Jiao Xiuyuan treated Li Fan's various suggestions like priceless treasures.
Clearly in high spirits, he immediately took his leave to make arrangements.
The avatar coughed, spitting out another mouthful of fresh blood.
No wonder only theoretical research remains nowadays, with no one truly practicing this methodology of unlocking the human body's hidden reserves.
Compared to the new methodology where meeting the conditions guarantees advancement, activating the hidden reserves is not only slow but also relies entirely on self-exploration.
The slightest misstep results in severe depletion of blood-qi, causing great damage to one's vital essence.
Fortunately, this is just an avatar, so I don't need to worry about any side effects. As long as I can accumulate cultivation experience, it's still a gain.
Lin Fan purchased a Stabilization Pill to replenish his blood-qi, then swallowed it.
His complexion quickly became ruddy again, and the avatar resumed its experimentation and exploration.
The remaining days in Anchor Year 15 passed by in a flash.
In Anchor Year 16, Li Fan shuddered and awoke from meditation.
Aided by two sudden surges of cultivation feedback within his body, his cultivation progress had reached a limit, unable to advance even a single inch further.
Li Fan knew he had reached the final-stage Foundation Establishment realm. Once he broke through the bottleneck, he could begin core formation.
The two earlier surges of cultivation feedback were from Ye Feipeng and Xiao Heng respectively.
With a thought, he searched through the blue crystal within his sea of consciousness, checking the events involving the two of them during this period.
After swallowing the True Intent of Azure Wind, Ye Feipeng's cultivation speed had grown much faster than before, and he quickly reached the final-stage Qi Refinement realm.
Just half a year later, he emulated Zhang Haobo from his memories and established his Dao Foundation, as if bottlenecks simply didn't exist for him.
Having successfully reached Foundation Establishment, Ye Feipeng returned to the desolate island, boasting excessively to everyone with immense pride.
Putting on airs, he lectured Xiao Heng and the others in the tone and manner of a "senior."
Stimulated by this, Xiao Heng immersed himself even more aggressively in cultivation.
A month later, after reaching the final-stage Qi Refinement realm, Xiao Heng obtained a high-grade Curio of Man through the altar in the Bone Vanguard Realm, successfully advancing to the Foundation Establishment realm.
This Foundation Establishment Curio had naturally been prepared for him by Li Fan.
After establishing his Dao Foundation, the first thing Xiao Heng did was challenge Ye Feipeng to another sparring match.
Both had recently advanced and couldn't yet precisely control their power.
They fought for a long time without either gaining a victory.
The match ended in a draw.
Xiao Heng sighed. The joy that had just risen in his heart had instantly vanished.
Meanwhile, the complacency Ye Feipeng had felt was replaced by a renewed sense of crisis.
He no longer remained on the desolate island but ventured out, cultivating while searching for opportunities based on memories from his previous life.
Li Fan then checked on the progress of the others.
Among them, Su Xiaomei showed the fastest progress and had the highest cultivation level.
Although still just a young child who spent most of her day playing and not taking any initiative to cultivate diligently, her natural talent was simply too exceptional. She had already reached the late-stage Qi Refinement realm, and Li Fan believed she wasn't far from breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm.
Next was Zhang Haobo, at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm.
Su Changyu and the Yin sisters had all cleansed themselves of miasma and officially embarked on the path of immortality.
As periodic amounts of cultivation feedback, varying in size for each person, emerged within him, Li Fan felt like a diligent old farmer tending his crops.
He saw lush green chives eagerly sprouting from the earth, their growth promising.
He also envisioned golden wheat fields yielding a bountiful harvest in autumn, heavy ears of wheat bending the stalks.
Joy from the harvest overflowed, visible on his face.
In this moment of delight, a sudden understanding dawned, and his heart relaxed.
The stubborn bottleneck shattered without resistance.
No more obstacles lay ahead; the road was now smooth and open.
As long as one could "Peer into the laws of heaven and earth," one could naturally condense a Golden Core.
Li Fan hadn’t expected it to be this smooth, giving him a sense that fortune had finally turned in his favor.
Yet Li Fan remained clear-headed.
He knew he had stagnated at the late-stage Foundation Establishment realm for a long time, and this was more a matter of accumulated insights finally leading to results.
Besides, he had only overcome the bottleneck. The true Golden Core condensation still lay some distance ahead.
Peer into the laws of heaven and earth...
Recalling the various materials he had studied within the Tianxuan Mirror, and the scene from his previous life when Zhang Haobo had condensed an artificial core, Li Fan began to ponder inwardly.
With my accumulated experience, forming a Golden Core should be effortless.
Whether it’s the Law of Water corresponding to the Congyun Sea, the Law of Swords embodied in the Twenty-Eight Congyun Swords, or the Law of Wind that both Zhang Haobo and Ye Feipeng have touched upon, choosing any one and delving into it briefly would likely allow me to form a core in no time.
But a Golden Core formed that way would fall far short of matching my Dao Foundation.
Creation from nothing, the false becoming true. This is the root of my Dao Foundation based on Return to Truth.
It’s why I can transform Return to Truth into any Curio of heaven and earth I’ve absorbed.
All Curios of heaven and earth are mine to wield.
Applied to Golden Core condensation, this means...
Li Fan’s thoughts paused.
All laws of the Heavenly Dao are my laws.
If ordinary cultivators form cores by condensing only one or a few strands of the pure power of laws, then what I must do is... condense a Myriad-Law Golden Core.
Li Fan took a deep breath, suppressing the sudden surge of excitement in his heart.
This would be impossible for any other cultivator, no matter how talented, even if they exhausted a lifetime of effort.
But for me, as long as I can ensure my simulation cycles proceed successfully, it’s as certain as a nail hammered into wood.
Still, the process will take an extremely long time. Perhaps I should first select a suitable method to break through to the Golden Core realm. Preferably one that maximizes combat power.
In terms of pure lethality, among everything Li Fan had witnessed since entering the cultivation world, two stood out as the most terrifying: the Heaven-Scorning Sword and Ink Death.
Ink Death is pure destructive power that annihilates everything.
The blue crystal in his sea of consciousness slowly glowed, replaying the scene of Ink Death eradicating all existence with perfect clarity in his mind.
At the time, I witnessed that world-ending spectacle through my Qi Refinement avatar. The insights gained aren’t sufficient to support using it for Golden Core condensation.
But when Ink Death descends again in this life, it will be a perfect opportunity to remedy that.
As for the Heaven-Scorning Sword...
At this thought, Li Fan’s brow furrowed slightly.
This sword brimmed with slaughter, chaos, madness, and brutality. Furthermore, its origins were unknown.
Yet even its broken hilt alone could contend with a Dao Unity entity like Azure Wind.
Its original, complete power was truly unimaginable.
My current accumulation of insights isn’t enough to form a core using the Heaven-Scorning Sword Art.
Li Fan's eyes flashed as he recalled a scene he'd once witnessed, of Fuzi entering Cloudwater Palace.
The azure ox pulling the carriage, Fuzi forcing out the Heavenly Physician's incarnation...
Then all the Oddities within the palace simultaneously erupting in violence...
And deeply piercing through the turtle-snake monster's body... was the blade of the Heaven-Scorning Sword itself.