Cultivating on the River

Qin Mountain is the dividing mountain between Beiyuan and Nanlin. It is 5,570 meters above sea level and has three branches. Looking down from above, it resembles the character "卜" (bu), with the vertical stroke being 2,400 kilometers long and the dot being 660 kilometers long.

With such a large mountain, a thousand people wouldn't be able to search it in forty days, let alone four!

The only upside is that besides the eight hundred Immortal Seedlings, there are also two hundred disciples at the sixth to eighth level of the Body Refinement Realm. Their search speed might be a bit faster.

Yang Ning didn't have many items on him. A bottle of Grain Abstinence Pill came from Lin Tianheng. He also had a talisman, a long sword, a bow, and twelve arrows – the latter three were self-made.

He also had a Spirit Artifact chisel, about a foot long, shaped like a screwdriver.

The chisel belonged to the Artifact Forging Room and was normally not allowed to be taken out. However, when Yang Ning took it out this time, Wei Daocheng pretended not to see.

This thing was very sharp; it could shave through ordinary iron and steel as easily as tofu. But Yang Ning wasn't sure if it would be effective against cultivators. Still, he brought it not to confront Tuo Buchuan.

Although Lin Tianheng said that whoever found Tuo Buchuan would be rewarded with a bottle of Blood Essence Pill, such promises were best taken with a grain of salt. The first person to find Tuo Buchuan would likely be killed.

If you're dead, what's the point of a Blood Essence Pill, or even a Heavenly Heart Pill?

Yang Ning not only didn't plan to look for Tuo Buchuan but intended to avoid him.

Therefore, the chisel was for hunting wild game.

Grain Abstinence Pills were Mortal Pills refined using precious medicinal ingredients like ginseng and huangjing, combined with alchemy techniques. After consumption, they slowly released medicinal power over seven days, preventing hunger.

But Yang Ning was in the process of practicing martial arts to increase his Blood Qi. What he needed was meat, eggs, and milk, not herbal concoctions!

Searching for a day or two was fine, but if he had to search for a month and eat Grain Abstinence Pills for a month, it would be equivalent to wasting a month of cultivation!

For someone with poor aptitude, a month more or less wouldn't make much difference. But for someone like Yang Ning, whose strength could multiply several times in a month, it was a complete waste.

"Deep Blue, do you know about Tuo Buchuan?"

"Vast Universe Records has no relevant records!"

"What about the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult?"

"The Myriad Saint Demonic Cult is located north of the Taiheng Sect and was formed by the union of many rogue cultivator sects. Because the sect members refer to the Qi Refining Realm as the Saint Realm, and the Saint Realm cultivators who founded the alliance numbered around ten thousand, it was named the Myriad Saints Alliance. Due to the loose rules of the Myriad Saints Alliance and the uneven quality of disciples from various factions, their conduct often went against the righteous path, hence it was later known as the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult!"

"So that's how it is!" Yang Ning frowned. "Since it's a rogue cultivator alliance, doesn't that mean they know nothing about Tuo Buchuan?"

After all, this sect didn't have a unified style.

"The World-Ending Sky Spear that Tuo Buchuan possesses belongs to the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult's Heaven-Shattering Earth-Destroying Dao, so Tuo Buchuan should also belong to that Dao," Deep Blue said. "The Heaven-Shattering Earth-Destroying Dao inherits the Heaven-Shattering Earth-Destroying Technique, which is a peerless Daoist spell, said to be capable of shattering the earth and destroying the heavens. It is an ultimate offensive Daoist spell."

"But Lin Tianheng said his mana was sealed, he can't use Daoist spells, and his World-Ending Sky Spear was snatched away, now it's Wang Yi's hairpin," Yang Ning shook his head. This Vast Universe Records was ultimately too grand; it wasn't very useful for analyzing specific character personalities.

However, Tuo Buchuan was human, and humans should have normal human thinking.

For someone to survive in the mountains, besides a dry environment, a nearby water source would be ideal. But Tuo Buchuan was in a state of escape, so he wouldn't dare go near the water, wouldn't that be courting death?

Therefore, Yang Ning could walk along the riverbank. Firstly, he wouldn't lack water. Secondly, small animals also needed to drink water, so walking by the river would ensure he wouldn't lack food.

Thirdly, he wouldn't encounter Tuo Buchuan!

That's the plan!

Yang Ning had seen a river below when he was on the boat, so he calculated the team's order and specifically landed here.

