Rustle, rustle.
A stirring sounded from within the grass.
A blood-red flower swayed in the wind, its roots buried in black soil.
At the very center of its bud, a snow-white fruit was ripening.
All of a sudden, the fruit matured. Just as it was about to fall, a figure flashed past.
The fruit left the bud and vanished without a trace.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
The flower suddenly went mad, but that figure had long since disappeared from sight.
Lu Qing's heart pounded. After leaving for quite some time, he sensed the snow-white fruit inside his storage pouch and could not help but feel his heartbeat quicken.
"Snow Spirit Fruit can improve one's comprehension when consumed. The effect varies from person to person, but even Five Spirits Liquid, which can improve comprehension and is currently available on the market, is listed among the expensive goods. Snow Spirit Fruit is even more precious than that. At the very least, every introduction I've seen has classified this fruit as exceedingly rare."
This was an unexpected harvest.
Lu Qing had initially chosen a direction and proceeded carefully. After passing through the initial dangerous situation, he had soon discovered that there was actually Snow Spirit Fruit here.
Even better, perhaps because the Trial Microcosm was simply too vast, Lu Qing had yet to see a single fellow Cultivator.
That was good news. The only difficulty was that Heaven-and-Earth treasures like this generally had companion demon beasts nearby.
Lu Qing observed for a while and found no traces of any large demon beasts here.
His gaze settled on the Snow Spirit Fruit vine.
That was the place where his instincts told him something was wrong.
"Who would have thought there was a demon beast so skilled at disguise?" But this demon beast was weak, which was why it needed to disguise itself.
If it had been like the Foundation Establishment demon beast from that earlier Ominous Hexagram, Lu Qing would have had no way to set his sights on the Snow Spirit Fruit.
Lu Qing stopped dwelling on it. He first surveyed the surroundings, then decisively picked a concealed spot and swallowed the Snow Spirit Fruit.
Snow Spirit Fruit ripened once it left its roots and rotted once it touched the ground.
Its medicinal effect only lasted the time it took to burn an incense stick.
After one incense stick's time, once the medicinal effect passed, the Snow Spirit Fruit would become a rotten fruit.
Lu Qing quickly chose to consume it.
The fruit melted the instant it entered his mouth, like swallowing a mouthful of ice and snow. It had neither the sweetness nor texture of an ordinary fruit, utterly plain and unremarkable.
But as Lu Qing sat down cross-legged, a clear, icy sensation swept through his mind.
It was as though, at that moment, all the confusion and doubts that had arisen during his previous cultivation underwent immense changes.
Those cultivation problems were no longer problems.
A faint change appeared in Lu Qing's aura.
His intangible increase in comprehension made his mind become clear.
This Trial Micro-Realm was rich in spiritual energy.
The Profound Heaven Origin Scripture began to circulate, drawing the surrounding spiritual energy into his dantian.
At first, the Spiritual Power within his meridians and dantian had been only a small stream. Now, it had truly taken the form of a small river.
"The Fourth Layer of the Qi Nourishment Realm."
When water filled to the brim, it overflowed. After cultivating for a month before this, not long after entering this place, an invisible ripple let Lu Qing cross that threshold without the slightest turmoil. He truly entered the Fourth Layer of the Qi Nourishment Realm—the Middle Qi Nourishment Realm.
In an instant, Lu Qing calmed the aura around him. He again circulated that thin technique for concealing his aura, and the aura from his recent breakthrough soon stabilized.
He opened his eyes, a trace of joy on his face.
"I've broken through. Now it's time to look for other things."
He was not greedy. Lu Qing did not believe that those Heavenly Prodigies who already had spirit beasts at their side would have no tricks up their sleeves.
Ever since the different rules for the Inner Academy and Outer Academy had appeared this year, this outcome had actually been predictable.
Lu Qing cautiously explored this Trial Micro-Realm while stuffing every item he could obtain into his storage pouch.
However, most of the things that appeared afterward were merely eighth- or ninth-grade spiritual herbs and grasses. There was nothing like the Creation of the Snow Spirit Fruit.
Since consuming it, Lu Qing had discovered that his mental state had become different from before. Another improvement was that the cycle at which his body absorbed Spiritual Power had also sped up by several degrees.
It seemed his Superior Aptitude had advanced a little further as well.
"It never said it could improve aptitude. I suppose that's an additional effect."
Naturally, this surprise was a good thing.
This Trial Micro-Realm truly was a small world. Not long afterward, Lu Qing discovered something resembling the transparent walls from his previous life. It blocked his vision, and he could not pass through it.
It seemed to be reminding the disciples who had come here that this was already the end.
Even so, it was clear that the Trial Microcosm covered a vast area. Only after five days did Lu Qing finally see signs of other people.
They were all disciples who had entered in the same batch.
Lu Qing's cultivation realm was higher than theirs, so naturally he could conceal it.
Cultivators had sharp ears and clear eyes, with keen hearing.
Even without encountering them face-to-face, he heard their voices from afar.
Moreover, because they were all staring at a spirit beast in the middle of a lake, the three parties facing off against one another, none of them noticed that someone was eavesdropping from afar.
"Hmph, the capable get the most! We're stronger than you! The fruit up there belongs to us!"
"Bullshit! First come, first served! Don't forget, there are three teams here. Do you think you can fight two against one?"
Of the three groups, the strongest auras were only at the First Layer of the Qi Nourishment Realm. Or rather, the strongest members of all three teams, on the surface, were at the First Layer of the Qi Nourishment Realm.
"Senior Brother Chang needs that demon beast's core. We don't care about the rest."
The third party interjected.
The moment they mentioned Senior Brother Chang, the expressions of the other two parties abruptly changed.
Meanwhile, Lu Qing had already greased the soles of his feet and slipped away.
He did not keep listening.
He also had the fruit on that tree in his storage pouch. It was mainly used to calculate points.
Along the way, it was not as though he had never encountered unbelievably powerful demon beasts, but he had relied on his Calamity Avoidance Talent to avoid them in advance every time.
He decisively fled now.
He simply had not expected that a greatly ominous sign would arise here as well.
After that disciple spoke Senior Brother Chang's name with an arrogant, smug expression—
The omen abruptly appeared.
[Greatly Ominous Hexagram: Trial Microcosm, danger is brewing. Encountering a perilous situation, the Purple Mansion Venom Python turns over. Death is certain, greatly ominous.] [Calming Hexagram: Flee south, return to the place where you first landed. There will be no danger to your life, but a trace of Cause and Effect will arise. Calming.]
"Fuck."
Lu Qing could not help but curse aloud.
His scalp nearly exploded. That previous Foundation Establishment demon beast had not been enough, and now a Purple Mansion Realm being above Foundation Establishment had appeared?
What sort of combat power was that? Lu Qing did not know.
It was hazy, but without a doubt, this was a certain-death situation!
Almost the instant his mind finished scanning it, he immediately unleashed all the Spiritual Power in his body and fled south.
He blended into the forest below.
"Senior Brother Chang will be here soon. Do you really want to offend Senior Brother Chang?" someone behind him was still mocking.
Lu Qing could not yet transform into an Escaping Light. That required a Foundation Establishment cultivator to produce Divine Consciousness, with a Divine Soul powerful enough to envelop their body. Nor did he possess any movement technique or escape art.
So he kept running south.
Although he did not know what lay at the place where he had first landed, the situation was different now. Since there was no danger to his life, he naturally chose it without the slightest hesitation.
From afar, as he raced for his life, he also caught sight of countless rays of Spirit Light appearing beneath the clouds in the distance.
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