It was more like the breathing process of a human being. The amount of oxygen in the body maintained a state of equilibrium and acted as an accelerant that metabolized the oxidation of nutrients and sugars. If one absorbed an excessive amount of oxygen over a long period of time, this would accelerate the metabolism of cells, causing the cells to age rapidly. In the end, the internal environment of the human body would be in chaos, and one would experience chest distress, coughing, vomiting, agitation, breathing difficulties, and other problems. This was called oxygen poisoning.
In reality, spiritual pressure referred to spiritual-influence poisoning. When one's body was not strong enough and one did not cultivate their spiritual power enough, not only would an environment with excessively rich spiritual influence not help with one's cultivation, it would instead bring about a great burden to one's body. It did more harm than good. Void Core experts could endure a maximum of 10 units of spiritual pressure. Meanwhile, ordinary Foundational Stages were only able to endure between three to five units of spiritual pressure. The spiritual pressure in the middle circle of the Land in the divine territory was around two to three units.
Meanwhile, he had only traveled one-third of the range of the ancient tree, but the spiritual pressure here had already reached 10 units. Even though Lao Wang's body had reached the peak Foundational Stage, he had breathing difficulties and even felt as if the spiritual power in his body was about to solidify.
"I never thought that just approaching the tree would be so difficult. This is already my limit… If I get even stronger in the future and have the chance to break through to the Solid Core or even the Gold Core Realm, I might be able to get closer."
Even the elemental spirits themselves could not go beyond where Lao Wang currently was. Even though the ancient tree was warm and caring towards them, the spiritual pressure here treated all living creatures without discrimination. Furthermore, a large majority of underage elemental spirits were only comparable to Void Cores.
Wang Zhong took a deep breath and chose to retreat a few steps back. "Accumulating the Core mainly relies on comprehension. It is good as long as the spiritual pressure is appropriate."
Furthermore, from the conversation with Grai, Lao Wang had discerned a feasible direction in which he could accumulate his Core.
In the past, just because the functions of the divine cells were similar to the Void Core, Wang Zhong had continued to advance in that direction. In reality, this was a completely wrong train of thought. The divine cells represented the physical body, but accumulating one's Core did not involve this. Thus, while he continued to improve as a Foundational Stage and the feeling of accumulating his Core had always been overflowing, he had been unable to accumulate his Void Core because the direction of his thought was wrong. He had combined the physical body and the Void Core as one concept.
Achieving the Void Core was giving birth to a second life-core. Essentially, it was a deep level of Soul Power that had nothing to do with the strength of the physical body. Instead, it involved accumulating the origins of the practitioner and surpassing the limits of their Core, allowing the essence of their soul to integrate with the universe. It could be said to be the final form of evolution in creatures. In the end, they could completely break free of the limits of their physical body.
Of course, breaking free from these limits was simply one kind of final form. The Void Core that he accumulated could advance in that direction, but this was definitely far from the end point. The Void Core could be said to be the start of this path. Furthermore, while accumulating one's Void Core, the advancements in one's origins and the qualitative changes could strengthen one's physical body and make it much easier to borrow the spiritual influence in the world… Thus, if a Void Core expert was able to enter the other peripheral worlds in the Fifth Dimension, it would definitely be an extremely terrifying thing. Not only were their bodies powerful — at the level where they could borrow the spiritual power in the world — they would also be practically unrestricted in the peripheral worlds where the spiritual power was thin. They would be omnipotent deities who were able to move mountains, fill the seas, and change the positions of the stars with a thought!
…
Furthermore, accumulating his Core was not what Wang Zhong was most excited about. Instead, it was the feeling that "the Void Core is only the beginning" that had naturally emerged in his deduction.
The preliminary Core accumulation methods that a large majority of low-leveled cultivations created ceased to advance once they reached the Void Core. However, he could clearly sense that the Void Core was only the beginning of this path. This meant that regardless of whether it was the Solid Core Realm or even the Gold Core Realm in the future, he should not have any clear limits. The direction he had chosen obviously had extremely powerful cultivation sustainability.
One's soul and life were the origins of the Void Core. Earthlings were good at resting and dared to break through their limits. From various angles, humans were not as fearful of rules as other civilizations. Instead, the more powerful their obstacle was, the more powerful they would become!
Pill studies were actually an understanding of the universe. Perhaps one saw stars in the sky, while someone else would see the moon. Everyone had their own unique viewpoint. Thus, there would be differences in their understanding, and it was impossible to pass down verbally.
Furthermore, Wang Zhong's understanding of the universe could be summarized into one word —— a sovereign.
