Thinking of his current predicament, beset on all sides, Chen Changming grew increasingly uneasy.
The spirit herbs in the Ziyuan Secret Realm had continued to grow over the past few years, and they were nearly ripe now.
Only about half a year remained.
Once they ripened, he would have outlived his usefulness and would need to fend for himself.
One morning.
He had just finished circulating the Evergreen Art when a thunderclap of a voice rang through his mind, followed by a surge of warmth.
"Evergreen Art, fifty thousand times!"
He'd broken through!
The youth was overjoyed, and a mysterious message appeared in his mind.
After absorbing the information about this latest enhancement, Chen Changming was stunned.
The Evergreen Art had undergone a qualitative leap after its fourth enhancement. Its ability to absorb and convert spiritual energy had increased twentyfold from its previous level. That meant his cultivation speed had also improved.
The difficulty of cultivating with a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root had been more than halfway overcome, at least at the Qi Refining Realm stage.
If he also used Spirit Gathering Pills or the "Pigeon Eggs" produced each day by the little insect, then his cultivation speed should be about the same as that of a cultivator with average aptitude.
Chen Changming didn't dare compare himself to the prodigies.
He knew his limits. Keeping pace with most ordinary people was good enough.
"After all these years of hard work, I've only just caught up to an ordinary person..."
He let out a soft breath, feeling much more at ease. Wanting some fresh air, he left his cave abode and sat on a boulder by the river. Resting his chin in his hand, he gazed at the emerald water as it flowed by and the fish leaping from its surface, lost in a daze.
From the age of nine to sixteen, he had hardly ever rested, spending every day and night cultivating like mad.
Even so, it had taken him seven years to reach the fourth level of the Qi Refining Realm.
That was a slow pace.
For the past three years, without any Low-grade Spirit Gathering Pills to help him, he had focused mainly on cultivating the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art.
Hard work had paid off.
He had finally cultivated the first layer of the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, bringing his skin to a golden hue. Its power far surpassed what the technique should have been capable of.
Splash!
A carp leapt from the water again, scattering droplets everywhere.
"I'm in the mood for fish."
Seeing how plump it looked, the youth was tempted. Ever since joining Lingxiao Sect, he had eaten Spirit Rice for seven years straight and was sick of it.
Splash!
The youth plunged into the water too. He swam around underwater for a while, then started catching fish.
The Spirit-Devouring Insect suddenly flew off.
At first, Chen Changming paid it no mind. But when he saw the little insect fly farther and farther through the water, curiosity got the better of him, and he followed close behind.
One insect and one person swam upstream, one after the other.
After rounding a stretch of rapids, they came to a deep pool behind a protruding boulder.
The Spirit-Devouring Insect plunged straight in.
The pool was three zhang deep. When Chen Changming followed it down, he saw a large carp floating at the bottom. It was bigger than any he had seen before and hung motionless in the water.
The carp was giving off the aura of a first-level, early-stage Beast.
"Someone from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion said there were no Beasts in this secret realm. Looks like they exaggerated. They missed this one..."
Chen Changming thought to himself.
The Spirit-Devouring Insect was naturally drawn to Beasts. It landed on the carp's head, but the fish didn't move at all, as if it were asleep.
"This fish must taste great."
Chen Changming charged forward and grabbed the carp. To his surprise, it neither struggled nor moved, like a dead fish.
A faint light suddenly shot out from the fish's head, aiming straight for Chen Changming's forehead.
"What's this?"
Chen Changming instinctively activated the Heavenly Furnace Body-Forging Art, and in an instant, his skin turned gold.
Bang!
The faint light collided with him, letting out a muffled thud before bouncing away.
"A Body Cultivator!"
An astonished voice rang out. Then the faint light fled from the pool as if terrified.
Chen Changming didn't hesitate. He used the Dragon Glide Step and pursued it.
Within a few breaths, he caught up to the light and unleashed a Spirit Finger Flick. With a boom, it struck the faint light.
The light wobbled in the water and spoke: "Stop hitting me! If you hit me again, you'll kill me..."
"What are you?" Chen Changming asked with a frown.
"I'm a Golden Core cultivator. My remnant soul survived by hiding inside the carp..."
The faint light transformed into the hazy image of an old man. His figure flickered constantly, its condition highly unstable.
"Are you from the Medicine Sect?" Chen Changming asked.
"No, I'm not from the Medicine Sect. I took part in the campaign to exterminate them and, unfortunately, died in the Ziyuan Secret Realm. Fortunately, my divine sense was powerful enough for me to leave behind a remnant soul and hide inside the carp," the old man said.
Touching his forehead, Chen Changming asked coldly, "What were you trying to do to me just now?"
He was still a novice cultivator and didn't really understand the old man's earlier attack.
"I wanted to possess you," the old man confessed, then gave a bitter smile. "I didn't expect you to be a Body Cultivator. Your skin is so hard and dense that my remnant soul couldn't even get inside..."
"What does possession mean?" the youth asked.
The old man's face went dark. How could this youth have cultivated to such a high level and still know nothing?
With no other choice, he explained possession to him.
"So you wanted to replace me."
Chen Changming's expression darkened. He slowly raised his finger, preparing to kill the old man.
"Little brother, your attacks have wounded my remnant soul twice now. I won't last more than a few days."
The old man fell to his knees and begged desperately, "I'm willing to offer you a secret in exchange for a chance to live."
A secret?
Chen Changming's heart stirred. "Go on. Let's see if your secret is worth your life."
"Little brother, you know this medicinal field once belonged to the Medicine Sect before the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion seized it, right?" the old man said.
Chen Changming nodded, fixing the old man with a keen gaze.
"The truth is, at least a third of the guards in this medicinal field belong to the Four Seas Merchant Alliance. They've had this planned for a long time. Once the herbs ripen, they'll wipe out the people from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion and seize all the spirit herbs," the old man revealed, astonishingly.
"People from the Four Seas Merchant Alliance have infiltrated the Ziyuan Secret Realm!"
Chen Changming was deeply shocked by the old man's words. He had thought the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was so powerful, yet the Four Seas Merchant Alliance had infiltrated it to such an extent.
It could only mean that this medicinal field was extraordinarily valuable.
The old man's gaze flickered as he spoke slowly. "Little brother, would you like to get a share of the spirit herbs?"
"With my level of cultivation? I think I'll pass," Chen Changming replied with a wry smile.
"You're too modest, little brother."
The old man sighed softly.
The youth before him knew so little about the cultivation world that he had no idea how strong he was.
Looking at Chen Changming, the old man said enviously, "Little brother, if my judgment is right, your golden body is strong enough to rival a cultivator at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm."
"Don't talk nonsense! How could I possibly be that strong?" Chen Changming immediately cursed.
His golden body was all show. Only his skin had been tempered; his flesh, muscles, bones, and internal organs had not.
His skin was as hard as iron and impervious to blades and spears, but if a powerful force shook through it, his flesh and internal organs couldn't withstand it.
"Little brother, the Ziyuan Secret Realm is unstable too. If I'm right, when the medicinal field ripens, this secret realm will collapse. If you don't make a move, neither side will have an easy time taking the herbs. In the end, they'll all die in this secret realm," the old man said gravely.