The Ephemeral Flower

Is Kenmaru some kind of potato from the ground? You can just dig one up like that? Looking closely, it seems a size bigger than the two we got before...

Li Fan held the mud ball between his fingertips and stared at it intently, even taking out the Bagua mirror he had just acquired to examine it.

It should indeed be a sword pellet. Although Li Fan tried to activate it by Ruyi Sword Scripture without any reaction, he could tell from its weight that it wasn't a pure mud pellet. The reason he couldn't operate it was probably because the sword pellet hadn't recognized him as its master.

But honestly, how come none of the many sword pellets he's acquired have recognized him as their master? He picked up a legendary weapon but can't equip it—is this considered lucky or unlucky? No, on the bright side, it's been hundreds of years; maybe the sword pellet is already dead...

Moreover, upon closer inspection, this stone box somewhat resembles a sword case; perhaps storing swords in cases was quite popular in ancient times? But wasn't it said that Ink Bamboo Mountain itself had no lineage of sword immortals? Then this fellow Daoist who was murdered here, with his lightning magic and flying sword skills, couldn't have been an unknown figure, could he?

For the time being, Li Fan himself couldn't figure it out, so he simply threw the sword pellet back into the stone box and put it away. He would just ask Profound Heaven Sword Intent and Xiao Yao.

Li Fan Si Nan the compass and walked around the room again to make sure he hadn't missed any opportunities. He came out and saw that it was getting late. He decided to do this side quest tomorrow and prioritize Moon Worship's advancement to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Flying back to Qingyue Creek, Asha's small bamboo house was shrouded in poisonous clouds, and she was in seclusion cultivating. Kun and Leopard should have slipped out for a midnight snack.

Seeing that the moonlight was perfect tonight, Li Fan flew to the statue of the Mountain God of Dongshan, picked up a soft futon, and sat down. "Tai Su Realm, let's go!"

He opened his eyes toward the False Moon, and in an instant, the world spun, the stars shifted, and the universe turned upside down.

Li Fan blinked, stood up, looked Fourth Department, and found himself in a sea of flowers.

Everywhere visible to the naked eye, there were flowers as large as cartwheels, reaching up to a person's chest. The petals were layered, three layers deep, resembling an epiphyllum, but without any green leaves to match, and with black flowers and purple stamens. Parting the flowers revealed the blood-red flower stems hidden beneath, just like human arteries.

Li Fan's mood dropped a little.

The countdown has started again...

Li Fan didn't use any hand seals first. He estimated that it would lower his mood slightly after silently counting to six. If he used the hand seals to activate the Purple Radiance Indestructible Body Divine Skill and put on the Gui Xu Dao Yi, it would take about twenty seconds to lower his mood slightly. Well, that's enough mood for the whole night. Just be careful not to overdo it with cultivation.

Li Fan cautiously plucked a black epiphyllum flower and waited for a while. Apart from the sap that flowed out resembling fresh blood, there was nothing strange about it. Li Fan sniffed and smelled a strange fragrance coming from the petals, so he bit off a petal and chewed it.

You know what, it's actually quite chewy, fragrant and spicy, a bit like chewing gluten. The sap oozing from the petals is fresh and delicious, although there's a faint metallic taste, but overall it's acceptable and pleasant.

Li Fan's mood improved slightly.

This place is nice. It's a pity the flowers are so big; one flower would be enough to fill me up. But they shouldn't be poisonous... right?

Feeling reassured after eating the flowers, Li Fan grew a hand, made a hand seal, and leaped out of the sea of flowers, surveying the Fourth Department landscape.

The boundless flower-filled plain, with two Moon in the sky as large as dough balls, their False Moon turning the rising water vapor a purplish-red. If there weren't any miscellaneous things disturbing it beneath the flower sea, it would truly be a perfect place to cultivate the Gui Xu Nascent Soul and the Eastern Mountain Dao Body.

It's really strange, though. Why isn't there any living creature at all? Shouldn't there at least be some kind of creature resembling the Mountain God of Dongshan living there? Could it be that the previous generations of Moshan disciples used this Mountain God World to level up and wiped out all the monsters?

