The soft, golden mud inside Zhao Jiuge’s dantian had gathered together and gave off a golden glow, making it impossible to see its true form.

The Golden Lotus and Sanskrit chant didn’t just appear outside Zhao Jiuge’s body, but also inside his body. This made Zhao Jiuge very happy.

He had been so nervous about what grade spirit core he would form that he never thought he would trigger a legendary phenomenon. Although he was happy, he wondered what the Golden Lotus and Sanskrit Chant meant.

However, he was still condensing his spirit core, so he didn’t have time to think about this. His expectations grew, and since he was able to trigger a phenomenon, then the grade of his spirit core shouldn’t be too low.

The light inside his dantian weakened, and a moment later, Zhao Jiuge found an egg-sized golden spirit core in his dantian. On closer inspection, it had a layer of blue and white around it. This was the attribute from the Cold Sky Sword Spirit Vein.

Seeing his spirit core form, Zhao Jiuge finally relaxed. After his spirit core formed, the phenomenon began to dissipate as well. The Golden Lotuses withered one by one and the Sanskrit Chant faded.

The appearance of his spirit core meant that he had successfully condensed his spirit core! Zhao Jiuge had successfully entered the Spirit Core Realm and reached a higher level.

The egg-sized spirit core rotated inside his body. The vortex and spirit force inside his dantian had disappeared, replaced by the spirit core. Although it looked small, Zhao Jiuge could feel the spirit force contained within.

The spiritual energy from the spirit vein was rushing into Zhao Jiuge’s body and was being converted to spirit force. Once the spirit core absorbed enough spirit force, it would break open and form a nascent soul!

Zhao Jiuge happily left his state of cultivation and suddenly opened his eyes. He had now reached the early stage of the Spirit Core Realm, and his spirit force was at its peak. His entire body was somewhat different—there was much more ethereal feeling to him now.

His skin was as smooth as jade and his face was handsome. Dressed in his black clothes, he was like a freshly drawn blade. In the future, he would be able to display his full might for the world to see! In the past, he was like a sword wrapped in mud, but as his cultivation increased, he underwent qualitative transformations.

Zhao Jiuge’s actions were stiff when he stood up, as he hadn’t moved for over two months. He saw his teacher with an excited expression together with the smiling woman wearing a veil.

He quickly arrived before two of them and couldn’t hide his excitement. “Teacher, I condensed my spirit core and even triggered a phenomenon.” He waved his hands around, gesturing while he talked.

“We saw it.” Jian Wuxian couldn’t help but smile. Even Elder Waning Moon was smiling while watching Zhao Jiuge.

Zhao Jiuge couldn’t wait and asked, “Teacher, do you know what the Golden Lotus and Sanskrit Chant means?” 

Jian Wuxian shook his head and said, “I don’t know what it means either. Everyone’s phenomenon is different. I haven’t heard of anyone who had the same phenomenon. It differs from person to person.”

Zhao Jiuge couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Even so, he was very excited. The most important thing was that he had condensed his spirit core.

“Jiuge, I’ll find people to ask for you. Release your spirit core so we can see what grade it is.” Elder Waning Moon’s voice was very gentle. Although she had a layer of black silk covering her face, one could still feel her smile.

Seeing this beautiful woman, Zhao Jiuge realized that she was Elder Waning Moon. Jian Wuxian had told him about her identity and that she was fond of him. She wanted him to come to her peak so she could teach him.

At this moment, Zhao Jiuge didn’t dare to hesitate and respectfully bowed. He was about to release his spirit core.

Generally speaking, the inner core of a Spirit Beast and spirit core of a cultivator were similar. While they were very powerful when released, doing so was also very dangerous. If it were destroyed or stolen, then not only would that person or beast lose all their cultivation, they would have no chance of cultivating again in the future.

However, the two people before him were his elders, so he didn’t have to worry about it at all. He didn’t hesitate at all and controlled his spirit core to fly out of his mouth.

When the egg-sized, golden spirit core was released, the entire spirit vein was dyed with a layer of golden light.

When Jian Wuxian and Elder Waning Moon saw Zhao Jiuge’s spirit core, they both shouted, “Grade-7 spirit core!”

Spirit cores were divided into nine grades, and they were based on size, color, and attribute. The smallest spirit core was only the size of a grain of rice, and slightly better ones were the size of soybeans. Further up were ones the size of a thumbnail, and Zhao Jiuge’s egg-sized spirit core was high-quality. Although its attribute was a bit lacking and it was only a grade-7, it was still very rare.

A grade-5 spirit core was already considered a high-quality spirit core. The difference in spirit force between a spirit core the size of a rice grain and the size of an egg was vast. Jian Wuxian and Elder Waning Moon only had grade-5 and grade-6 spirit cores when they formed their spirit cores. Zhao Jiuge’s spirit core was grade-7, which could be considered very rare.

Although it was possible to increase the quality of one’s spirit core with heavenly treasures, it was very difficult. In particular, if one’s spirit core was already high-grade, improving its grade would be extremely difficult.

