My Core is the Boss

Chapter 275: The Violet Palace Is A Royal Mansion

Within the Seeking Dao Palace, deep inside a vast, empty chamber. Layers upon layers of intricate arrays blanketed the space, sealing it off so completely that not even the faintest aura could leak out. The concealment was absolute, so much that even Great Venerables wouldn’t be able to perceive what transpired within.At this moment, Qi Yuan stood at the center, his expression grave. With a flick of his wrist, a jade slip spun into the air. His lips moved in a low chant. "Heaven blazing, brilliance rising, Nascent Souls, hear my command. Lend your strength to the Spirit Maiden!"

In an instant, a suffocating tide of terrifying auras surged forth.

"By your will!"

"We obey, Master!"

Four thousand seven hundred and fifty Nascent Souls emerged all at once. If even a sliver of this power were to leak outside, the entire Canglan World would erupt into chaos. Even the Taihuang Palace would likely dispatch Yang Spirit experts immediately just to eliminate him at all costs.

Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, calm but wary. "Go register accounts and give my junior sister a boost."

His tone was casual, as if he were asking them to run an errand. The Nascent Souls followed his instructions without hesitation.

"As expected, the Heavenly Kun Ancient Mirror does have its uses. Their condition is better than before, but full awakening and memory recovery are still far off." Qi Yuan’s gaze grew thoughtful. He paused, mind turning. "I wonder when that day will be. Would they be able to cultivate on their own?"

All of these Nascent Souls held immense potential, capable of stepping into the Yang Spirit realm.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Hopefully, the next world is stronger. If I can find the right treasures to awaken them all, the Great Calamity won't be the only one calling for backup. Four thousand Yang Spirits all at once... Let’s see who survives that."

One by one, the Nascent Souls returned to him after finishing their task. The overwhelming pressure vanished as if it had never existed.

Roughly half an incense stick later, a familiar figure stepped into the hall.

Qi Yuan greeted him warmly. "Lord Great Wisdom, long time no see."

Great Wisdom had helped him many times before.

Seeing Qi Yuan, Great Wisdom’s face lit up. He casually sat down on the floor. "You’ve reached the Nascent Soul realm?"

Qi Yuan nodded, saying sincerely, "But I’m lost when it comes to the Violet Palace realm, so I thought I’d borrow your brain."

All the sermons he’d heard from Yin Spirits combined were less enlightening than a single conversation with Great Wisdom.

"The Violet Palace realm" Great Wisdom’s gaze sharpened, intellect flickering within his eyes. "Do you remember what I once told you? That the Nascent Soul realm is the foundation of the Yin Spirit?"

Qi Yuan nodded. "Makes sense. Both realms use the same word '神' [1] they’re clearly connected."

Back then, Great Wisdom had speculated that the Yin Spirit evolved from the Nascent Soul, making the latter its foundation.

Great Wisdom added, "If that’s the case, then by the same logic, isn’t the Violet Palace the foundation of the Yang Spirit?"

Qi Yuan paused. The reasoning was surprisingly solid. Yin Spirit stood above Nascent Soul, while Yang Spirit stood above Yin Spirit. Violet Palace also stood above Nascent Soul. Everything aligned.

"But then, shouldn’t Nascent Soul and Yang Spirit also be connected?" Qi Yuan asked.

Great Wisdom coughed awkwardly. "Ah... well, that’s just a bold guess."

Cultivation, after all, was built on bold conjectures and fearless attempts. Succeed and one became a legend. Fail, and try again in the next life.

Qi Yuan said thoughtfully, "You’re right, I’ve been too conservative."

He felt like he’d just learned something important. Compared to Great Wisdom, his biggest limitation was caution. He always grounded himself in what he knew, never daring to leap. He still had a long way to go compared to his wise friend.

Great Wisdom was suddenly energized. "So, if you want to understand the Violet Palace, you must first understand the Yang Spirit!"

That statement caught Qi Yuan off guard. The logic had a strange, almost reversed elegance, akin to a son teaching his father.

"You actually know about the Yang Spirit realm?" he asked in surprise.

Among all the Yang Spirits he knew, aside from the Blood Great Sage’s daughter and father he had slain, no one seemed to truly understand it. Yet here was Great Wisdom, a mere Nascent Soul, speaking of it. Bold thinkers really were built differently.

Great Wisdom said, "I once saw a book in a dream, it recorded part of the Yang Spirit path."

"Tell me all about it."

Organizing his thoughts, Great Wisdom said slowly, "The Yang Spirit realm has five layers. I only glimpsed two: the Heavenly Position and the Principle Realm. The Heavenly Position, in my understanding, means grasping a fundamental law like fire, water, or fate. Control over such laws defines your strength. Within this stage, there are Minor and Major Heavenly Position realms."

Qi Yuan nodded, thinking. "That sounds similar to divine authority."

