The Dinghai Pearl

“Why are you still standing there? Pack your things and prepare to leave Zhuyan City.”

Chen Fan swayed his hand and another invisible energy wave closed the black hole in front of him. He then grabbed Old Ding and flashed to the top floor of the building.

“Yes... Okay,” said Old Ding with a quick bow.

He was still in shock when he walked out of the room. Old Ding thought Chen Fan was only a peak-stage Connate Cultivator; even though he called Chen Fan Perfected Cultivator, he didn’t really think that was real.

A Golden Core Perfected Cultivator was a supreme being.

There weren’t a lot of Golden Core Cultivators in the Beihan Region. Other than the royal family, the six Grotto-heavens and the eight powerful cultivation families, even a cultivation sect that ruled over dozens of cities like the Qingyang Sect had only a couple of them.

A Golden Core Cultivator could establish a sect on his own. Since he had been able to reach the Little Perfected Cultivator level at such a young age, Old Ding already considered Chen Fan as a top cultivator.

But this day...

Not even Xuan Danqing—the leader of the Golden Crow Envoys and a superior figure in the royal city—was able to resist one attack from Chen Fan. Old Ding hadn’t even heard of someone who could tear a dimension. Meanwhile, he was truly in awe and was willing to be Chen Fan’s servant.

“My Master is a true Perfected Cultivator! Rumor has it he’s actually a Nascent Soul Cultivator, which might truly be possible,” Old Ding mumbled.

He immediately became energetic and walked at a faster pace, all thanks to the mere thought of working for a Perfected Cultivator or even a Nascent Soul Perfected Cultivator.

There wasn’t anything special in the Golden Crow. Chen Fan had stored most of the Spirit Medicines inside the Blade Strengthening Gourd and they had only taken some equipment for traveling, like a grill, some flints, food and a tent.

Chen Fan asked Old Ding to rent the best “Wind Spirit Bird” with a hundred Spirit Stones.

“Whoosh!”

That night, Chen Fan and Old Ding flew out of Zhuyan City on the Wind Spirit Bird and headed north. The Beihan Region was a few hundred thousand miles large, which was dozens of times the Earth’s surface, and there were thousands of cities like Zhuyan City.

The entire Beihan Region had thirty six states.

Each state covered an area as large as the Earth’s surface! The Yun State, where Zhuyan City was located, was in the southernmost area, while the Fire State, where Old China Town was located, was in the northernmost. The two states were several hundred miles away from each other. It would take a day and a night flying for Chen Fan to get there on his own.

“It’s difficult for me to use my powers for a long time right now.”

Chen Fan looked a bit worried.

The Wind Spirit Bird was a famous monster known for its endurance. A Divine Sea Wind Spirit Bird was fifty meters wide when it spread its wings and it could carry dozens of people on its back. There was even a magnificent palace there, where Chen Fan was right at that moment.

He saw with his Heavenly Eyes that there were five chains twining around him. They were black, azure, white, yellow and golden in color respectively. The black and azure chains were larger, while the other three were smaller. All of them had been formed by an invisible energy. They couldn’t be touched and cultivators below the Nascent Soul Level wouldn’t even be able to see them.

Heavenly Divine Chains!

Those five chains had been made by Chen Fan himself with the Deception Art.

“I knew how hard it was to make a sacred-grade Golden Core, but I didn’t expect for it to be this hard.”

Chen Fan smiled wryly.

If the process from the Core Formation Level to the Golden Core Level was like filling a cup with water, the moment the cup was completely filled signaled the time when the Golden Core would be formed after going through the Thunder Tribulation. Chen Fan’s water had already overfilled the cup.

He was exposed at the moment.

Once the divine-grade Essence Core was completed, the Thunder Tribulation would come and his Golden Core would be formed. However, Chen Fan didn’t want that. He wanted to make five different divine-grade Essence Cores before doing so.

“I formed these five Divine Chains with the Deception Art and locked up my powers. The chains won’t break as long as my energy usage doesn’t go beyond the Golden Core Level, and the Thunder Tribulation will be pushed back indefinitely. I won’t be able to control the dimension too often from now on.”

Chen Fan frowned.

He had just initiated the five Essence Cores a little and he quickly sensed the Thunder Tribulation starting ten thousand feet in the sky. If he hadn’t stopped immediately, Zhuyan City would have been covered with thunderclouds.

Immortal Cultivation was an act that defied God’s will. The Golden Core Level only caused the Thunder Tribulation, but when a cultivator reached the Dao Reunion or the Tribulation Level, he would be regarded as the biggest enemy of the universe. He would suffer from disasters all the time, as if the world were trying to eliminate him.

Because of that, Chen Fan didn’t mind the Thunder Tribulation at all.

“When I get back to the Tribulation State one day, I’ll make a large hole in the universe.”

Chen Fan looked up and snickered.

“Whoosh.”

The Wind Spirit Bird flew thousands of miles a day and it only needed a dozen days or so to reach Old China Town.

In this period of time, Chen Fan sorted out what he had learned and decided his future path according to his strength.

