Huangfu Bing'er noticed Zhu Tiannan's arrogance! Ye Qin merely coughed dismissively; she paid him no mind at all.

Zhu Tiannan was left standing awkwardly to the side.

“This must be Madam Ye, I presume!”

The bearded man, Wei Dayuan, quickly broke the tension with a hearty laugh, stepping in for Zhu Tiannan. Though he appeared rough and straightforward, his mind was sharp as a tack. Seeing Huangfu Bing'er standing close to Ye Qin, affectionately clinging to his arm as they shared a single flying sword, he had already guessed her identity.

“Yes.”

A faint blush touched Huangfu Bing'er’s face as she nodded slightly, glancing up at Ye Qin.

“Brother Ye has true fortune! It is fate that the three of us should meet such an esteemed couple here.”

Wei Dayuan chuckled loudly upon confirming his guess.

This solidified his belief that Ye Qin was likely a disciple of some major immortal cultivation family. Ye Qin’s profound cultivation at such a young age was probably due to family backing. As for why Ye Qin didn't even carry a respectable high-grade magical artifact, it was likely because he wasn't particularly skilled, and chose to travel light to avoid unnecessary conflict with other cultivators. With a powerful family supporting him, taking a beautiful wife was only natural.

Zhu Tiannan gaped momentarily, his excited, tense expression collapsing into deep dejection. He let out a long, heavy sigh, and after a long while, slumped in defeat. A wave of sadness washed over him; here he was, a man of elegance, grace, and noble birth, yet still alone, utterly overshadowed by this unremarkable fellow—a devastating blow to his pride.

Su Tong, equally surprised, felt that Huangfu Bing'er was wasting her talents by pairing with a man so plainly featured, seemingly lacking both spirit and strength. As an outsider, it was improper for her to say much, but her gaze clearly betrayed her inner judgment.

Ye Qin, Huangfu Bing'er, and the trio of late Foundation Establishment cultivators—Wei Dayuan the bearded man, Zhu Tiannan the man in white, and Su Tong the woman in red—flew northward slowly, riding their artifacts.

Wei Dayuan and his companions usually hunted demonic beasts at sea, selling the materials and demonic cores for coin, having no fixed hunting grounds. Being bold and generous, Wei Dayuan enjoyed making friends along the way. He and Ye Qin found their temperaments compatible and conversed well, so they decided to travel together toward the Northern Isles district.

Ye Qin knew little of the Eastern Sea, having gleaned most of his knowledge from ancient immortal texts. Wei Dayuan, having spent considerable time in the Eastern Sea, was well-versed in the local conditions and could offer Ye Qin valuable explanations. They hunted a few low-level demonic beasts along the way, selling them to shops on certain large islands, discussing local customs and amusing anecdotes about cultivation among the Eastern Sea Isles—the journey was far from dull.

Several months later, Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er arrived in the Northern Isles region governed by the Heavenly Dao Alliance.

They had separated from Wei Dayuan and his two companions midway through their journey.

Wei Dayuan, Zhu Tiannan, and the third cultivator had spotted tracks of a sixth-tier sea beast and excitedly pursued it. Although they held Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er’s strength in mild contempt, having two additional late Foundation Establishment cultivators would add to their force, so they invited Ye Qin and his companion to assist.

Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er declined, choosing instead to continue toward the Northern Isles, seeking an uninhabited, barren land where they could attempt to form a Core. At this moment, nothing was more important than achieving Core Formation.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Huangfu Bing'er avoided contacting her fellow disciples, martial uncles, or martial aunts from the Azure Elixir Sect, who were also in the Northern Isles. Instead, she and Ye Qin focused on finding a desolate island to complete their Core Formation first.

The Northern Isles region was filled with countless large and small islands.

However, the medium and large spiritual islands with concentrated spiritual energy suitable for cultivation were typically occupied by Golden Core cultivators. The smaller spiritual islands were claimed by late Foundation Establishment cultivators. What remained were only barren islands devoid of spiritual energy.

Such barren islands held no value for cultivators, so naturally, no cultivator was interested in them; at most, a few mortal people lived there. Occasionally, a small number of cultivators would hunt sea beasts near these barren islands.

