75: Chapter 75: Golden Core Formed, Leaving the Secret Realm, Encountering Obstacles on the Return Journey

With the Golden Core formed, the world was different.

Ye Qing maneuvered the Wind Spirit Wings, flying beneath the dim sky of the Secret Realm, feeling the vast power within his body that was completely different from before.

The Dantian energy flowed like a vast ocean, and with a slight movement of his mind, he could stir the thin Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi for miles around to respond faintly.

His Divine Sense covered five hundred zhang, revealing every detail; the rustling of the wind, the whispers of Yao Beasts, the flow of Spiritual Qi, and even the wriggling of insects several zhang underground were all clear to him.

Under the baptism of the Dantian energy, his Physical Body had leapt to a new level of strength. Ordinary Magical Artifacts could hardly harm him, his blood and Qi were as vigorous as a Dragon, and his recovery ability was astonishing.

More importantly, his control over Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, his application of his own power, and his insights into the many Daos—such as the Five Elements, stars, Void Realm, and Chaos—had all reached a brand new level due to the condensation of the Hunxu Golden Core.

After the Hunxu Yandao Scripture fused with the Great Dao Scripture of Zhou Tian Stars, it had already become a rudimentary Cultivation Technique pointing directly to the supreme Dao, with immeasurable growth potential in the future.

The internal space had expanded to five hundred zhang, with the star core hanging high, nourishing all things. The quality of the energy fed back was higher, continuously providing feedback to the Golden Core.

"The Golden Core is formed; to me, this Secret Realm has significantly less value. It is time to leave."

Ye Qing was eager to return and no longer lingered on other potential Opportunities that might remain in the Secret Realm. He had already obtained the greatest benefits; greed was not beneficial and could easily lead to unforeseen changes.

Following the memory of how he came, combined with the map, he sped towards the exit of the Secret Realm.

Now that his cultivation had greatly advanced, the Wind Spirit Wings were faster. Combined with a trace of Void Realm power, he almost turned into a pale golden stream of light that was difficult to capture while flying.

Along the way, he occasionally encountered a few groups of Cultivators who were still exploring and fighting for resources. When they sensed the Golden Core aura he made no effort to conceal from afar, they all turned pale with shock and avoided him from a distance, not daring to block his path.

Half a day later, a familiar sight appeared ahead.

It was that huge, slowly rotating vortex of Spiritual Qi—the entrance to the Secret Realm.

At this moment, the area below the vortex was more chaotic than when he arrived.

Traces of fierce battles remained on the ground near the entrance, with corpses strewn about; clearly, there had been more than one brutal conflict.

There were still dozens of Cultivators gathered near the entrance, all looking nervous, constantly looking up at the slowly rotating vortex, seemingly waiting for something or perhaps on guard.

Ye Qing retracted his flying light and landed on the periphery of the crowd.

His appearance immediately attracted attention.

Dozens of gazes were cast upon him simultaneously. Sensing his unfathomable Golden Core aura, which was like an abyss or an ocean, everyone's expressions changed. They lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at him, let alone discuss him.

Among the crowd, there were a few figures with relatively strong auras, whose cultivation was at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage or Perfection Stage. At this moment, they also showed expressions of shock and exchanged glances, but none dared to step forward to speak.

Ye Qing's gaze swept over the crowd and then looked at the Spiritual Qi vortex.

The rotation speed of the vortex seemed a bit slower than before, but it was still stable. However, the spatial fluctuations at the edges appeared slightly disordered, as if influenced by some external force.

"The Secret Realm entrance is becoming unstable? It seems the battle outside has already affected the spatial node. This place is not suitable for a long stay; I need to leave as soon as possible."

He no longer delayed and moved his body, intending to pass directly through the vortex.

"Senior, wait!"

A voice with a hint of anxiety rang out.

Ye Qing paused his steps slightly and looked to the side.

The speaker was a middle-aged Cultivator wearing brocade robes with a refined appearance, whose cultivation was at the Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage. He was currently cupping his hands in a salute, his expression respectful yet anxious.

"What is the matter?" Ye Qing asked indifferently.

"Senior, please observe, this Secret Realm entrance seems to have some problems." The middle-aged Cultivator explained hurriedly, "Just an hour ago, several Fellow Daoists tried to leave from the entrance, but they were swept away by the chaotic spatial force, and their fate is unknown. Afterward, we tried to activate transmission talismans to contact the outside world, but there was no response. It seems... the outside entrance has been interfered with or blocked by some force."

"Oh?" Ye Qing's eyes flashed, and his Divine Sense swept through the Spiritual Qi vortex carefully again.

Sure enough, deep within the vortex, he captured a few extremely faint, alien energy fluctuations that did not belong to the Secret Realm itself, carrying blood and Chaos. They were colliding with the spatial force of the Secret Realm, causing the stability of the space near the entrance to decline.

"Yao Race? Or internal strife among the Human Race?" Ye Qing speculated in his heart. The Cuiping Mountain Secret Realm was close to the Myriad Demon Forest, and the situation outside was chaotic; regardless of which possibility it was, it was not a good omen.

