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Translator/Editor: Dionysus

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◈ Xianxia Cultivation with a Dragon Heart ◈

Chapter 36: Dragon Heart Outer Core Method

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Magical artifacts, Dharma Treasures, Spirit Treasures, Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasures, and even Immortal Treasures.

Their appearance and function did not always match. Something shaped like a shield could be offensive, while something shaped like a sword could be meant for healing.

Still, there were general tendencies. If something looked like a shield, it was usually meant for defense.

In that regard, flag-like items were often used for formation arrays. They were also quite commonly used to command spirits.

Neither purpose required them to directly clash with other objects in battle, and their broad surfaces made them easy to inscribe with spell restrictions. There were practical reasons for it.

But in truth, quite a few were replicas of something immensely famous.

'What were they called... the Heaven-and-Earth Lotus-Guarding Banner and the Limitless Ghost-Soul Banner?'

Both were the names of extraordinarily famous Immortal Treasures. No one even knew whether they truly existed, but they were famous enough to have spawned countless replicas. That was likely why so many flag-type treasures were made for formation arrays or spirit command.

So Han Yujin could roughly guess what the flag before him was used for. With that guess in mind, he could use Divine Sense to greatly reduce the time needed to confirm it.

After holding the flag for a while and examining its nature, an unexpected look appeared on his face.

Despite the Five Elements Sect being an orthodox sect, this was a treasure related to spirits. Once he realized that, he could understand the traces of formidable restrictions surrounding the flag as well.

'At the very least, it's a Spirit Treasure. It feels like a Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasure.'

The first thing that came to mind was none other than Wonhui, the ghost from Earth After the Apocalypse.

'If I can restore this and select it as a harvest... wouldn't I be able to command Wonhui?'

He knew it was absolutely impossible for now, yet a shiver still ran down his spine.

During the Entry Stage, he had mostly seen hallucinations of Wonhui due to the side effects of his Dharma Soul elevation. He feared that ghost not only because ghosts were frightening by nature, but because Wonhui was the strongest opponent he had ever faced one-on-one.

The thought that he might be able to command such a being was as thrilling as it was terrifying.

And why stop at Wonhui? He might even be able to command every ghost in Earth After the Apocalypse, including the ghost in the suit.

The very beings that had completely destroyed a world.

After spending quite a while longer touching the flagpole with regret, he finally placed the flag in his Storage Pouch, even though he knew he would lack the Karma to select it. Then he inspected the surroundings.

Every object had been shattered, while the floor, walls, and ceiling were all a complete mess, as though a horde of enormous beasts had clawed through the place.

'This place must have been...'

It seemed to be where the Five Elements Sect had gathered demonic-path treasures that were too valuable to discard, yet too inappropriate for an orthodox sect to use. A warehouse and sealed site of sorts.

That would explain the building's bleak exterior. Practicality, combined with the sealing restrictions, must have taken priority. Decorating the outside would only have gotten in the way.

He searched the interior a little longer in case there was anything worth salvaging, but the destruction had been so thorough that only fragments remained. Even so, Han Yujin collected some of those fragments.

He wanted to see whether items broken and ruined to this extent could still be restored when selected as harvests. It was a kind of experiment.

After leaving the building that served as both warehouse and sealed site, he searched through every remaining location one by one.

Thanks to Divine Sense, he did not miss any hidden spaces. They were likely places that had once been concealed by restrictions when the sect was still intact.

His haul was not small.

There were dozens of jade vials and jade boxes whose contents had rotted beyond recognition and become like soil dust, numerous objects that seemed to be at least Dharma Treasures, several spell manuals and miscellaneous books containing information about the cultivation world that the residents had privately stored away, high-grade talisman-crafting tools and a high-grade alchemy furnace.

In one place, he even found a ship whose size-reduction spell had come undone, smashing half the interior of the building. It appeared to be a flying ship capable of soaring through the air, but it was far too large for him to even consider taking.

'I can freely select the things here as harvests once I reach Core Formation Stage.'

He collected most of the items for now, but with his limited Karma, he would not be able to select many of them as harvests. He could probably only select the empty jade vials and jade boxes, along with the books.

Of course, even those alone were quite a profitable haul.

The value of jade vials and jade boxes, which he had previously thought he should stock up on, needed no explanation. More important than those, however, were the books.

Two spell manuals stood out to him first.

One was an illusion-type spell called Illusory Dream Heart-Seizing Art. It could make a target mistake reality for a dream. If the target was asleep, it could also interfere with their dreams, manipulate their contents, torment them, or extract information.

The other was a pair of farming spells called White Cloud Plant-Nourishing Art and Black Cloud Deep-Soil Art. They would be essential knowledge if he ever obtained a Grotto-Heaven treasure and wanted to cultivate spirit plants inside it.

He had classified the remaining books as miscellaneous, but their value was by no means low. Since they filled the inevitable gaps in his knowledge of the cultivation world, they could sometimes prove more useful than any spell.

After roughly sorting through his haul, he left the cavern.

Now it was time to acquire the cultivation method and magical artifacts he had originally come for.

* * *

The greatest difference from his previous visit was, naturally, Divine Sense.

Not only could he now read Jade Slips, he could also inspect the internal structures of magical artifacts that had lost their power as though dissecting them, allowing him to determine their grade and purpose.

Before heading to the Scripture Pavilion, Han Yujin was able to satisfactorily collect two magical artifacts.

One was the severed-rope-shaped magical artifact he had once found in the ravine where the cultivation cave abodes stood. It was probably high-grade and appeared to be used for binding enemies. It would be perfect for covering the gap left by his lack of a proper restraining spell.

