Something Strange Always Hides a Demon
With the Cultivation Method room completed, the Lingxian Sect no longer used the classrooms of the Lingxian Academy for evening classes, but instead moved to the Path of Cautious Conduct.
However, there is no connecting road between the mountain where Path of Cautious Conduct is located and Azure Cloud Peak, and many disciples in the Qi Refining Stage have not yet unlocked the sword flight skill.
Therefore, every evening after dinner, the sect would arrange for spirit boats to pick everyone up and take them to class.
I'll return them to them after class.
This also saves time.
Lin Xiao wasn't in a hurry to have the Azure Cloud Peak disciples repair the road.
While sect traditions should be continued, it's important to consider the specific circumstances.
Right now, everyone's time is already fully occupied with cultivation, work, and other things, so there's really no time to repair the road.
Let's wait until everyone has made progress in their Cultivation Method and their cultivation level has increased before making any further moves.
Road construction was easier back then.
During those ten days, He Yi did nothing else but quietly circle the entire North Mountain Range all by himself.
In fact, he didn't know that the territory of the Lingxian Sect was the entire North Mountain Range; he was walking around the Lingxian Sect's protective formation.
It was eventually discovered that this protective formation perfectly enveloped the entire North Mountain Range.
Meanwhile, during his time in Xiushui Village, he also discovered a faint aura of Demon Beast emanating from a valley a little past the village's Grave Mountain.
He had investigated that valley. Although the remaining demonic Demon Beast aura was very faint, after carefully analyzing a wisp of it, he discovered that the original owner of this aura had a very high level of cultivation.
It's roughly equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm of cultivation.
What's strange is that this Demon Beast aura also contains a very faint trace of the aura of Spirit-Devouring Beast.
Having spent a year traveling through the Spiritless Land, He Yi had become very familiar with the aura of the Spirit-Devouring Beast, so it was still somewhat strange that he suddenly noticed it now.
How come Spirit-Devouring Beast have appeared in the Mortal Realm as well?
What's even stranger is that, given how incredibly weak this aura of the Spirit-Devouring Beast is, it doesn't seem to come from a complete Spirit-Devouring Beast at all.
However, this aura had clearly lingered here for quite some time. It couldn't have been that the Nascent Soul Demon Beast had killed and eaten the Spirit-Devouring Beast.
Besides, no Demon Beast would feed on Spirit-Devouring Beast.
This creature provides absolutely no benefit to cultivators or Demon Beast who cultivate with Spiritual Qi; in fact, it can even be harmful.
With these questions in mind, He Yi also took the opportunity to investigate the area around the valley.
As a result, they unintentionally discovered an area with an exceptionally clean aura, completely untouched by any trace of the remaining demonic Demon Beast's aura.
Logically, it shouldn't be like this.
Because that Demon Beast had a very high level of cultivation, and it must have stayed here for a long time, its aura had penetrated deep into the valley and even the surrounding area.
This clean area stood out starkly amidst the overwhelming aura of Demon Beast.
It's as if someone used some method to completely erase this space.
He Yi investigated diligently for a long time, but found no new clues.
However, the closest sect to this place is Lingxian Sect, so this matter must be related to this sect in some way.
He Yi n't see anything further, so he had to put the matter aside for the time being.
He stood among the crowd in Xiushui Village, looking up at the Heart-Questioning Road not far away.
Although all the information available so far seems to have nothing to do with the Execution Stone incident, the more and more information He Yi has learned about the Lingxian Sect along the way, the more interested he has become in this sect.
The Lingxian Sect has a very good reputation, and its public image is that of a selfless sect that cares for mortals.
But do such sects really exist?
In the Mortal Realm, where extraordinary power is extremely limited compared to ordinary people, cultivators are almost equivalent to supreme beings. There really are sects that are mainly composed of cultivators, and they do not treat mortals with indifference or superiority, but rather provide them with various appropriate assistance.
This is truly illogical.
Something unusual must be going on.
