Gateway of Immortality

After resealing his cave dwelling, Qin Sang brushed his hand across the Mustard Seed Pouch and retrieved a jade box.

As the box opened, a Kanli Golden Pill, entirely golden in color, burst forth with dazzling brilliance, bathing both Qin Sang and the entire cave dwelling in golden light. At the very top of the Kanli Golden Pill, a tiny vortex spun slowly, where black and white qi coiled distinctly, clearly separated like a dragon and a tiger entwining.

The pill birthed the image of dragon and tiger, radiant with life.

However, compared to the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid beside it, the Kanli Golden Pill seemed somewhat overshadowed.

Seemingly provoked by the presence of the Kanli Golden Pill, the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid swayed slightly. Above the orchid, countless illusory realms manifested in rapid succession, each flickering into existence and disappearing, yet every vision appeared startlingly real.

The Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid unleashed its full might.

In that instant, the brilliance of the Kanli Golden Pill dimmed visibly under its suppression, and even the dragon and tiger qi atop the pill began to faintly dissipate.

Who would have thought that even pills could contend against one another?

Clicking his tongue in amazement, Qin Sang waved his hand, sealing off the qi of the Kanli Golden Pill. Only then did the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid finally settle down.

Grasping the Kanli Golden Pill in his hand, Qin Sang once again sat in quiet meditation for several days, adjusting his state to its peak and calming his mind completely. Only then did he open his mouth and swallow the Kanli Golden Pill.

It did not take long before the pill dissolved within him. The power of the pill transformed into two distinct streams of force, intertwining within his body. As they traveled into Qin Sang's meridians, they abruptly separated, flowing along two different paths, clear and unmixed.

These two streams of force were drastically different.

One was scorching hot yang qi. As the yang qi coursed through his meridians, it felt as though raging flames were burning his insides, sending searing pain through him.

The other was bone-chilling yin qi. Wherever the yin qi passed, Qin Sang felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss.

Half of Qin Sang's body burned like fire, his skin flushed bright red, while the other half seemed frozen into a solid block of ice, an aura of cold radiating from him, forming a thin layer of frost over his body.

While these two streams of force rampaged within him, Qin Sang faintly heard the continuous roar of dragons and tigers echoing by his ears, never ceasing.

He had long known about the phenomena that would arise upon consuming the Kanli Golden Pill, and so he remained calm and unflustered.

He held firmly to his inner self, unaffected by the roaring illusions, and maintained constant awareness of the movements of the force within him. Step by step, he actively guided the two streams of force toward the Qihai.

The two forces advanced side by side, about to pour into the Qihai.

Suddenly, Qin Sang flipped his palm, swiftly popping a few prepared pills into his mouth. He immediately swallowed two healing spiritual pills, mending the injuries the force had left along his meridians, and then sank his full concentration into his Qihai.

Boom!

The Qihai trembled violently.

The two streams of force reunited within the Qihai.

In that instant, the spiritual power inside the Qihai boiled like a raging sea, churning furiously.

Moreover, the same conflict that had raged in his meridians now erupted within his Qihai as well.

Ice and fire collided!

At times, the heat was scalding; at others, the cold was bone-piercing...

This rapid alternation between burning and freezing made Qin Sang's Qihai increasingly unstable. The intensity of the fluctuations only grew, showing no signs of stopping.

The impact of the Kanli Golden Pill's force on his Qihai was terrifying. Had he consumed the pill unprepared, he would have been forced to expel the force forcibly by now.

Otherwise, not only would he fail to form a core, but he could even end up crippling himself.

Fortunately, not every auxiliary spiritual object for Core Formation produced such destructive power.

Different pills carried vastly different medicinal energy.

The Snow Spirit Lotus and Iris Flower, for example, had far gentler medicinal energy; preparing a few ordinary healing pills would have sufficed.

Qin Sang held on for a while longer, but soon his strength waned, and signs of losing control within the Qihai became evident. Without hesitation, he swallowed another spiritual pill from his mouth.

This pill melted into a gentle stream of force, quickly flowing along his meridians and entering the Qihai.

The storm within the Qihai grew even more violent. With the addition of this new force, the furious clash finally eased slightly, but the respite was short-lived, and chaos soon resumed.

Another pill went down his throat.

...

After consuming three spiritual pills in succession, Qin Sang finally weathered the most dangerous phase. Although his Qihai had yet to fully calm down, he could at least barely keep it under control.

At Shaohua Mountain, countless seniors had consumed the Kanli Golden Pill before him, leaving behind detailed records regarding key phases of the process. With just a slight sensing, Qin Sang realized that his situation had stabilized.

Immediately, he steadied his mind and began channeling his art with full focus.

ThePrimordial Spirit Sword Nourishmentoperated swiftly.

One cosmic orbit after another was completed.

Although Qin Sang's Qihai continued to boil and churn, refusing to settle, the storm gradually weakened with the passage of time. At the same time, a subtle change seemed to stir within his spiritual power.

In silence, Qin Sang maintained the circulation ofPrimordial Spirit Sword Nourishment, concentrating fully on searching for the opportunity to break through.

Time flowed by slowly.

The spiritual qi within the cave dwelling, which had fluctuated due to Qin Sang's consumption of the pill, gradually returned to stillness.

An entire day and night passed swiftly.

By the evening of the second day, Qin Sang suddenly awakened.

His gaze, at first dazed, swept across the jade pool and the orchid before him. Then, he abruptly lowered his head, staring fixedly at the location of his dantian, disbelief coloring his tone as he muttered to himself.

"This... is it?"

His Qihai had completely calmed down, without the slightest trace of chaos. It seemed no different from before he had swallowed the Kanli Golden Pill.

But this was by no means good news!

He had failed.

If Core Formation had succeeded, the process would have lasted some time.

Failure, on the other hand, revealed itself quickly.

It took Qin Sang quite a while to come to terms with reality. His lips curled into a bitter smile.

The medicinal energy of the Kanli Golden Pill had been completely exhausted just like that.

Throughout the entire process, Qin Sang had given his all, not allowing himself the slightest distraction. Yet he had not sensed even the faintest so-called opportunity.

Just like before, not only had he failed to form a core, he had gained no valuable experience either.

In the self-recorded experiences left behind by countless seniors, even those who failed after consuming the Kanli Golden Pill still reported sensing subtle changes.

Some even showed clear signs of imminent Core Formation but ultimately failed due to unstable mindsets at the critical moment, regretting it deeply.

One kind-hearted senior, who later succeeded in forming a core, had left a warning: before attempting Core Formation, one must temper their heart of Dao thoroughly, lest regret consume them.

Qin Sang had never doubted the firmness of his heart. Yet he had not even had a chance to apply that senior's advice.

Opportunity?

Signs?

There had been none!

The spiritual power within his Qihai remained exactly as it had been before, showing no signs of condensing.

Perhaps there had been minute changes along the way, but if so, they had been extremely slight and fleeting—gone before he could even detect them.

Of course, every senior who had reached the Fake Core Realm had far superior talent compared to Qin Sang. Among those who had left behind their experiences, not a single one shared Qin Sang's condition of possessing five spiritual roots.

Talent, huh?

Qin Sang could not help but feel a pang of unwillingness. After a moment's contemplation, he once again sank into meditation, resumed channeling his art, and continued to seek a breakthrough.

A month later.

Qin Sang left his cave dwelling once more and made a round across the small island. Seeing no message left behind by Wandering Man, he returned again.

Throughout that month, he had ceaselessly operated his art, hoping for some unexpected turn of fortune. Yet the outcome was disappointing—his cultivation remained completely unchanged.