Spirit Mist Mountain's Blessed Land

At dawn the next day, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

The three of them set out for Spirit Mist Mountain.

Spirit Mist Mountain lay among the peaks nine hundred li east of Yunlan City, not far by their standards.

They boarded a carriage pulled by a spirit steed. It was swift and steady, gliding over the road as though it were level ground, and they reached the foot of Spirit Mist Mountain without trouble.

Lin Chen looked up. A majestic mountain rose amid the surrounding peaks, wreathed in vast swathes of spirit mist.

It was no ordinary fog, but mist born naturally of the dense spiritual energy there, lingering all year round.

That was how the mountain had gotten its name.

Lin Chen marveled inwardly.

Chen Ping then took out a token and sent a message through it. Before long, someone emerged from the mountain.

"Are you the newly arrived Young Master Lin Chen?"

A middle-aged man cupped his hands as he asked, his gaze sweeping over the Purple-Gold Token at Lin Chen's waist.

"I am." Lin Chen returned the greeting.

"I'm Sun Rong, responsible for receiving martial artists assessed as having first- or second-tier potential."

Sun Rong continued, "I heard a month ago that a prodigy had joined the guild. At last I get to meet you. Young Master Lin Chen, please follow me."

Lin Chen nodded and entered Spirit Mist Mountain with Liu Yun.

As for Chen Ping, his assignment was complete now that he had escorted Lin Chen into the mountain.

He would return to the guild branch in Yunlan City.

Sun Rong led Lin Chen to a lodge on the upper mountainside. A wooden plaque above the courtyard gate bore the words "Bamboo Melody Pavilion."

"Young Master Lin Chen, martial artists with second-tier potential may live halfway up Spirit Mist Mountain. Those with first-tier potential may live higher up, closer to the summit."

"At present, only one other person lives at this elevation."

As Sun Rong spoke, he handed Lin Chen a jade slip.

"It contains a detailed map of Spirit Mist Mountain and various points you should know. You can look through it at your leisure."

Lin Chen accepted the jade slip and swept it with his divine sense. A wealth of information flooded his mind, leaving him impressed by how thoroughly the Four Seas Merchant Guild had prepared.

"Sorry for the trouble."

"It's my duty." Sun Rong smiled. "If you have no other questions, I'll take my leave. Should you need anything, you can send your maid to find me at the bamboo building at the foot of the mountain."

After seeing Sun Rong off, Lin Chen returned to the courtyard.

Liu Yun had already begun tidying the residence of her own accord. She thoroughly cleaned the small building, then took bedding from her storage bag and made the beds with practiced efficiency.

"Young Master, I'll get the residence in order first, then familiarize myself with the mountain so I can handle your errands in the future."

Liu Yun spoke respectfully.

Lin Chen nodded. "See to it as you think best."

With that, Lin Chen headed for the residence's cultivation chamber. He could sense spiritual energy stirring inside, distinct from the rest of the building.

The moment he stepped in, cool, moist spiritual energy washed over him.

At the center of the room, the floor had been carved into a shallow pool several meters across instead of being paved with ordinary stone. Clear spring water bubbled within it, while a faint milky-white mist hovered above its surface.

"A spirit spring."

Lin Chen understood at once.

A spirit mountain was bound to have a spirit vein beneath it. This spring had been created by opening a fine channel to the underground vein through a special method, drawing spiritual energy upward and concentrating it into a spirit spring.

The pool was clear to the bottom. Only at the spring's center could Lin Chen see a thread of milky-white spiritual energy, fine as silk. It drifted slowly like a living thing, pure beyond measure.

"Such pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth. It can be refined directly."

A little surprised, Lin Chen opened his mouth and swallowed the thread of milky-white energy. He circulated the Three Revolutions Profound Origin Art to refine it.

In moments, he had refined that pure energy. It flowed through his body and finally settled in his dantian Qi Sea.

Then Lin Chen saw the experience beside his cultivation level jump by one hundred points.

"One wisp of concentrated spiritual energy is worth a hundred experience points?"

Lin Chen raised his brows, genuinely stunned.

If he had fifty such wisps to refine on the spot, wouldn't he break straight through to the second level of the Profound Martial Realm?

