Advancing to Spirit General

"Junior Brother Sanbao, come out for a moment." Just as Sanbao was lost in thought, A-Tie's voice came from outside. Sanbao hurried out, pulled A-Tie to a secluded spot, then asked about Wang Liang's situation.

Just as Sanbao had expected, A-Tie hadn't found Wang Liang after going to Orchid Creek Ravine. Wang Liang had probably already escaped Cloud Mountain; otherwise, Zhao Hong wouldn't have let him live. Not only that, Zhao Hong had also vanished without a trace.

"Are you sure Zhao Hong didn't return to Orchid Creek Ravine?" Sanbao asked cautiously.

"No. I asked several disciples at Orchid Creek Ravine. They said Zhao Hong hadn't come back since he went out yesterday. I even went to his residence, but the maid said she hadn't seen him either..." A-Tie nodded.

"You didn't say you were from Fire Cloud Hall, did you?"

"No. You told me to say I was an attendant from Cloud Saint Hall, remember? They actually believed me. It was hilarious..."

Sanbao patted A-Tie and praised him, saying he'd done well. Only then did he return to his room, weighed down by his thoughts.

"What exactly happened back then? Right, that woman called Meier must know what happened. I'll have to ask her. But if she really is Third Sect Master's daughter, she won't be easy to approach. Unless Master steps in... Forget it. I should recover from my injuries first. At worst, I can just leave Cloud Mountain."

Thinking it over, Sanbao decided there was no point worrying. He focused on cultivating instead.

After his body had been washed by the milky-white pool water, Sanbao had faintly sensed the Spirit General realm. But with his injuries, his spiritual power was sluggish, so he hadn't tried to break through.

Not only that, his Spirit Skill, the Nine-Turn Golden Body, had unexpectedly advanced to the third layer. It was no small gain. Suppressing his joy, Sanbao rose to his feet and unleashed the Ninefold Claw, combining it with the Nine-Turn Golden Body. Shadows filled the room, golden claw marks and shimmering phantom images weaving together until Sanbao's figure disappeared completely amid the golden afterimages.

Three days later, two major pieces of news spread through Cloud Saint Sect.

One was closely related to Sanbao: Zhao Hong, a core disciple under Zhao Youdao, had been found dead beneath a Lone Mountain not far from Fire Cloud Peak. It was said the killer had been extremely powerful, shattering Zhao Hong's heart meridians with a single blow.

Even more shocking news followed. Third Sect Master Xie Donghai had also been severely wounded within the sect, nearly losing his life. The place where he was attacked was said to be the very spot where Zhao Hong had died.

All at once, Cloud Saint Sect was on edge.

Who was Third Sect Master? He was a mighty Spirit Sovereign, and the attack had taken place inside Cloud Saint Sect itself. It was easy to imagine how powerful the other party must be.

Hearing the news, Sanbao began to piece things together, but he couldn't quite make sense of it. He only had a vague feeling that both incidents were connected to the pool on the mountaintop.

The news dealt Cloud Saint Sect a heavy blow, but Sanbao was safer for it. After all, Zhao Hong was dead.

Sanbao wanted to investigate Lone Mountain again, but he feared that his strength was too low and that he might lose his life. He also couldn't bring himself to tell Jing Yifei about it, so for the time being he stayed in and cultivated.

More than ten days later, Sanbao had fully recovered from his injuries. He had the pool water on the mountaintop to thank for that; otherwise, an injury as severe as the one to his chest would have taken at least several months to heal, unless he took some miraculous Spirit Pills.

With Jing Yifei personally protecting him, Sanbao began to break through to the Spirit General realm again. After tempering his body in the pool, he had long been eager to try.

He circulated the Purple Gold Art with all his might, drawing spiritual power toward his Dantian. His already-full Dantian trembled constantly, expanding outward in ring after ring to make room for more spiritual power. But the Dantian had a limit, while spiritual power kept pouring in. Every time he reached this point before, the excess spiritual power would surge back through his meridians and finally drain out through the blood vessels beneath his skin, causing Sanbao's efforts to come to nothing.

Today was clearly different. His Dantian trembled far more violently and frequently, expanding ring after ring until it seemed to reach its limit.

"Hold on. Just two more cycles, and I'll definitely break through..." Sanbao gritted his teeth and persevered, forcing spiritual power into his Dantian. The immense pain made his head spin and his vision blur.

It was like a person's stomach: eating too much left it painfully overstuffed. These spiritual forces, with their tremendous destructive power, were far worse.

Fortunately, Sanbao's soul was exceptionally strong. No matter how agonizing the pain, his mind remained perfectly clear.

For Sanbao, enduring the pain, time seemed to crawl by, slow and endless.

Thump...

