Chương 7: Golden Core Imposter

Long Tao chased Aneroze and Foria through the forest. They had heard the final crash a while ago, but it felt as if the robed man and the chief proctor had crossed half the forest in just a few minutes, leaving the group of three far behind.

"Faust!" Foria suddenly shouted, pivoting and changing direction before stopping in front of the purple robed chief proctor.

"Foria." The chief proctor, Faust responded, gently smiling while looking unharmed apart from bloody fists, which were swiftly being cleaned by a cloth. Tao made sure to keep a few meters between Faust and himself, lest he was attacked again. Not that he thought he could outrun Faust. But best not to poke the bear.

"It's been too long. You've grown up even more since I last saw you!" Faust began ruffling Foria's hair after his hands were cleaned.

"Of course! I practiced the swordsmanship and body tempering manuals you sent every day." Foria puffed her chest out. The siblings quickly fell into updating each other's lives. Tao listened in for a moment. However, while the two were talking there was something he wanted to ask the old ghost.

"Hey," Tao called out.

"Hmm…" The old ghost hummed.

"What exactly was I supposed to see by watching the fight?"

"Ah, nevermind that. He's definitely reached the fourth realm of combat, but he must have been in a bad mood. He just beat that demon to death like a Gorrilla." The old ghost waved.

"Weren't they in a higher realm?" Tao asked. It was his understanding even minor realms held relatively major differences.

"Hmmm, I can't comment on the Open Palace realm, but in the Foundation Establishment realm, think of it like this. An ordinary second rate foundation has five points. Demonic Cultivation is minus one point, a Third rate foundation is also minus one point. So this person has three points in total." The old ghost began.

"On the other hand, a first rate foundation is plus one point, third realm of Body Tempering is three points, fourth realm of combat is two more and forging your own path and stepping on it is another two points. So a character with these traits has twelve points." The old ghost continued. Tao nodded in understanding.

"So if every minor realm is also worth one point, then the demon was worth six points of strength at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm. While this kid would still be at twelve points just at the early stage."

"... How big would a major realm be?" Tao asked.

"Depends. The difference between Qi-Blood and Body Tempering were just 1 point. The difference between Body Tempering and Qi refining was about 2 points. But apparently, not all Qi refiners have reached the first level of Body Tempering nowadays." The old ghost shrugged.

"What about between Core Formation and Nascent Soul?"

"A hundred points?"

"... That seems like… a lot…"

"Someone at the Nascent Soul realm can think hundreds of times faster than someone at the Core Formation realm. So they can calmly analyze their combat with lower realms even without discipline and combat experience. They could cast spells in an instant and perform inordinately more complex techniques."

"..." Tao scrunched his brow in thought.

"Follow my advice. Stack as many advantages as you can in each realm— Because each one will stack in the next realm. A first rate foundation becomes a Golden Core worth twenty points while a second rate one becomes an Iron Core worth ten points… Or… Whatever the current era's equivalent would be…" Tao thought seriously. What the old ghost said made sense. A strong foundation became a strong core, which became a better soul which in turn allowed a more perfect transformation.

Faltering even once could mean the end of one's immortal—"Puft—!" Tao spat out as Aneroze jabbed him in the gut with the but of her fan. Tao looked up. Everyone was staring at him. Faust especially looked at him with an increasing level of unveiled disgust. Tao felt sweat go down his back, Aneroze looked away like she was uninvolved. He narrowed his gaze, eyes going bloodshot as his mind ran at impossible speeds, recalling memories that he hadn't made while distracted.

"Long Tao greets Senior!" Tao bowed, cupping a fist in one hand. Floria sighed in relief.

"See. He's very respectful." She claimed boldly.

"…" Faust raised an eyebrow.

"My, my, a perfect introduction, junior brother." Aneroze complimented sarcastically, calling him junior brother. Tao bit his tongue. He wanted to argue but instead cursed himself under his breath for not paying attention.

"Faust of the Clear Mirror Sect." Faust introduced himself in turn.

"I apologise, senior, I usually pay more attention."

