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"So you noticed it, too?" Hu Lana compressed her voice even when she whispered as she carefully glanced at the distant Bibi Dong. The light of the third day shone over the encampment. There were only two tents: One reinforced by a formidable wave of mental energy and the other one inhibited by their group. Their encampment was further concealed under the natural effects of Ah Yin's domain.

Delivering the middle-aged man without amnesia was a simple task for Bibi Dong since she made sure to wear a coarse robe instead of her usual clothing and cover herself up completely. The man himself was stored in her essence tool. With the traffic of spirit master in Dragon Rising City, nobody even placed any importance on Bibi Dong's gloomy visage.

But now, after a few days, everyone observed Bibi Dong growing slightly distant and her mood would be especially cold towards them.

Why?

Even Hu Lana didn't know.

In fact, she happened to be the only one to care. 

Unlike Xie Xan and Liu Erlong who were placed at rank 51 and 49, Hu Lana was close to breaking into rank 54. Meanwhile, Ah Yin's cultivation, though stagnated, didn't mean that her spirit energy couldn't rise. The moment she absorbs her sixth spirit ring, her spirit energy would rise dramatically. 

Now that Ja Sun had entered a closed-door cultivation session, Xie Xan and Liu Erlong felt that he would surpass them in spirit energy. After all, his fourth ring made him push through 7 ranks! From rank 40 to 47!

Who's to say Ja Sun wouldn't accomplish such a demonic act once again?

So, the duo wanted to keep their pace up.

For this reason, they did not even feel the change in Bibi Dong's behavior.

It was only Hu Lana and Ah Yin who soon realized the strange situation.

"Hehe, maybe teacher misses her most outstanding student?" Hu Lana giggled and gazed at Ah Yin deviously while Ah Yin merely glanced at her and smiled.

"Why don't you ask her?" Her words filled with mockery as Hu Lana's smile turned stiff.

"You're just like that guy! Can't you ever let someone poke fun at you?" Lana pouted and leaned against Ah Yin with a sigh. Not minding the casual skin contact, Ah Yin thought for a moment then shook her head, "Being in control is better... most of the time."

"Hooooo~!" Hu Lana regained her vigor and grinned, "I think it isn't the teacher missing her most outstanding student but... you..." 

This is the reason why Hu Lana and Ja Sun could even hit it off. They loved to poke fun for their own delight.

"Anyway," Ah Yin scoffed, "The best way to know about Teacher's mood is just by asking her. Why complicate all of this? If she wants to talk about it, she will."

"I know the right person to interrogate teacher," Hu Lana glanced at Liu Erlong with her dark pupils lit up in excitement.

---

"Fuuuu!"

Ja Sun exhaled sharply. He only now realized that closed-door cultivation isn't as easy as it sounds like. Just the urge to pee after a period of time can drive a man insane. But...

His gaze landed on his arms.

He wasn't wearing anything above his waist and his entire body was drenched in sweat yet a dangerous feeling of power filled him. Though his musculature was a bit bulky now, relatively, his physique was streamlined and the veins over his body would wriggle with his movements while the twitching definition of his muscles underneath indicated the current level of his body fat.

But the most glaring change still appeared over his gauntlets.

Using the refined Titanium Crystal to further improve his Gauntlets was a correct decision. Not only Ja Sun gained many more blueprints that would serve to increase his knowledge on the pleasant nature of arrays, but the quality of the Vajra Gauntlets had also increased, too. And finally, it revealed its precious nature by gaining the affinity of the metal he used.

The sleek gauntlets now looked like dark golden carvings made out of a crystal within which thin hair-like strands of metal collected and gave shape to a plate-like definition within the Gauntlets themselves.

Why didn't Ja Sun use the yang ores to refine his gauntlets? It wasn't only to further his Fiery Golden Pupils but also to keep his gauntlets from gaining yang attribute.

The Vajra Gauntlets, to Ja Sun, are supposed to be extremely tough yet flexible gauntlets that can protect him and allow him to bash opponents but Tang Hao compared the Blood Artifacts with external spirit bones. Why? Because these artifacts grow alongside the user and similarly, their growth can affect the user, too.

Refining Vajra Gauntlets with potent yang and fire elements would mean making them weaker to water and yin elements. Ja Sun didn't want that. Instead, he utilized the tough Titanium Crystal with crystal needles formed within and gained a very practical use from the Vajra Gauntlets!

*Crckk*

With a thought, three thin needles shot out from the area right above his left knuckle, and the sharp golden needles pierced into the ground. In the next breath, these needles naturally coiled and turned into solid spheres.

With his Vajra Gauntlets now taking a similar internal structure to a Titanium Crystal with needle plates within, Ja Sun can manipulate these needles and turn them into a surprise attack against any opponent. Not only that, since blood artifacts, if damaged, only need to recuperate one's body, the lost needles will be recovered from within.

