But Xie Zhaolin knew very clearly that this was far from a long-term solution.
She had seen it with her own eyes earlier—when the golden-backed beast wolf first roared, its crimson eyes, besides burning with rage, had flickered with a hint of fear toward the Bewitching Beast Yam.
This wolf wasn't unintelligent. It obviously understood how troublesome this bizarre flower sea was and had no intention of going all-out.
And although the Bewitching Demon Yam looked reckless and rampaging, its core consciousness was definitely not dumb. Once it realized it couldn't break through, or noticed that Xie Zhaolin was its real target, it would very likely react.
"They won't fight for long," Xie Zhaolin thought rapidly, "the moment they realize I'm the key, or that neither of them gains anything from this, they'll probably stop, or… even team up to deal with me, the one causing all this chaos."
And besides…
Xie Zhaolin glanced toward the valley entrance, her brows knitting. This cataclysmic battle could very well attract something even more terrifying.
Her previous experience told her that many beast cultivators at the Golden Core stage would retreat when facing a Bewitching Demon Yam. But this golden-backed wolf, driven by its territorial instinct and the presence of the ore vein, had no choice but to fight. Still, it would never die-hard to the very end.
"This brief breathing room has to be used to the fullest," Xie Zhaolin inhaled deeply, her gaze sharpening.
Either she found a path out of the valley and escaped for thousands of miles, or… in this extreme pressure and chaos, she seized that tiny sliver of opportunity to breakthrough to Golden Core!
Yet that seemingly thin bottleneck always felt like a layer of mist, keeping her from truly touching it. She felt as if she was just one crucial realization away from completely mastering the baleful qi and perfectly fusing it with herself.
"If it were purely a matter of spiritual power accumulation and refinement, based on my previous life experience and the foundation of the Xuanyin Foundation Technique, I shouldn't even face such a stubborn bottleneck," Xie Zhaolin thought, irritation and confusion rising.
She could feel the baleful qi in her body already surging, reaching the limits of the Foundation stage, even showing faint signs of liquefaction.
Her divine sense was strong enough to condense it, and logically, Golden Core formation should have been straightforward.
The problem lay with the baleful qi itself.
This force, derived from the Xuanyin Foundation Technique and tinged with a cold yin nature, was powerful but always felt distant from her. It was like a razor-sharp weapon that hadn't been fully tamed. She could wield it, but not truly as an extension of herself, nor could she perfectly fuse its core will with her own path.
"What am I still missing?" Xie Zhaolin asked herself urgently, keeping her senses alert on the ongoing clash between the two beasts.
Was it lack of ruthlessness?
In her previous life, as a battle cultivator, she'd commanded countless demonic souls, and her understanding of killing was profound.
Or was it insufficient insight?
But if she had already reached Nascent Soul in her past life, her comprehension of the Primordial Forces should surpass that of ordinary Foundation stage cultivators. The threshold for forming a Golden Core shouldn't have been this high.
The feeling of having enough accumulation, enough depth, yet being blocked at the final step, was incredibly frustrating.
She moved her thoughts, sending her divine sense into the jade slip to ask You You directly, "You You, when you broke through to Golden Core, did you ever encounter a similar bottleneck? What's special about the Xuanyin Foundation Technique's Golden Core bottleneck?"
You You, inside the jade slip, seemed to have anticipated the question and immediately answered, her tone tinged with helplessness and memory.
"Master, the Xuanyin Foundation Technique… is too special," she said, pausing to organize her words. "The baleful qi it cultivates, though derived from spiritual power, is closer to the embryonic form of the Path and will.
Because everyone's temperament, experiences, and sources of baleful qi differ, the nature of the qi varies greatly. So the Golden Core bottleneck differs per person, and there's almost no identical case.
The bottleneck I faced required me to fully realize the thread of oblivion contained within my baleful qi, in order to condense it into a core.
And I've seen another senior who cultivated this method; their bottleneck required understanding the balance of plundering and transformation within the baleful qi… and yet another had to undergo a trial of inner demons, breaking attachments to achieve completion."
You You sighed, her voice tinged with helplessness. "So Master, this hurdle… only you can overcome it yourself. No one else can guide you.
Because everyone's path is different. The only thing I can tell you—forming a Xuanyin Golden Core doesn't depend on baleful qi accumulation, but on fully realizing and controlling the inherent will of your baleful qi."
Xie Zhaolin listened silently, understanding dawning.
So it was as she thought.
The Xuanyin Foundation Technique was a perilous path defying the natural order.
The baleful qi at its core was domineering and unique. Forming a Golden Core required not gradual accumulation, but a breakthrough-style epiphany.
Observing, hiding, or even fleeing for miles couldn't bring such an insight under extreme pressure.
What she needed wasn't safety—it was… dancing on the edge of destruction.
She had to force her baleful qi to reveal its truest nature under life-and-death circumstances and forge it into her own mark.
Xie Zhaolin lifted her head sharply, staring at the center of the battlefield where energy raged.
The golden-backed wolf's fury and the Bewitching Demon Yam's strangeness were no longer just deadly threats—they had become… a crucible refining her path.
A touchstone forcing her to confront the essence of her baleful qi.
Her eyes hardened with absolute determination, bordering on a near-mad resolve.
"You You," she sent her voice through divine sense, her tone terrifyingly calm yet undeniably commanding, "protect me, monitor the battlefield and the valley's outskirts. I'm… going in."
"What?! Master, you're insane?!"
You You's voice shot up, filled with disbelief and terror. "Those are two monsters circling you like predators! If you go in, you'll be torn apart!"
"If I don't go in, I'll never form my core," Xie Zhaolin replied, short and firm. "Either I realize the path in battle, or… die in the process. There's no third option."
You You wanted to protest, but sensing Xie Zhaolin's will, she knew arguing was futile.
Through tears, she said, "Y-Yes… Master! You… you must be careful!"
After all, if Xie Zhaolin died, the servant bound by their contract couldn't survive either.
Xie Zhaolin said no more. She inhaled deeply—not to calm herself, but to bring her body to peak condition. The next moment, she moved.
Not silently hiding, but unleashing the long-suppressed Xuanyin baleful qi within.
Boom!
A cold, deathly, yet destructively violent aura erupted from her center. Black baleful qi surged around her like flames.
This sudden, unrestrained wave of power immediately drew the attention of the two beasts on the battlefield.
The golden-backed wolf's crimson eyes flickered with suspicion—it sensed danger from this small insect comparable to its own.
The Bewitching Demon Yam's swaying flowers turned as one, displaying a deeper greed for this pure force.
"Come!"
Xie Zhaolin shouted sharply, her body flashing like black lightning. She didn't dodge, but instead charged straight at the golden-backed wolf's sweeping Geng Metal strike.
She didn't choose to skirmish, she chose the most direct, most dangerous approach.
—Full frontal collision!