“What if both of these Golden Cores are fake?”
Ji Yuan glanced at Li Buwei beside him, whispering meaningfully.
Upon hearing this, the latter’s expression immediately stiffened. Although the conjecture was truly unbelievable, he couldn’t help but choose to believe it.
Because besides this, there was no other way to explain the current predicament.
Since ancient times, no Golden Core of any color other than miscellaneous, seven-colored, five-colored, three-colored, or pure color had ever been heard of!
“You mean to say…”
Li Buwei withdrew his gaze and looked at the young man beside him. A spark of inspiration flashed in his mind, yet he was still one step away from grasping it.
Seeing his expression, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle, “If these two Golden Cores are merely projections, or created through some other means, wouldn’t that explain it?”
Although still somewhat far-fetched, it seemed to be the only plausible explanation.
But if that were the case, what would be the reason for the other party’s actions? Even a miscellaneous-colored Golden Core, with their cultivation level, would be enough to suppress many cultivators of the Third Realm.
However, no matter how much they pondered, they couldn’t figure out the key to it, nor the reason for the other party’s actions.
After all, they were still a very long distance from the Golden Core realm, a gap as vast as the difference between earth and sky. Moreover, they had no prior experience with this level, making it incredibly difficult to deduce anything.
With this thought, Ji Yuan subconsciously turned his head, his gaze piercing through the crowd of cultivators and landing on an old man.
This old man had a wizened face, yet his hair was still jet black. His back was perfectly straight, without the slightest curve, and his eyes occasionally flashed with sharp, piercing glints.
This person was an elder of the Shanhe Gang, a pure martial artist at the early stage of the Yangyi Realm!
If it wasn’t absolutely necessary, Ji Yuan genuinely didn’t want to stir up trouble or get involved in unnecessary affairs with other sects and cultivators of the Third Realm.
But now, he had no choice. Firstly, he didn’t know when he could find a gap in the formation. Secondly, he still wanted to try again and see if he could snatch a Golden Core.
After some deliberation, he decided to take a risk. If it didn’t work, it wouldn’t matter much; at most, he would have shown his face to a martial artist of the Third Realm. But if it succeeded, it might break the current stalemate.
With this thought, he immediately condensed his spiritual power and transmitted a voice to the old man over ten feet away: “The color of the Golden Core is wrong. I suspect it was created through special means!”
The next moment, the old man immediately turned to look. With just a glance, Ji Yuan’s soul flickered, nearly collapsing!
In that single glance, he could be sure that although they were both at the same realm, this person was definitely far stronger than the demonic cultivator who had previously pursued him!
“What do you mean?”
Without exposing him publicly, the other party retracted his piercing gaze and transmitted a message using his Qi.
Seeing that the old man hadn’t ignored his transmission, Ji Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stated his prepared words: “This junior suspects that the two Golden Branch Jade Leaf Bones are not true bodies, but rather creations, similar to avatars!”
Although he knew nothing about the Golden Core realm, if he thought about it carefully, he could deduce some clues.
And he didn’t need to provide any concrete evidence; he just needed to present a hypothesis and then observe how the other party would react.
For more than ten breaths, there was no further transmission from the old man. However, judging from the thoughtful expression on his face, it was evident that the elder had genuinely taken his conjecture to heart.
After a long while, the old man gave an instruction to the disciple beside him, then suddenly leaped up. His figure ascended to a height of over ten feet before crashing down heavily, shaking the ground.
“Martial artists are truly… barbaric!”
Gazing at the retreating figure of the old man, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.
At the same time, his eyes darted around. After confirming that no one was watching him, he pulled Li Buwei and quietly retreated backward.
After retreating a few feet, he took out two talismans and slapped them onto their bodies.
Within moments, their figures blurred, and then they vanished from their original positions. Only upon careful observation could two semi-transparent outlines be seen, moving stealthily.
This was an Invisibility Talisman, not difficult to make. Any talisman master with some experience could draw it. Its effect was merely to deceive the eyes and could not conceal one’s aura.
Moreover, its effectiveness would be greatly reduced under the gaze of a Dharma Eye. However, it could sometimes serve an unexpected purpose.
