My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 460: Sudden Change, Did the Game Company Shut Down?

While Black Sword and the other Yang God Heavenly Sovereigns were deep in discussion, in the Flower Moon Mystery Land, a man in a crimson robe, with storage bags bulging at his waist, was basking in the air.

In this part of the mystery land, it was impossible to see the stars that reflected across the heavens.

Without the sun to bask in, he could only bask in the air.

He opened his storage bags, and rows of shimmering ice eggs tumbled to the ground, arranged around Qi Yuan, making him look like an egg merchant.

"Sigh, the cultivators from Ghost Heaven are so slow. It’s been so long, and they're still dragging their feet!"

The stage was set, and Qi Yuan was simply waiting for the actors to arrive.

However, cultivators in the world of immortal cultivation were incredibly inefficient, always slow and hesitant in their actions—never decisive.

For example, the Supreme Truth Dao Gathering had mentioned Linya's Transformation long ago, yet so much time had passed, and it still hadn’t started.

Now, Qi Yuan had laid out the ice eggs, provocatively challenging the young prodigies of Ghost Heaven. But even now, all they had done was throw around harsh words in response, without actually showing up.

"Those who achieve great things must be able to endure loneliness."

Qi Yuan was at ease.

From his game jade slip, the Silent Voice began to resonate once again.

Qi Yuan chuckled. "Want to hear another story?"

He had discovered that telling stories to the Silent Voice within the game jade slip seemed to accelerate the loading speed of the new game.

So, he started making up stories at random.

"Once upon a time, there was a mountain. On the mountain, there was a cow named Red Boy..."

"...Alright, today’s story is over."

"Every day, it’s me telling you stories. How about you tell me a bit about the game’s plot, so I can get familiar with it?"

Qi Yuan was quite curious about the new game—or rather, excited.

After all, he had already reached the Purple Mansion realm.

The next world would be the place where he ascended and became a god.

Naturally, he was deeply invested in the new game.

"Becoming a god must be interesting. Will I have many followers, worshippers?"

"Maybe people will even build statues of me and offer reverence?"

"And then, after the passage of time, some great figure will appear and tear down the statues in a pagan ritual?"

Qi Yuan let his mind wander.

Unfortunately, the Silent Voice didn’t respond to him at all.

"In the spirit of fair trade, I’ve told you so many fun stories, which cost me a lot of brainpower. Shouldn’t you at least give me some gold coins? Don’t be stingy now..."

"Oh, right. You’re blind and mute. You can’t speak."

At that moment, the Silent Voice fell completely silent.

For some reason, Qi Yuan had a strange feeling that the Silent Voice was brewing something.

After about a hundred breaths passed, Qi Yuan noticed that the game icon within the jade slip—representing the new game—suddenly flashed with a bright light.

Qi Yuan squinted, watching the light flash.

"Such a strong sense of vitality…"

If the original game icon had been dark, chaotic, and worn-out, now it was filled with vibrant energy and color.

It was like a desolate wasteland undergoing renovation.

And the game’s loading speed began to skyrocket at that moment.

"Hey, are you still there?" Qi Yuan called out tentatively.

Unfortunately, the Silent Voice didn’t respond.

This left Qi Yuan somewhat disappointed. He had no idea what was happening within the game jade slip.

After about three hundred breaths, Qi Yuan stared at the game icon, his expression changing slightly.

"Did the game… fail to load?"

"Wait… did the game company go bankrupt?"

Indeed, in just those three hundred breaths, the game had been speeding up its loading process, only to… crash.

The icon’s appearance, along with the aura it exuded, felt as if the game company had gone out of business.

It was just like clicking on an installation file, only to be told the game files were corrupted.

"What’s going on? Did it really go under?"

"Hey… are you still there?"

But there was no response from anyone.

The game’s progress bar dimmed and came to a standstill.

"Dear friends, who understands this? I pre-ordered the game ages ago, and now, it’s gone bankrupt before it even launched. Who’s going to compensate me for my wasted youth?"

Qi Yuan was thoroughly exasperated, though he couldn’t help but feel some concern for the Silent Voice.

"Does this mean I, as the player, have to step in and save this bankrupt game company?"

"Hey, I’m just a player!"

"Damn capitalists!"

Still, since this involved his own interests, Qi Yuan decided he had to try and save the game.

"If I manage to save it, I want some shares. I’m going to be a stakeholder."

After some thought, Qi Yuan directed his soul to tentatively enter the game jade slip.

He tried to see if he could enter the new game.

For some reason, he had a feeling that something extraordinary was happening inside the game.

But unfortunately, a powerful restriction was blocking Qi Yuan from entering.

