun Sect in over a month?” Wan Chang demanded coldly, clearly intent on killing them on the spot.

The thirty members of the Fire Moon Sect exchanged glances; not one of them dared to speak first, fearing that angering this murderous late Yuan Ying stage cultivator would mean certain death for them.
“Yongquan, you speak,” Wan Chang said with a frown, his tone becoming slightly gentler.
Yongquan was the junior brother of Fire Moon Sect’s leader, Yong Shan, and among these Golden Core stage cultivators, he held the highest status. Wan Chang had no choice but to call on him.
“Elder, over the past month, we haven’t rested even for a moment. We’ve searched throughout the entire territory of the Immortal Cloud Sect dozens of times, yet we really haven’t found a single disciple of theirs,” Yongquan said cautiously.
Wan Chang’s expression immediately darkened, his body radiating fury, like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment.
“Enough. I know your attitude over the past month. The superior has ordered me to convey a command: within ten days, destroy all the peaks in the Immortal Cloud Sect’s territory, and then you may leave,” Wan Chang said calmly, yet with absolute authority.
“Yes!” The thirty replied in unison, each letting out a deep sigh of relief.
Soon after, Wan Chang and the thirty of them left Mount Chuiyun one after another.
Naturally, Qi Shen overheard their conversation on the peak and immediately informed Qu Yi.
“Heh, they actually want to completely destroy the Immortal Cloud Sect—how ruthless. Well, since they want to play, I’ll play along with them,” Qu Yi said slowly.
At this moment, Qu Yi decided to commit mass killings.
“Great! Qu Yi, you’ve really made a good decision this time. Aren’t you in need of Golden Core cores to devour? Well, here are thirty—take them all,” Qi Shen said with a laugh.
Fearing that Qu Yi might change his mind, Qi Shen immediately offered encouragement, further fueling his resolve.
Qu Yi immediately smiled and said, “Qi Shen, the task of identifying targets is yours.”
With Qi Shen’s spiritual awareness at the level of the Outward Emergence stage, he could detect others, while others could never detect him. Moreover, Qu Yi possessed the “Silent Technique,” making him perfect for infiltration.
It could be said that these two were the ideal duo for assassinations.
“Don’t worry. How could I miss such an exciting event?” Qi Shen laughed loudly.
Bai Man, seeing Qu Yi’s sinister smile and Qi Shen’s adorable, trembling infant-like form, felt her pain inexplicably lessen.
……
The particles formed from the Inch Realm Ball were carried by the mountain winds to a peak about three thousand meters high.
Qu Yi emerged, immediately activated the Hidden Dust Formation, and then waited quietly on the peak’s summit.

“Qu Yi, the target has arrived. He’s at the early Jin Dan stage and practices a metal-based cultivation technique. Within a hundred miles, he’s the only one who can move,” the Artifact God suddenly reminded him.
According to Wan Chang’s plan, those thirty Jin Dan-stage members of the Fire Moon Sect were to go to various places and use magic to destroy all the territories held by the Immortal Cloud Guards. This gave Qu Yi the opportunity to launch surprise attacks one by one. The Artifact God’s spiritual sense searched around, while Qu Yi waited for an opportunity.
A person at the early Jin Dan stage flew over. He had just swung his sword, flattening a five-kilometer-high mountain beneath his feet. His magical power was somewhat weak, so he needed to rest for a while before continuing to destroy other mountains.
“This mountain has a beautiful view. I’ll rest here for a while,” said the early Jin Dan stage cultivator. He immediately spotted the mountain where Qu Yi was hiding and landed there.
As soon as he stepped onto the mountain, things took a sudden turn!
The moment he landed, Qu Yi rushed out at extreme speed, almost on par with those at the later Jin Dan stage. Having reached the early Jin Dan stage, Qu Yi used his metal-based speed secret technique, “Ten Thousand Miles in an Inch,” which increased his speed several times over, allowing him to cover a hundred miles in a single breath.
“You…”
The early Jin Dan stage cultivator barely managed to utter those words before realizing he had already been struck by a sword to the chest. The attacker was already holding a Jin Dan in his hand.
Without waiting for the man to fall, Qu Yi immediately took out his storage bag and put his body inside. Then, he cleaned up the scene, reactivated the Hidden Dust Formation, and returned to the Dimension Ball.
The Artifact God controlled the Dimension Ball and drifted in another direction.
“Artifact God, may I swallow this metal-type Jin Dan now?” Qu Yi asked excitedly, holding the newly seized Jin Dan between his thumb and index finger, ready to put it in his mouth.
“If you want to die, then swallow it,” the Artifact God said indifferently.
Bai Man became anxious upon hearing this and immediately snatched the Jin Dan from Qu Yi’s hands, looking at the Artifact God anxiously.
Qu Yi was also puzzled. You were the one who told me to swallow the Jin Dan, and now you’re telling me to swallow it to death. What exactly do you want?
“Hehe, both of you, don’t worry. I was just scaring you a bit. But one thing is certain: if you just swallow this metal-type Jin Dan, it won’t help you at all. Think about it—this metal-type Jin Dan can only strengthen the one in your lungs by a little, while the ones in your other four organs won’t improve at all. How can your cultivation level rise then?” the Artifact God said with a smile.

