Chen Shuangbai sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness and once again arrived beside the jade pool.
"What... what exactly is this?"
The jade pool was perfectly square, and patterns Chen Shuangbai could not understand were engraved on its walls. When he tried to examine them closely, his thoughts grew hazy and sluggish, and he nearly fell asleep.
But in the next instant, for some reason, Chen Shuangbai suddenly knew the name of the jade pool.
"Jade Platform Lotus Marsh?"
"Moon Soul True Water!"
Chen Shuangbai carefully read through the new memories in his mind. A moment later, he drew a sharp breath.
"This is actually a scene that accompanied the Dao Fruit!!!"
Chen Shuangbai withdrew his consciousness from his sea of consciousness and found a small, exquisite jade platform in his hand.
"It can actually take physical form?"
According to the information the [Dao Fruit] had imparted to Chen Shuangbai, the Spirit Platform Lotus Marsh was its accompanying scene.
The so-called Moon Soul True Water was created when the lotus marsh absorbed and transformed spiritual liquid. It could nourish the soul and purify Law Power, and could even aid cultivators with water- and wood-aspect Spirit Roots in their cultivation!
Within the Spirit Platform Lotus Marsh, it had another incredible use-nurturing Dao Seeds!
Dao Seeds could be the seeds of Spirit Roots of heaven and earth, or the eggs of certain spirit beasts and spirit insects.
After being nourished with Moon Soul True Water for several years, anything whose life force had not been completely extinguished could be saved and even hatched anew.
"This... this is practically stealing the fortune of heaven and earth!"
A storm of towering waves surged through Chen Shuangbai's heart.
He could not help thinking of something!
That mutated Crown Gold Insect!
But after his wild delight came cold reality.
For Moon Soul True Water was not so easy to produce.
Only a liquid of at least spiritual water quality could be placed in the lotus marsh and transformed.
But the inherited information also said that if he came across high-quality heavenly materials and earthly treasures of the moon aspect, he could put them in the lotus marsh to speed up the transformation and even greatly increase its purity.
"Forget it. I shouldn't reach for the stars with my feet off the ground."
"Even if there is a mother insect, its strength would be equivalent to peak Qi refinement. I should build up my own strength first."
Another month passed.
Somewhere on the summit of Lesser Yang Peak.
Chen Shuangbai stood at a spot on the summit. With a thought, the Cold Spring Sword at his waist let out a soft hum and flew from its sheath.
The Cold Spring Sword floated before him, its deep-blue blade glinting with a piercing chill in the sunlight.
"Rise!"
Chen Shuangbai's thoughts stirred.
The Cold Spring Sword rose at his command, becoming a streak of deep-blue, icy light. It circled within three zhang of him, agile as a swimming fish, and its innate chilling effect was quite formidable as well.
A layer of frost swiftly spread across the surface of everything the Cold Spring Sword touched, be it vegetation or rock.
"Slash!"
Chen Shuangbai gave a low shout, and spiritual power surged into the sword. A large boulder not far ahead was silently cleaved in two, a layer of frost clinging to the cut.
The Cold Spring Sword flew out of it, flashing with a brilliant, icy light.
"Its power is truly great, and its innate chilling effect is extraordinary too."
During that month,
Chen Shuangbai had not dared slacken in the slightest, cultivating all day long.
He had also reached the beginner level in both the Moonlight Spirit-Nourishing Instruction and the Artifact Control Technique.
Just then,
clear bell chimes suddenly rang out from the mountain gate.
Chen Shuangbai put away the Cold Spring Sword, climbed to a high vantage point, and gazed into the distance.
"It seems... people from another sect have come."
By the time he returned to the disciples' quarters on Crisp Spring Peak, he had learned that the visitors were from the Empty Sword Sect.
There were five immortal sects in the Jing Kingdom.
Besides the Jade Spring Sect, which Chen Shuangbai had joined, there were the Empty Sword Sect, the Heart-Eroding Stronghold, the Great Buddha Temple, and the Spirit-Seeking Sect.