"... I believe you." Faust nodded convincingly, before looking over the three.

"The test ends in the morning, there's still time if you head eastward. Most of the other participants went westward to where the forest meets the lake's edge."

"That feels like cheating…" Tao couldn't stop himself from speaking.

"My, my, if you don't want to, then head west." Aneroze responded, turning, presumably westward without looking back.

"Then, I'll come see you in the Outer Sect. There's other demonic cultivators to kill." Faust said, also turning.

"Bye brother!" Foria waved him off before following Aneroze.

"See you soon." Tao looked from west to east, but after seeing the girls head west, he grit his teeth and made up his mind.

"Nothing comes easy, kid. Don't try to uphold strict justice." The old ghost said as the group separated. While Tao had gotten distracted.

"... So we're going to have another sibling?" Faust asked. Foria nodded. The two had been updating each other on home and the sect.

"They want you to come by and talk about if they should send them to the sect as well. Father wants to pass his pottery and porcelain working to someone, but he also doesn't want to take away our sibling's opportunity for immortality." Foria added. Faust rubbed his chin.

"Did they use the Qi Sensing pills I sent?"

"They insisted I had them all." Foria shook her head.

"I sent them enough for the whole family to start cultivating…" Faust scratched his chin.

"You know how they are. They both think they're too old to cultivate. The only things they use are the beauty salve you sent and the Fire Spirit Flower to save money on firewood." Scratching his chin, Faust thought things over. Golden Core was a steep cliff just for himself, Sirius and Foria, but Meridian Opening was plenty achievable even for those whose bones and minds had hardened and settled. Doubling or tripling their lifespan was achievable even just with his current resources either way.

"Inner Sect disciples can leave for almost any reason. I'll figure something out after I head for study in the Capital's Grand Archive."

"They're pretty old now, will it be alright?" Faust nodded, patting Foria on the head in reassurance.

"Last time I visited I practiced and prepared some spirit herbs to cook a meal filled with Spirit and Wood Qi. They should live to a hundred unless a disaster strikes Fallen Petal Ridge." Foria nodded.

"Then, I'll leave it to you!"

"Naturally. You just focus on your own cultivation. I've maintained most of my relations in the Outer Sect, so you shouldn't get any rubbish like most new disciples but... I'll tell you more while we bring the group to the sect." Faust stopped himself. There was a lot he wanted to say but Orion had engaged in glancing combat against another demonic cultivator at the peak of the Open Palace realm, unable to kill them by itself. Faust turned to the other girl in the party, noting the Roze clan emblem.

"From the Roze clan. Are you Rozaline's sister?" Faust asked.

"Aneroze." Aneroze bowed, cupping her fist in respect. Faust nodded, cupping his hands, "Inner Disciple Faust." He introduced, then looked from Aneroze to the handsome blue haired playboy."""…""" Aneroze smacked the blue haired guy with her fan.

"Long Tao greets Senior!" The blue haired playboy bowed, cupping a fist in one hand.

"See. He's very respectful." Foria claimed boldly.

"…" Faust raised an eyebrow.

"Faust of the Clear Mirror Sect." Faust introduced himself half heartedly.

"I apologise, senior, I usually pay more attention." Tao the playboy apologised.

"... I believe you." Faust nodded convincingly, fully planning on how to separate this playboy from his sister, before looking over the three.

"The test ends in the morning, there's still time if you head eastward. Most of the other participants went westward to where the forest meets the lake's edge." With that, Faust turned around, Orion wasn't able to kill, but it was able to distract the demonic cultivator from the group of people they were chasing.

"Then, I'll come see you in the Outer Sect. There's other demonic cultivators to kill." Faust said.

"Bye brother!" Foria waved him off before following Aneroze. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"See you soon." Tao looked around a few times, but ended up following the girls. Faust felt his brow twitch. He knew it was the obvious outcome but that didn't mean he had to like it. BOOM! A burst of red smoke tore apart the ground in the forest. Thunk! Thwip! Hup! An exchange of hands, but Faust was far more calculated and ruthless than when he had been in a bad mood. The demonic cultivator suddenly tried to turn and dodge. Zing!

