7. Golden Core Imposter

Long Tao chased Aneroze and Foria through the forest. They had heard the final crash a while ago, but it felt as if the robed man and the chief proctor had crossed half the forest in just a few minutes, leaving the group of three far behind.

“Faust!” Foria suddenly shouted, pivoting and changing direction before stopping in front of the purple robed chief proctor.

“Foria.” The chief proctor, Faust responded, gently smiling while looking unharmed apart from bloody fists, which were swiftly being cleaned by a cloth.

Tao made sure to keep a few meters between Faust and himself, lest he was attacked again. Not that he thought he could outrun Faust. But best not to poke the bear.

“It’s been too long. You’ve grown up even more since I last saw you!” Faust began ruffling Foria’s hair after his hands were cleaned.

“Of course! I practiced the swordsmanship and body tempering manuals you sent every day.” Foria puffed her chest out. The siblings quickly fell into updating each other’s lives.

Tao listened in for a moment. However, while the two were talking there was something he wanted to ask the old ghost.

“Hey,” Tao called out.

“Hmm…” The old ghost hummed.

“What exactly was I supposed to see by watching the fight?”

“Ah, nevermind that. He’s definitely reached the return to origin realm of combat, but he must have been in a bad mood. He just beat that demon to death like a Gorrilla.” The old ghost waved.

“Weren’t they in a higher realm?” Tao asked. It was his understanding even minor realms held relatively major differences.

“Hmmm, I can’t comment on the Open Palace realm, but in the Foundation Establishment realm, think of it like this. An ordinary second rate foundation has five points. Demonic Cultivation is minus one point, a Third rate foundation is also minus one point. So this person has three points in total.” The old ghost began.

“On the other hand, a first rate foundation is plus one point, third realm of Body Tempering is three points, return to origin combat ability is two more and forging your own path and stepping on it is another two points. So a character with these traits has twelve points.” The old ghost continued.

Tao nodded in understanding.

“So if every minor realm is also worth one point, then the demon was worth six points of strength at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm. While this kid would still be at twelve points just at the early stage.”

“…How big would a major realm be?” Tao asked.

“Depends. The difference between Qi-Blood and Body Tempering were just 1 point. The difference between Body Tempering and Qi refining was about 2 points. But apparently, not all Qi refiners have reached the first level of Body Tempering nowadays.” The old ghost shrugged.

“What about between Core Formation and Nascent Soul?”

“A hundred points?”

“…That seems like… a lot…”

“Someone at the Nascent Soul realm can think hundreds of times faster than someone at the Core Formation realm. So they can calmly analyze their combat with lower realms even without discipline and combat experience. They could cast spells in an instant and perform inordinately more complex techniques.”

“…” Tao scrunched his brow in thought.

“Follow my advice. Stack as many advantages as you can in each realm— Because each one will stack in the next realm. A first rate foundation becomes a Golden Core worth twenty points while a second rate one becomes an Iron Core worth ten points… Or… Whatever the current era’s equivalent would be…”

Tao thought seriously. What the old ghost said made sense. A strong foundation became a strong core, which became a better soul which in turn allowed a more perfect transformation. Faltering even once could mean the end of one’s immortal—

“Puft—!” Tao spat out as Aneroze jabbed him in the gut with the but of her fan.

Tao looked up. Everyone was staring at him. Faust especially looked at him with an increasing level of unveiled disgust.

Tao felt sweat go down his back, Aneroze looked away like she was uninvolved. He narrowed his gaze, eyes going bloodshot as his mind ran at impossible speeds, recalling memories that he hadn’t made while distracted.

“Long Tao greets Senior!” Tao bowed, cupping a fist in one hand. Floria sighed in relief.

”See. He’s very respectful.” She claimed boldly.

”…” Faust raised an eyebrow.

”My, my, a perfect introduction, junior brother.” Aneroze complimented sarcastically, calling him junior brother.

Tao bit his tongue. He wanted to argue but instead cursed himself under his breath for not paying attention.

”Faust of the Clear Mirror Sect.” Faust introduced himself in turn.

”I apologise, senior, I usually pay more attention.”

”…I believe you.” Faust nodded convincingly, before looking over the three. “The test ends in the morning, there’s still time if you head eastward. Most of the other participants went westward to where the forest meets the lake’s edge.”

“That feels like cheating…” Tao couldn’t stop himself from speaking.

”My, my, if you don’t want to, then head west.” Aneroze responded, turning, presumably westward without looking back.

”Then, I’ll come see you in the Outer Sect. There’s other demonic cultivators to kill.” Faust said, also turning.

”Bye brother!” Foria waved him off before following Aneroze.

”See you soon.”

Tao looked from west to east, but after seeing the girls head west, he grit his teeth and made up his mind.

”Nothing comes easy, kid. Don’t try to uphold strict justice.” The old ghost said as the group separated.

 

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While Tao had gotten distracted.