In essence, he had a needle gun attached to both of his arms and the ammunition was the supply of his blood.

This change left Ja Sun quite satisfied. Another method in his arsenal meant a greater chance of survival.

And with this qualitative reinforcement, his physique was firmly within the ranks of a Spirit Sage. Meaning, he was at the seventh level of Revitalized Blood Qi Art. 

But he wasn't going to stop at this moment. 

The strengthening of his body made him confident that his fifth spirit ring wouldn't pressurize his body greatly. 

He glanced at the sleeping Caihong and Olivia before placing his attention on the Bright Goddess and realized that she was halfway through refining the immortal herb. 

Finally, he took out the shard of emerald life gold.

The mystical existence instantly awoke the two owls, but Ja Sun only smiled softly before using his spirit beast enhancement.

His shoulder-lengthed disheveled hair turned silver and the emerald green eye over his forehead thumped.

Excitement.

His body, and his martial soul, gave a feeling of incomparable excitement as Ja Sun's shoulders grew a little tense.

"I know..." he whispered.

Holding the life gold with his Gauntlets already retracted into his body, unwilling to accidentally fuse the life gold with his Gauntlets, Ja Sun brought the life gold closer to his forehead and he instantly activated the Astral Combatant.

The mark of the third eye in the middle of his forehead revealed a dark, purple glow before the long metal was actually sucked into his head!

Life Gold.

Ja Sun had gone through two records of this miraculous metal.

First, from one of Lou Gao's tomes: A foreign metal with unknown origin but filled with strange lifeforce. No metal is capable of exerting its properties near a shard of Life Gold.

Second, from the Dragon's Observation itself: Life Core, a spirit core developed using high affinity with life attribute. The most excellent resource to develop this core by any human or beast, in fact, is a shard of Life Gold. A small piece of Life Gold or a large chunk of Life Gold means the same thing. The item of inexhaustible lifeforce.

Both the records did explain further on this metal, but to Ja Sun, the existence of Life Gold was incomparable because of Spirit Core.

The knowledge of spirit core dates back to the ancient era as observed from the way the Dragon's Observation is penned down.

Ja Sun already understood that in the past, there weren't formidable Spirit Rings but formidable spirit abilities created on the foundation of these spirit rings. Now, humans have the strength to look for rare spirit rings because they have grown in number while various species of Spirit Beasts are growing endangered. It wasn't the same in the past. Extreme Phantom Douluo is the prime example. Astral Combatant is one of the most sophisticated yet simplified techniques next to Fiery Golden Pupils and all these techniques are developed by humans through inspiration gained from nature: Natural Locations, Disasters, and Spirit Beasts.

The formation of Spirit Cores is also based on such a heritage and history.

There exist spirit beasts in the world that can converge their entire cultivation, their entire strength into one point. A core. A dantian. A Neidan. Many names, one concept.

Ja Sun had seen a core in real life: Violet.

She once offered her Neidan. Back then, Ja Sun didn't know the meaning behind such an offering, now he knew. Violet was offering her life to the person who saved her not once, but twice. 

While this act can be accomplished by talented spirit beasts without a hitch because of their superior bodies, it isn't the same for Humans.

Humans without mental energy, spirit energy, and physique at the level of Titled Douluo cannot accomplish this particular endeavor. They cannot focus their cultivation on a single point to enhance their entire being at once.

Astral Combatant was developed by Extreme Phantom Douluo.

It focused mental energy on a single form. What is this form if not a 'core'? But Astral Combatant isn't a true Spirit Core due to the lack of required energy.

But while Spirit Beasts converge their spirit, internal, and mental energy including all their attributes into a single core, humans began to develop variations to this technique of spirit beasts. Thus, human being of the ancient era is capable of diverging their strengths into different cores, allowing a single body to form multiple cores and achieve a more efficient and greater enhancement.

{A/N: Alright, in Soul Land (SL) 2, the mc worked with Di Tian to understand this knowledge and in SL 3, the bodies and minds of the Cultivators are already strong enough to reach titled Douluo of SL 1 because of the passive strengthening of Spirit Souls so they can form cores at Spirit Sage level. 

Since Ja Sun cannot gain future knowledge because it doesn't even exist, he will work based on past knowledge. I felt that this needed explaining as a note because I'm mixing the concept of future parts.)

According to Dragon's Observation, there even have been records of a Titled Douluo naturally forming a core due to fortuitous events.

Ja Sun, now, had one such fortunate encounter.

Why is Life Gold lauded as one of the best materials in hope of the creation of Spirit Core? Not only because of its Life Attribute but also because of one mystical use of the item.

