The System's latest addition to the equipment category was a pleasant surprise.

It was worth it to convert 10,000 System experience points for one equipment.

As Fang Lang thought, with his current rank as a second-grade sword master and a first-grade martial arts master, the equipment would be able to compensate for his weakness in the spell mastery discipline.

Although these would not be useful for the upcoming Imperial Examination, there were things beyond the Imperial Examination for a cultivator. He should look at the bigger picture.

'Ding! Core Card effect completed. Core stats have been modified. Do you wish to view stats?'

The System's notification rang just as Fang Lang was done exploring the equipment function.

Fang Lang instantly straightened up, excitement sparkled in his eyes.

Was it finally done?

'Please do not make it worse. The original core was white if it goes any lower, it'll turn black.'

He thought it was unlikely the System would humiliate him.

Fang Lang immediately called out the System display. His eyes were drawn to the core category.

[Core: 36 (White)

[Modified Core: 66 (Purple)]

The smile on Fang Lang's face faded.

Not red, not yellow, not gold, but purple?

What did it mean?

After three years of studying in the academy, Fang Lang had never heard of a purple core.

Was the System pulling his leg?

A gold core would have been nice. After all, his cultivation speed was two-thirds of Old Jiang's without any Amplification Cards. A gold core would justify his current abilities and allow him to pass the Imperial Examination's core evaluation without raising suspicions.

He would be treading on thin ice with this purple core.

Would he be sentenced to death?

Fang Lang frowned, regretting his decision.

He was distressed due to the unexpected outcome.

What should he do?

Fang Lang was completely puzzled. The purple core was an unknown factor to him.

"I should do some digging tomorrow. Mentor Wen might know something about this."

Fang Lang took a deep breath how troubling.

Fang Lang decided not to dwell further. He occupied his mind with happier thoughts.

"System, sum up the bonus rewards," Fang Lang said enthusiastically.

'Ding! Calculating bonus rewards

'Calculation completed. Bonus spiritual energy from binding partner (Ni Wen): 50 (low-grade spirit crystal); Bonus spiritual energy from binding partner (Liu Bubai): 30 (low-grade spirit crystal).

Bonus rewards will be channeled into the host's energy center for sword mastery cultivation.'

The System's notification slowly dimmed.

Fang Lang felt a surge of spiritual energy flowing into his energy center, accelerating the rotating core.

80 low-grade spirit crystals was a considerable amount of spiritual energy. On top of that, Fang Lang had received an abundance of spiritual energy in the Spirit Pagoda as a reward for reaching the seventh level.

The spiritual energy from these 80 low-grade spirit crystals pushed Fang Lang's cultivation to the boundary of a third-grade sword master.

The autumn weather intensified as the night deepened.

Stars embellished the sky like countless fireflies floating in the dense forest.

The enchanting moonlight shone through the windows and spilled silvery rays onto Fang Lang.

The boy opened his eyes slowly as he soaked in the sudden surge of spiritual energy in his body.

Within the course of three days, he had reached the apex of a second-grade sword master from a lowly ninth-grade sword disciple This was the magic of the Spirit Pagoda.

Of course, besides his relentless drive to succeed, he had the support of the Grade-Rush Card.

Fang Lang had spent the entire night trying to advance into third-grade sword mastery. He put his entire focus on his energy center, trying to convert a third of the spiritual energy into blade energy.

Even though he was at the boundary of a third-grade sword master, he could not break through no matter how hard he tried.

Fang Lang let out a breath but was not too dejected about the outcome.

He retrieved the spirit crystals and activated the Triple Binding Mode to continue absorbing the spiritual energy. Fang Lang decided to wear down the boundary with time and patience.

The next day was cloudy as the autumn rain brewed.

The chilly weather seeped into the bones.

After having breakfast, Fang Lang headed straight for the academy. Students walked through the main street hastily as the Imperial Examination was just around the corner. Everyone was anxiously preparing for the exams.

Fang Lang reached the Luojiang Academy before class started. He did not head to the study hall. Instead, he walked towards the Mentors' Office.

Mentor Wen had just woken up and was preparing a pot of wolfberry tea when he heard Fang Lang.

Mentor Wen had a porcelain cup in hand. He was yawning lazily with his beard untrimmed. He stared quizzically at Fang Lang who was here so early in the morning.

"Spit it out, what do you want to ask me?" Mentor Wen said while he blew gently at the steaming wolfberry tea.

"What a great mentor you are! You can sense my eagerness to learn just by one look!" Fang Lang tried to butter him up.

Mentor Wen took an audible sip of his tea and rolled his eyes. "Otherwise you won't be here. You'll be stuck at Ni Wen's side right now."

