At Wuling City, in a standalone courtyard by the riverside.

Lin Zheyu sat cross-legged beneath the shade of a tree, eyes closed as he contemplated the mysteries of the golden runes on his body. It had been more than a month since he last encountered Fan Hongwei of the Soaring Cloud Pavilion, and he had fully digested the remaining portions of the Profound Exposition of Totems.

Now, his understanding of demonic patterns and barbarian totems far surpassed what it once was. After systematically studying both, Lin Zheyu began attempting to analyze the golden runes and the golden body totem on his body. The golden runes had formed after cultivating demon arts, created through the combined effects of forced recovery by Origin Force and the golden energy within him.

As for the golden body totem, it had formed after integrating the Saha Scripture during the process of constructing the totem. Under a convergence of circumstances, it triggered the demonic patterns' rule-based Dao resonance hidden within the golden runes, causing it to appear on its own.

Neither of these manifestations had been under Lin Zheyu's control. Previously, due to insufficient strength and a lack of systematic understanding and knowledge of demonic patterns and totems, he could not make sense of them, no matter how much he tried to analyze them.

Now, Lin Zheyu finally had the ability to attempt deciphering the golden runes. Pushing his Perception Domain to its limit, his spiritual sense sank into the runes within his body as he carefully dissected the patterns of the Great Dao contained within them. Even with a foundation in demonic patterns and totems, the difficulty of analyzing the golden runes was far greater than expected. Yet this was something he had to do. Otherwise, as his strength grew, he would inevitably hit a bottleneck.

A gentle breeze passed through, rustling the leaves. It was already winter, yet the tree in Lin Zheyu's courtyard remained evergreen, its leaves lush and vibrant.

His aura was long and steady, his chest rising and falling slowly. The golden runes that surfaced on his chest gradually faded, only for another rune to light up beside the previous one. Each rune contained different rule patterns, some vastly distinct from the others.

Time passed slowly.

As dusk fell and dim sunlight spread across the ground, Lin Zheyu remained seated under the tree, unmoving. Only when night deepened, and the moon rose above the treetops, casting its pale light, did he raise his brows slightly and slowly open his eyes.

"Huff~. My understanding of demonic patterns and totems is still too shallow. Relying only on basic knowledge is not enough to fully unravel the secrets within these golden runes."

Lin Zheyu sighed softly, feeling somewhat helpless.

No matter the cultivation path, systematic knowledge was always extremely expensive. Just purchasing those two texts had already cost Lin Zheyu a large amount of spirit stones. Now, he had none to spare.

"It's been so long. Why hasn't Tu Yuan come out yet? Do immortal cultivators really stay in seclusion for this long...?" Lin Zheyu muttered quietly.

It was not just Tu Yuan. None of the others had replied to his messages either.

Actually, one person had replied. Lei Yunshu had ended her seclusion more than three months ago and even found time to visit Lin Zheyu once. She had been fortunate enough to obtain a rule fragment. However, since it was from the outer region and she had not slain many demons for sacrifice, the rule aura within the fragment was weak. After over three months of seclusion, she had already consolidated her gains from the demon god barrier.

Lin Zheyu inspected his storage pouch and, a bit frustrated, said, "I only have 142 spirit stones left. That should last around three months. Tu Yuan and Bai Lin should come out by then, right?"

If they still didn't appear, he would give up waiting and sell Tu Yuan's storage pouch first, even if it meant making less. In fact, apart from that pouch, Lin Zheyu also had two very valuable items: two Golden Cores he had taken from other cultivators. These were his true treasures, and he had no plans to sell them. With a flick of his right hand, two perfectly round Golden Cores flew out from storage and landed in his palm.

Lei Yongtao said he has a strong chance of achieving a Six Thunder-Pattern Golden Core this time. Yet these two Golden Cores are perfectly round, without any rule inscriptions. Could they be Golden Cores that just belong to ordinary Golden Core realm cultivators?

Lin Zheyu examined the Golden Cores in his hand and pondered inwardly.

Whenever he had free time, he would take out the Golden Cores to examine them closely, seeking to understand their remarkable properties. With his eyes closed, his spiritual sense expanded and immersed itself into the Golden Cores in his hand. Sharp, fierce threads of sword intent aura, guided by Lin Zheyu, emanated from the cores and surged toward his soul.

Lin Zheyu's spiritual sense enveloped the Golden Cores, ignoring the strands of piercing sword intent as he focused on comprehending them. Within a Golden Core lay not only powerful and condensed energy, but also the power of rules and a trace of destiny aura. This was information he had learned from exchanges with Lei Yongtao and others.

The so-called destiny aura was the foundation of the Golden Core. It was also what allowed cultivators, after achieving the Golden Core realm, to begin walking the path of breaking free from the Heavenly Dao, where one's fate is determined by oneself.

With his current strength, Lin Zheyu could not yet penetrate the Golden Core to comprehend that mysterious destiny aura. For now, he could only use the power of rules he had grasped to draw out the rule-based Dao resonance within the cores for daily study. These two Golden Cores likely came from traditional sword cultivators.

