Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 264 - 198: The Path of Du Bu’s Dominion

Within the Cultivation Quiet Chamber.

Zhang Yao was still sensing his own transformation, gaining a deeper understanding of the essence of a cultivator in the Golden Core Realm.

Aside from the most apparent change in magical power, his physical body and divine soul had also undergone earth-shattering leaps, making him almost unrecognizable compared to his past self.

But most importantly, it was naturally the golden core formed from the transformation of his Dao Foundation.

"Let me take a good look..."

Zhang Yao channeled his divine thought, meditating internally, carefully examining his golden core for the first time.

The golden core, floating between reality and illusion, resided within the dantian, its size hard to define, gleaming with a pure golden luster.

Upon closer inspection, there were nine faintly discernible golden patterns on the surface of the core, integrated with the golden core itself.

"Nine divine patterns, it's indeed a First Grade Golden Core!"

Confirming this, Zhang Yao couldn't help but smile.

At the moment when reality and illusion converged, forming the golden core, he sensed that his own golden core was flawless, perfect in every way, leading him to conclude he had achieved a First Grade Golden Core.

The nine divine patterns on the golden core had undeniably solidified his judgment.

The nine grades of golden core are symbolized by divine patterns;

The lowest Ninth Grade Golden Core has only one divine pattern; with each ascending grade, a new pattern appears, ultimately reaching nine divine patterns, the flawless First Grade Golden Core.

The divine patterns on the golden core manifest the underlying essence of the qi vein and Dao Foundation, closely linked to cultivation speed, future path, and magical battle strength.

Simply put, the more divine patterns one possesses, the faster the cultivation speed, and the higher the success rate when elevating cultivation, naturally leading to a broader future.

Take Zhang Yao as an example:

With his Five Elements Spirit Root, under the dual blessing of the 'Five Elements Spirit Array' and a First Grade Golden Core, his cultivation speed officially surpassed the Celestial Spirit Root, advancing to the pinnacle of the world.

Moreover, the most direct difference determined by the number of divine patterns on a golden core is that each pattern can host a divine technique.

This largely dictates the strength disparity between cultivators of varying golden core grades.

"There is a significant power gap between different divine techniques and daoist skills."

Zhang Yao pondered briefly:

"The Yellow Talisman Daoist Skill I used in the past is no longer suitable for the Golden Core Realm, whereas the Desolate Soul-shaking Divine Light can still barely be used for transition..."

The combat strength of Golden Core Realm cultivators primarily consists of magical treasures and divine communication skills, with other secret treasures and techniques merely supplementary.

Let's put magical treasures aside for the moment.

Divine communication skills and daoist techniques across the land fundamentally form a whole, which can be divided into four tiers.

The first tier is constituted by techniques inherent in or completely self-created, which can transform into divine techniques when anchored to the golden core.

These divine techniques can be activated almost instantaneously, offering rapid execution and significantly enhanced power, greatly accelerating cultivation speed, serving as the principal means of magical battle for Golden Core Realm cultivators.

Techniques not anchored to the golden core remain daoist skills, yet, if originating from foundational cultivation techniques, they still surpass other daoist skills in power, serving as potent supplementary means in magical battles; this is the second tier.

Take Zhang Yao's mastered complete Benefiting All Living Beings Great Technique as an example—

This top true transmission of the Pingdu Sect records a total of ten complete daoist techniques for the Golden Core Stage.

Achieving a Fifth-Grade Golden Core through this cultivation technique allows hosting of five daoist techniques as divine techniques, with five others as auxiliary skills.

Other earth attribute daoist skills, though compatible in nature and capable of being cultivated to the Perfection Level, derive from external sects, so even when cultivated, their power falls short of native daoist skills, at best considered as third-tier, with few willing to invest time and effort here.

The 'Pingdu Twelve Methods' of the Pingdu Sect exemplify typical third-tier daoist skills; despite their fame, they rely on simplified Foundation Establishment Dao Techniques, rather than the twelve methods themselves, being inherently remarkable.

The lowest fourth tier encompasses techniques where even magical power attributes don't align, making high-level cultivation unattainable, typically including auxiliary techniques such as Fire Escape, Water Escape, Soul Lock, Investigation, and Concealment.

These techniques can only serve as support; using them in direct magical battles against same-stage opponents would be self-defeating.

"I possess Five Elements Magical Power, capable of harmonizing five attributes, but ultimately it's not a foundation technique, at most ranking as third-tier daoist skills."

"As the saying goes, 'abandon the boat upon reaching the shore,' such trivial third-tier daoist skills should naturally be discarded without hesitation."

Upon this realization, Zhang Yao found solace.

During his Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, he had to rely on the 'Pingdu Twelve Methods,' out of necessity.

Because within the Scripture of All Transformations and True Nature, there weren't any attached techniques suitable for the Qi Refining Stage or Foundation Establishment Dao Techniques.

The creator of this cultivation technique perhaps believed that during the developmental Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, one should stay within the mountain gates to cultivate peacefully rather than venture out to seek conflict, hence no suitable magical combat methods were created.

However, after ascending to the Golden Core Stage, everything became different.

The Scripture of All Transformations and True Nature during the Golden Core Stage records nine daoist techniques, each corresponding to a different array, with the Array Inference Skill and array augmentations, their power far surpasses ordinary divine techniques by more than a measure.

These nine divine techniques, when combined, can refine the 'Nine Colored Celestial Wheel,' renowned across realms and transcending the Eight Wildernesses.

Back then, the Five Elements Wanderer Liu Cang at the Golden Core Realm managed to end in a draw with a Nascent Soul Old Monster, all due to the terrifying power of the Nine Colored Celestial Wheel.

With such shining examples before him, naturally, Zhang Yao wouldn't be interested in lesser matters.

A moment later.

He arrived at the familiar hall, pushed the door open, and came to the bookshelf on the right side.