Golden Core is a Star, and You Call This Cultivation?

At the southern foot of Yiyi Mountain, tender green grass sprouted new shoots. The mountain air was still damp from the rain, but the grass had already dried, bathed in the warm, golden sunlight.

A young man lay on the grass, chewing on a blade of dogtail grass, one hand shielding his eyes from the sun.

"In the Cloud Dream Palace, Sword Disciple and the Cloud Dream Palace Master clashed, shattering mountains and rivers.

That night, the snow fell heavily, and the laws of the Great Dao crumbled.

In terms of strength, Sword Disciple was naturally no match for the Cloud Dream Palace Master.

After all, when a master teaches a disciple, they always hold back a few tricks."

"Master, would you hold back tricks from me?" a little girl asked, tilting her head as she gently pounded the young man's shoulders with her small fists.

"Am I that kind of person? Besides... what's the point of holding back?

In the end, Sword Disciple still unleashed his full potential, striking down the Cloud Dream Palace Master with a single sword strike, thus... saving the Zhou Mountain World.

However, this strike drained Sword Disciple's life force, and both he and his master perished."

"That's so tragic, Master! Where are they buried? I want to sweep their graves!" The little girl's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Pfft, you don't want to sweep their graves. You're just after their burial treasures!" The young man didn't hold back.

The little girl wasn't offended, just giggled, her eyes curving like crescent moons.

The young man continued, "But who would have thought that Sword Disciple, the scoundrel, grew stronger with each battle, his sword reaching a state of selflessness. In the end, he even transformed into a supreme sword, slaying the Cloud Dream Palace Master."

"Thus, the demon was vanquished, peace was restored, and the people rejoiced."

Hearing this, the little girl's eyes gleamed with greed. "Did Sword Disciple turn into a divine treasure sword?"

"Who knows?" The young man's expression was lazy.

"Master, do you think it's still possible to find Sword Disciple's grave now?" the little girl asked.

She had always wanted a sword of her own to roam the world.

After all, wearing a red cloak and wielding a sword would be so cool.

Not hearing her master's response, she nudged him harder, only to realize he had fallen asleep.

"No, I need to check the map and see where the Zhou Mountain World is!"

Clearly, the little girl had taken her master's story to heart.

She didn't care about the grievances and affections between Sword Disciple and the Cloud Dream Palace Master. What she cared about were the burial treasures and artifacts.

But... about a quarter of an hour later.

A deafening scream rang out.

"Master! You lied to me!"

The young man quickly covered his ears, feeling dizzy.

"What did I lie about?"

"I checked some records, and your story is completely made up."

"First, your story has no basis. For example, the Cloud Dream Palace devouring the Zhou Mountain World? Even the Nine Heavens Divine Palace avoided its edge, which shows how powerful the Cloud Dream Palace Master was. Sword Disciple hadn't even overcome the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations. How could he be a match for her?"

"Second, in your story, you mentioned that the Cloud Dream Palace Master died in the 70 billionth year of the Wind and Thunder Profound Heaven Dao's founding. You also said that in the 50 billionth year, a celebration was held on Forget Zhou Mountain.

But now, the Wind and Thunder Profound Heaven Dao has been around for less than a billion years, and Forget Zhou Mountain has already collapsed!

Are you saying that in 50 billion years, the Wind and Thunder Profound Heaven Dao will rebuild Forget Zhou Mountain?"

"So, Master, this is just a made-up, melodramatic story of yours."

"Maybe it's not me who's wrong, but the world?" Bai Xiaosheng retorted. "Maybe the world's time and space is chaotic, full of loopholes."

He felt as if he had been born in the wrong era.

"Shame on you, Bai Xiaosheng, who claims to know everything under heaven."

The little girl chattered on, and the young man felt the air grow noisy.

"Ahem, little Wu Shi, would your master ever lie to you?"

"If you're not lying, then help me find Sword Disciple's grave. I want the sword he turned into."

"Hey, it was you who said he might have turned into a sword!"

"Master, you can make up stories, but I can't?"

The little girl tilted her head, looking smug.

"You... go practice. At your age, you should be focusing on improving your cultivation," the young man said, seemingly unable to win the argument, so he resorted to his authority as a master.

"Master, why don't you practice?" The little girl grumbled when the topic of cultivation came up.

"Your master was born as a divine treasure with a spirit. I was born with a spirit, so I don't need to cultivate," the young man said proudly.

[In this life, you were born as a divine coin, revered as the ancestor by the beings of the Tu Wu Great World.]

This Bai Xiaosheng, born as a divine treasure with a spirit, was actually the second life of Qi Yuan's Three Pure Methods.

At the same time, this Tu Wu Great World, in its humble beginnings, had beings who lived in primitive conditions, with weak civilizations and no concept of transcendence.

However, when Qi Yuan had broken through his realm and gained supernatural abilities, he had "spoken the law into existence," allowing the Tu Wu Great World to understand "money." From then on, the Tu Wu Great World embarked on the path of civilization.

