Chapter 393: Chapter 393 - 93 Golden Core 3rd Layer

After Lu Youjiu and the others left, Lin Jing’s life once again resumed its previous pattern.

Soon, another year had passed.

In that year, Lin Jing either engaged in alchemy or cultivation and seldom went out.

He had entrusted all the various affairs of Li Yan Island to Yue Qi’s mother to manage.

It must be said…

Yue Qi’s mother’s ability was indeed very strong.

Perhaps it was also because she was an original resident cultivator of Li Yan Island that, under her management, no problems ever arose.

It’s just that ever since she started managing Li Yan Island, she had much less time to take care of the Spirit Plants.

There was no choice, as Lin Jing currently had no other capable hands at his disposal.

Now, only Yue Qi’s mother was somewhat reliable.

It seems that if Lin Jing wishes to develop Li Yan Island in the future, he would have to think of ways to cultivate some more trustworthy people.

However.

While cultivating reliable people is important, enhancing one’s own strength is even more crucial.

Without strength, everything else is an illusion.

At this moment, Lin Jing was indeed such a case.

Right now, he was sitting cross-legged in the System Space, in closed-door cultivation, preparing to break through to the third level of the Golden Core Stage.

Next to him lay an empty Pure Jade Box, the Pure Elixir it once contained had already been consumed by Lin Jing.

For this assault on the third level of the Golden Core Stage, Lin Jing had made thorough preparations.

……

Actually.

Ever since entering the Golden Core Stage, Lin Jing’s cultivation speed had slowed down a lot compared to before.

Over such a long time, Lin Jing had only advanced from the first level of the Golden Core Stage when he first left Immortal Crossing Island to the peak of the second level.

It was not until recently that Lin Jing sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough and began to prepare for it.

For this breakthrough, Lin Jing even started preparations three months ago, refining the Pure Elixir.

Now, having taken the Pure Elixir, the spiritual power inside Lin Jing’s body was increasing continuously.

And converging toward his Dantian.

Due to his poor Spiritual Root aptitude, Lin Jing’s breakthroughs were always extremely difficult.

This time was no exception.

Fortunately, Lin Jing had Pure Elixir Medicine to assist in his breakthroughs.

Otherwise, waiting for his cultivation to accumulate to an overflowing state would probably take many more years.

One need only look at the Zhang Family Patriarch to understand the difficulty of Lin Jing’s breakthroughs.

The Zhang Family Patriarch took a full five hundred years to break through to the late Golden Core Stage.

And Lin Jing had resources that were many times more abundant than what the Zhang Family Patriarch possessed.

Not to mention, within the System Space, the abundant spiritual power was sufficient even for Divine Transformation Cultivators to practice cultivation.

And Lin Jing continuously used various elixirs to increase his cultivation…

With such favourable conditions, Lin Jing barely reached the peak of the Golden Core second level.

Moreover.

This was with the addition of the accelerated time flow of the System Space.

Taking into account the time within the System Space, Lin Jing’s actual cultivation time was even longer.

However.

Given Lin Jing’s poorer aptitude, such a speed of cultivation was actually acceptable.

Should he want to cultivate faster, he would need to find some heaven-defying treasures that could improve one’s Spiritual Root.

Like, for example, the Reversal Fruit.

But the Reversal Fruit was not so easy to find.

For now, Lin Jing could only wish for it.

……

Inside Lin Jing’s body, the spiritual power transformed from the Pure Elixir continued to converge.

Once these energies reached overflowing state, Lin Jing then controlled them, channeling them through his meridians before gathering them into his Dantian.

Merging into the Golden Core…

Time ticked by, and after an indeterminate amount, the spiritual power in Lin Jing’s Dantian had also grown more and more abundant.

These energies soon reached a saturated state.

Then, Lin Jing began to operate his Cultivation Technique and formed a small vortex in his Dantian, attempting to compress and condense these energies.

In this way, Lin Jing slowly focused all his body’s spiritual power toward his Dantian…

Finally, after several hours had passed…

Lin Jing suddenly felt a “boom” inside him as if he had broken through some kind of restraint, and then his body suddenly felt lighter, with his mind becoming exceptionally clear.

He had broken through to the third level of the Golden Core Stage…

Then, the system notification chimed:

“Ding!”

“System prompt: Congratulations to the host for a successful breakthrough of the current realm, reward received: 30 Harvest Points.”

After the breakthrough, Lin Jing eagerly sensed the surging spiritual power within his body.

Indeed, the third level of the Golden Core Stage was much stronger than the second level.

Now, he had substantially increased his combat strength compared to before the breakthrough, almost doubling it.

Afterward, Lin Jing also took a moment to feel his Divine Sense.

He distinctly sensed that his Divine Sense had also grown stronger.

Once Lin Jing was satisfied with his current strength, he nodded contentedly.

Then, he left System Space and appeared in his alchemy room.

Lin Jing’s current alchemy room was no longer the one on the hilltop from before.

This new alchemy room was moved to the highest peak in the northern part of Li Yan Island.

Since the entire northern part of Li Yan Island was enveloped in a Formation and entry by others was not allowed,

Lin Jing enjoyed a lot of solitude here and was undisturbed.

Only Yue Qi’s mother, on the few occasions she had other matters to discuss with Lin Jing, would come over.

Following that.

Lin Jing left his alchemy room and flew on his sword toward Li Yan City.

