My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 94: Good News and Bad News

Following Ning Tao's voice.

Qi Yuan immediately felt that the resistance from the game icon seemed to weaken slightly.

Moreover, he felt as if a pair of hands gently pulled him.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan's eyes lit up.

"Here I come!"

Unexpectedly, things had taken such a turn.

No matter what, he had to get into the game first.

In the Flowing Wind Realm, inside the Heavenly Heart Palace.

Ning Tao pulled up her slipping shoulder strap, her previously half-open black dress now neatly worn.

Her words were provocative, but she didn't truly intend to give herself to the owner of that voice.

When she was young and weak, she might have had such thoughts.

But now that she was a supreme being, she naturally couldn't act that way.

She wanted to maintain control.

The Soul Locking Jade floating in the air had turned crimson.

It was as if its power had reached the limit, like an overloaded electrical component.

The Soul Locking Jade seemed to be pulling something.

Ning Tao poured all her strength into the Soul Locking Jade.

Suddenly, a purple lightning bolt struck from the sky.

Boom!

The entire sky darkened.

Crack.

The Soul Locking Jade, one of the three great treasures of the world, suddenly shattered.

This made Ning Tao's eyes flash with surprise.

Her gaze fell on the demon egg beside her.

The demon egg lay quietly, bound by eighteen iron chains.

Ning Tao, dressed in a black skirt with black stockings on her legs, walked towards the demon egg, her eyes filled with charm.

"Husband, you finally came to see me."

Inside the demon egg, Qi Yuan was a bit confused.

"Where is this place?" He looked at the girl in front of him.

The girl's face was half-covered with a black veil, hiding half of her face.

The exposed half still made Qi Yuan feel the Creator's favor towards her.

Her hair was like clouds, her eyes like frost. Despite her charming smile, Qi Yuan could sense her resistance.

Ning Tao, in a black dress with a black silk ribbon around her waist embroidered with various birds, looked stunning.

Her exposed skin was as white as jade, almost sickly pale.

Under the black dress, her straight, well-proportioned legs were wrapped in black stockings. Her feet, clad in black silk, hovered about ten centimeters off the ground.

Qi Yuan was momentarily dazed.

He glanced at Ning Tao's exquisite feet.

Why are there stockings in this world, and black ones at that?

But thinking about it, if there are skirts in different worlds, why can't there be black stockings?

Ning Tao looked at the now blood-red demon egg in front of her, a hint of dread in her eyes. "Husband, this is the Heavenly Heart Palace, your new home."

Hearing this, Qi Yuan was stunned.

He now somewhat understood his situation.

There was good news and bad news.

The good news was that he had entered the game.

The bad news was that he didn't enter normally, so he didn't have a player's identity, becoming a... peculiar NPC?

He pondered whether he should exit the game and then improve his soul strength to late Foundation Establishment to enter the game as a normal player.

But Qi Yuan wasn't in a hurry. Now that he had smuggled into the game, he could first understand the game's background.

At this moment, he heard Ning Tao say, "Husband, do you prefer me in this? I saw you sneak a glance at my leg just now."

Ning Tao spoke while lifting her skirt slightly.

Of course, it was still very modest, not even reaching her knees.

Qi Yuan didn't deny it.

Black stockings?

White stockings?

Skin-colored stockings?

Which LSP (Lewd Sock Puppet) doesn't like to rip them?

He looked at the strange object he was now inhabiting, observing the eighteen thick chains on it.

Qi Yuan asked, "Can you let me go?"

"Husband, how dare I? What if you escape?" Ning Tao's face showed a pitiful expression, like a true love-struck fool.

"Don't worry, I won't run." Qi Yuan said.

"Husband, I don't believe you," Ning Tao slowly approached Qi Yuan. "Last time, you said you'd hang me up and beat me."

Qi Yuan remained silent.

Ning Tao floated above him, lifting her delicate foot as if to step on Qi Yuan's body. "So, I boldly hung you up. Do you want me to step on you?"

Her black silk-wrapped foot was close at hand, her toes like neatly arranged art pieces, white and delicate.

If this were on Blue Star, Qi Yuan might smell something foul.

But here, he could even detect a faint fragrance.

However, recalling something, Ning Tao retracted her foot. "I can't humiliate you like this. Besides, it might be too easy for you."

Qi Yuan felt helpless.

Now I am the fish, and she is the knife.

"What do you want?" Qi Yuan had to ask.

