Chapter 50: Regret Over Tasting the Earth

Xu Zhe reached out to stroke his chin, sinking into deep thought.

After nine days of seclusion, he had yet to break through to the Golden Core stage—something was very wrong.

Given the potential of his physical body and the cultivation of the “Righteous Qi Demon-Sealing Scripture,” his progress ought to have been extremely swift, especially with the Five Elements spiritual roots doubling his absorption of spiritual energy.

By all rights, the amount of spiritual energy he had absorbed over these nine days was enough for hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators to form a Golden Core.

Yet, throughout these nine days, Xu Zhe had tried countless times to refine and compress the golden clouds of spiritual energy in his dantian. Each time, he nearly managed to condense the cloud into a solid mass—only for it to collapse at the critical moment, dissolving back into a formless cloud.

“Where exactly am I going wrong?”

Xu Zhe frowned deeply, unable to comprehend it.

He tried several methods, repeatedly examining himself. Everything seemed perfectly normal—except, he simply could not form the Golden Core.

Still, these nine days hadn’t been a complete waste.

The Foundation Establishment stage was about building a solid base, and his own foundation was now as unshakable as iron.

“Tomorrow, the Stoneflame Secret Realm will open. If I can’t step into the Golden Core stage, what if I encounter a Nascent Soul cultivator inside? I might not be able to overwhelm them instantly.”

After pondering for a while, Xu Zhe decided to try one last time.

He closed his eyes, focusing his mind within his body, following the flow of spiritual energy and tracing every path.

Every strand of spiritual energy he drew into his body passed through the apertures prescribed by the “Righteous Qi Demon-Sealing Scripture.” After completing a minor circulation, it transformed into pure righteous energy and gathered in the dantian.

But his dantian was nearly saturated; the spiritual energy clouds were almost solid. Even if new energy entered, it only made the cloud denser by a hair’s breadth.

“Quantity should eventually change into quality, but it seems the only transformation I’m about to experience is bursting apart, not evolving to the next stage.”

Xu Zhe couldn’t understand it. Every condition he had matched the “Righteous Qi Demon-Sealing Scripture” perfectly—and he was even blessed with a handsome face. Why, then, couldn’t he form the Golden Core?

Bang!

Xu Zhe failed yet again.

Just as the compressed cloud of spiritual energy was about to condense into a core, it collapsed once more, expanding outward like a wad of cotton.

A few wisps of spiritual energy slipped silently from the golden cloud.

“Hm?”

Xu Zhe caught this scene, surprised.

Each time he failed to condense the core, a few strands of spiritual energy would escape—something that seemed natural.

But this time, Xu Zhe decided to investigate this anomaly.

He locked his spiritual sense onto the escaping energy, watching as it flowed directly into a thick, imposing spiritual root, as vast and formidable as a mountain range.

“The Earth spiritual root? I see it now!”

Sudden understanding dawned on Xu Zhe.

After devouring the Primordial Earth Vein, his Earth spiritual root had evolved into a supreme celestial root—the highest grade among spiritual roots.

Ordinarily, this should have been a great boon, but now it seemed more like a curse.

The supreme celestial Earth root had upset the balance among his Five Elements spiritual roots; neither the other four roots’ absorption nor their release of spiritual energy could keep up.

Yet the “Righteous Qi Demon-Sealing Scripture” refined spiritual energy of all five elements.

To form a Golden Core, the five elements needed to remain in balance—otherwise, the result would be exactly what he’d experienced.

The Earth element dominated, nearly devouring the other four types, so of course the core couldn’t form.

“This is troublesome. Only two paths remain for me.”

Xu Zhe ended his cultivation and opened his eyes, his expression grave.

That supreme celestial Earth root had forced him into a difficult choice.

Now, there were only two options: either abandon the “Righteous Qi Demon-Sealing Scripture,” forsake the other four roots, and directly form an Earth-element core to enter the Golden Core stage;

Or, evolve the other four spiritual roots to the same supreme celestial level, unite all five elements, and then form the Golden Core.

