Chunibyo in Cultivation World

Sacred Land of Lingxu.

Along with the accusations from the other three Sacred Lands of the cultivation world against Li Tianwei, the events that had occurred in the Demonic Sect’s territory—Panshan City—had begun to spiral out of control.

Rumors of Li Tianwei slaughtering millions of mortals and refining both the demonic cultivators and righteous cultivators of Panshan City into a soul banner had, with the embellishment of the three Sacred Lands, already spread throughout the entire Sacred Land of Lingxu.

Anyone capable of independent thought would have realized that there must be someone behind the scenes constantly fanning the flames—there was certainly something fishy going on.

Even without much thought, any cultivator willing to investigate would know that after Li Tianwei returned to the Sacred Land of Lingxu, he had established several large cities to settle the millions of mortals from the Demonic Sect’s territory.

Unfortunately, there were far too few who would open their eyes to think and research.

Otherwise, how could such foolish words from the masses exist?

The three Sacred Lands were well aware of this. They didn’t need to prove anything—after all, the rumor had already been shouted to the world. The one who now needed to prove himself had become Li Tianwei.

However, whether or not Li Tianwei proved anything no longer mattered to the three Sacred Lands—for their objective had already been achieved.

Even if he were as pure and untainted as the bright moon, as transcendent as an otherworldly immortal, the filth splashed upon him could not be washed away.

That was enough for those envious of him to find a lifetime’s worth of excuses to target him. Such a method had been used before—by both the three Sacred Lands and the Demonic Sect—and indeed, quite a few people had lost their Dao hearts because of it, suffering attacks from their fellow sect disciples.

Their purpose was achieved; the rest, whether he truly did it or not, no longer mattered to them.

They couldn’t care less whether he had eaten one bowl of noodles or two, or whether he had paid for it—such details were merely a pretext.

The rumors within the Sacred Land of Lingxu continued to spread, and more and more talk arose claiming that the Sacred Land of Lingxu harbored filth and corruption.

For a time, it felt as though strife was about to erupt.

Meanwhile, within the Outer Sect of the Sacred Land of Lingxu, Xu Yuanwen listened to these rumors, feeling a deep sense of emotion.

“As expected of the Cult Leader Hun Yuan,” he murmured. “Such a brilliant method—disguising a False Spiritual Root as a Heavenly Spiritual Root—and in less than a year, the other three Sacred Lands already show signs of moving against Lingxu.”

After several days of investigation and observing the movements of the three Sacred Lands, Xu Yuanwen concluded that all of this was the handiwork of the Heaven-Demon Cult’s Cult Leader, Hun Yuan.

From the moment Li Tianwei joined the Sacred Land of Lingxu, everything had followed a clear trail—his entry into Heaven’s Gate Peak, his Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment that stirred up conflict with Baiyuan Sacred Land’s spies…

Later, he had even gone to the Blood Fiend Sect’s territory to annihilate Panshan City—every ruthless act serving one purpose: to give the other three Sacred Lands a legitimate excuse to attack Lingxu.

“Destroying Panshan City at the Foundation Establishment Realm? Fighting a Nascent Soul peak cultivator at that level? Such ridiculous claims, and yet people actually believe them!”

Knowing the truth, Xu Yuanwen couldn’t help but sneer at those who believed in Li Tianwei’s so-called extraordinary talent.

How absurd! As a Nascent Soul cultivator himself, did he not understand the difference between the Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul Realms?

That gap was akin to that between an ant and a cultivator—how could one possibly defeat the other?

Yet the higher-ups and disciples of the Sacred Land of Lingxu all believed it. Such an intricate scheme could only belong to Cult Leader Hun Yuan, whose foresight reached far beyond others.

This sense of “the whole world drunk, yet I alone sober” made Xu Yuanwen straighten his back proudly in front of the other Nascent Soul elders of Lingxu.

He stood tall on the platform, gazing down upon them.

“The difference… this is the difference,” he sighed, filled with emotion.

He looked forward to Cult Leader Hun Yuan’s next plan.

“Strange… it’s been nearly a year. Why hasn’t Cult Leader Hun Yuan contacted me yet?”

Xu Yuanwen found it deeply puzzling that the Heaven-Demon Cult had taken no action for an entire year.

“Could it be that he’s saving me for some grand mission?”

Thinking of this, Xu Yuanwen’s heart filled with smug delight.

——

Rumors in the Sacred Land of Lingxu continued to spread, growing ever more exaggerated. Many were stirred into anger, demanding that Li Tianwei give an explanation.

As for Li Tianwei and Daoist Master Lan Yu, who were returning from the Sacred Land of Taixu, they knew nothing of the situation in Lingxu.

After returning, Li Tianwei went straight to his cave residence to cultivate.

He had no interest in wandering around the Sacred Land or listening to idle gossip.

Having just broken through to the Golden Core Realm, he had much to do—his realm needed stabilization, his Saint Soul Banner had two new main souls that required refinement.

Besides that, he needed to elevate the Heaven-Ending Yin Fiend to the level of a Divine Ability, and he still had to study the fragments obtained from the Forbidden Land of Taixu.

Most importantly, Li Tianwei felt that his Golden Core was somewhat strange—or rather, not just strange anymore.

Returning to Heaven’s Gate Peak, Li Tianwei sat cross-legged in his cave, closed his eyes, and carefully examined the abnormalities within his Golden Core.

After the previous detonation, countless cracks had spread across its surface.

Through the fissures, one could see the faint figure of a Nascent Soul—its body pitch-black, veined with threads of blood, exuding an intense aura of destruction.

Most concerning of all was the collapse occurring within—it made the cracks seem bottomless, radiating a sense of ominous doom.

Li Tianwei had tried to use the Undying Body of the Sacrificial Dao to repair the core, but the cracks showed no sign of recovery. Instead, they grew ever deeper.

From this, Li Tianwei concluded that what he was witnessing was the phenomenon of breaking and rebuilding after detonating his Golden Core.

It appeared as though a Nascent Soul was being prematurely nurtured—so, it wasn’t a real problem.

“Still… why has the fusion process stopped?”

Although the fusion-like reactions within the core had ceased, the energy inside remained immense—causing Li Tianwei to ponder.

“Has it decayed?”

Seeing this, Li Tianwei considered the possibility.

After all, following the detonation, the stellar state of his Golden Core had indeed suffered instability.

Maintaining such a state would lead to mass loss, instability, and strong radiation…

Faced with this, Li Tianwei only thought—

“Perhaps I can refine this phenomenon further—to destroy and then rebuild.”

“This might not be a drawback but rather an advantage.”

“A decaying atomic state is highly radiant… if I can control it…”

At this thought, a spark lit up in Li Tianwei’s mind; he licked his lips slightly.

By now, Li Tianwei had a plan.

“Heaven-Ending Yin Fiend.”

“If I integrate this state into my Heaven-Ending Yin Fiend, I can definitely spread its radiation and make it stronger.”

“Advancing it to a Divine Ability would be only natural.”

When he thought of something, Li Tianwei acted immediately.

With a plan in mind, all that remained was to rely on his intellect and knowledge.

In such matters, Li Tianwei believed none could surpass him.

From the moment he stepped onto the path of cultivation, Li Tianwei had always relied on his own wisdom, ability, knowledge, and his Heavenly Spiritual Root—his natural talent—to reach the Golden Core Realm in less than a year.

“My self-created Divine Ability… come forth!”