"Husband, shouldn't I be the one asking what you want?" Ning Tao's charming eyes turned sharp.

"When I was young, you appeared in my world.

What exactly do you want?"

A powerful aura surged.

The air in the underground palace grew thick.

The eighteen chains binding Qi Yuan clanged.

Qi Yuan felt the terrifying pressure.

Stronger than Nascent Soul!

Hiding in the demon egg, he said nothing.

Ning Tao's half-covered face showed a nostalgic look.

"At first, I thought it was a gift from the heavens."

"But later, I realized, there's no such thing as a gift without reason."

"Either you have ulterior motives, or we have a special connection."

"You only existed by my ear, like a breeze, then gone."

"Maybe once every hundred years, I'd hear your voice.

I thought I was sick, hearing things."

"But no," Ning Tao stared at Qi Yuan. "I wasn't sick; you are real."

"You really exist!" Ning Tao's gaze was complex, filled with fear, caution, longing, and carefulness.

Hearing this, Qi Yuan's mind raced.

He first heard Ning Tao's voice three months ago.

But according to Ning Tao, it had been hundreds, even thousands of years in her world.

Is there such a time difference?

"I have a superpower that occasionally lets me hear others' voices.

When I hear you, I sometimes respond." Qi Yuan half-lied.

Anyway, explaining to an NPC probably wouldn't work.

"Really?" Ning Tao chuckled. "You've hidden for nearly three thousand years, never seeing me, but occasionally appearing by my ear.

Such patience, I can't ask much.

But it doesn't matter. Now you're by my side.

So, everything will be under my control."

"I'll seal your memories, then..." Ning Tao licked her lips, looking more seductive. "When you break out of the egg, you'll call me mother."

Hearing this, Qi Yuan was silent.

After a while, he said.

"You NPCs sure play dirty."

Ning Tao didn't understand Qi Yuan's words but didn't mind.

Many things Qi Yuan said before, she didn't understand.

"From now on, you'll be my golden canary."

"Little canary."

She walked towards Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan looked at Ning Tao. "Goodbye!"

He immediately logged off.

In the underground palace, Ning Tao was stunned. "Where is he?"

Panic flashed in her eyes, then she calmed down. "Asleep?"

In the northern Blood Sea.

A vast ocean.

Breeding endless demons.

Suddenly, the Blood Sea roared, a massive demon crocodile raised a colossal wave, revealing its huge head.

Dozens of supreme beings stationed at the northern Blood Sea quickly rose. "Greetings, Demon Crocodile Supreme!"

The Demon Crocodile Supreme opened its mouth, the sea water gurgling into its huge body.

"The Lord has decreed, heaven warns, a demon has entered the world.

Slay the demon, immediately!"

One supreme looked puzzled. "What are the characteristics of this demon?"

"Blood Demon!" The Demon Crocodile said, then dived back into the Blood Sea.

After hundreds of breaths, the Blood Sea calmed.

The supreme beings stationed in the north looked puzzled.

"What does Blood Demon mean?"

"Could it be related to the demons?"

The supreme beings speculated.

But they didn't dare to ask the Demon Crocodile Supreme, nor disturb the Lord deep in the Blood Sea.

The Lord was unfathomable.

They feared his power, not his virtue.

...

In the following days, Qi Yuan occasionally entered the game.

Unfortunately, he was trapped in the demon egg.

He couldn't play the game.

This frustrated him.

Entering the game and getting captured by an NPC, it was embarrassing.

But he gathered important information.

The game's world and the Canglan Realm had different time flows.

One day in Canglan Realm was nearly ten years in the game world.

From Ning Tao, he learned the game's world background.

The game world was called the Flowing Wind Realm.

One crucial piece of information.

In the Flowing Wind Realm, when cultivators died naturally, they would... turn into demons.

This was very similar to the extraterrestrial demons Qi Yuan encountered in the ultimate land.

He even thought those demons might have originated from the Flowing Wind Realm.

If true... could he possibly travel through the channel that the extraterrestrial demons used to reach the Moonlit Continent?

Currently, the Flowing Wind Realm was divided into North and South.

Southern cultivators were called Demon Slayers.

Southern law dictated that cultivators must die before their time to prevent the birth of demons.

When demons appeared, southern cultivators would hunt them down.

In the North, there were no such restrictions. Cultivators could die naturally, and demons would arise.

