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

Chapter 383: The Poison of Cultivation Techniques, The Resource Mark

“Of course, it’s a super powerful, explosively unbeatable grand plan!”

Suddenly, Qi Yuan had a flash of inspiration.

“In the past, my plans had crude names, lacking depth, making me seem like an uneducated person.

This time, the name of the plan can’t be so simplistic!”

“What’s the name?” Jiang Lingsu’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.

“Qi Yuan’s Plan to Eliminate the Great Catastrophe!” Qi Yuan said seriously.

“...” Jiang Lingsu rolled her eyes.

I shouldn’t have expected much!

“What catastrophe?” Jiang Lingsu tilted her head, her pale hand supporting her delicate face.

“Of course, the catastrophe that will turn us all into nourishment!” Qi Yuan’s expression turned serious, full of righteousness.

Hearing this, Jiang Lingsu’s eyes flashed with surprise.

This sounds a bit like the poison in cultivation techniques.

If cultivation techniques are truly poisonous, doesn’t that mean the path we’ve taken is all wrong?

Suddenly, she remembered the painter she had once met.

At that time, the painter had drawn many strange pictures.

Jiang Lingsu had asked the meaning of one particular drawing.

In the painting, terrifying ghostly immortals ravaged the world, and a powerful immortal suppressed them… behind him was an endless sea of blood.

The painter had said that heaven and earth had long been intertwined with these ghostly immortals; if the ghostly immortals fell, the world would perish too.

Jiang Lingsu’s face paled. “Senior Brother, are you confident about facing this catastrophe?”

She didn’t know what kind of catastrophe Qi Yuan was talking about, assuming it was just a powerful enemy.

“I’m confident. After all, I’m now the first Purple Mansion of the Shenguang Sect!” Qi Yuan said, feeling elated.

He had broken through to the Purple Mansion stage and felt the need to announce it to the world.

After thinking for a moment, he took out the jade from the Divine Flower Society and posted a global announcement.

“Warm congratulations to Daoist Qi Yuan for becoming the first Purple Mansion of the Shenguang Sect!”

After sending the announcement, Qi Yuan felt very satisfied.

The feeling of using privileges is great.

No wonder everyone loves being in a position of privilege.

At this moment, Jiang Lingsu hadn’t checked her Divine Flower Society jade, so she didn’t know about the announcement.

She sighed in relief and softly said, “As long as Senior Brother is confident, just beat that guy into a pulp!”

“Don’t worry. When it comes to enemies, I’m always violent,” Qi Yuan said.

At that moment, Jiang Lingsu recalled something she had seen in her family’s treasure vault, and the words of the painter returned to her mind.

“Senior Brother, what if… when you fight this catastrophe, I die, and the people of the Shenguang Sect die—would you still fight?” Jiang Lingsu asked.

Qi Yuan fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.

Jiang Lingsu remembered one of the painter’s drawings. She thought, “If I had such a powerful enemy, I would hide far away with Senior Brother.

Being a turtle basking on the beach sounds better than dying like a butterfly in a tragic love story.”

Her logic was simple. If she could defeat the enemy but those she cared about would die, she’d rather run far away.

“Being a turtle isn’t great—you could end up as turtle soup!” Qi Yuan said seriously. “But your question is interesting, and it has reminded me of something.”

Qi Yuan hadn’t cultivated any of this world’s poisoned techniques.

But everyone else had.

They practiced these techniques, reached high levels, and left their names on the Monument of Legends.

Periodically, a great catastrophe would come to harvest these individuals as resources.

What would happen to those who practiced these cultivation techniques?

Would they be marked, their lives hanging by a thread?

“Junior Sister, give me your hand. I’ll check your body,” Qi Yuan said urgently.

He wanted to figure out the effect cultivation techniques had on others in Canglan.

“Huh? I’m not sick!” Jiang Lingsu protested, but she still extended her delicate hand to Qi Yuan.

She trusted her Senior Brother completely and without reservation.

After all, it was Senior Brother who had cured her illness before.

Qi Yuan placed his hand on Jiang Lingsu’s wrist, letting his divine energy flow into her body.

He carefully examined her.

Jiang Lingsu remained still, not resisting at all.

In truth, this was a dangerous situation. If Qi Yuan had malicious intent, she could be seriously injured or even killed.

But Qi Yuan’s divine energy was vast, even greater than many Yang Gods.

With the presence of the innate seed, he had almost fully recovered his strength.

He controlled his power with great precision, so there was no risk of harming Jiang Lingsu.

Suddenly, Qi Yuan’s brow furrowed. He had discovered a faint mark on Jiang Lingsu’s true spirit.

It resembled a small sun, much like the one in the sky.

Qi Yuan’s desire to shoot down that sun grew even stronger.

【Mark of the Taihuang Palace Lord. All who practice this world’s techniques will gather this mark, becoming resources, with their life and death controlled by the Taihuang Palace Lord.】

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Lingsu’s face paled, for it was the first time she had seen her Senior Brother with such an expression.

Is there something wrong with my body?

