Before long, the Ling Family's leadership released a public announcement, claiming that the newly ascended Golden Core Master was a visiting Loose Cultivator who had merely borrowed the family's Third-Rank Spirit Vein Cave Mansion for his breakthrough.

The Golden Core Master had already left and did not linger with the Ling Family on Changqing Continent.

This explanation seemed somewhat plausible on the surface, but in reality, it wasn't the least bit believable.

Although there were indeed powerful individuals among Loose Cultivators, they were quite rare. The vast majority of them had mediocre aptitudes and cultivated unremarkable Cultivation Technique Divine Techniques.

What kind of Loose Cultivator could possibly succeed in a single attempt, directly forming a Top-grade Golden Core Dao Fruit?

Therefore, any Cultivator with half a brain wouldn't believe the Ling Family's announcement.

Of course, they had no way to investigate and verify who the new Golden Core Master truly was.

In any case, the Ling Family's status as the sole master of the Feiyu Sea Region was becoming more and more secure. At least for now, no power had emerged to challenge them.

However, some Golden Core powers in neighboring sea regions had already quietly increased their intelligence-gathering efforts in the Feiyu Sea Region.

Despite the lack of evidence, some of the more astute individuals already had a premonition that a future conflict with the Ling Family of Changqing Continent was inevitable.

Unlike Mortal Dynasties, the strategic planning of Cultivator powers usually started on a hundred-year timescale; plans spanning thousands or even tens of thousands of years were not uncommon.

Perhaps these precautions would one day become their saving grace?

The Nascent Soul powers, on the other hand, paid the matter no mind. After all, a Golden Core Level power was not yet worthy of being considered their rival.

'The Ling Family of Changqing Continent wants to rise?'

'Let's see them talk after their family produces a Nascent Soul True Monarch!'

...

After Ling Changqing emerged from seclusion, he was swarmed by his women before he could even decide what to do next.

For the next several months, the bedroom became a battlefield. Ling Changqing remained indoors, passionately entangled with each of the women in turn as they experimented with all manner of delights.

While they certainly benefited greatly, Ling Changqing himself also enjoyed it to no end. He was lost in the tender embrace of women of all shapes and sizes, unable to pull himself away. At the same time, his own Cultivation did not stagnate.

Only after three months did this feverish, all-consuming cultivation finally come to a temporary halt.

Ling Yulu, Qin Yun, and Ling Yuzhu were overjoyed to discover they were not far from the Core Formation Realm. Perhaps with another three to five years of accumulation, they could finally achieve their goal.

Moreover, with Ling Changqing by their side to anchor their destiny, their probability of a successful breakthrough was quite high.

Ling Changqing found no rest even after leaving the bedroom. Besides teaching his female students, he, now a Third Rank Alchemist, also had to open his furnace for Alchemy and craft Talismans.

However, these were not compulsory tasks. The various Elixirs he refined and the Talismans he created were all Ling Changqing's personal resources, and he had the final say on how to use them.

Now that he was a Golden Core Master, Ling Changqing also planned to start learning the Path of Arrays and the Path of Artifact Refining, as well as the most important Path of Celestial Secret Art and Divination.

If he could hone all five of these important Supporting Art Skills to the Third Rank, Ling Changqing's overall strength would reach an unprecedented level.

The Hall Master of the Clan Law Enforcement Hall, Ling Yulu, was a Second Rank Array Master. Ling Changqing could ask her for guidance when he had time, and he believed she would be more than happy to help.

But the Ling Family had no readily available Artifact Refiner. Ling Yuzhu was only skilled at Refining Mechanical Puppets.

There was an Artifact Refiner among the externally hired Loose Cultivator Tributors, but his skill was limited; he had currently only barely reached the Rank One High Grade level.

For the sake of secrecy alone, Ling Changqing couldn't possibly have that person become his teacher.

Xue Qingtan then suggested that they could hire a Third Rank Artifact Refiner from within the Xingyun sun Commerce Association to give Ling Changqing private lessons, as long as they offered enough Spirit Stones.

Ling Changqing agreed to consider it, but even if he made a decision, now was clearly not the right time. He would have to wait a couple of years.

As for the Path of Celestial Secret Art and Divination, Meng Feiyu and Xue Qingtan, being reincarnated Great Powers, could serve as Ling Changqing's teachers as their past-life memories gradually returned.

Thus, for the next several months, Ling Changqing shuttled back and forth between the two women's Cave Mansion Halls. While seeking their guidance on his studies, he didn't forget about Dual Cultivation; after all, he couldn't show favoritism.

In a fragrant, hazy boudoir filled with Spiritual Qi.

"...In the Primordial Era, Great Powers were innumerable. Many were innate beings born even before the dawn of the cosmos. However, as various calamities descended, these innate beings either perished, fell into a deep slumber, or vanished into the depths of the Chaos Void, never to be seen again."

"...In that era, Heavenly and Earthly Treasures could be seen everywhere, and Great Powers from every race emerged endlessly. Of course, war was also commonplace. It was truly an age where a myriad of races stood tall and heroes vied for dominance."

"...After the Primordial Era came the Immemorial Era. During this period, the originally weak Human Race gradually grew and strengthened, beginning to become the most powerful race in all of heaven and earth."

"Correspondingly, the other intelligent races began a gradual decline, some even being driven to extinction. All manner of conspiracies, both open and hidden, were inevitable, as was the constant backstabbing and deceit."

"The great races united more than once to wage war against the Human Race, attempting to reclaim dominion over heaven and earth, but unfortunately, their losses far outnumbered their victories..."

"By the time of the Ancient Era, the Human Race's position as the rulers of heaven and earth was unshakable. The other races either became vassals of humanity, retreated beyond the heavens, or saw their bloodlines die out completely..."

On the wide Beautiful Jade Embroidery Couch, the bewitchingly graceful Meng Feiyu lay atop Ling Changqing. Her lustrous cherry lips parted slightly as she recounted the many secrets of the Ancient Era in a gentle, flowing voice.