"Is there any other way to leave?" He asked.

The middle-aged Cultivator smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This is our first time entering this Secret Realm, so our knowledge is limited. We only know of this main entrance. Perhaps there are other hidden exits in the depths, but they are difficult to find in a hurry. Now that the entrance is unstable and the situation outside is unclear, none of us dare to try it easily, and we are just worrying."

Ye Qing nodded slightly. These Cultivators had a cultivation of at most the Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage; facing an unstable spatial passage, the risk was indeed huge.

But he was different.

With the Golden Core formed and the Void Dao Seed in his possession, his insight into spatial force was far beyond what it had been in the past, and he even had the Hunxu Yandao Scripture to protect his body. As long as he did not encounter a complete collapse of space or terrifying spatial turbulence, crossing this unstable entrance should be fine.

"This seat intends to leave this place; you may do as you please."

He had no intention of explaining further. After dropping that sentence, his body floated up again, and a faint Chaos spiritual light appeared around his body. With one step, he reached the edge of the vortex.

"Senior, be careful!" The middle-aged Cultivator could not help but remind him again.

Ye Qing did not look back and stepped directly into the rotating Spiritual Qi vortex.

The light and shadow in front of him changed, and the familiar feeling of spatial pulling came, but it was several times more violent and fierce than when he arrived. There were even wisps of chaotic, sharp energy flows carrying Demonic Qi, like invisible blades cutting in from all directions.

If he were a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he would probably be in a panic by now, and his protective spiritual light would be difficult to sustain.

Ye Qing's expression remained unchanged, and he stirred his mind.

The Chaos Dantian energy surged out, forming a layer of Chaos spiritual aura on the surface of his body that looked thin but was actually extremely tough and flowed with starlight dots.

Those chaotic energy flows cut onto the spiritual aura like a stream hitting a reef, scattering one after another, unable to shake it in the slightest.

His figure was as steady as a mountain in the spatial passage, following the sensation of the exit, moving against the flow.

The scene inside the passage was strange and multicolored, with broken spatial fragments flashing by from time to time. There were even a few broken corpses floating within; judging by their clothes, they were exactly the Cultivators who had tried to leave earlier, and their state of death was miserable.

Ye Qing did not look sideways, and his speed did not decrease.

A moment later, light appeared ahead, and the exit was in sight.

However, just as he was about to rush out of the exit, a strong smell of blood and violent Demonic Qi fluctuations, mixed with the roars and screams of Cultivators, surged in from outside the exit like a tide!

Outside, a great battle was erupting!

Ye Qing's eyes turned cold, and his speed increased instead of decreasing. The Chaos spiritual aura's light surged slightly, and like a cannonball out of the chamber, he rushed out of the spatial passage fiercely!

The light in front of him brightened, and the scene changed drastically.

It was no longer the lush forests of Cuiping Mountain.

But a messy battlefield!

The sky was dim, and Demonic clouds were dense.

The mountain forest below had collapsed, with raging fires and rolling thick smoke.

Dozens of Cultivators were engaged in a chaotic battle with more than a hundred Yao Beasts, the sounds of killing shook the sky, spiritual light exploded, and flesh and blood flew.

The Cultivator side was clearly at a disadvantage, being surrounded and divided by the Yao Beasts, fighting on their own, and suffering heavy casualties. Looking at their mixed clothing, there were Loose Cultivators as well as Disciples from a few small Sects. Their cultivation was mostly at the Foundation Establishment Stage, and they were already at the end of their rope.

The Yao Beast side had a wide variety of species, including wolves, tigers, leopards, pythons, eagles, and bats, with levels ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 2. There were even three Tier 2 peak Yao Beasts with exceptionally fierce auras, equivalent to False Core Cultivators, guarding the rear and directing the siege.

At the edge of the battlefield, above the canyon where the Secret Realm entrance was located, the Spiritual Qi vortex was fluctuating violently, and wisps of black Qi were spreading from the direction of the battlefield, eroding the vortex. This was clearly the culprit causing the instability of the entrance.

At this moment, Ye Qing's figure suddenly rushed out from the violently fluctuating vortex, standing in the air. His Golden Core Stage Spiritual Pressure was released without reservation, instantly covering the entire battlefield!

The fierce fighting paused.

All the Cultivators and Yao Beasts could not help but stop their actions, looking up in horror at the figure that had appeared suddenly, with an aura like an abyss or an ocean.

"Golden... Golden Core Senior?!"

The surviving Cultivators were stunned at first, then overjoyed, like drowning people grabbing a lifeline.

"Senior, save us!"

"The Yao Beasts are powerful, please, Senior, take action!"

As for the Yao Beast side, those three Tier 2 peak Yao Beasts also had flashes of suspicion and gravity in their crimson beast eyes, staring at Ye Qing and letting out threatening low roars.

Ye Qing's gaze swept across the battlefield, his expression indifferent.

He had no intention of getting involved in the slaughter between the Human Race and the Yao Race, but since he had run into it, and the auras of these Yao Beasts made him unhappy, he would just clean them up.

