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

Time passed swiftly.

In just a few months, undercurrents surged through the Demon Abyss, and many changes occurred.

However, these hidden changes were known only to a few Yin Gods in the Jueyue Abyss.

At this moment, Qi Yuan squinted his eyes, watching Mu Lan, who had come to report suspicious activity. A smile played on his lips. "The stars are still in the sky, and you claim there’s something wrong with Motu Heavenly Lord and Motang Heavenly Lord? Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?"

This Mu Lan was truly relentless, going around to various regions to report on Motu.

Unfortunately, what Mu Lan didn’t realize was that the Yang Gods he reported on were all actually just different personas of Qi Yuan.

In the Demon Abyss, Qi Yuan was dutifully fishing—metaphorically speaking—yet quite bored at the same time.

Occasionally, he found some amusement.

Mu Lan was one such source of amusement.

Qi Yuan was curious about when Mu Lan would finally report his suspicions to Moheng Heavenly Lord.

Mu Lan, with his head bowed and face dark, said solemnly, "Heavenly Lord, better to err on the side of caution. The Yin Gods in Jueyue Abyss have suffered heavy losses. This cannot go unchecked!"

What Mu Lan said made sense.

If a Yang God had indeed encountered a problem or perished, the stars they reflected across the heavens would fall from the sky.

But Motu Heavenly Lord’s star was still shining brightly.

The stars of the other Yang Gods he suspected also hung in the heavens, untroubled.

"The calculations and plans of the Yang Gods are far beyond the understanding of a mere Yin God like you," Qi Yuan said indifferently, acting with the depth and wisdom one would expect from a Yang God. "Enough, we shall end this matter here."

With a flick of his sleeve, Mu Lan's body was suddenly hurled out of the cave.

"Heavenly Lord, I have shed blood for the Molo clan!"

"Heavenly Lord, I have sweated for the Molo clan!"

"My loyalty is as clear as day!"

Outside the cave, Mu Lan wept bitterly, appearing utterly desperate.

"Interesting, he’s even better at acting than I am," Qi Yuan chuckled.

When dealing with a Yin God like Mu Lan, Qi Yuan wasn’t too concerned about his disguise. He didn’t even bother to change his appearance, remaining in his original form, dressed in his red robes.

He didn’t even hide his features, which meant that every time Mu Lan went somewhere, he always saw the same Yang God.

The funniest part was that whenever Mu Lan saw him, despite the shock in his heart, he had to pretend not to notice the obvious. And still, he persisted with his reports.

Highly amusing.

"Randomly toying with a Yin God like this is quite fun," Qi Yuan mused to himself.

At this point, Moheng Heavenly Lord was the last Yang God left in the Demon Abyss.

All the other Yang Gods had fallen into Qi Yuan’s traps.

It could be said that in the Demon Abyss, he could walk freely without worry.

Even if Mu Lan somehow mustered the courage to spread rumors, Qi Yuan had no concerns at all.

At the moment, Mu Lan was trembling with fear, though outwardly, he continued to cry dramatically.

He was beginning to doubt his sanity.

Was he going blind? Why did all the Yang God Heavenly Lords... look the same?

Just then, a message entered Qi Yuan’s communication jade slip.

"You scoundrel, why are you in the Sixth Heaven? How did you get there?"

Qi Yuan was slightly surprised by the message.

It was from Sister Niujiao.

These communication jade slips couldn’t send messages across heavens, and in certain special places, they were completely blocked.

For example, the Demon Abyss, covered by the Molo Well, had originally rendered these communication slips useless. The signal would have been blocked.

However, after gaining several permissions, Qi Yuan had lifted the restrictions on his own slip.

Thus, he could now receive messages from the outside.

"Well, I got tired of the Fifth Heaven, so I decided to take a stroll in the Sixth Heaven," Qi Yuan replied after thinking for a moment.

Sister Niujiao had been quite helpful to him in the past.

"Where are you? Tell me, I’ll come pick you up. There’s urgent news—a huge opportunity!" Sister Niujiao’s voice carried a hint of urgency.

Qi Yuan hesitated for a moment. "I’m currently in the Demon Abyss."

It wasn’t much of a secret, after all.

"Why on earth did you go to the Demon Abyss? There’s a war going on there, it’s dangerous!" Sister Niujiao said anxiously.

She suspected that Qi Yuan had either been drafted or had entered the Demon Abyss seeking military merit.

After all, as a cultivator from the Second Heaven, short on resources, he might have been willing to do anything.

"Don’t get involved in any battles just yet. Report to the Yang God overseeing your area under the name of the Ziyuan Family. I’ll come get you and bring you out of there!" Sister Niujiao said, clearly distressed.

"Why would you want to pick me up?" Qi Yuan asked, curious.

Sister Niujiao took a deep breath. "Your bloodline... shares the same origin as the Black Demon Abyss. And it’s quite noble."

From the expression on the Ancestor’s face, if not for the fact that a Supreme Truth-level expert couldn’t easily leave their duties and was occupied with important matters, the Ancestor would have personally gone to the Fifth Heaven to bring this mysterious blood-robed man up.

