"May I offer a suggestion?" Mirror God suddenly asked.
"Of course, please give me your guidance." Xiao Wenbing was overjoyed. He hadn't expected the Mirror God to be so helpful this time, offering suggestions on his own initiative. He quickly replied.
"Actually, you can first break open your body, extract the fragments of divinity bit by bit, then split open your brain, perform surgery to insert them, and a new divinity will be formed quickly," the Mirror God recommended.
"Wh...what?" Xiao Wenbing's face turned red and then pale. Cut open? Split open? What did this Mirror God take him for? An autopsy? After all this, how could he possibly survive?
"Don't worry, it's just a minor surgery, there's nothing dangerous about it."
"A minor surgery?" Xiao Wenbing's lips twitched twice. He'd been cut open from head to toe, and this was just a minor surgery? What a strange way of thinking...
"I'm not asking you to do it yourself," Mirror God said slowly.
"I know, I think, very few people would be willing to perform such surgery on themselves."
"Hmm, it seems very rare. In short, I've never heard of any deity performing such a surgery."
"Alright, let's think of other ways."
"What, aren't you going to consider this? This method is the most direct and quickest," Mirror God hurriedly advised.
A sense of doubt arose in Xiao Wenbing's heart. He asked, "You said you'd have surgery, so who's going to perform it?"
The Mirror God puffed out his chest and said, "Of course it's me. I am the greatest artifact in this world."
"You?" Xiao Wenbing's face was extremely ugly as he asked, "Have you had any experience with this before?"
"Why are you asking this?" Mirror God asked in surprise.
"Hehe... It's nothing, just asking casually." Xiao Wenbing's eyes were fixed on the Mirror God.
After hesitating for a moment, the Mirror God finally said, "A situation like yours is extremely rare, not only in this realm but also in the God Realm. You are the only one who survived having his divine spark shattered by the power of chaos. Therefore, it is impossible for you to have any experience in this area."
"Oh, I see. You want to use me as an experiment again, don't you?" Xiao Wenbing finally understood its true intention. No wonder it was so enthusiastic. It turned out it had ulterior motives.
"No, although there's a bit of that in mind, the main thing is that I'm thinking of you. Don't worry, I'll be the surgeon. Even if I can't cure it, it definitely won't be fatal," Mirror God coaxed.
Looking at its expectant eyes, Xiao Wenbing coldly replied, "I'd rather not."
Xiao Wenbing righteously rejected the Mirror God's impolite request. Although the old man repeatedly assured him that the minor surgery would be entirely beneficial to him, Xiao Wenbing still had no interest whatsoever.
After all, nobody wants to be a guinea pig on the testing ground.
Therefore, no matter how tempting the Mirror God was, Xiao Wenbing remained as steady as Mount Tai and unmoved.
His mind withdrew from the Heavenly Void Ring, and he took out the Golden Core. Wisps of golden light swirled around the core, making it almost take off. The beautiful golden core contained explosive energy.
"What a wonderful weapon!" Xiao Wenbing exclaimed deeply. If this treasure were truly used as a hand grenade, its power would be hundreds of times greater than that of the Fiery Talisman. He had no doubt about that.
In fact, Xiao Wenbing had no doubt about the explosive power of the Golden Core, but he was also well aware that it was impossible to expect all opponents to back down just because of a Golden Core.
If he were to confront a master of the Moonlit Wolf King's caliber, the latter could advance or retreat a hundred miles with a mere thought. Although the power of his Golden Core self-destruction was great, it was absolutely no match for such a figure.
Moreover, to be honest, Xiao Wenbing had absolutely no confidence that the self-destruction of a Golden Core cultivator could harm the old monsters in the Tribulation Transcending stage.
The saying "If a person is willing to risk their life, they are invincible" is indeed true to a certain extent. However, no matter how hard an ordinary person tries, they cannot pose much of a threat to a cultivator in the Core Formation stage.
Just like a tiny mosquito, if it bites someone, at most it will leave a welt, but it is definitely not something an ordinary mosquito can do to kill a person.
So, even if a Golden Core cultivator is fearless, can they possibly defeat an old man in the Tribulation Transcending stage? This is still something worth pondering...
Didn't you hear Elder HP mention self-destruction? He only talked about the Nascent Soul stage, never mentioning the Golden Core stage. Perhaps in his mind, even if it's self-destruction, a Golden Core stage cultivator is not worthy of being mentioned.
"Hmm, self-destruction, huh? So even self-destruction requires a certain level of skill..." Xiao Wenbing sighed.
"What did you say? There's no need for self-destruction. You can rest assured that I will perform the surgery. I will absolutely not let you self-destruct." The Mirror God spoke again, oblivious to the situation. Clearly, this guy was still trying to get Xiao Wenbing to agree to let him perform the advanced surgery to rebuild the godhood.
