txolops Chapter 212 Bright Moon Core Formation
Chapter 212 Bright Moon Core Formation
Although this is a rich mine, not all spirit stones are high-grade spirit stones. It's just that high-grade spirit stones appear much more frequently than in ordinary mid-grade spirit stone mines, and the majority of the mines are still mid-grade spirit stones.
Luo Ming's spirit beasts, especially the Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise, would occasionally crush and swallow a piece or two of spirit stones with spiritual energy while working, as snacks and supplements. Luo Ming pretended not to see it.
It is common for demonic beasts to devour spirit stones to aid their cultivation; only demonic beasts with strong bodies can cultivate in this way.
Seeing that the spirit beasts could mine spirit stones without interfering with their cultivation, Luo Ming felt relieved and flashed off towards another spirit stone mine.
This spirit stone vein is embedded deep in the earth's veins and is encased in hard blue steel rock. This rock is extremely hard, and if one were to mine spirit stones using magical artifacts, it would consume a great deal of magical power.
As a beast-taming cultivator with many subordinates, Luo Ming naturally wouldn't do this kind of work himself.
He patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist, and several golden and silver insect clouds swarmed out, instantly covering the entire stone wall with a layer of gold—his gold-devouring insects.
Even if he were to mine this place for a hundred years, he still wouldn't be able to mine it all, since spirit stones aren't gathered together, but scattered throughout the hard rocks of the earth's veins.
In terms of efficiency in mining spirit stones, his group of nearly 100,000 gold-devouring insects were undoubtedly the best. However, he did not intend to carefully control these little guys to mine spirit stones, but instead planned to release them here and let them devour the spirit stones at will.
"Hehe, with the enormous reserves of spirit stones here, if it absorbs them for several decades, it shouldn't be far from reaching maturity, right?"
Luo Ming chuckled, then commanded the Gold-Eating Insects to venture deeper inside, heading in the opposite direction from the other spirit beasts.
Time passed slowly, and two years went by in the blink of an eye.
Inside the cave dwelling that Luo Ming had carved out, mid-grade spirit stones shone with a warm glow and were piled up like mountains; next to them, there was also a small pile of high-grade spirit stones with a bright spiritual light. The pure spiritual energy emanating from them alone made the cultivation environment inside the mine comparable to a legendary blessed land.
However, Luo Ming always kept in mind that one top-grade spirit stone, but he never found it.
"It seems the opportunity hasn't arrived yet. After all, the underground veins extend to a vast area, and no one knows where that top-grade spirit stone is. Oh well, such a harvest is already heaven-defying; we shouldn't be too greedy."
Although Luo Ming felt a slight pang of regret, wondering what that top-grade spirit stone looked like, he quickly let it go. The path of cultivation is long, and some things cannot be forced.
In the days that followed, aside from going out every year to retrieve the Gold-Eating Insects and reinforce his soul imprint, Luo Ming spent his time cultivating in his cave filled with spirit stones. His cultivation progressed so rapidly that he became unknowingly engrossed in it.
As for the yellow-faced cultivator who escaped from the two wind phoenixes, thanks to the gold-devouring insects he had placed within a hundred miles of his cave, he never noticed the other party returning and gradually stopped paying attention to him.
On this day, Luo Ming held a high-grade spirit stone in each hand, his mind immersed in deep cultivation.
Suddenly, he keenly sensed a strong yet orderly fluctuation of spiritual energy emanating from the direction of Mingyue's secluded cave not far away! This fluctuation initially surged like an undercurrent, then grew increasingly intense, causing the surrounding spiritual energy to gather, vibrate, and resonate. Faint sounds of wind and thunder echoed amidst the surging spiritual energy.
Luo Ming slowly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them, and a barely perceptible smile of satisfaction appeared on his lips.
"It's finally done."
He was not surprised at all. Mingyue's talent was already quite good, and she had a strong will. With his careful guidance and the support of the abundant spiritual energy of Biling Island, plus the further consolidation of her foundation by refining that Wind Spirit Essence, advancing to the Core Formation stage was a natural progression.
He even felt that, given Mingyue's accumulated experience, it took five years to break through, which was not fast, but rather rather rather steady.
At this moment, Luo Ming carefully sensed the scale and rhythm of the spiritual energy fluctuations and nodded slightly. The commotion was quite significant, and the range of spiritual energy it attracted was very wide. This precisely demonstrated that Mingyue's foundation was extremely solid, her magical power was pure, and her foundation was profound. She was far superior to those who had barely formed their core and whose true essence was superficial.
These condensed golden pills have greater potential and can go further on the path of cultivation in the future.
He did not rise to disturb them, but quietly used his divine sense to protect the surroundings, preventing any unexpected interference with this crucial process of condensing the golden core. Outside the cave, the vortex formed by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth became increasingly apparent, with faint rosy light flowing above the Bright Moon Cave.
Several spirit beasts seemed to sense something as well, and they all looked up towards Mingyue Cave. In particular, Mingyue's Azure Winged Scorpion nervously guarded the entrance to its master's cave, not leaving for a moment.
The peak state of spiritual energy gathering lasted for about half a day before gradually subsiding.
When the last trace of unusual fluctuation subsided, a stable, refined spiritual pressure far exceeding that of the Foundation Establishment stage emanated faintly from within the Bright Moon Cave. Luo Ming knew that his only disciple had officially entered the Core Formation stage and truly joined the ranks of the backbone of the cultivation world.
"Sigh, this disciple has already caught up with his master. I need to hurry up too!" Thinking that he and his disciple were both at the early stage of Core Formation, Luo Ming gave a bitter smile.
With a flick of his sleeve, the cave door opened silently. He gazed in the direction of the bright moon, waiting for the newly promoted Core Formation cultivator to emerge from seclusion.
A moment later, a streak of azure light swept gracefully from the direction of Mingyue Cave and landed in front of his cave. The light faded, revealing Mingyue's figure.
Her aura had completely stabilized at the early stage of Core Formation, her magical power was refined, and her eyes were clear and bright. Compared to five years ago, she had gained more composure and confidence.
Most strikingly, standing on her shoulder was a magnificent azure demonic bird, its feathers shimmering with a pale blue luster, its tail feathers long and elegant, with a gentle breeze accompanying its every glance. It was the young phoenix hatched from the phoenix egg from back then, and judging from its spiritual energy fluctuations, it had already stepped into the ranks of second-level demonic beasts.
"Disciple Mingyue greets Master. I have fortunately succeeded in condensing the elixir and have come to report back to Master."
Upon seeing Luo Ming, Mingyue immediately stepped forward and respectfully performed a disciple's salute. Behind her, Xiao Fengluan tilted her head, curiously observing Luo Ming.
Luo Ming's gaze swept over the wind phoenix, a clear look of surprise flashing across his face.
This phoenix has only been hatched for five years, yet it's already at level two? And it doesn't seem to have just recently advanced to level two. Although this bird has also consumed a lot of spirit stones to cultivate, this speed of advancement is simply too astonishing.
Immediately, he recalled Mingyue's special physique and understood that it was the Xunfeng physique, which had a profound effect on nourishing and promoting wind-type spirit beasts.
"Get up." Luo Ming raised his hand to help you up, his tone calm. "Now that you have advanced to the Core Formation stage, you are now my peer in terms of major realms. There is no need for such a grand ceremony."