Troublemaker’s Guide to Immortality

Yun Jin stared at the golden core in her dantian, momentarily stunned. In this world, the legend of the Nine-Stripe Golden Core was considered the pinnacle. That alone was already awe-inspiring.

But other people's Nine-Stripe Golden Cores were golden, just like the name said.

So how did hers end up black and white?

Its pattern resembled the Taiji diagram, eerily similar to the design on her Tai'a Sword.

Sure, they looked great together, but surely her core hadn't changed its color scheme just to match her weapon?

This wasn't some magical dress-up game!

Yun Jin's gaze shifted slightly. Could it be that this had something to do with her five-element spiritual root?

In this world, having five spiritual roots was seen as the lowest of the low.

But Yun Jin had never agreed with that view.

Sure, it was harder to train and took more time. But if pushed to the extreme, the five elements could harmonize with one another, nourishing and cycling endlessly. In theory, it could be the most powerful root of all.

"Five Elements… Taiji…" Yun Jin murmured, eyes thoughtful as she looked at her golden core.

She had once visited a world with a philosophy that said: "Taiji gives birth to Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang give rise to the Four Symbols, the Four Symbols create the Eight Trigrams, and the Eight Trigrams generate all things."

In that framework, black and white represented Taiji and thus all creation.

On the other hand, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were considered the fundamental forces of existence. Everything in the world could be traced back to the five elements.

In a way, the concept of Taiji and the five elements were deeply interconnected. So this black-and-white core must be a transformation triggered by her unique spiritual roots.

Yun Jin didn't see it as a bad thing. In fact, she found it rather satisfying. There might be others in the world with Nine-Stripe Golden Cores.

But a black-and-white Nine-Stripe Golden Core?

She was probably the only one.

And Yun Jin had always liked being one of a kind.

After breaking through to the Golden Core stage, her whole body felt unbelievably light and comfortable. But there was also a layer of sticky, black gunk clinging to her skin.

Sure, she could clean it off with spiritual power, but it felt like something was missing.

So she left the Earthfire Room and returned to Tianjian Peak.

"Yun Jin's out of seclusion?" Yang Hui received the report immediately. He narrowed his eyes. "Did she return the token?"

"No," the disciple shook his head. "She still has ten days left on her rental. She didn't return the token, so she's probably planning to go back."

"Keep an eye on her," Yang Hui instructed.

The disciple didn't understand why Yang Hui was paying so much attention to an outsider. But since the peak master had spoken, he didn't question it.

Outwardly, Yang Hui stayed calm, but inwardly, it felt like a thousand cat claws were scratching at him.

That girl Yun Jin had someone deliver a piece of refined iron to him, then disappeared into seclusion without giving him a chance to ask questions. And now, twenty days later, she had briefly resurfaced.

But he was the dignified peak master. He couldn't just run over to confront her, could he?

No. He would wait.

If Yun Jin had gone through the trouble of sending him that refined iron, she would have to come explain eventually.

He just had to be patient. He was a master. A person of status. He had to maintain composure.

Yes. He would wait.

~

Yun Jin returned to Tianjian Peak. Gun Gun and Gu Jinghong had sensed her arrival and were already waiting outside.

Gun Gun bounded into her arms with a leap. Yun Jin expertly ruffled his fur, and Gun Gun wore a blissful expression. Suddenly, Yun Jin raised an eyebrow. "You've already broken through to Foundation Establishment?"

She had completely forgotten to check Gun Gun's status lately.

Now, she took a closer look.

Gun Gun was now at early-stage Foundation Establishment. His basic skills, Charge and Roar, were already at Level 5. On top of that, he had awakened a new racial skill: Iron Armor.

[Skill: Iron Armor. Forms a golden-element exoskeleton. The higher the skill level, the tougher the armor.]

Currently, Iron Armor's proficiency was still low, barely entry level. But in contrast, his basic skills were ridiculously over-leveled for his cultivation stage. Of course, most spirit beasts, once they gained new abilities, would abandon their basic ones. After all, racial skills were usually far superior.

Gun Gun lifted his head with pride.

"I've been working real hard lately," he said smugly.

"Good, keep it up." Yun Jin smiled and gave his head a pat, then began to think.

Spirit beast cultivation worked differently from humans. They relied far more on bloodline and species. High-grade beasts could advance just by lying around and breathing.

Lower-grade ones, no matter how diligent, might not progress as fast as a superior beast taking a nap.

It was said that higher-ranked spirit beasts were born with inherited memories—innate techniques and cultivation methods perfectly suited to their kind.

Gun Gun, however, was a mid-grade spirit beast. He had no inherited memories. Without those, his only path forward was to slowly build spiritual energy and train his skills. Spiritual energy wasn't a problem. Yun Jin had plenty of pills. And now that he had awakened a new skill, it was time to start training it.

Yun Jin tapped the simplification option a few times.

[Simplification successful. Iron Armor training condition modified to: Get beaten to grow stronger! Every ten hits from ten different people improves Iron Armor proficiency by 1 point. (Next round can repeat participants.)]

…emmm.

This wasn't Yun Jin trying to mess with Gun Gun.

All the simplified conditions boiled down to getting beaten. This was just the version she ended up with.

Yun Jin looked at him with a hint of sympathy. "Gun Gun, do you want to level up your Iron Armor skill quickly?"

Wow!

Was Master about to teach him a secret spell again?

Gun Gun nodded rapidly, eyes shining with excitement.

Yun Jin took a deep breath. "The key to training Iron Armor is getting beaten. You need to find ten different people and let them hit you, one by one. No repeats until the first cycle is done. After that, you can start over."

Gun Gun stared at her in shock.

"Master, I've been good lately! I really haven't done anything wrong! Okay, maybe I trashed the place ten times, scratched Big Sister's robes twenty times, and broke Big Brother's teacups thirty times, but that's it!"

Yun Jin fell silent.

Big Sister and Big Brother... she was pretty sure he meant Senior Brother and Second Sister.

Seemed like they'd had a rough time lately.

Well, since Gun Gun had so much energy, he might as well go cause trouble somewhere else.

Yun Jin spoke with a serious face. "Have I ever lied to you? I even prepared a mantra for you. When you're getting hit, just chant it in your heart while activating Iron Armor. It'll guarantee excellent results."

Her expression was so sincere that Gun Gun believed her completely.

Gu Jinghong looked at Yun Jin with a complicated expression.

In the past, he would have immediately assumed she was pulling a prank on Gun Gun.

But now, he wasn't so sure.

Could it be that such a ridiculous training method actually existed?