In an instant.
Xu Xuan felt his soul grow clear and refreshed.
Many obscure points in his past cultivation suddenly became clear.
His spiritual sense surged along with it.
It spread outward like a tide, instantly covering a radius of fifty zhang.
Every blade of grass and tree in the herb garden, even the wriggling insects and ants in the soil, was clearly reflected in the lake of his mind.
His perception and control of the spiritual energy around him also rose several levels.
He could manipulate it as nimbly as his own arms.
What delighted him even more was this.
A vigorous surge of vitality welled up from his Yellow Court and flowed through every limb and bone.
His somewhat decrepit body was like a withered tree greeting spring, brimming with renewed vigor.
His once dry skin regained its luster, his stiff joints became supple again, and even the white hair at his temples seemed to turn a few shades grayer.
The shackles of life had been broken.
His lifespan had actually increased by a full sixty years!
"Whew..."
After a long while, Xu Xuan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
A divine light lay within his eyes, and even the wrinkles on his face seemed to have faded somewhat.
Feeling the surging spiritual power and renewed vitality within him, a wave of soaring pride rose in his heart.
The Spirit Treasury Realm Yellow Court Phase!
He was finally another step closer to Qi Refining, with a lifespan approaching a hundred and fifty years.
Time was finally no longer pressing at his heels.
He now had more scope to lay his plans calmly and advance steadily.
The surge in his strength brought greater confidence and more possibilities.
He could practice more complex spells.
His spiritual sense was also strong enough to support attempts at crafting higher-grade talismans.
Yet, just as Xu Xuan was consolidating his new realm.
The atmosphere in the herb garden, and even throughout the Azure Wood Sect's outskirts, grew increasingly tense.
The news Xu An had passed along lately was growing ever more unsettling.
He mentioned that the strange sounds once heard only occasionally in the deep woods behind the herb garden had become much more frequent.
They sounded nothing like ordinary beasts roaring, but rather like something sharpening its nails.
Sometimes they were mixed with heart-chilling murmurs, particularly in the dead of night, making listeners' hair stand on end.
Some night-patrolling menial workers even swore that they had glimpsed a blurry black shadow flash past the edge of the woods beneath the moonlight.
It moved incredibly fast, unlike a living creature, more as though it had... floated past.
Numerous twisted patterns had also appeared at some unknown time in corners no one noticed.
These patterns were unlike any known talismans or writing.
Their lines were chaotic, yet faintly exuded a sinister air; looking at them for too long stirred disgust and irritation.
More alarming still, a small refined iron mine not far from the herb garden had suffered an unidentified attack late one night a few days earlier.
According to the disciples who escaped, the attackers had indistinct figures and used vicious methods.
Several low-ranking disciples guarding the mine had been killed or wounded, and the site was left in shambles.
What enraged the sect's higher ranks even more was this.
The elder who investigated afterward detected a powerful, sinister aura at the scene.
This was certainly not something ordinary demonic beasts or rogue cultivators could have done.
It seemed instead to have been caused by some sort of evil art!
These seemingly isolated incidents quietly gathered over the Azure Wood Sect like dark clouds.
Though the menial workers in the herb garden dared not speak openly, the unease permeating the air grew more apparent by the day.
When Xu Xuan ended his seclusion and stepped out of his residence, he could clearly sense the change.
He looked up toward the Azure Wood Sect's inner sect.
Clouds and mist still wreathed it, and an immortal air abounded.
It seemed wholly unaware of all this, or perhaps... utterly unconcerned.
"Those demonic whelps are growing more and more brazen!"
When Li Jiangping visited the herb garden recently, his expression was also extremely grim, and he complained to Xu Xuan in private.
"There seem to be differing voices within the sect as well."
"Some advocate a forceful purge, while others fear provoking a major war and urge restraint... Ah, what a troubled autumn this is!"
Alarm bells rang in Xu Xuan's heart.
Division within the sect and indecision among its leaders were no good signs.
With the demonic path pressing closer at every step, this was no minor disturbance.
The Azure Wood Sect was already caught in the storm.
Inside his quiet chamber.
Xu Xuan first sank his awareness into the jade slips he had copied.
With his powerful spiritual sense, he no longer stopped at a shallow understanding, but began studying them in depth.
He repeatedly worked through the fundamentals of formations, striving to understand the mysteries of every rune.
