Golden Core is a Star, and You Call This Cultivation?
Chapter 159: News of the Moon Empire, the Mysterious High Priest

Currently, although Qi Yuan had not fully regained his status as the Dao of the Moonwatching Continent, his words already carried a certain authority over the seven nation representatives, influencing their decisions.

At his command, the representatives of the seven nations promptly annulled their previous agreements.

The faces of the many prodigies present changed drastically upon seeing this.

Once again, Ling Jiao was the first to challenge Qi Yuan.

"How dare you use illusions to deceive the natives of the Moonwatching Continent and force them to annul the agreements! You've got some nerve!"

"You're being too excessive. With the impending calamity, we should be working together, not trying to hog everything for yourself!"

"Hog everything? Isn't Moonwatching Continent his home?" True Lord Dazhi couldn't help but remark.

The other prodigies glared at Qi Yuan, their expressions unfriendly.

After all, securing a foothold on the Moonwatching Continent was part of their sects' plans to mitigate the coming calamity.

Now, Qi Yuan's actions clearly threatened their interests.

To challenge nearly twenty powerful forces alone—how audacious!

"Moonwatching Continent is my home. I decide who gets to rent from me. Didn't I just ask if anyone wanted to rent? No one did," Qi Yuan said with an innocent expression. "So the agreements were annulled. That's only natural. The contracts weren't signed, so they aren't legally binding. Even if you took me to court, I'd still win."

Qi Yuan's words left the prodigies baffled. They understood each word but couldn’t make sense of them together. They only grasped the general idea: he intended to take over Moonwatching Continent.

"Who gave you the confidence to go up against all of us?" Ling Jiao asked coldly.

The others also looked at Qi Yuan with hostility.

"It’s righteousness, it’s justice!" Qi Yuan declared righteously. "In the Land of the Free, if you break into my home, I have the right to shoot you dead!"

Qi Yuan tried to intimidate them with stories from a distant land.

"Hmph, let’s see what you're capable of!" Ling Jiao's powerful aura surged, indicating she was ready to attack Qi Yuan.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan felt disappointed. It seemed that tales from the Land of the Free couldn't scare these people.

They really were going to attack him.

"You might as well all come at me together. Today, I'll show you that my fists are the law!" Qi Yuan, wrapped in twenty layers of robes, appeared especially bulky. The turtle shells on his chest and back made him look even more comical.

But now, he was directly challenging more than a dozen prodigies!

The prodigies' faces changed slightly in shock.

"What audacity!"

"Even if you're at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, you’ll be thoroughly defeated today!"

The prodigies were enraged.

Most of them were in the Golden Core stage, some even in the Nascent Soul stage. Except for the Purple Mansion, they were the top cultivators in the Eastern Lands.

And this turtle-shell man clearly wasn't from the Purple Mansion.

If a cultivator who had comprehended a primal spirit ability entered another world, they would be strongly repelled by that world.

Since Qi Yuan wasn't experiencing such repulsion, at best, he was at the Nascent Soul stage.

A Nascent Soul cultivator challenging all twenty of the Eastern Lands' top prodigies was suicidal.

"I'm not at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage—I'm just at the Golden Core stage!" Qi Yuan said seriously.

Of course, no one believed him or paid him any attention.

"It doesn't matter if you're Nascent Soul or have a thousand Golden Cores. You'll lose today!"

The dozen or so prodigies prepared to attack Qi Yuan.

But Qi Yuan ignored them and instead looked at Gu Xiaoyao, saying seriously, "You're a Heaven Dao Foundation cultivator, the opponent I respect the most! A battle with you might cause continents to collapse, the sun and moon to dim, and could take half a year to resolve. Let me defeat them first, and then we'll have an honorable duel!"

Gu Xiaoyao was momentarily stunned, then felt a strange sense of superiority rise within him. "Alright."

The strange man before him didn't regard the other prodigies as worthy opponents, choosing instead to save the final battle for him. This set him apart from the others.

"How arrogant, to challenge all of us alone. You must have a death wish!" Ling Jiao sneered coldly. "No amount of turtle shells and robes will save you!"

The other prodigies, feeling humiliated by Qi Yuan's words, were filled with battle intent.

"…I won't be participating in this battle," Xu Tongchen quietly backed out.

He knew that the man before them was the Blood-robed Sword God!

Moreover, he was puzzled. Weren't cultivators at the Purple Mansion level supposed to trigger heavenly phenomena when entering another world?