Faust caught the demonic cultivator's wrist, moving close and putting a foot between theirs, preventing them from reacting to Orion piercing through their head. Faust kicked the body away, grasping Orion's handle to pull it out of the corpse in the same motion. The cold, late night air howled through the pitch black forest, blowing Faust's robe. A few fireflies lit up the disturbed area around him. He waited a few moments, giving attention to the strange methods of demonic cultivators.

While waiting, a talisman zipped down from the sky, coming to a stop in front of Faust.

"Core Disciple Mei Hua. Reinforcements from the sect. Four Inner Disciples, Ten Outer Disciples. Overseer Clementine never left the sect. What is the current situation?" Faust felt a shiver down his spine. Clementine never left the sect. So who was the person that had ordered them to continue with the sect recruitment trial? The fact Mei Hua had checked and the reinforcements had taken so long meant the sect had only received the letter sent through the Imperial Scribe.

The talisman turned to ashes after delivering the message. Faust pulled out his own talisman. He didn't have any talisman for Mei Hua, but with only 10 Outer Disciples, they should be the stronger ones, he had a pretty good guess on who might be among them.

"Update Core Disciple Hua. We've been hunting the demonic cultivators. Of approximately eighty Meridian Opening and twenty Open Palace cultivators, I have killed twenty three Meridian Opening, confirmed corpses of sixty five in total, killed five Open Palace and seen the corpses of eight. No information on the Clementine imposter." Faust narrated, letting the talisman shoot into the air.

Seeing the talisman shoot towards the lake shore rather than the sect, Faust nodded to himself, he had guessed right about which Outer Disciples had joined what he imagined was labelled as an emergency mission. Boom! The ground shook from an explosion that rattled the eastern side of the forest. Foria… Faust fell into a dead sprint, pushing his movement technique to the limit, urging the Spirit Qi through his channels in an ever faster cycle. Trees passed by in a blur.

"Faust!" Sirius's voice sounded out but Faust sprinted past without stopping. The ground shook again and the aura of the Golden Core realm leaked across the area. Earth Qi exploded from the ground, reaching for the heavens, while Heavenly Qi descended like a tidal wave, crashing against the earth and pushing Faust's spirit body to the ground as it passed through. Faust slowed down, drawing out Innate Qi to continue cycling through his major channels while pushing his Spirit Qi into his minor channels.

He used the 12 Qi Transforms method to turn the Spirit Qi into the Qi of the five elements, which together formed a cycle that could resist Heavenly Qi. Crsssshhh… BOOOOM! Faust's eyes widened. Forget the trees, Faust watched as a tidal wave of rock, trees and soil rose into the air, covering the horizon. Faust was forced to a stop by the wall of falling earth and debris, turning and running parallel to the unnatural wall formed from the clash of Golden Cores.

As the debris began hitting the ground, Faust jumped between shattered rock and trees, reaching the peak of a small mountain formed by the carnage. The Black Boar Forest, a sea of dark, pale green trees with black trunks that stretched seemingly endlessly to the north horizon, had been flattened for tens of kilometres, several massive gashes scarred the land while just above, two figures were visible high in the sky, silhouetted by the crescent moon.

On one side was a figure resembling Clementine, only with parts replaced with pure red flesh. The other side was occupied by a young woman with light brown twintails and a light green dress holding a small wooden wand. The Clementine imposter lowered their gaze. A moment later he threw his hands out wide. Red smog rushed out of his sleeves, enveloping him behind a thick red cloud. The young woman, who could only be Mei Hua, raised their wand, then brought it back down.

BOOOOOOM——-- A golden lotus hundreds of meters wide descended upon the mist, seeming to pass through without resistance until it crashed into the ground, sending the little loose material that hadn't already been blown away flying off into the distance. Faust looked on, eyes wide, mouth slightly open and twisted. What were the chances of witnessing a Golden Core fight? The golden flower dissipated as the imposter appeared near Mei Hua, striking with clawed hands that glowed violently red.

