"What?!"
Lang Tian's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait… isn't that impossible?"
Indeed. Every cultivator knew this truth: once a Golden Core was seized, it could never be reclaimed.
From that moment onward, the victim became a cripple in the path of cultivation, bereft of the core that served as their foundation.
True, one could still pursue cultivation without a Golden Core. There were other paths, such as Body Refinement, Blood Cultivation, even forbidden Demonic Arts… but all had their limits.
Without a Golden Core, the body could only absorb and channel a minuscule amount of spiritual energy. Progress in cultivation would be agonizingly slow, no matter how arduously one trained, no matter how unyielding their will. In the end, an invisible wall would bar their path, impassable and absolute.
Worse still… without a Golden Core, the next step, breaking through to the Primordial Embryo Realm, was utterly unattainable.
For that realm demanded a Golden Core ripened to perfection over years, growing from frail to formidable, from turbid to pristine, refined bit by bit. Only when it reached its zenith could a cultivator face the Heavenly Tribulation. If they prevailed, the Golden Core would shatter—and from its ashes, the Primordial Embryo would be born.
In other words, no Golden Core, no Primordial Embryo.
And without a Primordial Embryo, the path of cultivation ended.
Thus, when Yue Ling claimed there was a way to forge a new Golden Core, Lang Tian could scarcely believe his ears.
But if... if there truly existed such a path... if it truly was possible to restore what had been lost...
Then, even if it meant sacrificing everything, he would tread that path without hesitation.
_________________________________
Yue Ling turned her back, her blood-drenched figure standing like a spectral demon amidst the swirling mist.
"You already know, don't you? I was once like you. That wretched Yan Hao Yang stole my Golden Core and cast me into this forsaken place."
Lang Tian's fists clenched tightly.
"Yes…" he muttered, his voice low, as if echoing from the depths of an abyss, rage surging within his chest. "Both of us forged a Seventh-Grade Golden Core… and both of us suffered betrayal."
That was why she was here.
That was why their paths had crossed.
Shared suffering intertwined their destinies.
"But then," Yue Ling continued, her voice blazing like a raging inferno, "after surviving in this place, fighting for every breath, forced to consume the flesh of demonic beasts just to stay alive—I found it. An alternative path of cultivation. A path to grow stronger. And yes… a path to reforge a Golden Core!"
She turned to face him, her eyes flashing with a fiery, unyielding brilliance.
She smiled.
"And judging by the look in your eyes, Little Junior Brother… I think you've already guessed it, haven't you?"
Lang Tian drew in a sharp, cold breath.
"It's… consuming demonic beasts? Absorbing their demonic aura?"
Yue Ling nodded.
"Exactly."
She stepped closer.
Then, without hesitation, she grasped his hand and pressed it firmly against her abdomen.
Lang Tian flinched, instinctively pulling back.
"S-Senior Sister, w-what are you doing?!"
But Yue Ling only chuckled softly.
"Calm down. I just want you to feel this."
She gently guided his hand back, placing it once more against her abdomen.
This time, Lang Tian didn't resist. His hand pressed lightly against her body.
"Close your eyes," she whispered. "Feel it. Focus inward."
Lang Tian shut his eyes, his mind calming, his divine sense spreading outward.
And then, he felt it.
Deep within her, there existed a force so dense it stole his breath.
Something round, pulsating… alive. A vortex of demonic aura swirled, coursing through her meridians, carrying a terrifying pressure.
His eyes snapped open.
"T-That… could it be—?!"
"Yes," Yue Ling smiled, her gaze filled with pride. "My new Golden Core."
Lang Tian stood rooted to the spot, his eyes wide with shock, as if struck by lightning in a clear sky.
"Senior Sister… you truly… you've truly reforged a Golden Core…"
"YES!" Yue Ling declared, her voice burning with fire and brimming with pride.
But that wasn't all—
"Heavens… this power…" Lang Tian whispered.
For what he felt… was not mere spiritual energy.
It was wild, chaotic, surging like a tempest raging through her core. Compared to it, his former Golden Core was but a flickering candle before a blazing sun.
'Is this… the power of a Demonic Core?'
His heart churned with turmoil, a mix of awe and dread.
But then, Yue Ling shook her head. Her smile faded, her voice lowering, tinged with a trace of melancholy.
"In truth… it's not a true Golden Core. I haven't succeeded in forming it."
"What? Impossible!"
It was there! He had felt it! That core was more powerful than any Golden Core he had ever known! Even a Seventh-Grade Golden Core couldn't compare!
"What do you mean, Senior Sister? Where did you fail?" Lang Tian asked urgently, gripping her shoulders.
Yue Ling's gaze dropped, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.
"Don't you see? It's merely… a False Core."
"A False Core? That can't be!"
Lang Tian placed his hand on her dantian again, this time focusing deeper. His divine sense probed carefully, layer by layer.
And then—he saw it.
The truth.
Indeed… Yue Ling's Golden Core was but a False Core.
Though it pulsed, though it brimmed with spiritual energy, its essence was profoundly unstable.
At times, it manifested—vivid, tangible, like a perfect core.
But in the blink of an eye, it vanished.
The spiritual energy refused to stabilize, unable to anchor itself in one place.
It was like a cloud, forming with each breath she took… only to dissipate with each exhale.