A thunderous heartbeat sounded, and at last Sanbao's Dantian burst under the pressure of the spiritual power, transforming into a thin web that gathered all the spiritual power within his heart meridians.

"I finally did it..."

After quietly regulating his breathing for several cycles, Sanbao slowly opened his eyes. An unusual light shone in them—he had finally reached the Spirit General realm.

He wiped the sweat from his face and slowly rose to leave the room.

Outside, Jing Yifei stood in the corridor, gazing silently at the distant mountains. His eyes seemed empty; no one could tell what he was thinking.

"Thank you, Master. Your disciple has not let you down..." Sanbao bowed.

"Good. My teachings will have a worthy successor. You've only just advanced, so stabilize your realm as soon as possible and repair your Dantian completely. I have a Dantian Protection Pill here. Take it now; this is when it will work best. Consider it a small reward from your master for advancing." Jing Yifei handed Sanbao a white porcelain bottle.

Sanbao accepted it carefully and pulled out the stopper. Inside was a red pill that gave off a faint, sweet fragrance. It was none other than a mid-grade Spirit Pill—the Dantian Protection Pill.

The Dantian Protection Pill, also known as the Dantian Preservation Pill, was a peerless remedy for newly advanced Spirit Generals to stabilize their Dantians. It was said that Spirit Generals who took it not only had exceptionally stable Dantians, but also found each subsequent advancement easier than those who hadn't taken it. Another benefit was that it greatly shortened the time needed to stabilize one's realm.

Like the Spirit Weapons crafted by Artifact Refiners, the medicines made by Alchemists were divided into four grades: low, middle, high, and true.

Spirit Pills were as rare and precious as Spirit Weapons. Even the simplest low-grade pill would be worth a fortune in the mortal world, let alone a mid-grade medicine like the Dantian Protection Pill.

"Master, this is..." Sanbao asked hesitantly, his heart warmed.

"Don't worry about it. When you're able to stand on your own one day, this will be nothing." Jing Yifei patted Sanbao, then left with peace of mind.

"Take care, Master." Sanbao watched Jing Yifei go before leaving at his own pace. He needed a good night's sleep. His mind and spirit had been drained far too much lately.

He slept for a full day and night. When he awoke, Sanbao felt refreshed and full of strength. Being a Spirit General really was wonderful.

Everything in Earth Fire Hall was as it had been.

Sanbao sat cross-legged beside the Earth Fire cavern, forming a few simple hand seals. His pale red spiritual power fanned out like a huge fan, continuously blowing the Earth Fire from the cavern into the Bronze Cauldron.

Two hours later, Sanbao finished and rose to his feet.

Compared with the nearly six hours it had taken him before, he now gathered the Earth Fire almost three times as quickly. Advancing in realm really did bring improvements in every respect.

Before a massive stone wall behind Fire Cloud Hall, a huge iron brush swept smoothly across the surface. Its crisscrossing strokes sent stone chips falling to the ground.

Soon, a lifelike painted deer appeared before Sanbao.

"Hmm, that's not right. Again."

Time passed slowly. More than a dozen painted deer, each with a different pose, now covered the stone wall. But no matter what he did, he couldn't capture the lazy, carefree air of the painted deer on Lone Mountain.

"Still not right. Could advancing to Spirit General have made my Stone Carving Painting worse instead?" Sanbao was baffled. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't convey the deer's expression in the carving.

"Right, the problem lies with that deer. Of course! How did I not think of it? How could an ordinary painted deer have been so natural and casual when it saw me?"

The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Sanbao recalled the painted deer on Lone Mountain: its body was divided into sections of blue, red, purple...

Right, there were seven colors in all. Oh, and its antlers seemed white—milky white.

The pool water had been milky white too.

Milky white? Could it be...?

In an instant, inspiration struck Sanbao.

It seemed he had to visit Lone Mountain again, but not just yet.

Although he had taken the Dantian Protection Pill, his realm still hadn't fully stabilized. He needed a few more days.

At dusk several days later.

At the foot of Lone Mountain, a man dressed in black with his face covered in black cloth appeared silently. He looked cautious, glancing around every so often, yet darted through the mountain like a catfish. Before long, he disappeared into the underbrush of Lone Mountain.

It was Sanbao.

"Huh, it's still here."

Sanbao cautiously peeked out from behind a rock, too shocked to speak.

The strange painted deer was still there, and it was soaking in the little pool. But unlike the lazy, carefree creature he had seen last time, it now seemed very strange. It kept spitting out circles of strange, seven-colored light, each ring tracing an arc before sinking directly into the two milky-white antlers atop its head.

A powerful surge of spiritual energy instantly reached Sanbao in the distance.

Sanbao's face turned deathly pale. He nearly fell to the ground.