Li Fan was also a little unsure. After all, he had cultivated the Northern Mountain Divine Body to a minor degree in the Gonggong Temple in Lei Marsh. In fact, he had never been to the world of the Northern Mountain God. Moreover, the new mentor who was supposed to guide him was constantly breaking through to seclusion, leaving him to learn and explore on his own. He wasn't really sure what the normal situation should be like for a Moshan disciple's Moon Worship cultivation.

However, since he was already there, he might as well make the best of it. No matter where this sea of flowers was, there were no native wild species threatening him, and the Tai Su evil energy and Purple Radiance spiritual energy were extremely abundant, which was enough for his cultivation requirements.

So Li Fan casually swept aside a patch of flat ground with his sword energy and began refining the Returning to Emptiness True Essence.

Last time in Lei Marsh, he frequently used his Daoist robes to conceal himself and sneak around. Later, he created a clone at the Thousand-Faced Immortal's place, which almost depleted his True Essence of Returning to Emptiness. This time, having finally found such an excellent place to cultivate, Li Fan naturally wanted to replenish his energy.

However, this time when he started cultivating, Li Fan discovered that the problem was actually with himself.

Indeed, the sword intent left behind by those six Taiyin Sword Light has always existed in the Divine Court. Previously, when I was slowly breathing in spiritual energy in the Taiji Realm to transform it into Wuji Zhenyuan, the rate was too slow, and I was refining the True Essence bit by bit. Moreover, it was generated in the Inner Landscape Sea, so these hidden dangers had no effect.

However, now that the Tai Su Realm is refining Gui Xu True Essence at a speed a thousand times greater, like a torrent, the six Taiyin Sword Force that the Divine Court cannot resolve become exceptionally conspicuous. To put it metaphorically, it's as if there are six sharp, knife-like reefs blocking the ocean of Tai Su evil energy. The faster and more turbulent the evil energy flows, the more obvious its impact and interference become!

Even with Li Fan's exceptional control, he still had to be fully focused to avoid any interference from the residual sword intent in his cultivation. Although it had only caused a minor problem so far, if the Taiyin Haoguang Sword Technique was used too much and too much sword power remained, it might not only interfere with the speed of cultivation but could also interfere with the formation of the Nascent Soul Stage.

Hiss... Could it be that he should first cultivate a Dao Body, practice the True Explanation of the Taiyin Ice Wheel, and dissolve the Taiyin Sword Intent before achieving the Nascent Soul Nascent Soul Stage? Wouldn't that be another detour...? Sigh, it seems he can't use his awesome ultimate moves anymore...

After filling his divine court with almost all the evil energy and the true essence of returning to emptiness, Li Fan withdrew from his inner vision, opened his eyes, and prepared to cultivate the East Mountain Mountain God Dao Body.

Then he saw a pale, ghostly face floating in mid-air within a sea of flowers five feet in front of him.

Holy crap, that scared the hell out of me!

Li Fan's mood dipped slightly.

Current mood: 1399/2500

Oh, that's good, the situation isn't too dire yet...

Li Fan regained his composure, did not disturb the other party, and observed carefully.

This face looked like a mask made by punching holes in dough. It seemed to be a human face, but it had no eyes, teeth, or organs, as if the skull was a dark, empty void. There was no body either; it was impossible to tell whether it was magic, an illusion, a ghost, or an invisible person wearing a mask. It was carefully observing something, staring directly at Li Fan's face, which was shrouded in the shadow cast by the Gui Xu Dao Yi.

He cautiously probed his surroundings with his Divine Sense and discovered that the flat ground he had previously cleared was once again covered with vein-like flower stems. These stems resembled ivy, or perhaps earthworms, spreading over and crawling all over his body. It seemed that these black epiphyllum flowers also preyed on living Non-Thing, but their roots were concealed by the Gui Xu Dao Yi. They merely wrapped around Li Fan and covered him, without causing any substantial harm.

As for the thing in front of me, I couldn't detect its physical form even with my Divine Sense; it seemed to be just a simple wisp of energy.

What's there to be afraid of?

Then Li Fan suddenly emerged from the mist of his Daoist robe, smiled at the other person, and asked, "What's your surname, sir?"

The face suddenly opened its mouth, emitting a silent, piercing scream.

