Within the Thousand Treasure Pavilion's cultivation chamber, Wei Chen sat on a cushion connected to the spirit-gathering array engraved into the floor.
Wei Chen sensed the spiritual qi in the air and felt that this place was far superior to the caves he had cultivated in back when he first arrived in this world. If those caves had a spiritual qi density of 10, then this chamber easily reached 30 or even 40.
He was looking forward to a quick cultivation session that would push his cultivation to the next realm.
With that in mind, Wei Chen poured out all the spirit stones he had received from Mo Xingyao. A massive pile appeared before him, like a small hill. These were the 15 million spirit stones that Ximen Hao had paid to Mo Xingyao after losing the bet.
Looking at the pile, Wei Chen felt confident that this time he might finally reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
And then… after he rose to the Nascent Soul Realm…
…..
Wei Chen stood alone atop a cliff, overlooking a vast battlefield where corpses of both monsters and cultivators blanketed the ground as far as the eye could see.
A gust of wind passed, carrying the thick scent of blood and iron. Crows and scavengers gathered, feeding greedily on the remains scattered across the field.
Wei Chen took a deep breath, letting the metallic air fill his lungs.
"Arise…"
As if obeying the decree of a god, the corpses began to move. Their eyes ignited with eerie green underworld flames. Monsters and men alike rose and turned their gaze toward the cliff, toward their master.
Then, as if on cue, they knelt before him, swearing fealty. Even the beasts bowed their heads in submission to the master on the cliff.
"Arise…"
With another command, the undead raised their heads.
…
"Hahaha! Arise, baby, arise! Hahaha!" Wei Chen suddenly burst out laughing, his imagination spilling into reality.
He couldn't wait any longer. Wei Chen began channeling qi into his dantian, directing the flow to fill his Black Hole Core, a foundation formed from his comprehension during the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Outside, within the cultivation chamber, a vortex of spiritual qi began to form, pulling in all the condensed energy from the 15 million spirit stones. One by one, they vaporized, turning into pure qi that surged toward Wei Chen.
Inside his spiritual sea, an immense tide of spiritual qi rushed into the black hole within him. The singularity in its center began to change as the energy condensed further, transforming the black hole into something greater.
The power within the singularity grew rapidly, undergoing a qualitative shift. If the gravity of the black hole hadn't trapped all light, one might have seen the core's color slowly turn golden. The vortex outside expanded in proportion, drawing even more spiritual qi from the spirit stones.
Boom!
A golden spark burst from his dantian, forming a vortex that strengthened Wei Chen's bones and tendons. His skin became tougher and more resilient. If he were to return to his previous world now, even the hunting rifle bullet that once killed him would be useless against him, it wouldn't even leave a scratch.
Finally, with this burst of power, he had stepped into the Core Formation Realm.
In this realm, forming a high-quality core was extremely difficult. It depended heavily on the foundation that one had built. If the foundation was unstable, the core formed in this realm would be weak and incapable of producing much power.
This was also influenced by the cultivation method a person practiced. The better the method, the higher the quality of the core. There were other factors as well, such as the environment during the breakthrough and the density of the surrounding spiritual qi.
All of these factors determined a cultivator's future path. Whether they would become a cannon fodder beaten up by a random dude, or a genius capable of fighting across realms.
As for Wei Chen, every factor was at an optimal state. His cultivation method was a rare and powerful one that might not even exist in the upper realms.
His foundation was built upon the densest celestial body known to man, the black hole. There was nothing in existence that could compare to it.
Lastly, the environment was rich beyond belief. The spiritual qi here was so dense that it formed a thick fog. If Wei Chen were to open his eyes now, he would see a vortex of blue spiritual qi rushing into his dantian at a terrifying rate.
If anyone else were to absorb spiritual qi at this rate, their dantian would have long since burst open, killing them instantly.
But for Wei Chen's black hole core, it was different. It did what black holes do, it broke down all the spiritual qi and devoured it, adding it to its mass.