With Qu Yi’s guidance, he almost understood—this Golden Dao Golden Pill could only strengthen the Golden Dao Golden Pill in his lungs, and if the Golden Pills in the other four organs weren’t enhanced, the one in his lungs would still send excess Golden energy back to the Mixed Golden Pill in his dantian. Due to his five elemental root constitution, his internal energy was in a peculiar balance, so the Mixed Golden Pill would immediately disperse that Golden energy outside his body. Naturally, the result was that his cultivation level remained unchanged.

“Instrument God, then what needs to be done to make it work?” Bai Man asked anxiously, quickly helping Qu Yi ask.

Seeing Bai Man ask first, Qu Yi smiled immediately and also looked expectantly at the Instrument God.

“You’re stupid! You’re really dumb—stupid to the extreme. Do you still need to ask? If one Golden Pill isn’t enough, then swallow five at once!” The Instrument God shouted angrily, as if annoyed.

Bai Man was stunned. She hadn’t expected the Instrument God to be so mentally disordered—just moments ago it had a baby-like smile, but now it was roaring like a fierce tiger.

Qu Yi was already used to this and chuckled sympathetically, “Instrument God, I get it. And these five Golden Pills must be one each of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—and they must all be at the same level. You can’t mix early-stage and mid-stage Golden Pills when swallowing them, right?”

The Instrument God fell silent, acknowledging Qu Yi’s understanding.

Qu Yi took the Golden Pills from Bai Man’s hands and put them in his storage bracelet. He could only wait until he had enough of them before swallowing them.

“Qu Yi, the target has arrived—mid-stage Golden Pill, practicing fire-based cultivation techniques. You can go hide now,” the Instrument God suddenly said.

Hearing this, Qu Yi, who had been feeling frustrated, immediately perked up. He left the Dimensional Sphere and set up a Concealment Array on a mountain peak before entering it.

“Damn them! All the people from the Immortal Cloud Sect are dead, yet they still make us, these mid-stage Golden Pill elders, move mountains. They really treat us like laborers.” This mid-stage Golden Pill cultivator seemed to have a bad temper, cursing as he set mountains on fire with flames.

After burning down ten mountains without finding any disciples of the Immortal Cloud Sect hidden inside, he cursed again. Then, feeling his magical energy running low, he went to another mountain peak.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, something unexpected happened!

Qu Yi, inside the Concealment Array, followed the same method—holding the Red Nan Sword, he leaped forward and thrust fiercely.

This mid-stage Golden Core cultivator had two problems: first, his magical energy had been severely depleted, leaving him unable to react quickly; second, Qu Yi was extremely fast. Moreover, Qu Yi’s attacks were incredibly powerful, on par with those of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator. He detected Qu Yi but was powerless to resist. The sword pierced through the mid-stage Golden Core cultivator’s body, and Qu Yi quickly took out his Fire Golden Core! Before dying, the cultivator’s eyes were wide open, and he stretched out his right hand desperately, as if trying to retrieve his Golden Core and place it back in his dantian. “Hehe, I need the Golden Core!” Qu Yi said amiably.