Great Sovereigns controlled Divine Domains, which were rudimentary versions of laws. The visualization arts he developed often involved gods with defined authorities. Could those be fragments of laws?

"Above that lies the Principle Realm, the second layer of the Yang Spirit," Great Wisdom continued, "remember when we went to the Moonwatch Continent? Its laws differed from the Canglan World."

"They did."

"When a Yang Spirit enters a foreign world, they would be suppressed, usually dropping an entire major realm. A Minor Heavenly Position Yang Spirit would be reduced to a Mythic."

Qi Yuan nodded. That matched his understanding, it was a kind of world-protection mechanism.

"But at the Principle Realm, that suppression weakens, given their laws are universal truths valid across worlds. There are Minor and Major Principle stages as well. Minor Principle Yang Spirits only suffers slight suppression in another world, dropping to Major Heavenly Position. But a Major Principle Yang Spirit can retain full strength."

Qi Yuan felt several long-standing questions click into place. He had experienced firsthand that every world had different rules. Techniques from other worlds were useless to him because their world level was too low. Only by mastering universal principles could he understand, adapt, and weave any technique into his own scripture.

Still, a new question surfaced.

Qi Yuan asked, "What if I go to a different universe? Would those principles still apply?"

Principles could apply to all worlds within a universe, but what about other universes? His Star Golden Core evidently resided in an entirely different universe from Canglan.

Great Wisdom blinked in confusion. "Universe... What’s that?"

Qi Yuan paused. That answered everything. Principles applied across worlds within the same universe, but not beyond it. While worlds varied, universes differed at a far more fundamental level.

Seeing Qi Yuan fall silent, Great Wisdom added, "I believe the laws and principles of the Yang Spirit are extensions of one’s Origin Divine Technique. To break through to the Violet Palace realm, you must first define that Origin Divine Technique."

Qi Yuan frowned slightly. "What if I already have one?"

He had two, in fact. Inner Demon Lure and the Great Forgetfulness Sutra.

Great Wisdom’s eyes lit up. "Even better! Build your Violet Palace around it, forge it into your own royal mansion. Isn't Violet Palace just a cultivator's royal mansion?"

Qi Yuan hesitated. "That actually makes sense."

For the first time, he wavered. In the next moment, in the once-silent hall, a phantom door materialized out of nowhere.

The instant Qi Yuan saw it, shock flashed through his eyes. "Myriad Phenomena Gate!"

It looked almost identical to the one he had seen in the Flowing Wind World. However, there was something subtly different about it.

Then, a shrill, piercing screech tore through the air. The sound was reminiscent of metal scraping across stone. Anyone who heard it felt their mind unravel, slipping toward madness.

***

Elsewhere, within a courtyard, Shi Rulan trembled with excitement, despite feeling frail and on the verge of collapse. "It’s here, the Chaos Filth Bird! Hahaha! Even the Blood-Clothed Sword God won’t escape madness this time! Canglan World is saved!"

Beside her, Shi Rushan gazed painfully at her, his face deathly pale. He said softly, "He’ll descend into madness soon. We should leave. Our mission is complete. With only ten years left to live, we should finally live for ourselves."

Shi Rulan nodded, eyes blazing with fanatic satisfaction. "We are the saviors."

To her, nothing in the world could rival that overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

Shi Rulan exclaimed, "I want to see him descend into madness with my own eyes."

Shi Rushan nodded solemnly. "The course of fate cannot be changed."

***

Back in the hall, the Chaos Filth Bird’s phantom flapped its wings. Anyone who saw or heard it would lose their sanity.

Great Wisdom stared at the grotesque creature, oddly thoughtful. "Are you hungry?"

Qi Yuan blinked, then rubbed his stomach. "A little."

"It doesn’t have an owner, right?" Great Wisdom asked cautiously.

For some reason, he felt strange today. He had always been particular about food. Its appearance, aroma, and taste mattered. Yet this scrawny and utterly repulsive bird made him strangely hungry.

"You want to eat it?" Qi Yuan asked.

Before Great Wisdom could respond, Qi Yuan had already slapped the bird out of the air. The creature shrieked madly, struggling in terror, but Qi Yuan didn’t give it a chance. He plucked it clean in a few swift motions.

A flicker of flame danced across his fingers. Moments later, the Chaos Filth Bird had become a roasted bird. Its aroma was bizarre, almost intoxicating, yet laced with a madness-inducing edge. And yet, the two felt their appetites surge.

Qi Yuan eyed it critically. "There’s barely any meat, not even enough to get between my teeth. Tell you what, I’ll trade you a spirit stone for it?"

Having discovered it together. Eating it alone felt impolite.

Great Wisdom hesitated, torn. As hungry as he was, he was also a man of standards. The bird was burnt anyway.

"You eat it," he said at last, turning his head away. "It’s overcooked. Won’t taste good."

1. Nascent Soul is 神婴 and Yin Spirit is 阴神 ☜