Chen Ming also sensed the changes in the mountain's spirit vein and was startled.
The three immortal maidens of the Myriad Laws Sect had left, abandoning Vast Mountain. With no one to suppress it, the Fairy Caiyi of the Chayi Sect would sense him and descend here in an instant to kill him.
Just as Chen Ming was worrying over this, he saw the Treasure Ship pause in midair before turning back.
Situ Yuelan disembarked from the Treasure Ship and flew over to Chen Ming.
She placed an ancient-looking yellow scroll in Chen Ming's hands and said, "The spiritual tide of Vast Mountain is about to run wild. There will be more disputes in the future."
"The three seniors couldn't bear to watch Vast Mountain be destroyed, but they must leave now. There's no time to sort out the roots of the mountain's spirit vein!"
"So I agreed to take care of sorting out the mountain's spirit vein for you, so its spiritual tide won't die out."
"This yellow scroll is the source of Vast Mountain's spirit vein's status, equivalent to the Mountain God Authority. I'm giving it to you now!"
"Fellow Daoist, don't blame me for taking the liberty. With this yellow scroll, you can conceal your aura and keep Fairy Caiyi from finding you. Once you reach the Spirit Condensation Realm, you can settle things with her!"
After speaking, Situ Yuelan didn't dare linger. She transformed into a stream of Yin Cold Qi and returned to the Treasure Ship.
A flash of light, and the Treasure Ship vanished.
Once the Treasure Ship's aura had disappeared completely, Chen Ming sensed the stifling pressure that had shrouded the sky above the Vast Mountain Range lift.
The sights within Vast Mountain were exposed to the Spiritual Sense of cultivators, with nowhere to hide.
Chen Ming immediately refined the yellow scroll in his hands, linking it to the root of the spirit vein deep within Vast Mountain and concealing his aura.
He had only just hidden his aura when several streams of Spiritual Sense swept across the sky above Vast Mountain. Among them were those of Spirit Condensation Realm cultivators.
Before long, a gigantic Colorful Feather Luan Bird flew across the sky above Vast Mountain. Its long tail traced a trail of radiance, dusting the clouds with rosy hues.
Beauty at its utmost, yet edged with sharpness.
"How close!"
Chen Ming concealed his figure and aura, waiting for the Colorful Feather Luan Bird to leave before he dared circulate his magic power and reveal himself.
"Luckily, I had this yellow scroll. It saved me from disaster!"
"I owe Fellow Daoist Situ a favor for this!"
Chen Ming put away the yellow scroll and followed the aura it gave off until he reached the source of Vast Mountain's spirit vein.
The source of Vast Mountain's spirit vein lay atop a sheer cliff. At the summit was a Spring Eye without a visible source.
That Spring Eye was the manifestation of Vast Mountain's spirit vein, but it was already on the verge of drying up.
If he didn't quickly sort out the three hundred and sixty-five sites of spiritual energy throughout the Vast Mountain Range and restore them, the Spring Eye would dry up completely.
When that happened, the three hundred and sixty-five gathering places of spiritual energy in the mountain would cease to exist as well.
"Luckily, this yellow scroll contains a way to sort out the spiritual energy and restore the spirit vein. Otherwise, I'd be helpless!"
Chen Ming chanted an incantation and burned the yellow scroll, transferring the Mountain God Authority within it into the Spring Eye.
With the yellow scroll's power, the Spring Eye gradually regained some vitality.
But this method only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. Once the yellow scroll's power ran out, the Spring Eye would dry up again.
But Chen Ming had his own plans. He could put off dealing with the time it would take to sort out all three hundred and sixty-five sites of spiritual energy one by one.
Those places were occupied by cultivators of every size and strength. He'd waste his effort and gain nothing for it.
Chen Ming had no intention of doing that!
"First, I'll delay the Spring Eye's decline. Once I've gathered the other two streams of Void Qi and the Creation Lotus Platform has derived the Spirit Condensation Method, my strength will increase. Then these things will be trivial!"
Chen Ming stayed where he was and stuck the branch in his hand into the Spring Eye.
In the blink of an eye, the branch grew into a towering tree, concealing the Spring Eye.