'Detected the spirit attack of the demon'

Li Fan's mood dropped a little.

Oh my, you dare to make the first move?!

So Li Fan also put on a stern face, opened his mouth and transformed his Tai Su evil aura into a Deng Hua Sword, which he spat out like a storm, shattering the ghost face and the epiphyllum flowers in front of it into countless pieces.

'Li Fan killed Mei'

'Li Fan's emotional threshold has increased slightly.'

'Current mood: 1398/2501'

Huh? Charm? It can actually increase the cap a little?

Li Fan flicked his fingers, shooting out sword energy to sever the flower stems on his body. He also used a hand seal to control the spurting juice, which coiled around his body like a water snake. He opened his mouth, sucked it in, rinsed his mouth, moistened his throat, and swallowed it with a gulp.

Could this charm be that of a demon or a tree demon? Could it be that the black epiphyllum here has been cultivated into a spirit?

Li Fan Fourth Department examined the scattered petals that had been shattered by the Deng Hua Sword, but couldn't discern which ones resembled demons. He grabbed a handful of flowers and chewed them, but still couldn't taste anything unusual about any of them.

Moreover, it only increases the mood cap by a small amount, so this charm seems to be completely weak, having no real power other than driving perfectionists crazy.

But every little bit counts; a growth cap is always a good thing, right?

Anyway, having absorbed all the True Essence and Killing Qi, and with his mood still about half full, Li Fan simply pounced on the ground, transforming into a bull. Cough cough, a rhinoceros.

This East Mountain Mountain God Dao Body, except for the head which is a human face, is constructed from the bones and flesh of the Si Niu that were previously dissected (and roasted).

After transforming, Li Fan found the surrounding epiphyllum flowers incredibly fragrant. He took a bite, tearing off the stem and chewing it, juice splattering everywhere. Moreover, based on Li Fan's previous experience cultivating the Gonggong Dao Body, this beast's Dao body wouldn't have so many problems. Herbivores were even simpler; there was no need to hunt Divine Beast or obtain demon eggs. Eating flowers and grass would make the Dao body solid and stable.

So Li Fan started munching away, burying himself in the sea of flowers. He actually noticed that every now and then there would be a notification that 'the mood limit has increased by a little bit,' so it seemed that the charm must be the product of these epiphyllum flowers Moon Worship and attaining enlightenment.

' Li Fan, the East Mountain Mountain God Dao Body, has broken through to the Golden Core Realm, and his emotional potential has increased.'

'Li Fan, Mood 299/2748'

Sure enough, the Daoist body climbed a bit in the North Mountain and nibbled on some grass in the East Mountain, and that was it—the minor Daoist body was already complete. The method for entering the Tai Su Dao is damn simple indeed...

However, Li Fan persisted in chewing for a while longer, until he had chewed fifty of Mei's, making it a round number. His cultivation for the night was finally over. He had about two hundred points left, which was about right.

If I practice for a month and then continue, at this pace of cultivating by Moon Worship, I'm afraid I can reach the Golden Core stage of the Five Mountain Mountain God Dao Body in about half a year, right? There's no need to cultivate the Mountain God Dao Bodies too high, since they're just for stacking attributes and sacrificing life. If the clone becomes Nascent Soul Stage first, it might cause an imbalance in the Dao Heart, which would be putting the cart before the horse.

However, Li Fan then realized a problem.

When the Mountain God's Dao Body is successfully cultivated, the system will automatically notify him that "XX Dao Body has broken through to the Golden Core Realm, and the upper limit of mood has increased." The cultivation of the Mountain God's Dao Body in both North Mountain and East Mountain consumes 100 points of the upper limit, and the breakthrough increases it by 200 points.

What about the Qiongqi Dao Body? Shouldn't it be the same principle?

The Qiongqi Dao Body has consumed 200 of its maximum potential, but there's still no indication of breaking through to the Golden Core realm, nor any improvement, right? Come to think of it, it seems he hasn't even grown Qiongqi wings yet...

Furthermore, considering this, the Thousand-Faced Immortal's Dao Body consumed 1200 points of his maximum potential in one go. If he could break through again, just how powerful would he be...?