In this life, he was born as a divine treasure with a spirit and was revered as the ancestor by the Tu Wu Great World.

...

"Master, spit out some money!"

In his drowsy state, Bai Xiaosheng felt a small hand patting his back.

He opened his mouth reflexively.

Clink, clink, clink—a pile of golden coins spilled out.

Well, the old man had coughed up some gold.

The little girl, Wu Shi, smiled happily at the sight of the money.

Bai Xiaosheng opened his eyes and looked at Wu Shi helplessly. "What, did someone outside see yellow hair growing on your head?"

"Pfft, Master, you're so unreliable. I need to save some private money," the little girl, Wu Shi, said.

She held the golden coins in her hands, feeling a sense of security.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaosheng smiled.

His disciple, Wu Shi, had a rather tragic childhood.

She was an orphan of war, abandoned on a snow-covered mountain.

Her clothes were thin, and her bare feet were frozen stiff.

When Bai Xiaosheng first saw her, she was so thin she looked like skin and bones.

Fortunately, she had extraordinary bloodline, or she would have frozen or starved to death.

Even so, Wu Shi had a hard life and was left with many lingering health issues.

That's why she now liked to hoard private money and food.

All thanks to Bai Xiaosheng.

"Don't make me cough up gold while I'm sleeping," Bai Xiaosheng said.

Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and his expression changed.

"Hide quickly."

With a wave of his hand, Wu Shi's figure vanished.

At that moment, ripples of Dao essence spread through the air.

Time and space seemed to freeze.

A Dao God with no fixed form, existing in an unknown space-time, descended.

Bai Xiaosheng narrowed his eyes and smiled. "The Source Heaven Dao God of the Nine Heavens Divine Palace graces us with his presence. I apologize for not welcoming you properly."

"As expected of Bai Xiaosheng. Even though I concealed my origins, you still recognized me.

In that case, I won't beat around the bush.

The Nine Heavens Divine Palace needs the specific locations and information of Luo Feng Jian, Tian Qian Gu... Ming Ri Xue..."

The Source Heaven Dao God listed seven locations.

"Luo Feng Jian... isn't that within the Nine Heavens Divine Palace?" Bai Xiaosheng asked with a smile.

"Correct," the Source Heaven Dao God was slightly surprised.

Of the seven locations, Luo Feng Jian had already been occupied by the Nine Heavens Divine Palace.

This matter was highly secretive.

Yet Bai Xiaosheng still knew about it. He really had some skills.

"Of these seven places, six are nodes of the Yin Realm. The last one, Ming Ri Xue... doesn't seem to be a node. May I ask why you're inquiring about its location?" Bai Xiaosheng asked, his face showing curiosity.

The Nine Heavens Divine Palace had always been searching for strange places.

These strange places were all nodes.

Hearing this, the Source Heaven Dao God was even more impressed with Bai Xiaosheng.

Truly knowledgeable.

"The other six are all nodes... Ming Ri Xue is a peculiar snow mountain.

Though peculiar, it's not important.

What we're looking for is a special being on Ming Ri Xue.

Bai Xiaosheng, I'll give you an epoch to help the Nine Heavens Divine Palace find these places. As for the reward... 10,000 portions of divine treasure essence for each location."

For Dao Gods, aside from overcoming the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations, another way to increase their strength was by consuming divine treasure essence.

Divine treasure essence was a byproduct of the birth of divine treasures, extremely rare and imbued with special Dao principles.

"By the way, once you find Ming Ri Xue, don't go up there yourself. Otherwise... even as a Dao God, you risk death," the Source Heaven Dao God warned.

"Oh, is the being on Ming Ri Xue that special... and powerful?" Bai Xiaosheng asked curiously.

The Source Heaven Dao God's face showed a hint of fear. "It's related to a fallen Dao Lord."

"The Cosmic Alliance?"

"No, a Dao Lord from the Rebirth Realm."

"Wait, isn't the Rebirth Realm only accessible to divine treasures who have reached the Dao God realm?"

"Because it possesses the Ten Great Primordial Bodies."

"The Ten Great Primordial Bodies..." Bai Xiaosheng fell silent.

There were rumors that obtaining one of the Ten Great Primordial Bodies could allow one to break through the limits of a Dao God.

Of course, that didn't guarantee success.

"If you find any information about Ming Ri Xue, report it to the Nine Heavens Divine Palace immediately. The Heavenly Emperor will personally descend," the Source Heaven Dao God said.

Bai Xiaosheng took a deep breath. "The legendary Heavenly Emperor..."

The Source Heaven Dao God left as suddenly as he had arrived.

The bamboo hut was once again just Bai Xiaosheng and Wu Shi.

The concealment faded, and Wu Shi reappeared. She blinked her big eyes and clutched Bai Xiaosheng's wide sleeve. "Master, why do you look so worried?"

