"Hoo!"
As the vortex in his dantian disappeared, a baby's fist-sized, perfectly round Yuan Dan (Nascent Core) quietly hovered in Zhang Fan's dantian. Zhang Fan's eyes seemed to penetrate his own flesh, gazing at his dantian with a satisfied smile.
The quality of a cultivator's Yuan Dan was related to the cultivation method they practiced. The stronger the method, the more heavenly energy it could absorb and withstand, naturally resulting in a higher quality Yuan Dan.
More importantly, Zhang Fan was concerned that the strength of the Yuan Dan would determine the height one could reach in the Golden Core stage.
To form a Golden Core, one had to engrave Golden Core Dao patterns onto the Yuan Dan. Each Dao pattern contained a cultivator's profound understanding of a certain path and carried a strong Dao force.
However, Yuan Dans of different qualities had limited capacity for Dao force. For example, the cultivators in the Dan Formation stage on Earth, constrained by their cultivation methods, cultivated Yuan Dans of ordinary quality, with very few being able to withstand even four Golden Core Dao patterns.
Therefore, even if they possessed exceptional talent and could comprehend seven Golden Core Dao patterns, they could not fully engrave them onto their Yuan Dans, thus failing to achieve a first-class Golden Core.
"Although I am only in the early stage of the Dan Formation realm, the boundless magical power contained within this Yuan Dan is comparable to that of a peak Dan Formation stage expert!"
Feeling the magical power within the Yuan Dan he had condensed, Zhang Fan was extremely satisfied. Achieving this level, even in the myriad star fields, would only be possible for the most core disciples of large immortal sects and sacred lands.
However, disciples born in large immortal sects possessed resources far beyond what Zhang Fan currently had. To achieve this on Earth, a place with scarce resources, Zhang Fan was already very content.
"Having reached the Dan Formation realm, I can finally cultivate the second diagram of the 'Ten Absolute Heavenly God Record'."
Zhang Fan silently circulated the 'Ten Absolute Heavenly God Record' technique. Gradually, a monstrous beast with a human face and a bull's body appeared in his mind, roaring upwards...
The sound seemed to come from the ancient past. The beast's breath carried a powerful devouring force, as if all the boundless chaotic energy was being swallowed by it. Around the Taotie (Gluttonous Beast), absolute darkness prevailed.
Zhang Fan probed with his divine sense in his mind, only to discover that his divine consciousness within his mind space was being devoured by the phantom, causing Zhang Fan to gradually lose himself.
When Zhang Fan awoke, he realized he had fallen into the illusion presented by the second diagram, breaking into a cold sweat. At the same time, he was pleasantly surprised.
"The second diagram is actually the legendary Devouring Beast, Taotie!"
Taotie, like the Liantian Si (Sky-Splitting Ox), was a legendary chaotic ferocious beast, renowned for its ability to devour.
Legend had it that during the chaotic genesis of the universe, Taotie swallowed more than half of it, leaving only void in its wake.
Zhang Fan suppressed his excitement. The divine ability granted by the first diagram of the Ten Absolute Heavenly God Record, the 'Liantian Si Diagram', was the 'Horn of Sky Splitting', which was invincible and could break anything.
Even now, the divine ability 'Horn of Sky Splitting' was considered Zhang Fan's trump card, its power immeasurable.
The divine ability bestowed by the 'Taotie Diagram' was 'Chaos Devour'. Once cultivated to the transcendence stage, one could transform into a chaotic ferocious beast and devour all things in the universe.
Zhang Fan's excitement wasn't solely due to the power of the divine ability itself, as he possessed many divine-grade abilities in his previous life.
The astonishing aspect of the 'Chaos Devour' divine ability was its ability to devour space, creating a world within oneself and converting the devoured power for one's own use.
This perfectly complemented his cultivation of the Myriad Domain Suppression Divine Body. The Myriad Domain Suppression Divine Body could absorb the power of myriad domains, working in tandem with 'Chaos Devour'. This would be of immense help in his future path of body refinement.
