Chapter 163: Beaten Up!
Editor: Atlas Studios
The Core Formation realm cultivator holding the abacus was stunned. Why did Jiang Li suddenly enter the fog?
Their initial plan was for him to make a move and throw Jiang Li into the fog, and then use the illusion formation to restrict Jiang Li’s movements.
For this, they even specially found an excuse to apply for a few authority tokens for an illusion array from the sect’s joint competition authorities.
The plan was to use the restriction of the illusion realm to control Jiang Li without any issues.
However, the elder did not expect that the strength of this Qi Refinement realm disciple would actually be so strong that he did not have the chance to succeed. After fighting for more than twenty times, he was actually unable to defeat his opponent.
On the contrary, three of his subordinates were killed by the other party. Fortunately, the envoy from the headquarters was smart enough to run away quickly.
Otherwise, if Huangfu Tai died, the elder would no longer be able to survive.
Now, when he saw Jiang Li run into the fog, he was stunned for a moment, thinking that Jiang Li was courting death.
But then, he realized the problem.
The authority token was taken away!
Damn it! Didn’t this mean that he could come and go as he pleased in the illusion formation?
He could not let this lad escape!
The Core Formation cultivator could not stand the result of him failing to capture a mere Qi Refinement cultivator. He immediately grabbed his big, golden abacus and rushed into the fog.
Just one more hit! Just one more hit would end it!
The well-dressed cultivator rushed into the fog and searched everywhere for traces of Jiang Li. His vision was poor in the fog, so he used the profundity of the Core Formation realm to continuously sweep his spiritual qi around his surroundings and quickly searched everywhere.
However, after passing through the fog and sweeping through a large area, he still did not find any trace of Jiang Li.
“If you fight me in the jungle, aren’t you just looking for trouble?”
At this moment, Jiang Li was hiding in an empty tree while listening to the sounds of the air being torn apart from outside.
The other party passed by his hiding spot several times but did not discover anything.
If Jiang Li’s current cultivation method was still the Ghost Wood Art, then the method to conceal his tracks would definitely be unable to surmount two major realms to prevent his opponent from finding him. Only the Nine Nether Dao Scripture could allow him to achieve this.
However, hiding was not an option. He had to defeat his opponent.
Facing a Core Formation cultivator with just the Qi Refinement realm cultivation level, it was already something to be proud of if he could escape.
In the eyes of many people, wanting to cross the gap of two realms to defeat the other party was simply a fantasy.
However, with Jiang Li’s style of doing things, how could he allow himself to easily take risks without sufficient certainty?
He took out the coffin and gave an order to the spiritual root clone in the coffin.
The statue mouth of the spiritual root clone gradually opened. A gentle spiritual light blossomed.
A moment later, the Yin Burial Coffin shook slightly. From within, a pill the size of a dragon’s eye, black and white, flew out.
[Name: Heavenly Lightning Indestructible Zombie Core]
[Type: Cultivator’s Golden Core]
[Spiritual Qi: 28%]
[Attributes: Ice, Yin]
[Formation: Core Refinement by Lightning Tribulation, Combination of Life and Death]
[Description: The Qi of Life and Death combines into Yin and Yang. The beautiful creation of a technique combining the powers of ghosts and deities.]
[Description: Contains the power of the Lightning Tribulation.]
Jiang Li looked at the ordinary pill in front of him and could not help but feel slightly excited.
This was the Golden Core that Elder Duan Shuang had risked his life to refine!
After Jiang Li joined the inner sect, he had also learned about this aspect.
He also knew how precious this special Golden Core was.
Using lightning tribulation to refine a Golden Core was not something that could succeed with just any Golden Core.
This sort of operation actually required one to use their own Golden Cores so that they could better fuse with each other.
How could a cultivator refine two Golden Cores? In fact, two Golden Cores that contained the attributes of life and death respectively.
Other than some cultivation methods that were powerful to the point of understanding the mysteries of the Golden Core, those who had succeeded in doing so in history were likely under two different situations.
First, resurrect through possession.
