Book 2: Chapter 227: A Celebration to Spite, and the Jiushan Auction |
Vol 2 Chapter 227: A Celebration to Spite, and the Jiushan Auction
Zhenren Tongming watched the two Qi Refining disciples duel on stage, eyes focused, completely composed, expression blank.
What’s that?
You’re saying those bursts of golden light going off every now and then are distracting?
What, do you think I’ve never seen this before?
I’m a Soul Formation cultivator—what’s a dozen new Golden Core cultivators supposed to do, shake me?
Oh?
You’ve never seen them appear this frequently?
…Neither have I.
But in less than half a month, Jiushan Sect had produced a dozen new Golden Core cultivators…
One a day—like hens laying eggs…
He couldn’t help turning his head to look at Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa looked up too, glancing toward Seeking Immortality Island, even frowning, without the slightest smile, as if… disappointed.
Zhenren Tongming’s gaze grew even deeper:
This Sect Master Zheng… really knew how to get under people's skin.
The other observing Nascent Souls were now thoroughly distracted by whispers of their own.
“Fourteen now. Wasn’t that about the total Golden Core count in Jiushan Sect before?”
“They just doubled?”
“And half of them are High-Grade Golden Cores! If given time, that’s seven future Nascent Souls! Jiushan Sect only has what, five Nascent Souls right now?”
After that, all the Nascent Souls present cast their eyes toward Zheng Fa.
Among all the people seated here, there were two Soul Formation cultivators, the rest mostly Nascent Souls.
Only Zheng Fa was the youngest, and his cultivation just Golden Core. He seemed a little out of place.
And yet, in this moment, he was the center of everyone’s attention.
The glow of the Golden Core breakthroughs from afar bathed him in light—radiant and unforgettable.
Only that frown between his brows left people baffled—
Was Jiushan Sect’s fortune too overwhelming?
So many promising cultivators emerging, and you still frown like that?
You’re not satisfied?
The crowd couldn’t help reflecting inward:
Have we… been too lenient with our own disciples?
Just look at how Jiushan Sect is thriving.
Could it be true? Strict teachers produce brilliant students?
Zheng Fa honestly had no idea the expression on his face was quietly tormenting other sects’ disciples.
He was genuinely a bit disappointed.
Among the fourteen new Golden Core cultivators, only half had formed High-Grade Cores—it was slightly below his expectations.
Granted, in any other sect in the Xuanyi Realm, this would be cause for great celebration.
But Jiushan Sect was different.
After the Golden Core Project, the twelve Golden Core methods in the sect had nearly reached maturity.
That alone was significant.
More importantly, the principles of core formation were no longer mysterious to these disciples—they understood what was going on, mentally prepared.
Still, that didn’t guarantee everyone would form a High-Grade Core.
The issue was—process simplification.
The benefit of simplifying steps could be illustrated with a basic probability problem:
If there were 20 required steps, and each had a 90% success rate, the overall success rate would be just over 10%.
But if the process was reduced to only 10 steps, the success rate would jump to over 30%.
A nearly threefold improvement.
Of course, forming a Golden Core wasn’t that simple. Zheng Fa couldn’t cut steps for every method by half. Different techniques, different cultivators—there was no exact metric for a “pass rate.”
But the logic held.
Besides, fewer steps meant less spiritual power and divine soul consumption during core formation. The longer it took, the harder it was to control the process, which lowered the “pass rate.”
Fewer steps meant fewer risks.
So Zheng Fa really believed… the ratio of High-Grade Cores should’ve been even better.
After thinking about it, he shook his head. This was the first mass application of the Golden Core Project. It couldn’t be perfect. Plus, each Foundation Establishment cultivator had different conditions—those with unstable Dao foundations surely skewed results.
He planned to review everything once the disciples came out of closed-door cultivation and refine the theory further to improve the Golden Core methods again.
In the future—Foundation Establishment would have the Talisman Foundation Establishment Technique, and Core Formation would have the Golden Core Project… that would be a whole new world.
As for the ones who didn’t form High-Grade Cores… maybe other cultivators in the Xuanyi Realm would consider them to have no future.
But the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method might yet give Zheng Fa some pleasant surprises.