Just like at this moment, with the attention of all the cultivators focused on the battle in mid-air and the eventual opening of the formation, almost no one noticed their movements.
Even if someone did notice, they wouldn't pay much attention at this moment.
Under the pressure of two Grand Golden Core cultivators, even with the utmost confidence, one could only hope to leave this place quickly.
“Are you truly confident?”
After moving over ten feet away, Li Buwei, holding a soundproofing talisman, finally asked in a low voice.
His words carried a hint of worry. If their predictions were wrong, they would lose their best chance to escape.
And with their cultivation levels, even with all their means, they would absolutely not be able to evade the perception of Golden Core realm cultivators, let alone being within this formation where they were constantly exposed.
“Not much confidence…”
Ji Yuan shook his head. To be honest, he didn’t have much confidence either.
Even he himself felt that the possibility of success was slim. Even if his guess was correct and the two Golden Cores in the sky were problematic, the outcome would likely not change significantly.
However, no matter what, he had to try. If he could obtain a Golden Core, the benefits would be immeasurable.
“Anyway, with your escape technique, if things go south, you can still get away immediately.”
Ji Yuan shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant.
Despite Li Buwei’s escape technique and his own confidence in breaking through the formation, they were facing at least a group of Third Realm cultivators and Golden Core realm existences whose cultivation had been greatly diminished.
To say he wasn’t nervous would be a lie!
As they conversed, they had already reached about twenty feet from the large pit, and the old man, who had been sprinting at full speed, had already leaped into the pit.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but sigh that pure martial artists were sometimes so barbarically unreasonable.
That body, tempered a thousand times, might not be on par with ordinary magic artifacts, but it was already close. In terms of sturdiness, it was comparable to some hard spiritual ores.
If it were an ordinary cultivator, they might have to probe carefully and use their abilities to investigate any hidden dangers ahead.
But for a pure martial artist, head down and charge forward was the only way. There was nothing that couldn’t be solved with sheer recklessness!
As Ji Yuan marveled, a earth-shattering roar suddenly erupted from within the pit, followed by waves of energy surging upwards.
“Seeking death!”
In mid-air, the Carefree Wanderer transmitted a divine sense, capable of sensing the boundless rage contained within.
Beside him, Xu Qin waved her hand, conjuring array patterns. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth became the foundation for her formation.
Although they didn’t know what had happened, the cultivators of the Third Realm unhesitatingly attacked, blocking the two from flying back into the pit.
Moreover, they had seen the old man jump into the pit earlier, and a vague suspicion had already arisen in their hearts.
“Let’s go! Let’s check the situation first!”
Seeing this, Ji Yuan took a deep breath and then, together with Li Buwei, arrived at the edge of the large pit.
They both looked down quickly and saw that at the bottom of the pit, there was a seemingly bottomless abyss. Astonishing fluctuations and surging blood qi emanated from within.
It seemed they could even hear the old man’s angry shouts!
Seeing this, both of them hesitated, unsure whether to leap down and investigate the deep hole at the bottom of the pit.
“Infinite Heavenly Venerate! Jump quickly!”
A chill suddenly rose in Ji Yuan’s heart. He glimpsed several streams of light descending towards them out of the corner of his eye and immediately exclaimed.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he pulled Li Buwei and leaped down the pit with all their might. Their figures then disappeared into the deep hole below.
Almost simultaneously, deafening sounds echoed from above them. Terrifying fluctuations and shockwaves directly impacted them.
Ji Yuan and Li Buwei, like sandbags, plunged into the darkness below. After several breaths, they heavily impacted the ground!
Bang!!!
Amidst a cloud of dust, Ji Yuan, enduring the severe pain, pulled Li Buwei and left their original position.
And just after they moved, a large amount of rocks crashed down from above. Had they been even a moment slower, even with their spiritual energy protection, they would have been severely injured!
“This is…”
As the dust in front of them gradually dispersed, Ji Yuan stood frozen, as the scene before him was too incredible to believe.
Although he had speculated about various possible scenarios beforehand, he had never imagined that the actual situation would be so much more shocking than all his expectations!