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He studied Azure Cloud Dao Ancestor's notes day and night, trying to find a way to resolve his current predicament.

Shen Duheng was also trying to help him.

The two of them spent several days trying to figure it out.

Finally, Shen Duheng sealed away the Spiritual Power within him.

He is completely unable to use Spiritual Power.

Under these circumstances, he was able to barely control his breathing.

Shen Duheng frowned and said, "This isn't a long-term solution. You need to reach the Core Formation Stage as soon as possible to further conceal your aura."

"I'd like to, but I still don't understand," Shan Heyuan sighed. "I feel like there's no bottleneck between Foundation Establishment and Core Formation, but I don't know why I can't seem to take that step."

"Let's see in a few days. If it really doesn't work, I'll take you to another continent to look for a solution when you're on vacation."

Shan Heyuan managed to seal the Spiritual Power, and then went to work.

Because he had something on his mind, he didn't have a good time at work this time, and he was visibly agitated.

Now that the situation has changed, Shan Heyuan dares not be alone at all and goes out with Jiang Zhi and the others every day.

Seeing his furrowed brow, Jiang Zhi, who had endured it for two days, finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked him during lunch, "Aren't you doing just fine? Your cultivation is steadily improving, you're receiving praise at work, your superiors like you, your disciples adore you, and Senior Shen even picks you up and drops you off at work every day. What are you worried about?"

Shan Heyuan sighed, "I feel like I'm close to Core Formation, but something keeps getting stuck in my way, and now I can't even use my Spiritual Power properly."

Jiang Zhi returned his gaze with a complicated look. "Everyone experiences a bottleneck period. Look at us, I've been stuck for almost eight years."

Li Jian said calmly from the side, "Eleven years."

Jiang Zhi: "Exactly. How common is it for cultivators to get stuck in a bottleneck period? You were stuck just a few months ago, and then you solved it. That's much better than our situation, where we're stuck for many years and never seem to be able to solve it."

Shan Heyuan's eyes darted around nimbly, and he decided not to say anything more.

He didn't speak, but his eyes and expression clearly conveyed the meaning: it's definitely more difficult for you guys.

Jiang Zhi, watching from the side, almost laughed in exasperation. He slapped him and said, "I'm just offering you unnecessary comfort."

Shan Heyuan leaned on the table, clasped his hands in thanks, and said, "Thank you, brother."

The three of them weren't very strong in cultivation, ranking at the bottom of the entire Planting Institute. Their only strength was their combat power, making them a pair of unfortunate brothers.

This is one of the reasons why they get along so well.

It's really not appropriate to discuss such heavy topics during a pleasant lunch break.

Shan Heyuan changed the subject and asked, "What do you all do during your vacation?"

Jiang Zhi: "Let's go home and reunite with my parents. I haven't seen them for years; I need to stay here for a while."

Li Jian: "I'm going out with a hunting team to collect the Spirit Plant and materials we'll be using later. Brother Shan, what about you?"

Shan Heyuan: "I haven't figured it out yet, but Shen Duheng said we might need to go out for a while to see if we can find an opportunity to Core Formation."

Jiang Zhi immediately extended a warm invitation. "In that case, would you like to come visit my hometown? My home is in Ze Province."

After saying that, Jiang Zhi added, "That is, the Zeming Continent. The people of Sword Reverence City like to call it the Continent, but we all call it the State."

Shan Heyuan: "Okay, I'll go back and ask him what he thinks."

Shan Heyuan has never been to other continents and is quite eager to go and see them.

When he got home, he asked Shen Duheng directly what his plans were.

Shen Duheng said, "Let's go to Fu Province first, where Spirit Jade Palace is located. I have some business to attend to there. After we're done, if you still want to go to Ze Province, we'll head Ze Province."

"What is it? Is it related to cultivation?"

"No, I'm going to see an old friend."

Upon hearing that he had important business to attend to, Shan Heyuan immediately said, "I have no objections. You make the arrangements, and I'll follow your instructions completely."

It's already the end of the semester, and the teachers are quite busy. Shan Heyuan has already taken care of the Spirit Plant, and now he only needs to prepare Spirit Plant for the disciples to use in the exams.

