Chapter 274 : Golden Core Assets
Chapter 274: Golden Core Assets
Deep within the tomb chamber.
Chen Beiwu sat cross-legged at the Dragon Vein nexus, circulating his mana.
Sensing that the Nine-Breath Chaos Supreme Treasure remained unresponsive—as if too lazy to seize any fate—Chen Beiwu hesitated briefly before forcefully stimulating it with the Nine-Breath Chaos Divine Ability.
“Roar!”
The next moment, within Chen Beiwu’s perception, the surrounding Dragon Vein Qi manifested, forming a ten-zhang-long phantom of a Fate Golden Dragon.
Unlike the Crimson Fortune Dragon he had previously seized in the Biyuan Mountain Range, this Fate Golden Dragon lacked any spirituality. At its reverse scale, strands of purple-black filth, fine as hair, wriggled ominously.
This Dragon Vein actually contains such pure golden fate, nearly forming a true dragon. No wonder Qian Buhuan had his eyes on it and chose this place as his corpse-refining ground, Chen Beiwu thought, his heart stirred with greed.
Though golden fate was far inferior to the Crimson Fortune Dragon, it remained exceedingly rare and rich in value.
Since obtaining his treasure, Chen Beiwu had only managed to accumulate three strands of orange fate (suspected third-tier) using the Nine-Breath Chaos Divine Ability.
Even though his cultivation, mana, and divine sense had all far surpassed his former self, and his efficiency at gathering fate had improved, it still took him nearly three years to accumulate a single strand of orange fate.
As for golden fate, above orange, Chen Beiwu estimated it would take at least three strands of orange fate to merge into one.
Which meant—if he could use the Nine-Breath Chaos to seize the Dragon Vein Qi here and obtain a strand of golden fate, it would be equivalent to saving ten years of divine accumulation.
One day for ten years—how could Chen Beiwu not be tempted by such efficiency?
The only pity was that, whether due to pollution of the Dragon Vein Qi or suppression by the grand array, none of it had yet leaked out. His Nine-Breath Chaos at his heart showed no response at all.
Thinking of this, Chen Beiwu opened his eyes with a resolute expression.
There was no such thing as a risk-free, guaranteed profit in this world.
If he could successfully seize a strand of golden fate and open up a fast path to fate harvesting, what was a little danger?
He had the Nine-Breath Chaos to suppress the fate, and an orange fate within the Chaos World to dispel calamity.
Even in the worst-case scenario—should he face heavenly backlash—he had confidence in surviving it.
With a flip of his palm, Chen Beiwu took out a dark red tapered shuttle from his storage ring.
Destruction was always easier than creation.
For a third-tier Golden Core Formation Master to set up a third-tier treasure formation capable of detonating Dragon Vein Qi required enormous time, effort, and resources—not to mention Chen Beiwu wasn’t even a third-tier formation master yet.
So he found a shortcut—relying on the power of the Vein-Breaking Shuttle to use as a lever, prying open the Three Calamity Coffin Formation left behind by Qian Buhuan. By collapsing the formation base, and using the principle of resonance and infinite derivation within formations, he could trigger a chain collapse, blowing up the entire Dragon Vein nexus of the corpse-refining site in one go.
Of course, ordinary formation masters could never do such a thing.
After all, the Three Calamity Coffin Formation was a third-tier treasure formation. How could a single-use second-tier superior-grade artifact stand up to it?
Even though the Vein-Breaking Shuttle could absorb earth qi from a hundred li around, tremble the land veins, sever spiritual veins, and annihilate formation foundations—famous throughout the Southern Wastes' formation world and loved by many second-tier formation masters for breaking ground arrays—
It still wouldn’t have worked, had Chen Beiwu not possessed deep formation expertise, and had the Three Calamity Coffin Formation not already been partially damaged in the previous battle, greatly weakened with numerous loopholes and flaws.
“Buzz.”
Having located the formation base of the Three Calamity Coffin Formation, Chen Beiwu activated his mana, and with a thought, the Vein-Breaking Shuttle turned into a stream of light and plunged deep into the Dragon Vein—without any visible reaction.