Having sorted it all out in his head, Zheng Fa looked up—only to find all the nearby Nascent Souls staring at him with odd expressions.
“Why are you all looking at me like that…” he asked, puzzled, “Is the match over?”
“Huh?”
Everyone turned their heads back—only to see the winning disciple standing alone on the stage, hands on his hips, looking lonely, aggrieved, and extremely bored.
…
After the sports meet comes the awards ceremony. The Hundred Immortals Gathering was no different!
The gathering had three divisions: Golden Core, Foundation Establishment, and Qi Refining. Each group’s top eight would receive rewards from Zhenren Tongming.
Zheng Fa looked at the Seventh Young Master standing blankly on stage and shook his head.
This guy… actually placed seventh in the Qi Refining category!?
The current generation of Alliance disciples had some serious issues.
But on second thought, it kind of made sense—
The Seventh Young Master had reached late-stage Qi Refining, and outside of Jiushan disciples, his talisman technique achievements ranked among the best in the Alliance.
More importantly… talisman techniques had huge advantages at the Qi Refining stage. After all, magical tools weren’t even available until Golden Core.
Add to that the fact that he was now valued in Qingmu Sect, which specialized in alchemy.
Zheng Fa had seen one of his duels: this guy was clearly a pay-to-win potion-spamming type!
His cultivation was lower than others? No problem—he had more spiritual talismans.
Others had the same number of talismans? He had more pills.
Even when he met someone with more pills, he conceded faster.
Zhenren Tongming handed out spirit stones, treasures, and other rewards to the winners, but his heart wasn’t really in it—because he could sense it, everyone was getting distracted.
He was too.
They were all waiting for the next event—Jiushan Sect’s Golden Core Ceremony.
This was actually Martial Uncle Pang’s idea. He thought Zheng Fa’s own Golden Core breakthrough should’ve been celebrated. But back then, Zheng Fa had declined—he’d just been appointed Sect Master and already had a ceremony. It seemed excessive to do another so soon.
Now that the sect had fourteen new Golden Cores, and its power had grown tremendously, it was the perfect time to hold one.
Zheng Fa thought about it for two days, then agreed—after all, breaking through was worth showing off. Human nature, right?
He couldn’t take away that moment of joy from the new Golden Core disciples.
To his surprise, Zhenren Tongming and the others were quite interested, too.
And so, after the Hundred Immortals awards, came Jiushan Sect’s Golden Core Ceremony.
When the Seventh Young Master finished receiving his prize, Jiushan’s fourteen new Golden Core disciples stepped onto the stage in formation. Their auras weren’t fully reined in yet, and as they walked forward, the sheer presence was overwhelming.
Even the observing Nascent Souls held their breath, staring at these disciples with complicated expressions.
Leading them was Sun Daoyu, Martial Uncle Pang’s disciple. With a High-Grade Golden Core and strong peer reputation, he stood naturally at the forefront.
At this moment, Sun Daoyu was nothing like his usual calm self. His face was lit with a silly grin. The moment he saw Zheng Fa, he couldn’t help smiling even wider, clearly overflowing with joy.
Down below, Martial Uncle Pang watched alongside Zhou Qianyuan, grinning like a flower in bloom.
The Golden Core Ceremony wasn’t like the awards earlier—there weren’t many prizes.
The main purpose was to introduce the new Golden Core disciples and to exchange their waist tokens for core disciple tokens.
Zheng Fa handed the newly made token to Sun Daoyu. Sun held it carefully, gently brushing it with his fingers, eyes slightly red.
Zheng Fa patted him on the shoulder and nudged him forward.
Sun Daoyu took a few steps ahead and stood before the crowd of Jiushan disciples and visiting cultivators.
First, Jiushan’s disciples bowed and saluted: “Congratulations, Senior Brother, on reaching Golden Core and becoming a Core Disciple!”
Ten thousand voices echoed—shaking the entire venue.
Sun Daoyu quickly bowed in return.
Then came the visiting cultivators, who stepped forward to offer congratulations.
Their faces were solemn—Golden Core cultivators were notable figures in the Xuanyi Realm, especially High-Grade Golden Cores with potential to reach Nascent Soul.
Even the Nascent Souls present quietly took note of Sun Daoyu’s face.
