Uninvited Guest

This is truly a sight to behold.

Wang Li's mouth hung open unconsciously, as if only by breathing deeply through both his nose and mouth could he keep his mind temporarily clear.

At this moment, this Dao Palace seemed to possess an infinite magic, firmly capturing all his attention.

He wasn't in a state of selfless cultivation right now, but this attraction made him feel as if he were standing directly in front of the Dao Palace. Even the six white stars faded automatically in his perception.

This was also the first time he had truly seen the Dao Palace's full form from the outside.

The Dao Palace's exterior was peculiar.

It was ancient and simple, with the typical style of palace eaves, but its proportions were very disharmonious.

It didn't occupy a large area, but it was exceptionally tall.

It was like a sword, or a monument.

And within the next few breaths, Wang Li suddenly felt that it even resembled the solitary peak he was currently on.

It was as if this solitary peak had slightly altered its appearance, transforming into a long, narrow, and towering Dao Palace.

The solitary peak usually exuded a proud and aloof aura of detachment within the Profound Heaven Sect. Now, this Dao Palace stood alone and silently in the Sea of Qi, with nothing else around it but churning True Essence. It appeared even more cold and distant.

Before this, during his tribulation, Wang Li was absolutely certain that this Dao Palace was black, a deep, profound black.

But now, this Dao Palace was gray.

This gray color was exactly the same as the color of those gray-robed cultivators.

Color doesn't speak.

But it can evoke all sorts of direct feelings.

The gray on those gray-robed cultivators gave Wang Li the most direct impression of destruction and dimness.

But now, the gray of this Dao Palace filled his vision, blotting out the sky. It gave him the feeling of being forgotten and faded, yet at the same time, it possessed an imposing aura that made one remember and expand a world!

Wang Li's mind trembled inexplicably.

He seemed to have returned to the moment he first joined the sect, when he saw his senior sister Lü Shenliang utter the words, "I'm not convinced."

Wang Li closed his mouth.

He took a deep breath, once again calming his mind.

The instant his senses touched this Dao Palace, the True Essence in his Sea of Qi surged like waves, crashing against the Dao Palace's base with a thunderous roar.

Gray currents rippled continuously across the surface of the Dao Palace.

This Dao Palace was indeed not an illusion created by the Heavenly Dao laws deceiving his spiritual sense; it was a true physical entity.

As his True Essence and spiritual sense came into contact with the Dao Palace, he felt his True Essence being repelled. Yet, the Vital Energy of the Dao Palace itself felt familiar.

He immediately realized where this familiarity came from.

The Vital Energy that made up the body of this Dao Palace seemed to originate from the impure Vital Energy within the spirit sand!

The impure Vital Energy in spirit sand was harmful impurities for cultivators. The Spiritual Poison Tribulation that cultivators faced when advancing from the ninth stage of Qi Refining to the Foundation Establishment stage stemmed from the accumulation of impurities in spirit sand and spirit medicine.

Various impure and useless Vital Energies were like impurities in iron ore. When Qi Refining stage cultivators condensed their True Essence to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, the impurities that had fused with their True Essence and were imperceptible normally would naturally separate like slag, becoming spiritual poison.

Therefore, the purer the spiritual energy a cultivator absorbed during the Qi Refining stage, and the less impure Vital Energy accumulated in their body, the less spiritual poison would be produced when they reached the Foundation Establishment stage, which would be more beneficial for their future cultivation.

The Foundation Establishment Pill, extremely rare in the Cultivation World, was used to resolve spiritual poison during Foundation Establishment.

It was just that, like most Qi Refining stage cultivators who knew that cultivating with purer spirit stones was better, they knew the Foundation Establishment Pill was useful, but most people still couldn't obtain such a treasure.

Lü Shenliang had always had Wang Li cultivate using spirit sand. Furthermore, whenever she obtained spirit pills that aided cultivation, she would have Wang Li consume them without hesitation, as if she didn't consider whether this method of cultivation would turn Wang Li's body into a mess.

Wang Li himself hadn't delved deeply into this issue.

After all, for a low-level cultivator like him, the speed of cultivation and advancement was the most important thing.

Moreover, his own Profound Heaven Dao Arts cultivation had already encountered strange problems.

Coupled with his understanding of Lü Shenliang, he had previously thought that even if the tribulation he faced upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage didn't change, and it truly was a Spiritual Poison Tribulation, Lü Shenliang might have already found a way to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill by then.

Most importantly, in his daily cultivation, he hadn't felt any problems with this method of cultivation.

He hadn't even felt much accumulation of impure Vital Energy.

Perhaps it was like what the ancient texts said, that impure Vital Energy merged with True Essence and only separated when True Essence condensed into liquid during Foundation Establishment? But because he couldn't feel it, this worry had long been dulled by years of cultivation.

But now, the body of this Dao Palace was formed from the accumulation of those impure Vital Energies.

So, those impure Vital Energies hadn't disappeared; they were just used to build this Dao Palace?

Then, wasn't his own True Essence now extremely pure?

"..."

This discovery and speculation left him speechless again.

He couldn't help but suspect his senior sister.

Was her indiscriminate cultivation method a premeditated plan?

He even felt that the more impure Vital Energy there was, the more solid this Dao Palace could become.

However, no matter how much he doubted his senior sister, it was indeed useless at the moment.

The key was to figure out whether this Dao Palace was harmful to him or useful.

For some reason, the moment this thought flashed through his mind, he intuitively felt a peculiar connection with this Dao Palace, which seemed to reject his True Essence and forbid entry. It was as if, if he willed it, he could instantly enter this gray Dao Palace.

Wang Li took a deep breath. He forcefully suppressed his curiosity and impulse and withdrew from his internal observation.

What if he really entered? And what if he encountered an even more powerful gray-robed cultivator inside? In his current state, wouldn't that be seeking his own death?

He felt that what he needed most urgently now was to have a more in-depth conversation with his senior sister again.

Although his senior sister often felt unreliable, at least having her around made him feel safer.

Even during Old Ancestor Tong Hui's Heavenly Tribulation, he dared to stand so close and directly try to snatch the Yin Thunder Umbrella at that moment, not because he thought he was that powerful, but because she was by his side.

The sky gradually darkened.

Stars filled the black night sky.

Wang Li's figure appeared outside the stone huts on the solitary peak.

Based on his understanding of Lü Shenliang, during the time just after nightfall, there was a high probability that Lü Shenliang would be awake for about half an hour.

According to her habit, as long as he waited outside her quiet room, she would come out to talk to him.

Wang Li quite enjoyed this waiting period.

But today, his brow suddenly furrowed.

He saw some strange, brilliant lights flowing in the night.

Those lights were heading towards the solitary peak, coming from the clusters of peaks of the Profound Heaven Sect, hidden in the darkness of the night.