“T-This is…"

Genius!

Xiao Wu gaped in astonishment. Although the golden-eyed boy had specified these methods had been thought up by the Evil Saint, she was still shocked. After all, this youth that looked not too much older than her had been able to easily phrase the concept in a manner that even a child like her could understand!

“Atta girl! Want a sip?” Cheng Hao laughed happily and jokingly offered the gourd containing wine to the green-eyed girl.

The girl’s mouth twitched slightly as she edged backwards. “Sorry… I, don’t really like alcoholic beverages that much. As a matter of fact, even the smell alone is enough to make me want to vomit.”

Actually… why is a kid like you drinking something alcoholic in the first place?

“Hahaha, sure, sure… Just wait ‘til you get older and the hormones start acting up. You’ll understand what you missed now then. Then again, it might be the best if a child like you does not drink too much, it might develop into some serious addiction later on.” He downed another mouthful: it looked like the jug was also special and could hold in a large amount of the liquid.

Exactly! So you do understand that it’s immoral! And yet, why do you keep drinking like a sponge?

Seeing that Xiao Wu was quick and smart enough to process this much information, Cheng Hao decided to kick it up a notch and enter the grand finale. He opened his mouth, and the lecture resumed, "Now for the Core, why is it so difficult to form the Core?"

Xiao Wu quickly answered, "Because the quality of the Qi is so high that it is difficult to compress and it takes both a lot of mental energy and enlightenment to accomplish it.”

"Yup. And why is the Qi this ‘dense’?"

Xiao Wu smiled as she knew the answer "Because it is really pure!" Hearing her own words, the girl stopped and frowned. “Pure… wait, so does this mean that making a Core early on is actually easier than when doing it later in the Advanced stage? I remember you also mentioned a problem like that earlier in your story, something about the Core once being condensed into the Ageless Realm and then being pushed back because of the same reason!"

“Good girl! To think you’d listen to all that rambling from a drunk kid, I underestimated you!” Cheng Hao's eyes glittered as he let out a few words of praise that came from his heart. Of course, he was not drunk and it was just a joke, as his will and mental power the result of two lifetimes plus an extra soul was enough for him to remain lucid even were he to drink whole barrels’ worth of wine. It was a small yet pleasant benefit of ‘dying’.

Xiao Wu beamed but noticed the boy had yet to confirm her theory. She frowned, “So?”

"So? Of course, your hypothesis is absolutely, one hundred percent… Correct! What we are about to do is exactly this: Qi sensing, followed by Spiritual Energy Absorption, creation of a Qi Sea and, finally, the condensation of our dear Pseudo-Core! Oh, I say Pseudo-Core because it wouldn't be the real Core. No, it is a fake and fake it will remain for the whole length of its existence… which will actually be surprisingly long! For, in the nearby future, it will almost have as much of a big use as the real one, if not even more! At the same time, when we finally do step into the Basic and Advanced stage, which will be not too far off in the future, we will still be able to create a real Qi Sea and also a real Core. Actually, this experience will make it even easier for us to build the real thing later on, for we will already know the process!"

Cheng Hao went to drink from the jug once again, only to find out to his dismay that the wine had already been downed up to its very last drop. He sighed and took out another gourd, In the meanwhile he did not stop talking and continued his lecture, "Since the Pseudo-Core isn't as pure as the real deal and will be powered by Inferior Qi, it will be much more unstable. We will even need to use a lot more Spiritual Energy to charge it up when compared to what would usually be expended at the Inferior Stage. However, the power will remain roughly the same as the real deal, only lacking slightly in consistency and duration. With some help to help us take care of that…”

“Inferior Stage will battle Advanced Stage!”

“Inferior Stage will BEAT Advanced Stage!”

“Inferior Stage will fly in the sky!”

“Showing the might of the Advanced Stage as an Inferior Stage cultivator!”

“Skipping whole stages, augmenting one’s experience, and more… are the miracles that the Pseudo-Core is capable of achieving!"

