Chapter 39 Core Formation, Inner Demon

The pond had been submerged for several days, and Li Chang'an stood in the pond, bending over to check the condition of the silt layer at the bottom.

Some of this silt was pond mud that he bought in Ling'an City, which he sterilized and killed with his spiritual power before placing it at the bottom of the pond. The other part was formed by composting a lot of weeds, Chinese cabbage, and cabbage leaves and then soaking them in water.

The silt layer is only ten centimeters thick, not yet ready for planting lotus roots.

Li Chang'an was groping around when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark figure out of the corner of his eye.

He straightened up and saw the Sword Spirit Senior, who had been missing for a long time, reappear.

Ever since Tianxuan arrived, the sword spirit has vanished without a trace, and no one knows what it's been up to.

"Senior Sword Spirit!" Li Chang'an quickly greeted him.

The sword spirit stepped forward, his expression somewhat solemn: "Li Chang'an, your cultivation has now broken through to the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, and you are about to form your core."

Li Chang'an was taken aback: "Core Formation?"

Since he started worshipping the mountain god, he has been very busy and hasn't paid much attention to his cultivation.

Upon hearing the sword spirit's words, he quickly circulated his spiritual energy to sense it and discovered that the spiritual energy in his dantian was constantly swirling, vaguely forming the shape of a bead.

Is this a sign of forming the Golden Core?

"Successfully forming the core and passing the tribulation will allow one to smoothly enter the Golden Core stage."

While the sword spirit was speaking, Li Chang'an had already climbed out of the pond.

He drew a cleansing talisman, and the mud on his body instantly disappeared, leaving him clean.

"Thank you for the reminder, senior. I will go to form my core now."

Just as he was about to turn and leave, the sword spirit called out to him: "Li Chang'an."

"The process of forming the core is perilous. One must be free from distractions, uphold one's Daoist heart, and overcome inner demons. If one cannot do this, one will suffer a cultivation deviation and fall into demonic possession."

Li Chang'an turned his head and heard the sword spirit slowly say, "If you fall into demonic possession, the restrictions of the Boundless God Venerable will immediately obliterate you, and you will have to wait for the next life."

Another erasure, this treacherous past life.

Li Chang'an smiled helplessly, climbed onto the black sword, and waved to the sword spirit: "Don't worry, senior, I will try my best not to give the restriction that chance."

Since forming the core requires a clear mind, it's best to find a place where no one will disturb you.

Li Chang'an pondered for a moment, then flew on his sword to the outside of the Mountain God's Cave on Mount Wolu.

Nowhere is more tranquil than this.

He told Black Sword to wait outside the cave, then walked to the entrance.

A flash of blue light appeared on his forehead, and Li Chang'an successfully passed through the entrance barrier and arrived at the secluded mountain forest.

Li Chang'an found an open space, sat down, and began to circulate his spiritual energy.

He seemed to see the surging spiritual energy swirling in his dantian, and tried to control and compress it, but then a burning, intense pain suddenly came.

Cold sweat poured down Li Chang'an's forehead as he clenched his teeth, trying his best to keep his mind clear.

However, his vision suddenly went dark, and his body felt as if it were falling into an abyss, followed by the pain of crashing to the ground.

For some reason, he returned to the moment he fell off the cliff!

I was in excruciating pain, as if all my bones had been shattered into pieces.

He lay at the bottom of the cliff, unable to move, only able to watch in despair and resentment as the sky in his sight was stained red with blood.

But that's not right. The pain from falling off the cliff occurred when he first wanted to leave Xuanling Immortal Mountain; he didn't die from the fall.

Instead, he came to Xuanling Immortal Mountain, grew excellent vegetables, made money, and fulfilled the conditions for worshipping the mountain god, thus acquiring many spiritual fields...

Li Chang'an bit his lip hard, his body trembling, constantly reminding himself.

This is fake; the story of falling off a cliff to his death is fake.

His spiritual energy circulated throughout his body, rushing towards his dantian once again.

The next second, Li Chang'an found that the pain in his body suddenly disappeared, and he even felt a gentle breeze blowing across his face.

He slowly opened his eyes, only to find that he was not in the mountain god's cave.

Li Chang'an turned his head and looked around in confusion.

He was sitting on a clear lake, surrounded by nothing, with ripples spreading beneath him. The lake reflected the boundless blue sky, and white clouds drifted slowly across its surface.

Li Chang'an frowned, looking at his reflection in the lake.

He rubbed his face, and his reflection in the lake rubbed his face as well.

He sighed and stared blankly at his reflection in the lake.

How strange, could this also be a test from my inner demons?