One reason Zhao Jiuge was able to condense a grade-7 spirit core was his cultivation method, and the other reason was luck.

A lot of the spirit force from the spirit vein at the Profound Thunder Valley had not been absorbed—it had remained hidden in his body due to his physique. Then he soaked in that cold pool for over a month. The amount of spirit force gathered inside that pool was jaw-dropping. He had all this spirit force stored up in his body right when he needed to condense his spirit core!

Then he condensed his spirit core inside a grade-2 spirit vein. All these factors added up to result in him condensing an egg-sized, grade-7 spirit core!

Hearing Jian Wuxian and Elder Waning Moon’s shouts, Zhao Jiuge was startled. He didn’t know what the phenomenon meant, but he knew that a grade-7 spirit core was extremely rare. He was so happy that he couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Back then, didn’t that boy Ceng Qingniue also condense a grade-7 spirit core? Even that girl Sha Sha only condensed a grade-6 spirit core.” Elder Waning Moon’s chest heaved up and down. She was a bit emotional and her eyes were burning with passion.

Jian Wuxian was very excited, even more so than before. He nodded when he heard Elder Waning Moon’s question. Now there was hope for the future generation of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect!

Elder Waning Moon couldn’t hold back any longer and suddenly asked, “Jiuge, are you willing to cultivate with me?”

Zhao Jiuge was startled.He didn’t know what the situation was. However, he saw Jian Wuxian nod from the corner of his eye, so he quickly nodded in agreement. He knew that Elder Waning Moon wanted to teach him personally. They were not teacher and disciple in name, but they were going to be teacher and disciple in practice. He didn’t know what had happened, but thinking about the identity of Elder Waning Moon, he was happy about it.

Seeing Zhao Jiuge nod, Elder Waning Moon laughed happily. She had cultivated for over 1,000 years, but her emotions had never fluctuated this much before. Zhao Jiuge had managed to condense a grade-7 spirit core, which made Elder Waning Moon like him even more.

Elder Waning Moon grabbed Zhao Jiuge’s wrist and won’t let go. Then she said, “Jian Wuxian, go to the Treasure Pavilion to see if there are any secret methods to improve a grade-7 spirit core. If there is, we must pay any cost to let Zhao Jiuge try. A grade-8 spirit core—I believe that it's been over 1,000 years since a grade-8 spirit core has appeared in the other holy lands.”

Elder Waning Moon’s voice was somewhat excited. However, she couldn’t be blamed for her excitement, as a disciple with unlimited potential was the most important person in the sect. What was wealth compared to this?

What would happen when all the elders reached the end of their lifespans and there was no expert to hold down the fort? Then the sect would naturally begin to decline. However, these top disciples would grow up to replace the elders and deter the enemies so that the sect could continue. The top expert was the lifeline of a sect; otherwise, they could be wiped out at any moment.

When Jian Wuxian heard this, he suddenly understood. Elder Waning Moon wanted to see if they could pay the price to improve Zhao Jiuge’s spirit core. Although it sounded outlanderish, it wasn’t impossible.

“Also, no one can know that Zhao Jiuge has condensed a grade-7 spirit core and triggered a phenomenon. This matter must not spread!” At this moment, Elder Waning Moon’s voice became a little serious and killing intent leaked out.

Jian Wuxian nodded. This was for Zhao Jiuge’s own good. The other holy lands would try to secretly get rid of Zhao Jiuge if they learned of this. The Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was a thorn to all other other sects, as it had been in power for thousands of years.

Elder Waning Moon said to Zhao Jiuge in a serious tone, “By the way, before you have the strength, don’t release your spirit core or tell anyone about the phenomenon you triggered.”

Soon, Jian Wuxian and Elder Waning Moon calmed down. They were, after all, people who had cultivated for many years.

Elder Waning Moon commanded, “Go arrange things now. Jiuge will follow me for a few months. Then I’ll let him go with you to the competition between the seven holy lands. After that, he will go out and experience the world.”

Jian Wuxian didn’t immediately answer and now revealed a look like he had troubles that were difficult to mention. He had intended to take Zhao Jiuge as well, but if Zhao Jiuge’s strength was lacking, he could only take Sha Sha. Even though she was still a little girl, there was nothing that could be done.

After a long time, he said, “This… I’m afraid the other two peaks will gossip because they are unconvinced.”

“Hmph, if I say Zhao Jiuge will go, who will dare to disagree? Also, Jiuge will naturally have the strength to go. You don’t have to worry about this—I have my own plans.” Elder Waning Moon was very overbearing. She then waved her hand, signaling Jian Wuxian to leave first.

When Jian Wuxan saw the overbearing Elder Waning Moon, he didn’t dare to speak anymore. He respectfully nodded and left.

Zhao Jiuge found this very funny. His teacher was normally very imposing, but before Elder Waning Moon, his teacher was like a respectful child. This was not something that could be seen often.

In an instant, Zhao Jiuge and Elder Waning Moon were the only ones left in the spirit vein.