Something's Not Right

"Magical artifact?

No, a magic treasure!"

Sensing the spiritual pressure emanating from the jade ruler, Old Turtle was instantly alarmed, but on second thought, something felt wrong.

"If it truly were a Golden Core True Person, a single strike would likely shatter the protective formation.

After all, though this formation was set up by Li Daoyun, it is ultimately only a second-rank mid-grade Starlight Water Wall Formation. It could never withstand a Golden Core True Person bombarding it with a magic treasure."

Old Turtle's thoughts raced. Its divine sense cautiously slipped through a gap in the grand formation, and after carefully sensing the situation, its taut nerves gradually relaxed.

"So it isn't a Golden Core True Person after all—just a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator wielding a magic treasure prototype."

Having figured out the situation, Old Turtle swiftly regained its composure.

It knew full well that it absolutely could not throw itself into disarray now, much less let the other side easily probe out the truth of its circumstances.

"Since this is a contest between those of the same realm, and I have the advantage of the formation, there is no need to panic excessively."

As Old Turtle murmured, it shook its body once more. The star-chart patterns on its shell slowly lit up, echoing the formation foundations around the water manor from afar.

Back then, it had paid no small price to invite Li Daoyun to personally tailor this Starlight Water Wall Formation for it. The formation matched its nature exceptionally well.

"Stars draw forth their radiance; water guards its form."

Old Turtle sank its mind into the formation's core, and the grand formation immediately underwent a mysterious transformation.

Layer upon layer of waves converged before the water manor's gate, forming walls of water upon walls of water. Within those water walls, strands of dark and mystic starlight refracted.

Right after that, Old Turtle used the small measure of starlight-manipulating power granted by its bloodline to guide all the starlight into the layered water walls.

In an instant, the water walls, which had seemed soft and fragile, became dark and unfathomable. Every ripple refracted starlight, spawning layer upon layer of phantoms and sealing the water manor's gate tight.

That was the mystery of this formation:

using softness to overcome hardness, using illusion to confound reality.

"Still, defense alone is ultimately passive. I must make plans early."

Old Turtle was meticulous by nature. It knew that the Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator outside the water manor had come with ill intent, and that jade ruler magic treasure prototype in his hand possessed extraordinary might.

As the saying went, long defense must end in loss. It had no desire to clash head-on with this unknown enemy who had appeared out of nowhere, so it immediately summoned the white snake.

Seeing the white snake trembling all over, looking utterly terrified, Old Turtle said gently:

"Bai'er, do not panic.

The one outside is merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator showing off his might with a magic treasure prototype. He will not be able to break the water manor's grand formation anytime soon.

Leave the manor through the secret waterway to the south, then go to Ten Thousand Reverence Ridge, Heaven-Sweeping Peak, and Toxic Miasma Marsh to seek aid from several great demons.

Simply tell them the truth. Say plainly that if they can kill this cultivator, I, Old Turtle, will not take so much as a fraction of the belongings on his person."

The white snake was frightened, but upon hearing that Old Turtle wanted it to leave the water manor by another route to seek help, it nodded repeatedly and then swam toward the secret waterway behind them.

After watching it depart, Old Turtle glanced once more toward Quiet Meditation Cave and thought to itself:

"As long as I can hold on for a little while, once Brother Sheng breaks through, he and I can join hands against the enemy. And with one or two great demons unable to resist their greed coming to help, that reckless cultivator outside will lose a layer of skin even if he does not die!"

Feeling that its plan was sound, Old Turtle let the starlight on its shell slowly merge with the formation's rippling waters. Its massive body lay still like a mountain as it began focusing fully on controlling the formation.

Inside Quiet Meditation Cave, He Sheng's entire body trembled. His hair stirred without wind as he slowly opened his eyes.

He could clearly feel that his magical power had undergone a dual improvement in both quantity and quality!

For one, the original 3,600 drops of magical power in his spiritual sea had surged to 4,800 drops;

Furthermore, he could feel that his magical power had become purer and denser.

"I truly never expected to break through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage so easily. Although my total magical power has only increased by one-third, the magical power tempered by the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm is far purer than before.

If we compare only endurance, my current magical power is probably about twice as strong as it was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!"

If one drop of magical power were quantified as 1 point of base magical power, then before He Sheng's breakthrough, his magical power purity coefficient had been 1.0, giving him a total of 3,600 points of magical power.

But after his breakthrough, his base magical power had reached 4,800 points, while the purity coefficient of the magical power tempered by the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm had reached 1.5.

His total magical power thus soared to 7,200 points, naturally making him twice as strong as before.

He Sheng's face was full of delight, feeling that the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm was truly formidable.

Not only had it allowed him to comprehend the Water Escape Art, when empowering his divine sense, it could extend its reach by more than ten li, and after integrating it into his cultivation technique, it not only greatly enhanced the effects of breathing and refining qi, but had also allowed him to break through in one stroke the bottleneck that had trapped Brother Piao for three long years, It could even temper one's mana, greatly increasing its purity.

"But on closer thought, that was only natural. After all, this was the genuine insight gained from nearly ten years of cultivating a high-grade spell.

If one cultivated spells for three hours each day, it would take forty years;

if two hours each day, it would take a full sixty years!"

Not to mention that there would be long stretches of hitting bottlenecks, during which the cultivator gained nothing at all.

Brother Piao had only been stuck at a cultivation bottleneck for three years, yet his entire temperament had changed drastically, and he had gone madly courting death.

