"Brother Xia, are you considering which type of Golden Core to achieve?"

  Seeing Xia Li staring blankly at the iron book, Lin Ye asked curiously.

  He wanted to know which Golden Core Xia Li favored.

  "Still considering..."

  Xia Li looked up at Lin Ye. The Grand Perfection Golden Core Scripture Lin Ye gave him—aside from the wisp of Innate Source Qi contained in the iron book—the core formation methods were completely meaningless to him.

  Because he didn't even qualify for the lowest-requirement seventh-grade Golden Core.

  So what Xia Li was actually considering was Earth's prefabricated Golden Cores.

  The Heaven Chip strongly recommended the High-Energy Plasma Golden Core, but Xia Li personally wanted to choose the Magnetic Confinement Stellarator Core.

  The Heaven Chip's recommendation was based on compatibility, but Xia Li was human—he would make emotional choices and have personal preferences.

  As the ancients said:

  Swallow one golden core, and my fate rests not with heaven but myself.

  But what if one swallowed a tiny sun instead?

  "This isn't something to rush. I'll consider it when I reach Foundation Establishment Greater Perfection."

  Xia Li stored the iron book in his phase ring. Actually, he'd already decided—he just couldn't explain the path he would take to Lin Ye.

  "Mm, I believe Brother Xia will create another miracle. I really want to see what kind of Golden Core you'll achieve."

  "I'll definitely surprise you when the time comes. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

  "Alright."

  Xia Li bid farewell to Lin Ye and directly found a teleportation array to return to his own territory.

  His territory was large and empty, but Xia Li loved that serene lake. Just looking at it brought peace to his mind.

  "Heaven Chip, list the preparation requirements for the Stellarator Core."

  [Friendly reminder: One final recommendation that you select the High-Energy Plasma Golden Core. Its preparation process is relatively much simpler.]

  "Heaven Chip... you AIs don't understand this point. Compared to compatibility, humans prefer what their hearts desire."

  "My life is like refuse, my heart like ashes... I need fire..."

  Let this insignificant ember of a life undergo fusion!

  [I understand. The Stellarator Core's various preparation requirements are complex and tedious. Its inflexibility will also cause self-damage.]

  [But undeniably, in terms of combat power ceiling, it is the highest. The final three seconds of Supercritical State possess strength comparable to Soul Transformation.]

  What the Heaven Chip could do was only ever advise. After three suggestions, it wouldn't say more. Since Xia Li had made his choice, its job was full support.

  "The last three seconds... that window is too short. If I miss it..."

  [Yes, you guessed correctly. You'll become a human nuclear bomb.]

  "Outrageous."

  Xia Li chuckled. This feeling of dancing on the edge of self-destruction was indescribably thrilling.

  The closer to self-destruction, the higher his combat power. The more capable he became of slaying powerful enemies and surviving.

  In other words...

  The closer to death, the farther from death.

  Then Xia Li began reviewing the prerequisites for the Stellarator Core.

  First was physical preparation. He urgently needed to improve his body's heat resistance and heat dissipation capabilities. Heat resistance could be improved by refining fire-attribute spirit materials.

  Heat dissipation could be improved by opening more apertures—meaning his martial dao cultivation in the Aperture Opening realm needed to reach at least Greater Achievement.

  Then his dantian size also needed expansion.

  He couldn't rely solely on the Spirit Core's provided dantian space anymore. He needed to cultivate a sufficiently large dantian himself.

  This step directly eliminated those without self-cultivation ability.

  But Xia Li had taken the Kaiyuan Reagent and fortunately awakened self-cultivation ability, so he could complete this step.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Next came preparing materials for the Stellarator Core.

  Five million spirit stones was just the standard price—meaning the spirit materials were entirely prepared by the Golden Core manufacturer. What they prepared wouldn't necessarily be bad, but definitely wasn't optimal or well-matched.

  Preparing the materials himself and then paying fabrication fees would not only be much cheaper, but the finished product would also match his body better, improving the Golden Core's grade.

  The Stellarator Core's manufacturing required five main materials.

  Exotic Flame Spirit Fire, High-grade Fire Metal, Spirit Source Stone, Combustion-Assisting Spirit Material, Fire-Resistant Treasure Material.

  The Spirit Source Stone could be substituted with Innate Source Qi, so Xia Li still needed to collect four materials. The higher the material quality, the better—it would significantly enhance the completed Stellarator Core's capabilities.

  "Looks like... I need to visit the Scripture Archive."

  Xia Li planned to visit the Scripture Archive to look at books about rare treasures of heaven and earth. This world's spirit materials were easier to obtain than Earth's, with more variety and better quality.

  Think it, do it!

  Xia Li immediately went to Lingxu Cave Heaven's Scripture Archive. The first floor was open to the public, requiring no special qualifications.

  Because the first floor stored books and jade slips that were all regional gazettes, herb compendiums, ore identification manuals, strange tales—various information unrelated to techniques or arts.

  Xia Li found the celestial treasures section, grabbed books, and immediately began reading. Some jade slips were mixed in as well.

  Xia Li accepted everything, reading through it all and having the Heaven Chip record it into the database.

  He didn't need to memorize anything—just scanning was enough.

  After being busy for half a day...

  Xia Li had gone through every book in Lingxu Cave Heaven that recorded celestial treasures, directly loading the knowledge into the Heaven Chip's database.

  After leaving the Scripture Archive, Xia Li began querying the Heaven Chip on the road.

  [Retrieve the highest-compatibility material combinations from the database]

  [Searching database...]

  [Simulating combinations...]

  [Results generated]

  The Heaven Chip generated dozens of results at once. Xia Li naturally looked at the one ranked first.

  That was the highest in both strength and compatibility—though the materials might not be easy to find.

  For Exotic Flame Spirit Fire, the Heaven Chip recommended: Solar Flame.

  For Fire Metal, the Heaven Chip recommended: Black Obsidian Spirit Gold.

  For Combustion-Assisting Spirit Material, the Heaven Chip recommended: Fusang Branch.

  For Fire-Resistant Treasure Material, the Heaven Chip recommended: Golden Crow Feather.

  This complete set had extremely high compatibility with the Stellarator Core. In a sense, all materials could be gathered in one place.

  After all, Solar Flame was the Golden Crow's natal fire. Black Obsidian Spirit Gold formed when Golden Crow remains cooled. The Fusang Tree was the Golden Crow's roosting place. And Golden Crow Feathers—need I say more?

  As long as he raided a Golden Crow's home, there was a high probability of gathering all materials at once.

  Just...

  "Me, fight a Golden Crow? Seriously?!"

  Xia Li felt his scalp tingle. The Golden Crow was a divine beast of great renown—born at Soul Transformation level.

  Xia Li sighed and looked at the second material combination.

  Nirvana Fire, Phoenix Blood Gold, Phoenix Parasol Wood, Phoenix Feather.

  Almost the same as the first result!

  Basically go pluck from divine beasts. Materials from a single divine beast would naturally have the highest compatibility.

  [Indeed. According to intelligence collected in the database, you might actually have a bargain to pick up.]

  "Huh?"

  Xia Li was somewhat bewildered. What bargain could possibly fall to him?