"Hey." Su Min waved a hand in front of Xie Yingying's glazed eyes. "Did your soul depart your body, or is there just an echo bouncing around in that pretty head of yours?"
For weeks now, Xie Yingying had been drifting through their days like a ghost. Her thoughts were clearly consumed by that inexplicable boost to her lifespan. Su Min could practically see the calculations spinning behind her eyes, that unshakable cultivator's instinct whispering that such a windfall must have come with a terrible, hidden cost.
With an exasperated huff, Su Min gripped her friend's shoulders and physically lifted her until their eyes met. If thoughts had a sound, the entire room would have been echoing with the frantic chant in Xie Yingying's mind. "What's happening, what's happening, what's happening."
"Enough brooding." Su Min produced a jade-green pill between her fingers. "Here. Brain medicine."
Before Xie Yingying could react, Su Min popped the pill into her mouth.
"Mm—cough, cough! Su Min!"
As the pill dissolved on her tongue, Xie Yingying finally snapped out of her daze and instinctively tried to spit it out. Pills were not something to be taken lightly. She knew Su Min would never feed her poison, but who knew what strange effects this one might have?
Unfortunately, it was already too late. The moment the pill entered her body, it dissolved into a stream of energy that flowed straight into her abdomen. A warmth spread through her, feeling deeply nurturing, like the first sunlight after a long and bitter winter.
"Relax," Su Min said, popping an identical pill into her own mouth with practiced ease. "It's just a Meridian Protection Pill. A high grade Tier 4 elixir. It nurtures your meridians, increases your chances of forming a Nascent Soul, and strengthens them in the process. It's one of the few foundational pills that's actually worth the effort." She sighed dramatically.
Tier 4 pills were a massive threshold. Many at this level were meant for consolidating one's foundation and replenishing vitality, just like the one Su Min had refined. While both of them were already strong, that did not make the pill useless.
Xie Yingying opened her mouth, then closed it again. The pill's effects were already smoothing the tension from her meridians, making the anxiety that had gripped her for the last month feel suddenly distant.
"I don't know what you're fussing about," Su Min continued, her voice softer now. "But cultivation is all about seizing the opportunities granted by heaven and earth. What's meant to come will come, and what can't be avoided won't be."
A slow breath escaped Xie Yingying. The warmth in her abdomen pulsed gently, as if agreeing with the words. Maybe some mysteries were not meant to be unraveled, at least not yet.
"…You're insufferable," she muttered, but the ghost of a smile tugged at her lips as she finally, finally let the matter rest.
"Now that I have fully recovered, we only have a few years before the Golden Core Avenue ends," Su Min said, her tone shifting back to business. "I need to refine the Nascent Soul Pill now. As for you, you should cultivate near the Eastern Azure Wood. Once the Avenue ends, we will return here immediately to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. I suspect the Blood Puppet Sect will come for us within a hundred years."
"Understood." Xie Yingying nodded.
The space around them, once a perpetually frozen and snow-covered landscape, was now lush with vegetation. At its center stood an enormous tree, towering thirty meters high. The Eastern Azure Wood, though not as directly combat enhancing as Nanming Lihuo, was a divine treasure of heaven and earth that was by no means weak. Its strength simply lay in other areas. Once refined, it could be placed outside the body to automatically absorb and store the essence of heaven and earth.
This essence not only accelerated cultivation but also nourished the surrounding environment. The most obvious example was the Fusang Divine Tree, which had accumulated an unfathomable amount of this essence over countless years. That was why the little Golden Crow had been born with the power of the Divine Transformation stage, her cultivation path smooth sailing from then on. Cultivating near such a divine tree, even without mastering it, offered immense benefits. Moreover, unlike the Fusang Divine Tree, the Eastern Azure Wood possessed an even richer life force, and the energy it emitted was gentler, making it an ideal place for cultivation.
As for Su Min, she was not in a hurry. As the master of this divine tree, she reaped even greater benefits. Her spiritual energy was constantly growing. By her estimates, with normal cultivation and the wine from her treasure gourd, she could reach Golden Core Perfection within thirty years. But there was no need for that. She planned to attempt the Nascent Soul breakthrough as soon as the Avenue ended.