Seeing this, Chen Beiwu showed no surprise.
The Vein-Breaking Shuttle needed time to take effect—he had patience.
Even if it failed to work as intended, Chen Beiwu wouldn’t mind.
He had plenty of alternatives.
Ever since realizing he might one day become a Dragon Vein Destroyer, Chen Beiwu began collecting artifacts, talismans, and formation disks with effects similar to the Vein-Breaking Shuttle.
If that didn’t work, he still had several second-tier superior-grade spirit formations that could attempt to detonate the earth vein nexus.
“Gurgle.”
Golden Egg cuddled up to Chen Beiwu, acting spoiled.
Ever since Chen Beiwu acquired the Golden Armored Corpse King Pill, Golden Egg had changed from a fish-dragon into something even more dog-like than Iron Egg, constantly showing affection—its intentions obvious.
“Woof.”
Iron Egg had a more easygoing nature.
Though it too coveted the Golden Armored Corpse King Pill, desiring to swallow it in one gulp, it refrained from interference and chose instead to follow arrangements.
Its motto—compete not, contend not.
With your current strength, it's difficult to digest the Golden Armored Corpse King Pill, Chen Beiwu shook his head and spoke mentally.
Between Golden Egg and Iron Egg, he leaned toward giving the pill to Golden Egg.
After all, he cultivated using the method of borrowing beasts for cultivation. Enhancing the bloodline of his Companion Beast was tantamount to strengthening himself.
But the Golden Armored Corpse King Pill was no easy thing to refine!
Qian Buhuan had resided in the corpse-refining ground for hundreds or even thousands of years, and even with the help of the Dragon Vein, still failed to fully refine it.
Otherwise, what his two senior sisters faced would not have been a late-stage Golden Core-level Golden Armored Corpse, but a terrifying being just one step away from the Golden Armored Corpse King, capable of swallowing peak Golden Core cultivators whole.
So this was a rather fortunate dilemma.
The pill’s tier was too high to waste. Before letting Golden Egg take it, Chen Beiwu decided to consult the Yuqing Immortal Sect Archives for the most suitable refinement method.
While waiting for the Vein-Breaking Shuttle to take effect, Chen Beiwu didn't stay idle. He took out a medium-grade storage ring of ancient design.
Since Qian Buhuan had long prepared to refine himself into a corpse, the ring likely contained all his life’s wealth.
A Golden Core cultivator skilled in both tools and the body… just thinking about his assets is exciting.
Chen Beiwu sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, beginning to refine the ring.
“Buzz!”
As time passed, without the original owner’s divine sense to protect it, the ring gradually lost resistance before Chen Beiwu’s divine sense, which rivaled that of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.
Eventually, with a “crack”, the binding was broken, and the storage space opened fully to him.
To his surprise, the contents were rather lacking. Although the spirit stones inside were neatly arranged, they didn’t quite match the wealth of a third-tier artifact refiner.
With 35,611 lower-grade spirit stones and 579 middle-grade spirit stones, the total value came to roughly 93,511 spirit yuan—rather paltry for a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.
Luo Yongjie, as the first true disciple of the Blazing Flame Sect, had over 40,000 spirit stones in his storage ring. Yet Qian Buhuan, a Golden Core True Person, had only double that.
Hopefully this guy didn’t pour all his assets into corpse refining…
Sweeping past the spirit stones and various miscellaneous items with his divine sense, Chen Beiwu turned to the neatly arranged cultivation method jade slips.
《Hundred-Refinement Mystic Weapon Battle Body Manual》
《Yin Fiend Corpse Refining Ground Formation Diagram》
《Yin Dragon Corpse Puppet Pill-Merging Corpse-Casting》
...
To avoid missing any hidden treasures, Chen Beiwu casually selected a few jade slips with clear signs of frequent use for inspection.
The Hundred-Refinement Mystic Weapon Battle Body Manual, as the name implied, could ultimately cultivate a fourth-tier Hundred-Refinement Mystic Weapon, allowing one to attain the Dao as a True Monarch Body Cultivator.