Fang Lang put on an innocent smile.

'Looks like Mentor Wen figured out my routine.'

He just could not resist Little Wen's charms.

The Grade-Rush Card fragments she provided were extremely beneficial!

"Spit it out then, Old Yang's gonna ring the bell soon. Head back to class once you're done," Mentor Wen said.

Fang Lang nodded as he tried to come up with problems related to sword mastery.

Wen Ting raised an eyebrow as he analyzed and addressed the issues raised by Fang Lang.

Suddenly, Fang Lang slid the question in smoothly. "Right teacher, have you ever heard of core change?"

Wen Ting was surprised.

The next moment, he narrowed his eyes and answered, "You were beating around the bush this whole morning. This is the reason why you're here, isn't it?"

Fang Lang laughed and did not refute his mentor.

After all, he could not pretend any longer now that he had a purple core.

Wen Ting stared at Fang Lang as he fell into deep thought. He sipped on the wolfberry tea, chewing on the berries that slipped into his mouth.

After some time, Wen Ting continued speaking, "The common understanding is that the core of the Tang Dynasty's cultivators is categorized into five grades, starting from black, white, red, yellow, and finally, gold

"However, there are also other cores. Beyond the golden core is the starry core. When tested with the core compass, it radiates with the brilliance of a star. People with this core are naturally gifted. They are so rare that one might not even appear in a thousand years," Wen Ting explained.

Fang Lang was startled when he heard what Wen Ting said. 'Doesn't purple come after gold?' he wondered.

"What about the next rank after the starry core? Is there a purple core?" Fang Lang asked curiously.

He was genuinely curious. They would not have learned this from the textbooks.

Wen Ting glanced at Fang Lang and asked, "Purple? Of course not. After the starry core is the divine core that's just one of a kind, reserved for God's favored son. I haven't heard anyone with a divine core. What kind of bloodline will be worthy of someone with a divine core?

"Perhaps The person living in the Changan palace might have it."

Wen Ting did not continue speaking. He avoided mentioning that person's name as if he was afraid.

"Of course, there are records about changes to the core after birth"

Wen Ting sipped on his tea again before continuing. "A cultivator's core can be altered by their environment, after the awakening of their bloodline ability, or it could be transplanted The first two can happen under certain conditions, the transplantation process is just utterly cruel and evil and goes against the laws of nature. The Tang Dynasty's law forbids people from doing it. There's a term for core alterations due to the changes in the environment and the bloodlinecore mutations."

Core mutations?

Fang Lang took a deep breath.

"There are good and bad mutations. Some mutations will improve the core significantly, some just get worse"

After saying that, Wen Ting stared at Fang Lang. A realization struck the man.

The next second, Wen Ting extended his hand.

Fang Lang opened his arms without resisting. He narrowed his eyes while he let Wen Ting check his core.

After all, he had been expecting this.

Wen Ting placed one hand on Fang Lang's shoulder blades while holding the teacup with the other. He grazed his hand over Fang Lang's spine with a unique gesture.

Wen Ting's eyes widened gradually!

'Something's not right!

'Something's wrong with him!'

"Something's something's off about your core!"

Mentor Wen felt the changes in Fang Lang's core. He had not checked his core prior to this, but Chao Xiaojian did back in the Sword Guild. With Chao Xiaojian's ability, it was not likely he would make a wrong judgment when it came to core reading.

Fang Lang had a white core back then.

However Fang Lang's core right now was definitely not white!

The feedback from his core felt similar to a gold rank?

It still felt weird. Wen Ting personally had a gold core. He could sense the difference between Fang Lang's core and an actual gold core.

What was it?

'He advanced to a second-grade sword master from a third-grade sword disciple within a month and conquered the seventh floor of the Spirit Pagoda. He even displayed amazing sword mastery talents'

Wen Ting was astounded by his own deductions.

Wen Ting's eyes burned brightly. This kid's core definitely mutated!

He was in a daze. He had discovered the reason behind Fang Lang's spectacular performance!

No wonder this kid came to him in the wee hours of the morning, it was to ask him this question. The boy was probably terrified by the upcoming core evaluation for the Imperial Examination!

There were only two outcomes of core mutations.

Either one would become a brilliant genius or they would end up a nobody!

The kid's recent achievements suggested he was the former!

"Stay here, don't move. Wait for my return!"

In a flash, Wen Ting turned into a blade light and disappeared into thin air.

Shortly after that, Wen Ting returned with an intricate devicethe core compass.

At the same time, Headmaster Cui stood beside Wen Ting with an interested look.

They would test Fang Lang's core!