It was clear that his bloodline was incredibly special.

"Oh, sorry, but I just want to be a guest elder. I don’t want to join any major powers or become someone’s servant," Qi Yuan replied, declining the offer.

"What are you thinking? The Black Demon Abyss isn’t like other holy lands. If you don’t have our bloodline, we wouldn’t even accept you as a servant!

You wouldn’t need to become a follower," Sister Niujiao explained, clearly excited.

The blood-robed man’s bloodline was definitely more noble than her own.

Could it be a Supreme Truth-level bloodline?

Otherwise, the Ancestor wouldn’t have reacted the way he did, she guessed.

Qi Yuan’s gaze turned contemplative upon hearing this.

He was thinking about his next move after swallowing up the Molo clan.

Originally, his plan had been to head to the Buddha Kingdom.

But the Buddha Kingdom was in the Fifth Heaven, and they had grievances with the Taihuang Palace. If he attracted their attention, it might not be safe for him at the moment.

Now, hearing about the Black Demon Abyss, he was tempted.

After all, he couldn’t take Jinli to some backwater place.

"You know my enemy is that person from Taihuang Palace, and you're still willing to let me come?" Qi Yuan asked.

"Hmph, the Ancestor said it’s fine!" Sister Niujiao replied confidently.

Even if this blood-robed man viewed the person from Taihuang Palace as his enemy, there was a good chance that person didn’t even know of his existence.

Qi Yuan thought for a moment, then asked, "Can I make some... rather excessive demands?"

"Go ahead!" Sensing his interest, Sister Niujiao was pleased.

"I used to live in a mansion. I’ll need my own villa in the Black Demon Abyss!" Qi Yuan boldly demanded.

"Huh? No problem." Sister Niujiao had no idea what a villa was, but that didn’t stop her from agreeing.

She figured she could sort it out later.

"When I eat beef noodles, I need... two eggs."

"I’ll get you a hundred eggs—dragon eggs!" Sister Niujiao exclaimed.

There were indeed dragons in the Sixth Heaven.

"Isn’t that a bit too extravagant?" Qi Yuan hesitated.

He glanced at himself.

If he ate a hundred dragon eggs at once, would he still be able to maintain his figure?

"When will you arrive?" Qi Yuan asked. "I still have a few things to take care of. How about this: give me a month, and when you arrive, I’ll go with you to the Black Demon Abyss."

A month would be enough time for him to retrieve the well.

Then, he could head to the Black Demon Abyss.

Before leaving, he could spread some rumors about the Molo clan, claiming that the Molo lords had dreamt of the Lord of the Molo Clan and that all the Yang Gods had gone to the Ninth Heaven!

That way, who would know what really happened?

"Nothing is more important than you coming to the Black Demon Abyss!" Sister Niujiao said seriously.

The Ancestor was in a hurry.

"I’m preparing to wipe out the entire Molo clan. Just give me one more month!"

"You’re kidding, right? Wipe out the Molo clan, in a month?

If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. Never mind, I’ll meet you in a month. Where should we meet?"

Sister Niujiao, of course, didn’t believe him.

This blood-robed man was great in every way, except his mental state seemed off.

Not long ago, he claimed that the person from Taihuang Palace was his mortal enemy, and now he was saying he’d destroy the Molo clan in a month.

What a show-off.

The Molo clan had nearly forty Yang Gods and five Supreme Truth-level figures.

In the entire Sixth Heaven, their strength ranked within the top thirty.

"Why is it that no one believes me when I tell the truth?" Qi Yuan sighed, then sent Sister Niujiao the coordinates for their meeting spot.

By the time she arrived, he would have dealt with everything and could simply escape.

…

"I don’t know why, but recently I’ve felt uneasy, as though something has been watching me."

"Could it be... that the Moon God Palace is plotting against me?"

Moheng Heavenly Lord sat in his cave, his eyes full of complex emotions.

Ever since he had returned from meeting with Motu Heavenly Lord, he had felt that something was amiss in the Demon Abyss.

But he couldn’t quite pinpoint what was wrong.

At that moment, he glanced at the communication jade slip, which contained the group chat.

There were quite a few messages. He began to read them carefully.

"It seems they’ve found Purple Qi. How fortunate."

The mention of Purple Qi made his heart stir.

But since it was already being divided among five Yang Gods, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to join in.

There were many messages in the chat.

Those five Yang Gods had already split the Purple Qi.

"Not only did they find Purple Qi, they also made other discoveries."

Moheng Heavenly Lord read through the group chat, his expression calm.

"Purple Qi soaring into the heavens! Haha, I’ve found another great treasure!"

"Let’s go together!"

"Should we invite Moheng Heavenly Lord?"

"No, we shouldn’t disturb him in case the treasure isn’t that valuable."

"Let’s go!"

The five Yang Gods agreed to go treasure hunting together.

After thinking about it, Moheng Heavenly Lord sent a message.