Zhang Fan sat cross-legged, and the image of Taotie reappeared in his mind. This time, he was prepared. His divine sense cautiously resisted Taotie's devouring force, diligently comprehending Taotie's devouring intent according to the diagram's method.
...
Time passed. In the third month of Zhang Fan's seclusion, Wuchen Sword Immortal successfully engraved the first Golden Core Dao pattern, making him capable of transforming his Yuan Dan into a Golden Core at any moment.
However, his goal was to condense a second-class Golden Core, so he dared not break through.
Two months after Wuchen Sword Immortal emerged from seclusion, Ailabela also broke through and came out of seclusion. Her Blood Moon Demon King Body had achieved minor completion, and she had successfully cultivated the Heavenly Human Body. Simultaneously, she had reached the Divine Realm in her bloodline cultivation.
Emerging from seclusion, Ailabela was full of vigor and immediately sought a sparring session with her father. Within dozens of exchanges, the peak Divine Realm Blood Clan Patriarch, Lightes, was defeated by Ailabela.
In a forest outside the Ancestral Castle, Lightes rubbed his slightly aching chest and looked at Ailabela, who was smiling in the distance, with a wry smile. "You little thing, you were so harsh on your own father."
"I only used seventy percent of my strength. Who told you to be so weak?" Ailabela said proudly.
After defeating her father, Ailabela regained her former confidence. However, she was not complacent, knowing that there were still many people stronger than her.
With her current strength, even facing an ordinary early-stage Dan Formation cultivator, she could probably only resist for a few moves before fleeing in disarray.
Half a year after Ailabela emerged from seclusion, the Blood Ancestor Xue Jing, who had been in seclusion for a long time, finally came out. After consuming a large amount of Blood Dan, his strength had fully recovered. The powerful aura emanating from his second-class Golden Core put immense pressure on all the Blood Clan members.
Even Wuchen Sword Immortal, who had engraved one Golden Core Dao pattern, felt a sense of powerlessness when facing Xue Jing. He suspected that Xue Jing was a second-class Golden Core realm expert.
After emerging from seclusion, Xue Jing intended to seek out Zhang Fan and go to the Vatican. However, he discovered that Zhang Fan was still in seclusion, which made him somewhat helpless, and he could only wait patiently.
...
Two months had passed since Xue Jing emerged from seclusion, and Zhang Fan had been in seclusion for a full year. During this time, Xue Jing had arranged for people to constantly monitor the movements of the secret realm space.
The secret realm space, which had always been quiet, appeared somewhat abnormal today.
Xue Jing, Wuchen Sword Immortal, Ailabela, and others stood outside the secret realm space. They speculated that Zhang Fan was nearing the end of his seclusion, so they had all gathered here to wait.
This secret realm space was discovered by Xue Jing when he first descended to Earth. It was like a fragment of space that had fallen onto Earth, not existing in the same dimension as Earth.
This was why Xue Jing had built the Ancestral Castle here as the Blood Clan's base camp.
Although the secret realm space was only a tiny fragment of space, the space within it was extremely stable.
However, standing outside the secret realm space today, Xue Jing clearly felt the spatial fluctuations emanating from it, indicating that the space was gradually becoming unstable.
"Could Master be practicing some divine ability within the secret realm space, causing spatial instability?"
Xue Jing guessed uncertainly. Even with his fully restored strength, he could barely shake the secret realm space in the slightest. This was not something a Golden Core realm cultivator could achieve.
"The light barrier is retreating!"
Ailabela suddenly exclaimed. The light barrier in front of them was the entrance to the secret realm space, representing its boundary.
The light barrier, which had not moved an inch for hundreds of years, was now retreating, moving further and further away from them.
Xue Jing and several Blood Clan princes watched this scene with bewilderment. The retreating light barrier suggested that this secret realm space was moving? Or shrinking?
"What is that?"
Wuchen Sword Immortal looked up and saw a gigantic phantom of a human-faced bull-bodied beast hovering in the sky. The phantom spanned the light barrier, revealing its massive head.
And the face on that head bore a resemblance to Zhang Fan!