"I'm not good at fighting, so I'll sit this one out too," Jiang Ya said after some thought, also withdrawing from the fight.

True Lord Dazhi looked at Qi Yuan and raised a fist. "I support you."

The remaining fifteen prodigies glared at Qi Yuan with hostility.

None of them wanted to strike first, as ganging up on one person would be shameful even in victory.

They waited for Ling Jiao to take the lead and teach this turtle-shell man a lesson.

However, before Ling Jiao could act, Qi Yuan made the first move.

"In my own home, I have buffs. How can you hope to defeat me?"

Qi Yuan shouted as a terrifying aura swept over them.

The prodigies felt their breaths quicken as immense pressure bore down on them, leaving their faces pale.

Before they could react, it felt as if mountains were pressing down on their backs.

The fifteen prodigies were immobilized, crushed by the weight.

Ling Jiao suffered the most, being pinned face-first into the ground, creating a deep crater where she lay.

With just a display of power, Qi Yuan instantly defeated fifteen prodigies!

Or rather, they weren't even on the same level!

Qi Yuan had merely exerted his pressure, and the fifteen top prodigies were utterly defeated.

The defeated prodigies looked terrified.

"A Purple Mansion cultivator?"

"Are you a Purple Mansion cultivator? How is this possible!"

"No, even a Purple Mansion cultivator isn’t this strong. You… you're the Blood-robed Sword God!"

The prodigies were confused and deeply shaken.

Could this man really be the legendary Blood-robed Sword God?

If so, everything made sense.

Qi Yuan withdrew his pressure and turned his gaze to Gu Xiaoyao. "What I just did is nothing to someone like you, who has a Heaven Dao Foundation. Now… let’s have an honorable duel. Don’t hold back just because I look young. I want to see if I can even match three percent of your power!"

Qi Yuan looked at Gu Xiaoyao, his aura now ten or even a hundred times stronger.

He was finally about to face the legendary perfect Heaven Dao Foundation, his true opponent!

This was the kind of opponent he was meant to face.

Gu Xiaoyao, feeling the immense pressure, was terrified.

Was this senior joking?

You’re a powerful Purple Mansion cultivator, the one who destroyed the Bright Palace, and you want to have a fair duel with me, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator?

That’s just bullying!

He felt utterly wronged, unable to speak.

At this moment, True Lord Dazhi said, "In my experience, Gu Xiaoyao can’t speak right now because your pressure is too strong. He can’t even open his mouth."

"Huh?" Qi Yuan was taken aback.

Gu Xiaoyao silently thanked True Lord Dazhi’s ancestors.

"But isn’t he supposed to have a perfect Heaven Dao Foundation? How could my pressure affect him? I get it! He’s pretending to be weak to catch me off guard! What cunning, as expected of a Heaven Dao Foundation cultivator!" Qi Yuan thought he had it all figured out.

Gu Xiaoyao felt even more wronged.

True Lord Dazhi then speculated, "Maybe he doesn’t have a perfect Heaven Dao Foundation but a flawed one."

Qi Yuan was momentarily stunned.

He withdrew all his pressure, and Gu Xiaoyao finally gasped for air, his face showing relief as if he had narrowly escaped death. "Senior, I have a flawed Heaven Dao Foundation!"

Qi Yuan, hearing this, felt extremely embarrassed.

He had received incorrect information—all Xu Tongchen’s fault for giving him the wrong details!

Embarrassed, Qi Yuan wanted to leave quickly.

He looked at Luo Xi and the other seven nation representatives and said, "Let's go deal with the Demora Clan."

The seven nation representatives felt a surge of excitement.

The power of the strong man before them far exceeded their expectations.

They felt like they couldn’t last a single round against him.

Was this the legendary fifth-tier powerhouse?

"Alright!" Luo Xi was filled with excitement.

At that moment, Jiang Ya spoke up, "Senior, I’ve been collecting techniques from across the land. May I accompany you on your journey to collect the techniques of this world?"

"Hmm… alright," Qi Yuan said after a moment of thought, "but I have one request: you must share some of the techniques from Deng Tian Pavilion with me."

Jiang Ya smiled. "For every technique I collect in this world, I’ll give you five. How does that sound?"

"Deal! It’s a promise!" Qi Yuan was thrilled.

He had finally found an ally in Jiang Ya, a wealthy benefactor.