After the disciples finished their exams, he watered the Spirit Plant, fertilized them, and then handed them over to the servants at the Sword Reverence Academy to take care of. That marked the end of the semester.

Overall, he started his vacation earlier than Jiang Zhi and Li Jian.

After the holiday, Shen Duheng immediately packed his things and took him to Fu Province.

Fu Province is tens of thousands of miles away from their home Guangping Continent, and it would be impossible to get there in just one month even by relying on flying swords and spirit beasts.

They need to use the teleportation array to get to Fu Province.

Sword Reverence City has a teleportation array, but it's located below the Sword Reverence Sect, quite a distance from their academy.

Shan Heyuan doesn't usually need to go there, and he hasn't even visited during holidays. This is his first time coming to the teleportation array.

He assumed the teleportation array would be built in the plaza.

Unexpectedly, the teleportation arrays were built inside individual stone chambers.

These stone chambers were extremely large, tall, and spacious, reminding Shan Heyuan of airports on Earth.

The teleportation chambers are interconnected by long corridors.

Shan Heyuan turned to look at the signs around him and discovered that there was a special teleportation room for each specific location he was teleported to.

This is point-to-point teleportation, and cannot be done arbitrarily.

That sounds pretty amazing.

They were going to Fu Province, and the teleportation fee alone would cost three thousand Spirit Stone per person, which was more expensive than most Foundation Establishment level Spirit Plant.

The two of them will need 6,000 to go and 6,000 to come back, totaling 12,000. If they don't succeed this time, they'll really be in big trouble.

Just as Shan Heyuan was lost in thought, they had already approached the teleportation room that would transport them to Fu Province. There were quite a few people inside, and two staff members were checking them and distributing teleportation devices to them one by one.

After the inspection was completed, the staff left, and the teleportation room returned to its dim state. Then, the surrounding runes lit up, illuminating everything with a bright white glow.

The instruments they wore also lit up.

The process was very short. Shan Heyuan stood inside and only felt dizzy for a moment. Apart from that, he did not feel any other discomfort.

The runes quickly dimmed again, Shan Heyuan noticed that another door had opened in front of the teleportation room, not the one they had just entered through.

He couldn't help but grab Shen Duheng's arm. "What's the principle behind this?"

Shen Duheng: "We briefly entered another dimension through runes. Now, by opening different doors and walking out, we arrive at different places."

"Is an alternate dimension a space connecting two places? Can teleportation arrays be used in all places?"

"No, it depends on whether the space is stable, whether the Spiritual Power is sufficient, and so on. There are quite a few things to be careful about inside. I'll find some ancient texts for you when we get back."

The two talked as they walked out.

Outside were more interconnected stone chambers. They followed the crowd out and eventually arrived at the large square outside.

It's already summer in Sword Reverence City, the hottest time of the year.

However, Sword Reverence City is located in a mountainous area, so the heat is limited.

The Qingmian City in Fu Province, where they were standing, was like an oven. As soon as they came out, they felt the dryness in the air, as if they had been quickly dehydrated from the inside out. It was dry and hot, much more uncomfortable than Sword Reverence City.

Even though Shan Heyuan was Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was finding it hard to bear at this moment.

He raised his hand and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, then followed the crowd out.

As soon as he stepped outside, he immediately saw many locals coming and going.

These locals rode enormous, ostrich-like mythical beasts, adorned with garlands around their necks and on their heads, and beamed with radiant smiles.

Unlike those in Sword Reverence City, they also wore revealing clothing, covering only their vital parts and exposing their bare, slender arms and legs.

Most of them have great physiques, with beautifully defined muscles.

Not only do they not look bad in this outfit, but they also exude a unique exotic beauty.

Shan Heyuan slightly opened his mouth.

He was used to seeing the well-dressed cultivators of Sword Reverence City. Even the beauties who paid special attention to their appearance rarely wore so little. As a result, he had the misconception that the cultivation world was conservative, or at least the customs of the people were relatively conservative, and that the dressing of individual cultivators was a matter of personal style.