And it’s a perfectly formed Grade One Golden Core???
“How could this be…” Lin Yingxue exclaimed in surprise.
Lin Shu stared at the spinning golden core in his hand and grinned. “Just as I thought!”
The system’s [Disguise+1] special attribute truly was a skill to disguise other cultivation systems.
In his understanding, this World of Cultivation contained three different cultivation systems, each with their own way of achieving Immortal Ascension.
The most common was the Cultivator System used by people like Lu Zhiyun, with its clearly defined realms—Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Stage of Nascent Soul, Stage of Spirit Transformation, Stage of Void Refinement, Stage of Integration, Stage of Ascension, and finally Ascension.
Each Realm Breakthrough brought about significant changes for these cultivators: increased lifespan, greater reserves of spiritual energy, and the power and scale of spells they could use.
Another system was that of Qi Refiners like Lin Shu himself. Their path was described by only two stages—“Qi Refiner—Immortal Ascension.”
To put it simply, for the Cultivator System, as long as you filled the experience bar for your current realm, you could ascend to the next. But for the Qi Refiner System, the path ahead was endless, the experience bar stretched to the horizon. Either you stayed a Qi Refiner for life, or you walked that endless road to Ascension.
The third was Merit-based Immortalization. These cultivators were exemplified by successive emperors of various dynasties. In times of chaos, when great power rose and fell, they established dynasties and stabilized the world. The power of merit would forge their immortal bodies and ultimately allow them to ascend.
Lin Shu suddenly thought of Feng Qingli—she was one such representative. Don’t be fooled by how silly and lovable that tall woman could seem; her strength was the real deal, a Stage of Spirit Transformation perfection-level cultivator.
As the saying goes: “Hundreds of years cultivating alone can’t compare to three generations accumulating merit.” Lin Shu couldn’t help but be a little envious.
But the path of merit-based cultivation was not one he could choose, so only two paths remained.
The reason Lin Shu chose his path wasn’t because he was some “Chosen One” or wanted to be different as the main character.
It was simply because Jiang Cha had once said, “A Qi Refiner just needs to eat, drink, play, and have fun to reach Ascension.”
Lin Shu had thought: Wow! Isn’t this exactly the perfect ending for a slacker like me?
But once he started cultivating, Lin Shu realized that day Jiang Cha had probably misspoken. What she meant wasn’t “ascend to immortality,” but “ascend to heaven.”
It didn’t matter that his master was unreliable—thanks to the system, Lin Shu didn’t have to flounder helplessly. He could keep slacking off and, in the meantime, study the cultivation systems of other cultivators.
This golden core was the result of his own comprehension of the Golden Core Realm.
This golden core was called “Jinyang Pill.” It was a Grade One Golden Core, able to greatly enhance metal spiritual root spells.
There are three thousand paths to the Dao and a thousand kinds of golden cores, but very few can cultivate a Grade One Golden Core. In an ordinary sect, having even one disciple cultivate a Grade One Golden Core in a generation would be enough to warrant a great celebration.
Luckily, only Lin Yingxue was nearby. If there had been anyone else—if some ordinary person saw Lin Shu casually produce what they spent their lives striving for and could not attain, they would probably cough up blood in frustration.
“Xiaoshu, is this golden core real?”
Lin Yingxue reached out her slender hand and took the “Jinyang Pill” from Lin Shu, poking it with her finger. It was solid.
“Of course it’s fake!” Lin Shu replied with a wry smile.
Disguise is disguise. In the end, it’s fake.
No matter how you summoned a real golden core, you wouldn’t be able to touch it. The fact that Lin Shu’s “Jinyang Pill” could be touched was proof that it was fake.
What Lin Yingxue couldn’t understand was, if Lin Shu said this “Jinyang Pill” was fake and tangible, then why could she sense a genuine Golden Core Realm power from it?
“I have a bold guess about this golden core—I think it can disguise its aura!” Lin Shu explained.
“Oh—” Lin Yingxue’s face was expressionless. “But what’s the use?”
In top-tier immortal sects, Golden Cores were everywhere. Given Lin Shu’s current cultivation, disguising as a golden core really seemed unnecessary.
“Little Martial Aunt, did you forget?” Lin Shu said solemnly, “This is the greatest breakthrough in the history of cultivation!”
“You know, we Qi Refiners have always been excluded by the Cultivator System. We can barely enter any of the secret realms you all create.”
“If we can’t get in, we miss out on opportunities, don’t we?”
“With this disguised golden core, what if I can fool the secret realm’s screening and freely enter all the secret realms I couldn’t before?”