"Friend, I’m also interested in the customs of this world. May I join you?" True Lord Dazhi asked.

"Sure, and you can help me decide which house to rent," Qi Yuan agreed.

"I’ll go too!" Xu Tongchen quickly added.

He hadn’t participated in the earlier fight and would surely be targeted if he stayed.

"Alright."

Qi Yuan glanced at the remaining dozen or so prodigies before leaving with Luo Xi and the others.

Only after they had been gone for about half a minute did the oppressive atmosphere in the room begin to lift.

One of the male prodigies, his face dark, spoke up. "For the Blood-robed Sword God, a senior, to target us juniors is truly disgraceful!"

They had nearly confirmed that the turtle-shell man was indeed the Blood-robed Sword God.

Xu Tongchen’s master, Xu Yeli, was a member of the Blood-robed Alliance.

Xu Tongchen’s respectful attitude towards the turtle-shell man was telling.

Moreover, several of the prodigies had received insider information that the person who had bypassed the selection process was the Blood-robed Sword God.

They had initially thought it was a junior from the Blood-robed Alliance, never expecting it to be the Blood-robed Sword God himself!

"Strange, each world’s essence is different. Normally, if someone who has comprehended a primal spirit ability enters another world, they would be strongly repelled by that world. Why hasn’t the Blood-robed Sword God experienced this?" a prodigy wondered aloud.

This was why they had only considered the turtle-shell man to be a fellow prodigy.

Among peers, they had never been afraid.

But the Blood-robed Sword God had bullied them, crushing them effortlessly, and even wanted to have an honorable duel with Gu Xiaoyao.

This old man was too dishonorable, too much of a bully!

Ling Jiao’s cold voice broke the silence. "The Blood-robed Sword God, a senior, bullied us juniors and wants to take Moonwatching Continent all for himself. He’s made an enemy of us all and the entire Eastern Lands!"

"The Blood-robed Sword God may be strong, and his destruction of the Bright Palace was indeed unexpected, but to challenge all of the Eastern Lands is suicidal. I’ll be reporting this to my grandmaster!"

"Hmph! Does he think hiding in Moonwatching Continent means we can’t deal with him?"

Their factions didn’t want direct conflict with the Blood-robed Sword God.

But Moonwatching Continent was their escape route; they couldn’t afford to lose it.

"This isn’t over! One man challenging the entire Eastern Lands—does the Blood-robed Sword God think the sun revolves around him?" Ling Jiao spat, but as she spoke, she suddenly coughed up blood.

Her face turned deathly pale, her aura plummeting.

"Ling Jiao?" The others were shocked.

Could it be that the Blood-robed Sword God hadn’t left?

Was he punishing Ling Jiao?

The prodigies’ faces paled, and they dared not speak or discuss the Blood-robed Sword God further.

…

High above, several streaks of light cut across the sky.

Qi Yuan looked at Luo Xi beside him and asked, "Have you been to the Xuanyuan Forbidden Land?"

Luo Xi was startled. "Senior… how do you know?"

Jiang Ya, overhearing this, shot Qi Yuan a puzzled glance.

"In the Xuanyuan Forbidden Land, doing push-ups and sit-ups can increase your strength, but the price is… hair loss," Qi Yuan sighed.

These were the rules he had set back then to help Jin Li grow stronger.

Luo Xi’s shock intensified, as if his world had been turned upside down.

How could this foreigner know such secrets?

Qi Yuan looked at Luo Xi. "Can you tell me about the Xuanyuan Forbidden Land?"

Luo Xi hesitated.

He didn’t know Qi Yuan’s identity.

But the Xuanyuan Forbidden Land involved enormous secrets.

He didn’t know what to say.

Qi Yuan looked up at the towering Gu Qi Chun Tree in the sky, his thoughts drifting back to a distant time.

He remembered sitting by the Seven Moon Lake, fishing alone on a green stone, accompanied by the Moon Maiden.

"Tell me. It’s alright," Qi Yuan said softly, his voice full of persuasive power.

Luo Xi, who had been torn, slowly began to speak. "When I was young, I followed my parents to the Moon Empire. By chance, I joined the Moon Empire and became one of the Vowed to the Moon."

"The Moon Empire still exists…" Qi Yuan recalled the people by the Seven Moon Town and the Moon Maiden who had left a crescent-shaped scar on his arm.

He looked at his arm, now smooth and clean. The crescent scar had long since faded.