The other was a bracelet-shaped magical artifact obtained from the Artifact Refining Pavilion. It was made of subtly shimmering crystal in five colors, with a series of inscribed spell restrictions etched in silver inside it, making it look like a work of art.

It was a top-grade magical artifact that assisted with casting Five Elements spells. Harvest Selection would clearly require a considerable amount of Karma, but he had not found anything he liked better.

'This one is better than choosing two or three mediocre things.'

Since he would continue using it until he reached Core Formation Stage, this was not an expense he should be stingy about.

With his decision made, he arrived at the Scripture Pavilion.

He headed straight for the area containing cultivation methods, then began examining every Jade Slip one by one, including the texts he had inspected before.

Reading a Jade Slip was both simple and difficult. The method itself was intuitive, but taking in the information that flooded through that intuitive process was quite taxing.

The minute, densely packed characters inscribed throughout were simply astonishing. Parts he had read once would later connect with other sections and transform into new information. Some passages even linked together into three-dimensional images.

How could they have made something like this without embedding a spell into it? It was astonishing to the point of mystery.

'Not just anyone can make Jade Slips.'

Of course, the Jade Slips stored here might be especially extraordinary.

In any case.

The Jade Slips themselves were impressive, but their contents were naturally even more astonishing and interesting.

As befitted the Five Elements Sect, most of the cultivation methods were aligned with the Five Elements, and their grades were not difficult to determine. A cultivation method that could be practiced through the Nascent Soul Stage without causing major problems when switching methods for the future Spirit Transformation Stage was of the highest grade.

There were not many cultivation methods of that highest grade, but it still took considerable time to examine them all.

Whenever he became hungry or thirsty, Han Yujin drank spirit liquid wine. Whenever his concentration seemed to weaken, he took brief naps.

How much time passed like that?

At last, he had read through all six highest-grade cultivation methods and grasped their contents.

They were all so incredibly appealing that being able to choose only one nearly drove him mad.

'Damn it.'

Before choosing one of them, he decided to investigate something else first. Perhaps the information he found would help narrow down his options.

'I think I saw it here...'

After wandering about for a while as he searched his memory, he finally found the book he had been looking for, Essentials of Cultivation Realms.

He picked it up, quickly turned several pages, then stopped.

It was the section on Core Formation.

After the Entry Stage came the Dharma Soul Stage, and the realm after the Dharma Soul Stage was the Core Formation Stage. It meant forming a core. This Dharma Core was a further elevation of the Dharma Soul, as well as the egg and seed from which a Nascent Soul would later be born.

Reaching the Dharma Soul Stage was difficult, but reaching Core Formation Stage was even harder. Throughout the history of the cultivation world, research and experiments aimed at making advancement even slightly easier had never ceased.

As a result, three major methods had become established.

The first was the Outer Core Method. Rather than directly elevating the Dharma Soul into a Dharma Core, it borrowed the power of an external object. It commonly used a Yao Tribe inner core and was a method chosen by cultivators who lacked talent.

The second was the False Core Method. It also borrowed the power of an external object, but it created a customized outer core through techniques such as alchemy, incorporating the cultivator's own essence blood to minimize side effects.

The last was the True Core Method. It was the orthodox method, achieving Dharma Core elevation through one's own abilities alone. It was the most difficult, but offered correspondingly high potential for future advancement and came without any side effects.

'What I had in mind was...'

The Dragon Heart Outer Core Method.

Generally, the Outer Core Method was regarded as an unavoidable choice for cultivators who lacked talent.

The central reason for that was that the Yao Tribe inner core chosen as the vessel for a Dharma Core could not be of high grade.

Using another being's vessel inevitably caused side effects. If that vessel was also low-grade, all kinds of problems would naturally arise when trying to advance further.

The question of whether one could simply acquire a high-grade Yao Tribe inner core could be answered in a single sentence.

Who would get one for them?

Would someone acquire a Yao Tribe inner core of at least Nascent Soul Stage for a person forced to abandon the True Core Method due to insufficient talent, taking even their future growth potential into consideration?

Did they have any idea how precious a Nascent Soul Stage Yao Tribe inner core was?

'That's nothing but a pipe dream.'

Of course, throughout the long history of the cultivation world, there had been people lucky enough to achieve the Outer Core Method under such circumstances.

If an elder in their family was a monstrous expert at Spirit Transformation Stage, and they were very close to that elder, they might be lucky enough to obtain a Nascent Soul Stage Yao beast inner core.

Only then would they stand on roughly the same level as someone who had achieved the True Core Method.

That was why the Outer Core Method could only be an unavoidable choice for cultivators lacking talent. It was an exceptionally inefficient method that needed at least a Spirit Transformation Stage Yao Tribe inner core to surpass the True Core Method.

'But what if I obtain the Dragon Heart?'

If he used it for the Outer Core Method and reached Core Formation Stage...

Assuming the Dragon Heart was as absurdly overpowered as he hoped, he would be able to advance far beyond those who had achieved the True Core Method.

He did not know how far ahead it would put him, but for now, he could not think of a better plan.

Honestly, his talent was not particularly good. He was merely in the lower ranks of those with a True Spiritual Root, without any special Spiritual Body. No matter how much he could benefit from the environmental advantages provided by his awakened ability...

Achieving the True Core Method would not be as easy as it sounded.

That was why the Dragon Heart Outer Core Method, which was highly likely to surpass the difficult True Core Method, could only be his best plan.

'And perhaps it could change even my talent and constitution entirely.'

As he turned the pages of Essentials of Cultivation Realms, Han Yujin's eyes caught a noteworthy passage.

It described a case in which a cultivator had reached Core Formation Stage using an exceptionally special Yao Tribe inner core, not only surpassing the True Core Method but also gaining an unusual innate divine ability and even a Spiritual Body.

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