Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1152 Worth the gamble
1152: Worth the gamble
1152: Worth the gamble
Therefore, due to its broad talent pool and the types of cultivators it sought, the Order frequently uncovered individuals with flawed foundations.
As a result, it developed numerous methods to safely dismantle a cultivator’s cultivation without harming their foundation, allowing them to start over.
So far, the Order had only managed to do this safely for those at the foundation establishment realm and below.
For cultivators at the core formation realm and above, the process remained incredibly difficult due to the involvement of tribulation lightning and its role in advancing to higher stages.
At the foundation establishment realm and below, tribulation lightning was not a factor because one’s first encounter with it occurred during the breakthrough to the core formation realm.
It was this tribulation lightning that facilitated the sublimation and transformation process, merging the foundation pillars into a core.
Later, when breaking through from the core formation realm to the palace realm, tribulation lightning once again played a crucial role by shattering the core and refining it into a pure form of energy that is infused with the power of the grand Dao which then ultimately transforms into a palace world built out of the dao they comprehended.
Such a thing could only be done by the unfathomable powers of the tribulation and its effects became more and more profound the further up the realms one moved.
Because of tribulation lightning’s vital role in advancing to those realms, undoing or reversing its effects often came with considerable risks and challenges.
This was the primary reason the Order could not help cultivators reset their foundations once they reached the core formation realm.
However, despite these restrictions, there were still other ways to improve one’s foundation.
Certain rare treasures, alchemical solutions, or even the intervention of powerful experts could help elevate the grade of a cultivator’s core.
Yang Qing had heard stories of soul formation experts assisting cultivators improve their cores to the blue core, though he had never witnessed it within the Order.
He suspected the process carried significant risks, likely more than the Order was willing to take on—or that the benefits simply didn’t outweigh the dangers.
After all, attempting to elevate a core after it had already formed was no different than seizing fortunes from the heavens.
Countless cultivators had perished in the process, with success stories being rare and scattered.
Yang Qing’s eyes suddenly flashed as a thought crept into his mind.
In the few successful core evolution cases he had read about, most of the cultivators involved had one thing in common—they all possessed quasi-cores.
Given the nature of such cores, he could understand why.
“Could he have…” Yang Qing wondered, debating whether to ask or not.
“No, no, he couldn’t have.
Why would he?” He tried to dismiss the thought, but the more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed that the Xia clan’s founder may have attempted to evolve his core and crippled himself in the process.
What held him back from fully believing it was the absurdity of the idea.
Why would anyone risk death just to evolve a quasi-gold core into a pure gold core?
While grade of cores mattered, in the sense that they made cultivation easier, whether it be by improving one’s sensitivity to the ambient laws, or by improving the quality of one’s internal spiritual qi which in turn enhanced the cultivator as a whole including even the potency and expenditure during the execution of their cultivation techniques.
However, the grade of a core wasn’t the end all be all.
Yang Qing had seen cultivators with blue-grade cores defeat those with gold-grade cores, and those with gold-grade cores triumph over those with purple-grade cores.
Even when it came to breaking through to the palace realm, while a high-quality core helped lessen the difficulty, what truly mattered, in the end, was one’s power of comprehension.
As long as one had a blue-grade core and decent powers of comprehension, the foundation they established in the palace realm wouldn’t be any weaker than that of someone with a gold or purple core.
The instructors at the Institute were living proof of this.
The majority of them had blue-grade cores, yet despite Yang Qing’s own foundations and current strength, he had no confidence in winning against them outright.
Their presence alone was terrifying, a feat born out of honing their abilities to near perfection.
Because of this, the Order strongly discouraged its members from attempting to evolve their cores if they had a blue-grade core.
The trade-off simply wasn’t worth the risk, especially since one could still reach the same heights with far less danger, as long as they met the recommended threshold which was acquiring any form of a blue-grade core, even a quasi-blue-grade core would do.
Yu Huifeng, for example, had two gold pillars and ten purple pillars, placing her as close as one could be to obtaining a full purple core without actually achieving it.
Had she used a treasure, the risks of elevating her quasi-purple core would have been minimal.
Yet, she chose to continue cultivating with her core as it was.
Yang Qing was certain that once she broke through to the palace realm, her strength and foundation as a palace realm cultivator would be no weaker than his, Kang Huilang’s, or Zhang Qingge’s—all of whom possessed purple cores.
