Chapter 4134 — The Uses of the Star Ink Stone

"If you can pull it off, that would of course be for the best. With a rare treasure like the Star Ink Stone to aid you, and with potential like yours, Brother Wei Zhao, I'd wager you're bound to become the strongest Golden Core cultivator of them all—within your own rank, absolutely no one will be able to stand against you!" Di Xingdao's eyes burned bright, though worry still crept into his voice. "But you must understand this too, brother: for all that your medical skill reaches the heavens, the old saying holds that a physician cannot heal himself. If you fail and end up with your meridians shattered to pieces, I fear no one in this world will be able to save you then..."

Eager as Di Xingdao was to recover his strength and desperate as he was for an Embryo Condensation Golden Pill, he did not want Wei Zhao risking a breakthrough on his account. This was no trifling matter—should it fail, the consequences were beyond imagining, and no amount of guilt afterward would mend a thing.

"Brother Tian, cultivation is defiance of heaven to begin with, and fortune is ever sought amid danger. Since there's a fifty-fifty chance, I say I must give it a try no matter what!" Wei Zhao pondered briefly, then said with unwavering eyes.

The grim fate of shattered meridians did frighten Wei Zhao somewhat, yet in truth he was not overly concerned. After all, the Creation Battle Art he cultivated was not the same thing as Di Xingdao's original version, and his previous breakthroughs had never been as perilous as Di Xingdao described. Even if he failed, it did not necessarily mean his meridians would shatter. And even if they did, and his true qi was gone, Brother Pig was still there—self-repair was no great matter!

Besides, this time there was still a fifty-fifty chance. If he balked even at this, if he lacked even this much nerve, then he might as well give up all dreams of advancing further and hurry off to hide back in the mortal realm and live out his days in peace.

"Since you're set on this, brother, I'll say no more. Today let us have a good long talk about what I learned in my own breakthrough back then—and oh, yes, about how the Star Ink Stone ought to be used." Di Xingdao nodded. He himself had been a man of sharp, unyielding spirit in his day, and that Wei Zhao could make such a manly decision won his genuine admiration deep down.

"Then I thank you, Brother Tian." Wei Zhao accepted the instruction with an open mind. Charging at the Golden Core was a wholly unknown territory, especially for one leaping ranks to attempt it—the difficulty went without saying. To have the rare chance to learn face to face from a legendary expert like Di Xingdao was worth far more than any rare elixir, and far more effective besides.

They talked by candlelight through the whole night, and Wei Zhao benefited immensely. What Di Xingdao gave him was not merely the method of charging at the Golden Core, but also many precious insights and understandings.

From Di Xingdao's present strength and realm, looking back on how one charges at the Golden Core was a view from high above. Compared with his own groping attempts back then, what he now taught Wei Zhao not only raised the odds of success but could draw out potential never before seen!

Having tuned his body to its absolute peak, Wei Zhao at once decided to enter seclusion for the breakthrough. As for the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, he had refined and stockpiled a good many pills over these days, enough to last a while; he trusted Tian Chan and Xue Li could handle things.

Once in seclusion, however, Wei Zhao did not immediately begin the breakthrough according to Di Xingdao's method. Instead he meant first to confirm it all with the Ghost Thing—after all, this one was a top-tier expert too, and a ready-made one at that. There was no reason not to ask.

"Senior, I trust you heard what Brother Tian said earlier. Is there anything else you would care to instruct me on?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Heh heh, Di Xingdao is one of the few true experts on Middle Island. With him personally guiding your charge at the Golden Core, how could anything go wrong? He is human, I am a spirit beast—in such matters, naturally his word carries the most weight. Besides, what he cultivates is the Creation Battle Art, a thing I've never even touched. I've no say in it at all." The Ghost Thing chuckled with a *heh heh*.

"Then... I'll begin preparing for the breakthrough now," Wei Zhao said with a nod, his voice grave.

"Hold on. On the matter of the Creation Battle Art I can't speak, but as for how the Star Ink Stone should be used, what he said was not the whole of it. If you follow his instructions, it's not that it won't work—but you certainly won't draw out the Star Ink Stone's full effect," the Ghost Thing suddenly cut in.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. What Di Xingdao had told him was that the Star Ink Stone contained the power of meteor and star, and that so long as one absorbed it during the breakthrough, the golden core one condensed afterward would be far more solid and resilient than those of other Golden Core cultivators—stronger by a wide margin in both attack and defense than others of the same rank.

"You can hardly blame Di Xingdao for telling it incompletely. The Star Ink Stone is matchlessly rare, and as a human cultivator, it's remarkable enough that he knows as much as he does. It's just that by his method, at best you'd develop half its effect—that doesn't count as a perfect breakthrough," the Ghost Thing said.

"Then what would count as a perfect breakthrough?" Wei Zhao asked quickly.

"Naturally, you must draw out the Star Ink Stone's full power for it to be a perfect breakthrough. Rare as this stone is as a meteor from beyond the heavens, it is a union of that meteor and the boundless sea. Within it lies not only the power of the stars, but the power of the sea as well!" the Ghost Thing explained.

"The power of the sea?" Wei Zhao was startled. "The power of the stars can make a golden core more solid and resilient, but what use is the power of the sea?"

"The sea—when still, it embraces all things; when stirred, its waves swallow the sky. So the power of the sea can give your golden core more variables, more possibilities. And more crucially still, it can make your divine sense far purer and more powerful than that of others of your rank!" The Ghost Thing paused, then went on: "If the power of the stars is what adds hard strength to your golden core, then the power of the sea adds soft strength. Only with both hard and soft together is it a perfect breakthrough."

"I see. Then how am I to absorb this power of the sea? Is it the same as absorbing the power of the stars, gathering it with true qi?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Of course not. The power of the sea is not as rigid as the power of the stars—true qi can't grasp it. You must gather it with your divine sense," the Ghost Thing instructed. In matters of the primordial spirit, he was a grandmaster among masters.

Only then did Wei Zhao see the light. He at once began his secluded breakthrough under the Ghost Thing's guidance, leaping ranks to charge at the Golden Core stage!

……………………

Middle Island, the Cultivator Academy.

On Middle Island, apart from the great sects and powers coiled there like dragons and tigers, there stood another force of exceedingly transcendent standing: the Cultivator Academy.

Across all of Middle Island, the Cultivator Academy was beyond question the highest-tier academy of them all. Nearly every core disciple of the great sects would come here during the Golden Core stage to gild themselves. R1152