Yet, even barren islands were owned. All islands in the Northern Isles region belonged to the Heavenly Dao Alliance. They had to be leased or purchased for a fee before use.

The branch of the Heavenly Dao Alliance governing these islands was established on a large island.

The Alliance official in charge of island leasing and sales did not make things difficult for Ye Qin when he requested to purchase a tiny, barren island; the request was approved immediately.

Such barren islands were plentiful in the Northern Isles and were worth very little money.

Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er arrived at this unassuming little barren island.

They were only stopping here to form their Cores, not to cultivate long-term, so the spiritual energy density of the island was irrelevant.

This nameless islet was remote, featuring a small rocky peak spanning a few li. The island surface was entirely bare rock, with only a scattering of sparse vegetation.

Most importantly, within several hundred li radius, there were no other islands belonging to Golden Core cultivators. Very few Foundation Establishment cultivators would occasionally pass by, and even if celestial phenomena occurred, it would not attract undue attention.

Upon bringing Huangfu Bing'er to this location, Ye Qin released the Golden Crow Breaking-Aura Sword for less than half an hour. Then, he began carving into the rock, excavating a cave dwelling within the mountainside containing five rooms: a living chamber, a meditation room, and an alchemy room. Afterward, using array flags, he set up a Grand Illusion Array and a Defense Array both inside and outside the dwelling.

Huangfu Bing'er quickly arranged the stone chambers with a touch of magic, retrieving a set of beds, tables, chairs, incense burners, curtains, and drapes from her storage bag. With her deft arrangement, the entire dwelling took on an unexpectedly warm atmosphere. [Site address change note: Revert to the original site: Foot-link-concave-embed. Please log in to Yuandou.]

Ye Qin stared, slightly dumbfounded, rubbing his nose. He hadn't expected Bing'er to bring such domestic necessities. His gaze naturally drifted toward the bed.

The joys of the bridal chamber need not be spoken of.

Following their plan, Ye Qin would attempt Core Formation first, with Huangfu Bing'er acting as his guardian. Once Ye Qin succeeded, she would assist Huangfu Bing'er. For added security, Ye Qin also released his Golden Core Skeleton Demon as an extra guardian.

Huangfu Bing'er had seen Ye Qin frequently bring the skeleton demon out to "forage" in the Spirit Mist City battlegrounds, absorbing the death energy from fallen cultivators. Thus, she knew he possessed a skeleton demon, which wasn't a surprise.

However, seeing the sixth-tier skeleton demon with its black bones transform into a seventh-tier Golden Core Skeleton Demon composed of white skeletal remains, she was utterly stunned, her jaw hanging open. Only then did she truly understand why Ye Qin had shown such disdain for the two late Foundation Establishment cultivators, Li Shuwen and Wu Yuyue. Their true backing was not the three Nascent Soul artifacts, but this Golden Core Skeleton Demon.

The vast disparity in tiers rendered any challenge nonexistent.

Two mere late Foundation Establishment cultivators were not even worthy of a casual glance from this Golden Core Skeleton Demon.

Core Formation is no easy feat. Even though Ye Qin now possessed the Core-Assisting Spirit Nurturing Liquid, giving him a high probability of success, he dared not show the slightest negligence. Otherwise, wasting two Water-Attribute Core-Forming Pills would require him to painstakingly re-refine them, a tremendous hassle.

After bathing, burning incense, and cultivating peacefully for three days to reach his peak state, Ye Qin entered the meditation room and swallowed the Water-Attribute Core-Forming Pill, beginning his third assault on the Golden Core bottleneck. He slowly circulated his energy, refining the pill—a process he was familiar with, everything running smoothly.

A month passed. The meditation room remained quiet.

Half a year passed. Still, no sound emerged from the meditation room!

Outside the stone door, in her separate meditation chamber, Huangfu Bing'er cultivated her immortal arts while waiting silently. She occasionally glanced outside to check if the sky had changed, but though anxiety gnawed at her heart, she showed no outward sign of it.

She was worried. [Site address change note: The site address has been changed to: Foot-link-concave-embed. Please log in to Yuandou.]