Hua evidently wasn't the strongest in combat. She hastily waved her hand and caused countless coloured flowers to pour out of her sleeve, covering the area and spreading until a few petals landed on the peak Faust stood on, despite being tens of kilometres away.

"Faust!" Sirius's voice sounded out from behind, but was cut off as she arrived atop the small peak and saw the fight taking place.

"..."

"..." The two watched in silence for a time.

"Wait. You want me to reach the realm after this?!?" Sirius suddenly pointed to the fight and asked. Faust didn't respond for a moment, then closed his mouth and smiled.

"What's wrong? You think we can't?"

"I mean? Doesn't that look… A bit beyond my capabilities??" Sirius asked.

"Oh? Aren't you selling yourself short? For someone who only took 8 years to enter the Inner Sect without any backing?" Rozaline appeared beside the two.

"It looks like you were right about the Golden Core demonic cultivator." Faust nodded along, letting Orion shoot across the leveled land, searching for traces of his sister's Qi. Just in case.

"It's good reinforcements arrived, but wouldn't they have intercepted the talisman?" Sirius contemplated.

"They did. I sent another message through the Imperial Scribe." Sirius shivered.

"So if you didn't send that letter…"

"Oh, well. No use dwelling over what if scenarios." Rozaline snapped her fan.

"Still, the fight up there isn't looking too good. Frankly, I don't think this core disciple is very strong. She may not reach the Essence Unity realm." Faust shook his head.

"Irididescent Golden Core, she won't pass Nascent Soul."

"Oh. Isn't that what you're aiming for?" Faust shook his head again.

"I'm aiming for the Earth Golden Core. You?"

"I'm aiming for Irididescent!" Sirius tried to interject, but got ignored despite bouncing around between the two, whose eyes were fixed on the battle in the distance as they both got lost in their thoughts.

"... Most probably Earth Gold as well. Though I'd happily take any opportunity for a Heavenly Golden Core." Rozaline answered. Faust nodded his head in acknowledgment. Earth Gold was what the current Emperor had formed. At the very least, it had potential for Deity Transformation. There was also a single cultivator currently alive, who had achieved Void Transformation with only a Earth Golden Core, but they were an exception to the rule. The three watched the battle for a bit, before Sirius interrupted.

"Hey, how long are we going to watch? I don't see anything important happening?" Sirius asked. The fight wasn't particularly impressive among Golden Core experts. Mei Hua was an alchemist rather than a combatant while the imposter only had the lowest grade of Golden Core, weak for their realm.

"My sister, Aneroze and a suspicious stage character named Long Tao were headed east last time I checked." Faust explained. Sirius widened her eyes in realisation.

"Oh?" Rozaline's expression darkened and she shifted her gaze from the battle overhead to the flattened forest below.

"... Don't worry." Faust added.

"I've scanned most of the area with my bonded flying sword. There's no trace of their Qi."

"Wouldn't the pressure wipe away any Qi in the area?" Sirius pondered. Faust shook his head.

"Heaven proposes, Earth disposes."

"Oh, isn't it the other way around?" Rozaline asked, her eyes not leaving the flattened area.

"You're thinking of 'Man proposes, Heaven disposes'. It describes the path to immortality.

'Heaven proposes, Earth disposes' describes the way Heaven and Earth Qi interact. Heaven tries to make change while Earth resists it. No matter how powerful the Heavenly Qi here is. If someone dies on the ground, the Earth Qi will preserve the remains of their Essence Qi for a few hours in the worst case scenario." As he finished speaking, Orion flew up to Faust's side.

"Orion found a Qi trail. They went more northward than east. I guess they're in the 3rd ring of the forest." Rozaline finally looked away from the devastation, making a shallow breath while hiding her face with her fan. A few moments later, Rozaline lowered the fan, revealing her normal poker face smile.

"Oh? The black boars there hover between the peak of Qi Refining and early Meridian Opening in strength don't they?" Faust nodded.