This is one of the principles that He Yi has adhered to for many years in the Immortal Cultivation Realm.
I just don't know what kind of "demon" this Lingxian Sect possesses, that they would need to gain the reputation of mortals who are no different from ants to most cultivators...
However, now that he has come all the way to the foot of the Lingxian Sect Mountain, he has gathered all the information he could find out about the outside world, and there is nothing more he can learn.
It seems that if one truly wants to know its inner workings, one must go and meet the legendary Lingxian Sect.
--
"Boom--"
A loud bang shattered the tranquility within the Lingxian Sect.
After being alerted, everyone in the sect rushed to the source of the loud noise— the Alchemy Chamber.
When Lin Xiao and the others arrived at the Alchemy Chamber, they saw that although the Alchemy Chamber, reinforced by multiple magic arrays, still maintained its intact appearance, its fragile state, which was about to collapse, was immediately apparent.
At this moment, Liao Pantu and Sun Yigao came out from inside.
Liao Pantu, being a spirit, appeared to be in good condition, but Sun Yigao looked rather disheveled, and even his sect uniform, which had been upgraded several times for its defensive capabilities, was torn in many places.
It's obvious these two have blown up their alchemy furnace.
However, they didn't show any signs of shock or sadness on their faces; instead, they looked full of regret.
"Sigh, we should have waited until your cultivation level was higher," Liao Pantu said to Sun Yigao as he walked out.
Sun Yigao nodded with a look of regret:
"Master is right. If my cultivation were higher, I would be able to stabilize the aura of the pills inside the furnace."
"Just a little short." Liao Pantu sighed.
"What a pity," Sun Yigao echoed.
A group of people who heard the commotion immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed over, only to find the master and apprentice singing in harmony.
Having overheard the gist of the conversation, Lin Xiao asked, puzzled:
"It's just an oven explosion, right? If it doesn't work this time, we can try again next time."
Jiang Youfu was also puzzled:
"Yeah, why do you all look so regretful and disappointed?"
Liao Pantu turned and glanced at them, sighed regretfully, and said nothing.
Sun Yigao replied somewhat embarrassedly:
"One of the main ingredients used in this alchemy experiment is the Quenching Ice Essence. We failed many times before because of problems with the selection of materials, but this time, after using the Quenching Ice Essence, the fusion of various medicinal materials was excellent, and the medicinal properties were able to perfectly enter the array patterns we inscribed with Spiritual Power in the Pill Furnace according to our set direction."
"Everything was about to fall into place, but at the crucial final moment, the furnace needed even more powerful Spiritual Power to stabilize it. However, my cultivation was insufficient. Alas."
The master and disciple have recently been conducting new experiments in refining elixirs, a fact known throughout the sect.
"This time, we were trying to combine elixirs with formations and weapon crafting. We anticipated that the final stage of deepening and stabilizing the energy would require stronger Spiritual Power, so we prepared Spirit Stone, Spirit Gathering Formation, and various elixirs to replenish Spiritual Qi. However, we didn't expect that it would not only require a continuous supply of Spiritual Qi energy, but also a great deal of strength in the Spiritual Qi energy," Liao Pantu added.
Upon hearing this, the onlookers exchanged bewildered glances, Mo Yuanjiao remained puzzled:
"What's there to regret? Just make sure you're fully prepared before starting another batch, right?"
This time, Sun Yigao and Liao Pantu didn't need to explain. Qin Jianghe, standing to the side, covered his face with one hand and said helplessly:
"That Quenching Ice Essence is a once-in-a-century find. I spent 50,000 Spirit Stone to buy it at the auction in Yuanling City. That was only because our sect has connections with the Yuan Household, and the Yuan Household patriarch didn't bid against us."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
Clearly, Sun Yigao and Liao Pantu also knew that such an opportunity was rare and precious, which is why they felt so regretful.
"I don't know when I'll be able to encounter this Quenching Ice Essence again," Liao Pantu sighed again.