Heavenly Treasure Land

The six little wild boars snorted and squealed at Big Yellow. After taking a few steps and looking at Zhou Leng, they retreated again.

Big Yellow rushed over and vigorously licked the six little wild boars.

The six little wild boars squealed happily and ran in circles around Big Yellow.

The huge black wild boar stared at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng said, "Thank you for showing me the way last time."

The huge black wild boar snorted twice at Zhou Leng, then turned its head and snorted at Big Yellow.

Big Yellow barked at the huge black wild boar.

After the two sides called at each other for a while, the huge black wild boar led the six little wild boars away.

Big Yellow ran back happily.

"You can understand what it says?" Zhou Leng asked.

Big Yellow nodded fiercely, then its dog eyes flashed and it hurriedly shook its head.

"Oh, you can only understand a little."

Big Yellow nodded merrily, then guiltily sidled over and rubbed its head and shoulder against Zhou Leng's leg.

The two made their way through the dense forest and entered the crack between the rocks, once again entering the Mysterious Forest. As Zhou Leng walked, he kept looking up and around.

He had looked it up online over the past two days. Places with this kind of environment and such enormous trees basically existed in only two worlds.

Beast World and Treant World.

"If this is Treant World, it's a little better. The Treant Clan is one of humanity's allies. I took a minor course in basic Treant language, and treants are relatively peaceful. But the Giant Insect Clan in Treant World is utterly terrifying."

"If this is Beast World, I need to be even more careful. All ten worlds are low-level civilizations, but Beast World was originally a mid-level civilization that fell to its current low-level state. Its true strength ranks first among the ten worlds. Even the savage demons and the sea sirens, invincible in water, dare not invade Beast World..."

"As for that Frost Giant Tree, it's hard to say..."

Zhou Leng looked at the pine needles around him, each as thick as an arm, and said, "Keep watch for me. I want to test the approximate spiritual energy concentration here."

"Woof." Big Yellow gave a soft bark in response.

Zhou Leng sat cross-legged on the spot, circulated his true qi, and carefully sensed the spiritual energy here.

Before long, Zhou Leng opened his eyes. His heart gave a violent thump before settling again.

The spiritual energy concentration here was at least five times Blue Star's baseline concentration.

Under normal circumstances, once spiritual energy exceeded five times the baseline, mutations would occur. It would shrink and gather within a fixed area, forming Spirit-Land Glow.

Such regions were called Spirit Lands.

All Spirit Lands could be collected and converted into Spirit-Land Jade, one of the most important cultivation treasures.

Yet the spiritual energy here had not formed Spirit-Land Glow, nor had it mutated.

"This means..."

Zhou Leng led Big Yellow through the dense woods, walked onto the white grassland, and stood beneath the Frost Giant Tree.

He raised his head and gazed upward.

This tree was not merely a plant. It faintly carried an indescribable pressure and profound mystery.

Zhou Leng even felt that the Martial Saints, great demons, demigod mages, and demigod dragons he had seen in videos were all inferior to this enormous tree.

After considering it, Zhou Leng decided to give it a try.

Zhou Leng respectfully bent at the waist to the Frost Giant Tree at a ninety-degree angle and said, "This junior, Zhou Leng, pays respects to Senior Tree."

Zhou Leng straightened up. The Frost Giant Tree gave no response whatsoever.

Big Yellow had its back to Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng found a comfortable spot, laid down his cushion, and sat cross-legged on it.

"Big Yellow, go play by yourself. I'm starting cultivation."

"Woof..." Big Yellow opened its mouth in agreement.

Zhou Leng circulated his true qi, but he could not determine the precise concentration of spiritual energy nearby.

In a low-grade Spirit Land, spiritual energy concentration ranged from five to ten times the baseline.

In a mid-grade Spirit Land, spiritual energy concentration ranged from ten to twenty times the baseline.

In a high-grade Spirit Land, spiritual energy concentration ranged from twenty to fifty times the baseline.

Zhou Leng could only sense that the spiritual energy concentration here was around thirty or forty times the baseline, not exceeding fifty times.

A high-grade Spirit Land was enough to make masters fight over it.

Zhou Leng looked around. At such a high spiritual energy concentration, there was no spiritual energy radiance.

The reason was likely worth pondering. Zhou Leng glanced at the Frost Giant Tree.

