Two "perpetrators" of the "traffic accident" hugged each other, laughing uncontrollably. After parting, Jiang Yuan began carefully explaining the techniques of controlling flying swords to Ding Ye.
Unexpectedly, his usual sparring partner, who loved to bicker with Jiang Yuan, listened with unusual seriousness this time! This struck Jiang Yuan as a bit odd.
"I think I'm starting to get it. Come on, watch and see if I'm doing it right."
After Jiang Yuan finished explaining the key points, Ding Ye immediately summoned his flying sword, stepped onto the blade, and slowly began to lift off in front of Jiang Yuan.
"Right, like that. Focus, and don't wave your hands around!"
Jiang Yuan also summoned his flying sword, slowly flying over to Ding Ye's side, teaching his buddy hands-on.
Gradually, under Jiang Yuan's patient guidance, Ding Ye mastered the skills and essentials of sword flight. Not only did he fly more steadily, but even his posture looked much better!
"Old Ding, why are you so serious about learning sword flight this time?"
Flying side by side high in the sky, Jiang Yuan glanced at Ding Ye and asked curiously.
"Once I learn sword flight, I can show off and pick up girls when I get back to the mortal world! How cool is that!"
Hearing Ding Ye's answer, Jiang Yuan nearly blacked out and almost tumbled down in anger!
So this guy was learning so earnestly just to go back to the mortal world and flirt with girls!
"Keep practicing. I'm going to see the Immortal Artificer NPC."
Feeling a bit speechless, Jiang Yuan shot Ding Ye a glare, rechecked his position on the mini-map, and flew off toward the living area.
"Fellow cultivator, how may I assist you?"
Arriving at the peak of the living area and landing before the Immortal Artificer NPC, the latter immediately asked Jiang Yuan with a smile.
"I'd like to know about the gameplay related to magical artifacts. Please explain it to me."
Jiang Yuan looked at the Immortal Artificer NPC and asked.
"Each time you use a magical artifact, it gains 1 growth point. When the growth value reaches a specified number, you can use the artifact upgrade function to level it up. Each level increases the artifact's attributes! Additionally, you can choose to use items like [Heavenly Dragon Blood] and [True Dragon Sacred Blood] to gather energy for the artifact. [Heavenly Dragon Blood] adds 500 experience points at once, while [True Dragon Sacred Blood] boosts it by 5,500 experience points in one go!"
The Immortal Artificer NPC patiently began detailing the gameplay of magical artifacts for Jiang Yuan.
"How do I get [Heavenly Dragon Blood] and [True Dragon Sacred Blood]?"
Jiang Yuan quickly asked.
"You can exchange them with sect contributions, obtain them through adventure quests, or if you're strong enough, head to the Abyss of the Hidden Dragon to hunt dragons yourself."
After the Immortal Artificer finished speaking, Jiang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed the difficulty wasn't too high.
Next, Jiang Yuan inquired about "artifact enchantment" and "artifact blood refinement." After receiving detailed answers from the NPC, he left satisfied.
Just as Jiang Yuan bid farewell to the Immortal Artificer NPC, he suddenly received a message from Ding Ye asking if he wanted to do the Golden Core quest.
"Golden Core quest? What's that?"
Curious, Jiang Yuan replied to Ding Ye with a message.
"You bumpkin, you don't even know about the Golden Core quest!"
Ding Ye shot back a message instantly, mocking Jiang Yuan, then followed up with another: "After ascending to the immortal realm, you can't gain experience points anymore. To keep leveling up, you need to accumulate cultivation to break through. The Golden Core quest gives you the Tai Chi Golden Cores needed for cultivation."
Reading Ding Ye's message, Jiang Yuan glanced at his original experience bar and noticed it had changed. The orange-yellow experience bar was now a round container called the cultivation pool.
Remembering that he had killed a Heavenly Soldier during his fight with Nezha and obtained ten Tai Chi Golden Cores, Jiang Yuan quickly opened his backpack and indeed found the small gourd-shaped Tai Chi Golden Cores.
Examining the Tai Chi Golden Cores in his backpack, they were entirely emerald green, gourd-shaped, but very small, resembling the ginseng fruits from *Journey to the West*.
"Ding! Consumed Tai Chi Golden Core*10, gained 25,800,000 cultivation."
After using the ten Tai Chi Golden Cores from his backpack, Jiang Yuan immediately heard a prompt. One Tai Chi Golden Core provided 2,580,000 cultivation.
Checking the cultivation pool, it had increased by about 2%, meaning to reach level 121, he would need roughly 500 Tai Chi Golden Cores!
"Old Ding, where do you do the Golden Core quest?"
Jiang Yuan immediately messaged Ding Ye, asking how to accept the quest.
"Go to the functional area of the sect and find an NPC called the Sect Trial Envoy. You can get various Golden Core quests from him."
After reading Ding Ye's reply, Jiang Yuan was momentarily stunned—he was already in the functional area! So he quickly opened the map and carefully searched for the Sect Trial Envoy's location.
"Found it, at three o'clock!"
Soon, Jiang Yuan located the Sect Trial Envoy's position. He summoned the Frost Wolf mount gifted by Hamster Pudding and rode over.
When Jiang Yuan arrived at the Sect Trial Envoy's location, many players were already gathered there. Scanning the crowd, he spotted several familiar faces.
"Brother Er Gou, Doctor Hua, how are you!"
Jiang Yuan greeted Zhang Er Gou and Hua Qian Gu, who were originally from the Cold River City Alliance. During an offline gathering, they had learned that Hua Qian Gu held a doctorate, earning him the nickname "Doctor Hua" in the game.
"Brother Jiang Yuan, are you here for the Golden Core quest too?"
Zhang Er Gou smiled and nodded at Jiang Yuan, asking.
"Just free and checking it out. By the way, can this Golden Core quest be done in a team?"
Jiang Yuan smiled at the two and asked.
"No, the Golden Core quest can only be completed solo."
Hua Qian Gu shook his head with a smile and said.
"I see. Then I'll have to do my own."
Jiang Yuan dropped the idea of teaming up with them and said with a smile.
Soon, Zhang Er Gou and Hua Qian Gu reached the front. After accepting their quests, they greeted Jiang Yuan and flew off on their swords.
When it was Jiang Yuan's turn, another ten-plus minutes had passed. After finishing his conversation with the Sect Trial Envoy, he accepted his first Golden Core quest, named "Skywalker."
"Go to the high altitude of the Longevity Hall to collect scattered Star Fragments*10. Reward: Tai Chi Golden Core*25."
After accepting the "Skywalker" quest, Jiang Yuan opened his quest list and immediately saw the description.
"Good thing I learned sword flight, or I wouldn't be able to do this Golden Core quest!"
Looking at the quest prompt, Jiang Yuan felt a bit relieved as he thought to himself. He then dismissed his mount and summoned the Clear Frost Flying Sword.
Standing on the sword blade, Jiang Yuan took a few deep breaths, manipulated the sword, and shot straight up into the sky.