Chapter 446 (1)

Early morning at the Lu residence.

Lu Qing awoke from his cultivation.

The spirit stone in his hand had lost all its radiance, its spiritual energy completely depleted. He sensed the Golden Core of Spiritual Power within him and sighed softly.

A whole low-grade spirit stone had been refined, yet the power of his Golden Core had barely improved, the change almost imperceptible.

“There aren’t many spirit stones left. At this rate, completing the first transformation of the Golden Core seems like a distant dream.”

Lu Qing thought to himself.

It had been a year since Grandfather Zhang passed away.

During this year, Lu Qing had perfected the first three transformations of the Perfect Golden Core technique. However, his progress in cultivation had been painfully slow. He was still at the early stage of the Golden Core Realm, and the first transformation was only halfway complete. There remained a long journey ahead to fully achieve it.

This slow advancement occurred despite using spirit stones for cultivation. Without them, relying solely on the absorption of heavenly spiritual energy, his progress would have been agonizingly slower.

The root of the problem lay in the current concentration of spiritual energy in the world, which was no longer sufficient to sustain his cultivation. Even with the formation arrays in the Jade Transformation Chamber gathering spiritual energy, they couldn’t keep up with the speed at which he absorbed and refined it.

As a result, for the past six months, only by using spirit stones could he achieve noticeable progress. However, his supply of low-grade spirit stones had already been depleted by more than half.

Lu Qing estimated that even if he used the remaining stones, they would only suffice to complete the first transformation and barely push him to the second.

“If the first transformation is already this challenging, wouldn’t the resources needed for the second transformation multiply?”

Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

The Perfect Golden Core, while immensely powerful, demanded exponentially more resources than ordinary golden cores to cultivate. Lu Qing couldn’t even imagine how terrifying the resource requirements would be as he advanced to the later stages of the Golden Core Realm.

This Perfect Golden Core was truly a gold-devouring beast!

“Furthermore, ever since the fifth resonance of the Heavenly Dao Sounds, the growth in spiritual energy in the world has gradually stabilized. The next resonance likely won’t occur for a long time.”

Lu Qing quietly attuned himself to his surroundings, sensing that the laws of heaven and earth had become increasingly stable. The next transformation of the world’s spiritual energy would take a long time to brew.

This wasn’t unexpected to him.

“Yan” had also mentioned that in the previous Immortal Era, it had taken centuries after the revival of spiritual energy for it to reach its peak concentration.

Now, with only a short time having passed since the world’s revival, it would likely be a long while before the next transformation occurred.

“It seems I need to come up with a solution. I wonder if the places ‘Yan’ mentioned might have started producing spirit stone veins.”

Lu Qing contemplated.

As a remnant of the previous Immortal Era, Yan knew many secrets, including the locations of prominent spirit stone veins from that time. However, it was uncertain whether those places had begun to produce spirit stones now that the spiritual revival had just begun.

While he was pondering his future cultivation path, Lu Qing suddenly felt a shift in his heart.

He retrieved a Communication Talisman from his robe and infused it with his spiritual sense to read the message.

“Ah Qing, come by after you’re done meditating.”

The message was from his master.

“Master has something for me?”

With a hint of curiosity, Lu Qing left the meditation chamber and soon arrived at the Half-Mountain Courtyard.

As he stepped into the courtyard, he saw his master sitting under a plum tree, drinking tea with two guests.

One of them was Lin Zhirui, but the other surprised him.

“Tower Master of Tianji Tower?”

The elderly man, exuding an ethereal and refined aura, made Lu Qing pause in surprise.

“It’s been a long time, Lu Xiaolangjun,” the Tower Master greeted him with a smile.

“It’s an honor, Senior. I didn’t expect you to visit such a remote place as this,” Lu Qing replied with respect.

“You’re too modest, young man. This place brims with spiritual energy, rivaling even Zhongzhou. It’s no wonder a talent as extraordinary as you could emerge here,” the Tower Master remarked with admiration.

“You flatter me, Senior,” Lu Qing said with a polite smile. “But may I ask what brings you to Cangzhou?”

Lu Qing knew that someone of the Tower Master’s stature was always occupied with matters of great importance. Without a compelling reason, he wouldn’t leave Zhongzhou, let alone travel to a remote place like Cangzhou.

Furthermore, the fact that his master had specifically summoned him suggested that this visit was significant.

As Lu Qing pondered, the Tower Master studied him closely.

Just like their last meeting in Zhongzhou, the Tower Master couldn’t discern anything about Lu Qing’s cultivation. Though Lu Qing’s recent breakthroughs were evident, his true depths remained entirely obscured.

The Tower Master’s Celestial Calculation technique was useless against him. The only thing he could sense was that Lu Qing had grown even more unfathomable.

Recalling Lin Zhirui’s earlier messages, the Tower Master’s heart grew heavy. Lu Qing’s cultivation had indeed reached a realm beyond their comprehension.

“To be frank, young man, I do have a matter to discuss,” the Tower Master finally said, his tone turning serious.

“I am here on behalf of someone to inquire about something.”

“Oh? Please feel free to ask. If it’s within my knowledge, I will certainly answer,” Lu Qing replied.

Hearing this, the Tower Master’s expression grew grave. He looked directly at Lu Qing and said, “This concerns one of the Four Great Secret Realms, Xuankong Mountain.

“A year ago, a mysterious figure wearing a Ghost-Face Mask attacked Xuankong Mountain, killing numerous disciples and elders.

“The mountain was forced to retreat into its hidden realm, sealing itself off completely. For over a year, there has been no word of them in the world.

“At first, many believed Xuankong Mountain was lying low to avoid provoking the Ghost-Masked Man or the two otherworldly visitors who were present at the time.

“But later, after you eliminated those two visitors, there was still no sign of Xuankong Mountain reemerging.

“Recently, other secret realms became curious and sent envoys to investigate in the Western State.

“To their astonishment, they discovered that Xuankong Mountain’s hidden realm was entirely unreachable. No responses came to any messages, and there were no traces of activity.

“After extensive investigation, the conclusion was shocking:

“Xuankong Mountain’s hidden realm has vanished.

“It’s not merely a case of self-isolation. The people, along with the entire hidden realm, have completely disappeared.

“Lu Xiaolangjun, do you know anything about this?”

The Tower Master’s sharp gaze locked onto Lu Qing.

Lu Qing, however, simply smiled calmly and replied, “From what you’ve said, Senior, it seems you suspect that this matter is related to me?”