"While I have accepted you as my disciple in word, the many elders and families of the sect would be dissatisfied if I were to bring you to the Inner Sect immediately. I will grant you this Heavenly Yin Neutralizing Powder to cure your affliction from the Yang Demon Inducing Pills your cousins fed you, but you must make your way to the inner sect yourself. Only by proving yourself to have the will to push through to the top can you truly become the head disciple of the Sect."
Bringing out the Heavenly Yin Neutralizing Powder, Sect Leader spoke the words that ignited a passion that had almost seemed lost over the many years of being in a bottleneck. To leave our Bronze Fringe Realm and travel the realms to arrive to the inner sect would have been the first thing I had done after reaching the Golden Core realm, if only I had seen through those dirty bastards I had called cousins earlier!
"I did not expect to easily enter the Inner Sect. Just having this opportunity from master is enough!"
"It seems I did not misjudge you. I must return to the sect now and I will be looking forward to your entering the inner sect!"
"I thank Master for this opportunity!"
The Sect Leader then revealed his cultivation and opened a hole through the barriers between realms right before me as if it were as easy as breathing. Stepping through the realm portal he uttered these words.
"I will be waiting for you in the inner sect. Remember the founding words of the Ridge Head Sect and you will be able to reach the highest peaks and the deepest valleys!"
With these words resounding in my head, the Sect Leader disappeared as quickly as he appeared. I must quickly cultivate to the Golden Core Realm so as not to disappoint the Sect Leader and the Sect.
"That was… the Sect Leader?"
Still dazed, my parents said that in unison.
"How could this be! The shining stars of our family had instead been poisoning our son. Alas, we are not strong enough to go against the main family. You must leave home quickly after cultivating to the Golden Core Realm!"
Hearing this, combined with what the Sect Leader said before I knew that I must go on to cultivate immediately. Returning to my room, I open the bag of Heavenly Yin Neutralizing Powder.
Mixing the powder into as pure of spiritual water as I could find within our home, I consume it then immediately sit in the lotus position. Upon consumption an immediate cooling sensation could be felt within my body. Focusing my internal energy, I circulated that cooling breath from the Heavenly Yin Neutralizing powder around my Lower Dantian and into my Spiritual Sea.
The instant the cooling energy entered my Spiritual Sea, I could feel an immediate difference. The heat that had been blocking my formation of a Golden Core had dissipated almost immediately, and the tumultuous waves of my Spiritual Sea calmed to that of a small breeze.
Coming out of the trance, I realize that I had exerted heat out of my body enough to wilt the plants within my room and cause steam to come out of the ground. Looking outside, I could see that the snow around my room had not only melted, but evaporated immediately revealing the grass beneath, which had wilted from the heat. So, this was the amount of heat within my Spiritual Sea preventing the formation of a Golden Core.
"Those cousins of mine, why would they do this! To think that there was such powerful poison blocking my cultivation all this time from those pills they gave me. If the Sect Leader did not see the effort, I made into the only part I could cultivate, would I have rotted away in the fringe realm where our family is, forever beguiled by their false gifts?"
After consuming the rest of the powder and circulating the cooling energy thoroughly, I felt as if a layer of weight had been lifted from my body, and internal energy readily flowed through all my meridians as if a dam had been removed from a river.
"I must stabilize this new surge of energy before going on to attempt to form a Golden Core. The Ridge Head technique practiced by our sect specifies the stability of the internal energy's flow to prevent disciples' cultivations from going berserk."
Though this focus on stability may impede the speed of cultivation, the Ridge Head Technique is extremely safe and builds up a strong base that can branch off into specialties after one reaches the Meridian Awakening Realm.
Bringing out the worn and torn manual for the Ridge Head Technique I had used over the years, I read the oh so familiar words about breaking through to the Golden Core Realm that I had read millions of times before. "This time, I will be able to break through!"
"Though other techniques focus on storing qi within the Golden Core, the Ridge Head Technique focuses on the Spiritual Sea rather than splitting the containing of internal energy between the Golden Core and Spiritual Sea. In this way, the Golden Core is instead formed to keep the energy within the Spiritual Sea harmonious, therefore requiring a larger Golden Core than other cultivation techniques. The Golden Core is also formed within the Spiritual Sea rather than the Lower Dantian unlike other cultivation techniques."
"I have read this passage many times over the years, but each time still astounds me with how profound these passages are. Who would think that the originator of our Ridge Head Sect would go against the traditional methods of cultivation and change how the Golden Core was used within the body!"
Allowing my circulating internal energy to focus around my Lower Dantian, I drove it within my Spiritual Sea. Instead of dispersing immediately and causing painful feedback as it had in prior attempts, instead the internal energy coagulated together seamlessly, and began to exude a powerful aura, causing the already much calmer waves within my Spiritual Sea to become still, so as the glowing ball of internal energy could be seen reflecting off it as if it were a mirror.
"Unbelievable! To think that I had the potential to form a Golden Core so easily. Damn those cousins of mine! Jin Ying and Jin Yu, I will carve your names into my mind, not as saviours that gave me medicine, but as demons that attempted to make me languish in a fringe realm forever."
The rotating ball of energy in my Spiritual Sea eventually calmed itself, revealing a golden core which seemed to domineer the area around it. "It seems that due to the size of my Spiritual Sea, I must create an even larger Golden Core than most cultivators in our sect."
For the Golden Core to fully control the energies within the Spiritual Sea it must take up at least 60% of the space within one's Spiritual Sea, but how would I be able to fill my enlarged spiritual sea? It seems that my cultivation will still be met with many challenges yet.
A few days had passed since Tong Fan achieved the Golden Core Realm.
"Mother, Father, this unfilial son is finally leaving this home to go to the academy realm! My only regret is not achieving this sooner, but I will bring glory to our family name and our sect."
"Son, we do not have such expectations for you. As long as you are able to cultivate and live a safe life, it is enough for us. A simple life in a fringe realm is sometimes desirable as compared to living in a more inner realm."
Hearing this, tears began flowing out of Tong Fan's eyes. "To think that even now they care for me, but I must surpass those expectations. Those years I lost to my cousins' poison must be compensated for with my effort now."
"I will be going now! I hope you all stay in good health to hear of my glory once I achieve it."
Saying that, Tong Fan left his home and headed towards the Realm Gates at the centre of town.