The same could be said for Feng Xin, who had eleven purple-grade pillars and one gold-grade pillar—though the only reason it was gold was because he couldn’t sit still long enough to refine it into a purple-grade one.
Not when a delicacy he had been eyeing for months was about to be auctioned off.
In the end, the choice was simple for him: a delicacy or a purple-grade pillar.
With either a purple core or a quasi-purple core, he was confident that his grasp of the grand dao when he broke through to the palace realm would be just as profound.
Of course, aside from Yang Qing, not many would choose food over a purple core, but at its core, the principle remained the same.
As long as one’s understanding of the grand dao was deep enough, whether they had a quasi-purple core or a full purple core made little difference.
Their strength and abilities in the palace realm would ultimately depend on their comprehension of the laws, powers, and principles of the Grand Dao.
“Why would he do it?” Yang Qing wondered, though his theory was still yet unproven.
“Could I ask how your founder injured himself?” he asked hesitantly.
The moment he did, the admiration in Xia Fang’s eyes faded, replaced by a morose expression.
Looking downcast, she let out a defeated sigh.
“He was aiming to become a seeded disciple for the sect, and with how fierce the competition was, he believed his chances would be better if he evolved his core.
After all, his core had been formed from nine gold-grade foundation pillars and three blue ones.
He thought that with such a foundation, the odds of successfully evolving it would be higher, with less risk…”
She paused, her eyes flickering with sadness.
“He knew his master wouldn’t approve of his plan, so he did it in secret.
He used a special cultivation art that worked in conjunction with certain materials to try and evolve his core…”
“It failed,” Xia Fang said after a momentary pause.
“He would have lost his life had one of the sect elders not sensed the fluctuations caused by the failure and intervened.
It took a domain expert and two top-tier monarch-grade treasures to save him,” she added somberly.
“The sect wanted him to stay, but that failure—and the cost it took to save him—left our founder feeling too guilty to remain,” Xia Fang said slowly.
“So, he left.”
Her expression shifted—grief turning into regret, then into something resembling longing before finally settling into anger.
Meanwhile, on Yang Qing’s end, Xia Fang’s response provided much-needed clarity as it answered how and why the Xia clan founder injured himself, which shed further light on his background.
There was no justifiable reason to gamble with one’s life like that, not when it wasn’t necessary.
But the chance to vie for the position of a seeded disciple… that was a temptation strong enough to make even the most rational cultivator waver.
Seeded disciples were the true legacy carriers of a sect.
They were the inheritors of everything the sect was or had, including its prized possessions and deepest secrets that were known to few.
And for a sect like the Silver Crane Sect, which had a long rich history, one of the longest in fact, and with rumored ties to a former holy land, becoming its seeded disciple meant gaining access to countless secrets and pieces of knowledge that many couldn’t even imagine, especially if those rumors about its association with the Sanctuary of the Four Wings Manor were true.
There were certain things, because of their rarity or implications, could be only known by a select few, and in a sect setting that would be the sect master, powerful elders like grand, supreme, or high elders, and seedling disciples as future bearers of the sect.
Beyond knowledge, there were also the resources.
Once a sect selected a seeded disciple, it would invest everything into them without reservation, ensuring they lived up to the title and to the expectations the sect had for them in the future.
Core disciples and inner sect disciples were the pillars of a sect—but seeded disciples were the sect itself.
They were the firecarriers of its legacy, which was why sects exercised extreme scrutiny when choosing them.
Their numbers were strictly limited, rarely exceeding five in any given era.
Though Yang Qing would never make the same choice, he could understand why the Xia clan founder took the risk of trying to evolve his core.
With the prestige of becoming a seeded disciple and the fierce competition for the position, it was natural that he would seek every possible advantage.
But ultimately, his gamble failed.
Now, it made sense why the sect had been so generous when he chose to leave.
While sects were often ruthlessly pragmatic, they still had a soft spot for true talents.
And for someone once considered worthy of being a seeded disciple, even with a crippled cultivation base, that consideration was not easily dismissed.
However, it still wasn’t strong enough for the sect to involve itself in the affairs of his clan completely, and definitely not against another just as powerful and just as ancient rank two power in Cyan Crescent Kingdom.
