Two years later, those blooming hopes were met with a blizzard. 

Luo Chen's eyes remained shut as his entire body trembled. Waves of spirit power surged endlessly across him. His ink-bamboo white robe fluttered without wind, and the sound of fabric snapping echoed in the room.

Chu Kui was right! Thirty-six is the limit!

Within his sea of qi, thirty-six spirit beads spun swiftly in place. A powerful aura spread outward, resembling the spirit pressure unique to Golden Core cultivators, pressing all the spirit liquid in the sea of qi down to its limits. Each bead whirled violently, trying to devour more spirit power to grow stronger. However, the consequence of any single bead doing so was that the balance would be broken.

"How could this be?" Luo Chen's expression tightened. "According to the records, minor mastery means thirty-six beads, intermediate mastery one hundred eighty, and major mastery three hundred sixty-five. All of these stages have been achieved before. So why is it that Chu Kui and I can't do it? No… This won't do. Either I disperse the spirit beads myself before they lose balance, or I start the process of Core Formation. But dispersing them would waste all my effort, and forming a core now is far from the ideal timing."

One question after another rose to the surface of his mind. The turmoil left Luo Chen feeling irritable. But at that moment, the Woodrot Go Stone released faint ripples of light that calmed...