How many people would be willing to spend decades upon decades, day in and day out, polishing and comprehending spells for an unknown reward?

What if they gained nothing?

Moreover, though Foundation Establishment cultivators appeared to have lifespans of over two hundred years, if they truly aspired to form a core, their time was not nearly so abundant. After all, accumulating resources also consumed a great deal of time.

As He Sheng sorted through Brother Piao's cultivation memories, combined them with the cultivation notes left behind by predecessors that Brother Piao had read, as well as what he had learned through exchanges with numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators, he concluded that the cultivation of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators was mainly divided into three parts:

First, raising one's cultivation.

Most Foundation Establishment cultivators whose paths ahead had not yet been cut off would devote nearly one-third or even more of their cultivation time to breathing exercises and refining qi to increase their mana cultivation;

Second, acquiring resources.

Most of the rest of their time was spent honing their immortal arts in order to gather resources;

Third, increasing combat strength.

Most cultivators used the remaining time to enhance their own combat power.

The common choice was to refine magical artifacts. Especially after entering the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, refining a prototype magical treasure was the unrivaled choice for significantly increasing combat strength.

Very few Foundation Establishment cultivators would devote large amounts of time to cultivating spells, even high-grade ones.

"The time-to-results ratio for cultivating spells is indeed terrible. The boost to combat strength is also far less immediate than refining several top-grade magical artifacts or a prototype magical treasure."

Not to mention that for those lacking sufficient comprehension, cultivating spells was merely cultivation—it was difficult for them to attain any enlightenment.

"It may seem like a laborious and unrewarding choice, but as long as one invests enough cultivation time and possesses a certain degree of talent, one can reap immense benefits far beyond the ordinary.

Perhaps this is a secret hidden within cultivation?"

At that thought, He Sheng raised his hand and glanced at the information displayed by the clepsydra's water droplets.

[Clear Ripple Water Control Art (Mastery Beyond Perfection): 110/1000]

(Total cultivation time: nine years, nine months, twenty-eight days)

"I should continue cultivating this high-grade spell afterward. Perhaps once I break through the Mastery Beyond Perfection realm, there will be another new harvest?"

Though he thought so, He Sheng looked again at the information displayed by the clepsydra itself.

[Current total available cultivation time: two months, nineteen days]

Clearly, this tiny amount of time could not possibly bring any improvement.

"Right now, under the protection of this water estate, not only has my mana fully recovered, I've even broken through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Even if those pursuing me come knocking, I'll have a few more means to maneuver..."

He Sheng was still calculating when, before his words had even faded, a thunderous boom rang out. The water estate began to shake as though heaven and earth were overturning.

"They really came knocking?!

My crow's beak..."

He Sheng was speechless inside. His divine sense immediately locked onto the waterway leading to the underground dark river as he considered whether to flee at once.

But he soon discovered that spiritual energy within the water estate had suddenly begun to fluctuate, with dark, mysterious starlight faintly appearing amid the ripples.

Brother Piao had at least been an expert in formations. Having inherited his memories, He Sheng quickly recognized that Old Turtle was personally controlling the water estate's defensive grand formation—the Starlight Water Wall Formation.

Under Old Turtle's control, the water estate quickly stabilized.

Though massive spiritual energy fluctuations occasionally came from beyond the water estate's gate, the water estate itself stood as steady as a mountain.

"Could it really be that Brother Piao's earlier perception was wrong?

Could the person who had been pursuing us all this time truly not be a Core Formation cultivator?"

He Sheng also noticed the oddity. He no longer hurried to flee, merely using the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm to bolster his divine sense and extending it beyond the water estate to investigate.

Less than half a mile away, the youth outside the gate holding a jade ruler appeared in every minute detail within He Sheng's sea of consciousness.

"The one who killed Brother Piao with a single strike from dozens of zhang away beyond Ten Thousand Stars Mountain was this person!

He was actually only a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator, and his mana fluctuations weren't much stronger than mine are now!"

He Sheng was deeply shocked. Previously, he had sensed something amiss through various clues and suspected that the other party was not a Core Formation cultivator.

But now that it had been confirmed beyond doubt that the other party truly was only a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator, he felt that something was even more wrong.

"No matter how useless Brother Piao was, he was still the foremost cultivator of the Silver Sand River, and he did not lack experience in spell battles. Their cultivation levels differed by only one minor realm—so why had he been instantly killed by a single strike from dozens of zhang away?

And why had he mistaken the other party for a Core Formation cultivator?

There had to be... a huge problem somewhere in this!"

He Sheng did not relax just because the other party was a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator. Instead, he became even more vigilant. After all, the unknown was the most dangerous.

Just then, within the range of his divine sense, he discovered the green snake quietly slithering over with a stone box balanced on its head.

At the same time, a faint divine sense probed from outside the Quiet Meditation Cave. He Sheng immediately recognized it as Old Turtle checking on his situation.

"Better play it safe first."

With a thought, He Sheng immediately closed his eyes, putting on the appearance of someone still meditating in seclusion.

In truth, within his sea of consciousness, he repeatedly recalled the scene of Brother Piao's heart meridians being shredded by a single strike from the sword-bearing youth.

Once.

Ten times.

A hundred times.

Only when inspiration suddenly flashed through He Sheng's mind, and he recalled that memory again after sinking into the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm, did he finally discover something wrong!