"I assessed them all when I met them. They should be able to handle it with their artifacts combined with that Tao guy as the vanguard." The three turned back to the fight, forced to relocate a few times when it got too close for comfort. In the end, while Mei Hua was strong, she wasn't much of a combatant. Combined with a minor realm disadvantage, the demonic cultivator posing as Clementine escaped, revealing their true face, which was a red skull.

"An elder of the Ruby Demonic Sect most probably." Faust said. Rozaline nodded in agreement while Sirius had long fallen asleep on top of Orion, snoring loudly while curled up into a ball, securing herself to the sword with a tightly wrapped blanket. Faust didn't even blink at Sirius's behaviour. She had discovered the way to sleep atop a flying sword in multiple positions and especially when Faust was an easily manipulated 16 year old, he had given in to her whining multiple times.

Rozaline looked like she had something to say about it, but covered her face with her fan and looked away. Daybreak soon broke. The reinforcing disciples had chased after the escaped demonic cultivators, especially the Golden Core elder of the Ruby Demonic Sect, hoping to find the actual location of said sect. Faust waited with Sirius and Rozaline atop the stone platform he had made prior. Only they faced the forest this time. The Imperial Scribe stood at the ready. One by one, people trudged out of the forest.

Faust watched for a few moments, then began yelling out instructions.

"All participants must report to the Imperial Scholars! Those who do not do so will be considered deceased! All who failed to register yesterday will also fail by default! Those who passed, but did not report to the scribes this morning, will not be taken to the sect!" Faust explained how the proceedings would go, repeating his words every few minutes.

Faust had no doubt some people who had failed would try to skip reporting and get compensation for being 'dead' but the scribes had written down quite a lot on each registration form, enough that the disciples who took the mission to give out compensation could make a well informed decision about whether the person in question had actually died or not. Either way, the sect was being generous.

Eventually, as the sun began its rapid ascent, Faust's face soured as he saw Long Tao with the two girls, laughing and chatting as he dragged a boar the size of three carts behind him, one that seemed to have been equal to the Meridian Opening realm in life and too large to fit into spatial storage. Foria had fashioned a rope backpack to hold her boar's head, while he could only assume Aneroze was using a spatial pouch.

"Hmmm… Family power really is the easiest way." Faust mumbled to himself. For the girls this trial didn't really matter. Faust was the chief proctor and could say Foria passed anyways, while the Roze family held enough sway Aneroze could just say she did it and the Imperial Scholars would treat her words as gospel. … Soon, the sun had reached its midpoint and Faust announced, "All those who have qualified, enter the stage with the sheet given to you by the scholars!"

There was an earthen ramp that had formed on the side of the stone stage when the topsoil layer was severed and thrown to the side the previous day. People marched up the earth ramp, many clutching their piece of paper like it was worth their lives.

"Hold your sheet of paper so that the proctors can clearly see what's written over it." Faust ordered, manipulating the Qi to nudge people around so they were neatly ordered and could all be seen from where he stood. After a few moments, looking over all the people who had passed, Faust nodded, then began reciting the preprepared speech from the sect.

"Congratulations to all of you, for passing this year's trial, harder than most." Faust began.

""From this point forward. You are all Outer Disciples of the Clear Mirror Sect." While the rich heirs nodded along, others, from common backgrounds, seemed to barely hold back tears, puffing out their chests in pride. From there. Faust recited a half an hour speech from the sect, going over history and the like, as well as explaining the procedures and common courtesies they would need to know through anecdotes mixed into the speech.

At last, as the sun reached its zenith, Faust reached into his spatial bag, pulling out a small wooden boat. Tossing the toy boat into the air, Faust felt his Spirit Qi diminish rapidly. The toy boat expanded, from the size of a palm, the toy became a large ship, tens of meters across and several wide.

"Huuu…." Faust exhaled as the Spirit Qi drain finally slowed to a small trickle. The Spirit Boat had been provided by the sect specifically to awe the new disciples and any onlookers nearby, maintaining the sect's prestige.

"Then. Everyone on stage now, please say goodbyes and then board the ship. We will be returning to the sect shortly." Faust finished, letting the ship descend beside the several meter high stone stage so that the deck was almost level with it.