Early the next morning, when the three little ones arrived at the neighboring courtyard and found Yi Yi and the others, they received rather unexpected news.
"Since the three of you performed well yesterday, today we'll take you to see a rare sight!"
The so-called rare sight was not far from where everyone usually set out. After traveling through the mist for about ten minutes, the fog ahead thinned slightly, revealing a lake as clear as a mirror. Wildflowers along its banks gave off a faint fragrance, and fine trees cast deep shade. It was an excellent place for lovers to meet—and for others to spy on lovers meeting...
Seeing such beautiful scenery in Moli, the group naturally grew wary in unison and shut their eyes tight.
Yi Yi smiled. "Good. After what you saw yesterday, your first reactions are all correct now. In the Moli Immortal Mansion, the concept of 'unfamiliar' is certainly deadly, but things that seem familiar and beautiful are often even more deadly."
"Unless you see something absolutely trustworthy, like the Blazing Feather Flag, those twisted, grotesque things in the Moli Immortal Mansion are actually safer."
As he spoke, Yi Yi walked straight to the lakeshore, sat cross-legged, and beckoned the others over.
"But this scenery is harmless. Come over. The spiritual energy here is unusually dense, making it just right for you youngsters to meditate and cultivate."
After speaking, Yi Yi rubbed his throat and handed the floor back to Han Gang and He Lu.
Han Gang nodded to Wu Ming. "Go ahead. We'll guard you while you cultivate."
Wu Ming didn't hesitate. He went straight to the lakeshore and sat down. His Inner Landscape Mysterious Spirit flowed according to his will, like opening another pair of eyes that could see where spiritual energy lay between heaven and earth.
His Spirit Root was currently only seventh-grade wood-aspected, so his efficiency at absorbing spiritual energy was naturally low. Even with the Taiyi Dharma Sword's help, he could barely reach the level of an average fourth- or fifth-grade cultivator. Yet the instant he entered meditation by the lake, he felt the spiritual energy around him surge toward him, eagerly pouring into the apertures throughout his body.
In the blink of an eye, his Spring Encounter Mana filled and flowed through him, bursting with vitality as it advanced toward the fourth level at astonishing speed... even faster than the Spirit-Melting Qi-Transformation Art's alchemy!
Wu Ming was shaken. This is an extraordinary sight only found in a top-grade blessed grotto!
The story his master had told him was the real deal after all!
When they had cultivated day to day at the Gujian Sect, master and disciples had often suffered from a lack of spiritual energy. So Wu Ming had suggested that they might as well imagine something wonderful while cultivating, using the power of their imagination to make up for reality.
It was like the way someone, when their craving struck, would chew on a twig and stare at the red thread on the rafters, imagining themselves puffing clouds of smoke.
Or like the way someone, whenever his junior sister hugged him, would stare fixedly at certain body parts that some people had and others didn't... Of course, he hadn't said that last part aloud.
Back then, Gu Bai had described the concept of a blessed grotto to his disciples. Legend had it that anyone within a top-grade blessed grotto would naturally become one with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, even without actively cultivating. Every breath, every moment of sitting or lying down, was cultivation, and one's mana could grow at practically every moment!
As the old man told the story, his expression made it seem as though he had personally experienced such a wonderful place long ago. Yet at the time, aside from Zheng Lingxi, no one had taken the story seriously.
After all, when something was too wonderful, it was easy for it to seem unreal. Besides, when they imagined the penniless cultivators of Yan Mountain scouring the world for spiritual energy to absorb, while the Dao Seeds of the Sanqing Immortal Sect lounged in blessed grottos amid pools of wine and forests of meat...
They really would rather believe it wasn't true!
But now it seemed that Master hadn't been lying. After all, even in the Moli Immortal Mansion, there were incredible blessed grottos like this!
Before long, Wu Ming felt a slight fullness in his dantian. He had reached the limit of his mana growth... His Spirit Root's limitations meant that this limit wasn't impressive, and it was nowhere near the gains he'd made yesterday when refining the remnants.
But Wu Ming's thoughts shifted. With his mana full and spiritual energy dense all around him, he simply divided his attention and split his qi among the five elements, studying several Qi Refining spells at once!
Given his early Qi Refining Stage cultivation, the spells he could use were little more than parlour tricks, with few practical applications to speak of, let alone any real killing power...
But when it came to improving his proficiency, Wu Ming had always lived by one rule: if there were resources to be had, he'd take them all. He'd scour every corner of the map and open every last chest, even if it held nothing but a measly handful of scraps!
Besides, studying spells would hone his ability to sense and control mana and spiritual energy. He might learn hundreds of spells and never use most of them in his life, but the fruits of that cultivation would remain with him forever.
That was also a lesson Master Gu Bai had once recorded in the Fire Inheritance Book Ash.
Although Wu Ming's Spirit Root aptitude was only average, his talent for spells was truly exceptional. In a short while, plants sprouted beneath him, the lake rippled before him, and a warm breeze blew around him... He was astonishingly operating three spells of different elements at once!