Xiao Wu had long since been unable to speak, staring wide eyed, her jaw nearly touching the ground, the sound of her blood pumping pounding in her ears. Forget about taking notes! Ever since a short while ago, she had branded every single word the young boy in front of her had said in her mind, not forgetting even a single word.

After a short span of a few breaths, the girl recovered. Pondering, she muttered trembling. "Brother... Could you actually... Be a genius?"

Cheng Hao grinned, "And not only that, I’m going to make you into one too! I will make you into the first, true genius this world has ever seen! Of course, it’ll be because I’ll allow you to share first place with me… but you will be one looked up to wherever you go, be it by enemies or allies! Commoner or noble, you will stand above them all, like an emperor of the skies!"

Xiao Wu gasped for air: of course she didn’t fully believe, but it was simply because she couldn’t. It was just too unrealistic of a claim, that she felt it would be way too unlikely for it to come true.

There was, however, another being, who, besides the emerald-eyed girl, had been hearing those seemingly absurd words… However, this golden dragon’s understanding of the situation was much deeper. He was fully aware that Cheng Hao’s words weren’t just empty claims. After all, he had already accomplished all that once in the past by aiding the young Xiao Lan. Why should he not be able to do it again? Blindlight smiled: it had to be said the relationship between Xu Ling and the Xiao Clan was truly special.

Cheng Hao stood up and patted his robes, “Good! And, now, for the next grand reveal!” He raised one of his hands and, all of a sudden, enormous pressure crashed down upon all things present in the room, with only a shocked Xiao Wu and the smiling Cheng Hao being spared. Blindlight on the other hand rolled on the ground cursing as loud as he could, but in the end was unable to even lift the tip of his tail. Especiallt when faced with a pressure that was akin to that of a gargantuan waterfall crashing upon its small body.

Damnit Little Monster! You’re making being your friend you that much harder for me!

Not taking notice of the poor beast’s cries, Xiao Wu watched on with wide eyes as slowly, an object began to materialize into the world. It was accompanied by a small hurricane that battered her clothes and hair and by a golden glow so bright she couldn’t look at it directly.

“Come, my dear creation! Let the world bask upon your greatness!” Whoosh! Soon following Cheng Hao’s words, a shining, golden tower suddenly appeared, hovering right above the young boy's hand!

It had a total of fifteen levels, with the first six levels having bronze gates, the middle five levels having silver gates and the last four levels having golden gates. Most of the gates were covered in chains and locks, as if they were keeping something sealed within…

It was really beautiful and incredibly domineering! It was also but a few inches tall. An adult would probably be able to hold it between two hands. Clearly, the tower had been drastically reduced in size: had it been its real size, the tower would have probably been thousands of feet tall!

The gigantic gates were each bigger and sturdier than the previous level's, making up an inverted, golden pagoda. and when scaled up, they would actually also be so big that a man would easily be able to pass by the fissures below the door's frame! However, no matter how one looked, it was not possible to see what was behind the closed gates, as if some strange magic was impeding it and concealing the interior. It really made one wonder what those big golden doors really held inside; what terrifying beasts would be sealed within and what fearful power it would have taken to seal them.

A mysterious, inverted golden pagoda. This was what Cheng Hao had made out of the golden spark that he had found in the underworld: a tower as tall as the heavens, with countless secrets lying beyond each gate and its only purpose being speeding up the growth of its master! It was what he’ll be using to protect his loved ones! It was a tower he would use to ascend to Immortality as soon as possible! And for that exact reason, the child had thus decided to call it…

"IMMORTAL ASCENSION TOWER!” Cheng Hao’s yell rang out. He eyed the golden object hovering above his palm with both pride and excitement. “I have been working on it for almost six months, and it is even now yet to be completed... However, even in its incompleteness, it will be of great aid to the both of us, both in AND outside battle! Today, I will step into the Inferior stage thanks to this little baby and you, my sweet younger sister, will as well!"