Second, reincarnate and recultivate.
In short, they would first cut off their previous life’s physical body cultivation. Sometimes, they would really have to die again before walking down the cultivation path again. In the end, they would find their previous life’s legacy and use the power of heaven and earth to merge them.
Although it was said that one would obtain an abnormally powerful Golden Core after succeeding, the risk and cost of this method made the quality-price ratio extremely low.
Generally speaking, no cultivator would take the initiative to be reborn for this Golden Core. Most of the time, they would only attempt to refine a fused core after being forced to be reborn.
Therefore, such successful examples were extremely rare in the current history of the cultivation world.
This was also the reason why Jiang Li placed so much importance on this Golden Core previously.
Fortunately, the Nine Nether Wood was sufficiently powerful. Under the condition that the spiritual root seed was damaged, it still protected the Heavenly Lightning Indestructible Zombie Core.
In other words, the Nine Nether clone was now a Golden Core expert.
However, because he had just created the Golden Core not long ago, he did not have time to replenish the empty spiritual qi inside.
This Golden Core was where Jiang Li’s confidence lay!
Jiang Li did not hesitate to open his mouth and swallow the Golden Core. In the next moment, golden light shot out from his eyes, and a strange feeling surged incessantly in his heart.
[Consumed the Heavenly Lightning Indestructible Zombie Core. Added Status: Golden Core Dao Heart (Pseudo)]
[Golden Core Dao Heart (Pseudo): Mind+10, Enlightenment+10, Mental Resistance+100, Mental Reaction Speed increased by 50%. Duration: 7 days] (− +)
[Consumed the Heavenly Lightning Indestructible Zombie Core. Added Status: Golden Core Protection]
[Golden Core Protection: Increases all attribute resistances by 80 points. Increases the damage resistance of both ice and fire attributes by 50 points. Increases the resistance to spiritual qi reflection. Unification of the Mind, Qi, and Spirit within the Core Palace. Increases the spiritual qi density. Duration: 7 days] (− +)
[Consumed Heavenly Lightning Indestructible Zombie Core. Added Status: Heavenly Lightning Indestructible Zombie]
[Heavenly Lightning Indestructible Zombie: Supports fusion of flesh and spirit. Increased resistance to instant death effects. Increases lightning damage resistance by 150 points. Duration: 7 days] (− +)
After swallowing the Golden Core, three statuses immediately popped up.
Jiang Li clenched his fists. For a moment, he actually felt that he was omnipotent.
The Golden Core was indeed worthy of being called a Golden Core! Although he was still unable to use much of the power of the Golden Core, just swallowing the Golden Core had given him a huge protective effect.
Although the effects of consuming the Golden Core were not as he had imagined, the resistances gained were still very astonishing.
In terms of fire resistance, Jiang Li had already obtained a resistance status before. He had specially studied the meaning of this resistance number.
From 0 to 50 points, it was the power value of fire in the mortal world.
50 to 100 points was the power of the Qi Refinement realm spirit fire.
100 to 150 points was the power value of a Foundation Establishment realm spirit fire.
After that, Jiang Li did not test it anymore.
Now that his Golden Core had entered his stomach, he could resist all external methods. Jiang Li had obtained quite a bit of resistances, and he even had resistance to all attributes.
One had to know that if the power of attribute attacks did not exceed the resistance of attributes, then one would be completely immune.
Even if the power of the attribute exceeded the resistance, the damage received would be greatly reduced. It was a kind of buff that would always be beneficial.
Elder Duan Shuang was originally of the ice attribute, so it was understandable that this Golden Core could increase his resistance to both ice and fire attributes.
However, it could resist lightning damage too. This kind of domineering attribute that was completely unrelated to him was actually so high. It really made him feel a little shocked.
It seemed that the cause was still with the description of [Contains the power of the Lightning Tribulation].
Could it be that when the aura of life and death fused together, he even refined the power of tribulation lightning into it?
Looking at this, Jiang Li suddenly had a feeling that the elder had gone all out to refine this Golden Core for the sake of this lightning-attribute resistance.
