Something Was Wrong

"Magic artifact?

No, a Dharma treasure!"

Old Turtle was greatly startled when he sensed the spiritual pressure emanating from that jade ruler, but on second thought, something felt off.

"If it truly were a Core Formation True Person, one strike would have shattered the protective formation.

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

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

"It turns out it isn't a Core Formation True Person, merely a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator wielding a Nascent Dharma Treasure."

Having figured out the situation, Old Turtle quickly steadied itself.

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

"Since this is a contest between cultivators of the same realm, and I hold the advantage of the formation, there is no need to panic too much."

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

Old Turtle had paid no small price back then to specially invite Li Daoyun to tailor this Starlight Water Wall Formation for it. It was exceptionally compatible with it.

"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 profound transformation.

Layer upon layer of waves gathered before the water manor's gates, forming walls upon walls of water. Within those water walls, strands of dark and mysterious starlight refracted.

Immediately afterward,

Old Turtle used the small measure of starlight-manipulating power granted by its bloodline to guide all the starlight into the layers of water walls.

In an instant,

The water walls, which had seemed frail and weak, became dark and unfathomable. Every ripple reflected starlight, evolving into overlapping phantoms that sealed the water manor's gates tight as an iron drum.

This was the wonder of the formation:

Using softness to overcome hardness, using illusion to disrupt reality.

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

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

As the saying went, long defense must end in loss. It had no wish to clash head-on with this unknown enemy who had suddenly appeared, so it immediately summoned the White Snake.

Seeing the White Snake trembling all over, frightened out of its wits, Old Turtle said gently:

"Whitey, do not panic.

The one outside is merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator showing off his ferocity with a Nascent Dharma Treasure. He will not be able to break the water manor's grand formation anytime soon.

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

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

Though the White Snake was afraid, upon hearing Old Turtle tell it to leave the water manor from the other side to seek aid, it nodded repeatedly and swam toward the secret waterway in the rear.

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

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

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

Inside Quiet Meditation Cave,

He Sheng's entire body shuddered. His hair stirred though there was no wind, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He could clearly feel that his mana had completed a double leap in both quantity and quality!

For one, the original three thousand six hundred drops of mana in his spiritual sea had surged to four thousand eight hundred drops.

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

"I truly did not expect to break through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage so easily. Although my total mana has only increased by one-third, the mana tempered by the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm is far purer than before.

If we compared pure endurance, my current mana is probably around twice as strong as it was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!"

If one drop of mana were quantified as one point of base mana, then before He Sheng's breakthrough, his mana purity coefficient had been 1.0, making his total mana value 3,600 points.

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

His total mana value was therefore as high as 7,200 points, naturally making him twice as strong as before.

He Sheng's face was full of delight. The Subtle Ripple Intent Realm truly was formidable.

Not only had it allowed him to comprehend the water escape technique,

Its divine sense enhancement could extend more than ten li farther,

After being integrated into his cultivation art, it had not only greatly improved the effects of breathing and refining qi,

It had also broken through the bottleneck that had trapped Brother Piao for three whole years in one stroke,

And it could temper mana, greatly increasing its purity.

"Yet, upon thinking it over carefully, that is only natural. After all, this was the genuine harvest of nearly ten years spent cultivating a high-grade spell.

If one cultivated the spell for three hours every day, it would take forty years.

At two hours every day, it would take a full sixty years!"

Not to mention that during that time, there would be long stretches spent stuck at bottlenecks, leaving the cultivator with nothing to show for it.

Brother Piao had been stuck at a cultivation bottleneck for three years, and his entire temperament had changed drastically, driving him into a mad rush to court death.

How many people were willing to spend decades polishing and comprehending spells day after day for an unknown reward?

What if there was no reward at all?

Moreover, although Foundation Establishment cultivators appeared to have lifespans of more than two hundred years, if they truly aspired to form a core, time was not actually so abundant. After all, gathering cultivation resources consumed vast amounts of time.

He Sheng organized Brother Piao's cultivation memories, combining them with the cultivation notes left by predecessors that Brother Piao had read, as well as what he had learned through exchanges with many Foundation Establishment cultivators.

He concluded that the cultivation of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators was mainly divided into three parts:

First, raise one's cultivation.

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

Second, gather resources.

Most of the remaining time would be spent honing one's own immortal arts in order to collect resources.

Third, raise combat strength.

In the end, most cultivators would use their remaining time to increase their combat strength.

The common choice was to refine magic artifacts. Especially after entering the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, refining a Nascent Dharma Treasure was the unquestioned choice for dramatically increasing combat strength.

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

"The cost-effectiveness of cultivating spells really is too poor. Its improvement to combat strength is also far less immediate than refining several top-grade magic artifacts, or a Nascent Dharma Treasure."

Not to mention that for those lacking comprehension, cultivating spells was merely cultivation. It was difficult for them to gain any enlightenment.

"It seems like a thankless choice, but as long as one invests enough cultivation time and possesses a certain degree of talent, one can reap enormous benefits far beyond the ordinary.

Perhaps this is a secret hidden within cultivation?"

Thinking of this, He Sheng raised his hand and glanced at the information displayed by the clepsydra water drop.

[Clear Ripple Water Control Art (Transcendent Mastery): 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 Transcendent Mastery realm, there will be new and greater gains?"

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

[Total currently available cultivation time: two months, nineteen days]

Clearly, this little bit of time was utterly insufficient for any improvement.

"Right now, sheltered by the water manor, not only has my mana fully recovered, I have even broken through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Even if those pursuing me come knocking, I will have a few more ways to maneuver..."

He Sheng was still calculating when, before he could finish speaking, a boom rang out, and the water manor began to shake as heaven and earth swayed.

"They really came knocking?!

This crow mouth of mine..."

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

But he soon discovered that spiritual energy fluctuations had suddenly arisen within the water manor, and dark, mysterious starlight flickered amid the rippling water.

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 manor's protective grand formation—the Starlight Water Wall Formation.

Under Old Turtle's control, the water manor swiftly stabilized.

Although enormous spiritual energy fluctuations occasionally came from outside the water manor gates, the water manor itself stood firm as a mountain.

"Could it be that Brother Piao's earlier sensing had truly been wrong?

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

He Sheng also noticed the strange point and was no longer in such a hurry to flee. He merely used the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm to enhance his divine sense, extending it beyond the water manor to investigate.

At a distance of less than one li, the youth outside the gates holding the jade ruler appeared in He Sheng's sea of consciousness in every minute detail.

"The one who struck through the air outside Ten Thousand Stars Mountain and instantly killed Brother Piao was this person!

He is actually only a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator, and his mana fluctuations are not much stronger than mine right now!"

He Sheng was deeply shocked. Earlier, through all sorts of clues, he had sensed that something was wrong and guessed that the other party was not a Core Formation cultivator.

But now that it had been confirmed beyond doubt that the other party was truly 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 Silver Sand River. He lacked no battle experience, and their cultivation levels differed by only a minor realm. How could he have been instantly killed by one strike from dozens of zhang away?

How could he have mistaken the other party for a Core Formation cultivator?

There must be... a huge problem in all 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 thing of all.

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 outside Quiet Meditation Cave. He Sheng immediately recognized that Old Turtle was checking on his condition.

"Best play it safe first."

With a thought, He Sheng immediately closed his eyes, putting on the appearance that he was still meditating.

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

Once.

Ten times.

A hundred times.

Until a flash of inspiration struck He Sheng. When he sank into the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm and recalled that memory once more, he finally discovered what was wrong!