In other words, Wei Chen's cultivation required an unimaginable amount of spiritual qi. However, as long as he had enough, regardless of its source or type, his cultivation would progress at an astonishing pace.
Moreover, his black hole core contained hundreds or even thousands of times the power of a normal core. This meant Wei Chen's power output and combat strength were so overwhelming that he could easily slap around opponents two realms higher and even fight evenly with those three realms above him.
By the time he reached the Nascent Soul Realm, no one in this lower realm would be his match.
Wei Chen's cultivation continued to rise steadily as the spirit stones around him vanished at an alarming rate. In this short session alone, half of his fifteen million spirit stones had been consumed as fuel for his breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm. Now, Wei Chen was pushing further, aiming to reach the Nascent Soul Realm before the session ended.
— A few days later —
At the Thousand Treasure Pavilion, it was the day of the grand auction. People from all over the province had arrived in Thousand Treasure City to participate in the event.
The sky dock was crowded with flying arks from various sects. The dedicated docks reserved for major sects and powerful forces, those wealthy and influential enough to pay Thousand Treasure City's docking fees were completely full, as were the rental slots for smaller arks.
As for the flying arks without a docking spot, they had no choice but to anchor in open clearings, forcing their passengers to descend manually from the air.
Mo Xingyao smiled brightly as she looked at the long line of customers queuing in front of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. These people had come to attend the auction, and it was the first time that all three of their large auction halls were filled to capacity at once.
The reason for such a turnout was the advertisement Wei Chen had put out. Moreover, news had spread that someone tested the U-Phone inside the secret realm and confirmed it could be used to contact others within it. As soon as this information was made public, all the major sects immediately sent their people to join the auction.
Since U-Phone production had only just begun, Thousand Treasure Hall had just 10,000 units in stock. They planned to auction off 500 per batch, with a base price of 2,000 spirit stones per device, making for a total starting bid of 1 million.
Thinking about this, Mo Xingyao couldn't help but grin as she imagined the mountain of spirit stones soon to come her way.
Moreover, the plan she had discussed with Wei Chen regarding spirit stone transfers and service fees had already been tested successfully. Just thinking about the endless flow of spirit stones she would gain in the future filled her with excitement.
Standing beside Mo Xingyao was Yin Lan, her personal bodyguard, who had just returned from Sword Manor with an additional supply of 2,000 U-Phones for internal use.
Yin Lan gazed at the crowd in awe. "My lady, I never imagined that when that man mentioned the U-Phone during his broadcast, it would bring this many people to your Thousand Treasure Hall."
"Of course. This is one of the best advertising methods we've ever had," Mo Xingyao agreed, then continued, "In the past, we hired information guilds to spread the word about our auctions, and even collaborated with brothels to circulate the news. But the results were often disappointing and not worth the investment."
"But this time, we didn't even spend a single spirit stone, yet the results are far better than anything we've ever achieved before. The difference is like heaven and earth!"
Yin Lan nodded but soon voiced her concern. "Young Miss, a significant portion of the information guilds' income comes from spreading information for their clients. Won't this cause us some complications?"
"Heh… What kind of complications could they possibly cause us?" Mo Xingyao sneered, but then her expression shifted as she seemed to recall something.
"But you're right… While those information guilds may not be able to touch us directly, the same can't be said for Wei Chen. Many of those guilds are connected to assassin organizations, they might target him. Hmm… should I send someone to secretly protect him?" Mo Xingyao pondered aloud.
"Secretly protect him?" Yin Lan looked confused. "Young Miss, he's a Soul Transformation Realm expert, and even our best guards are only on par with him. I think—"
Before Yin Lan could finish her sentence, Mo Xingyao shook her head. "No… his true cultivation is weaker than mine."
"What!? That's impossible!" Yin Lan wanted to refute, remembering how that man had defeated a Nascent Soul cultivator with one slap! one!.
"I think he's cultivating a legendary cultivation method… or maybe…" Mo Xingyao looked up into the sky, her expression turning distant. "Maybe… he's the same as my mother."