Sometimes, Wu Shi could be very understanding and well-behaved.

"Sigh, your master just feels that I chose the wrong nickname. 'Bai Xiaosheng' is an unlucky name.

In this world, those who call themselves 'Bai Xiaosheng' never end well."

Bai Xiaosheng sighed.

He recalled seven years ago, when he had found little Wu Shi on that snow-covered mountain.

That mountain... was Ming Ri Xue.

This also meant that his disciple's identity...

If he had met the Source Heaven Dao God a few years earlier, before meeting Wu Shi, he might have traded the information about Ming Ri Xue for 10,000 portions of divine treasure essence.

But now, little Wu Shi was his disciple.

And he was a good person.

He wouldn't do anything against his conscience.

Even if it meant offending the terrifying Heavenly Emperor.

Wait...

Thinking this, Bai Xiaosheng smiled again.

Even without Wu Shi, wouldn't he still have offended the Heavenly Emperor?

On the surface, he was the mysterious Dao God, Bai Xiaosheng.

But in reality, he was also the ancestor of the Tu Wu Great World and a partner in the Cosmic Alliance.

One of the founders of the Anti-Nine Heavens Divine Palace Alliance.

Why oppose them?

Tian Qian Gu was located in the Tu Wu Great World, the birthplace of Bai Xiaosheng.

If he revealed this node to the Nine Heavens Divine Palace, the Tu Wu Great World would likely become a "breeding ground" for the Nine Heavens Divine Palace, and he, the divine treasure spirit of Tian Qian Gu, would also perish.

"Pfft, pfft, Master, don't say such unlucky things," Wu Shi said, her little face tense.

Bai Xiaosheng smiled and stretched lazily. "Then you better practice hard. When your master gets old, I'll be counting on you to take care of me."

"Pfft, practicing is so tiring..." Wu Shi wanted to slack off, but then she added, "Master, I'll go practice now."

Watching Wu Shi's small figure, Bai Xiaosheng's eyes showed a hint of worry.

Time flew by, and ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

The little girl Wu Shi's voice continued to chatter in Bai Xiaosheng's ears.

"Master, I caught a black fish today."

"Right, your disciple wants to eat fish!"

"Master, we need to run away!"

"The city lord's daughter said she likes me. If I don't give in, she won't let you off!"

"Master... I never knew you were so strong, aside from digging graves!"

"Master, should I get married?"

"Master... the sword in the grave is really nice, but I don't like it."

"Master, when will you find Sword Disciple's grave? I want his sword."

"Master, you're injured."

"Wow, Master, you're a Dao God!"

As time passed, Wu Shi looked at Bai Xiaosheng with surprise.

"Little girls shouldn't swear," Bai Xiaosheng said, enjoying the look of astonishment on Wu Shi's face.

"Hey, Master, I'm not a little girl anymore!" Wu Shi crossed her arms, looking smug.

Bai Xiaosheng's mouth twitched. "You don't act like a girl at all."

"Pfft."

Wu Shi was still as lively as she had been as a child, full of energy.

But as she spoke, she seemed to realize something.

"Master... you're injured?" Wu Shi's face showed concern.

"Huh?" Bai Xiaosheng narrowed his eyes. "How did you notice?"

He was a Dao God. If he wanted to hide his injuries, someone with Wu Shi's rudimentary cultivation level wouldn't be able to detect them.

"Hehe, I won't tell you," Wu Shi said. "Don't change the subject, Master. How could you be so careless and get injured again? If you get seriously hurt and can't spit out coins, how will your disciple survive!"

Wu Shi spoke as if she cared deeply about the coins Bai Xiaosheng coughed up.

"Mm," Bai Xiaosheng didn't bother to press further.

Everyone had their secrets.

His disciple, who was suspected to be the reincarnation of that person, having some peculiarities was normal.

As for his injuries, they were from battles with the Dao Gods of the Nine Heavens Divine Palace.

After all, he was part of the Anti-Nine Heavens Divine Palace Alliance.

"By the way, I need to go to the Cosmic Alliance for a while. Stay here and don't go anywhere."

Remembering something, Bai Xiaosheng instructed.

"Master, am I so embarrassing that you won't introduce me to your Dao God friends?" Wu Shi grumbled, seemingly unhappy. "Even an ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her mother-in-law!"

Seeing Bai Xiaosheng remain silent, Wu Shi pressed on. "Is it... a story of a crazy divine lord forcing love, imprisoning and torturing while doting?"

"Hey!"

"Hehe, usually in such stories, the master is cold and obsessive.

Master, you're always lazy, without the aura of a noble prince. You're always grinning like an idiot, spitting out coins for no reason. You're clearly not the male lead."

Bai Xiaosheng was annoyed.

What's wrong with smiling?

He was a sunny, cheerful young man.

He decided to keep smiling every day.

"Master, be careful when you go to the Cosmic Alliance this time. Don't get injured again."

"If you're injured, there'll be no one to spit out coins for me."