The 5 Elements, light and darkness, order and disorder, chaos and fate, all these integrated to eventually form a sovereign.
Only the universe could rule over all things! Furthermore, only the sovereign of all things could be called the truth in the universe.
…
It had been three days since Wang Zhong had gone in, but Celeste and Ina had not left. Celeste was extremely curious about Wang Zhong's breakthrough, and there was no need to mention why the latter stayed. How could a premier gossip chief choose to leave at this moment?
However, it was a pity that both of them could not go in. The elemental spirits had completely sealed the Spirit Flower Garden, and the rune gates could not be opened without the permission of the spirits. Of course, even if they could open the gates, the two girls had been warned and did not dare to cause trouble.
Luckily, there was Roro. Their telepathic communication allowed them to exchange information.
"The Ancient Spirit Tree?"
"He's been sitting quietly there for three days without any movement?"
"All the other elemental spirits are banned from entering the vicinity?"
Every piece of news that they heard fiercely charged at Celeste and Ina's small hearts.
There was no need to talk about the elemental spirits. Perhaps Wang Zhong's appearance fitted their standards of beauty and taste. Could all of them have been lovestruck? Both Celeste and Princess Ina had researched this possibility many times. This was also the conclusion they felt was most reliable.
But these restrictions… How could you account for the Ancient Spirit Tree?
It was the incarnation of rules that even the superintendent would not dare to approach and one of the most mysterious and power existences in the Land. Back then, the peak Gold Core expert wanted to approach the tree, but he was brutally trashed when he walked to the boundary and had to escape frantically. However, this Wang Zhong had simply walked in and was not stopped by the Ancient Spirit Tree in any way.
Celeste was not foolish. If the elemental spirits hadn't already made her feel that something was strange about Lao Wang, then the Ancient Spirit Tree truly made her doubt his identity.
It was very likely that there was a problem with the Earthling's bloodline. Even the ancient tree, the origin of the spirits, had favored him. This was definitely not an issue of personal charisma.
In reality, the Earth could not be considered a normal place. Although a "Playground of the Gods" was not rare in the Fifth Dimension, there was no doubt that according to Celeste's investigations, the Earth was the most durable… A Playground of the Gods had another name, the Remains of the Gods. The Earth was a civilization that could establish enough achievements to join the Star Alliance despite being in a state of ruin. No matter what, one could not say that Earthlings were ordinary. Perhaps there was some secret involved in this?
At that moment, under the ancient tree in the Spirit Flower Garden.
The process of accumulating one's Core involved many layers and could not be achieved immediately. It involved a process from thought and comprehension to a freely roaming soul, from integrating with the environment to gradual accumulation.
Having previous experience in pill refinery yielded benefits in this aspect as the various preparation work was all in order. Every single path of thought was clear and transparent. Over a period of three days, Wang Zhong had experienced many stages. At this moment, it was the key moment in accumulating his Core.
The Ancient Spirit Tree, which had been silent for countless years, swayed even though there was no wind. It was as if the old tree had come upon spring and became much more active. Flowers that gathered light seemed to bloom on the branches of the ancient tree. Countless 5 Element powers were transmitted through the branches and continuously gathered beside Wang Zhong.
His entire body was accumulating the potent 5 Element powers. All the elements were revolving and rotating around him. There was mutual enhancement and inhibition among the 5 Elements as they continued to shuttle back and forth using Wang Zhong's body as a medium.
At that moment, it was as if the Spirit Flower Garden was boiling. The ancient tree bloomed, and the five elemental powers were much purer and stronger than usual. All the spirits sensed the power in their bodies increasing at a visible speed. This made them excited, and they started to dance lightly and gracefully in the flower patches at the outskirts of the garden. Meanwhile, Nini and Yiyi were undoubtedly the most excited. They did not know when it happened, and it seemed as if it had happened overnight while they were sleeping, but they now had two pairs of wings each!
The communication through the spiritual contract allowed them to directly sense the changes in their master's soul. The powerful vitality that was produced during the process of birthing a soul was extremely powerful, even if they only sensed a hint of it through their telepathic communication.
Meanwhile, the 5 Element powers that continued to rotate around Wang Zhong's body gradually slowed down. When they entered a relatively stable state, Lao Wang could clearly sense that his Void Core was taking shape!
His original Spirit Sea rapidly rose as if it was boiling. Then, it transformed into a rich fog that accumulated in the sky.
Meanwhile, the stable 5 Element powers had formed the centre of this fog, causing his spirit to continuously gather as the rotating energies engulfed them. It was as if an embryo was being condensed. Wang Zhong could even clearly feel a portion of his thoughts being divided and entering the embryo.