The Empty Sword Sect primarily cultivated the Dao of the sword. Its sect was located on East Sword Mountain to the southwest, and its members, from top to bottom, were bright-eyed and handsome, with an otherworldly bearing. Its relationship with the Jade Spring Sect could be considered fairly good.
The visitor from the Empty Sword Sect this time was its Elder Yunyang, whom an inner sect elder of the Jade Spring Sect had personally welcomed inside.
As for what important business had brought him there, that was not something an outer sect disciple like Chen Shuangbai could know.
With his merit points running low, Chen Shuangbai also found time to visit the Expenditure Hall and accept a task to cull Azure-Backed Boars.
As for the merit points He Qi had lent Chen Shuangbai...
Although He Qi had said there was no need to pay them back so soon, Chen Shuangbai always felt uncomfortable all over, as though he owed He Qi something.
The Shattered Star River flowed out of the Sunken Jade Disc Cold Pool at the center of Sunken Jade Valley, wound through the mountains, and finally joined the Clear River, the second-largest river in the Jing Kingdom.
A dense forest lay on the outskirts. It had been named the Rime Forest because of the unique, beautiful rime that appeared there in winter.
Nourished by the Spiritual Qi of the Shattered Star River, the Rime Forest produced an abundance of unique spiritual herbs and flowers.
Its unique environment also gave rise to many Demon Beasts.
The Azure-Backed Boar was one of them.
Outside the area, it would have been called a Loess Pig. Perhaps because the water-aspect Spiritual Qi in the Rime Forest was so abundant, it had adapted and become the Azure-Backed Boar.
Azure-Backed Boars had thick hides and tough flesh, and their strength was boundless. Their pair of tusks in particular could easily smash through a large tree.
Because they had mutated, they could also cast some low-level water-aspect Law Techniques, making them a considerable nuisance to outer sect disciples in early Qi refining.
But their meat contained a little Spiritual Qi and was a major source of meat for the sect's dining hall. Their hides and bones could also be used to refine low-grade talisman paper or Law Treasures, so the sect issued tasks to control their numbers year-round.
For some unknown reason, the number of Azure-Backed Boars had recently risen quite a bit, and they had ruined many spiritual flowers and herbs in the Rime Forest. As a result, many more tasks had been issued.
After accepting the task, Chen Shuangbai did not hurry to set out. Instead, he first returned to his cave abode and organized what he would need for the trip.
The Jade Spring Sect treated its people fairly well.
Every disciple who reached the third layer of Qi refinement could go to the Expenditure Hall and receive a Storage Bag for free.
Of course,
its storage space was limited.
Chen Shuangbai took inventory of what was currently in his Storage Bag:
The mid-grade Law Artifact, the Cold Spring Sword, naturally went without saying.
Two Light Body Talismans, one Vajra Talisman, and one Ice Condensation Talisman, all acquired at Cloud Peak Market.
Besides those, he had two bottles of Qi Recovery Pills to restore his Law Power and Hemostatic Powder for treating external injuries.
Anything else would have been somewhat superfluous.
Chen Shuangbai also went to the Expenditure Hall and obtained a map of the terrain near the sect. Once everything was ready, he spent the night regulating his breathing.
Early the next morning,
Chen Shuangbai quietly left the sect and used the Wind Control Technique to speed toward the Rime Forest.
He had exchanged for the Wind Control Technique half a month earlier at the Scripture Hall cave abode.
When he used it, his body became as light as a swallow, and he could briefly ride the breeze and fly through the forest. It gave him a taste of the imposing style of a Foundation Establishment senior.
Two days later,
Chen Shuangbai arrived at the outskirts of the Rime Forest.
Looking down at the verdant, dense forest below, with its towering trees and luxuriant branches and leaves, Chen Shuangbai admired the scenery while his thoughts turned longingly to flying Law Treasures.
"If I had a flying Law Treasure, I wouldn't have to suffer through all this starting and stopping, would I?"
He put the thought aside and walked into the Rime Forest.