Several days slipped by after Luo Chen's return from his meeting with Fei Ming.2

One of his few hundred-year Lightning Essences was gone. Fei Ming had taken it with unconcealed delight, his satisfaction written plainly across his face. In his eyes, a mere Initiate required no more than one such treasure; additional ones were nothing but liabilities. It was best to exchange them for things of more immediate use.1

True to his beliefs, he had taken the initiative to extend gestures of goodwill by reconstructing Danxia Peak, offering fourth-tier Tracing Mud, and even sharing insights on Core Formation. To him, exchanging all that for a cluster of Lightning Essence was already treating Luo Chen with extraordinary regard.0

Of course, Luo Chen did not feel he had lost out either. A centennial Lightning Essence was precious, but Fei Ming was right in that he had no immediate use for it. Well, Fei Ming had no way of knowing that Luo Chen had already acquired millennial Lightning Essences, but that was another story. Trading away a centennial one now, in exchange for resources and knowledge that could serve him immediately, was a perfectly practical choice. Besides, he had forged a friendship with a Golden Core Adept.4

During the days following his return, cultivation remained his main focus, but spare moments were devoted to studying Transcending Cage. With Fei Ming's explanations echoing in his mind, his comprehension grew steadily deeper.0

This method differed from the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, which fused water and fire. Instead, it relied on violent surges of spirit energy to condense a Golden Core seed. First, it required a Core...0