Forget it, let's not be too ambitious. His cultivation speed is already ridiculously fast. At this rate, if he cultivates Guixu and the Five Mountain Gods in half each time Moon Worship, by the time he has mastered the Dao Body of the Mountain Gods, he should be able to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage in Guixu as well. That way, he'll probably be invincible in the mid-stage.

It's better to cultivate the Qiongqi Dao Body after reaching the Nascent Soul Nascent Soul Stage, lest the tiger's murderous intent become too overwhelming for him to control.

So Li Fan transformed back into human form, dug up a bunch of epiphyllum flowers from the ground to bring back and cultivate, before regaining consciousness and returning to the Taiji Realm.

At this moment, Li Fan could clearly feel that his cultivation had become more profound. He could now use the Wind and Cloud Dragon Ascent Technique twice a day, which increased his power...

Okay, let's get serious. Aside from the more mystical aspects of cultivation and Dao power, which are difficult to judge without data, the most obvious improvement is in the control of Purple Radiance True Qi. Previously, he could only barely control sword energy and set up magic arrays. Now, he can try to use some advanced escape techniques and even refine some higher-grade spiritual energy.

It seems that Mo Shan chose the Five Mountain Gods Bodies as the foundational Daoist techniques for his sect's introductory cultivation, intending to use the Daoist transformation arts to rapidly elevate his disciples' Five Elements Escape Method to a high level. By combining the shortcut with the righteous path, wouldn't that make them invincible?

The lineage of the Mountain Lord is truly profound and extensive. Perhaps I should visit the academy sometime and dig out those <Ten Theories> and <Six Classics> to read, at least to have a basic understanding of them, so that if the Mountain Lord asks about them in the future, I won't just be able to sing him a song...

As Li Fan sighed, he casually stuck the black epiphyllum flower into the soil. He didn't know what use it was for yet, but who knew it might unexpectedly turn out well.

Li Fan stretched, put away his Gui Xu Dao Yi, and was about to go back to his room for a nap before getting up to do his practice problems when he suddenly heard a muffled thumping sound. The sound seemed to be someone knocking on the door with their knuckles. But this was the Daoist temple where the Revered Heavenly Demon Shrine was set up, in the desolate mountains and wilderness, several miles away from Li Family Village in Qingyue Creek, requiring flying to get there and back. So where would there be a door?

Li Fan stared suspiciously at the epiphyllum he had just planted for a while, and wondered how it had 'grown shade' so quickly. Suddenly, he realized what was happening, reached into his robes, and pulled out the stone box he had obtained during the day from his sleeve.

Sure enough, the dull thud of the sword pellet striking the stone slab was particularly noticeable under the moonlight.

Li Fan wiped the mud and ash off the stone box and noticed that it had a faint amber hue after being wiped. Could it be that it had gone to the Tai Su Realm to cultivate and absorbed a lot of spiritual energy, which had brought the sword box and sword pellet back to life?

Li Fan shrugged, held the sword case flat in his palm, and opened it.

The mud ball flew out with a whoosh, but it probably didn't have enough spiritual energy. Not only was it dirty and its color unclear, but it also couldn't fly very far. It barely circled around Li Fan three times before bouncing and landing in the box.

Li Fan tried to control the Ruyi Sword Scripture, but found that it still didn't respond, so he frowned.

What does this mean? They refuse to acknowledge him as their master?

As expected, the system authentication came.

'An unclaimed, idle flying sword has been detected. The host does not meet the activation criteria set for this flying sword. Force activation using your maximum mood limit?'

No, so is Li Fan destined to be with flying swords or not?! He keeps bumping into them but they won't recognize him as their master, what's with that? Don't tell me that only females can recognize a sword as their master! Who forged these swords specifically for this kind of thing?? Don't push him too far, or he'll learn to transform with the next Tai Su transformation, damn it!

'Currently, the requirements for a flying sword to recognize its master include, while external conditions such as family background and appearance are less than ideal, diligence, perseverance, and great willpower.'

Li Fan was stunned, speechless for a moment. "I am also a person of great perseverance... Oh, I understand now, it must be this damn good looks that have held me back, preventing me from getting this treasure!"

But these days, if you don't have a handsome face, it's hard for the audience to connect with the character! Sigh, you can't have your cake and eat it too! So, it's better to be handsome...