My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Qi Yuan held Xiao Jia's hand as they walked through the training grounds. His eyes swept around, taking in information.

[Gold Spirit, Level 48, can be transformed into Gold Essence Qi.]

A dung-yellow monster was rushing towards Qi Yuan. Its entire body was golden yellow, seemingly with solid gold as bones, liquid gold as blood, and the gas it exhaled was gaseous gold. Its appearance was somewhat disgusting.

Qi Yuan looked at the Gold Spirit with disdain and casually slashed it with his sword. The giant Gold Spirit fell in response.

Experience +100.

Gold Essence Qi +1 (wisp).

"Not bad, not bad. I just don't know how much Gold Essence Qi is needed to complete the gold element."

One Gold Spirit could provide Qi Yuan with a wisp of Gold Essence Qi, which was quite good for him. After acquiring the Gold Essence Qi, he could feel that his attack seemed slightly sharper, a subtle but noticeable improvement.

He carried his sword and held Xiao Jia's hand, heading deeper into the training grounds where more Five Elements Spirits and more experience and essence awaited.

He needed to collect more of the Five Elements Qi to achieve the complete mastery of the five elements. In doing so, the Five Elements Forbidden Land would be entirely under his control. The Heavenly Dao fragments would also be within reach.

"Kill!"

Qi Yuan, accompanied by Xiao Jia, fought in the Five Elements training grounds for three hours. Initially, he did not merge with Xiao Jia, thinking that Xiao Jia's body had not rested well and merging would deplete her energy. However, later he decided to merge with Xiao Jia because leaving her alone was dangerous. Given her naive nature, if she were left alone in a seemingly safe place, she might end up falling into the water.

Additionally, he wasn't facing enemies of the level of the Ugly Clothes Monster Emperor, so merging with Xiao Jia caused minimal depletion to her energy. After merging, Qi Yuan couldn't help but sigh, "We've been married for so long, and I've grown fond of her over time."

Of course, Xiao Jia played a crucial role in Qi Yuan's victory over the Garment Forbidden Land. Who wouldn't appreciate such a partner? Some unscrupulous people might even call Xiao Jia "mom" directly.

Standing ten meters tall, Qi Yuan was invincible in the Five Elements Forbidden Land, cutting down two Earth Spirits with one slash. In the game, he was on a killing spree, the only regret being that there were too few Five Elements Spirits.

Most of his time was spent searching for the Five Elements Spirits.

"It's time to log out." Qi Yuan, as usual, separated from Xiao Jia. Today in the Five Elements training grounds, Qi Yuan had made significant gains. Last time, after defeating the Ugly Clothes Monster Emperor, he was level 91, close to level 92. Today, he reached level 92. When merged with Xiao Jia, he could exert the power of level 97, equivalent to the strength of a domain giant.

Not only that, but he also acquired a lot of the Five Elements Qi. He obtained 20 wisps of Gold Essence Qi and 11 wisps of Wood Essence Qi. The other three essences were within this range.

With so much Five Elements Qi, Qi Yuan vaguely sensed that to complete the gold element, he would need 50 times what he currently had. In other words, by killing a thousand Five Elements Spirits, he could achieve complete mastery of the five elements.

"It would take at least fifty days to achieve complete mastery of the five elements. That's too slow!"

"Was this game designed by Netease? Making people collect fragments every day, and even spending money doesn't make it any better!"

"I need to speed up!"

"The biggest problem now is that there don't seem to be many Five Elements Spirits in the training grounds. I wonder where there's a large concentration of them. Otherwise, I could grind for five or six days and might achieve complete mastery of the five elements, taking control of the Five Elements Forbidden Land."

"If I remember correctly, there are other talents in the Five Elements training grounds. They've been here for a long time and are most familiar with the place. Tomorrow, I'll look for them and ask where the dens of the Five Elements Spirits are."

Qi Yuan dug a hole, hugged Xiao Jia, and nestled into the hole. Holding Xiao Jia, he opened the chat interface and looked at the messages, chatting as usual.

"I feel like I can clear the game soon."

"Have the Garment Forbidden Land troops gone to your place yet?"

"Their strength is decent, right? After things settle on your end, let's meet up!"

After logging out of the game, it was still daylight outside. Qi Yuan glanced at the peak of the Seven-Colored Mountain. The palace looked like a fairy palace, and even though it wasn't dark yet, it seemed to hang a full moon.

"The moon beside Master is exceptionally bright," Qi Yuan muttered inexplicably.

For some reason, after logging out, he felt a bit empty inside.

"Hmm...? The Five Elements Qi indeed transferred to reality," Qi Yuan's attention was quickly drawn away.

The technique he practiced was fire-attribute. The spells he could use were also related to fire. Now, he felt he could control water and wood as well.

"With water and wood attributes, I could switch to being a healer?"

"Before, I was a dedicated practitioner and a swordsman in secret, which barely counted as dual cultivation."

"Now, adding a healer, what would that be, triple...?"

Qi Yuan felt he was close to assembling the "three most untouchable" professions in the cultivation world.

For three days in a row, Qi Yuan lived a very regular life. During the day, he played the game. After logging out, he read the techniques and manuals moved from the Black Mountain Sect. The days passed slowly.

