Cave Refuge

The wealth and time mentioned here are not those in the usual sense, even though with each significant advancement in cultivation level, lifespan also increases. However, possessing a First Transformation Golden Core and a Nine Revolutions Golden Core theoretically doesn't have a significant difference in lifespan, as long as one advances to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Ordinarily, once breaking through to Nascent Soul after the Golden Core Stage, perhaps right at the moment of Core Breaking to Nascent Soul, the combat power may not be as strong as a cultivator with a Nine Revolutions Golden Core, but comparing just lifespan, the theoretical lifespan limit of the Nascent Soul Stage absolutely far surpasses that of the cultivator in the Nine Revolutions Golden Core Realm.

You must realize that lifespan isn't something that gets refreshed with every breakthrough, so many people, in order to have more time for cultivation in the next realm, will choose to breakthrough as soon as their cultivation level is sufficient.

After all, even if one possesses a Nine Revolutions Golden Core at the peak, their combat power definitely wouldn't be as strong as a cultivator who has broken through to the midpoint of Nascent Soul Stage.

No matter whether it's an ordinary Golden Core or a Nine Revolutions Golden Core, the theoretical lifespan limit for the Golden Core Stage is five hundred years, and upon elevating one's realm to Nascent Soul Stage, the theoretical lifespan reaches one thousand years, no matter which Golden Core was used to break through to Nascent Soul, the acquired lifespan is basically the same.

The reason some prodigies temper their Golden Core, repeatedly refining it to achieve First, Second, or Third Transformation, is because the better the quality of the Golden Core, the lower the difficulty of breaking through later on.

It is said that the chance of an ordinary Golden Core breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm is less than one in ten thousand, and even if various Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects are used to increase the chance of Shattering Golden Core to Nascent Soul, the probability can only be raised to less than five percent at most.

However, with each tempering and advancement of the Golden Core, it is said the chance of Core Breaking to Nascent Soul increases by ten percent. Hence the legend of the Nine Revolutions Golden Core exists because it is said that as long as the Golden Core inside one's body undergoes nine tempers, the probability of success ultimately reaches one hundred percent.

Therefore, the lack of time actually represents lifespan, after all, unless under special circumstances, if a cultivator spends one more day in the Golden Core Stage, then their cultivation time during Nascent Soul Stage will be reduced by one day. Intelligent people know that cultivation speed during Golden Core Stage is much inferior to that of Nascent Soul Stage, thus under certain confidence, most will choose to actively break through.

After all, even if Core Breaking to Nascent Soul fails, it doesn't lead to immediate death, only some internal injuries, and even without using Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for recovery, at most three to five years would be needed to return to the Golden Core Peak.

As for financial resources, with each tempering of the Golden Core, not only is the spirit energy within the body compressed and refined, but also the efficiency of utilizing elixir pills or Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects is increased.

Take elixir pills, for instance, under normal circumstances, unless the pill grade is flawless, even top-notch pills, when consumed, will introduce a small amount of pill poison into the body. To continue consuming elixir pills, one must spend time to thoroughly purge the poison; otherwise, it accumulates and eventually leads to complete withering of the meridians, hindering further cultivation, or worse, total loss of cultivation level.

But with each refinement of the Golden Core within the body, the efficiency of expelling pill poison increases. Put simply, though ordinary Golden Cores and Nine Revolutions Golden Cores gain similar benefits from consuming the same elixir pills, an ordinary Golden Core can consume at most one such pill a month, whereas a Nine Revolutions Golden Core can take more than ten.

However, even so, you must know that after each Golden Core tempering, the amount of spirit energy required to refill the Golden Core is double the amount needed before tempering.

If we use the spirit energy required for an ordinary Golden Core as the unit of measure.

A First Transformation Golden Core requires two units of spirit energy.

A Second Transformation Golden Core requires four units of spirit energy.

A Third Transformation Golden Core requires eight units of spirit energy.

...

An Eighth Transformation Golden Core requires one hundred and twenty-eight units of spirit energy.

A Nine Revolutions Golden Core requires two hundred and fifty-six units of spirit energy.

Because the amount of spirit energy required after each Golden Core tempering is immense, even the ordinary prodigies' Golden Cores can at most only reach the Third Transformation.

Perhaps only those exceptional prodigies with a profound background would dare attempt a Fourth or Fifth Transformation Golden Core.

To be honest, initially, Dong Tianyu had no plans to temper his Golden Core, because with sufficient Survival Points, Dong Tianyu could ensure a one hundred percent success rate when Shattering Golden Core to Nascent Soul, the only difference being the amount of Survival Points consumed.

Although wielding an ordinary Golden Core to breakthrough to Nascent Soul places one, excluding external factors, theoretically amongst the weakest, this posed no serious problem for Dong Tianyu.

For starters, on Blue Star, aside from Dong Tianyu and his parents, no other cultivators were discovered, and the Cultivation Method his parents practiced was the moderate and harmonizing type he provided, emphasizing lifespan extension, so theoretically, Dong Tianyu could be said to be Blue Star's only cultivator.

However, as the Natural Disaster was about to strike, the survivors who did not die encountered various adventures continuously, and it was fortunate that some gained the Cultivating Immortality Method; Dong Tianyu wouldn't find this surprising.