After the first seven disciples received their tokens and congratulations, the eighth’s smile wasn’t so pure anymore… it carried a hint of guilt.
Because his was only a Mid-Grade Golden Core.
The ones after him wore similarly discouraged expressions.
Zhenren Tongming and the others watching below were full of mixed feelings:
A Mid-Grade Golden Core is decent—what’s with those faces?
Huh?
Why is every Jiushan disciple so ridiculously ambitious?
Zhenren Tongming looked back at the elite disciples he’d brought along and did a quick mental count: among a hundred or so Golden Core cultivators, there weren’t even fifteen High-Grade ones!
And that was the best of several generations in the Alliance!
Then he looked at the disappointed faces onstage—and felt infuriated.
Zheng Fa, on the other hand, understood the disappointment.
He patted the disciple’s shoulder and smiled, saying, “When you get back, reflect carefully on what mistakes you made during core formation. Your experience will help the next group.”
The disciple lowered his head and replied in a muffled voice, “Yes. I may not match Senior Brother Sun and the others, but if I can help the sect by offering a few pointers, that’s good too.”
Clearly, he truly understood what Zheng Fa meant.
Zheng Fa was relieved. He slapped the disciple on the back and smiled, “So your core wasn’t quite perfect. It’s not irreversible.”
The disciple suddenly looked up at Zheng Fa, who smiled and gave him a small nod.
“…Yes!”
The disciple instantly perked up.
Down below, Zhenren Tongming and the others were completely dumbfounded…
Wait, can someone explain this to me—what do you mean, “no regrets in core formation”?
What do you mean it’s still fixable?
What Zheng Fa said sounded like total nonsense.
But the moment he spoke, not only did this disciple brighten up—even the ones lined up behind him were all smiling, beaming with hope, not a single hint of doubt in sight.
Zhenren Tongming: …
He was starting to think everyone in Jiushan Realm had a screw loose…
What Zheng Fa referred to, of course, was the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method.
After those disciples received their waist tokens, they moved behind the stage, where a group of older Golden Core disciples were already gathered.
Jiushan Sect had originally only a dozen Golden Core disciples. With this sudden influx, the change was striking.
Especially since among the older group, aside from Senior Sister Yuan, only one other male disciple had formed a High-Grade Golden Core.
Now there were seven new ones—this wasn’t just growth, it was a leap in strength.
As Sun Daoyu and the others approached, the older Golden Core disciples couldn’t help but show slightly gloomy expressions… their own cores weren’t of the highest grade, after all.
Seeing their faces, Sun Daoyu understood immediately. He leaned in and said quietly, “Senior Brothers, why the long faces?”
“Hm?”
“I was stuck at Foundation Establishment for years, and just because Sect Master broke through, I managed to form a High-Grade Core… now that he’s a Golden Core cultivator—if he reaches Nascent Soul, just imagine…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. But the faces of those older disciples changed rapidly—they got it instantly.
And thinking back to what Zheng Fa had said earlier to the mid-grade disciple…
In a flash, those just moments ago still feeling dejected all looked toward Zheng Fa, eyes full of hope—if our Sect Master forms his Nascent Soul soon, maybe we’ll get to ride the wave too!
Let us enjoy a little “even the dogs and chickens ascend to heaven” joy!
After the ceremony ended, Zheng Fa stepped down and personally thanked the Nascent Soul guests for attending.
“This is nothing. Being able to witness so many promising cultivators is a blessing for us,”
one of the Nascent Soul cultivators said cheerfully.
“Exactly! So many High-Grade Golden Cores in your sect—truly eye-opening!”
“Absolutely worth the trip!”
The others chimed in, clearly satisfied and impressed by the Jiushan Golden Core Ceremony.
The only one not pleased… was Zhenren Tongming.
He looked at everyone and felt utterly baffled:
What do you mean ‘worth the trip’?!
Weren’t you all invited here to attend the Hundred Immortals Gathering?
After chatting a bit, Zheng Fa finally brought up his purpose:
“Our sect’s Economic Development Zone Island is about to launch its market district. At the same time, we’re holding a small auction. If any of you are interested, please come take a look.”
The crowd exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
Zheng Fa then took out a stack of colorful booklets and handed them out.
