Qin Yun took out a black bottle, and a beam of light flew out of it, went into mouth, and was swallowed into his stomach. A cool feeling permeated his being as his mind and heart felt even more ethereal.

"Phew." Qin Yun put away the black bottle and gradually breathed out as he studied his dantian inwardly.

In the middle of his dantian floated a round purplish-gold Golden Core.

It had been more than a year since he last attempted this breakthrough. His purplish-gold Golden Core and soul had long recovered. Furthermore, with his Sword Dao realm having broken through, his soul had been enhanced once again.

"The breakthrough failure last time resulted in my Dharmic powers running amok. Thankfully, I remained conscious enough to bring my Dharmic powers back under control… If not, I would be long dead." As Qin Yun looked inwardly at his purplish-gold Golden Core, he also felt some pressure.

Typical breakthroughs and a breakthrough using a self-created Dharmic formulation were vastly different.

Typical breakthroughs were done in accordance with Dharmic formulations of one"s predecessors. There was the experience of success gleaned from one generation after another. The Dharmic formulation was already very perfect! Even if one failed to condense an Essence Soul, it was typically not life-threatening.

As for creating a Dharmic formulation independently…

Who knew what was good and bad when it came to a new Dharmic formulation?

A flawed Dharmic formulation would not only fail to condense an Essence Soul, it might even cause the Golden Core to crack.

"Apart from the Grand Supreme sword immortal lineage, the other sword immortal Dharmic formulations reach their apex at the Connate Golden Core realm. And mortal Connate Golden Cores only have at most five hundred years to live," thought Qin Yun. "Mortal sword immortals… that can cultivate to a level like mine, with strength that matches a fourth or fifth Skyimmortal are extremely rare. At the very least, I have never heard of one in the Effulgent Great World."

"I have dedicated myself to the path of a sword immortal. I am fully aware of the intricacies of Sword Immortal Dharmic Powers."

"Grand Supreme Dao Ancestor simply inferred the sword immortal Dharmic formulation and even did it to the Golden Immortal level. All I"m doing is inferring a formulation to condense an Essence Soul. I will definitely succeed."

Qin Yun did not really care about his own safety.

Even if he died, he could reincarnate in Samsara and be received.

He was most worried about his daughter!

Only by successfully creating a Dharmic formulation that could condense a Sword Immortal Essence Soul would he have a chance of being made a disciple of Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor! That was the only way for him to save his daughter.

It was the only method of saving his daughter he could think of, and the only one he had any sort of confidence in.

As for pleading with Yellow-robed Supremacy? With his temperament, would a father"s pleas even work? Qin Yun had no confidence in that.

"It"s time."

Qin Yun cast out all unnecessary thoughts.

His will was as sharp as a sword as he began preparing his soul.

"Soul, fuse!"

His soul descended forcefully, fully immersing itself into the Golden Core. The violent intrusion into the Golden Core caused it to tremble to the point of slight fractures developing on its surface. Qin Yun"s soul and mind began humming.

However, he remained extremely calm. This step had to be done violently, for only with force could the two elements combine deep into the core.

"Next is the nurturing. Only by silently letting it spread and permeate fully, allowing the soul and Golden Core Dharmic powers to fuse at their roots, can an Essence Soul be nurtured." Qin Yun gradually guided the purplish-gold Golden Core and the more important soul. It was like walking on the edge of a blade as he had to be extremely careful. The slightest mistake could result in his Golden Core cracking and his Dharmic powers turning violent.

"This nurturing is different from the direction the Grand Supreme Dao Ancestor took."

"For me, the appropriate direction to steer in should be the orthodox Daoist way, an Essence Soul that resembles a person."

"I will stay orthodox and use the Heaven and Earth as core, and rule the Eight Desolates of the Universe."

Qin Yun gradually nurtured without any sense of urgency.

It was not something he could rush.

According to experience gleaned from ordinary Essence Soul condensation of Daoists, the nurturing could be as short as two to three hours or last as long as one to two days. It was like nurturing a child, it took as much time as it needed.

