Across all four nations, there were only four Golden Core cultivators in total each one powerful enough to suppress an entire country and establish a sect that could pass down its legacy for generations.
Yet in this forsaken place, two Golden Core-level fire beasts had suddenly appeared, and there might be even more hidden within the Lava Palace!
This caused the perceived danger of the Lava Palace to skyrocket in the eyes of the public. Not only did nearly ninety percent of the cultivators who came to explore flee, but even local Qi Condensation cultivators of the Chidi Mountains began to migrate en masse.
Some lesser mountain lords even abandoned their spiritual lands and foundations, fleeing overnight without hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, the once bustling region became visibly desolate. Even the Sanhui Market, which had absorbed the scattered cultivators from the now-defunct Tengyun Market, could barely keep a fraction of its former business going.
And with that, Li Ye was more than happy to enjoy the newfound peace and quiet.
With fewer distractions from the outside world, he no longer had to keep constant watch over the Lava Palace, fearing that the next large-scale expedition might cause a catastrophe that would force him to flee for his life.
Even his daily cultivation became smoother, with his progress accelerating faster than ever.
.......
Inside a vast and empty grand hall
Li Ye casually removed his robe, revealing a muscular, sculpted physique that looked as if it were carved from stone.
With just a slight movement, his entire body radiated a calm, unshakable aura as if his normally dormant vitality had suddenly erupted.
His blood surged, releasing a searing heat that spread outward in all directions. He stood like a humanoid sun, causing the temperature of the hall to rise rapidly.
Yet his body remained calm and unperturbed, taking on a crystalline luster like jade. Despite the raging blood energy within, only faint traces of crimson appeared on his skin.
At that moment, the formation within the hall activated, unleashing various attacks from all directions to temper him externally.
Li Ye stood firm at the center, motionless like a mountain.
He took out a blood-red spirit pill and swallowed it. As the medicinal energy surged through his body, he moved methodically, following a specific technique to guide and temper his blood and vitality.
At times, his movements were as graceful and agile as a dragon; at others, as fierce and domineering as a tiger.
Even under the barrage of spiritual attacks conjured by the formation, the faint roars of tigers and dragons echoed throughout the hall, growing steadily louder and more intense.
As his blood energy continued to rise, the aura of dragon and tiger within him became even more powerful.
His spiritual power intertwined with his blood energy, gradually forming vague images of a dragon and tiger behind him. The essence of yin-yang, water, and fire mutually reinforcing and complementing began to emerge.
The spiritual energy in the surroundings was swept up by this force, forming a vortex centered on Li Ye. The energy spiraled inward, merging with the dragon-tiger manifestation and being absorbed into his body.
This external spiritual power, combined with the internal energy from the pill, became the fuel for refining and strengthening his body.
It was as if he were on the verge of using this dragon-tiger method to temper his vitality and forge a unified, harmonious Golden Core!
However, just as he approached a breakthrough, the upward momentum suddenly halted reaching a bottleneck.
All he could do now was maintain the current state, continuously grinding and tempering his body to steadily improve it.
Immersed in this internal and external refinement, Li Ye fully devoted himself to cultivation.
Only when the medicinal effects finally wore off and the supportive formation deactivated did Li Ye gradually retract his blood energy. The barely-formed dragon-tiger manifestation dissipated as well.
Yet there was no trace of disappointment in his eyes. Instead, he looked pleased his physical strength and vitality had advanced once more.
Compared to cultivating spiritual power despite not having a body-tempering technique on par with the Wood God Art he could still fully benefit from the spiritual richness of the Void Realm.
Day by day, he replenished his physical foundation, allowing his body to develop a level of talent in body cultivation that could rival any so-called genius.
He probably wasn't far off from others blessed with specialized spiritual constitutions.
Even without ever refining beast blood into his body to lay the foundational tier of the Myriad Beast Body, he had still made considerable progress.
He had only borrowed the Myriad Beast Body's recorded dragon and tiger stances and a few basic training methods. When he began cultivating, he had simply used medicinal pills refined from tiger demon blood and dragon carp essence to guide his initiation.
Afterward, he used only Blood Condensation Pills to aid in his physical training.
And even so, he had already raised his body cultivation to the mid-foundation Establishment level with ease.
While progress in evolving the dragon-tiger manifestation had been slow, and no innate abilities had emerged from refining beast blood his physical strength continued to steadily improve.
More importantly, this approach preserved his freedom of choice.
In fact, through this constant training, his body had slowly begun adapting and evolving on its own. Even without refining any beast blood, it had shown signs of laying its foundational structure.
This meant he might eventually form a Myriad Beast Body uniquely suited to himself without relying on external forces.
But this process was incredibly slow, and Li Ye didn't set his hopes too high.
"Yang Yuqing did keep her promise using the formation I gave her, she hunted a tiger demon and brought back most of its essence. And Thousand Island Water City didn't reject my trade for second-grade dragon carp essence either…"
"That gave me the chance to acquire both dragon and tiger components."
"But my goal isn't the body-cultivation method itself. What I truly seek is to use this to shape the dragon-tiger manifestation and assist in forming my Golden Core. That's why I can't recklessly refine the beast blood and finish the foundational transformation…"
"If it turns out ineffective, it might ruin my chances of finding beast blood or a body-cultivation method more suitable for me in the future."
Thoughts swirled through Li Ye's mind.
He knew his decision was somewhat willful.
But with Wood God Art and Heavenly Craft Scripture at his disposal, he had no shortage of methods for both combat and defense. Body cultivation was not about combat power for him.
And based on his physical condition, it seemed he truly did have the luxury of being a little willful.
Even without refining beast blood, the Myriad Beast Body posed no difficulty for him to cultivate as if his body's natural foundation had made up for what the beast blood would have otherwise provided.
Just like when he had perfected Elephant Armor Force the feeling was remarkably similar.
Though progress in evolving the dragon-tiger manifestation was still a bit sluggish, with the help of his alchemical expertise, it steadily improved and even showed signs of developing into a unique personal technique.
And this had little to do with his comprehension it was purely due to his physical talent and instincts!
In fact, with less effort and time invested, his progress in body cultivation was now even faster than in spiritual cultivation!
That's why, to him, refining dragon and tiger beast blood into his body didn't seem all that critical. What mattered was whether he could continue cultivating along this path.
"What I truly lack now is guidance from a Golden Core cultivator or a Golden Core manual that can reveal the mysteries of Core Formation."
"If I can just fill in that one missing piece, the Golden Core chapters of the techniques I already possess can handle everything else."
With that, Li Ye fully retracted his scorching vitality, returning to the appearance of an ordinary cultivator like a tranquil lake whose depths could not be guessed.
"All I can hope for now is that one of those four sects' Golden Core elders shows up with a 'delivery'…"
A flicker of anticipation rose in his eyes.
"So much time has passed what are those Golden Core elders waiting for?"
"One by one, their lifespans are nearly up. Are they not planning to take one final gamble?"
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