To improve his strength, there were many ways.
What Zhang Fan wanted to do most currently was to cultivate the Myriad Prisons Suppressing God Body to true minor accomplishment. Once the divine body achieved minor accomplishment, Zhang Fan's strength would increase significantly, making him comparable to cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage.
However, he had not found any treasures related to body refinement from the pile of spoils. He could only temporarily abandon the path of body refinement and consider other directions.
First, Zhang Fan consumed eleven Golden Scale Breakthrough Pills, finally raising his cultivation to the peak of the Core Formation stage.
As such, the depth of his spiritual power was already stronger than many third-grade Golden Core cultivators. Even compared to Lin Yun, who had reached the peak of the third-grade Golden Core stage, he was not weaker in the slightest.
"Only with such a powerful Primordial Core can I fully inscribe the Golden Core Dao patterns!"
Feeling the immense Primordial Core within his body, Zhang Fan was still extremely satisfied. Having cultivated to this point, he had finally reached the peak of the Core Formation stage and could begin inscribing Golden Core Dao patterns.
Inscribing Golden Core Dao patterns was a major threshold for Core Formation cultivators to break through to the Golden Core stage.
But for Zhang Fan, there was no threshold whatsoever.
This was because Zhang Fan was different from other peak Core Formation stage cultivators. Other peak Core Formation cultivators would begin to come into contact with the Great Dao and comprehend the true meaning of Dao only after reaching the peak of the Core Formation stage.
But Zhang Fan, as a Grand Ascension Immortal Emperor in his previous life, had not only comprehended parts of the Great Dao but had mastered more than one complete Great Dao.
After all, every Immortal Emperor who cultivated to great accomplishment needed to comprehend at least one complete Heavenly Dao.
As for which path he should take in this life, Zhang Fan had already made plans at the beginning of his cultivation. Therefore, he had no doubts when he reached the peak of the Core Formation stage.
He did not need to comprehend the true meaning of Dao like other cultivators. What he needed to do was to continuously inscribe the true meanings he comprehended onto the Golden Core Dao patterns.
At the same time, Zhang Fan was very curious: could a Primordial Core truly only inscribe nine Golden Core Dao patterns?
Was this the limit that the Primordial Core could withstand, or the limit of true meaning that cultivators could comprehend in the Core Formation stage?
In this life, the Primordial Core Zhang Fan had cultivated was already powerful enough, with spiritual power comparable to the peak of third-grade upper-rank Golden Core cultivators at the peak of the Core Formation stage.
He felt that the Primordial Core's bearing capacity should not be a problem.
Nine was the extreme of numbers, and it was also the limit for Core Formation stage cultivators to inscribe Golden Core Dao patterns. If this limit were broken, what grade would the Golden Core reach?
Filled with curiosity, Zhang Fan began to hold his breath and concentrate. In his spiritual consciousness space, he condensed a small figure that resembled himself. The figure held a long sword and began to practice sword techniques.
There were three thousand Great Daos, and the Sword Dao was one of them. The true meaning of the Sword Dao was all-encompassing, with sharp sword, clumsy sword, piercing sword, heavy sword, illusory sword, shadow sword, fast sword...
In his previous life, Zhang Fan had mastered the complete Sword Dao. For the true meanings related to the Sword Dao, he could comprehend them with just a moment's thought. However, the Primordial Core's capacity to bear true meaning was limited, and Zhang Fan needed to inscribe the true meanings that would most improve his combat power.
"Sharp Sword True Meaning..."
"Heavy Sword True Meaning..."
"Illusory Sword True Meaning..."
"Fast Sword True Meaning..."
"Shadow Sword True Meaning..."
...
The small figure in Zhang Fan's spiritual consciousness space continuously practiced sword techniques, and one true meaning of the Sword Dao after another was perfectly displayed.
Afterward, Zhang Fan also began to inscribe Golden Core Dao patterns. The power of the true meanings was continuously added to the Primordial Core, making the Primordial Core stronger and stronger.
Concurrently, as the true meanings on the Primordial Core increased, he found that inscribing the true meaning of the Sword Dao became increasingly difficult...
When inscribing the first three true meanings, he only needed half a day to complete each one.
But after the Golden Core Dao patterns reached three, the difficulty of inscribing true meaning more than doubled. It took him nearly ten days to complete the inscription of the sixth Golden Core Dao pattern.
"If I can inscribe one more Golden Core Dao pattern and break through, I will reach the level of a first-grade Golden Core," Zhang Fan thought to himself.
Even a first-grade lower-rank Golden Core was a distant dream unattainable for countless Core Formation stage cultivators, but for Zhang Fan, it was far from enough.
The seventh Golden Core Dao pattern took fifteen days. The eighth Golden Core Dao pattern took a month. For the ninth Golden Core Dao pattern, Zhang Fan spent a full three months to painstakingly complete the inscription of the ninth Golden Core Dao pattern on the Primordial Core.
By then, Zhang Fan had been in seclusion for over five months, inscribing nine Golden Core Dao patterns.
After the ninth Golden Core Dao pattern was inscribed, Zhang Fan could clearly feel that the Primordial Core had become countless times stronger than before.
Similarly, he could also feel that his Primordial Core seemed to have reached its bearing limit. If he continued to forcefully attempt to inscribe Golden Core Dao patterns on the Primordial Core, Zhang Fan felt that his Primordial Core might shatter from being unable to bear the load.
Zhang Fan circulated his cultivation technique, and the vast spiritual power gushing from the Primordial Core, like a rushing river, circulated through his meridians, filling Zhang Fan with power.
"Could it be that Core Formation stage cultivators can only inscribe a maximum of nine Golden Core Dao patterns?"
Although he had inscribed nine Golden Core Dao patterns, Zhang Fan was still unwilling. Although in his previous life he had never heard of any cultivator in the Core Formation stage being able to inscribe a tenth Golden Core Dao pattern and condense a Golden Core superior to first-grade upper-rank,
deep down, he had always felt that he could do it.
Reality had slapped him hard. He had failed. He was very sure that if he continued to try, the Primordial Core would definitely shatter, and his years of hard cultivation would be in vain.
"If I can enhance the Primordial Core again, is it possible to inscribe another Golden Core Dao pattern and condense a Golden Core superior to first-grade upper-rank?"
A golden light suddenly flashed in Zhang Fan's eyes. He thought of the Zhiwu Primordial Fruit left on Earth by True Immortal Zhiwu.
The Zhiwu Primordial Fruit could directly help a cultivator's Golden Core increase by one grade. Such a miraculous effect could be called a divine medicine that defied creation. If he consumed it, could Zhang Fan then add three more Golden Core Dao patterns?
Upon thinking of this, Zhang Fan's hope reignited. A first-grade upper-rank Golden Core was the best outcome for all other Core Formation stage cultivators, but Zhang Fan was not satisfied.
If he could not achieve something that broke the rules of cultivation, wouldn't it be a waste of such an opportunity to be reborn?
After inscribing nine Golden Core Dao patterns, with the nourishment of the nine true meanings of the Sword Dao, the power of the sword began to gradually be born within Zhang Fan's Primordial Core.
"I can start cultivating the Wordless Sword Manual," a simple score appeared in Zhang Fan's mind.
The Wordless Sword Manual had no moves but was a method for utilizing the power of the sword. Using the power of the sword to perform sword techniques would greatly enhance the power of the swordplay.
ps: Third update!