Time continued to pa.s.s…

Two hours, four hours, six hours…

The night gave way to morning as a sliver of light appeared across the horizon.

However, Qin Yun was feeling a faint sense of delight and antic.i.p.ation.

He could sense it.

Inside his purplish-gold Golden Core, a "tiny person" was subtly and slowly forming.

"I am my own G.o.d."

"I stay orthodox, my soul fully dedicated to the Sword Dao at my core. As such, I can create a Sword Immortal Essence Soul."

While Qin Yun"s soul and Golden Core Dharmic powers fused to form an Essence Soul, he felt an ethereal lightness. Clearly, through the process of being elevated as a lifeform, Qin Yun was even more certain that he was right in the path he chose.

…

Deep in the clouds, there were about ten figures standing there.

Among them were the silver-robed youth and the green-dressed woman who had pursued Yiyi previously. There were also other in-name disciples.

"Junior Brother Goldeneye, are you certain?" A black-robed youth stroked his mustache as he looked down at the vast lands, questioning a short and fat man beside him.

The fat man"s face was lumpy as his golden eyes were emitting a golden beam as he looked down. He said smugly, "Don"t worry, Senior Brother Wuli. These eyes of mine never go wrong when it comes to seeing karma, Dharmic powers, or the light shone from providence! That dragon girl, Yiyi, is in that manor below. It"s a manor named Hu Manor and a bunch of fox demonesses reside in it. And our Junior Sister Yiyi has disguised herself as an old woman to secretly control the manor."

"You did quite a thorough investigation," said the black-robed youth with a smile.

"I was only able to do so after scouring the surroundings based on Junior Brother An"s intelligence." Goldeneye looked at the silver-robed youth. "If I recall correctly, Junior Sister Yiyi liked Junior Brother An the most. You also treated her very well. You have truly steeled your heart this time."

The silver-robed youth said with a frown, "Back when we formed an alliance, we had agreed to combine forces to kill all other opponents. As for that dragon girl… she is naturally one of those other opponents."

"Alright." The black-robed youth laughed out loud. "That should be the case."

"However, the dragon girl"s strength has increased rapidly," said the silver-robed youth. "She"s a dragon and she cultivates in the Skydragon Body! When she put all she had into escaping, even the combined efforts of Junior Sister Yu and I failed to stop her. Make sure not to let your guard down."

"Hahaha… With Senior Brother Wuli here, do you really think that dragon girl can do anything ludicrous?"

"We have more than ten people here. If she can still escape that, we might as well kill ourselves and forget about trying to become inherited-teachings disciples."

All of them laughed, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence.

"She won"t escape." The black-robed youth smiled confidently. His strength was ranked third among all the in-name disciples but he had still organized this alliance. The minimum requirement for joining the alliance was to be at the second firmament Essence Soul realm.

In fact, many of the three hundred plus in-name disciples had formed alliances! They first joined forces to fight any outsiders… It was simply too difficult to survive to the very end alone!

As for Yiyi?

She was a mortal early on and was completely ignored!

"Yiyi, since you have stepped into the Essence Soul realm, your only outcome is to die. After all, only the final three survivors can become inherited-teachings disciples," Senior Brother An thought to himself.

"Let"s move out." Senior Brother Wuli waved his hand.

"Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+"

The group of fellow disciples flew in the direction of Hu Manor.

…

And in the stone house on the nameless mountain.

Qin Yun was still nurturing his Essence Soul.

He could already see a "tiny person" sitting cross-legged inside the purplish-gold Golden Core amid his dantian.

"Whoosh."

Everything was proceeding naturally under the most ripe conditions.

The purplish-gold Golden Core completely opened up, revealing a "tiny person."

The tiny person, who looked identical to Qin Yun, sat cross-legged. His tiny arms and legs had wisps of terrifying Sword Immortal Dharmic Powers lingering around his body like a mist.

Suddenly, the tiny person opened his eyes.

"Essence Soul. I, Qin Yun, have finally condensed a Sword Immortal Essence Soul." The tiny person"s eyes were filled with excitement that reflected his own.