A faint look of satisfaction crossed Lin Xuan's face.
He patted his storage bag, and two streaks of light shot forth—the Water Cloud Mother Sword and the Curved Hook Blade. A dazzling brilliance filled the air. In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, a new cave abode had been hewn out from the barren mountainside.
It was simple and unadorned.
This would only serve as a temporary dwelling, a place to form his Golden Core before departing. Lin Xuan carved out a few rough stone chambers and nothing more—luxury was meaningless at a time like this.
With a flick of his sleeve, colorful array flags flew from his hand, dancing through the air in intricate arcs before embedding themselves into the surrounding rock.
The Extreme Yin Evil Spirit Array—a formation Lin Xuan had already mastered—was soon completed.
Under its protection, even a cultivator in the early Core Formation Stage would find it difficult to breach for a day or two.
Next, Lin Xuan set up two concealment restrictions. With his current cultivation base and the unique concealment arts of the Nine Heavens Spirit Art, even a Golden Core master could easily overlook his presence if they weren't actively searching.
Finally, Lin Xuan took out a talisman and handed it to Yue'er.
"When I begin condensing the Golden Core," he instructed, "if there's any sign of abnormality in the surrounding spiritual energy, activate this at once."
Though this wasteland was desolate, he preferred caution over carelessness.
Yue'er nodded seriously. She decided to halt her own cultivation during this period, remaining fully alert to guard her young master.
Lin Xuan gave a faint smile, then turned into a beam of light and entered the cave.
He did not immediately begin cultivation. Instead, he rested—a full night's sleep. When he awoke, his mind was sharp, his energy and spirit fully restored.
Seated in meditation, he adjusted his breathing until his aura stabilized, then rose and entered the training chamber.
With a turn of his hand, a translucent jade bottle appeared. He pulled the stopper free, and three longan-sized pills rolled into his palm—half red, half white, their light dimmed to near lifelessness.
At first glance, they looked like wasted pills. Yet Lin Xuan's expression grew solemn.
Heavenly Dust Pill.
A miraculous medicine, refined by the founder of Spirit Pill Mountain—the greatest genius that You Prefecture had ever seen. In the years since its creation, it had driven the entire cultivation world to madness. Even the Extreme Demon Venerable himself had once made a move for it.
It was said that a cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage could easily form a Golden Core after consuming it, with an astounding ninety percent success rate. Furthermore, it enhanced one's future path toward the Nascent Soul—a heaven-defying treasure beyond compare.
For Lin Xuan, the Nascent Soul Realm was still a distant dream.
But to break through the Foundation Establishment bottleneck, this was the perfect key.
Unfortunately, the pill's fate had been tragic. The Sky Fiend Demon Lord, cornered and refusing to let his enemies claim it, had poured his own vital essence into the pills—ruining them completely before falling in battle.
With the Extreme Demon Venerable watching coldly, none dared act rashly. The crowd could only retreat in bitterness.
But Lin Xuan, hidden in the shadows, had seized that chance.
And now, with the Blue Star Sea in his body, he possessed the ability to purify what others deemed lost.
Still, as he gazed upon the three dim pills in his hand, a rare unease stirred in his heart.
Every previous purification—whether of the Marrow Cleansing Pill, the Foundation Establishment Pill, or the Spirit Gathering Pill—had been a minor risk. The ingredients were plentiful. Failure meant little.
But this time… there were only three Heavenly Dust Pills in existence.
And the purification process was unforgiving. One mistake would destroy them utterly.
Lin Xuan's hand tightened around the pills. For a long moment, he could not bring himself to begin.
Then he drew a deep breath, his expression hardening with resolve. Picking up one pill, he closed his eyes and focused, drawing upon the power of the Blue Star Sea within his dantian.
The chamber grew silent. A faint blue glow pulsed from his body, wrapping the pill in ethereal light.
Time passed quietly—from sunrise to sunset, and into dusk.
When Lin Xuan finally opened his eyes, two pills rested upon his palm.
One was pure white and crystal clear; the other, bright crimson, emitting a faint, comforting warmth.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Heavenly Dust Pill," he murmured softly.
He carefully stored them away and rested through the night.
The next morning, fully restored, he continued the purification process.
Three full days passed before all three pills were successfully restored. Fortune favored him—none were lost.
Yet Lin Xuan did not consume them immediately. He spent another day meditating in silence, letting his body and soul settle. Then, cautious as ever, he refined them once more, removing even the faintest impurity.
No one could tell the grade of these legendary pills—no one had ever refined them before. But Lin Xuan was certain: the purer the medicine, the greater its power.
He would accept nothing less than perfection. For this step—his advance to the Core Formation Stage—there could be no failure.
Patiently, carefully, he spent several more days refining until the three pills gleamed like miniature suns—one red, one white, one faintly violet.
Finally, he was ready.
Seating himself cross-legged, Lin Xuan took a deep breath and swallowed the first pill.
The elixir melted instantly, turning into pure essence that surged through his meridians, flooding his body with warmth and power. His expression grew solemn as he entered deep meditation.
Days passed.
Then weeks.
Forty-nine days later, Lin Xuan swallowed the second Heavenly Dust Pill.
Time lost its meaning. The eighty-one-day mark arrived silently. His cultivation surged like a raging sea, pressing relentlessly against the final barrier.
Outside the cave, Yue'er waited, restless and uneasy. Though bound to Lin Xuan by blood, her senses could not pierce the powerful formation that sealed the cave. The Extreme Yin Evil Spirit Array hid all signs within.
Several times, she felt the urge to rush inside—but fear of disturbing Lin Xuan held her back.
"The Young Master is blessed by the heavens," she whispered, clutching her hands tightly. "He'll be fine… he must be."
As she prayed, the sky suddenly dimmed.
Just moments ago, the sun had blazed high in the heavens. Now, darkness fell abruptly, as if the sun had been devoured whole.
The air trembled. Bolts of eerie lightning snaked across the heavens, and the surrounding spiritual energy grew dense and restless.
Yue'er's eyes widened in shock—then filled with joy.
There could be only one explanation.
Her young master had reached the critical moment of Golden Core Formation.
In a flash of green light, Yue'er soared into the sky above the barren mountain. With a flick of her wrist, she activated the talisman Lin Xuan had entrusted to her.
The talisman ignited and disintegrated into ash, transforming into a vast, translucent barrier that enveloped the entire mountain. The surging waves of spiritual energy vanished from the outside world, hidden within the shimmering veil.
But just as Yue'er exhaled in relief, her expression froze.
A chilling wind swept past her face. From somewhere beyond the horizon, an immense spiritual pressure surged toward her—fast, violent, and unmistakably hostile.