The only regret for Qi Yuan was that he still hadn't encountered other talents in the Five Elements training grounds. The collection of the Five Elements Qi was also progressing slowly, with the highest being Gold Spirit, only around seven percent.

...

In the Five Elements training grounds, three figures stood in the icy snow. A white-robed, elegant man was fighting a Water Spirit. Nearby, two domain experts stood guard, preventing other Water Spirits from interfering and affecting the white-robed man's battle.

The white-robed man, a domain expert, should have easily defeated an emperor-level Ice Spirit. The reason he fought slowly was to comprehend the Water Essence Qi during the battle, thereby enhancing his strength.

After an unknown period, a blue light flashed in the man's eyes. He struck the Ice Spirit with a palm, acquiring a wisp of Ice Essence Qi. Overjoyed, he couldn't help but let out a long shout.

The two domain experts beside him showed envious expressions. A red-robed man said, "Brother Tang, no wonder Lord Feather praised you. Your talent is second only to his. In just one year, you obtained a wisp of Water Essence Qi. Before the Demon-Slaying Conference begins, you might reach a higher realm and become a giant!"

In the Five Elements training grounds, there are Five Spirits. However, extracting the needed Five Elements Essence Qi from them is extremely difficult. First, while battling the Five Spirits, one must focus on comprehension without external interference. Second, not every Five Spirit slain will yield a wisp of Five Elements Essence Qi, as the probability is very low.

Because of this, they stayed away from areas densely populated with Five Spirits and practiced in places with fewer spirits, but it was still very hard to obtain the needed Five Elements Essence Qi. This had to do with talent.

The red-robed man's talent, while considered outstanding outside, was dwarfed by Tang Yan's. It might take him three to five years to gather a wisp of Five Elements Essence.

Tang Yan, on the other hand, needed only a year, sometimes even less. This was the gap between them.

The bun-haired woman also looked at Tang Yan with envy, "Among the talents in the training grounds, Brother Tang's is the highest!"

Hearing this, the red-robed man remembered something and said, "I heard from Little Green that someone else has entered the training grounds, calling himself the Lord of the Garment Department."

Tang Yan was surprised, "Lord of the Garment Department? The husband of the Bride Empress? Who is he? It seems we have another strong talent among us."

Tang Yan looked pleased. More talents meant a better chance against the extraterrestrial demons.

"It seems he's not from our forbidden lands but an outsider who, by chance, entered the Garment Forbidden Land and obtained the Garment Department's legacy," the red-robed man said, his tone a bit sour. "This person... unlike us, he has great talent but perhaps has never faced any real setbacks, making him arrogant. On his first day in the Five Elements Forbidden Land, he declared he would control the land and be the leader of the Five Elements!"

Tang Yan was stunned, "That's a joke, right? Can't be serious!"

To control the Five Elements Forbidden Land, one needs to perfect the Five Elements. Tang Yan, the top water talent, considered a once-in-a-millennium genius, needed a year to gather a wisp of Water Essence Qi. The more he gathered, the harder it became. To perfect the water element would take at least three thousand years, not to mention the other four elements.

The Garment Department Lord would need talent in all five elements comparable to Tang Yan's water talent and then spend ten thousand years to perfect the Five Elements. Clearly impossible.

"That's why I say the Garment Department Lord is inexperienced, having never encountered true talents, hence his arrogance," the red-robed man couldn't help but say.

The bun-haired woman chuckled, "You can say such things among us but don't say it in front of the Garment Department Lord."

The red-robed man laughed, "Of course, I'm not foolish. We're all in this together for the Demon-Slaying Conference. I'll praise him to his face and save the bad-mouthing for behind his back."

Tang Yan and the bun-haired woman were helpless.

At this moment, a lazy voice came, "Didn't your mother tell you not to speak ill of others behind their backs?"

The three were stunned and quickly looked at the red-robed man's position. A hand reached out from the ground, grabbing the red-robed man's ankle. The three were surprised but not flustered.

The soil churned, and a handsome man holding a bride-like girl emerged from the ground.

"Lord of the Garment Department!" Tang Yan couldn't help but recognize Qi Yuan's identity. His gaze swept over Xiao Jia and finally rested on Qi Yuan's face.

The red-robed man also recognized Qi Yuan, his face showing embarrassment. It was too awkward to bad-mouth someone and be caught by the person.

He forced a smile, "Ahem, apologies, that was my fault."

But why was the Garment Department Lord buried in the ground instead of collecting Five Elements Essence?

The bun-haired woman asked out of curiosity, voicing the three's question, "Lord of the Garment Department, why were you buried in the ground?"

"Um, sleeping," Qi Yuan decided not to reveal too many game terms to NPCs. What if the NPCs awakened?

He had seen a movie where a game NPC awakened and fell in love with a human female player.

"Sleeping?" The red-robed man was wide-eyed, "Domain warriors don't need to sleep."

Upon reaching the celestial domain, one no longer needed sleep. Sleeping was an inefficient way to rest.

"I wanted to sleep a bit longer, but you were too noisy, disturbing my dream, so I came up. As a price for disturbing me, you must answer a question for me." Qi Yuan, feeling clever again, had his eyes sparkle.