“These contain the items we’ve prepared for auction. Also, we accept spirit stones and magical tools for exchange. If any of you wish to consign items for auction, you may speak to Senior Sister Zhang.”
“Sounds good, sounds good…”
After Zheng Fa left, the group gathered and flipped through the pages of the booklet. But when they finished, they all shook their heads.
“This Jiushan Realm doesn’t seem to have anything particularly valuable? Why are there so many External Pills?”
“Hmm, some of these magical tools look like they’re from the Great Freedom Demonic Sect.”
“This coffin—I remember it—it belonged to that Copper Coffin Elder.”
“Well, it’s not too bad. Jiushan Sect didn’t have deep foundations to begin with.”
Everyone nodded. After the Golden Core Ceremony, their expectations for Jiushan had soared.
Now that they saw the booklet… they were a bit let down.
Zhenren Tongming added, “The Jiushan Realm’s always been barren. For many things, they have to buy from our Hundred Immortals Alliance.”
Hearing this, the Nascent Soul cultivators all understood—Jiushan probably really didn’t have many treasures.
Not gonna lie, they all felt a bit better inside…
“So are you going?”
“I’m not. Nothing I want.”
“Not interested either.”
“I’ll take a look—some Demonic Sect tools are uniquely made.”
“I’m looking for some thunder-element materials.”
Zhenren Tongming made a mental tally—turns out, most of them had little interest in this auction.
He looked over at Zhenren Chengkong… only to see that the man hadn’t even opened the booklet.
Sensing his gaze, Zhenren Chengkong smiled slightly and said, “Jiushan’s thunder materials are a bit interesting, but what they’re auctioning—none of it’s useful to me.”
His tone was lazy, clearly unimpressed by this so-called auction.
But Zhenren Tongming understood—
If you’ve joined the Supreme Dao Sect, aren’t you supposed to act like this?
What’s the point of having a big backer if not to act like you’re above everything?
Not to mention, even if Zheng Fa heard it—what could he say?
Honestly, Zhenren Tongming didn’t plan on attending either.
As a Soul Formation cultivator, nothing in that auction would be useful to him.
…
Still, Zhenren Tongming didn’t rush to leave—some of the Alliance’s elders and disciples wanted to check out the auction.
And with the market opening on Economic Development Zone Island, he figured he might as well stay a few more days—no rush.
That night, he heard a sudden exclamation from the courtyard outside.
Frowning, he extended his divine sense and discovered it was two Foundation Establishment disciples from the Hundred Immortals Alliance chatting.
“You’re saying those Jiushan disciples forming High-Grade Golden Cores—has to do with those External Pills?”
“Yep!”
“You serious?”
“Dead serious! My uncle’s sister-in-law’s brother used to be in Jiushan Sect!” the other said confidently. “I got the scoop straight!”
“Every one of those Golden Core disciples took part in something called the Golden Core Project!”
“What’s that?”
“How would I know? I just know those External Pills are tied to it!”
Zhenren Tongming froze. His face immediately turned serious as he kept listening.
“Is that really true?”
“You don’t believe me? Hey, do you have any spirit stones? Lend me some—I’m going to that auction to see if I can buy one of those External Pills!”
“…No way!”
The two argued as they walked off. Zhenren Tongming looked up at the roof beam, a plan forming in his mind.
…
Three days later, on Economic Development Zone Island, the entrance of a wide two-story wooden building was packed with visitors.
Zhenren Tongming arrived right on time, looked through the entrance—and froze.
Excuse me, weren’t you the one who said you didn’t want anything?
And you—weren’t you the one who said you weren’t interested?
Right before his eyes, those very same Nascent Souls who swore they wouldn’t come… were all filing in!
“Tongming, what are you standing there for?”
A voice called from behind—familiar, yet he almost didn’t recognize it.
He turned sharply—and saw Zhenren Chengkong standing behind him, also walking into the building.
“Zhenren? You’re attending the auction too?”
“Mm.”
“But didn’t you…”
“Mm?”
Zhenren Chengkong gave him a look, and Zhenren Tongming quickly shut his mouth. He understood—
When you join Supreme Dao Sect, you don’t eat your words. You redefine them.
What’s the point of having such a strong backer otherwise?
He dared not say another word.
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