A Heavenly Blessed Land

A Heavenly Blessed 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 with delight, circling around Big Yellow.

Big Black Wild Boar stared at Zhou Leng.

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

Big Black Wild Boar snorted twice at Zhou Leng, then turned his head and snorted at Big Yellow.

Big Yellow barked at Big Black Wild Boar.

After both sides called at each other for a while, Big Black Wild Boar left with the six little wild boars.

Big Yellow ran back happily.

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

Big Yellow nodded fiercely. Then his dog eyes flashed, and he hurriedly shook his head.

"Oh, you can only understand a little."

Big Yellow nodded cheerfully, then guiltily came over and rubbed his head and shoulder against Zhou Leng's leg.

The two of them entered a crevice along the dense forest and once again entered the Mysterious Forest. As Zhou Leng advanced, he kept looking up and around.

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

The Fierce Beast World and the Treant World.

"If this is the Treant World, it would be somewhat better. The Treant Race is one of humanity's allies, I minored in basic Treant Language, and the treants are relatively peaceful. But the Giant Insect Race in the Treant World is terrifying."

"If this is the Fierce Beast World, I need to be even more careful. All Ten Realms are Lower Civilizations, except the Fierce Beast World, which was originally an Intermediate Civilization before falling to its current status as a Lower Civilization. Its true strength ranks first among the Ten Realms. Even the utterly vicious Demons and the Sea Sirens, invincible in water, dare not invade the Fierce 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, "Help me stand guard. I want to test the approximate spiritual energy concentration here."

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

Zhou Leng sat down 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 leap, then settled again.

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

Under normal circumstances, when spiritual energy exceeded five times the baseline, it would undergo a mutation, shrinking and gathering in a fixed area to form a Spiritual Land Shimmer.

Such areas were called Spiritual Lands.

All Spiritual Lands could be collected and transformed into Spiritual Land Jade, one of the most important cultivation treasures.

Yet the spiritual energy here had not formed a Spiritual Land Shimmer and had not undergone any mutation.

"This means..."

Zhou Leng led Big Yellow through the woods to the white grassland and stood beneath the Frost Giant Tree.

He raised his head and gazed upward.

This tree was more than just 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 great tree.

Zhou Leng thought for a moment and decided to give it a try.

Zhou Leng respectfully bent ninety degrees toward the Frost Giant Tree and said, "This junior, Zhou Leng, pays respects to Senior Tree."

Zhou Leng straightened up, but the Frost Giant Tree gave no response whatsoever.

Big Yellow stood with his back to Zhou Leng.

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

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

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

Zhou Leng circulated his true qi, yet he could not determine the exact spiritual energy concentration nearby.

In a Low-Grade Spiritual Land, spiritual energy ranged from five to ten times the baseline.

In a Mid-Grade Spiritual Land, spiritual energy ranged from ten to twenty times the baseline.

In a High-Grade Spiritual Land, spiritual energy ranged from twenty to fifty times the baseline.

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

A High-Grade Spiritual Land was enough to make Grandmaster Realm experts 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 Mysterious Tide Art.

Under Internal Vision like a Painting, a ball of flame suddenly rose in Zhou Leng's stomach.

The dual powers of the Meat Medicinal Cuisine and the Qi Nourishing Pill were activated at the same time.

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

Wisps of white spiritual energy entered his body from the outside world. Some entered only to dissipate, some remained in his flesh, and some were caught by the Mysterious Tide True Qi, becoming part of it.

When spiritual energy concentration reached twenty times the baseline, it became visible through internal vision.

The triple powers of Meat Medicinal Cuisine, the Qi Nourishing Pill, and high-concentration spiritual energy all acted upon his body. The Mysterious Tide True Qi circulated and grew at an unprecedented speed.

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

His Martial Path Perception made Zhou Leng realize that his Mysterious Tide Art had advanced to the Fourth Heaven of Minor Accomplishment.

A faint hunger began to spread.

The Meat Medicinal Cuisine he had eaten that morning seemed to have vanished like air.

Zhou Leng stabilized three cycles of true qi before drawing in the Mysterious 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 Sun Xiong, his internal cultivation teacher, had said.

Internal cultivation was not something one could do simply by sitting down. One had to enter a state of emptiness and stillness—modern terminology called it Flow State.

If one's spirit and will were not strong enough, either distracting thoughts would come one after another, or one would be unable to persist for long.

