He greeted his two ladies, and Yuanfen who sat on a sitting mat next to Gong Cui, with a white fox in her lap, a bit dazed as she seemingly was taken by the music.
He sat down not far from them and started to refine the Yin Qi he accumulated before.
Yuanfen's eyes reflecting cosmic beauty turned toward him, only calmly looking with the same smile on her face, and yet there was something changing deep within those eyes, that could not be described.
No one knew of this change, as no one felt anything different. Fen Baihu was concentrated on the beauties in the Drean Realm, while others were concentrated on their own progress.
Wu Long used even more resources in his second Foundation Building.
Last time he was under some pressure to advance due to the situation with Gu Zhen, and even then took care in creating a solid foundation for future growth.
This time he was not that limited in time, and could pour even more resources at the expense of the speed of progress. Of course, within reason, as he still had to consider advancing at a manageable pace.
Thus, even despite far higher quality Foundation Crystals, he still had resources for the subsequent Core Formation, fully forming an even more impressive core than the first one.
In this time, he almost doubled his cultivation so far without advancing, since he effectively went through the entirety of the process one more time.
But he could really feel the power of the Crystal Core he just formed, as if it truly were a fully functioning Core, not dependent or auxiliary. Its feeling was authentic as one would feel a normal Crystal Core within their Dantian.
It was a surreal feeling as he could clearly tell that this Core was not his entire Cultivation Base, but only a part of it.
Even the destruction of this core would not be fatal to him.
'Hmm, I wonder if Core Reformation carries less or more risks if it's ...', he thought, not sure what to expect. Logic would tell that the process of reforming this Crystal Core would be far less risky, and yet he could not say for sure, and sure was not going to relax his guard. Rather, he mentally prepared to face the unknown with maximum caution instead.
He also made a discovery in regards to Yu Huan's new Yin Qi, created by her variant Yin Root after receiving the blessing of the Grandmist Keepsake.
'It's... adapting', he almost muttered out loud, as the news were quite shocking to him, never having heard of such properties of Yin Qi.
Her Yin Qi was adapting to become the polar opposite of his Yang Qi when he refined them together, creating the maximum effect. Like two cogs that fit perfectly together.
Thus, while theoretically her Yin Qi was not near as potent as Extreme Yin Qi of Xue Bing, Shen Min or Luo Mingyu, due to its unique total compatibility with his specific Yang Qi down to the smallest details, it produced nearly as great of a result on his cultivation, which was a big reason he was able to finish fully forming his Core.
This also meant that as his Yang Qi progressed, her Yin Qi's reaction with it would become even more intense, and eventually may have even greater effect on his cultivation than Extreme Yin Qi.
It was not, however, omnipotent, as the amount of "Polar" Yin Qi as he tentatively called it, was less than the amount of the Yin Qi he initially received from her, meaning that some of it was burnt up to facilitate that process of adaptation.
Despite that, that loss in quantity was not as significant as the improvement of the effect on his cultivation, as it was just that more potent.
"Fuu~, only nine Core Reformations left...", he then opened his eyes with an exhale, a profound light flashing within them.
Just a bit more, and he would reach the new frontier. He was not completely above some expectations and worries. After all, he did not know for sure at the moment if this Crystal Core could truly reach Mortal Transcendence state, and if it could, if that would truly push his cultivation into Mortal Transcendence Realm, seeing as it was only part of his overall cultivation base.
As the time came closer he was eagerly anticipating it, and also increasingly planning for the non-zero chance this would not work.
After two more days, as he was sitting with his Dao Family, Madam Liang, Cai Yin, Gong Liwei, Yuanfen, Fen Baihu, and even Hong Yue on a terrace, quietly spending time together, the Celestial Fox's ears suddenly pricked up.
The grounds of the entire Sect, and the lands of the entire Mystic Realm shook as incredibly potent Spiritual Qi that most of them had never experienced started flowing within.
Wu Long's gaze turned sharp, as he exchanged looks with those around, and rose from his seat.
"It's time", he quietly announced, and disappeared from the spot along with Fen Baihu, as they appeared in the outside world.
There, the World was shaking as well, far more powerfully than Fen Baihu's Mystic Realm, as Wu Long could see at the edge of his vision that reached incredibly far, columns of Spiritual Qi rising into the sky as the links with the outside were opening one by one.
The Spiritual Qi around the World Stone in front of him was vibrating, as if amping up in preparation.
He did not wait for the link to fully form, which would take another couple of days, as this was enough for him, and with his abilities he also did not need to be as careful.
His foot stepped forward, and he disappeared from the spot, a Spear appearing in his hand as his Spear Domain opened up around him, and cutting through the space distortion around the World Stone, plunged inside a rising column of Spiritual Qi, disappearing within.