Forget it. He was already dead, and the dust had already settled. What was the point of thinking so much? It was more important to deal with the Core Formation cultivator outside.
These three statuses could be maintained for seven days.
From the looks of it, the gap between the Golden Core realm and the Qi Refinement realm was indeed extremely huge.
Under the situation where he could not replenish the energy and with less than 30% of its internal spiritual qi, this Golden Core could still support Jiang Li for seven days.
Indeed, on the path of cultivation, the further one went, the greater the difference would be.
Of course, duration had never been an issue to Jiang Li.
After casually pressing the plus button for fifteen seconds, Jiang Li spat the Golden Core back into the coffin.
This was another reason why Jiang Li did not turn the spiritual root seed into an Earth Fruit to eat.
He could have gotten the buffs for free, so why waste a Golden Core?
Under this condition, Jiang Li waved his hand and opened the tree wall in front of him, no longer hiding it as he walked out.
Jiang Li’s aura did not seem to have increased much. However, the feeling in his eyes was completely different from before.
As Jiang Li’s spiritual qi fluctuation was exposed, the Core Formation elder who was anxiously searching for Jiang Li not far away immediately rushed over.
In his hand, he was still holding the golden magical abacus. His right arm was red and blue veins were bulging.
It seemed that holding back a powerful move for too long was not an easy thing for a Core Formation cultivator to endure.
“Kid, you’re finally out! You’re merely a Qi Refinement realm cultivator! Be obedient and go down!”
When that fellow saw Jiang Li, his eyes instantly turned red. He almost thought that Jiang Li had already fled elsewhere.
Now that he had done all the bad things, there was a high chance that the Scripture Storage Valley would hold him accountable.
The Great Mountain Branch would probably not protect him, or rather, they could not. He could only hope that the envoy would be satisfied.
Only the Immortal Ascension Pavilion headquarters could suppress the Scripture Storage Valley to protect him.
However, the precondition was that he had to complete the mission given by the envoy and capture Jiang Li before retrieving the artifacts.
At the critical moment, it was not a problem if he beat Jiang Li to death.
Now, Jiang Li had finally appeared once more. He smashed out the abacus that he had been holding back for a long time, and the explosive golden light seemed to be unstoppable!
Jiang Li’s hands were still covered in chains, and then he stretched out his hand to face the flying artifact and grabbed it.
Clang!
His hands that were wrapped in the Dragon Imprisoning Lock grabbed the golden abacus tightly. He allowed the abacus to push him back and had no intention of letting go.
Jiang Li’s qi, mind and spirit were all top-notch. Now, the three of them were combined together in the Core Palace formed by the status and condensed together. This allowed him to possess strength that could resist the Core Formation realm.
After sliding for more than a hundred meters, the golden light on the abacus finally dimmed.
Jiang Li’s thumb and index finger trembled slightly under the chains.
Driving his spiritual qi to collide savagely with his opponent, it also caused a trail of blood to appear on his nose.
Before obtaining the support of the Golden Core, if he, as a Qi Refinement realm cultivator, collided with a Core Formation realm cultivator at full strength, not only would he lose, but his Qi Sea would also suffer injuries due to the backlash of the spiritual qi. It was even possible that his cultivation foundation might be damaged or his cultivation level might drop.
Therefore, when he collided with his opponent previously, Jiang Li basically used his physical strength. The use of spiritual qi was only a supplement. He did not dare to use all his strength without holding back.
However, with the new status, Golden Core Protection, not only did his spiritual qi density increase, it was equivalent to having a Golden Core in his body to help him withstand the spiritual qi reflection. As long as his opponent’s strength did not surpass his Golden Core, he would no longer be so restricted.
With his full strength, he finally withstood this abacus and was not sent flying by the artifact. He did not suffer any injuries worth mentioning.
Swoosh!
Jiang Li, who was panting heavily, suddenly felt a tug on his hand.
The golden abacus in his hand was about to fly back under the summon of its master.
“Trying to run after hitting me? How naive!”