Due to these differing laws, the North and South developed vast differences.

In the South, ordinary people lived well, but many cultivators fled North yearly.

In the North, there was almost no space for ordinary people. They had to serve cultivators to survive.

The North and South were hostile, a life-and-death struggle.

Nearly a hundred years ago, the Northern-Southern Decision was signed.

The South and North would engage in a life-or-death battle.

In the central land, 108,000 cities were built.

These cities were supported by southern sects and countries, dispatching cultivators to guard them.

The 108,000 cities would clash with the demon army led by the North's seventeen kings.

If the cities fell, the South would lose its land.

The South would fall to the North.

If the demon army failed, the North would return to the South, jointly facing the demon catastrophe.

The Northern-Southern Decision had been in place for over twenty years.

The South's situation was dire.

"In a world where ordinary people are mere consumables, the North is destined to overpower the South."

Qi Yuan sighed.

Because that was human nature.

Just like the extraterrestrial demon said, "I shed blood for my family; why can't I enjoy my old age?"

Recently, Ning Tao tried to seal Qi Yuan's memories.

But it had no effect.

Qi Yuan was like a prisoner.

Not a player.

But he didn't hate Ning Tao.

Without her, he couldn't have entered the game early to understand its background.

He didn't want to be like in the Moon Watching Continent, where he nearly cleared all dungeons before understanding the game's setting.

Plus, she was just an NPC.

"Senior Brother Qi Yuan, the sect master summons you."

At this moment, a white crane landed outside the wooden house, calling Qi Yuan.

"Sect Master?" Qi Yuan looked thoughtful.

Since returning from the Heavenly Dragon Immortal Realm, Qi Yuan often felt an invisible gaze on him.

It seemed related to the sect master.

"Coming." Qi Yuan looked at Little Wife behind him. "Little Wife, let's go."

Little Wife turned into a stream of light, merging with Qi Yuan's chest.

Following the white crane, Qi Yuan met Elder Kumu by a lakeside in the Sacred Light Sect.

Elder Kumu looked at Qi Yuan and said slowly, "I have a great opportunity for you, but you must pass my test first."

Previously, Qi Yuan might have declined, finding it troublesome.

But now, the threat of the Hundred-Nation Blood Battle and the Radiant Palace was like a sword over his head.

He needed opportunities to quickly strengthen himself.

He had to form a Golden Core to deal with the Radiant Palace.

If a Celestial Golden Core wasn't enough, he had to strive for a Celestial Nascent Soul!

"Sect Master, please go ahead," Qi Yuan agreed.

"Come with me." Elder Kumu lifted Qi Yuan, a spiritual wind enveloped him, and they flew off.

As they flew, Elder Kumu handed Qi Yuan a mask.

"Put it on, don't reveal your identity."

Qi Yuan complied, donning the mask.

The mask not only hid his face but also his figure.

They flew for a while until another stream of light appeared, a masked woman.

The woman glanced at Qi Yuan and nestled against Elder Kumu, softly calling, "Husband."

Elder Kumu openly embraced the woman, even glancing at Qi Yuan.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan was speechless.

He knew the woman was the Great Shang Empress, a Nascent Soul-level expert.

After about three hours, they landed in a valley.

Qi Yuan sensed nine powerful auras.

All were Nascent Souls.

Elder Kumu brought Qi Yuan down, and an old voice spoke.

"Are all nine Nascent Souls here?"

The speaker was an old man with a cane.

A hunchbacked old woman with a sharp voice said, "How interesting, two shoeless monks, nine Nascent Souls, I thought there'd be ten."

Immediately, two barefooted Nascent Souls glared at each other. "I'm the shoeless monk!"

"Who are you, pretending to be me?"

Qi Yuan glanced at them, then at the nine Nascent Souls, finally at the hunchbacked woman.

[A common cultivator, always barefoot, often impersonated, sometimes impersonating himself.]

Qi Yuan was speechless.

Besides the nine great cultivators, there were a dozen Core Formation cultivators.

The old man in charge eyed Qi Yuan. "Are you sure you want him to participate?"

Elder Kumu nodded. "Yes."

The leader said no more.

The others, especially the Core Formation cultivators, were surprised, trying to discern Qi Yuan's identity.

After all, today's situation was dangerous even for Core Formations, what was a Foundation Establishment doing here?

The leader continued, "A hundred miles from here is the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge. I've located the Black Chicken Old Demon's lair."