Chen Ming sat cross-legged beneath the tree, drawing on the auras of the Spring Eye and the Tree Cave Heaven to protect himself as he began to cultivate.
He chanted an incantation, sending his Spiritual Sense into his Sea of Consciousness, where his Divine Soul sat upon the Lotus Platform.
Chen Ming first began cultivating Sacred Sun Fire.
Before long, the southern Void trembled. A stream of fire descended, transforming into a vast, surging Bright Fire Heavenly Light.
The Creation Lotus Platform shone brilliantly as it devoured the light and transformed. Complex patterns appeared on the platform, and it seemed they were on the verge of peeling away.
Eighty-one streams of fire nourished the Creation Lotus Platform, while Chen Ming cultivated the Bright Fire Heavenly Light Supernatural Ability.
By his reckoning, more than seven months had passed since he began cultivating this Magic Art.
But Chen Ming didn't stop. He pressed on in one breath and began cultivating the Cave True Five Stars Bestow Earth Scripture.
This Magic Art was profoundly deep and mysterious, and it also contained several secret arts.
Chen Ming studied it thoroughly before daring to cultivate it.
At this final step, Chen Ming grew even more cautious, afraid that all his previous effort might come to naught.
"Zhen Xing is earth. Its light shines ten thousand li, governing the four seasons and nurturing all living things..."
As Chen Ming contemplated the Divine Soul and chanted the incantation, the central Void trembled. Streams of starlight descended, transforming into Wuji Earth Qi that nurtured all things.
As soon as this Qi appeared, the Lotus Platform beneath his Divine Soul trembled and shone brilliantly, as if it couldn't wait.
Chen Ming carefully guided the earth Qi into the Creation Lotus Platform.
The moment the Creation Lotus Platform touched the earth Qi, it began to transform. The patterns that appeared peeled away, circling through Chen Ming's Sea of Consciousness as they gradually formed a scripture.
Chen Ming didn't dare be careless. He continuously drew down the earth Qi from the central Void, letting the Creation Lotus Platform devour it and derive the scripture of the Magic Art.
Once again, eighty-one streams. The Creation Lotus Platform had completely devoured the Void's Five Elements Qi.
Rumble!
Chen Ming's Sea of Consciousness shook. The circling scripture descended, shining brilliantly as it gave off blue, yellow, red, black, and white Five-Colored Radiance!
The Creation Lotus Platform let out a thunderous boom. The Five-Colored Radiance intertwined upon it and merged into one, turning black as ink.
The Creation Lotus Platform's radiance went out, and it turned pitch-black.
"Hm?"
It wasn't only the Creation Lotus Platform that had turned pitch-black. Even Chen Ming's Divine Soul, sitting atop the platform, had become black.
Chen Ming was shocked. He tried to leave the Creation Lotus Platform, but found that his Divine Soul couldn't move at all.
His Divine Soul seemed pinned to the Creation Lotus Platform, unable to leave.
"What's going on!"
If anything happened to his Divine Soul, it would be no small matter.
Chen Ming hurriedly circulated his magic power and activated the Magic Art, but found that apart from being unable to leave the Lotus Platform, nothing else was obstructed.
Before Chen Ming could figure out what was going on, the Magic Art derived by the Creation Lotus Platform began to tremble.
A great deal of information about cultivation in the Spirit Condensation Realm poured into his Divine Soul.
After who knew how long, Chen Ming finally came to his senses beneath the onslaught of information.
His pitch-black Divine Soul sat on the equally black Lotus Platform, an eerie sight beyond words.
Yet apart from being unable to move, he could circulate his magic power, contemplate, and chant incantations without obstruction.
"This really is a Magic Art for reaching the Spirit Condensation Realm. But it's incredibly difficult to cultivate. To master it, one needs great wisdom, great perseverance, and great fortune!"
"But the Magic Art I've cultivated is the orthodox path. Once mastered, its power can't be compared to the methods of the Heretical Path!"
Having obtained the Magic Art, Chen Ming understood that the Creation Lotus Platform and Divine Soul had taken on their current appearance because of it. He didn't panic. He reviewed the Spirit Condensation Realm cultivation method he had acquired and imprinted it upon his Divine Soul, unable to help but marvel.
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