“I’m not talking about surgery. I’m saying that while the power of a Golden Core self-destruction is great, it’s still a bit weak for a cultivator at the Tribulation Transcending stage. Also…” Xiao Wenbing made a formal protest: “I’ve already said that I don’t want to have surgery right now, so let’s not discuss this topic anymore.”
"Alas... what a pity. If you had mastered the power of divinity, you would have had a good chance of becoming a god much earlier."
"Is that so? Thank you. However, I would prefer to be a nature god rather than a god of transformation."
The Mirror God sighed helplessly. Seeing Xiao Wenbing's firm opposition, even it had to abandon its own plans: "Alright, let's not mention it again. But, do you think the power of a Golden Core self-destruction is no threat to people?"
"Yes." Hearing that the Mirror God no longer mentioned the matter, Xiao Wenbing was relieved. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if the old man kept nagging in his ear all day long.
Volume Four: The Divine Artifacts, Chapter 196: On the Golden Elixir
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The Mirror God absolutely disagreed with Xiao Wenbing's belief that Golden Core cultivators could not harm people. Upon hearing Xiao Wenbing's words, it immediately retorted, "Impossible. In the God Realm or the Immortal Realm, the self-destruction of a Golden Core is certainly nothing, but in this realm, there are probably very, very few people who can ignore the self-destruction of a Golden Core."
"Then tell me, if I were to face the Moonlit Wolf King and attack with my Golden Core, what are my chances of winning?" Xiao Wenbing hesitated for a moment, but decided to let the facts speak for themselves.
"It's hard to say, it depends on how many weapons you have."
"What do you mean?" Xiao Wenbing asked, puzzled.
"If you only have one Golden Core, even if you sacrifice yourself, it still won't be enough to fill its teeth. But if you have a hundred Golden Cores, you're at least invincible. If you have a thousand Golden Cores, the only option for that old wolf when it sees you is to run away." L
"Ah..." Xiao Wenbing suddenly realized that this was indeed the case. He smiled and said, "I understand. Storage capacity, you mean the storage capacity of the Golden Core."
"Yes, he is a promising young man."
Xiao Wenbing immediately fell into deep thought. He stared at the golden elixir in his hand, pondering deeply.
Indeed, as the Mirror God said, the power of the Golden Core is indeed formidable. If he always had a reserve of ten thousand Golden Cores, he could probably roam freely in the cultivation world.
Or rather, he doesn't need ten thousand at all; a thousand would be enough for him to dominate a region.
In the world of cultivation, any cultivator who embarks on the path of immortality can use various methods to condense spiritual energy to form a colored or colorless protective shield around their body.
Feng Baiyi flies on a sword, using sword energy to protect her body. Zhang Yaqi uses a magical artifact as a conduit, employing the power of the five elements to achieve the same protective effect.
As for Xiao Wenbing, he used a talisman as a guide to mobilize the local energy and form his own protective shield.
Their methods differed, but they all shared the same goal: self-defense.
Of course, the strength of this protective shield varies greatly depending on the individual's cultivation level and the power of the magic weapon.
Judging from the current level of Xiao Wenbing and his two companions, Xiao Wenbing is indeed at a disadvantage. However, he believes that it is only temporary. After all, his special ability is unique; with his miraculous skill of "creating something from nothing," he can definitely surpass any opponent.
Compared to other cultivators, Xiao Wenbing is at an even greater disadvantage.
If Xiao Wenbing's protective shield was merely a cotton coat to keep warm, then the protective shields of the renowned old monsters in the Tribulation Transcending stage in the cultivation world were like bulletproof vests capable of stopping bullets.
The density and quantity of spiritual energy determine the strength of the protective shield. The spiritual energy that those old guys who have cultivated for nearly a thousand years can use is far greater than that of Xiao Wenbing, a newbie who has cultivated for less than ten years.
The impact energy generated by the self-destruction of the Golden Core is equivalent to that of a bullet, possessing powerful penetrating force.
Bullets can penetrate cotton clothing, but not bulletproof vests. This is the main reason why HP didn't take the self-destruction of the Golden Core seriously. A single self-destructing Golden Core wouldn't cause him much harm.
However, while bulletproof vests are good, they have their limits. They can stop the impact of one bullet, but not ten or a hundred.
If only one Golden Core cultivator self-destructs, these Tribulation Transcending stage experts might stand by and watch the spectacle without a care. However, when ten or even a hundred Golden Core cultivators self-destruct at the same time, even they have no choice but to flee in panic.
However, the goal is to find a hundred fellow cultivators at the Golden Core stage, discuss the matter with them, agree on a time and place, and, since everyone has nothing else to do, play a game of self-destruction together.
