Chapter 314 - 152: Core Formation
On the high platform.
Liu Jingtiao continued to speak.
"Liang Cheng placed first in the arena. He is exempt from the remaining matches."
"Today, the rest of you will continue to compete until the top twenty are decided."
Liang Cheng didn’t watch the subsequent matches.
He sat in the Main Courtyard’s designated seats, closing his eyes to meditate.
Fierce battles raged around him. The sounds of exploding Gang Qi, clashing blades, and the cheers from the crowd below rose and fell in waves.
But he was oblivious to it all, his eyes shut as he meditated.
...
「Seven days later.」
After the round-robin arena battles, the top twenty were all finalized.
Ye Zhiqiu ranked seventeenth, Xiao Qingxue nineteenth, and Qin Lie, despite his injuries, had fought his way into the top fifteen.
Unfortunately, Qin Wentian stopped at twenty-first, eliminated by just one spot. He fell silent for a long while, and no one knew how to comfort him.
Then, Liu Jingtiao stood up and announced the results. Everyone not on the list was sent off Profound Ice Island. For a moment, the eliminated contestants were speechless with choked-back tears, overcome with an inexplicable sorrow.
This was the elimination process of the Immortal Ascension Conference—utterly brutal.
But none of this concerned those who had advanced.
Only by entering the Penglai Sect could one obtain a Refining Spirit Skill and have a chance at Core Formation and Breaking Mortality!
"The top twenty, follow me."
Just then, Liu Jingtiao spoke.
He didn’t explain where they were going.
The group followed behind him.
Liang Cheng walked in the middle of the group. Ahead were Liu Jingtiao and a few Penglai Sect Stewards, and behind were the geniuses from the various islands—the top twenty winners.
The group left the venue and headed deeper into Profound Ice Island.
The wind and snow grew heavier along the way.
The stone steps underfoot were covered in a thin layer of ice, and the higher they went, the more intense the cold became.
Liang Cheng raised his head and glanced ahead.
Before them was a solitary peak, sheer and steep like a sword stabbing into the sea of clouds.
The entrance to a cave could be faintly seen at the peak, its depths immeasurable.
「Half an hour later.」
Liu Jingtiao stopped at the mouth of the cave on the mountaintop.
He turned to face the top twenty from the arena battles.
"The Immortal Ascension Conference’s arena tested combat strength."
He paused.
"This second trial tests comprehension."
Hearing this, the group was momentarily confused.
Liu Jingtiao didn’t explain further, simply waving his hand.
"Come, follow me inside."
Without hesitation, Liang Cheng stepped into the cave. Soon after, darkness washed over him, and he could no longer see a thing.
But the moment he stepped through the entrance, the Divine Soul Liquid deep within his Sea of Consciousness trembled faintly.
Liang Cheng’s steps faltered for a moment.
However, the tremor lasted only an instant before subsiding, as if it had just been his imagination.
Liang Cheng remained outwardly calm and continued forward.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a light finally appeared at the end of the darkness.
It was a faint glow emanating from a stone wall—an icy, deep blue, like a cold pool under the moonlight.
The stone wall was massive, about thirty feet high and fifty feet wide. Its surface wasn’t smooth but was covered in layers upon layers of carvings.
They weren’t words.
They were unknown Runes.
The group stopped before the stone wall, staring at it, their brows furrowing from time to time.
Some looked baffled, while others seemed lost in thought.
Liang Cheng stood before the wall, his gaze fixed on the carvings.
At first glance, they seemed chaotic and random, as if hacked and chiseled without any pattern.
But on the second look, the carvings seemed to come alive.
A coldness pierced through his very soul.
In his Sea of Consciousness, the Divine Soul Liquid trembled again.
This time, it was much more distinct than before.
Liang Cheng reined in his thoughts, calming his breath and focusing his mind.
At that moment, Liu Jingtiao spoke again.
"This wall is called the Ice Soul Wall."
Liu Jingtiao’s voice, low and steady, came from behind them.
"The one who carved this wall was the number one Loose Cultivator of two hundred years ago, the Cold Pool Wanderer."
’Cold Pool Wanderer?’
The moment Liang Cheng heard those three words, his mind reeled.
He remained outwardly composed, but inwardly, he was utterly astonished.
"On this stone wall is the Great Dao that the Cold Pool Wanderer comprehended. It possesses a natural divine charm. You are all to seek Enlightenment from it. Your final rankings will be determined by what you manage to comprehend."
After speaking, Liu Jingtiao had the Stewards distribute cattail mats. The twenty Disciples sat cross-legged on them, gazing silently at the stone wall to comprehend the Dao Rhyme within.
...
「Meanwhile.」
Liu Jingtiao and the others had retreated to one side.
Chen Xuanfeng couldn’t help but remark with emotion:
"It is said that back then, when the Three Sects and Six Gates were dominant, all Cultivation Techniques and legacies were kept within the Sects. Without a great stroke of fortune, it was nearly impossible for a Loose Cultivator to spend their entire life Breaking Mortality and Forming a Core."
Hearing this, Liu Jingtiao nodded.
"Indeed. For the Cold Pool Wanderer, as a Loose Cultivator, to comprehend his own Cultivation Technique, succeed in Breaking Mortality and Forming a Core, and then advance further to condense a Golden Core... he was truly a peerless genius."
At these words, everyone present was visibly moved.
The Golden Core Realm.
That was a Realm even higher than Core Formation.
The Cold Pool Wanderer came from a Loose Cultivator background. He had no Sect resources, no master to guide him, yet he reached the Golden Core Realm all on his own.
What did that even mean?
It was simply unbelievable.
"You could call him the greatest Loose Cultivator of all time. He broke the Sects’ monopoly and forged his own path."
Liu Jingtiao continued.
"At the time, all three major Sects wanted to recruit him, offering him the position of an Honored Guest Elder."
"But the Cold Pool Wanderer refused them all."
"He said—"
Liu Jingtiao fell silent and sighed before continuing.
"He said, ’I have been a Loose Cultivator my whole life and have no desire to join a Sect. I only hope that the Loose Cultivators who come after me will also have a path to follow.’"
Hearing this, Chen Xuanfeng and the others in the cave remained silent.
Another of the Island Elders, who was responsible for escorting the Disciples, looked at the stone wall before them and said with emotion:
"In his later years, the Cold Pool Wanderer took on a single Disciple, bestowing upon him the surname Tan and bringing him back to Profound Ice Island to teach him. That is the origin of this legacy wall."
"Unfortunately, that Disciple’s aptitude was only average. He never managed to achieve Breaking Mortality and Forming a Core in his entire life."
"The descendants of the Tan Family knew they couldn’t protect this legacy, so they presented the wall to the Penglai Sect."
Liu Jingtiao nodded at this.
"Correct. The Penglai Sect placed this stone wall on Profound Ice Island. For this year’s Immortal Ascension Conference, the Sect Leader specifically issued a decree to use it for recruiting Disciples."
"Now, the top twenty victors from the arena are permitted to enter and seek comprehension."