Before that, however, she needed to prepare the Nascent Soul Pill. This was a genuine Tier 5 pill, and even Su Min only had enough ingredients for three attempts. She had to be careful.
Besides, there was not much else to do at the moment. In fact, it was not just them. The tumultuous hundred year Golden Core Avenue had entered a rare period of calm in its final stretch. The only ones still active were the Three Nine Heavenly Tribulation Golden Core cultivators, desperately searching for the last scraps of opportunity. Meanwhile, disciples of the major sects were all preparing for one thing, ascending to the Nascent Soul stage.
This was unavoidable. No matter how powerful their sects were, they all faced the same problem. Sealing crystals were limited. Sealing Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transformation cultivators was far too difficult. Back then, these sects had only sealed two groups, the Divine Transformation ancestors and a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Now, as the most talented among them, they had to advance to the Nascent Soul stage as soon as possible to replenish their sects' ranks.
After all, the energy required to seal a single Divine Transformation cultivator could instead seal dozens of Golden Core cultivators, or even tens of thousands of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Thus, most sects had only sealed one or two Divine Transformation experts and a vast number of Foundation Establishment disciples. Among them were not just geniuses who had survived the Nine Nine and Six Nine Heavenly Tribulations, but also many ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. Their purpose was to support the sects' middle and lower tiers once the world's spiritual energy recovered. And now, they were meant to fill the Nascent Soul level gaps.
But the Blood Puppet Sect was in dire straits. Thanks to Su Min's massacre, their Nascent Soul ranks would be completely wiped out. According to reports from their rivals, the sect likely still had one or two Divine Transformation experts left. As for Golden Core cultivators, there were probably many, but most would struggle to reach the Nascent Soul stage. Their sect would soon face a generational gap.
Once those remaining elders learned the truth, they would undoubtedly spare no effort to hunt down Eastern Mulberry Land for revenge. However, that would take at least several decades. For one, no one even knew where Eastern Mulberry Land was. Second, even if they wanted revenge, they would need manpower. And based on what Su Min knew, the Blood Puppet Sect had a forbidden technique that burned over half the user's lifespan and came with severe side effects. The success rate was abysmally low, and even if successful, the user would remain stuck at the early Nascent Soul stage forever, with combat power weaker than an average Nascent Soul cultivator. In fact, even Su Min in her current state could defeat them.
But the real problem was numbers. If they went on a rampage, it would be a catastrophe for Eastern Mulberry Land Province. Still, it would take them decades to gather enough forces, so Su Min had plenty of time. As for those two Divine Transformation experts, she was not worried. Even if they were both at the peak of Divine Transformation, it would not matter. With the Sun True Flame, the Eastern Divine Tree, the complete Golden Crow Divine Technique, and other legacies at her disposal, Su Min estimated she could even slay beings above the Divine Transformation stage, provided they were not too overpowered. Her brutal battle with Yao Xian'er had proven that this world was not lacking in monstrous talents.
But those two Blood Puppet Sect elders were definitely not on that level. The little Golden Crow could handle both of them alone. And if she and Xie Yingying both reached the Nascent Soul stage, they might even be able to kill a Divine Transformation cultivator together. At the very least, a Nascent Soul stage Lunar Sovereign Body and Solar Sovereign Body working in tandem could hold their own against a peak Divine Transformation expert.
~
Su Min exhaled sharply as she opened her eyes, her fingers curling around three lustrous Nascent Soul Pills. "Hah. Lucky me. Only one batch ruined. That is three successes." Her voice held the satisfaction of a gamble well played. She turned the pills in her palm, their glow reflecting in her eyes, before casting a glance toward Xie Yingying, who was practically trembling with anticipation beside her.
"Here, take one," Su Min said, flicking a pill toward her with a casual grin.
Xie Yingying caught the pill with reverence, her eyes wide. "This… is perfect." She turned it between her fingers, marveling at its flawless glow. "Back in the Heavenly Yin Sect, even the elders would have groveled for a Tier 5 pill like this. And you just tossed it at me?"