It was just right to test the strength of the Golden Core Stage.

He raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and pressed down vaguely towards the area where the Yao Beasts were most dense below.

"Suppress."

A calm word.

An invisible and intangible, yet heavy as a mountain, terrifying pressure carrying the connotation of Chaos, descended suddenly!

With his palm as the center, within a hundred-zhang range below, the space seemed to solidify.

All the Yao Beasts within it, whether Tier 1 or Tier 2, had their movements instantly stiffened, their Demonic Qi could not run smoothly, and horror appeared in their eyes.

Immediately afterward, Ye Qing brought his left hand together with his fingers and pointed into the air towards the three Tier 2 peak Yao Beasts.

"Starfall."

A point of bright starlight shot out from his fingertips, splitting into three in the air, turning into three meteorites the size of fists, burning with Chaos star flames, dragging long tails of light, tearing through the air, making a sharp whistle, and accurately shooting towards the heads of the three Yao Beasts.

The three Yao Beasts were horrified, roaring and erupting with all their Demonic Qi, either spraying poisonous fire, condensing ice armor, or waving their claws to block.

However, in front of the "Starfall" containing the star source essence and Chaos power, all defenses were like paper.

Chi! Chi! Chi!

Three soft sounds, almost at the same time.

The three meteorites passed through the poisonous fire, ice armor, and sharp claws without any obstruction, sinking into the heads of the three Yao Beasts.

The Yao Beast bodies stiffened suddenly, the luster in their eyes dissipated rapidly, and their huge bodies fell to the ground with a loud crash like a mountain of gold collapsing, splashing up a sky of dust.

The three Tier 2 peak Yao Beasts were killed instantly.

At the same time, Ye Qing pressed his right palm downwards.

"Crush."

The terrifying pressure covering the hundred-zhang range suddenly turned into a substantial gravitational field, pressing down fiercely!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The hundred Yao Beasts below that were imprisoned by the "Suppress" mantra were smashed by an invisible giant hammer, their bodies exploded one after another, turning into a sky of blood mist and broken flesh, without even being able to let out a scream.

A hundred Yao Beasts, all perished.

From the moment Ye Qing appeared to the death of the three leaders and the hundred Yao Beasts turning into blood mist, it was only two breaths.

The battlefield was dead silent.

The surviving Cultivators were dumbfounded, looking at the young Golden Core Cultivator who stood in the air, with his green robes fluttering, as if he had just casually swatted a few mosquitoes to death. They were shocked beyond measure.

What kind of strength was this? What kind of Divine Ability was this?

They had seen Golden Core Cultivators before, but to be this tyrannical, killing Tier 2 Yao Beasts like cutting grass, it was simply unheard of!

Ye Qing did not pay attention to everyone's gaze. He raised his hand and beckoned, taking the corpses and Yao cores of the three Tier 2 peak Yao Beasts, as well as a few Magical Artifacts of decent quality scattered on the ground, into his hand and then into his space waste area.

Then, his gaze turned to the Spiritual Qi vortex at the Secret Realm entrance that was still fluctuating endlessly.

His brow furrowed slightly, and he raised his hand to cast a thick Chaos Dantian energy, which sank into the vortex.

Wherever the Dantian energy passed, the black Qi that eroded the vortex met its nemesis and dissipated rapidly.

The vortex fluctuations gradually subsided, and the rotation speed returned to stability.

"The entrance is stable; you may leave on your own."

He dropped the sentence indifferently, no longer staying. His figure flickered and turned into a pale golden escaping light, rushing into the sky and disappearing into the southeast horizon in an instant.

It was not until his figure completely disappeared that the surviving Cultivators on the battlefield woke up from their dreams.

The joy of surviving a disaster and the awe of that mysterious Golden Core Senior were intertwined.

Everyone did not dare to delay, simply tidying up the belongings of their companions, helping the wounded, and one after another, they plunged into the Spiritual Qi vortex that had returned to stability, fleeing in panic from this bloody battlefield.

Above Cuiping Mountain, silence returned, with only the mess and blood on the ground telling of the short and brutal slaughter that had just occurred, as well as that mysterious figure who had appeared like a fleeting glimpse but was incomparably tyrannical.

In the high sky, Ye Qing sped along.

Inside his body, the space was rapidly digesting the newly obtained corpses and Yao cores of the three Tier 2 peak Yao Beasts, feeding back pure Dantian energy to nourish the newly formed Hunxu Golden Core.

"Doing it casually actually replenished some 'nutrients'. The situation outside is indeed rotten; the Yao Beasts have penetrated this far. Liuyun City is probably not peaceful either."

His mind turned, and his flight speed became faster.

Now that the Golden Core had been formed and his strength had greatly increased, many dangers that he had to carefully avoid before could now be handled calmly.

It was time to re-plan the next itinerary.

Inside his body, the five-hundred-zhang cave heaven, the stars were rotating, moon brilliance was flowing, Chaos was vast, and the pure Dantian energy fed back was endless.

The journey of the Golden Core Cultivator Ye Qing, amidst Breakthroughs and the return journey, opened a brand new chapter.