“It’s nothing,” Qi Yuan smiled calmly.

Even he couldn’t remove the mark.

And while the mark was both serious and insignificant, it was like a curse.

As long as the owner of the curse wished, they could make anyone with the mark perish at any moment.

But under normal circumstances, it was harmless.

“You’re fine. I’m the one with a problem. It seems the plan to defeat the great catastrophe needs to be even more detailed,” Qi Yuan said.

In his plan to destroy the great catastrophe, he now needed to add another step: remove or isolate the mark.

“It definitely needs more detail. You can spare the enemy, but you need to save lives,” Jiang Lingsu said softly, her tone uncharacteristically gentle.

“Junior Sister, shall we prepare to head to Helan Continent and meet that painter?”

Qi Yuan had already decided that in the coming days, he would use his eyes to examine more people and find out the marks on their bodies, hoping to uncover key information.

If he could find a solution, all the better.

“Huh? Sure, give me a moment to pack,” Jiang Lingsu replied.

“Alright, I’ll take this opportunity to tell the Sect Master the good news about my breakthrough to the Purple Mansion.

Sigh, with a disciple as talented as me, Shenguang Sect must have ancestors smiling down from their graves!”

---

Meanwhile, on the forum of the Divine Flower Society, an announcement suddenly appeared.

Qi Yuan had become the first Purple Mansion cultivator of the Shenguang Sect, and the entire Divine Flower Society was abuzz. Members were shocked and curious about who this person was.

“Who is this guy? Shenguang Sect’s first Purple Mansion? How weak is that sect if they didn’t even have one Purple Mansion cultivator before?”

“Must be some obscure sect!”

“If it’s an obscure sect, how could he post a message that everyone in the Divine Flower Society can see?”

“Probably an illegitimate child of some big shot, trying to flaunt his accomplishments!”

“Maybe the son of an in-law, sent to a remote place to stay out of sight!”

People were gossiping, wildly speculating about Qi Yuan’s identity.

Suddenly, a warning appeared under the post.

“Warning: Spreading rumors without evidence. Yellow card issued. Divine Flower Society Disciplinary Committee notified.”

“Please edit your post to include the word ‘rumor.’”

Seeing this, the cultivators gossiping on the forum were stunned.

The Divine Flower Society Disciplinary Committee had been formed by a small fox demon.

Initially, it only monitored the forum for insults against the Blood-Robed Sword God.

But over time, the committee had grown, becoming an organized group that genuinely monitored the forum, as if carrying out the Blood-Robed Sword God’s wish to purify the cultivation world.

Getting a yellow card was a warning.

Three yellow cards? You had to write a public apology.

The cultivators had a love-hate relationship with the Disciplinary Committee.

They loved it because if someone insulted them, they could report it.

But they hated it because it meant they couldn’t insult others freely anymore.

Meanwhile, in the chat group of the Four Emperors of the Divine Flower Society.

The Rogue Immortal Sovereign was frantically tagging the Origin Heavenly Venerate.

“You’ve reached the Purple Mansion?”

The Great Sun Flame Emperor joined in: “Hey, you’ve been in seclusion for two and a half years, leaving the Original God Sharing Guild unattended?”

The Ice Mountain Overlord hadn’t appeared in the group chat.

A few years ago, Qi Yuan had sent three Great Venerables to help the Ice Mountain Overlord break through to the Yin God stage, and she was now stabilizing her realm.

Finally, Qi Yuan turned his attention to the Four Emperors’ group chat.

“Sigh, my talent is weak, so I had no choice but to work hard and cultivate to break through.

Sigh, after all that effort, I barely managed to reach the Purple Mansion.

But even after reaching the Purple Mansion, I only have the ‘purple,’ but no ‘mansion!’” Qi Yuan grumbled.

“What does that even mean?” The Rogue Immortal Sovereign was confused.

Because of the Blood-Robed Sword God, the Rogue Immortal Sovereign’s prestige had risen significantly.

He was now on speaking terms with Purple Mansion cultivators and even had dealings with Yin Gods.

So, hearing Qi Yuan’s words, he couldn’t understand.

“To break through to the Purple Mansion stage, you need both ‘purple’ and a ‘mansion.’

I’ve more or less gathered enough purple energy, but I still need a mansion. I already have a concept, but now I just need a painter to bring it to life.”

“Wait… purple energy?!!” The Rogue Immortal Sovereign was utterly shocked. “Are you talking about the Primordial Purple Energy, the first energy of the Immortal Dao, the mother of all things, the Chaos Energy?!”

“Yep,” Qi Yuan confirmed.

The Rogue Immortal Sovereign was completely floored. “I’ve heard that even Yang Gods struggle to obtain a single wisp of purple energy, and you… used it for your Purple Mansion?!”

The rarity of purple energy was legendary.

It was more valuable than Heaven Dao Foundation and far beyond ordinary comprehension.

It was like discovering that someone you know, who earns a modest salary, suddenly has an account worth a trillion times that.

Impossible to fathom.