Su Min chuckled, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "What, you wanted me to feed it to you by hand?"
Xie Yingying batted her hand away, but then leaned into the touch again. "You are insufferable," she muttered, though her voice had gone soft. She gently tucked the pill into her spatial ring, her hands moving with the tenderness of someone handling something irreplaceable.
"Now that we have these, our breakthrough odds are sitting at… what, ninety percent?" Su Min mused aloud, stretching her arms overhead with a languid ease.
"Higher," Xie Yingying replied, her tone unusually resolute. "If we cannot make it now, we might as well quit cultivation altogether."
Su Min grinned and leaned in, close enough for her breath to stir loose strands of Xie Yingying's hair. "Confident, are not we? Good. I like that in you."
Xie Yingying's ears flushed a delicate pink, but she met Su Min's gaze without flinching. "Shut up and cultivate."
Their eyes lingered a second too long. Then, without another word, they stood in unspoken agreement.
The door to their temporary dwelling closed. The array formations lit in quiet pulses of light, dimming external noise and shielding divine sense. Even their spiritual communicators were powered down, stored away as if the world beyond no longer existed.
Su Min closed the last seal on the door. Her hand lingered against the glowing script before slowly dropping to her side. Behind her, the flickering lanterns had been dimmed to a soft amber glow. The scent of osmanthus wafted from the incense dish on the table. Neither of them had lit it. The flame had caught on its own the moment the last barrier fell into place.
Their eyes met in the hush that followed.
The battle for the Tianjiao Rankings had taken everything from them. Dozens of duels, layers of deception, blood, and glory. Su Min stood at the peak now, first among the Golden Core elites. And Xie Yingying, ranked just below her, had fought her way through every ambush and every arrogant contender who dared stand in her path.
They had earned this.
Without a word, Su Min stepped closer. She reached for Xie Yingying's hand, not her waist or shoulder, just her hand, and their fingers slid together with practiced ease. The spiritual current between them stirred immediately, warm and familiar. It was not demanding or forceful, just there, as if it had been waiting.
They sank into the soft cushions layered across the floor, not into a lotus position, not into a structured meditation. Their legs brushed, then overlapped. Hands slid beneath sleeves. Warmth pulsed where their skin touched, and qi began to flow without command.
It was not the kind of intimate dual cultivation the manuals described. There was no step by step alignment of meridians, no rigid synchronization of breath and will. It was looser, freer, a rhythm guided by intuition and trust. A celebration of closeness, not conquest.
Su Min's Taiyang qi rose like golden mist across their bodies, and Xie Yingying's Taiyin essence welcomed it in, folding it like moonlight into the tide. Their cultivation vessels stirred, resonating in time, slower than battle, deeper than alchemy.
Fingers curled against hips.
A soft breath caught.
Robes loosened, not all at once and not with urgency. Just enough to let their skin breathe, for warmth to pass more easily from one to the other. Between them, their combined essence swirled, light and shadow dancing, gold and silver twining, Yin and Yang in perfect harmony.
In that hush, without need for words, they cultivated.
Intimately. Thoroughly. Unshakably.
And when dawn filtered faintly through the sealed dwelling's windows, neither opened their eyes.
They simply stayed as they were, resting in the stillness of power newly gained.
Su Min had already left the Golden Core stage behind. She was about to step into the realm of Nascent Soul powerhouses.
Once there, she could focus on obtaining the Black Tortoise's legacy and the Northern Water's Profound Origin. As for the Kirin's Central Earth, that was still too far off. First, she needed the White Tiger's inheritance, and to obtain that, she had to master the Heavenly Dao Insight technique and embrace the path of slaughter. The White Tiger embodied killing intent, but not mindless slaughter. It was not about butchering the weak, but about executing fallen immortals.
But for now, she lay with Xie Yingying beneath the quiet lantern light, her fingers twined with hers.
And the Golden Core Avenue, finally, decisively, had ended.
===
This chapter is pretty sweet...