"Huh, where has all the heaven and earth spiritual energy gone to?!"

"It hasn't disappeared. It's gone over there!"

"That’s where Lord Fang is at!"

Guan'e and the other elders stepped out of their immortal caves and looked toward Fang Chen's location with astonishment.

Although the inner sanctum of the Grand Thousand Dao Sect wasn't a top immortal cave or blessed land, its spiritual energy was still quite substantial. Now, all the spiritual energy had been drained. No ordinary cultivators could possibly do something like this!

Is Lord Fang practicing some kind of technique? Or...has he broken through?

Guan'e pondered silently.

***

The black and white paper figures were delighted. "The Lord has successfully formed the Golden Core."

The white paper figure observed the continuous influx of heaven and earth spiritual energy into the meditation room and remarked, "The lord’s Golden Core is extraordinary. It might even be above six revolutions."

The black paper figure's expression was somber. "Our previous master had once speculated that if his Golden Core was above six revolutions, he might have been able to ascend to the Immortal Realm, rather than languishing in this realm."

The middle-aged man and Elder Huang had been shocked by the sudden change in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but when they heard the black paper figure’s words, they were even more shocked.

"Ascend to the Immortal Realm? What right does Hong Qing have to ascend to the Immortal Realm! Wait a minute! With their abilities, they can't possibly be Hong Qing’s spirit servants... Who are they actually serving?"

The middle-aged man’s face was filled with terror.

He suddenly realized that many powerful Dao Sects were secretly watching the Grand Thousand Dao Sect.

Could it be that these two paper figures were sent by an Immortal Court-level Dao Sect!?

The middle-aged man's face turned ashen. "This is bad... I should have thought things through before acting so impulsively...."

If they were from the Celestial Court, their influence would be on par with the royal manor. Even the Ninth King would treat Immortal Kings from the Celestial Court as equals and wouldn't dare to use the Central Continent Empire’s power to intimidate them.

The middle-aged man slowly spoke in a weak voice. "You two are—"

"Be quiet."

The black and white paper figures spoke in unison.

The middle-aged man immediately shut up and dared not say more. He could only wait for the person in seclusion to come out and he had already thought of a way to save his life once that person emerged.

He hoped that the other party wouldn't want to make an enemy of the Ninth King’s royal manor.

Several days passed.

Guan'e and the remaining dozens of inner disciples gathered near Fang Chen’s immortal cave.

For eight days, all the spiritual energy in the inner palace had been drawn into this place, making it impossible for them to absorb any spiritual energy or practice their cultivation.

"Elder Guan’e, you are close to Lord Fang. Do you know what he is doing? Is he practicing some kind of technique?" one elder asked thoughtfully.

Guan'e shook her head gently. "I don't know what Lord Fang is doing, but he must certainly have achieved some significant understanding to cause such an anomaly." ṛ

"We've been unable to absorb any spiritual energy for eight days. If it's a technique, it's way too domineering. If it's a breakthrough of a realm, it shouldn’t cause such an anomaly," someone whispered.

"Just wait quietly. No matter what, it's good for us. The ancestors have been away for many days and their situation is reportedly not very good." Guan'e sighed. "Once Lord Fang emerges from seclusion, his presence might improve the situation for the ancestors."

Someone else also sighed softly. "Indeed…."

Another day passed.

The surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy, which had been surging into Fang Chen's location like a frenzy, gradually returned to normal.

Everyone's spirits lifted. This indicated that Lord Fang was about to emerge from seclusion!

In the meditation room, Fang Chen shut his eyes tightly and quietly sensed the 'Sword Core' in his Sea Core, which was the size of a dragon's eye. It seemed no different from a regular Golden Core, but the spiritual energy it released carried a sharp, sword-like quality.

The Sword Core was produced from the compression of spiritual energy. Even a small release of its spiritual energy was comparable to the spiritual energy from the grand completion of the Foundation Building Realm.

If fully exacerbated, the density of the spiritual energy would be beyond Fang Chen's ability to precisely gauge. However, one thing was certain for sure. The spiritual energy within him would be vastly superior to that of an ordinary beginning Golden Core Realm by a factor of a hundred or more.

After he stood up and left the meditation room, he saw the black and white paper figures congratulating and bowing in respect to him.

"Congratulations Lord on successfully forming the Golden Core Realm!"

Fang Chen smiled. "You're too kind."

He then looked at the middle-aged man and the cornered Elder Huang in confusion.

"Who are these two?"

The black paper figure glanced at the middle-aged man and responded, "Lord, they claim to be from the Ninth King’s royal manor."

"Oh? The Nine Generation King’s Manor?"

Fang Chen was surprised. "Since they are from the royal manor, they should be treated with respect. You should remove his chains."

The middle-aged man had been about to speak when he saw Fang Chen's attitude turn meek upon hearing about the Ninth King’s royal manor.

His thoughts shifted and his anger bubbled, palpable on his face.

"You can’t even properly manage your spirit servants. They attacked me directly upon seeing me, without even giving me a chance to speak."

Fang Chen waved his hand. "Wait, don’t remove the chains just yet."

He looked at the middle-aged man and smiled at him. "Are you trying to teach me how to do things?"

"M-me?" The middle-aged man was momentarily stunned as panic flashed in his eyes. He quickly explained, "Please don’t misunderstand. I was just—"

Fang Chen interrupted, "Alright, tell me why you are here."

Seeing that Fang Chen had no intention of unshackling him, the middle-aged man suppressed his anger and answered, "I came here because—"

"Lord Fang, let me explain. He came here because he assumed that as a disciple of Ancestor Hong Qing, you must be aware of the secrets held by Ancestor Hong Qing. Since the ancestor is suspected to have obtained the true teachings of the Grand Thousand Dao Sect..." Elder Huang interjected.

"You traitor!" The middle-aged man glared at Elder Huang. "Just wait to be crushed into ashes and torn apart by the royal manor!"

Elder Huang ignored him completely as he continued to flatter Fang Chen.

"And you? What is your true identity?" Fang Chen asked with a knowing smile.

"Actually, before I joined the Grand Thousand Dao Sect, I was involved in bureaucracy. I was tasked by this person to act as a spy to secretly monitor the Grand Thousand Dao Sect," Elder Huang answered. "Please don’t misunderstand. I know for a fact you have nothing to do with Daoist Hong Qing Daoist. He can’t nurture someone like you."

The middle-aged man glanced at the black and white paper figures and whispered, "Indeed, I come from the Ninth King’s royal manor. The Ninth King has always been devoted to the Dao path since young and he longs to know everything about the Dao Sect. As his loyal servant, I only wish to help the Ninth King by finding more techniques and methods related to the Dao Sect."

"The stone box! He came here for that stone box! The stone box once belonged to the Ninth King’s royal manor, but it could not be opened and was secretly sent back. He learned that Lord Fang could open this stone box so he came here personally to kill Lord Fang and seize the treasure!" Elder Huang interrupted hastily.

The middle-aged man’s face turned ashen with rage. He looked at Elder Huang with his eyes spitting fire and teeth clenched. If looks could kill, Elder Huang would’ve died a hundred times over.

Fang Chen glanced at Elder Huang and pondered, "Are you saying...that they previously had possession over this stone box? They couldn’t open it so they returned it?"