"By becoming Vowed to the Moon, one can enter the Xuanyuan Forbidden Land, gain power, and serve the Moon God!" Luo Xi spoke with deep reverence. "Later, when the Demora Clan invaded and Fenggui was in danger, I asked the leader for permission to return to Fenggui to protect it."

Qi Yuan listened, his eyes fixed on the moon above.

The Moon God, the Moonwatching Continent, the Moon Maiden, the Moon Token, the master…

Were they all connected?

He felt deeply conflicted.

He didn’t know if he would be able to meet the people he wished to see.

At that moment, Jiang Ya’s voice interrupted his thoughts. "Senior, how do you plan to deal with the Demora Clan?"

"Naturally… I’ll kill them," Qi Yuan replied decisively.

Jiang Ya continued, "The Demora Clan in Fenggui and the other six nations isn’t very powerful. With your strength, Senior, you could sweep them away in a few days. However… if you reveal your full strength, it will alarm the powerful members of the Demora Clan. In as little as a few days, or as much as a few months, the Yin Gods of the Demora Clan will surely come after you. You’ve already made enemies of so many great powers in the Eastern Lands. Facing the Demora Clan alone…"

Her eyes were filled with worry.

The Demora Clan was very powerful. Otherwise, the Yin Gods of the Eastern Lands wouldn’t be struggling to hold their own against them.

"This is my home. Am I supposed to surrender it just because the enemy is strong?" Qi Yuan said firmly.

Moonwatching Continent was his home. If unwanted guests had come, he would make sure "they leave their lives behind."

Jiang Ya was at a loss for words.

Talking to the Blood-robed Sword God was as difficult as talking to her own master’s senior brother, Jiang Lingsu.

True Lord Dazhi also chimed in, "A man’s head can be cut off, and his blood can flow, but his home must not be given away!"

Xu Tongchen remained silent, not participating in the conversation.

Qi Yuan then turned to Luo Xi. "Who told the Moon Empire about the secrets of the Xuanyuan Forbidden Land?"

Back then, he had only shared the secret with Jin Li and hadn’t told anyone else, not even the Moon Maiden.

So how did the Moon Empire replace out about the Xuanyuan Forbidden Land?

"I don’t know, Senior," Luo Xi said, puzzled by Qi Yuan’s question.

Qi Yuan sighed inwardly.

It seemed he would have to visit the Moon Empire himself to uncover the truth.

Could it be that Jin Li went to the Gu Qi Chun Tree to wait for him and eventually joined the Moon Empire?

Qi Yuan’s mind was filled with questions.

He asked again, "Is the Moon Empire still located near the Gu Qi Chun Tree? Is anyone still living by the Seven Moon Lake?"

"Yes," Luo Xi nodded. "The Moon Empire is still there, though its fame has faded. But it still produces many powerful figures. Seven Moon Town is considered sacred ground in the Moon Empire. The High Priestess has always lived there, in the wooden house by the Seven Moon Lake."

Hearing the title "High Priestess," Qi Yuan’s left eyebrow twitched. "What is the High Priestess’s name? What does she look like?"

"The High Priestess… has the appearance of a child and hasn’t aged in a hundred years. She always wears a veil, so her face is hidden. The High Priestess is also the Moon Empire’s strongest warrior, the most powerful in all of Moonwatching Continent. Her swordsmanship is unparalleled, and no one can match her!" Luo Xi’s eyes were filled with fervor.

It was clear that the High Priestess held an exalted position in the hearts of the Vowed to the Moon.

"The High Priestess is also the closest servant to the Moon God," Luo Xi added.

Qi Yuan’s mind raced.

Swordsmanship?

Childlike appearance?

Could it be the Moon Maiden?

But he had been gone for so long. The Moon Maiden must have grown up or perished in the river of time.

Could this be a coincidence?

To uncover the truth, Qi Yuan would have to visit the Moon Empire.

Strangely, after arriving at the Moonwatching Continent, Qi Yuan felt a trace of fear.

Fear that everything might have been for nothing.

But this fear lasted only a moment.

"Hmph, I’ll become a Sage of Primordial Chaos, a Great Luo Golden Immortal. Even if everything is empty, I can turn illusion into reality!" Qi Yuan thought to himself.

He decided to wipe out the invaders near Fenggui and the other seven nations before heading to the Moon Empire to uncover the truth.

"Twenty-one days. It’ll pass quickly," Qi Yuan muttered.