Lin Chen examined the spring closely.

The milky-white wisp was gone, but the spring itself still brimmed with spiritual energy.

At the rate it was gathering, though, another wisp would take roughly a month to form.

That meant a martial artist at the first level of the Profound Martial Realm

who secured a spirit spring of this grade would, even without seeking other resources or venturing out to fight, inevitably reach the second level of the Profound Martial Realm within three or four years simply by refining one wisp each month.

"No, wait."

Lin Chen recalled the information in the jade slip Sun Rong had given him.

The slip was detailed. It stated plainly that cultivation chambers connected directly to the underground spirit vein, where concentrated spiritual energy could form on its own, were assigned only to martial artists assessed as having first-tier potential.

Those with second-tier potential had cultivation chambers far better than anything outside the mountain, but no spirit spring to aid them.

At that thought, Lin Chen looked at the softly bubbling spring and shook his head.

"Money always flows to those who don't need it. Why would precious cultivation resources be any different?"

"The greater someone's talent and potential, the more resources they receive, until they leave everyone else far behind. It's always easier to give more to those who already have plenty than to help someone in need."

One wisp a month was still a great help to Lin Chen. Even after refining his Life-Bound Divine Artifact into the tier-three Starshatter Sword and mastering the first revolution of the Three Revolutions Profound Origin Art, his passive gains amounted to only about 199 to 216 experience points a month.

Refining a wisp each month would now give him another hundred experience points. That was no small gain.

Lin Chen nodded in satisfaction and was about to sit down to cultivate when a clear male voice came from outside the courtyard:

"Is my new neighbor home? Lu Mingxuan has come to visit."

Lin Chen paused, surprised that a neighbor had come calling.

He went downstairs and opened the courtyard gate. A man in blue-green robes stood outside.

The man looked about twenty-three or twenty-four, with handsome features and dark hair bound by a wooden crown. He had the air of a refined scholar. His aura was steady, and a faint breeze seemed to circle him. He clearly cultivated a wind-attribute art and had already reached the Profound Martial Realm.

"I'm Lin Chen. A pleasure to meet you, Fellow Daoist Lu."

Lin Chen cupped his hands.

Lu Mingxuan returned the greeting with a smile. After taking a look at Lin Chen, he said, "I live at Pine Waves Residence halfway up the mountain. I heard someone new had moved in today, so I came to introduce myself."

"Brother Lin, I sense sword energy within you. Are you a sword cultivator?"

"I am."

Lin Chen answered without hesitation.

"I thought so." Lu Mingxuan nodded.

"There aren't many sword cultivators on Spirit Mist Mountain. Besides you, there's Brother Zhao Yuanhao. He'll be delighted to hear another sword cultivator has joined us."

Lu Mingxuan spoke warmly and carried himself with humility. Talking to him felt like being met by a gentle spring breeze.

"I've only just arrived, so I hope I can count on your guidance, Fellow Daoist Lu."

Lin Chen spoke politely.

"We can help each other." Lu Mingxuan smiled.

"Life here is peaceful. Aside from cultivating, we often meet at the arena to discuss our arts and spar. You're welcome to join us sometime if you're interested."

They exchanged a few more pleasantries. Seeing that Lin Chen had only just arrived, Lu Mingxuan chose not to impose and took his leave.

Over the next half month, Lin Chen gradually met several other martial artists on the mountain, apart from those in seclusion.

He had not become close to them, but they got along well. The friendly atmosphere left him with a good impression.

That makes sense. Every martial artist admitted to Spirit Mist Mountain is young and has outstanding potential.

With no need to fight over resources and bright futures ahead of them, of course they're easygoing and friendly.

After a little thought, Lin Chen had his answer.

He couldn't help smiling.

Coming here was the right choice! The surroundings are excellent, the neighbors are friendly, and I can spar and discuss cultivation with them. This is what a place to cultivate should be.

If I cultivate here for a few years, how could my martial cultivation not soar?

With that thought, Lin Chen gazed into the distance. Peaks appeared and vanished through the spirit mist like a paradise on earth.

"Now it's time to focus on cultivation."

"In a world where martial power reigns, I'll begin by cultivating here in Spirit Mist Mountain's blessed land!"