Such a beautiful place? And there's nothing around it at all?

Li Chang'an was completely baffled.

He was getting a little bored and decided to continue circulating his spiritual energy in preparation for forming his core.

A faint voice came from behind, so familiar, yet somewhat unfamiliar because it had been so long since I had heard it.

"Chang'an... Chang'an..."

Li Chang'an froze, slowly turning his head in disbelief, and saw a man and a woman, as well as a child in the man's arms.

The faces of the three people in front of me were so clear.

Li Chang'an's eyes widened, completely stunned.

"Changning, call me brother, brother, brother."

The man pointed at Li Chang'an and taught the child in his arms word by word.

Beside him, the woman smiled gently and said to Li Chang'an:

"Chang'an, don't worry. Even if your mom and dad have a little brother, they will never stop loving you. You will always be our most beloved child and our family's little lucky star."

"Because of you, we have Changning..."

Suddenly, the child in the man's arms laughed sweetly and called out in a childish voice, "Brother!"

Li Chang'an stared at them blankly, without responding.

The man seemed puzzled and looked up at him: "What's wrong, Chang'an? Come here and let your father take a look. Is something on your mind?"

Li Chang'an gave up meditation.

He slowly stood up, walked towards the three of them, and extended his hand.

He touched the child's face; it was warm to the touch.

The child tilted his head and rubbed his soft face against his hand.

Li Chang'an's eyes gradually reddened, and his mind went blank.

These are the family members he has missed for sixteen years: his father, his mother, and his younger brother, Li Changning.

"How could this be..." How could I see them here?

Are they really warm-hearted? Are they really his family?

Where is this place?

The man smiled at him, put down the child in his arms, and extended his hand to him.

"Come here, let Daddy hug Chang'an."

The moment the man's hand touched Li Chang'an, Li Chang'an felt his vision shrink, becoming as low as that of a six-year-old child.

He blinked and threw himself into the man's arms.

Then, the man tossed him high into the air and caught him steadily.

"Flying away—"

"Oh Xinghui, don't do that, be careful not to drop the child!" The woman had just picked up Li Changning when she turned around and saw this scene, and quickly reminded her angrily.

The man suddenly hugged Li Chang'an tightly and laughed loudly: "Okay, okay, I know, isn't this just taking advantage of my good health and the child being young to play more?"

He turned to look at Li Chang'an with affection: "When Dad gets old, and Chang'an gets a little older, he won't be able to fly anymore—"

Li Chang'an was amused by him and rushed over to hug his neck, saying, "Dad isn't old, and Mom isn't old either."

The woman couldn't help but laugh, hugging Li Changning and leaning on the man's shoulder. The man freed one arm to embrace her.

The family of four quietly embraced each other.

Li Chang'an buried her head in the man's shoulder, tears slowly streaming down her reddened eyes.

"Dad hasn't gotten old, and neither has Mom..."

They didn't grow old; they died in the overturned car.

He brought them to their deaths, he brought them to their deaths.

Li Chang'an gripped the man's clothes tightly.

No matter where he was, no matter if it was a test of his inner demons, as long as he could still hold them and talk to them, that was already very, very good.

"I miss you all so much, so much, will I ever have the chance to see you again..."

But in a short while, the person in his arms gradually turned into a blurry image.

Li Chang'an's eyes widened suddenly, and he stretched out his hands, trying to grab them.

"No, no!"

"Chang An, hurry up!" Two elderly voices came from behind.

"Thud—" The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out, and then warm blood splattered onto his hair.

Li Chang'an turned around, and at that moment, his gaze suddenly rose, and he saw two old men blocking his way.

Both elderly men had large holes pierced through their chests by sharp spider legs, from which blood was flowing.

The clear lake, the azure sky, and the white clouds had all vanished; in the distance, a raging fire and a tall, dark shadow loomed.

The dark figure had blood-red eyes, and behind it was a net made of white silk threads.

The two spider legs retracted, and the two old men collapsed in front of them with a "thud".

Li Chang'an's heart raced, his body stiffened, and his wide eyes were bloodshot.

His blood seemed to have turned cold, and he felt a tearing pain in his throat, yet he couldn't utter a sound.

He could only stare blankly at the two old men's corpses, watching the tall, dark figure lunge at him...

*

Inside the mountain god's cave, the spiritual plants swayed their leaves restlessly.

In an open space, Li Chang'an was covered in blood, half of his body swallowed by a strange black mist.

Not far away, a sword spirit dressed in black slowly approached, with a sharp black sword hanging behind him.

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Author's Note: I've made some revisions.