Not only did this involve his soul, but it also involved his comprehension of various cultivation methods!
Sword techniques! Wang Zhong could sense waves of sharp aura appear in the surroundings of the embryo and engulf it like silk threads before integrating with it.
Fate! At that moment, the fate power he had once used, also known as spirit power, had also transformed into silk threads that surrounded the embryo.
Runes! Runes appeared in his mind like seals and covered the fringes of the embryo.
All the powers were rapidly operating. All the knowledge systems, his understanding of life, and even everything Wang Zhong possessed nourished the embryo. The five elemental powers were the foundation that absorbed and integrated everything. It contained everything!
When all the dust had settled, a faintly silver pill-like object, which looked like a water pocket that would burst at any time, appeared where Wang Zhong's Spirit Sea had originally been. It radiated a sense of peace and kindness. At the same time, it radiated exuberant vitality. The powerful vitality was simply like that of a primeval beast from the prehistoric era!
Was this his Void Core?
The Void Core Realm was divided into many levels. Without going into the details, the most intuitive evaluation standard was the extent to which the Void Core had materialized.
For example, Mugthol's Void Core that Wang Zhong had seen before was in between an illusory state and a solid state. It seemed slightly like… a ghost. It was transparent and not completely solid. In reality, many Void Cores that had just been accumulated were not even comparable to Mugthol's. They were even more illusory and seemed to only have taken on the shape of a Core and nothing else.
Cultivation in the Void Core Realm involved the accumulation of spiritual power and the advancement of one's realm, gradually condensing the illusory Void Core to produce a completely substantial solid form.
However, his Void Core had obviously exceeded such standards. Even when faced with such massive changes, Wang Zhong maintained his composure even as he was happy and checked the changes in his body. If he did not suddenly have the thought of coming to the Spirit Flower Garden, he might have never achieved the Void Core.
First, the changes in his spiritual power and body reached limits that the former Foundational Stage could not even imagine!
Typical Void Cores had a Spiritual Energy Value of around one million, but Wang Zhong felt that he could easily break through one million. Of course, he believed that this was also the case for experts from civilizations with good natural endowments. He did not boast about this aspect, but his divine cells were unique. When he achieved his Void Core, there were also changes in his body, and the Great 5 Elements Constitution was further stimulated. He was not sure what level he would reach when he exploded with full strength. He might need to find a stronger opponent to practice before knowing.
Wang Zhong could not help but stand up. After almost four days of meditation, he had been sitting here and did not move. At that moment, he simply got up as usual. There was a light upward acting force, and he felt that his body was so light that he was about to leave the ground and simply fly!
It was not strange for Void Cores to be able to fly, but one had to consider the place. He was under the Ancient Spirit Tree, where there were 10 units of spiritual pressure. With this massive gravity and spiritual pressure, ordinary Void Cores would have difficulty walking, let alone flying!
At the same time, his five senses became much clearer, and another mysterious sense had also appeared. Even when he closed his eyes and covered his ears, just by using his divine sense, Wang Zhong could clearly sense a butterfly about to flap its wings a few hundred meters away. He could even form an extremely realistic and clear image in his mind.
He was like a seer with a mysterious premonition. Even though its range of functions was not large and the period of time he could predict was very short, this kind of ability was simply unheard of.
This was a true sixth sense and was completely different from the divine-sense search he had used in the past. This was like the discernment of a god, and he could obtain a lot of information just from one intent or action.
The entire world seemed to have instantly become three-dimensional in his senses. If the world had been three-dimensional to Wang Zhong in the past, it was now truly four-dimensional!
However, the pleasant surprises had not ended. When Lao Wang lightly landed from the sky, a pair of wings that were formed from the mix of ice and fire powers slowly and naturally spread from his back, as if they were helping him to land and organize the chaos in the air.
"Master!"
Before Lao Wang could recover from his shock at the various mysterious changes in his body, Nini and Yiyi had impatiently charged at him. They had waited for almost four days, and Master had finally succeeded. Furthermore, Master had grown wings?!
"How pretty!" Yiyi could not help but gasp in shock. She looked at the fire and ice wings behind Lao Wang as her eyes lit up. As expected, Master shared some special origin with the elemental spirits.
When one accumulated their Void Core for the first time, they would definitely reveal their true form. These fire and ice wings seemed to be his true form. When they appeared, Wang Zhong could feel a release into freedom. His affinity with the world was much higher, and the operation of spiritual power in his body was smoother. At the same time, he was also more skilled in his control over the ice and fire elements. At that moment, the two powers that normally repelled each other were now intertwined like sisters.