This river is called Qin River, a tributary of the Taiheng Heavenly River. Qin Mountain is the source of the Qin River, so the river water was not yet wide, only about forty meters across.

Yang Ning chopped down a tree about four to five people in circumference, split it into planks with the Spirit Artifact, and made a small boat. He also used the leftover materials to make a long pole. He put the boat into the water, sat in it, and began to paddle upstream.

The vegetation here was lush, so there were no soil erosion problems. The water surface was clear and calm. The trees on both banks were nearly a hundred meters tall and lush green. Various crisp bird songs could be heard incessantly. Small animals were resting and drinking water on the banks.

Fish swam in the river, unafraid of people. If you reached out your hand, fish would even come up to you. With a casual grab, you could catch a large fish.

"This scenery, if it were in my previous life, it would definitely be a five-star attraction!" Yang Ning sighed inwardly. Then, he carved wood into a spear and in a few strokes, speared dozens of large fish.

Fish is also meat!

He dared not light a fire, fearing Lin Tianheng above would discover him fishing. If he could cultivate for a while longer, he could use his Blood Qi field to generate heat and roast the fish. Now, he knew nothing and could only eat it raw.

Although fish could have parasites, his digestive ability was strong, so he didn't care.

The stomach trained by Heavenly Stars Might was no ordinary stomach; it was the stomach of the Shan Hai Jing!

"Eating it raw seems to provide more Blood Qi than cooked?" After gutting and cleaning the fish, and taking a few bites, Yang Ning compared it to the fish he ate in the cafeteria. He found that raw fish seemed to provide stronger nutrition than cooked fish?

Although the difference wasn't huge, it was indeed stronger.

However, the cafeteria also provided other meats, and those meats were more effective than the fish Yang Ning had.

But with his current limited conditions, he couldn't afford to be picky. He ate!

Yang Ning ate all the dozen or so fish in one go, then began to practice his punches.

It was still Heavenly Stars Might. The first few levels were no different from Twelve Divine Forms. At most, it would make him feel like he was practicing something messy, and his stances weren't very accurate.

After just two punches, he realized that practicing on the water could also train his control over strength.

Because the water flow was unstable, if you exerted a little too much force, you would sink, and your established stance would be instantly ruined.

But the deformation of water followed a pattern; it wasn't random movement. It didn't require any special techniques, just more practice and adaptation.

On this stable water flow, Yang Ning, after only two hours of practice, mastered the technique of practicing on water.

So Yang Ning poled his small boat to a place upstream where the current was more turbulent, increasing the difficulty!

The further upstream the Qin River went, the steeper the slope and the faster the current became. Once he got used to a location, he would move further upstream to increase the difficulty. When he was hungry, he would catch fish to eat, and when he was full, he would continue practicing.

There were no sharks or crocodiles in the river, only carp several meters long. Attacking a small boat was like offering themselves up as food. As Yang Ning practiced like this, he realized his cultivation progress here seemed to be even faster than on the Ascension Boat!

When night fell, he had originally intended to meditate in the trees, but as if remembering something, he returned to the boat.

He had already broken through Sleeping Breath, but he had no clue about Entering Stillness, as the Spiritual Realm couldn't help him meditate.

At this moment, sitting on the swaying small boat, feeling the fluctuations of the water flow beneath him, Yang Ning projected his current situation into his mind, imagining himself sitting on the water's surface, rising and falling with the currents.

He had already tried this for over ten days on the Ascension Boat, but he couldn't find the way in.

But today, here on the water, Yang Ning's heart suddenly stirred, and he felt something!

He had killed some fish during the day, giving the local fish, which had never seen humans before, a psychological shadow about humans. But at this moment, the fish in the river discovered that the person above them seemed to have disappeared?

No, he hadn't disappeared, but had merged into it, becoming a part of the river.

At the same time, far in the distance, behind a waterfall, a youth holding a gray, round, basketball-sized pearl looked at the suddenly shining pearl in front of him with excitement.

"What, is it going to recognize me as its master?"

He took out a dagger and cut his hand, not caring about himself, and directly dripped his blood onto it.

Then he watched as the blood slid off the pearl, not entering it at all.

"Damn it, if it's not going to recognize me as its master, why are you shining?" The youth clenched his fist in anger but dared not make too big a move.

"Wait!" The youth suddenly thought of something: "The Dragon Pearl wouldn't shine for no reason, but it's not recognizing me as its master either. Could it be?"

Chapter 7: Something is Wrong Somewhere