"Have you all noticed anything unusual in the Demon Abyss recently?"

"Have you checked on the other Yang Gods? Are they behaving normally?"

As he typed, he glanced toward the starry sky.

The stars were still there.

This indicated that the Yang Gods hadn’t faced any serious issues.

But just because nothing catastrophic had happened didn’t mean something wasn’t wrong—especially with Motu Heavenly Lord, who had been acting strange ever since returning from the Moon God Palace.

He had already reported this to Molo Heavenly Lord.

However, Molo Heavenly Lord had simply instructed him to keep an eye on the situation and hadn’t said much else.

Clearly, Molo Heavenly Lord was preoccupied with issues in the Buddha Kingdom and didn’t think anything was wrong with Motu Heavenly Lord.

"I think everything’s fine."

"Everything seems normal."

"Just a few days ago, I had drinks with Motai Heavenly Lord. He seemed perfectly normal."

"Moheng Heavenly Lord, are you suggesting something has happened?"

The other five Yang Gods replied one by one, all saying everything was normal.

Satisfied with these answers, Moheng Heavenly Lord hesitated.

"Could it be... my imagination?" he wondered.

"How is your treasure hunt going?" he asked casually, changing the subject.

"We’ve encountered a few difficulties, but it’s just a minor issue. We should be able to resolve it soon."

One of the Yang Gods responded.

"Hmm, if you can’t resolve it, feel free to ask me for help," Moheng Heavenly Lord offered casually.

He was ambitious and wanted to become the leader of the Molo clan, so he often did favors for the other Yang Gods.

"Thank you, Heavenly Lord!"

The group chat fell silent again.

Moheng Heavenly Lord sat in his cave, deep in thought.

"Five Yang Gods say there’s no problem. Could it be... that the problem lies with me?"

Moheng Heavenly Lord couldn’t help but ponder this.

"Perhaps... my Root Demon Calamity is approaching, and that’s why I’ve been having these troubling thoughts."

He could only comfort himself with this explanation.

For a Supreme Truth-level Yang God to further improve their strength, they had to survive the Root Demon Calamity.

In the Ninth Heaven, there were no Thunder Calamities, but there were Root Demon Calamities.

Each time they endured the Root Demon Calamity, their magical power would increase, and their cultivation would advance.

But the Root Demon Calamity was not easy to survive.

During the calamity, various desires and thoughts would arise.

One misstep could lead to death.

As a result, many Yang Gods, after reaching the Supreme Truth, chose to suppress their cultivation, not daring to face the Root Demon Calamity.

But Moheng Heavenly Lord was different. He was ambitious and wanted to become the leader of the Molo clan, so he refused to suppress his Root Demon Calamity.

As the calamity drew nearer, it was natural that he would experience some distracting thoughts and inner demons.

"It must be these distracting thoughts. My Root Demon Calamity is near, but who would dare to plot against me?"

Moheng Heavenly Lord felt confident.

The Root Demon Calamity was a trial for every Supreme Truth-level Yang God.

Even a Great Supreme Truth-level Yang God wouldn’t want to provoke someone going through the calamity.

If they did, there was a chance the Root Demon Calamity would be triggered prematurely, which could be troublesome.

While it was just a minor inconvenience for a Great Supreme Truth, it was a life-or-death matter for a regular Supreme Truth.

This was because both would have to face the calamity together.

For this reason, the Yang God in the region governed by Moheng Heavenly Lord never dared to launch a full attack, fearing that he might drag her into his Root Demon Calamity.

With this thought, Moheng Heavenly Lord felt at ease.

It was probably just his distracting thoughts. After all, who would dare to plot against him now?

That would be suicidal.

But just then, Moheng Heavenly Lord’s eyes flickered.

Far to the east, a massive surge of energy erupted, as though the heavens had shattered and primordial energy was leaking out.

"This is... Purple Qi, and there’s so much of it!"

Holding the Molo Well’s authority, Moheng Heavenly Lord immediately sensed the vast amount of Purple Qi spilling out from the Hongyue Abyss.

Hongyue Abyss was precisely the territory of one of the Yang Gods in his group chat—the very one who had suggested they go treasure hunting together.

Moheng Heavenly Lord’s face twisted with conflicting emotions. "Could it be that while searching for the treasure, they stumbled upon an ancient Qi Land? This amount of Purple Qi... is too much."

The greed within him stirred.

After all, even for a Supreme Truth-level Yang God like him, such a vast amount of Purple Qi was tempting.

"Fellow Daoists, does the recent disturbance in Hongyue Abyss have anything to do with you?" Moheng Heavenly Lord asked in the group chat.

He still had his dignity, so it was only right to ask first before going.

However, after ten breaths of time passed, there was no reply.

Moheng Heavenly Lord frowned, his expression growing darker.

"Could it be... that they’ve discovered something else?"

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Moheng Heavenly Lord couldn’t sit still. His massive figure transformed into a stream of light, speeding toward the source of the Purple Qi.