The Spirit Lamp Advances

The Daoists and Dao soldiers marched east without stopping, keeping their steps in time with the elder leading them.

The militia, on the other hand, halted the oxen and horses pulling their carts, and the supply convoy came to a stop at the village entrance.

Li Xuanfeng, the personal disciple Lin Xu had met once before, descended on his cloud and stopped at the entrance to Peach Tree Village.

"Welcome, Senior Brother Li. What are your orders?" Lin Xu cupped his fists and bowed along with the others.

Li Xuanfeng's expression was stern. "The monastery master has ordered that, from today onward, Peach Tree Village will serve as a frontline supply base, responsible for escorting supplies and providing provisions. All able-bodied adults must take turns escorting the supply convoys. There must be no mistakes."

[Daily quest: Supply escort]

Objective: Transport three cartloads of provisions and two chests of talismans toward the underground city to the frontline camp each day. Village chief Chen Yuanfu will oversee all arrangements.

Time limit: Complete each day's escort before 07:00

Reward: Merit +1,500/day

Failure penalty: Merit -3,000/day

Lin Xu bowed and accepted the order.

Li Xuanfeng said nothing more. With a sweep of his sleeve, he rode away on his cloud.

Lin Xu watched his departing figure, but his mind was already racing through the matter. The daily escort quest seemed simple, but danger lurked everywhere in the Spirit Realm. The escort party could easily run into trouble, and the slightest mistake could cost them their supplies—or even their lives.

No matter how he considered it, he could not feel at ease leaving Wang Yue or Chen Yuanfu to handle the escort arrangements alone.

"The Spirit Realm is unpredictable, and the native NPCs are too poor at adapting to changing circumstances. I'll feel safest leading the team myself."

He glanced at the Xuanwei Monastery party as it receded into the distance, then turned to Wang Yue and Chen Yuanfu. "I'll personally take charge of the escort quest. Help inventory the supplies and organize the able-bodied adults into shifts. Make sure every batch of provisions and supplies sets out on time."

Wang Yue and Chen Yuanfu answered in unison and began inventorying the resources, arranging for laborers to put the supplies into the village warehouse.

Fortunately, Lin Xu had the villagers expand the warehouse ahead of time over the past few days, and now it was just what they needed.

Today's supplies had already set out with the Daoists and Dao soldiers, so no further escort was needed.

Lin Xu watched as the supplies from more than a hundred carts were slowly brought into the warehouse by ox cart.

He stood before the warehouse, checking each item against the list.

Most of the convoy's supplies consisted of sacks of coarsely milled spirit grain, which gave off faint fluctuations of Spiritual Qi. Bundles of talismans came next.

There were also several wooden chests containing sealed Spirit Stones, which glimmered faintly in the sunlight.

Most of the rest consisted of weapons and armor. Runic longbows, arrows, iron spears, and bronze shields were neatly stacked in wooden crates, their surfaces engraved with evil-warding runes.

Lin Xu ran a hand over a spear, and a faint tremor of spiritual power reached his fingertips. These weapons had long since been consecrated and ritually refined, prepared specifically to fight sinister entities.

His mind eased a little, and he promptly called Chen Yuanfu over. "Once the inventory is complete, store the talismans and Spirit Stones separately and assign someone to guard them."

Besides these common military supplies, Lin Xu also noticed several carts of spiritual materials. These were all resources needed to inscribe runes and set up formations.

"Red copper, white tin, purple gold. Good, everything's here." He looked at the spiritual materials held in the wooden chests and nodded in satisfaction, taking a little of each and scattering it into the Bright Light Lamp.

For the Bright Light Lamp to advance further, it needed enough spiritual materials to temper its body. He had lacked the resources before, but now that he had all the materials, it was an excellent opportunity to raise the spirit lamp's grade.

In the quiet room, the Bright Light Lamp was lit in Lin Xu's hands as he sat cross-legged. Its flame suddenly brightened, changing from bluish white to golden red and casting a gentle warmth on his face.