“…So we’re going to have another sibling?” Faust asked. Foria nodded. The two had been updating each other on home and the sect.

“They want you to come by and talk about if they should send them to the sect as well. Father wants to pass his pottery and porcelain working to someone, but he also doesn’t want to take away our sibling’s opportunity for immortality.” Foria added.

Faust rubbed his chin. “Did they use the Qi Sensing pills I sent?”

“They insisted I had them all.” Foria shook her head.

”I sent them enough for the whole family to start cultivating…” Faust scratched his chin.

”You know how they are. They both think they’re too old to cultivate. The only things they use are the beauty salve you sent and the Fire Spirit Flower to save money on firewood.”

Scratching his chin, Faust thought things over. Golden Core was a steep cliff just for himself, Sirius and Foria, but Meridian Opening was plenty achievable even for those whose bones and minds had hardened and settled. Doubling or tripling their lifespan was achievable even just with his current resources either way.

“Inner Sect disciples can leave for almost any reason. I’ll figure something out after I head for study in the Capital’s Grand Archive.”

“They’re pretty old now, will it be alright?”

Faust nodded, patting Foria on the head in reassurance. “Last time I visited I practiced and prepared some spirit herbs to cook a meal filled with Spirit and Wood Qi. They should live to a hundred unless a disaster strikes Fallen Petal Ridge.”

Foria nodded. “Then, I’ll leave it to you!”

”Naturally. You just focus on your own cultivation. I’ve maintained most of my relations in the Outer Sect, so you shouldn’t get any rubbish like most new disciples but… I’ll tell you more while we bring the group to the sect.” Faust stopped himself. There was a lot he wanted to say but Orion had engaged in glancing combat against another demonic cultivator at the peak of the Open Palace realm, unable to kill them by itself.

Faust turned to the other girl in the party, noting the Roze clan emblem. “From the Roze clan. Are you Rozaline’s sister?” Faust asked.

”Aneroze.” Aneroze bowed, cupping her fist in respect.

Faust nodded, cupping his hands, “Inner Disciple Faust.” He introduced, then looked from Aneroze to the handsome blue haired playboy.

“““…”””

Aneroze smacked the blue haired guy with her fan.

“Long Tao greets Senior!” The blue haired playboy bowed, cupping a fist in one hand.

“See. He’s very respectful.” Foria claimed boldly.

”…” Faust raised an eyebrow.

“Faust of the Clear Mirror Sect.” Faust introduced himself half heartedly.

“I apologise, senior, I usually pay more attention.” Tao the playboy apologised.

“…I believe you.” Faust nodded convincingly, fully planning on how to separate this playboy from his sister, before looking over the three. “The test ends in the morning, there’s still time if you head eastward. Most of the other participants went westward to where the forest meets the lake’s edge.”

With that, Faust turned around, Orion wasn’t able to kill, but it was able to distract the demonic cultivator from the group of people they were chasing.

”Then, I’ll come see you in the Outer Sect. There’s other demonic cultivators to kill.” Faust said.

”Bye brother!” Foria waved him off before following Aneroze.

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”See you soon.”

Tao looked around a few times, but ended up following the girls. Faust felt his brow twitch. He knew it was the obvious outcome but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

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BOOM!

A burst of red smoke tore apart the ground in the forest.

Thunk! Thwip! Hup!

An exchange of hands, but Faust was far more calculated and ruthless than when he had been in a bad mood. The demonic cultivator suddenly tried to turn and dodge.

Zing!

Faust caught the demonic cultivator’s wrist, moving close and putting a foot between theirs, preventing them from reacting to Orion piercing through their head.

Faust kicked the body away, grasping Orion’s handle to pull it out of the corpse in the same motion.

The cold, late night air howled through the pitch black forest, blowing Faust’s robe. A few fireflies lit up the disturbed area around him. He waited a few moments, giving attention to the strange methods of demonic cultivators.

While waiting, a talisman zipped down from the sky, coming to a stop in front of Faust.

”Core Disciple Mei Hua. Reinforcements from the sect. Four Inner Disciples, Ten Outer Disciples. Overseer Clementine never left the sect. What is the current situation?”

Faust felt a shiver down his spine. Clementine never left the sect. So who was the person that had ordered them to continue with the sect recruitment trial? The fact Mei Hua had checked and the reinforcements had taken so long meant the sect had only received the letter sent through the Imperial Scribe.

The talisman turned to ashes after delivering the message. Faust pulled out his own talisman. He didn’t have any talisman for Mei Hua, but with only 10 Outer Disciples, they should be the stronger ones, he had a pretty good guess on who might be among them.

”Update Core Disciple Hua. We’ve been hunting the demonic cultivators. Of approximately eighty Meridian Opening and twenty Open Palace cultivators, I have killed twenty three Meridian Opening, confirmed corpses of sixty five in total, killed five Open Palace and seen the corpses of eight. No information on the Clementine imposter.” Faust narrated, letting the talisman shoot into the air.