Chapter Eighteen: The Golden Core Achieved

When true knowledge arises from intention, spiritual wisdom responds accordingly. Advertisements for watermarks. Advertisements for watermarks. When three become one, mind and body settle in an instant.

An empty chamber gives birth to light; in stillness, warmth returns. Gather with diligence, temper well, and transform it into golden frost.

The light of wisdom shines from spiritual apertures; nature manifests, worldly desires vanish. Bright as a luminous pearl in the night, purity pervades everywhere.

Restless nature transforms into true nature; the human heart becomes the heart of the Dao. If not for the forging of divine fire, how could gold be separated from the ore?

Cultivation of truth and refinement of qi—only upon reaching the Golden Elixir does one truly begin to shed the mortal shell and step onto the path of immortality. The key to the Golden Elixir lies in capturing the Dragon and Tiger, collecting the essences of the five organs and five elements, merging them with the mind into a single furnace, and letting it settle in the lower abdomen. Spiritual energy flows through the myriad meridians, finally converging in the lower abdomen to form the Elixir.

When the Elixir forms, the Dragon and Tiger appear; they are the prerequisites for the Elixir's completion. Now, Liao Chen sits alone in his secluded chamber, gathering all his spiritual intent in his sea of consciousness, visualizing the White Tiger descending the mountain. He then seeks to subdue it. Yet knowing is easy, doing is hard. The tiger’s nature is wild and unruly; Liao Chen has wrestled with the White Tiger in his sea of consciousness for a day and a night. Both man and beast, unable to accept defeat, lie on the ground, glaring at each other, measuring their resolve.

"You are a creation of my mind—how can you be so unyielding? If my cultivation fails, you too will dissipate into clouds and smoke. What good will that do? Why not submit to me?" Liao Chen realizes his ambition was too great; the White Tiger he conjured is far too fierce.

The White Tiger rolls its eyes, casts a contemptuous glance at Liao Chen, and resumes its rest. Enraged, Liao Chen seizes the moment, leaps atop the White Tiger, but the beast refuses to surrender, and the two once more become entangled in combat.

The world of cultivation is not lacking in "talents" like Liao Chen. He spends nine days in meditation, grappling with the kidney-water White Tiger he visualized. Seeing no progress, he feigns surrender, provoking the Tiger into a panic. The White Tiger, both a product of visualization and the essence of Liao Chen’s kidney qi, abandons its defense and makes a desperate charge—right into Liao Chen's trap. He dodges, grabs the tail, and holds on tightly. After much struggle, unable to shake free, the White Tiger submits, albeit grudgingly.

Liao Chen awakens from meditation, soaked in sweat and deeply frustrated; if fellow cultivators learned of his method of visualizing the Dragon and Tiger, they would surely laugh themselves to tears.

After a day's rest, Liao Chen returns to his sea of consciousness, this time joining the White Tiger in subduing the Dragon of Heart Fire. Unexpectedly, the Tiger proves courageous, and together they overpower the Heart Dragon, which yields without resistance. With the Dragon and Tiger subdued, the liver wood, metal lung, and earth spleen follow suit. Finally, Liao Chen channels the five organ essences to the lower abdomen. The five energies return to the origin, the Dragon and Tiger intertwine, concealing themselves, and the embryo of the Golden Elixir is formed. Once the embryo is established, Liao Chen stirs his spiritual energy, accelerating its flow through the body, traversing the Ren and Du meridians, the celestial bridge, straight to the lower abdomen. He maintains a tranquil spirit, tirelessly transporting essence into the lower abdomen.

Unnoticed, his speed of transportation increases. The spirit gathering array activates on its own, lighting up the spiritual stones within. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathers, forming a swirling vortex around Liao Chen. With time, the vortex expands, eventually stirring the air for a hundred miles, the wind rising in force. Ordinarily, when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is undispersed, forming the Elixir should not require such a vast disturbance—a few miles would suffice.

Within Liao Chen’s body, true energy circulates ceaselessly; outside, spiritual winds rage. After an indeterminate period, the whirlwind suddenly halts. Above his head, tribulation clouds blanket the sky for a hundred miles. Darkness descends upon the land, and the local populace grows anxious, gazing skyward.