The flame flared, and specks of spiritual light seeped into the Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp, fusing grains of mineral sand deep into the spirit lamp while expelling impurities that condensed into black flakes and pattered down.

Inside the magic lamp, where the naked eye could not see, tiny seal characters gradually took shape under the wash of the spiritual flame. They slowly formed a complete chapter, like stars returning to their places, and a runic formation came together of its own accord.

The spiritual light gradually steadied. Amid the flickering lamplight, the magic lamp hummed and trembled gently, its once-rough body gradually turning crystalline and translucent under the tempering of the spiritual flame.

Mysterious runes emerged on its surface, forming arcane patterns that resonated and trembled with the wick.

The lamplight shone into the depths of Lin Xu's sea of consciousness, where a complete runic formation slowly unfolded. Countless runes flowed like a galaxy, faintly echoing the fluctuations of his consciousness as they linked together into a force, like the heavenly river hanging upside down and divine light streaming through the crown of his head.

At that moment, the spirit lamp and his body quietly resonated. As the flame flickered, it seemed to become a third eye, seeing through the flow of Qi throughout his body.

Lin Xu immersed his mind in the flame. He felt his spiritual platform grow clear and his sea of consciousness turn mirror-bright. Thousands upon thousands of seal characters arranged themselves into a formation within it, laid out like stars, their lines and connections distinct.

In the Thought Overclocking state, wisdom surged like an abyssal sea. Spiritual light coalesced into tangible chains of deduction in his sea of consciousness, linking everything he had learned, breaking it down and reconstructing it piece by piece.

A flash of spiritual light suddenly pierced through his sea of consciousness. Lin Xu's eyes flew open, and the Bright Light Lamp in his hand hummed. Its flame formed the shape of a lotus, and the core of the runic formation had already stabilized.

His breathing was long and even as he sensed that the spirit lamp had risen one grade.

"Unfortunately, my cultivation is still a little lacking. Once I break through to the Day Wandering Realm, I can refine the Bright Light Lamp into a Spirit Light Lamp in one go, doubling its power."

Item: Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp

Quality: Cyan, rare

Category: Magic artifact

Lamp oil: 134/150

Effects: Lamp Kindling Spirit Transformation Chapter cultivation speed +30%, spellcasting cost -15%, [Evil-Warding Light Mantra], [Spirit Gathering] mana recovery +5%; continuously restores lamp oil at 1 point per minute

Description: The spirit lamp's flame is solid as a pearl. At night, rings of light can be seen flowing through it, like a galaxy revolving in the heart of the lamp, illuminating the darkness and ignorance of the netherworld.

The lotus-shaped flame slowly contracted into a point of starlight and sank into the wick. Lin Xu gently stroked the lamp's side with his fingertip. It felt warm and smooth as jade, and faint fluctuations of spirituality emanated from it, seemingly echoing his mind.

The treasured lamp would now absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi on its own and could keep burning without consuming additional lamp oil.

You're a mature spirit lamp now. You need to learn to support yourself.

For Lin Xu, from now on, as long as he held the bright lamp, it would illuminate his sea of consciousness even if he did not actively cultivate, constantly expanding the boundaries of his spiritual awareness, cleansing his spirit, and nourishing his spiritual sense.

"Talismans, artifact refining, formations..." Lin Xu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze shifting slightly as it reflected the wick's lingering glow. "I have too much to catch up on. I have to fill in the gaps as quickly as possible."

At the thought that Xuanwei Monastery was about to wage a great battle against the underground city, a sense of urgency welled up in him.

Once the flames of war were kindled, regardless of victory or defeat at the front, Peach Tree Village, as a supply transfer point, would become a thorn in the enemy's eye.

He had to give Peach Tree Village the strength to protect itself before the turmoil of war reached it.

At that thought, Lin Xu's gaze fell on the makeshift prison in the village.

After he subdued the Evil Eye, the underground city troops captured in the last battle had all remained imprisoned there. Too much had happened over the past two days for him to find time to deal with them.

"Dharma Seeds are very fragile. They can only be implanted with the recipient's cooperation." He stood outside the prison, observing the captives' condition.