This superior blessed grotto couldn't help his mana swell rapidly, but it could take his spell control to the next level!
No one knew how much time had passed. Just as Wu Ming grew ever more immersed in the mysteries of mastering a hundred spells, Han Gang's voice suddenly rang beside his ear.
"Wake up!"
Wu Ming immediately gathered his thoughts. His Spring Encounter Mana, which had been flowing in abundance, stopped at his will. The smoothness of the shift from movement to stillness made Han Gang murmur his approval.
From the perspective of someone who had come from a first-grade immortal sect, there were actually quite a few Dao Seeds who could switch between movement and stillness as Wu Ming had.
But none of them could have done so with only a seventh-grade Spirit Root, after merely a few months of cultivation.
And the way he had just divided his attention and split his qi among the five elements had truly opened Han Gang's eyes!
"So treasure this next opportunity... Get ready to fight!"
As he spoke, countless dark shapes had gathered in the mist beyond the lake without anyone noticing!
One, two, three... At a glance, there were nearly ten!
By then, Yi Yi, He Lu, and the two black-clad, masked figures had already taken their positions. Together, the five raised a Five Extremes Mysterious Steel Array, sheltering Wu Ming and the other two inside it.
The next moment, a dark shape staggered out of the mist. Its gait was unsteady, but several black flames surrounded it, showing that it had been at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage when alive. Yet...
Thud!
With a muffled impact, He Lu spat out a blast of astral qi. The Li Yao at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage was sent flying at the first clash, its protective black flames shattered by the blow as its whole body trembled violently.
What had once taken three of them working together was now effortless!
Taiyi Golden Glow flashed in the sky. The utterly overpowered Qi Refining Stage Dharma Sword unleashed an unmatched Sword Qi, easily bridging the gap in cultivation and beheading the Li Yao in midair!
After making his strike, Wu Ming didn't press his luck. He passed the Dharma Sword to Zhang Miao beside him.
"Dharma Sword, please look after this friend."
A faint sword hum rang out, as if someone were patting a chest.
"Thank you!" Zhang Miao didn't stand on ceremony. After thanking Wu Ming and the Dharma Sword, she quickly familiarized herself with its properties, then silently recited a proper sword-control mantra, sending the Taiyi Dharma Sword flashing with golden light once more!
As a proper scion of an Aristocratic Clan and a nominal disciple of Luohuang Mountain, Zhang Miao had a solid foundation, especially when it came to controlling objects. With this strike, she sent the Dharma Sword flying from her hand, and it pierced the head of a Li Yao whose astral qi had been shattered.
Its momentum unabated, the sword wheeled through the air and, on its return, pierced another Li Yao through the chest.
By the time it returned to Zhang Miao's hand, the Dharma Sword was humming with satisfaction, as if it rather liked its temporary wielder!
But Zhang Miao didn't press her luck either—truthfully, she couldn't. After slaying two Li Yao, the jumbled remnants flooding her mind left her dizzy and dazed.
So the Dharma Sword was passed to Liu Sanlang.
As the nominal leader of the group—the Immortal Guiding Envoy had been hired by the Liu Family, after all—Liu Sanlang's swordsmanship was the most plain and unadorned.
He neither unleashed Sword Qi nor sent the sword flying. He patiently waited for Yi Yi to draw a Li Yao close with the Five Extremes astral qi and completely shatter its protective true qi, then stepped forward in a bow stance and drove his sword through its throat.
The cycle repeated. In just a short while, more than ten Li Yao had been finished off, but dark shapes still stirred in the thick fog, gathering in ever greater numbers! And deep within the mist, several exceptionally hulking silhouettes brought with them an entirely different sense of oppression.
The Five Extremes Mysterious Steel Array was sturdy, and those who formed it were elite cultivators from an immortal sect, all at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage. But it clearly couldn't hold out indefinitely against such a force.
After Liu Sanlang and Zhang Miao had each finished off several more, the remnants they'd accumulated reached their limit. The jumble of echoes in their minds left them unable to continue.
"Good. We're leaving!"
Yi Yi acted decisively. He turned his palm upward as if turning his hand to summon clouds, transforming the Five Extremes Mysterious Steel Array formed by the five of them into the Five Qi God-Walking Array.
A gale howled, churning the lake's surface into waves and scattering the fog beyond its shores. When the wind died and the waves stilled, the eight people by the lakeshore had vanished. Only the Li Yao remained, howling with frustrated greed.
The group traveled swiftly through the air, returning directly to the departure point marked by the Blazing Feather Flag. They didn't stop there, but crossed the boundary between the Immortal Mansion's interior and exterior, returning to the familiar, soft hills.
Looking at the bustling Gray Plains Town before them, the young people felt as though they'd been separated from the world for ages.
That rare sight... had truly been rare enough to shake their souls and set their hearts pounding!
Thanks to readers 20220501084336769, 20250604115420731, and Inverted Cross Wuyue Xiwen Ting Si Shi Si A for the tips!
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