The power of rules within the Golden Cores had been perfectly fused into sword intent, existing in that form. This did not hinder Lin Zheyu's comprehension. Instead, it provided a valuable reference. Although the Heaven-Splitting Slash he created was far stronger than his previous saber techniques, it still had flaws. The fusion between rules and his saber technique was not yet perfect. The sword intent contained within these two Golden Cores could help him refine Heaven-Splitting Slash and cultivate a powerful saber intent unique to himself.

With these reflections, a cold wind swept through. The wind was fierce tonight, biting with cold. However, to a martial artist like Lin Zheyu, it was insignificant. He was quietly cultivating a potent saber intent, and the faint cracks forming nearby gradually integrated into this intent as he wielded control.

At dawn, a ray of sunlight fell. The thin layer of frost on the courtyard's stone floor began to melt. Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes, and the powerful saber intent around him vanished instantly, drawn back into his body.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 285]

[Skills: Earth Shrinking Technique (Perfection), Primordial Concealment Technique (Perfection), Heaven-Splitting Slash (Second Stage: 37%), Primordial Golden Body (Second Stage: 100%)]

Lin Zheyu looked at the data in his mind. Heaven-Splitting Slash had reached 37% of the second stage. At this pace, it would take less than three months to reach perfection and fully integrate the power of rules into his saber intent.

Lin Zheyu exhaled a long breath, stood up, and brushed off dust that was not there. His enchanted clothing kept itself clean, but he still did it out of habit. Without it, something felt off. With a tap on his storage pouch, a gourd filled with spirit liquid appeared in his hand. The liquid was mixed with fragrant spirit wine, and the rich aroma spread the moment he opened it.

After drinking half a gourd, Lin Zheyu showed a satisfied smile. It would have been perfect if he had roasted meat to go with it.

"Next time I'll try a different flavor. I'm getting tired of this one," Lin Zheyu said with a light chuckle.

Putting the gourd aside, he leapt gracefully out of the courtyard. Moving west and passing through the western city gate, his pace quickened. Using the Earth Shrinking Technique, he traveled a thousand kilometres in only a few strides. Besides occasionally leaving the city to hunt fierce beasts, he mostly stayed in the courtyard, focusing on mastering the secrets of the golden runes and honing his Heaven-Splitting Slash saber intent.

Over time, it grew monotonous, so Lin Zheyu accepted Lei Yunshu's invitation to visit the blessed grotto heaven of the Lei Family. He had long wanted to explore such a place and experience how dense the spiritual qi there truly was. The blessed grotto heavens used for markets were barren, lacking both spirit power and demonic qi. In contrast, the Lei Family's blessed grotto heaven was filled with rich spiritual qi, a true realm of immortal cultivation. If large enough, it could even be called a minor spirit realm.

The cold wind howled through the barren mountains and forests. Lin Zheyu moved swiftly, reaching a remote and uninhabited mountain region in no time.

"Oh? Not bad luck. There's actually a Martial Innate realm ferocious beast living here."

Lin Zheyu's expression shifted, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Ferocious beasts at the Martial Innate realm were uncommon. There was an anomaly in this world. It wasn't only due to the presence of demonic qi; the spiritual qi concentration was also an issue. It was just too sparse. Since arriving here, Lin Zheyu had explored extensively. Even in the most secluded wilderness, he never encountered a spot with notably dense spiritual qi.

Lin Zheyu suspected that most of the spiritual qi had been gathered and drawn into the various blessed grotto heavens by powerful forces. What remained in the open world was extremely sparse. This was also why immortal cultivators and Martial Innate realm martial artists were rarely seen in the mortal world. They not only feared the erosion of demonic qi, but also the thinning of spiritual qi. The longer they stayed, the more their strength would gradually decline.

At the same time, the scarcity of spiritual qi made it extremely difficult for ferocious beasts to reach the Martial Innate realm. Unlike martial artists, they could not obtain spirit liquid from the Directorate of Celestial Observation or cultivation factions. Without such assistance, even breaking into the Force Transformation realm was difficult, let alone reaching the Martial Innate realm.

Whoosh.

Lin Zheyu's figure flickered and disappeared from his original spot. He then silently reappeared above a fierce beast, whose body was pitch black, its fur shining, and two large fangs protruding from its mouth like a black tiger.

The black tiger let out a fierce roar, sensing danger. Although it couldn't detect Lin Zheyu's aura, it felt an imminent threat. Suddenly, the beast's roar was cut off with a bang. Lin Zheyu's smooth, delicate hand descended softly and struck its head with a dull thud. The black tiger's eyes rolled back, and it collapsed lifelessly.

Lin Zheyu looked at the defeated beast with satisfaction and said, "Not bad, not bad. This one is big enough for two meals."

The tiger was too large to fit into a single storage space. Lin Zheyu drew his saber, sliced it into two halves, and stored each in separate pouches. After easily killing a beast at the Martial Innate realm, he vanished with a flicker and continued his journey.

The teleportation formation was nearby. Wuling City also had a formation connecting to the Lei Family's blessed grotto heaven, but it was limited to certain people. Without any background or status as a guest of the Lei Family, Lin Zheyu could only use this visitor formation instead.