Zhou Leng calmed himself, swallowed a Qi-Nourishing Pill, and circulated the Mystic Tide Art.

Under his painting-like inner vision, a ball of flame suddenly rose within Zhou Leng's stomach.

The dual powers of the Meat Medicinal Diet and the Qi-Nourishing Pill were triggered at the same time.

Deep-blue Mystic Tide True Qi surged into his stomach, stirring the two powers and circulating them throughout his body.

Traces of white spiritual energy entered his body from the outside. Some entered and dispersed again, some remained in his flesh, and some were captured by Mystic Tide True Qi, becoming part of it.

Once spiritual energy concentration reached twenty times the baseline, it could be seen through inner vision.

The threefold powers of the Meat Medicinal Diet, the Qi-Nourishing Pill, and the high-concentration spiritual energy worked upon him together. Mystic Tide True Qi circulated and grew at an unprecedented speed.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint coolness burst forth from his dantian.

Martial Path Perception made Zhou Leng realize that his Mystic Tide Art had advanced to the fourth level of Minor Success.

A faint hunger began to spread.

The Meat Medicinal Diet he had eaten that morning seemed to vanish like air.

Zhou Leng consolidated three cycles of true qi, then drew in the Mystic Tide Art.

He took out his phone and touched the screen.

18:52.

He had cultivated from morning until evening, nearly ten hours.

Zhou Leng recalled what his internal arts teacher, Sun Xiong, had said.

Cultivating internal arts was not as simple as sitting down somewhere. One had to enter a state of emptiness; in modern terms, a flow state.

If one's mental will was not strong enough, either distracting thoughts would swarm like a riot, or one would be unable to persist for long.

Zhou Leng had cultivated since childhood, but half a year ago, he could sustain internal arts cultivation for at most four hours. Afterward, his body would not be tired, but his mind would be exhausted.

Recently, however, his mind had not been exhausted after cultivation.

Even after cultivating for ten hours this time, he was still full of vigor.

Zhou Leng opened his hiking backpack and took out an iron can.

Basic high-energy cultivation meat, 100 yuan per can.

He pulled it open forcefully. A faint aroma of meat, seasoning, and the distinctive bloody smell of magical beast flesh rose up. Zhou Leng would normally gag at this mixed odor, yet now he found it incomparably delicious.

Zhou Leng finished it in a few bites, then began eating braised pork belly, chocolate, compressed biscuits, sesame paste...

The amount of food that would normally make Zhou Leng nauseous was now eaten by him with relish.

"Woof..."

Big Yellow darted around Zhou Leng, its tail wagging wildly while strings of drool flowed down.

"Woof!"

Zhou Leng raised the chocolate. Big Yellow suddenly retreated three steps and barked madly at Zhou Leng.

Its cursing was truly vicious.

"You can't eat any of this. Giving it to you would only hurt you." Zhou Leng spoke earnestly as he chewed fried peanuts.

"Woof!" Big Yellow gritted its teeth.

After Zhou Leng finished eating and packed away the food, he took out dog food and poured it in front of Big Yellow.

"Woof!" Drool streamed from Big Yellow's mouth as it glared angrily at Zhou Leng, refusing to bow for dog food.

Only then did Zhou Leng take out some pork belly and feed it to Big Yellow.

After finishing the meat, Big Yellow happily ate the dog food.

Zhou Leng swallowed six supplements and looked up at the sky.

There was no sun, but there was light.

"Once I have money, I'll buy a set of solar power equipment, pair it with an induction cooker, and eat hot meals."

Zhou Leng stood up and, accompanied by the surging heat within his body, performed the Wave-Stacking Palm.

He performed three sets of empty-fist forms without true qi, then used true qi. Qi moved with his body, held in but not released.

Zhou Leng's body moved like waves. At times he surged forward with a crash, at times he turned softly, at times he moved swiftly, and at times he lowered himself slowly.

After one set of palm techniques, his movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water.

Yet his true qi stopped within his body, his force not extending outward. He was neither stiff nor abrupt. At first glance, he seemed no different from before, yet there was something more.

Like carrying a full cup of water through wind and snow.

After completing one set of Wave-Stacking Palm, Zhou Leng did not stop. He repeated it over and over until he felt slightly fatigued, only then stopping.

