Essentials of the Nine Springs

In the afternoon, the members of the Cangli Tribe temporarily staying at Jujube Plum Manor bustled back and forth, packed and ready to depart.

Nearly a thousand tribespeople had died or been wounded in the battle at Immortal Burial Town, and countless Otherworldly Coffins had been lost.

Though those Buddha's Crossing Bandits had retreated, there were many suspicious and abnormal aspects to the matter. It was of grave importance. Cangli had to return to the tribe as soon as possible to report the full details to the elders, and he was also worried that further complications might arise.

Because he had a "Congenital Language Barrier," Gao Huan did not speak with anyone and boarded the carriage early.

He had a gift for languages and was proficient in four foreign tongues, so he was not worried in the slightest about the communication barrier he would face alone. He was confident he could learn this world's language in a short time.

Cangli and a group of tribal experts walked out of the manor.

Walking beside him were two mysterious, tall women wearing veils.

One of them was actually a Pure Immortal Body. Her skin gleamed like jade, and her temperament was cold and aloof. From their meeting in the Departed Spirit Mist Domain until now, Cangli had never seen her utter a word.

The other woman wore red, with a White Bone Wind Chime tied at her waist. She had a cheerful personality and was extremely talkative.

They were Lost Travelers who had accidentally entered the mist domain, named Qi Shanshan and Cai Yutong.

Cangli had been the one to save them.

It was not as though Cangli had never seen peerless beauties with Pure Immortal Bodies, but even among women with Pure Immortal Bodies, there were differences in beauty.

He would never forget the breathtaking shock of first seeing Cai Yutong. Though the coffin retrieval had brought danger, being given such a chance to play the hero and save a beauty—was that not also a blessing disguised as a curse?

"My sister and I plan to go to Jiu Li City first. If it is not on the way, we will not trouble the Young Tribe Leader..."

Before Qi Shanshan could finish, Cangli smiled. "The world truly is full of such coincidences. I am returning to the Cangli Tribe, but I must also leave for Jiu Li City immediately. More importantly, one must pass through the Cangli Tribe to reach Jiu Li City. When the time comes, the two of you may visit my tribe first."

"The Young Tribe Leader possesses both transcendent bearing and the righteous heart to stand up for justice. You are warm and hospitable, sincere in your treatment of others. This is the first time this little woman has seen such a first-rate man."

Qi Shanshan gave a graceful salute, then pulled Cai Yutong aboard the largest and most luxurious carriage at the front of the convoy.

By the time Gao Huan lifted the carriage curtain and looked toward the front of the convoy, the two women had already boarded.

Cangli stood tall beside the carriage, adjusting his clothes and crown. A nervousness he had not shown even when facing the supreme experts of Buddha's Crossing Bandits had unexpectedly appeared in him now.

"We are about to depart. Where has that girl Li Ling gone?" he asked.

An older Martial Cultivator behind him said, "Fourth Miss said she had something urgent to do and told us not to wait for her."

"Something to do? What could she possibly have to do at Yao Pass?"

Cangli knew his younger sister's cultivation attainments and knew that she had always been highly independent, so he did not ask further. Only after making himself look as refined and gentle as possible did he board the carriage.

Li Weiyi drove the carriage alone, whip in hand, racing along the firm dirt road beside the river.

The Beast Li Tribe retrieved coffins several times every year and traveled by land even more often than by water. Thus, this dirt road had been built exceptionally wide, with thousand-year-old willows and century-old mulberry trees planted on both sides.

Through the gaps between the rapidly retreating tree trunks, he could see enormous warships sailing across the broad waters of the Sui River. The ships were loaded with Otherworldly Coffins, while Cangli Tribe members armed with blades patrolled the decks closely.

Clearly, Cangli had taken a small group ahead to express formal gratitude to the Beast Li Tribe. The main force of the Cangli Tribe and the Otherworldly Coffins were following behind by water.

The carriage was ultimately slower. By the time Li Weiyi could see Immortal Burial Town in the distance, the sky had already darkened.

The sun had set, leaving only fiery red evening clouds at the horizon.

"Old Zhao said that the wilderness was far from peaceful at night. Departed spirits and baleful demons become exceptionally active, and one might even encounter vicious insects and cursed monsters. The Sea of Blood is still at least two or three hundred li away. Better to stay one night in Immortal Burial Town first."

Li Weiyi did not know the strange legends of Immortal Burial Town and held no awe toward them. Still, so many people had died here yesterday that he felt slightly uncomfortable inside.

He had already experienced slaughter and seen the terrifying Sea of Souls. Thus, even though bloodstains covered the area around the settlement, he was not afraid in the least.

All the corpses had been cleared away.

Only some small animals he had never seen before darted through the grass, licking the blood from the soil.

Upon arriving at Immortal Burial Town, Li Weiyi got down from the carriage and led the strong horse forward.

The sky grew even dimmer, and even the evening glow had turned cold-toned.

Thin mist either slowly slipped out from the mountains and wilds or surged up from the roaring Dragon Slaying Pass waterfall, making Li Weiyi's vision increasingly hazy.

Li Weiyi turned back alertly, constantly feeling that something was following him.

"Am I being paranoid? This place does not look like somewhere peaceful. Don't let some White Bone Demon or camel-bell Ghostly Creature appear again."

Many Giant Stone Statues stood along the dirt road outside the town, stretching for several kilometers.

