Chapter 272: Blood Qi Golden Core

Meridians are channels, True Qi is a river, and the Dantian is an ocean.

This is why it’s said that the ocean accepts a hundred rivers.

Normally, the width of a person’s meridians is determined at birth.

Post-birth cultivation is merely a process of constantly reinforcing the meridians, allowing them to withstand the impact of ever-stronger and more abundant True Qi.

But meridians ultimately have their limits.

But now, the situation inside Lu Bai’s body shattered that very limit!

In the process of breaking, repairing, and reforming, his meridians were growing tougher and had widened considerably.

Wider meridians meant wider channels. The True Qi flowing within would be more massive, and the amount entering his Dantian would be greater.

In combat, these widened meridians would allow for a greater burst of True Qi, which naturally meant greater power.

A ceaseless torrent of True Qi surged into his Dantian, where it began to contract and rotate.

The True Qi in his Dantian was as vast as an ocean. Under the control of Lu Bai’s mind, it formed a massive vortex, condensing toward its center.

The process was extremely slow and fraught with peril.

The transformation from True Qi into a Golden Core was a qualitative leap.

If one’s energy was insufficient, it would be all too easy to fail at the final step.

But after the Ancient Mirror had cleansed the Demon Qi from the True Dragon Heart, the energy it contained was simply too pure.

As the True Qi vortex in his Dantian shrank, the process slowed, but it continued without the slightest hindrance.

A blood-red Golden Core, the size of a fingernail, gradually manifested within his Dantian!

At first, it was still somewhat illusory and indistinct.

Reaching this stage meant one had half a foot in the Golden Core Realm. It was also known as the Void Core Realm.

Some Martial Artists, fearing failure later on, would stop at this stage. They would continue to cultivate, accumulate more True Qi, and prepare a Demon Beast Inner Core before attempting the breakthrough a second time.

Lu Bai, however, had no intention of stopping. He planned to press on in one go and step directly onto the path of the Golden Core!

Meanwhile, the Immortal Vine was still continuously drawing on the bloodline within the True Dragon Heart. In addition to the initial golden branch, an emerald-green one had now sprouted from the vine.

This emerald branch, as if alive, also pierced into the True Dragon Heart.

This caused the Immortal Vine to absorb the True Dragon Blood even faster and more ferociously!

Lu Bai had no time for distractions, remaining focused on condensing his Blood Qi Golden Core.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Lu Bai’s body jolted. The once illusory and indistinct Blood Qi Golden Core in his Dantian had completely solidified. It now hovered in the very center of his Dantian, radiating an incredibly dense and potent Blood Qi!

WHOOSH!

The Blood Qi seeped through the pores of his skin, spreading out like a rising flame.

And this flame actually extended to a six-foot radius!

“Hm?”

In a large tent not far away, a flash of surprise crossed Chen Shihu’s eyes.

‘Early Stage of Golden Core, and he’s already cultivated six feet of Blood Qi.’

Chen Shihu murmured softly. ‘Hm… about the same as me back in the day. Once he reaches Golden Core Perfection, he’ll surely be able to cultivate Nine Feet of Blood Qi. He might even manifest a Golden Core Phenomenon…’

From the moment Lu Bai began his breakthrough to the Golden Core Realm, Chen Shihu’s attention had been fixed on him, silently standing guard, afraid that something might go wrong.

“Such strong Blood Qi!”

“Someone’s breaking through to the Golden Core Realm!”

“Who is in that tent?”

“I think it’s Lu Bai.”

Some of the soldiers in the camp sensed the commotion and were utterly shocked, breaking into discussion.

“He’d just broken through to the Seventh Meridian when he first arrived. How long has it been, and he’s already formed a Golden Core?”

“Captain Lu isn’t even eighteen yet, right?”

“He turns eighteen at the end of the year.”

“An eighteen-year-old True Master of the Martial Dao… there aren’t many of those in the entire Celestial Divine Land.”

Back in the tent, after he had condensed the Blood Qi Golden Core, the wisp of True Dragon Blood was still not depleted, despite being repeatedly consumed by the Bone Regeneration process and the formation of the Golden Core.

Lu Bai didn’t stop cultivating. He continued to circulate his Cultivation Technique, refining the True Dragon Blood.

As time went on, the fingernail-sized Blood Qi Golden Core began to slowly expand.

The change was minuscule, but over a long enough period, one could observe the Blood Qi Golden Core’s growth!

After his Realm stabilized, Lu Bai began advancing toward the Middle Stage of Golden Core.

「Three days and three nights had passed since Lu Bai stepped onto the path of the Golden Core.」

He had not once left his tent.

After Lu Bai formed his Golden Core, Chen Shihu stopped paying close attention.

After all, someone who had just reached the Golden Core Realm needed time to acclimate, stabilize their new Realm, and become familiar with its power.

「Three nights later, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.」

The military camp was silent, with only the patrolling Guards making their rounds.

Chen Shihu, who had been sound asleep, seemed to sense something. He shot up in bed, his tiger-like eyes wide with disbelief.

At that moment, in the tent not far away, flames shot to the sky around Lu Bai. His Blood Qi blazed, and its range had reached nine feet!

‘What’s with this kid? He broke through to the Middle Stage of Golden Core in one fell swoop?’

Chen Shihu’s eyes widened.

Three days and three nights to go from the Early Stage of Golden Core to the Middle Stage.

What shocked him even more was that Lu Bai, while only in the Middle Stage of Golden Core, had already cultivated his Blood Qi to a range of nine feet—the absolute limit!

Nine is the ultimate number. Many Martial Artists at the peak of Golden Core Realm Perfection are unable to cultivate Nine Feet of Blood Qi.

‘This kid’s Blood Qi is so strong, it’s practically unheard of!’

Before Chen Shihu could even process his shock, the raging flames around Lu Bai began to roil. An extremely terrifying fluctuation of power emanated from within them, as if some horrifying existence was about to awaken.

ROAR!

Suddenly!

A deafening dragon’s roar, one that seemed to shake heaven and earth, erupted from Lu Bai’s tent!

“Hm?”

Chen Shihu’s expression changed. A light flickered between his brows as his vast Divine Sense instantly descended, enveloping Lu Bai’s tent. It completely sealed the dragon’s roar inside, while simultaneously blocking the probing senses of others.

“What was that noise?”

“Did you hear something just now?”

“I don’t think so.”

Even so, many were startled awake. They went outside to investigate but found nothing unusual and soon returned to their slumber.

Meanwhile, Chen Shihu sat in his tent, gulping and sucking air through his teeth.

‘This kid must be what my old man calls a “hacker,” huh? Middle Stage of Golden Core, Nine Feet of Blood Qi, and he’s even manifested a Golden Core Phenomenon!’

Chen Shihu was utterly stunned, muttering to himself, ‘No wonder the Ghost Bride took a fancy to him. The kid’s a total freak…’

「Inside the tent.」

Lu Bai sat cross-legged, surrounded by surging Blood Qi.

Within the raging flames, a colossal, crimson dragon—one seemingly born from fire and magma—was coiled protectively around Lu Bai.

Every scale on the Divine Dragon’s body looked as if it had been forged in a great fire, rendering it nearly transparent and giving it a crystalline sheen.

The massive dragon’s head rested above Lu Bai, its eyes closed.

The tent was plunged in darkness, without a single point of light.

As Lu Bai opened his eyes, the dragon’s eyes snapped open as well. They were long and narrow like chasms, with vertical pupils that blazed like suns. The depths of those pupils seemed to contain the power of a primordial era, unleashing an overwhelming, unrestrained might!

In an instant, brilliant light flooded the tent, making it as bright as day!