Chapter 509

Watching the departing figures of Han Lingshuang and the others, Lu Qing fell into deep thought.

These old friends and companions had all successively broken through and stepped into brand new realms.

While he was genuinely happy for them, he couldn't help but reflect on his own situation.

Over the years—especially in recent ones—Lu Qing’s cultivation progress had slowed to a crawl.

After reaching perfection in the Third Transformation, he made no further progress.

No matter how much spiritual energy he absorbed, he could no longer advance his cultivation by even the slightest bit.

Let alone break through the bottleneck into the Fourth Transformation.

Lu Qing understood the reason behind his stagnation.

It was because the purity of his spiritual power was simply too high—the spiritual resonance within the spiritual energy of this world could no longer satisfy his cultivation needs.

Unless the Heavenly Dao Sounds echoed once again, transforming the world’s spiritual energy anew, only then might his cultivation advance further.

But it had been over a decade since the last Heavenly Dao Sounds were heard, and they had not echoed again since.

Though the laws of Heaven and Earth had not yet fully stabilized and were still evolving, the process was extremely slow.

It was impossible to tell how many years it would take for the next Heavenly Dao Sounds to appear.

This meant that for the foreseeable future, Lu Qing’s cultivation might see little to no advancement.

Of course, if he used spirit stones for cultivation, his progress would still be possible.

However, in recent years, Lu Qing had already expended the majority of his spirit stones.

He had to reserve a portion for emergencies.

He had also ventured out over the years to search for spirit stone mines, but with meager results.

This made it all the more necessary for him to be prudent in using what spirit stones he had left, no longer able to spend them lightly.

“Perhaps... it’s time to explore the world beyond?”

The thought stirred silently in Lu Qing’s heart.

This idea wasn’t some whim—it had been with him for a long time.

Ever since he realized that the rate of spiritual recovery couldn’t keep up with his cultivation, Lu Qing had been contemplating it.

His Perfect Golden Core was far too powerful—even a superior-grade golden core could be crushed with ease.

But such formidable power also came with its cost: every bit of cultivation advancement required vast quantities of spiritual energy, and not just any—it had to be of the highest quality.

Clearly, this small world could no longer meet his needs.

But if he were to cultivate in a medium world—or even a great world—the situation might be entirely different.

According to the jade slips left behind by the two visitors from beyond the heavens, the great worlds were vast beyond imagination, home to countless wondrous treasures and miracles.

Not only were Golden Core cultivators as common as stars in the sky, but even mighty Nascent Soul cultivators were not rare.

Completely beyond what this small world could compare to.

If he could cultivate in such a place, even as one with a Perfect Golden Core, he would no longer be constrained by the quality of spiritual energy.

However, despite harboring this thought for so long, Lu Qing had remained hesitant.

Not just because of the unknown dangers that lay beyond—but because there were many people in this small world that he still cared about.

“Wait a bit longer. Xiaoyan has now reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. I’ll wait for her to pass her tribulation and form her Golden Core before making a decision.”

After thinking it through, Lu Qing finally made his choice.

Xiaoyan had just reached the peak of Foundation Establishment and still needed time to solidify her foundation before facing her tribulation.

If, after she formed her Golden Core, the spiritual energy of this world still had not transformed—then it might truly be time for him to make that choice.

With his mind made up, Lu Qing calmed his thoughts and returned to secluded cultivation.

Though his current training could no longer raise his cultivation realm, that didn’t mean he had nothing to do.

This was the perfect opportunity to use his spiritual powers to deduce and refine everything he had learned.

Whether it was deducing the later stages of the Perfect Golden Core Technique, or comprehending divine abilities...

Or even honing his skills in refining tools and alchemy—

In short, aside from improving his realm, there was still much he could accomplish.

Time flew by like an arrow; ten years passed in a flash since Han Lingshuang’s visit.

And in these ten years, Lu Qing had used his spiritual abilities to thoroughly organize and deepen his understanding of everything he had learned.

His cultivation path had become ever clearer.

The greatest gain was that he had deduced his self-created Perfect Golden Core Technique all the way to the Sixth Transformation.

Two innate divine abilities granted by Heaven had also reached their perfected state.

All the Daoist arts and techniques he had learned were now mastered to the very limits of his current control.

Thus, though his cultivation remained at the peak of the Third Transformation—

His actual strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, growing ever more unfathomable.

One day, within the quiet chamber where Lu Qing resided, spiritual energy surged, and a spiritual pouch before him slowly rotated.

Suddenly, the spiritual energy in the entire room was swallowed up in one gulp.

The pouch quivered, and a lively spiritual aura began to emanate from it.

Sensing this, a smile appeared on Lu Qing’s face.

With a final hand seal, the pouch flew to him, rubbing affectionately against his cheek like a puppy.

“Congratulations, Master, on re-refining the Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag, restoring it to its peak power with a newly born artifact spirit.”

At that moment, Yan’s figure appeared beside Lu Qing, offering congratulations.

At the same time, Yan looked at the Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag with a complex gaze.

This ancient spiritual artifact from the same era as itself had now fully awakened.

But the spirit within it was brand new, bearing no connection to the previous one.

The sense of “things have changed” filled Yan with mixed emotions.

“Yes... it’s finally done.”

Lu Qing played with the Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag using his fingers, also sighing in relief.

This bag was one of the first spiritual artifacts he had obtained in his early years.

However, at that time, its artifact spirit had long since dissipated, leaving only a wisp of spiritual nature to sustain it.

Later, as spiritual energy revived, the bag absorbed nourishment, gradually regaining its power and strengthening its spiritual essence.

Until today, when it finally birthed a new artifact spirit.

Unlike Yan, this new spirit retained no memory of the past.

Now it was a blank slate, naive and pure.

It treated Lu Qing, who had reawakened it, as a family member—much like a newborn baby that understood nothing else.

“No wonder the ancient records say that refining a spiritual artifact is something only Nascent Soul cultivators and above are qualified to attempt.

Just re-nurturing the artifact spirit in this Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag took me so many years.

To forge a brand-new spiritual artifact from scratch must require an unimaginable amount of resources and effort.

Other than a Nascent Soul cultivator, a Golden Core Realm cultivator truly couldn’t bear the burden.”

Lu Qing’s thoughts drifted to his life-bound artifact, the Five Elements Gourd.

Its predecessor was the Plague Elder’s life-bound spiritual artifact, the Plague Gourd.

After Lu Qing completely extinguished the artifact spirit within it, the Plague Gourd lost its spiritual nature and was reduced to a mere treasured artifact.

Later, Lu Qing re-refined it, transforming it into his own life-bound artifact—the Five Elements Gourd.

But even after all these years of constant refinement and nurturing—

The Five Elements Gourd showed no signs of giving birth to an artifact spirit or evolving into a spiritual artifact.

Lu Qing estimated that even with his Perfect Golden Core, it was unlikely he could refine the Five Elements Gourd into a true spiritual artifact before reaching the Seventh Transformation.

Just then, as Lu Qing mused silently, a stream of light flew in from outside.

He caught it and checked it with his spiritual sense, a trace of delight appearing on his face.

“Xiaoyan is finally about to face her tribulation and break through?”