One man and one toad followed the path they had come by, heading toward the Spirit Lake.
Turbid Jade lay sprawled on Li Bufan's shoulder. Its aura was no longer as icy and razor-sharp as it had been at first, yet it still carried a clear, aloof distance.
Li Bufan moved swiftly. After traveling for most of the day, the Spirit Lake came into view once more. Its surface remained calm as a mirror, reflecting the outlines and shimmering light of the glowing vines overhead like a motionless painting.
Li Bufan stopped by the lake and sank his Spiritual Sense into the Small Cauldron. With a thought, a warm yet vast suction force surged forth from within it.
Like an invisible giant net, that suction force spread over the Spirit Lake and began drawing the entire lake upward, along with the water-attributed Vital Energy contained within it.
Fine ripples spread across the lake's surface, then became undulations, and finally swells. In an unimaginable sight, the water of the entire Spirit Lake rose toward the sky, slowly lifting away from its original lakebed like an enormous curtain turned upside down.
Drawn by the Small Cauldron, the lake water formed an azure column that poured ceaselessly into the Water Marsh Forest region within the cauldron.
The water column traced a graceful arc through the air, flowing continuously like an inverted waterfall and giving off a deep, crystalline rush.
Turbid Jade lay on Li Bufan's shoulder, watching helplessly as the Spirit Lake it had inhabited for hundreds of years was drained away bit by bit, with not the slightest room for resistance.
A complicated emotion flickered through its eyes—reluctance, astonishment, and a renewed understanding of Li Bufan's methods.
When even the final puddle of Spirit Lake water had been completely absorbed into the