“Xiao Yu, you’re overreacting. Even if the Origin Heavenly Venerate said he used the bones of the Dao Ancestor as toothpicks, I’d believe him!” The Great Sun Flame Emperor said nonchalantly. “There are ten suns in the sky, and they’re all the Origin Heavenly Venerate’s golden cores. Have you ever seen a star used as a golden core?”

Xiao Yu was the real name of the Rogue Immortal Sovereign.

Being called by his real name made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

“Sigh, it seems my horizons are too narrow,” the Rogue Immortal Sovereign lamented.

After all, in his understanding, to break through to the Purple Mansion stage, one had to comprehend the essence of the Immortal Dao, walk their own path, and awaken a unique divine ability.

But purple energy? A mansion? How did that relate to the Purple Mansion?

Well, maybe only in name.

“How’s the Origin God Sharing Society been doing lately? How’s the collection of cultivation techniques going?” Qi Yuan asked.

This was something he cared deeply about.

It was crucial for his future path.

Now that he had reached the Purple Mansion stage, the need for cultivation techniques had grown significantly.

In a way, the myriad Dao paths were scattered throughout all cultivation techniques. What Qi Yuan was doing now was gathering the fragments of these paths.

“The method you taught us, and the system where members of the Divine Flower Society upload their techniques in exchange for others’ techniques, has been incredibly effective.

I’ll send you the collected techniques right away.

However…” The Great Sun Flame Emperor hesitated.

“What’s the matter?” Qi Yuan asked.

“Well, your divine technique has attracted some mysterious individuals to the Origin God Sharing Guild. They want to meet you,” the Great Sun Flame Emperor said cautiously.

Back then, Qi Yuan had set up a method similar to modern platforms, where cultivators could upload their techniques to share with others, helping each other in their cultivation.

Qi Yuan had been generous, even publicly releasing his divine technique in the end.

“Oh?” Qi Yuan remained calm. “What do they want? Are they planning to kill me and steal my treasures?

Where do they live? Maybe I’ll pay them a visit and see if they have a cat that can cook.”

Qi Yuan thought of Xie Xinsu, whose family had a cat that could cook.

“They seem to be from some hidden clans. They want to discuss the matter of the great catastrophe with you.

They mentioned that your divine technique should not be spread too widely, or… if it reaches a certain number, all the cultivators in this world will die!” The Great Sun Flame Emperor’s voice was filled with seriousness and a touch of resignation.

While the Origin Heavenly Venerate was known for pulling off miracles, the great catastrophe and the forces behind it were far too deep.

After all, how many cultivators in Canglan could truly support Qi Yuan?

The great catastrophe, on the other hand, had the backing of forces from other worlds.

If they failed, they could call for reinforcements from the higher realms.

And those reinforcements would be gods.

Perhaps even legendary Yang Gods.

But in Canglan? Who could help Qi Yuan here?

In the face of the great catastrophe, Qi Yuan was essentially fighting alone.

All the others could do was provide minor assistance.

Sometimes, the Great Sun Flame Emperor even thought that since Qi Yuan hadn’t practiced any poisoned techniques, he could leave this world and escape the whirlpool.

If one were to think even more darkly, Qi Yuan could even communicate with the forces behind the catastrophe and become their disciple.

“Is that so?” Qi Yuan pondered for a moment, then sent a message. “Don’t worry. My plan to defeat the great catastrophe is almost complete. In at most six months, my perfect plan will be in full swing, and the catastrophe will have nowhere to hide. As for the divine technique and whether it should be shared—that’s a joke!”

The Great Sun Flame Emperor felt a surge of mixed emotions. “Origin Heavenly Venerate, don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Hey, if you keep talking like that, I’ll come to your house and cook you an egg with my golden core!”

“No, please don’t!” The Great Sun Flame Emperor laughed, then added, “The people from those hidden clans left a way to contact them. They said when you’re ready, you should visit their secret realm to discuss the issue of the divine technique.”

“Forget it. If they want to meet me, they can come to me.

Tell them that in five days, I’ll be heading to Helan Continent in the Eastern Lands, and I’ll stay there for a while. If they want to meet, they can come to Helan and request an audience.

Otherwise, there’s no chance.

I usually don’t like visiting people. If I do, it’s usually to wipe them out!”

Qi Yuan said casually.

Indeed, when he visited the Black Mountain Sect, it was for extermination. When he went to the Bright Palace, it was for extermination too.

Of course, his trip to Helan to see the painter wasn’t for extermination.

“Alright, I’ll relay your message to them.

Heh, these so-called hidden clans… If they were truly powerful, they’d have already taken down the Origin God Sharing Society and dragged you out.

The truth is, they’re not strong enough, so they choose to hide, pretending to be detached from worldly affairs. Who are they fooling?” The Great Sun Flame Emperor scoffed.

He wasn’t afraid of hidden clans.

The Original God Sharing Guild was now quite powerful.

If these hidden clans were truly formidable, they would have already smashed the Origin God Sharing Society and pulled Qi Yuan out.

But no, their strength wasn’t sufficient, so they chose to hide, putting on a facade of being above it all.

Who did they think they were fooling?