At that moment, in the valley where the drought demon resides, a Daoist suddenly turns his gaze southward, muttering, "That youngster really is about to form the Elixir. How can it be so fast?"

On Dragon and Tiger Mountain, the golden bell rings. The Celestial Master Zhang appears, declaring he will personally travel to Jing Mountain in Hubei to congratulate Daoist Liao Chen.

Outside a tavern in Shanxi, a ragged beggar suddenly abandons his day's earnings, dashing wildly out of town, shouting, "Someone succeeded—succeeded!"

In the Imperial Astronomical Bureau of the Ming Dynasty, the chief astrologer gazes at the sky, silently calculating the auguries. Suddenly, he sighs deeply, lifts his official robe, and rushes to the hall where the ailing Emperor Hongzhi recuperates.

...

Wind and thunder converge, shaking the world. Tribulation clouds spread, and thunder rolls, until a bolt of lightning strikes straight down toward the mountain.

Liao Chen’s divine sense stirs; the great array outside his chamber spins rapidly. The tribulation bolt, just as it is about to hit, suddenly veers and splits a large stone outside his cave.

The first tribulation lightning passes. Perhaps irritated by Liao Chen’s casual evasion, the tribulation clouds above brew for a moment, and golden bolts rain down one after another. This time, Liao Chen can no longer rely solely on the array. Behind him, the peachwood sword stands upright, ringing above his head, tracing intricate paths. The lightning, drawn to the wooden sword, is ultimately devoured by it. The "ancestral" peachwood sword, crafted from a millennium-old thunder-struck peach tree, inherently possesses tribulation lightning attributes and is unafraid.

The first wave of tribulation is metal thunder—nine bolts in all. When they finish, the clouds pause briefly, then nine water-element bolts follow in succession. The peachwood sword spins faster, leaving only afterimages, drawing in nine earth-element bolts, which strike the sword. The resulting chaos turns Liao Chen’s cave upside down. The last of the nine bolts causes the sword to emit a mournful cry; unable to withstand further, it returns to its sheath to recuperate, refusing to emerge again. Clearly, it has done all it can for Liao Chen.

After water lightning comes wood lightning, governing growth and decline. These nine bolts glow with a faint green light as they descend. From Liao Chen’s bosom fly nine talismans, rising to meet the tribulation bolts. Thunder roars as lightning and talismans collide, blooming into bursts of fireworks, dazzlingly beautiful.

Wood begets fire, and fire lightning follows. Liao Chen dares not meet it head-on; he stands upon the celestial steps, his feet on several plum-blossom-shaped copper coins. Metal thunder crashes down. Liao Chen steps backward at the critical moment, and the lightning vanishes into the coins. The second, third bolts follow... Liao Chen dashes through the stone chamber, nearly leaving only afterimages, narrowly avoiding each bolt, all absorbed by the coins on the ground. When the metal lightning ends, the coins that remain have been purified by the tribulation, becoming rare instruments for warding off evil.

After fire comes earth lightning. The tribulation clouds above churn ceaselessly, flashes of red light appearing frequently, unusual in their intensity. Liao Chen is fully alert; his life hangs by a thread. The earth lightning descends—not as linear bolts, but as nine spherical bolts, glowing faintly red, strung together. This time, Liao Chen has no tricks left, relying only on his own power to resist.

The first tribulation bolt arrives; Liao Chen traces a Taiji symbol with his hand, subtly diverting the bolt to smash into the cave wall. With a thunderous crash, a hole several meters wide appears, filling the chamber with dust and leaving Liao Chen covered in grime. Before he can recover, the second bolt strikes. Liao Chen, unable to dodge in time, pauses his step; a golden eggshell-shaped shield, the Celestial Shield, appears around him. The lightning crashes against it, sparks flying, but the shield holds. The third, fourth bolts follow, each more powerful than the last. The shield flickers incessantly; Liao Chen’s energy drains, his face pale, blood trickling from his lips. Seventh, eighth bolts—finally, the shield shatters. Dizzy, his hair stands on end, and before he can recover, the ninth bolt arrives. Liao Chen summons all his remaining power, directing it at the final bolt. The collision detonates beside him; he is wounded by the electric light, darkness descending before his eyes, a metallic taste rising in his throat. In an instant, he falls into an illusion.