“I was a Core Formation Cultivator with a phenomenal-success Divine Body before shutting myself in. I was able to defeat an early-stage Golden Core Cultivator and stand my ground with a mid-stage Golden Core Cultivator, but all this only happened since they had an inferior-grade Golden Core,” Chen Fan murmured.

The Golden Core Level was different from the other levels. Not only would the power of a Golden Core Cultivator be affected by cultivation arts, levels, Divine Powers and Dharma Treasures, but the level of the Golden Core was also a deciding factor.

An inferior-grade Golden Core, a mid-grade Golden Core and a superior-grade Golden Core had a massive difference.

“Simply put, whenever a Golden Core reaches another level, its power doubles. When it completes one stage, its power increases by three times. The power of a ninth-grade Golden Core is nine times that of a first-grade Golden Core! Besides, the Divine Form and Divine Powers of super-grade Golden Cores also differ.”

Because of such a difference, cultivators would try their best to raise the level of their Golden Cores when they were at the Core Formation Level, hoping to stand higher once they reached the Golden Core Level.

“Since Planet Tianhuang is a bit behind, I guess only a few cultivators in the top sects have a superior-grade Golden Core and even a mid-grade Golden Core would be quite rare. Most of them should have inferior-grade Golden Cores.

“My three smaller Essence Cores are comparable to the mid-grade Golden Cores, while the larger ones are as powerful as the superior-grade Golden Cores. So, I now have the power of five Golden Cores in my body and I can even kill a peak-stage Golden Core Cultivator.”

Of course, this was only an estimation.

During a real battle, it was likely that not even a peak-stage Perfected Cultivator would be a match for Chen Fan with his Divine Body, cultivation arts and Divine Powers. However, there could be many changes in a battle and no one could foresee the outcome. Besides, Chen Fan had locked up his cultivation with the five Divine Chains and he didn’t want to encounter such a powerful opponent.

It was more difficult for a Golden Core to reach a higher level as it progressed. Chen Fan couldn’t even imagine how much Spirit Qi he would need after he formed a sacred-grade Golden Core.

“Whoosh.”

After consolidating his level, Chen Fan took out the Ancient Underworld Pearl.

Half of the Xuanming River inside the pearl was gone and it wasn’t a Divine Material anymore, but it was still a top Heavenly Material. If Chen Fan had enough power, he could easily turn it into a peerless Heavenly Treasure.

“The Five Thunder Seal can’t keep up with my cultivation, but I can only make a Quasi-Heavenly Treasure right now. It would be a waste to use this pearl for that.”

Chen Fan was distressed.

He pondered for a while and a legendary Dharma Treasure suddenly came to mind.

“That’s it!”

Chen Fan’s eyes brightened.

After that, Chen Fan stayed inside the palace and kept refining the pearl.

The dim pearl started to shine, letting out beams of light. There seemed to be a world forming inside it. Looking closely, there was a black river in the sky. Soil and mountains on the two sides were being enlarged, which made the world seem more realistic.

If people knew what Chen Fan was doing, they would have been dumbfounded.

Creating a world!

This was a Divine Power only Soul Formation Cultivators had, which was the reason why they were known as mighty figures in any planet and race in the universe!

Chen Fan certainly didn’t have such a power. He was still extremely far away from reaching the Soul Formation Level. He had only borrowed the power of the Ancient Underworld Pearl to gradually form a world. Even so, the world inside was also chilly. There was no sign of life and it was filled with endless Xuanming Qi.

In the end...

The world inside the pearl became a hundred miles large.

“This is enough. Not even a Nascent Soul Cultivator is able to create a livable world... Only a Soul Formation Cultivator could do so. Now that I’ve formed a Xuanming World, it’ll be like having a Grotto-heaven with me. I can use the power of this Grotto-heaven anytime I want and I’ll be powerful enough to fight with a Nascent Soul Cultivator during critical moments.”

Chen Fan cracked a smile as he looked at the solidifying Xuanming World.

Although the Grotto-heaven wasn’t large, it had been formed with Xuanming Qi and was much more powerful than normal ones. Its energy was enough to defeat Nascent Soul Cultivators and it could be carried around. How could an ordinary Grotto-heaven compare to it?

However, such an energy source could be used up, so Chen Fan treasured it very much. He wouldn’t use it unless he had to. He was still hoping to use it to attain the Nascent Soul Level and make a Heavenly Treasure or a Divine Treasure!

“Since you turned into a Grotto-heaven, I think I should give you another name.”

Chen Fan touched his chin and cracked a smile. “I’ll call you the ‘Dinghai Pearl!’”

The Dinghai Pearl!

It was a legendary treasure. There were twenty four in total and each of them could turn into a vast world. There were thirty three Heavenly Realms and twenty four of them had been formed by the Dzi Bead. Chen Fan thought it would be funny to use this name.

“I’ll turn you into a Divine Treasure someday, more powerful than those mentioned in the legends,” Chen Fan thought as he held the Dinghai Pearl in his hand.

Then, Old Ding’s voice came.

They had finally arrived in the Yan State, where Old China Town was located.