Chapter 3: The Aura of Core Formation
These were two women.
One was older, appearing to be in her thirties.
The other was a young girl, looking about seventeen or eighteen, roughly the same age as He Zhi's younger sister.
Both women wore ethereal ancient-style robes, beautiful and refined, like immortals descending from the heavens.
The two women came to the large crater He Zhi had just created and observed it for a while.
The older woman's expression suddenly turned grim.
"Master, what's wrong? What's going on with this crater?"
The young girl asked curiously.
"Core... Core Formation aura! A powerful enemy is attacking!"
Her master said in a trembling voice!
"What! Core Formation!!!"
The girl was immediately shocked as well.
***
"Core Formation?"
He Zhi, outside the screen, muttered to himself.
He Zhi now understood what level his strength was in the cultivation world.
Core Formation!
Moreover, it seemed this Core Formation level of strength was terrifyingly powerful.
That female master was one of the few cultivators on the mountain who could fly on the wind without relying on magical artifacts.
Her strength should be considered top-tier, yet at this moment she was acting as if facing a formidable enemy.
"I wonder how the cultivation realms are divided in this world, and just how powerful is the Core Formation realm?
Are there any Core Formation stage experts in this sect?
If there aren't..."
He Zhi thought to himself.
Although he now knew his power level, he still had many questions.
***
"Master, are you certain it's truly the aura of a Core Formation expert?"
At this moment, the young girl asked again in shock.
"That's right! This is the aura of the Core Formation Stage. I once saw the Grand Elder before he went into seclusion, and his aura was similar to what remains here! Metal nature immortal, nothing can withstand it!
If a Core Formation expert attacks, someone like me at the Foundation Establishment stage would have absolutely no power to resist.
We must immediately report to the Sect Master. Apart from the Grand Elder, our sect has no other Core Formation experts. We must have the Elder come out of seclusion to defend against this!"
The master grabbed the young girl and shot into the sky toward the mountain peak, as if fleeing for her life.
At the same time, she explained to the girl at an extremely rapid pace.
Clearly, the Core Formation aura had frightened her.
The young girl's face had also turned pale with fear, not daring to say much.
***
"It seems my strength in this Qingxuan Sect can only be matched by the Grand Elder in seclusion."
Outside the screen, He Zhi controlled his viewpoint and followed closely behind the two women.
He even occasionally flew in front of them and reached out to test, but was not discovered.
Only then did He Zhi nod in satisfaction.
Now he understood that in this Qingxuan Sect, apart from the Grand Elder in seclusion, he feared no one.
Moreover, he could appear and disappear mysteriously, transparent and invisible, with no one able to detect him.
"However, I've caused them to misunderstand this as an enemy attack, which is somewhat embarrassing.
Unfortunately, I can't explain it to them."
He Zhi looked at the two women's tense expressions and shook his head slightly.
He continued to control his viewpoint, watching to see how they would respond.
***
Soon, the two women arrived at the Qingxuan Hall in the center of the mountain peak and met the Sect Master.
The Sect Master was a middle-aged man wearing Daoist robes with an immortal bearing, quietly meditating in cultivation.
"Sect Master, this is terrible! An outsider is attacking. A large crater mysteriously appeared halfway up the mountain, and there's a Core Formation aura in the crater!"
This was the first thing the two women said upon seeing the Sect Master.
Upon hearing this, the Sect Master could no longer maintain his composure and nearly fell off his meditation cushion in shock.
"What? Is this true?"
"They only left traces halfway up the mountain without harming anyone? It seems like a show of force, but we must be on guard."
"Summon all disciples and activate the Sect-Guarding Grand Array! I'll go to the Elder Hall and request the Grand Elder to come out of seclusion!
The Grand Elder has been in seclusion for eighteen years and must have made breakthroughs. He won't fear any external enemy."
The Sect Master only asked two questions before making his decision directly, without going to check the mountainside.
Otherwise, if he ran into a Core Formation expert, wouldn't that be delivering himself to them?
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Bell sounds rang out, and a transparent shield rose from the mountain peak.
All members and disciples of Qingxuan Sect now knew about the Core Formation attack, and all looked tense.
"Elder, a Core Formation external enemy is attacking. Please come forth, Elder!"
The Sect Master came to the entrance of a great hall and spoke respectfully.
However, even after he repeated this several times, there was no response from within the hall.
It seemed the Grand Elder was completely indifferent to their life or death.
"Could it be that the Grand Elder is at a critical moment in his cultivation and has no attention to spare..."
The Sect Master's expression grew even grimmer.
Yet he didn't dare to trespass into the Elder Hall and disturb the Grand Elder's cultivation.
Besides, even if he wanted to trespass, it would be useless.
The Elder Hall was thick and solid, reinforced with array formations. With the Sect Master's Late Foundation Establishment stage strength, he couldn't break through in a short time.
"Let me see what this Grand Elder is like."
While the Sect Master was blocked outside, He Zhi had no such concerns.
He directly controlled the game viewpoint from outside the screen, passing through the heavy door and entering the Elder Hall.
The array formation on the door couldn't obstruct his viewpoint in the slightest. He Zhi didn't even know there was an array formation.
"So he's already dead..."
After He Zhi entered the Elder Hall and investigated, he was slightly stunned, then shook his head.
The entire Elder Hall was empty.
Only a pile of human-shaped white ash on the ground, along with some small swords, small flags, small bottles, small bags and similar items, proved that someone had once been here.
"Could it be that this Grand Elder suffered Qi Deviation during cultivation and burned himself to death, leaving only ashes and magical artifacts and treasures?"
He Zhi looked at the pile of black ash and pondered.
Although he had never cultivated immortality, he had read plenty of novels and watched TV shows, so he had some basic knowledge of uncertain authenticity.
"These few items should be the magical treasures and artifacts left behind after this Grand Elder's death..."
He Zhi looked at those items, his heart stirring.
Legendary cultivation treasures!
And at the Core Formation level!
These were truly priceless.
The grass from the mountain could be brought back to reality through the screen.
So could these treasures also...
He Zhi considered this, but didn't make a move.
First, these items contained mysterious and powerful spiritual energy—if he really brought them to reality, the consequences would be unpredictable.
Second...
Taking without asking is theft!
He Zhi now regarded this place as a real world, not a virtual game where he could take whatever he wanted.
Since it was a real world, he couldn't just take things as he pleased.
Of course, He Zhi wasn't a moral saint.
Watching the excitement through the screen, or plucking some grass, or smashing stones and such.
These small matters, He Zhi didn't care about.
But these obviously extremely precious treasures—He Zhi couldn't get past that hurdle.
He had always taught his sister that being poor doesn't mean losing one's integrity; small matters can be flexible, but major principles must not be compromised.
How could he say one thing and do another behind the scenes?
"Heh, I have strength and advantages in this world."
"As long as I have time, why would I worry about not getting good things? Why become a thief?"
He Zhi suppressed the greed in his heart, chuckled softly, and stopped looking at those treasures.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Just then, explosions suddenly came from outside, and the entire Elder Hall was shaking.
"What's happening?"
He Zhi quickly adjusted his viewpoint, left the Elder Hall, and looked down from above.
Then he discovered that outside the light shield of Qingxuan Sect's Sect-Guarding Grand Array, over a dozen people were flying in mid-air, controlling various colored magical artifacts and bombarding the light shield.
They were striking the light shield until it swayed precariously, as if it would shatter at any moment.
The Qingxuan Sect members, over two hundred in total, were gathered together, glaring angrily at the people outside.
"This is... there really is an external enemy attack? What a coincidence."
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Proofreader & Editor: Fat Goose 🪶