Hmm... this difficulty seems a bit high, but not too high. It's just a little bit more difficult than killing a hundred cultivators at the Tribulation Transcending stage.
If Xiao Wenbing were to one day ascend to the Immortal Realm and return to fight his way back, he could probably do it easily. At that time, he could take a stroll through the cultivation world, grab any Golden Core cultivators he didn't like, and do it. A hundred of them would probably be done in no time.
However, it is unknown whether the golden core of a cultivator still poses a threat to immortals.
You must know that the path to immortality is ruthless, and cultivating immortality is not easy... Those who can cultivate to the Golden Core stage are all exceptionally capable.
Just look at the ratio of ordinary people in the secular world to the outer disciples of the major sects, and then look at the ratio of those thousands upon thousands of outer disciples to inner disciples, and you'll know how difficult it is to cultivate a Golden Core stage cultivator.
The elders of the sect painstakingly nurtured them, raising them to become talents; the brothers in the sect engaged in fierce competition, striving to outdo each other; and the individual endured icy winters and scorching summers, showing that only through tireless and unremitting efforts could one possibly reach the Golden Core realm.
It's understandable for such a prodigy to occasionally self-destruct when they're desperate, but it's absolutely impossible for them to gather hundreds of people to self-destruct together.
Therefore, this method would be absolutely impossible for anyone else to succeed.
However, Xiao Wenbing is different. As long as he has enough divine power, he can create hundreds, or even thousands, of golden cores. But, given the current situation, this is... an extremely unrealistic expectation.
Although he could create top-tier golden cores in a state of spiritual clarity during the Core Formation stage, in his current state, even if he exhausted all his energy, it would be an extraordinary feat to create just one golden core in a single day.
After all, his main job is to cultivate diligently and strive to become an immortal as soon as possible. As for making golden pills, that's just a side job. Since it's a side job, it shouldn't overshadow his main job.
Moreover, this manufacturing method is not only too energy-consuming, but also very unstable, and if someone discovers it, it will be an inexplicable situation.
Just thinking about the consequences of a cultivator with divine power appearing sent chills down Xiao Wenbing's spine. At that time, even the Five Elements Spirits would probably not be as sought after as him, this pseudo-god.
Xiao Wenbing felt extremely uncomfortable at the thought of becoming a target of people's covetousness.
Alas... The Golden Elixir is indeed wonderful, but various restrictions completely limit its production.
How to solve the problem of too few Golden Core cultivators? This is a very troublesome problem!
"How about it? Do you want to consider it? If you can regain your divine status, you can increase your efficiency by at least ten times."
Xiao Wenbing's heart skipped a beat. Ten times the efficiency? That meant he could produce ten pills every day! In ten days or half a month, he could have hundreds of Golden Pills in his hands. While it would be hard to imagine winning against a Tribulation Transcending expert, it would be more than enough to protect himself.
He looked up and saw Mirror God's fawning smile. A thought struck him, and he immediately realized that this guy hadn't given up yet. He snorted angrily and said emphatically, "No way."
The Mirror God sighed helplessly, finally giving up on trying to persuade him further. He then sank his illusory form into the small bronze mirror and went to cultivate the divine power provided by the Treasure God.
One hundred million years, that's a very long time; it will have to work very hard.
Xiao Wenbing gently tapped the table and sighed. This problem must be solved. The production of Golden Cores must be mass-produced, at least to the level of a constant supply like the Fiery Talisman. Otherwise, when dealing with super experts, he would only be able to rely on Heavenly Thunder Talismans and Immortal Spirit Talismans to save face.
However, these two things are a double-edged sword. Using them occasionally is fine, but using them too often will invite heavenly tribulation, which is tantamount to courting death.
After experiencing the Five Thunder Tribulation of the Butterfly Fairy last time, Xiao Wenbing had witnessed the power of the Heavenly Tribulation and knew that with his Golden Core stage cultivation, he had no ability to resist it.
Forget about the Nine Heavens Thunder and Fire Tribulation; even a Six-Thunder Tribulation would pulverize him to pieces, leaving him with no burial place. Therefore, this risk is definitely not worth taking.
Therefore, creating a golden elixir is indeed his only way out at present.
Sigh... Golden Elixir, oh Golden Elixir, it's such a wonderful thing, both a headache and something to love.
"Bang!" Xiao Wenbing slammed his hand on the table. If this really doesn't work, I'll just go rob people. I'll become a masked bandit and specialize in robbing people's golden cores.
However, he quickly gave up on this unrealistic idea.
Because robbing a Golden Core is a very difficult and dangerous task, it's likely that the efficiency wouldn't be as high as making one a day.
Besides, a Golden Core represents a human life. Xiao Wenbing asked himself honestly, he was a cultivator, not a demon, and he wasn't ruthless enough to do that.