Unfortunately, the manual was an incomplete copy, with cultivation capped at the Golden Core stage. Its value was average. Furthermore, its conceptual basis bore some similarity to the Town-Dao Smelting Furnace Artifact-Pill Method bestowed by his master. It could be handed to Senior Sister Zhu for reference.
The Yin Fiend Corpse Refining Ground Formation Diagram and the Yin Dragon Corpse Puppet Pill-Merging Corpse-Casting were both heretical cultivation methods that preserved a cultivator’s consciousness after death, refining them into Golden Armored Corpses.
Such methods were unquestionably forbidden arts within the Immortal Alliance, but in the Southern Wastes, they barely raised an eyebrow.
Moreover, these two jade slips contained Qian Buhuan’s research and insights regarding the Golden Armored Corpse King Pill.
If Chen Beiwu could fully grasp the two techniques, he could potentially use the Golden Armored Corpse King Pill as a base to cultivate a Golden Armored Corpse, or even a Golden Armored Corpse King—though it would demand tremendous time and energy.
Thinking this, Chen Beiwu couldn’t help but shake his head.
Raising corpses wasn’t simple—it risked backlash and easily drew the ire of righteous cultivators.
Rather than wasting time cultivating corpses with these methods, it would be more worthwhile to utilize the information within to directly develop Golden Egg using the Corpse King Pill.
Setting down the jade slips, Chen Beiwu used his divine sense to retrieve and open six specially sealed jade boxes—each containing a unique heaven-and-earth treasure.
The first held a third-tier superior-grade treasure ore: Ten-Thousand-Fires Meltcrystal. This could be used to forge third-tier fire-type artifacts and even serve as auxiliary material for fourth-tier Mystic Treasures, its value surpassing that of Hollow Gold Marrow.
The second was a piece of Corpse-Nourishing Jade Marrow, produced in an extremely yin location and infused with innate Yin Fiend Qi.
Its touch was like holding solid ice. It could be used to nourish corpses or ghosts and was quite valuable—something heretical cultivators would pay handsomely for. However, selling it risked getting betrayed and robbed.
The third was a mysterious pill. Written in large characters on the jade bottle were: Mystic Yin Gold Fiend Pill. Upon opening it, Chen Beiwu found a single pill of dark golden hue.
Gold Fiend Pill? Could this pill have been meant to help Qian Buhuan preemptively survive the Gold Fiend Tribulation? Chen Beiwu’s eyes narrowed, a speculation rising in his heart.
The fourth item was plain in appearance and as light as a feather—a Golden Cicada Shell that gave a dull thud when tapped, to Chen Beiwu’s surprise.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this should be Tribulation Flame Golden Shell, a fourth-tier inferior-grade Mystic Material.
Also known as Earth-Yin Golden Cicada Shell, it was shed by a fourth-tier Mystic Beast—the Earth-Yin Golden Cicada—after surviving both lightning and fire tribulations. It possessed formidable defensive power and could resist tribulations.
Some Golden Core True Persons of the Immortal Alliance would pay a great price to collect Tribulation Flame Golden Shells in order to forge fourth-tier Mystic Treasures known as Tribulation-Evading Gold Garments—meant to help their Companion Beasts ascend to Fourth-Realm Beast Kings.
Qian Buhuan likely collected this out of ambition—hoping to use it to endure the Corpse King Tribulation—but it now ended up benefiting Chen Beiwu.
The fifth item was a special paste formed from Corpse Fiend Yin Qi and Dragon Vein Qi.
It had the consistency of flowing mercury, yet looked like thick blood. It could be used to nourish the Corpse King Pill or serve as a medium for refining it—known as Dragon Vein Yin Marrow.
If Golden Egg wished to consume and refine the Corpse King Pill in the future, the aid of Dragon Vein Yin Marrow would be indispensable.
With this material in hand, Chen Beiwu could save considerable effort.
But beyond all these, the item that surprised him most was the sixth sealed jade box’s contents.
Upon opening, he found Dragon Blood of a dark-gold hue laced with crimson. Thick as mercury and alive in its motions, it exuded potent Draconic Might.
At close range, Chen Beiwu even heard a dragon’s roar echo in his ears, as if he were facing a prideful Chi Dragon directly.