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

Recently, after cultivating, his mind had not felt fatigued.

This time, after ten hours of cultivation, he was still brimming with energy.

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

High-Energy Cultivation Meat Basic, one hundred yuan per can.

He pulled it open forcefully. A faint aroma of meat and seasonings rose up, mixed with the distinctive bloody smell of magical beast meat. In normal times, that mixed scent would definitely have made Zhou Leng vomit, but now it smelled incomparably delicious.

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

Amounts of food that would normally make Zhou Leng nauseous now tasted delicious to him.

"Woof..."

Big Yellow darted wildly around Zhou Leng, his tail wagging nonstop as strings of drool dripped from his mouth.

"Woof!"

Zhou Leng raised a piece of chocolate. Big Yellow abruptly retreated three steps and barked madly at Zhou Leng.

The insults were truly vicious.

"It's all stuff you can't eat. Giving it to you would only harm you," Zhou Leng said earnestly as he chewed fried peanuts.

"Woof!" Big Yellow ground his teeth.

After Zhou Leng finished eating and packed up the food, he took out dog food and poured it before Big Yellow.

"Woof!" Drool streamed from Big Yellow's mouth as he glared furiously at Zhou Leng, refusing to bow his head 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 supplement pills and looked up at the sky.

There was no sun, but there was light.

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

Zhou Leng stood up and, accompanied by the surging heat within his body, began practicing Wave Palm.

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

Zhou Leng's figure moved like waves—sometimes crashing forward, sometimes turning gently, sometimes moving in hurried bursts, sometimes lowering himself slowly.

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

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

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

After completing a set of Wave Palm, Zhou Leng did not stop. He repeated it again and again until he felt slightly tired, then finally stopped.

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

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

When Zhou Leng had first learned it, he had not known its difficulty. His heart had been sincere, and he had instead reached Entry Level earlier.

With Big Yellow at the center, Zhou Leng circled around him, his feet treading the trigrams and his body moving like a roaming dragon.

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

His feet landed without sound, qi flowed through his feet without obstruction, and true qi circulated throughout his body. His hot blood surged as he continuously circled and turned, as though one man had stirred up a tornado.

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

Afterward, Zhou Leng practiced Mountain Charge Fist, Flying Cloud Leg, and the Flowing Cloud Movement Technique.

After completing a set of External Techniques, Zhou Leng checked his phone again.

23:24.

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

Zhou Leng opened his eyes once again, his finger flashing across his phone screen.

2:02.

Zhou Leng froze for a moment and sensed his entire body.

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

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

Zhou Leng checked the time again.

He had slept for only a little over two hours.

Zhou Leng climbed out of his sleeping bag, looked around, and turned his gaze toward the Frost Giant Tree.

What kind of heavenly blessed land was this?

Let alone Zhang Xinglie, even a Xiantian Grandmaster could not replenish all his energy and physical strength after only two hours of sleep.

At the very least, only someone in the Grandmaster Realm could do that.

"This is wonderful..."

Zhou Leng got up, drank Morning Training Powder, and began running to warm up.

Big Yellow rolled over with a dog roll, then chased after Zhou Leng and ran around wildly.

After warming up, Zhou Leng took out his phone, started the timer, circulated his true qi to its limit, and charged forward at full speed.

Big Yellow chased joyfully, sometimes overtaking Zhou Leng and sometimes falling behind.

When his true qi was depleted, Zhou Leng pressed stop.

4 minutes 23 seconds.

That was five seconds faster than last time.

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

"I've taken 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 Mysterious Tide Art.

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

His Mysterious Tide True Qi remained at the Fourth Heaven of Minor Accomplishment, but he felt very close to the Fifth Heaven.

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

"Let's go home," Zhou Leng said.

Big Yellow followed.

As they neared Xiaoru Village, his phone chimed softly.

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

"Today's food is ready. It's in the pot. I've gone to work."

Zhou Leng replied.

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

"Mm."

Zhou Leng and Li Linhan's families had always kept each other's electronic lock codes, 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 huge steel pot on the gas stove. He froze.

The pot was filled to the brim with lamb spine and lamb ribs. Pale 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 his true qi growing, but had said nothing.

This huge pot of meat spoke louder than a thousand words.

"Thank you."

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

"Then... I'll kill some more Sea Sirens and Demons."

Zhou Leng set aside some lamb ribs for Big Yellow, then began eating voraciously by himself.

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

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