"It’s too tightly sealed. I can’t get in."

Qi Yuan stared at the game jade slip, lost in thought.

The game was broken—he couldn’t enter at all.

After all, how could a player enter an unfinished installation package to play?

Qi Yuan thought of something, and his aura shifted.

"Absolute Adaptation!"

At that moment, he unleashed his Supreme Truth.

Qi Yuan's soul began to shift and change.

Absolute Adaptation—a concept centered around survival.

Adapt to everything, adapt to all. He was adapting, trying to enter this broken installation package.

His soul changed, the Supreme Truth surged, and faint echoes of the Great Dao reverberated from deep within his bones.

"It’s no good. My Supreme Truth isn’t fully stabilized yet, so I can’t enter the game."

Qi Yuan was a bit troubled.

He had only recently grasped the Supreme Truth, and compared to old Supreme Lords, he could barely contend with even ordinary Great Truth masters.

His Supreme Truth hadn’t yet been truly engraved or stabilized in his body, soul, or thoughts.

"What should I do?"

"Am I going to have to rely on my brilliant brain again?"

As he thought about this, Qi Yuan pulled out a bottle that once contained the Blood Growth Comprehension Pills.

The bottle was empty. The pills had long been consumed, leaving only a faint fragrance.

Qi Yuan poured some celestial liquid into the bottle, then shook it vigorously in all directions.

"This little bit of flavoring should work."

Qi Yuan gulped down the celestial liquid in one go and immediately felt reinvigorated—his waist no longer ached, his back no longer hurt, and his mind became sharp. He felt like he could carry ten sacks of rice up ten flights of stairs while completing nine sets of exam papers.

"The foundation of the game is its programming, its code."

"The world itself is just a big game made up of code, rules…"

"And those rules are the Ten Thousand Dao."

"Ten Thousand Dao is binary."

"So… the game’s code is binary."

"Perfect. The logic checks out. Flawless reasoning. No loopholes."

Yes, if Qi Yuan couldn’t find any flaws in his logic, that meant the plan was perfect—without any holes.

"Transform!"

In an instant, a sliver of Qi Yuan's soul split into two drops of crimson blood.

These two drops of blood formed the numbers "0" and "1."

"So, this is the code?" Qi Yuan smiled happily.

However, having lost even this small fragment of his soul, Qi Yuan's face turned pale, as if he had suffered severe damage to his vitality.

He had sacrificed a lot for this game.

"I’ve shed so much soul blood that I’m getting low blood sugar. Hey… I better have some equity in this!"

Qi Yuan shouted into the game.

The "0" and "1" formed from his soul blood merged into the game.

Absolute Adaptation continued to exert its unique power.

The game icon, which had been dark and lifeless, its progress bar stuck, slowly began to show signs of life after absorbing these two drops of blood.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, it’s working."

The game began loading again.

"So exhausting."

Having lost two drops of his soul blood, a deep sense of fatigue washed over him, and all Qi Yuan wanted was to sleep for a long time.

"Silent Voice, I’ve bled a lot for you this time. Don’t forget to repay me."

With that, Qi Yuan lay down, hugging an ice egg, and immediately fell asleep.

Reviving the game had cost him greatly, comparable to fighting an intense battle.

As he slept, the game icon in the jade slip slowly continued to load.

From time to time, flickers of light passed over it.

Suddenly, the Silent Voice spoke. Unlike before, this time, it seemed to have gained a spark of life—or, rather, it was no longer silent.

"I…"

The ethereal voice echoed through the heavens, but Qi Yuan, deep in slumber, didn’t hear it.

Time passed, and eventually, the Silent Voice sighed in resignation before fading away, disappearing completely.

The game was still loading.

At some point, in the Flower Moon Mystery Land, the previously dark sky suddenly lit up with dozens of streaks of light.

A man clad in golden-threaded armor, holding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, stood in the air, his voice booming like thunder.

"Blood Robe, where are you? Come out and face your death!"

A total of forty-seven prodigies had gathered, almost all of them at the Myth realm. Wielding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, they arrived in force, their momentum terrifying.

Just these prodigies alone could easily overturn a world that wasn’t guarded by a Yang God Heavenly Sovereign.

Now, forty-seven prodigies had gathered, along with hundreds of Grand Sovereigns, all shouting in unison, demanding that Blood Robe show himself.

But Qi Yuan, who was far too tired, didn’t hear them at all.

"Is he afraid of us? Hiding like a coward?"

When there was no response from Blood Robe, Mo Zhong roared in fury.

The other prodigies smirked, amused.

"He talks tough, but there’s no sign of him anywhere."