The moment the Life Gold entered his head, Ja Sun's mental scape with immortal scenery instantly crackled like a glass shattering and strangely, Nightmare's Fantasy was forcefully expelled from Ja Sun's mental scape. Within the shattering mental scape, only Astral Combatant formed from the mental energy filled with death and rotting qi of Disorienting Ghost Canyon remained without any intentions of moving. 

The green eye over Ja Sun's forehead gave a sharp glow and covered everyone within the tent. The aggrieved Nightmare's Fantasy settled down in the form of heavy mist on the floor, Bright Goddess flapped her wings in excitement as her absorption of the immortal herb grew by a notch. Caihong and Olivia hooted in similar excitement but it was just because of bathing under the glow of ultimate lifeforce!

With Ja Sun's sea of consciousness, once again, the beautiful scenery was nowhere to be seen but only bright emerald stars in the darkness as if the menacing Astral Combatant was floating in space. 

Ja Sun's forehead throbbed at this moment as his expression morphed in pain. But this pain was acceptable. The skin in the middle of his forehead broke and a thin trickle of blood flowed out. However, instead of crimson, this stream was dark-green in color and soon turned into a vapor that only enforced the green glow of the tent.

From within the thin slit, instead of his skull, one green entity throbbed and wriggled with golden veins spreading over Ja Sun's forehead.

Instantly, the darkness within Ja Sun's sea of consciousness changed and the Astral Combatant let out a silent howl with its body slowly cracking apart itself, too. But before it could split apart, Ja Sun's body drew the entirety of the spirit energy stored within the Sigh of Immortal and Astral Combatant stabilized once again.

Ja Sun didn't know when but the shard of Life Gold was already above the Astral Combatant's head while a green pulse of light spread out from its structure.

'Form,' Ja Sun gritted his teeth. Even a person with his experience of pain management felt incomparably frustrated in this short moment and he instantly clawed his talons over his forehead. How couldn't he feel the throbbing third eye slowly breaking through his skin?

A true eye!

His martial soul was improving because of Life Gold and his spirit beast enhancement now included a real third eye instead of a tattoo but Ja Sun couldn't wait.

The longer he waits, the stronger the Life Gold pressures his rot and death-attributed Astral Combatant!

His talons tore the skin of his forehead and the moment his third eye was revealed completely— Long and vertical with deep green color and a pure golden pupil within as if a drop of molten lava; the phantom of the Three-eyed Silver Lion appeared behind Ja Sun and roared silently. Its own third eye glowing brightly!

This is it!

Blood instantly burst from the corner of Ja Sun's eyes: All three of them.

The Life Gold above the Astral Combatant instantly melted into a liquid before the dark space seemed to be morphing under the chance of the Life Gold. Above the life gold, a vortex of energy that Ja Sun is familiar with appeared once again. It grew quicker and quicker until it swallowed all the energy within Ja Sun's Sigh of Immortal.

How can Life Gold help a spirit master achieve a core in the early stages of its cultivation?

Because Life Gold has the mystical function of creating another sea of consciousness.

---

The eyes of Ja Sun's companions shot open and all of them shot out of the tent without any specific instruction.

Ah Yin was the first due to her domain spread out and she instantly waved her hand. Sea of blue silver grass instantly covered the tent that let out a green pillar of light that forcefully broke a small part of her domain. With a stern gaze, Bibi Dong's spirit rings appeared around her and the first and fifth spirit rings glowed simultaneously before strands of Blue Silver Emperor coiled around the tent and finally, the green light seemed to be contained but much to her grimace, the light forcefully drilled into her blue silver grass, filling every strange with frightful life energy that rivaled the Blue Silver Emperor's Core within her.

"That bastard reached rank 50, didn't he?" Liu Erlong finally inquired with pursed lips.

"It'd be weird if he didn't after such a commotion," Bibi Dong narrowed her gaze before surprisingly glaring at everyone. Her gaze landed at Ah Yin finally, "Can you hold it?"

"I don't think he will keep this up for the remaining four days," Ah Yin nodded, "But if it's for a day, I can."

Everyone sighed slightly.

"I will keep Ah Yin company," Hu Lana instantly chimed and everyone returned to their tent. 

"Did you see that? She's definitely angry," Hu Lana sucked in a breath of cold air.

"Maybe she's just going through that," Ah Yin finally sighed.

"We were in Disorienting Ghost Canyon for three months and she didn't act so frustrated the entire time. You think she can postpone that for three months?" Hu Lana crossed her arms, "It's definitely something else."

"Unfortunately, I am busy keeping the situation under control," Ah Yin gloomily looked at Hu Lana as she smiled wryly, "Sorry, it's just that teacher barely shows such expression."

"While we are outside, can you create a training dummy once again?" Hu Lana inquired as she took out two wooden daggers. As advised by Qian Daoliu and then taught by Bibi Dong, Hu Lana now began to practice dagger techniques to keep herself safe in situations where her spirit skills are useless.