The injuries on Jiang Li’s hand had not recovered yet, so he could not exert any strength. However, the Dragon Imprisoning Lock was not a useless artifact.
The thick and long pitch-black chains were like slithering snakes as they separated from Jiang Li’s hand and wrapped around the golden abacus.
The grade of the abacus was indeed not low, but against the Dragon Imprisoning Lock, it would still be at a loss.
The Dragon Imprisoning Lock flickered with spiritual light and quickly suppressed this artifact into an ordinary abacus. Jiang Li carried the abacus and chain and directly stuffed it into the Yin Burial Coffin.
Then, he looked at the well-dressed cultivator who was not far away and was still trying to recall the abacus with a dumbfounded expression.
“Kid, did you use some secret technique? There’s no need to damage your potential like this. Return the artifact to me. We’ll leave immediately and promise that we won’t find trouble with you again.”
The cultivator took out another ingot-shaped magic artifact. It was also golden in color, but its might was obviously inferior to the abacus. It was probably an artifact to make up the numbers.
He held the ingot in his hand. Although he instinctively felt a little anxious, he still did not believe that he, who was at the Core Formation realm, would lose to a Qi Refinement cultivator.
“Now, I’m going to cause you trouble!”
Jiang Li tapped his foot on the ground, and his figure was like lightning and wind as he transformed into an afterimage and charged towards his opponent at extreme speed!
The golden ingot was smashed by the shaking hand. It swelled up in the wind and transformed into a huge golden ingot the size of a millstone that wanted to crush the person in front of it into meat paste.
However, Jiang Li’s reflexes had greatly improved, and he was no longer suppressed by his opponent’s cultivation level. His figure flashed past the ingot.
However, just as he bypassed the ingot, in the blind spot behind it, there were actually three copper coins in a triangle shape.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
The three copper coins pierced through his body, drawing three lines of blood in the air.
When Jiang Li saw that the copper coins were not very powerful, he gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, directly colliding towards the opponent without dodging.
With his current defensive ability, he could even endure being beaten up by Foundation Establishment cultivators for a long time, but when facing a Core Formation cultivator, it was not so smooth.
After allowing the copper coins to penetrate his body, he arrived at the other party.
Mountain Crushing Fist!
As expected, his opponent was not skilled in close combat. After losing his main battle artifact, he lost his composure. His reaction when Jiang Li approached him could be said to be flustered, and he could only rely on the passive defense of the luxurious clothes on his body.
Boom!
A fist smashed into the other party’s stomach, but the expected situation of the fist sending him flying did not happen.
His fist was blocked by a golden membrane. Although he repelled his opponent, his Core Formation realm cultivation was not to be trifled with.
The spiritual qi that was several grades higher fueled the artifact’s light membrane and neutralized Jiang Li’s brute force.
“It seems that my resistances have increased and I can withstand even more damage. However, if I attack, I still won’t be able to break through the defense of a Core Formation cultivator.”
Jiang Li moved closer and continuously attacked to test things out. The eyes, head, neck, spine, and heart… He continuously attacked different places.
However, this elegant artifact seemed to have quite a good effect. The defense barrier that it created was abnormally strong.
However, Jiang Li’s swift attacks could barely hold his opponent back, preventing him from using his spell techniques and artifacts.
“The enhancement of my Golden Core is a little insufficient, so I can only do this!”
After trying a few times, Jiang Li temporarily retreated and tapped his opponent.
Just as the Core Formation cultivator was about to counterattack in puzzlement, he saw Jiang Li’s skin begin to intensely flush red. Strands of white mist also began to rise from his body, which was sweat evaporated by the heat.
Beast Blood Diagram! Blood Essence Ignition!
From his body, there seemed to be several ferocious and violent beast roars.
Demonic Ape! Lunar Bear! Vine-tailed Leopard! Dragon Tortoise!
The blood essence that Jiang Li had painstakingly accumulated surged into the four types of demon beast blood tattoos and began to burn fiercely.
The four blood tattoos seemed to have come alive again. Under the power of Jiang Li’s blood essence, they displayed an even more violent strength.