After resting briefly, he switched to the Eight Trigrams Step.

The Eight Trigrams Step originated from King Wen's Later Heaven Eight Trigrams and incorporated the Daoist Yu Steps. It was currently humanity's most complex, most profound, and most difficult footwork technique.

When Zhou Leng first learned it, he did not know its difficulty. His heart had been sincere and pure, so he had entered the door earlier instead.

With Big Yellow at the center, Zhou Leng circled around it. His feet trod the Eight Trigrams, his body moving like a swimming dragon.

Big Yellow chased and pounced, yet could never touch Zhou Leng.

His feet landed soundlessly. Qi flowed through his feet without obstruction, true qi circulated through his entire body, and his hot blood surged as he circled again and again, as though one person had stirred up a tornado.

Only after his true qi was exhausted and sweat covered his entire body did Zhou Leng stop.

Afterward, Zhou Leng cultivated the Mountain-Punching Fist, Cloud-Flying Leg, and Wandering Cloud Movement.

After completing a set of external arts cultivation, Zhou Leng checked his phone again.

23:24.

Zhou Leng played fetch with Big Yellow for a while, then opened his sleeping bag and lay down to sleep.

When Zhou Leng opened his eyes again, his finger swept over his phone screen.

2:02.

Zhou Leng froze for a moment, then sensed his entire body.

His mind was full of energy, while his body was slightly numb and swollen—the normal feeling of overtraining.

He could not feel any fatigue. He had woken naturally.

Zhou Leng looked at the time again.

He had slept for only a little over two hours.

Zhou Leng stepped out of his sleeping bag, looked around, and gazed at the Frost Giant Tree.

What kind of heavenly treasure land was this?

Not to mention Zhang Xinglie—even a great innate expert could not replenish all their energy and stamina by sleeping for two hours.

Only a master could do that, at minimum.

"That's wonderful..."

Zhou Leng stood up, drank Morning-Training Powder, and began jogging to warm up.

Big Yellow rolled over with a doggy tumble, then chased after Zhou Leng in a wild run.

After warming up, Zhou Leng took out his phone, started the timer, filled his body with true qi, and sprinted forward at full speed.

Big Yellow chased after him in high spirits, sometimes overtaking Zhou Leng and sometimes falling behind.

Once his true qi was exhausted, Zhou Leng pressed stop.

4 minutes 23 seconds.

Five seconds faster than last time.

Zhou Leng raised his right fist level with his shoulder and gave it a light swing.

"I'm another huge step closer to the Progress Champion Award."

After eating breakfast with Big Yellow, Zhou Leng swallowed another Qi-Nourishing Pill, sat in meditation, and cultivated the Mystic Tide Art.

After a long while, Zhou Leng slowly opened his eyes.

Mystic Tide True Qi remained at the fourth level of Minor Success, but it felt very close to the fifth level.

He checked his phone. It was already past ten in the morning.

"Come on, we're going home," Zhou Leng said.

Big Yellow followed.

As they neared Xiaoru Village, his phone gave a soft chime.

Zhou Leng opened it and saw a message from Uncle Li.

"Today's food is ready. It's in the pot. I'm going to work."

Zhou Leng replied.

"I'm down from the mountain. I'm heading back to eat now. I may still cultivate in Xiaoru Village today."

"Mm."

Zhou Leng's family and Li Linhan's family had always kept each other's electronic lock passwords, and each kept a spare key at the other's home.

Zhou Leng ran back to the residential complex, entered Li Linhan's kitchen, and opened the large steel pot on the gas stove. He froze.

The pot was filled to the brim with lamb spine stew and lamb ribs. White meat was piled like a mountain, dotted with carrots. There had to be twenty jin of it.

Zhou Leng instantly understood. Li Linhan had noticed that his true qi had grown, but had said nothing.

This great pot of meat was worth more than a thousand words.

"Thank you."

Zhou Leng turned his head and looked toward the photo album of the five members of the Li family in the living room.

"Then... I'll kill more sea sirens and demons."

Zhou Leng set aside some lamb ribs for Big Yellow, then began wolfing down food alone.

In the end, he ate all the Meat Medicinal Diet and the entire pot of lamb and carrots, drinking even the soup clean.

Zhou Leng took a picture of the spotless bottom of the pot and sent it to Li Linhan.