Upon reaching Li Yan City, he went straight to the City Lord’s Mansion.

Here, Lin Jing met Madam Yue Qi.

Upon seeing Lin Jing, Madam Yue Qi was first surprised, then she said,

“Island Master Lin, you’ve finally come down from the mountain…”

“Your period of seclusion this time was truly not short, a full six months.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Just like that, you left the entire Li Yan Island to me to manage, playing the role of an absentee shopkeeper.”

“You really trust me…”

“It’s made me now have even less time to Cultivate…”

As she uttered these words, there was a touch of grievance in Madam Yue Qi’s tone.

Lin Jing’s face turned red, and then he said,

“Now that the island has just started developing, we don’t have many people to use, so I’m troubling you to put in more effort.”

“Once we find suitable candidates, you will be able to relax a bit…”

Madam Yue Qi sighed helplessly, and said,

“Sigh…”

“Alright!”

“It seems like I’m not going anywhere for a while…”

Just as Madam Yue Qi finished speaking, she suddenly asked Lin Jing,

“Right, Island Master, do you have something to handle on your trip down the mountain this time?”

Lin Jing nodded and then replied,

“I’ve refined some Elixir Medicine and plan to sell them in exchange for some Spirit Stones.”

“After all, the island has many daily needs, and the Spirit Plants we’ve been growing have not yet matured and can’t be sold.”

“We can’t do without Spirit Stones.”

Actually, the main reason Lin Jing secluded himself for such a long time was that he spent most of it on Alchemy.

Before the Spirit Plants on Li Yan Island matured and started generating profit, Lin Jing needed a large amount of Spirit Stones to maintain the operation of the entire Li Yan Island.

This was how Lin Jing managed Li Yan Island, following the methods he had observed in Nanshan Immortal City.

Madam Yue Qi was responsible for management while under her, they divided several Foundation Establishment Cultivators, who in turn each had a number of people under them.

These Cultivators were recruited from the original inhabitants of Li Yan Island.

These local Cultivators were helping manage Li Yan City and Li Yan Fang Market, and naturally, Lin Jing had to pay them a salary.

Although currently, this approach did not seem to yield any results,

such early-stage investments were necessary.

In time, these efforts would show their worth.

Afterward, Lin Jing turned to Madam Yue Qi and asked,

“Madam Yue Qi, you must be close to advancing to the Golden Core Stage, aren’t you?”

Madam Yue Qi looked at Lin Jing gratefully, then said,

“Thanks to the Island Master’s help, if nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to start preparing for the advancement to the Golden Core Stage within half a year.”

Lin Jing nodded, then said,

“Good…”

“Once I’ve sold these Elixir Medicines, I’ll get you two Cultivation True Elixirs to help you advance to the Golden Core Stage.”

Madam Yue Qi bowed deeply in gratitude and said,

“Thank you, Island Master Lin…”

Lin Jing shook his hand, saying,

“You’ve been helping manage Li Yan City this whole time, and it’s been tough on you…”

“Once you advance to the Golden Core Stage, by then, you should pick someone trustworthy and hand over the management of Li Yan City to them.”

As he said this, Lin Jing suddenly remembered something and continued to ask Madam Yue Qi,

“Right…”

“What preparations have you made for your Tribulation?”

Madam Yue Qi quickly replied,

“Before, I made a deal with Senior Zhang Jian, I imparted to him the Shenglin Revival Wood Technique, and he agreed to help me prepare a Formation for crossing the Tribulation.”

“As for other preparations, there are none.”

After hearing this, Lin Jing pondered for a moment and then said,

“Okay…”

“I understand.”

“You don’t have to worry about that; leave it to me when the time comes.”

Lin Jing knew the reason Madam Yue Qi had no other preparations was because she was financially embarrassed.

Before Lin Jing’s arrival, she could barely protect herself under Dai Mao, not to mention that advancing her Cultivation had become an unattainable luxury.

Where would she get the Spirit Stones to buy Magical Treasures or Elixir Medicine in preparation for advancing to the Golden Core Stage?

Even that Formation for crossing Tribulation was obtained through exchanging her family’s heritage Cultivation Technique, the Shenglin Revival Wood Technique.

Now,

Madam Yue Qi was working for Lin Jing, and naturally, he would not allow her to be treated unfairly.

This time, after selling the Elixir Medicines,

Lin Jing planned to prepare a Defensive Magical Treasure for Madam Yue Qi to aid her in crossing the Tribulation.

As for the Elixir Medicines, Lin Jing could refine them effortlessly, so they didn’t require much preparation.

Afterward, Lin Jing continued to Madam Yue Qi,

“Madam Yue Qi, I entrust Li Yan Island to you for the time being.”

“I’m going to Bihai City for a trip, and after I return from Bihai City, we will start preparing for your Tribulation.”

Madam Yue Qi quickly gave her thanks,

“Thank you, Island Master…”

Lin Jing replied, “There’s no need…”

“I will still need you to take on additional responsibilities in the future.”

With that said, Lin Jing handed over part of the Formation flags that controlled the island’s Formation to Madam Yue Qi.

Of course, this was only a part of them, which could simply control the Formation to attack or defend against invading enemies.

The truly important parts of the Formation, several core Formation flags and the Token used to control it, Lin Jing obviously wouldn’t hand over.

Madam Yue Qi then said,

“Rest assured, Island Master.”

“With these Formations, no one would dare to cause trouble on Li Yan Island.”