As a practitioner of the obscure Qi Refiner path, Lin Shu had suffered years of discrimination from the Cultivator System. No matter what, Qi Refiners were always treated as if they were only at the Qi Refining stage.
But advanced secret realms almost all required Foundation Establishment or higher to enter, leaving Lin Shu blocked out of countless opportunities…
Now, with the Disguise golden core, Lin Shu figured he might be able to try entering all sorts of secret realms.
That way, he could adventure alongside his little junior sister.
In the past, when his junior brothers and sisters grew up and went off to train, Lin Shu could only wait for them outside the secret realm, unable to help at all.
But now, things were different! He was determined to fulfill his duty as senior brother.
“So does this golden core only look like one, or does it really have the power of a ‘Jinyang Pill’?” Lin Yingxue asked.
“I want to know, too.” Lin Shu pondered for a moment, then his eyes fell on the roasted goat demon.
“Got it! Let me try using a metal-element spell to slice up this goat demon!”
Without another word, Lin Shu activated the “Jinyang Pill,” drawing spiritual energy from the core. Pure golden energy flowed through his body.
Lin Shu casually summoned an ordinary Dharma Sword and channeled the spiritual energy into it.
“Sword Technique of the Character Slash!”
With a wave of Lin Shu’s right arm, a crisp sword aura slashed through the air with ease.
This strike, without a doubt, carried the power of a Golden Core cultivator. With the boost from the “Jinyang Pill,” the metal spell’s power on the weapon was pushed to its limit.
It worked! Lin Shu was inwardly delighted.
The sword aura rippled across the calm river, then in the next moment struck squarely on the goat demon’s right leg bone.
But to Lin Shu’s shock, the sword aura shattered! And with it, the “Jinyang Pill” crumbled as well.
The goat demon’s right leg bone remained perfectly intact!
Seeing Lin Shu’s stunned face, Lin Yingxue explained, “Xiaoshu, this goat demon is a Golden Core beast, too.”
“Ah, I know, but aren’t golden cores supposed to be about the same?” Lin Shu scratched his head.
“Mm! But I roasted it with Samadhi True Fire…” Lin Yingxue replied calmly.
Samadhi True Fire???
That’s a Stage of Union spell!!!
You used that to roast a Golden Core-level goat demon—are you forging artifacts or cooking?
Wait! Lin Shu suddenly realized something terrifying—this goat demon was meant for him to eat!
Remembering that [Poison Resistance+1] option, Lin Shu instantly knew what he had to do.
“Little Martial Aunt, Junior Sister and the others are here, and she’s made some new friends!”
“I told them your story, and they really want to try your cooking…”
There was no helping it! The option was [Find a way to return to the village…]
So that’s what the system meant. Sure enough, the path of cultivation is cruel; the “better you than me” attitude is commonplace!
Junior Sister needed to learn this lesson too—today, it was time to give them a taste!
Sure enough, Lin Yingxue’s lips curled upward as she began packing up the goat demon.
It was less than half an hour’s walk from the riverbank back to Qingshan Town, and Lin Shu and Lin Yingxue strolled along at a leisurely pace.
“By the way, Little Martial Aunt, why don’t you ever take disciples?” Lin Shu asked casually.
As the only elder among the main peaks of the Tianque Sect who never took in disciples, Shuiyun Peak was always quiet for lack of students.
But it wasn’t that Lin Yingxue was lacking in skill—on the contrary, with her unrivaled artifact refining technique, countless people had sought to become her disciple.
Heirs of cultivation clans, royal princes, peerless geniuses… all were turned away without exception.
“Taking disciples… is too much trouble! I’d have to cook for them!” Lin Yingxue muttered. “And they’d complain…”
“I see…” Lin Shu chuckled, but deliberately didn’t finish his thought.
“Little Martial Nephew, you’re different! You never complain!” Lin Yingxue finished for him, knowing what he wanted to say.
She knew her cooking was never tasty and often caused chaos, yet there was always someone who would wait for her, who would eat whatever she brought as long as she asked.
If she could, Lin Yingxue wished she could apologize to her senior sister, just once…
Unconsciously, the two of them had reached the gates of Qingshan Town.
Mustered up her courage, Lin Yingxue asked, “Um… Xiaoshu! Would you like to become my disciple?”
No answer…
When she turned around, she was alone.
But Lin Yingxue knew Lin Shu would never leave for no reason. Thinking of this, she focused and tried to sense any anomalies in Qingshan Town…
“This is… a secret realm?”