After taking a few sips of the Spirit Tea, which contained Dao Principles, Xu Yunfan put down his teacup. He finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for a long time, his posture humble and his tone sincere as he sought guidance.
"Senior Brother Pudu, Senior Sister Dongming, a question has been troubling me for a long time. I hope you can enlighten me."
True Monarch Pu Du raised a hand slightly. "Please speak freely, Junior Brother."
Xu Yunfan said, "Ever since I stepped into the Golden Core Realm, I’ve noticed that in our Sect’s Scripture Pavilion, and even in the outside world, there are very few Cultivation Techniques for the stages after the Golden Core Realm. The ones that do exist are mostly vague and unsystematic.
It’s nothing like the Foundation Establishment Stage, where we have True Scripture inheritances like the *Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture* and the *Qiankun Pure Qi Mysterious Dao True Skill* that point directly to the Great Dao.
I don’t know... for this Golden Core Realm, what method should one follow for subsequent cultivation? How does one practice? How can one truly take that step of lifting the Grotto Heaven so that it hangs high without falling?"
When this question was asked, True Monarch Pu Du’s expression was calm, as if he had expected it.
Once one enters the Golden Core, this becomes the goal of every Cultivator.
True Monarch Dong Ming, however, couldn’t help but cover her mouth and let out a light laugh. Her gaze toward Xu Yunfan held a hint of teasing and disbelief.
"Junior Brother Xu, you’ve been a Golden Core True Monarch for over a century now, haven’t you? In all that time, have you really just been in closed-door cultivation, not even looking into such basic knowledge of the Dao?"
To her, it was as basic as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator asking why they needed to perform Energy Introduction.
Xu Yunfan’s face flushed slightly at the question. He cursed inwardly, ’Damn that woman Dongming. The Primordial Sect is so secretive and doesn’t reveal the path ahead. If it were a Wild Cultivator, they’d probably fumble around until they died without knowing what to do. They might not even understand the principles of Yin-Yang Transition and Five Elements Integration to form a Minor Circulation. They’d just grab the first Dao Fruit they find, try to refine it, and end up exploding.’
He gave a nervous laugh.
"Well, I... uh, I was indeed focused on my cultivation and was negligent in... ahem, seeking advice."
’He couldn’t very well say he’d spent most of his energy refining Dao Fruits and figuring out how to hide himself more deeply, could he?’
True Monarch Pu Du set down his teacup and said slowly, "Junior Sister Dongming, don’t tease Junior Brother Xu. It’s normal for him to have such doubts, being new to the Golden Core."
He looked at Xu Yunfan and explained, "The Golden Core Realm is completely different from the previous Realms. For Foundation Establishment and Qi Cultivation, you can follow the well-trodden paths paved by your predecessors, progressing step by step, practicing existing True Scriptures to build your Dao Foundation and receive guidance. But after the Golden Core, the paths of the Dao diverge."
"Why are there so few universal Cultivation Techniques for the Golden Core Realm?"
True Monarch Pu Du answered his own question. "It is simply because every Golden Core True Monarch has proven a different Dao Fruit, cultivates a different Great Dao, and the foundations upon which their Grotto Heavens evolve are all vastly different.
For example, I walk the path of delivering all living beings, Junior Sister Dongming cultivates the Cause and Effect Dao of the Nine Nether Profound Evil, and you, Junior Brother Xu, wield the Dao of Divine Sky Destruction Thunderbolt. Our Origins are all different. How could we possibly share a single Dharma Gate for our practice?"
He paused before continuing, "The cultivation of a Golden Core Realm Cultivator revolves around nurturing and transforming, but more importantly, it is about refining.
Nurturing is to use the Origin of heaven and earth and the Great Dao Laws to temper and nourish the Golden Core day and night, making it stronger and more solid, like an eternal, undying star.
Transforming is to convert external power for one’s own use—be it refining a compatible Dao Fruit, absorbing World Heaven Root Qi, or comprehending Tao Principle Fragments left by predecessors—all to nourish one’s own Golden Core Grotto Heaven.
As for a Cultivation Technique... it’s not that they don’t exist, but rather that you need to create it yourself."
True Monarch Pu Du’s voice became solemn. "What our predecessors left behind are mostly their insights into the rules of the Great Dao, methods for using the Origin of heaven and earth, or their comprehensions of the bottlenecks in Golden Core Realm cultivation, Grotto Heaven evolution, and Dao Fruit nurturing.
