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

Qi Yuan thought to himself and looked at the divine general.

【The divine general of the Ascension Gate. Defeat him on the Ascension Platform to gain control over Tianjue.】

It seemed this NPC wasn't lying.

"Alright, I accept the challenge!" Qi Yuan said firmly, tightly holding Xiao Jia's hand.

He had to bring Xiao Jia along, otherwise she would stumble and get hurt again.

Last time, when he fought Zang Hua, he didn't bring Xiao Jia. By the time he saw her again, she had stumbled many times and was covered in dust and mud, looking pitiful and making his heart ache.

The golden-armored divine general looked at Qi Yuan, his voice booming: "The battle begins; death will not end it!"

With this declaration, Qi Yuan saw a staircase appear on the Ascension Platform.

Boom, boom, boom!
It sounded like a giant beast's footsteps shaking the ground as the staircase extended, reaching from the sky to the ground.

After about a quarter of an hour, the stairs extended to Qi Yuan's feet.

From the sky to the ground, a heavenly ladder appeared.

Counting the steps, they matched exactly with 129,600.

"Climb the steps, the battle begins. The victor ascends one step," the golden-armored man explained the rules.

Qi Yuan did not climb immediately but asked, "Can I rest in between?"

"After each victory, you may descend the stairs, but you cannot stay outside for more than a day, or you will be forcibly summoned!

Remember, one year on the steps is equivalent to one day outside."

"Oh, that's fine then." Qi Yuan felt relieved.

He looked at Xiao Jia, smiling, "This time, I will fight alongside you."

In his heart, he added another sentence.

Alongside everyone in the Five Elements Forbidden Land and Yin-Yang Forbidden Lands.

These 129,600 battles would be perfect to hone his combat experience, to refine the experiences and insights of those 84 people.

Qi Yuan had gained a lot of insight from his battle with Zang Hua.

And climbing the Daylight Ascension Platform was a great opportunity.

The combat experience he lacked should be well-honed here, right?

Moreover, after so many battles and killing so many monsters, he should gain quite a bit of experience, right?

With these thoughts, Qi Yuan stepped onto the first step.

The view before him changed instantly.

It seemed he was now standing on the Ascension Platform.

Qi Yuan scanned his surroundings.

He noticed that where he was now felt like a coliseum.

Around the coliseum were tens of thousands of seats.

The seats varied in levels, some high and some ordinary.

It seemed that in the past, people had watched duels here!

But now, it was empty, with no audience.

This made Qi Yuan, who had social anxiety, feel better.

"Good thing no one is watching, otherwise it would be embarrassing."

At this moment, a loud heartbeat sounded.

Qi Yuan saw a burly man, shirtless and tall like a sumo wrestler from a prosperous country, rushing toward him.

That wasn't a living being, but a shadow, or perhaps... a monster that could provide experience!
"Xiao Jia!"

Qi Yuan merged with Xiao Jia.

At this moment, he closed his eyes.

Now, he was no longer himself; he was Long Pan.

Insights naturally come from the strong.

Long Pan's memories and combat experiences flowed into Qi Yuan's mind like a spring.

At this moment, he forgot his own moves.

He regarded himself as Long Pan.

If he were Long Pan, how would he face this enemy?

Then, Qi Yuan moved.

He turned around, back facing the burly man.

He reached out and grabbed the man's neck.

Slam!
Boom!
The burly man fell with a crash.

Blood spilled everywhere, staining the coliseum red.

Qi Yuan won the first battle.

He opened his eyes, reflecting on the battle's gains and losses.

"Why fight with my back?"

"Facing all beings with my back?"

"Pretty stylish."

"Oh, no, he was blushing!"

Qi Yuan suddenly realized the key point.

With the first victory, the second battle began.

Qi Yuan stepped onto the second step.

Another enemy appeared, this time a crocodile-like fierce beast.

Qi Yuan closed his eyes again.

……

Seven days later, Qi Yuan logged out of the game.

He went out for a walk, and when he saw Jiang Lingsu, he blurted out.

"Junior Sister, you've turned green."

At this moment, Jiang Lingsu, in a plain green dress, looked ethereal and serene, most noticeable was the "ramen green leaves" on her head.

Her hair had become ramen-like, but the strands were green leaves.

Lush and vigorous.

Qi Yuan even saw a small bird in the dense green leaves.

Jiang Lingsu glared at Qi Yuan fiercely: "You're the one who's green! This is wood essence, a good thing!"

Today, the Shinguang Sect was in an uproar!

Because many cultivators had sprouts and leaves growing on their heads and other parts of their bodies.

At first, the sect was in chaos, with some thinking someone had cast a spell to harm them.

But the sect master explained that it might be a sign of a wood-type treasure appearing, which calmed everyone down.

Many began looking for the wood-type treasure, and some discovered that the green leaves and sprouts growing on them were wood essence, beneficial for cultivation.

So, many started selling the wood essence, while others absorbed it themselves.

Among them, the wood essence growing on the beautiful female cultivators sold for a fortune and was particularly popular.

This made Qi Yuan grind his teeth in jealousy.

The wood essence he created ended up growing on others, making them rich.