“Gurgle.”
Sensing the aura, Golden Egg reflexively drooled with glistening saliva.
Delicious. So delicious!
If not for Chen Beiwu’s warning glare, it might have succumbed to temptation.
Scarlet-Gold Solidification, Eternal Demon Power, Blood Transforms to Dragon—this is essence blood of a Yuo Chi Dragon! Chen Beiwu’s pupils contracted, unable to hide his delight.
The Yuo Chi Dragon was a fourth-tier Mystic Beast.
To Immortal Alliance cultivators, a single drop of such blood—capable of aiding dragon-type Companion Beasts in evolving—was worth nearly the same as a fourth-tier Mystic Pill.
Of course, judging by its aura, the blood wasn’t as overpowering as records described. It likely came from a Third-Realm Beast General, not a Fourth-Realm Beast King, and was thus about equal in value to a third-tier superior-grade Treasure Pill.
That was reasonable—if Qian Buhuan had encountered a Fourth-Realm Chi Dragon, he’d probably have died with a grave three zhang tall.
“Corpse King Pill, Third-Realm Chi Dragon Blood... was Qian Buhuan the so-called Chosen One of Fate before his death?” Chen Beiwu couldn’t help but muse aloud.
After all, not all Third-Realm Beast General blood was equal.
He had once obtained Rift-Sky Golden Roc Marrow Blood but couldn’t find a buyer in the Southern Wastes—it just sat in his storage ring gathering dust.
But Third-Realm Yuo Chi Dragon Blood was different.
The Yuo Chi Dragon wielded illusion-type Mystic Arts, which perfectly matched Golden Egg’s future bloodline evolution into a flood dragon.
If he also included the Fourth-Tier Chi Dragon Blood the sect had yet to bestow, Golden Egg would soon take off—potentially even surpassing him and entering the Golden Core Realm first, completing its Flood Dragon Transformation.
Clearly, had Qian Buhuan not been unfortunate enough to encounter Chen Beiwu, he might have truly refined the Corpse King Pill over centuries and become an invincible Golden Armored Corpse King.
I suppose I’ve done the Earth Proliferation Territory a great service.
Under Golden Egg’s longing gaze, Chen Beiwu carefully stored the Yuo Chi Dragon Blood.
A fine blade must be used wisely.
Golden Egg hadn’t even reached the Foundation Establishment Limit (499 years of cultivation), so there was no need to waste the Chi Dragon Blood yet.
“Gurgle.”
Seeing this, Golden Egg drooped its head and flopped over Chen Beiwu like a deflated ball, as though all its energy had been drained.
Chen Beiwu shook his head, ignoring its act. His divine sense drifted to the most spacious artifact refinement area of the storage space.
There, no third-tier artifact was displayed—only a single Weapon-Hiding Coffer.
Chen Beiwu’s instincts told him the treasure inside must be the third-tier Golden Core Artifact once treasured by Spirit Lake’s former master, Qian Yuan—the Mountain-Splitting Blade.
“Zheng!”
As the coffer opened, a burst of treasure light radiated outward. A clear blade cry echoed through the sky—part dragon’s roar, part sword’s howl.
What emerged into Chen Beiwu’s view was a killing artifact about nine feet four inches long, shaped like the character ‘山’ (mountain).
Its central main blade measured two feet nine inches, resembling a longsword with double-edged sides, about three fingers wide and half an inch thick at the spine.
Two secondary blades extended on either side—each about two feet four inches, slightly curved like Wu Gou sabers, edged on the outside.
As the three blades crossed and glinted, a peerless Metal Sharp Qi exploded outward, threatening to shred the air within a hundred-zhang radius.
Sensing Chen Beiwu and the two eggs, the weapon autonomously adjusted its angle, its sharp gleam locking onto them.
Then the blade shuddered—an overwhelming pressure erupted like a tidal wave across heaven and earth.
Noticing the hostility and the aura, Chen Beiwu’s interest was piqued.
Mountain-Splitting Blade? By Immortal Alliance standards, this artifact is clearly a Trident Twin-Edged Blade!