He carefully analyzed several techniques and pill formulas in the low-tier alchemy material that went beyond the Primer on the Hundred Herbs.
As for spells, he focused particularly on practicing the Aura Concealment Art and the Wind Command Art.
The former could conceal his movements, while the latter could prove highly useful when needed.
After opening his Yellow Court, his control over spiritual power had become more refined, making his practice of these spells twice as effective for half the effort.
He then used the conveniences of his position as herb garden steward to begin secretly collecting formation materials.
Some were scraps discarded during artifact crafting.
So long as their properties were suitable and they could just about be made into single-use Explosive Talisman Pellets or Accelerated Escape Talismans.
He quietly gathered those as well.
Everything was carried out under the cover of his daily work, attracting little notice.
At the same time, he instructed Xu An and the others to step up their intelligence gathering.
"Keep an eye on the mission hall. Look for long-term missions far from the border, taking people inland or to remote subordinate forces."
"Especially assignments involving resource-site inspections or postings at remote market towns. Record their locations and requirements."
He even had Xu An find ways to gather every rumor about fringe areas of the Southern Region where fragments of spirit veins might exist.
This was not merely to avoid the immediate danger.
It was also to seek possible places for the Xu Household to relocate.
Xu Xuan also carefully wrote a secret letter.
He had it delivered to Xu Ziyu with all haste.
He ordered him to begin immediately, gradually putting the Lineage's core assets in order without attracting attention.
Especially portable spirit herb seeds, pills, and copies of jade slips.
He was to draw up a list of core Lineage members and prepare to disperse into small groups and evacuate secretly if necessary.
The letter placed particular emphasis on one point.
The safety of the Lineage's children with spiritual roots had to be absolutely assured.
Having done all this, Xu Xuan stood alone beside the herb fields, gazing at the distant mountains shrouded in gathering dusk.
Wind filled the tower before the mountain rain; in this life, his roots had sunk deep into the Azure Wood Sect's soil.
All he could do now was seek support for the Lineage in advance.
As for himself, he had no intention of leaving.
After all, the Azure Wood Sect had survived for so many years; it would not fall so easily.
Even if it truly did collapse.
When one whale fell, countless things flourished.
He, too, would have to secure sufficient resources.
That day, the setting sun dyed the herb garden gold.
Xu Xuan was bent over in one corner, his fingertips lightly touching the leaves of a Mind-Calming Flower as he pretended to inspect their veins.
In truth, his spiritual sense had long since seeped silently underground like mercury.
He carefully sensed the minute flows of spiritual energy deep within the soil.
He was trying to discover whether any hidden spiritual hollows existed where he could take shelter in an emergency or set up a formation.
Just as his awareness faintly resonated with the earth veins.
An extremely faint presence suddenly came from the direction of the rear mountain.
It vanished in a flash.
Its speed was far beyond anything any menial worker or outer sect disciple in the herb garden could possess.
Finally unable to hold back, ready to make a move?
Xu Xuan's gaze sharpened, and he immediately concealed his entire aura, slipping into the shadows of the vegetation.
With his current Aura Concealment Art, he was extremely difficult to detect unless a Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator deliberately searched for him.
Using the furrows and plants in the herb fields as cover, he quietly followed in the direction where that presence had vanished.
From a distance, he saw a blurry black shadow approach the herb garden's reserve spirit herb storehouse like a ghost.
The shadow moved with extreme caution, stopping from time to time.
It seemed to be probing the simple warning restrictions around the storehouse, or perhaps confirming something.
Xu Xuan held his breath and focused, watching calmly from his hiding place in the darkness.
He did not beat the grass and startle the snake, merely noting the person's physical characteristics and route in silence.
Is the target the reserve spirit herbs in the storehouse?
There are plenty of these low-grade spirit herbs, but their value is limited...
Or is there some hidden secret in the storehouse itself, or somewhere nearby?
Xu Xuan's thoughts raced as he rapidly weighed the various possibilities.
The storehouse's protective restrictions were low-grade and served mainly as a warning.
They guarded against gentlemen, not villains.
If demonic cultivators could easily breach them with help from an insider, the resulting losses would be secondary.
The crucial issue was the severe blow it would deal to the sect's morale.
The enemy might even exploit it to create greater chaos.