He even considered knocking those people out and scraping off all the wood essence.

But thinking again, he was just jealous and still had his principles.

Otherwise, he'd end up creating a bunch of green dragons, white tigers, monks, and nuns.

Could he still stay in this sect then?
"Junior Sister, can you give me some of your wood essence?" Qi Yuan asked tentatively.

Jiang Lingsu blushed immediately: "No."

"Junior Sister, I see many are selling it outside..." Qi Yuan was cut off before he could finish.

"Get lost!"

The wood essence was connected to her body, essentially an extension of herself. How could she give it to someone, especially a man?
However, she looked at Qi Yuan with deep suspicion: "Senior Brother, you've been reeking of blood recently."

"Huh?" Qi Yuan thought of the game, where he had fought countless battles on the Ascension Platform, killing countless beings.

Because, on each step, there wasn't just one enemy but sometimes a group.

Could the killing intent and blood smell from the game be brought into reality?

"Is it very strong?" Qi Yuan asked nervously.

Jiang Lingsu nodded: "If you weren't always hiding on Qise Peak, I'd suspect you secretly went out to massacre a sect."

Qi Yuan's eyes turned red: "How can you falsely accuse me! I didn't massacre the Black Mountain Sect!"

Jiang Lingsu laughed: "Who knows? Maybe you sneaked out one night and used your kitchen knife to kill everyone in the Black Mountain Sect."

Qi Yuan's gaze turned cold instantly: "Junior Sister, you know too much!"

For some reason, Jiang Lingsu felt a chill in her heart.

She looked at Qi Yuan with a trace of fear, but still said: "Senior Brother, I don't know why you have such a strong smell of blood.

But you'd better dispel or hide it.

Otherwise, it will be detrimental to your cultivation and could lead to inner demons.

More importantly, if you encounter some bizarre high-level cultivators, they might kill you in the name of justice."

Thinking of something, Jiang Lingsu felt a flash of fear and resistance deep inside.

She knew such cultivators.

They belonged to an organization.

People in this organization hated evil but had a bad reputation.

They called themselves righteous envoys but acted extremely overbearingly.

Once, a cultivator wiped out a bandit camp, only to be killed by this organization for having too strong a smell of blood.

Anyway, their definition of justice was the only justice.

If they said someone killed too much, without asking why, that person deserved to die.

"What? There are such people who want to rid me of evil?" Qi Yuan was taken aback.

Jiang Lingsu was speechless.

She couldn't understand how her eccentric senior brother could have such a strong smell of blood.

Could playing too many games affect reality?

"Indeed, there are such people, and not just one, but a whole organization.

What, Senior Brother, are you planning to go and wipe them out?

They're not as weak as the Black Mountain Sect; they have double-digit strong divine infant (Nascent Soul) cultivators." Jiang Lingsu laughed.

Hearing this, Qi Yuan sat on the ground, looking dejected: "I'm so useless, weak and helpless, I can't even kill them all in one night, wipe out their entire organization."

But thinking of something, Qi Yuan said: "Such hateful people, I should unite with righteous people to destroy them!"

Used to her senior brother's odd logic, Jiang Lingsu was happy to banter with him: "Righteous people won't do. They represent justice, often committing evil under the guise of justice."

"Standing on the moral high ground?" Qi Yuan asked.

Jiang Lingsu understood his meaning: "Yes."

"Damn, they're copying me, only I can hold the moral high ground! Hmph, those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die, this organization, if I'm not the boss, they're done for! Even if I become the boss, I'll strip those evil ones and rebels of their human status!"

Strip them of their human status? Jiang Lingsu was stunned: "Senior brother, you're so ruthless!"

"By the way, what's the name of this organization?"

"Light Palace."

"Light Palace? Why don't they call themselves the Illuminati?" Qi Yuan muttered, then said, "I've remembered them, they better not let me encounter them, or they'll have a taste of their own medicine."

But after saying this, Qi Yuan thought of something and became worried. He lowered his voice and leaned close to Jiang Lingsu's lush ear to say: "Junior sister, their sect doesn't have any innate sages who can sense that I just mentioned them, right?"

"...No."

Qi Yuan let out a sigh of relief.

That's good.

But he was still uneasy: "They won't suddenly come to Seven Color Peak, will they?"

"They won't." Jiang Lingsu felt that she shouldn't have told her senior brother, scaring him like this.

Hearing this, Qi Yuan felt greatly relieved: "Sigh, you're right, I need to get rid of the smell of blood on me."

But Jiang Lingsu said quietly: "But I heard that someone from Light Palace has come to Da Shang, seemingly wanting to get involved in Da Shang's dragon competition."

"What?" Qi Yuan was shocked.

"It's okay, he's not strong, just at the Foundation Building stage."

"No one else came?"

"No."

At night, Qi Yuan returned to his room and couldn't sleep well all night.

However, remembering that he hadn't cleared the game yet, he decided to put this matter aside for now.

After all, he stayed on Seven Color Peak every day, how could he be so unlucky as to encounter such meddlesome people? Moreover, he had no grudge against Light Palace, had never even met them, he had face, and wasn't shameless enough to stand on the moral high ground.

Black Mountain Sect was different.