During his breakthrough of the Foundation Establishment bottleneck years ago, Ye Qin nearly suffered instant death due to a flaw in the initial chapter of the Sitting and Forgetting Sutra.

Although the middle volume of the Sitting and Forgetting Sutra avoided that flaw,

she had no idea what dangers might lie ahead now.

Inside the meditation room.

The Core-Forming Pill was completely refined. Ye Qin's internal vital energy swelled turbulently, reaching the point where it could no longer be contained.

This vast surge of vital energy flowed through the Mud Pill Aperture, entering the Sea of Consciousness. Countless streaks of white light illuminated the Sea of Consciousness brilliantly. These white lights then emerged from the Sea of Consciousness, coursing through his meridians, impacting and widening them.

Just like the previous two times, his Nascent Soul remained completely still, unable to absorb or refine the vital energy supplied by the Core-Forming Pill.

It seemed impossible without auxiliary aids.

Ye Qin took a deep breath, decisively swallowed a dose of Spirit Nurturing Liquid, and sank his spiritual sense entirely into his Sea of Consciousness.

This Spirit Nurturing Liquid proved miraculously effective. The previously dormant Nascent Soul and the immense vital energy inside suddenly stirred violently, changing drastically with a loud whoosh!

Ye Qin’s spirit shook. He quickly stabilized his mind as his Nascent Soul began to solidify substantially.

The Nascent Soul of the Foundation Establishment stage was originally a ball of white, misty light. The torrent of vital energy forcefully compressed the Nascent Soul, and under this immense pressure, the ball of misty light condensed the first drop of supremely pure liquid essence.

This single drop of essence shattered with a pop, turning back into a misty light, which was then compressed again by the vital energy, condensing into essence drop after drop, repeating slowly, cycle after cycle.

Day after day.

Time flowed like a fleeting shuttle!

Ages passed within the Sea of Consciousness.

It was unknown how long this process took.

A golden core, the size of a bright white egg, materialized vibrantly within the Sea of Consciousness after absorbing all the vital energy and light. The Nascent Soul was no longer a ball of misty light, but a complete, liquid Core.

The Great Dao of Golden Core was finally opened.

The fissure displayed on the Natal Nascent Soul Tablet in the Sea of Consciousness shifted, indicating a lifespan approaching five hundred years.

Ye Qin had no mind to pay attention to these matters now.

The joy had not yet fully settled.

Outside his wood-form dwelling, in the boundless void, streaks of violet lightning gathered in the distance, roaring within the limitless grey mist. These violet bolts churned the grey mist into chaos, forming massive vortices.

Experiencing this for the third time, the entity inside knew its duty: it must remain still within the Natal Nascent Soul Tablet.

It understood that the vortices formed by the grey mist were coalescing into a new floating island. This meant a third floating island would soon appear within the Sea of Consciousness.

It dutifully remained within the Natal Nascent Soul Tablet, watching as wisps of violet lightning swept harmlessly past the vicinity of the wood-form dwelling. Its gaze betrayed hidden awe; it dared not move an inch.

The three Nascent Soul artifacts jointly guarded the interior of the Natal Nascent Soul Tablet, just in case.

Ye Qin was no longer the naive novice stepping into the cultivation world. Through years of travel and exposure to the varied immortal techniques across different cultivation spheres, his perspective had broadened immensely.

However, even now, he could not fathom what these violet lightning bolts truly were.

Even possessing the power of a Golden Core cultivator, he could not suppress a primal fear toward those mysterious violet bolts. Even a mere touch from one would suffice to turn him to ash, eradicating him completely from existence.

Even his projected divine sense, upon brushing against the violet lightning, was instantly electrocuted and disintegrated, demonstrating its terrifying might.

He was certain that the power of the violet lightning far surpassed the minor heavenly tribulation's dark lightning.

This mysterious space, the boundless grey mist, the violet lightning, and the successive floating islands remained an unsolved enigma to him.

The construction of the third floating island was an exceedingly lengthy process.

Outside, the unnamed island was in an uproar.

But Ye Qin’s consciousness remained immersed in his Sea of Consciousness, utterly unaware, patiently awaiting the completion of the third island.