“To have five spiritual roots, only to end up with a single Earth-element core—like dropping a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed. But if I want to elevate the other four roots, where would I find so many Primordial spiritual veins?”

After long deliberation, Xu Zhe finally decided to postpone his breakthrough into the Golden Core stage.

Otherwise, the loss would be too great.

Losing the Five Elements roots and ending up with only Earth would be bad enough.

But he’d also have to abandon the “Righteous Qi Demon-Sealing Scripture”—and then, he’d no longer be a man of righteousness. That would be a devastating loss.

“I should never have eaten that dirt. Damn that Primordial Earth Vein—it showed up at the worst possible moment.”

Shaking his head with a sigh, Xu Zhe took out his diary and added a new goal to his list: seek out Primordial spiritual veins to elevate the Wood, Metal, Water, and Fire roots.

“East, South, West, North—the five elements. East is Wood, South is Fire, West is Metal, North is Water, and the center is Earth. The Valley of Heaven’s Chosen sits at the heart of the four continents, where the Primordial Earth Vein was found.”

Xu Zhe muttered to himself, his eyes suddenly bright. “Could it be that the other Primordial veins are hidden in the four continents themselves?”

This speculation rekindled his hope.

He donned a fresh set of clothes, opened his door, and walked out under the astonished gazes of Ji Dali and the others.

“Welcome back, Chief Hall Master! The flying vessel is ready. If we depart now, we’ll arrive at the Stoneflame Secret Realm’s entrance by dawn,” Ji Dali announced after giving Xu Zhe a few curious glances.

“Thank you. I appreciate everyone’s efforts,” Xu Zhe replied with a nod and a smile, striding forward.

Ji Dali and the rest followed, their faces filled with bewilderment.

Their Chief Hall Master had spent nine days in seclusion, each session causing greater disturbances—almost draining all spiritual energy from the surroundings more than once.

Ji Dali had even brought out the long-unused shielding and gathering arrays from the Rooster Hall’s vaults, fearing that the commotion would attract investigation from the Windchasing Hall.

Yet, despite all this, the Chief Hall Master emerged still at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage—something no one could have predicted.

“When I broke through to the Nascent Soul stage and entered the Out-of-Body stage, the commotion was no greater. Who would have thought that my greatest breakthrough was only on par with the Chief Hall Master’s routine training at Foundation Establishment?” Ji Dali sighed, inwardly convinced that when the Chief Hall Master fully matured, uniting the Twelve Divine Halls would be a simple matter—and then, the Twelve Halls could all open branch stores together.

Soon, Xu Zhe arrived at the entrance of the “Youjia Chicken Shop” and boarded a flying vessel.

The vessel was shaped like a fully enclosed luxury yacht, seating more than a dozen, lavishly decorated with beast hide, sofas, televisions, and a wine cabinet stocked with drinks whose names alone sounded formidable.

There was “Chicken Head Wine,” “Chicken Heart Wine,” “Chicken Wing Wine,” “Chicken Droppings Fragrance Wine,” “Cocktail”...

The only flaw was the enormous advertisement painted on the side: “Eat chicken at Youjia Chicken Shop—our chicken is real chicken.”

Xu Zhe was already used to it and had given up complaining.

“Chief Hall Master, the journey is long—would you care to try our latest cocktail?” Ji Dali, who had chosen to accompany him, offered a bottle.

Xu Zhe thought the name sounded normal—after all, Earth had cocktails, too.

But after glancing at the bottle’s contents, he shook his head repeatedly. “No, thank you—before entering the secret realm, I need to stay in peak condition.”

There was an actual chicken tail inside the cocktail!

Xu Zhe simply closed his eyes, assuming a meditative posture to rest his mind.

“The Chief Hall Master is truly diligent—never forgetting to cultivate, even on the road.”

Ji Dali and the others were filled with admiration and tactfully withdrew to avoid disturbing him.