Their heads were enormous. Some weighed tens of thousands of jin, while others weighed hundreds of thousands. All gazed in the same direction.

Li Weiyi felt they resembled the Giant Stone Statues on Earth's Easter Island. He stopped and looked in the direction they faced.

Far away stood a towering mountain shaped like a pyramid. Flocks of birds circled above it, while clouds hung low around it. Against the dark blue-green night sky, it appeared extraordinarily grand and magnificent.

There were not only countless Giant Stone Statues beside the road, but also along the distant banks of the Sui River.

"Immortal Burial Town... surely it could not truly have buried an immortal?"

Li Weiyi chuckled to himself. Leading the carriage, he entered the Desolate Market, which had been washed dark red with blood. Without going deep inside, he found a courtyard with relatively intact buildings and walked straight in.

Before long, a bonfire was lit in the courtyard.

Amid the night enclosed by mountains, it was like an abrupt lamp.

Li Weiyi transferred bag after bag of food from the carriage into the space within the Evil Camel Bell.

Ever since opening his third spring, he could make the Evil Camel Bell larger.

"I wonder whether I can summon that three- or four-meter-tall camel. It feels like it could carry actual objects. Perhaps there is an entire Camel Caravan inside the bell..."

"Better wait until my cultivation is higher before trying."

After transferring all the food, Li Weiyi picked up the Evil Camel Bell and found that its weight had not noticeably changed. He became even more aware of how extraordinary it was.

For Yu Tuo Nan to have possessed such an item, he must have been an extremely remarkable figure in life. But why had he not been as famous as Zen Sea Observing Mist?

Sitting beside the bonfire, Li Weiyi took out a jar of Golden Crow Blood and drank a mouthful.

Suddenly, he realized that the reason he had broken through so quickly was most likely entirely due to the Golden Crow Blood. The Golden Crow was no ordinary bird—how precious must its blood be?

Even a Martial Cultivator with top-tier talent in this world would only be able to open four springs after ten years of bitter cultivation.

Even if Zhao Zhizhuo had exaggerated the difficulty, he could not have been too far off.

He was merely an ordinary person, not one of the Deformed Race, much less a Pure Immortal Body. Why was his cultivation advancing so quickly?

Perhaps it was because of the Golden Crow Blood!

Li Weiyi finally understood everything. This time, when he returned to the Bronze Ship, he had to bring back more Golden Crow Blood. Better yet, he would see whether he could cut off dozens of jin of Golden Crow meat and Black Flood Dragon meat.

He took out the cultivation manual Cangli had given him, Essentials of the Nine Springs, and began to read it carefully.

Cultivation methods for the Spring Realm were not rare. As long as one had money, they could be bought in many places.

But the value of Essentials of the Nine Springs lay in its records of the unique understandings and cultivation experiences of many Law-Martial Experts from the Jiu Li Tribe. Carefully pondering them could make it easier for young cultivators to open their springs.

Of course, Cangli knew that a mere copy of Essentials of the Nine Springs could not repay such a great favor. He had promised Li Weiyi that, should he need it in the future, he could provide cultivation methods above the Spring Realm.

Essentials of the Nine Springs was merely a gift between friends, unrelated to repaying favors or owing human debts.

"The Law—Internal Spiritual Power Generation, External Qi Transformation."

"The Dao, with fruition and Nirvana as its law, was everywhere, filling the universe."

Li Weiyi read and pondered at the same time.

He had learned some of this world's writing from Eldest Senior Sister and could understand thirty to forty percent of it. He had to rely on the illustrations to make sense of it, making it even more obscure than classical Chinese.

The rough meaning of the essentials was that the Law was the energy of heaven and earth, spread throughout every thing in the world. But cultivators of low realms could neither see nor touch it.

The Law was like water in the soil.

Using a Breathing Technique, cultivators could draw the "Law" to their side. They would then open springs within their bodies, allowing the "Law" to pour into them from those springs and become power that strengthened the flesh and could be wielded for their own use.

The stronger the Breathing Technique, the more "Law" one could draw close at the same realm. During intense expenditure, it would last longer, allowing one even to fight for an entire day without exhausting their spiritual power.

The more springs one opened, the tougher the body could be transformed, and naturally the more spiritual power one could mobilize.

"The Jade Void Breathing Technique must be very powerful. Even on the night I was pursued by the Thousand-Headed Dragon Vine, only my body was exhausted. The Law itself was not depleted."

With that thought in mind, Li Weiyi skipped over the Breathing Technique recorded in Essentials of the Nine Springs and directly examined the Marked Vein Guide Map at the back.

On the guide map pages, the left page depicted a man and the right page a woman.

The male and female figures were covered in densely packed lines—white, red, silver, and gold—all extending from the human body's nine major acupoints.

"The colors and numbers of Trace Meridians within each person are different?"

Li Weiyi felt that he might not need any Marked Vein Guide Map. Every time he opened a spring, after casually exploring for a moment, more than a dozen Silver Meridian Lines would naturally emerge.

Why make it so complicated?

He was more interested in the nine springs mentioned in Essentials of the Nine Springs. He very much wanted to know where they were located and how to open them.

The three springs he had opened so far had all been opened by blind luck, without any method whatsoever.

If not for the aid of a rare great medicine like Golden Crow Blood, then with his mediocre mortal talent, being able to open even One Spring by now would already have been a blessing from heaven.