But as for how to unify the Dao Fruits you have refined, how to make your Grotto Heaven’s barriers resilient enough to bear the lifting force, how to completely stabilize your Minor Circulation and trigger the Grotto Heaven to ascend...
For these things, you need to draw upon your own Dao Foundation, smelt all the Laws you have learned and comprehended, and refine them into your own unique Dao and technique, forming your very own Scripture."
True Monarch Dong Ming also set aside her playful expression and, in a rare moment of generosity, spoke up to add, "Senior Brother Pudu is absolutely right. In the Mid-Stage Golden Core, the act of lifting the Grotto Heaven so it hangs high is, in essence, making your Grotto Heaven completely independent of your physical body’s Purple Mansion. It becomes entrusted to the void of the Great Dao, with your True Spirit residing eternally within it.
This requires your Grotto Heaven to be sufficiently resilient, your Dao Fruit to be sufficiently stable, and your path of the Dao to be sufficiently clear and firm.
How does one achieve this? There is only one way: refine your own Great and Small Circulation and walk your own path of the Dao! Once the Great and Small Circulation is stable, the Laws are self-consistent, and your power can endlessly regenerate, the Grotto Heaven will naturally be able to draw upon the Dao Principles of the void, anchor its coordinates, and hang high without falling.
This is a process that no outsider can do for you, nor can it be achieved by rigidly copying a Cultivation Technique.
Forcing it through imitation will, at best, sever your path of the Dao. At worst, it will lead to the destruction of both body and soul."
She recalled the dangers she faced when she tried to break through to this Realm, and for a moment, she fell silent.
’She had stagnated for nearly ten thousand years, still stuck in the Golden Core Early Stage. Even now, she had only managed to take a single step forward by borrowing the Outer Dao Fruit Position of Eternal Night’s Fall. Fundamentally, her Innate foundation was a notch weaker than the natives of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm.’
’But it couldn’t be helped. Dao Fruits were rare. Every one of the world’s One Hundred and Eight Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends Dao Fruits was either being watched by countless eyes or was concealed by the Celestial Dao. She had tried many methods, but all had failed at the critical moment.’
’How could she compare to Xu Yunfan? He had killed the Wansheng Sword Sect’s Red Sun True Monarch and seized his Dao Fruit as easily as eating and drinking, and the Wansheng Sword Sect hadn’t even pursued the matter.’
She knew exactly why.
’That Lv Chunyang of the Sword Sect was Xu Yunfan’s Ancestral Master. With a backer like that, Xu Yunfan’s actions were like a knife, pruning away the troubles surrounding Lv Chunyang.’
Hearing their words, Xu Yunfan experienced a moment of profound enlightenment, and everything suddenly became clear.
’So that’s how it is.’
’The path after the Golden Core is a path without a path!’
’It’s not that there is no method, but that one must create their own method.’
’This was why the Cultivation Techniques for the Golden Core Realm in the Scripture Pavilion were so rare and unsystematic.’
’Because they were the manifestations of their predecessors’ Daos and methods—they were the results, not the paths themselves.’
’The Jade Scroll from True Monarch Pu Du, the insights traded from True Monarch Dong Ming—they were all summaries of their own paths, the stones from other mountains that he would have to use to polish his own jade.’
’If he wanted to lift his Grotto Heaven, step into the Middle Stage, and even glimpse the ethereal Nascent Soul Realm, his only option was to take everything he had learned—the *Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture*, the *Celestial-Eroding Netherworld Talisman*, the *Green Dragon Thunder Pearl Locking Tribulation and Calming Fortune Technique*, the *Turtle Breath Concealing God Technique*, and even his newly created *Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Sky Hidden Secret Technique*—all the Cultivation Techniques and Secret Techniques...’
’...along with the comprehension of the Laws brought by his three Dao Fruits, and smelt it all in a single furnace. He had to discard the dross and refine the essence, extracting a fundamental technique that was core to, and perfectly matched, his own Dao of "Divine Sky Destruction, Profound Vault Undying, and Thunder Fire Yin and Yang."’
’This was the path of creating his own technique, the true beginning of proving his Dao.’
The discussion of the Dao continued for several hours. True Monarch Pu Du and True Monarch Dong Ming answered many more of Xu Yunfan’s questions regarding Grotto Heaven stabilization, Dao Fruit nourishment, the details of the Minor Circulation, and more, from which he benefited immensely.