[Consumed 20 drops of Blood Essence to activate the Beast Blood Diagram’s Secret Technique. Added Status: Blood Essence Ignition]
[Blood Essence Ignition: Attributes of the Beast Blood Tattoo has been enhanced temporarily. Attribute enhancement effect increased by 100%. Duration: 5 minutes] (− +)
Jiang Li’s muscles seemed to have a life of their own as they swelled and rolled under his blood-red skin.
The body carried terrifying strength and contained a powerful aura that spread out like a wave. With just a glance, it could make living creatures instinctively turn around and run.
Ordinary cultivators of the Beast Blood Diagram could only carry one blood tattoo at a time at this stage. They could only burn one blood tattoo.
However, Jiang Li had lit up four Blood Tattoo Furnaces at this moment!
The sudden increase in physical strength made Jiang Li unable to breathe properly.
He only felt the desire to destroy. In front of him was the best target!
Seeing Jiang Li’s abnormality, the Core Formation cultivator already felt that something was amiss.
He wanted to dodge, but in the next moment, an even more terrifying strike sent him flying.
While flying in the air, the Immortal Ascension Pavilion’s elder was stunned.
This Qi Refinement realm cultivator was so strange. He was originally ridiculously strong, but after a while, he became much stronger. After fighting for a while, he could still grow again… This was too absurd.
Before he could think of a solution, his body was bound by something!
Demon Awakening! Dragon Vine Binding!
When he punched earlier, Jiang Li had used the Mountain-Piercing Fist to send a vine seed into the light membrane.
In the next moment, a dragon-shaped vine quickly grew out and bound the Core Formation cultivator.
It was not easy to break free from the spirit vines strengthened by the Nine Nether spiritual qi.
Jiang Li immediately released the restraints on the Armored Horse Divine Travel. With the enhancement of his Golden Core Dao Heart, his reaction speed increased by 50%, allowing him to barely control the direction of this terrifying speed.
His speed once again soared to the limit. He caught up to the Core Formation realm cultivator who was sent flying and kicked him into the sky.
Under the burning of his blood essence, Jiang Li’s brute force was no longer something that his opponent could match.
The dense fog was stirred up by the figure that tore through the air. Jiang Li’s vision was blocked, but his sensitive hearing could still lock onto his target.
The pitiful air was trampled until it continuously let out mournful cries. Jiang Li already exceeded his own speed, continuously chasing after his opponent and sending him flying.
As his speed increased, the Core Formation cultivator did not even have time to fly. The impact of the attacks on his body from all directions firmly locked him in place, unable to move at all.
It was just like the time when he was striking the iron target on the training ground. However, his speed was very fast this time! His attacks were even more compacted! His strength was even greater!
His opponent had also gone from being a block of iron to becoming a Void Core expert at the Core Formation realm.
In the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region, the Qi Refinement realm was the foundation with the greatest number of people. There were elites at the Qi Refinement realm who had a certain talent that had been tempered by time.
From the Core Formation realm, a certain amount of resources and luck were needed. Cultivators who reached this far were even fewer in number and stronger. In the various large sects, they could already be promoted to management level and were called experts.
However, such an expert was caught and beaten up by a Qi Refinement realm cultivator like Jiang Li.
Crack!
Under Jiang Li’s concentrated attacks, a crisp crack sounded on the membrane.
Jiang Li’s eyes lit up. He did not care about his two fists that were already bleeding from the damage, and he started pounding them even more crazily.
The quality of the luxurious clothes on this cultivator was not higher than the Lake Heart Earrings.
However, how could a Core Formation cultivator and a Qi Refinement cultivator have the same power when using the same artifact?
Under Jiang Li’s heavy punch, the membrane of light forcefully endured more than a hundred punches before cracking.
However, a thousand miles worth of dam would collapse under an ant’s nest. Once there was a breakthrough point, things would be much easier!
Jiang Li’s bloody fist with exposed bones punched at the crack in the membrane. He did not hold back at all as he smashed forward!
Break!
