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Do not be fooled by her fan of jewels and silk — within it slept hundreds of arrays, awakening together with every motion. Excerpt from "Weapons of the Immortal Maidens"
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Long Tianyu hummed softly as he walked up the mountain path, he was late today, but Teacher Song Ming had been so happy recently so that his old temper had cooled down. So Long Tianyu wasn't worried about the old man having an anger fit again. Surely, I am correct... Long Tianyu thought. His steps hurried up the mountain.
He followed the same old lower trail behind the village leading up the clearing on the mountain. But something in him was different from yesterday. His body thrummed with energy, his three spiritual cores glowing faintly inside him like hidden suns. Ever since he had discovered how to expand them, everything felt different. The world seemed sharper, brighter, more alive.
Long Tianyu arrived with a grin that immediately made everyone suspicious. "You look like you're up to something," Hua Qingqing said, narrowing her eyes.
"Maybe I am," Tianyu said, sitting down cross-legged. "I think I figured out how to expand the spiritual cores further."
That got everyone's attention. Even Song Ming looked up.
"Remember what Lin Yue's diagram showed us?" Long Tianyu began. "The three cores — the lower, middle, and upper? Until now, we've only been gathering qi into one at a time, right? But I tried something different — guiding the flow from one core to another, linking them in a cycle."
He touched his stomach, chest, and forehead in turn. "When qi moves in this pattern, each core starts to resonate with the others. That resonance makes them expand — slowly, but surely. It's like strengthening a bridge by making both ends support each other."
Hua Qingqing tilted her head. "You're saying… the cores can connect?"
"Exactly," Tianyu said. "They're not separate — they're parts of one system. The more we circulate between them, the stronger they all become."
Song Ming nodded slowly. "That makes sense.''
Encouraged, the children sat down and began to follow Long Tianyu's instructions.
Soon, faint ripples of qi filled the clearing.
Above them, the air shimmered faintly.
Their cores glowed brighter and stronger. It was as if a second heartbeat had been born inside every one of them.
The ground seemed to hum with their power.
When the practice finally ended, the children sat in stunned silence, panting.
Long Tianyu's looked at the others, his eyes gleamed. "Once we all reach the Core Expansion stage, we should climb the Shadowjade Mountain."
The clearing went quiet. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
"Climb it?" Lin Yue repeated. "As in— all the way up?"
Long Tianyu nodded, pointing toward the distant peak, barely visible through the clouds. "No one in the village has ever gone that far. They say it's too dangerous. But we've grown stronger, haven't we? If we're ever going to test what we've learned, that's the place."
Song Ming looked at each of them in turn. "If you truly wish to climb, then do it after you've broken through and stabilized your cultivation. Until then, train well."
Long Tianyu and the others bowed respectfully. "Understood, Teacher.'' The others followed suit.
Months slipped by like flowing water.
And with the flowing of the months, with it came another wave of breakthroughs. Each of the nine children reached the Core Expansion stage one by one.
They could only draw upon one core at a time for now, but the difference was tremendous. When they gathered qi into a single core, it amplified the qi making it much more powerful.
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Long Tianyu stood at the front, hands behind his back. "Tomorrow, we climb," he said simply.
No one spoke for a moment. They all gazed up at the mountain — its dark outline stretching endlessly into the sky, its slopes wrapped in layers of mist and shadow.
Nong Xuanfeng clenched his fists. "No one's ever gone all the way up, huh?"
Song Ming nodded slowly and smiled. "As far as anyone remembers, no. For us, the air is too thin and the way up too dangerous. I wish I could have gone up there. Zang Liu, make sure you draw it well."
Zang Liu smirked and nodded. "I will"
As night fell, they each returned home, their hearts filled with excitement and unease.
Long Tianyu stood by his window long after everyone had gone to sleep, looking at the shadowy outline of the mountain under the starlight. His twin swords leaned against the wall beside him, untouched but gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. His three cores pulsed quietly within — the rhythm steady, alive.
"Tomorrow," he whispered. "Let's see how far we can go."
Outside, the wind stirred through the bamboo forest.
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End of chapter 18 - Progress in Core Expansion