Cultivation knows no passage of ti. In the blink of an eye, a year had flown by.
Atop a peak on the Tier Three Spirit Land of Celestial Gate Mountain, a ssenger sword was circling before an array. But no matter how it flew, it could not break through.
Suddenly, a small opening appeared in the array. The sword seized the opportunity and quickly slipped inside.
Weaving past a few pine trees in its way, the sword finally landed in a fair hand.
A mont later, Fang Qingyuan tossed the sword back into the air. Watching it turn and vanish without a trace, he murmured to himself,
"Huo Cheng is back, and so is Heiye. They were gone for almost two years... They must have suffered greatly on this trip. My seclusion has just ended, too. It’s ti for to resu my duties as the head of the Miscellaneous Affairs Peak."
After muttering to himself, Fang Qingyuan surveyed the place where he had been in seclusion for a year. He laughed heartily and, with a wave of his hand, dismantled the array he had set up. Then, without any visible effort, he gracefully flew into the clouds and mist of the mountain ravine.
Over the past year, Fang Qingyuan had consud seven Purple Spirit Crystal Fish in succession. With the help of these rare Spiritual Objects, his cultivation had broken through two layers in one go, and he was now a Cultivator at Foundation Establishnt Third-Layer Perfection.
Unfortunately, the Purple Spirit Crystal Fish could only increase one’s cultivation level; they were of no help in breaking through bottlenecks. Otherwise, Fang Qingyuan would have surely waited until he broke through to the Foundation Establishnt Fourth Layer before ending his seclusion.
The first Spirit Fish saved Fang Qingyuan seven or eight years of arduous cultivation, but the second only saved him a little over six.
By the ti he ate the seventh, it only saved him two and a half years of arduous cultivation. The efficacy of the Spirit Fish dropped off sharply.
Therefore, after obtaining the Purple Spirit Crystal Fish, Fang Qingyuan hadn’t even considered trying to raise them in his Immortal Mansion. For one, he lacked the proper conditions. For another, they were becoming increasingly ineffective for him.
Purple Spirit Crystal Fish were not easy to raise. Unless a Golden Core Cultivator constantly watched over them, nourishing them with their Core Qi, the fish would not mate and lay eggs.
So, even with his Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan hadn’t considered raising the Spirit Fish. The most sensible course of action was to simply eat them all and increase his current strength.
’I wonder if Huo Bai’s Companion Beast, the White Tiger, will reach Foundation Establishnt Perfection after eating all those Spirit Fish,’ he mused.
On his way, Fang Qingyuan extended his Divine Sense into his Immortal Mansion to check on the changes within.
Now that his cultivation had surged to the Third-Layer Foundation Establishnt, the area inside the Immortal Mansion had correspondingly nearly doubled.
Every ti Fang Qingyuan’s cultivation increased by one layer, the Land Realm within the Immortal Mansion would expand by one-third.
A hundred-odd mu of new Black Land had been revealed, but Fang Qingyuan couldn’t be bothered with it for now. He planned to wait until he was done with sect matters before properly deciding how to use it.
After checking on the Black Land, Fang Qingyuan went to see how Jinbao was doing. The creature was in a deep slumber, its little feet kicking about wildly as it occasionally rolled over. It seed it was about to wake up.
Compared to the Bee Queen’s last hibernation, Jinbao’s slumber was much simpler. However, the duration was too short, so it most likely wouldn’t reach the Foundation Establishnt Realm after waking.
Fang Qingyuan wasn’t too concerned about that, however. The Southern Border Beast Taming Sect was very stable at the mont, and there was no need for Jinbao to personally join any battles.
Ever since the Chai Family’s public humiliation, they had been much more docile for the past two years. The retaliation Fang Qingyuan had anticipated never materialized in the Southern Border Territory.
Furthermore, according to the intelligence from their mole, Chai Miao, the Spirit Wood Alliance had spent the last two years focusing its main efforts on gathering information about the Wilderness Forest, with the remainder of its attention directed at the Artifact Talisman Alliance.
After two years of friction, the two major figures within the Artifact Talisman Alliance looked like they were about to co to blows.
’Once they start fighting, what benefits could our sect gain from it?’
Fang Qingyuan was preoccupied with these thoughts all the way to the Council Hall. When he arrived, he saw Heiye, who had been missing for the last two to three years.
At first glance, Fang Qingyuan noticed that Heiye had grown thin.
His once glossy and smooth fur was now dry and matted, and his entire being seed utterly listless.
Inside the great hall, only Lechuan, Huo Bai, Huo Cheng, and Heiye were present. The other Foundation Establishnt Disciples were not qualified to attend this eting.
Seeing this assembly, Fang Qingyuan knew that the topic they were about to discuss was highly unusual.
"Disciple Fang Qingyuan pays his respects to Master, my two Martial Uncles, and Senior Brother Heiye."
Upon entering the Council Hall, Fang Qingyuan perford the proper salutations. Among this group, he was the youngest, with the lowest cultivation and status.
When Lechuan saw Fang Qingyuan, his gaze swept over him briefly before he said with delight,
"You truly haven’t disappointed . To have already reached the Third-Layer Foundation Establishnt... Excellent."
Praised by Lechuan in front of the others, Fang Qingyuan quickly replied with humility,
"It is all thanks to Martial Uncle Huo Bai. If not for the Spirit Fish he brought back, I don’t know how much longer I would have been grinding away in the Early-stage Foundation Establishnt."
Lechuan patted Fang Qingyuan’s shoulder in approval, then added a reminder,
"Your cultivation has certainly increased, but you must rember this: Magical True Essence gained through external objects can never compare to True Essence Magical Power accumulated drop by drop through arduous cultivation. The latter will always be more perfectly attuned to your will."
"Therefore, in the coming years, you must continue to cultivate diligently. Don’t be in a rush to break through your bottleneck. First, focus on refining your Magical Power and purging it of its impurities."
"This will be of great benefit to you when you break through realms in the future. Whatever you do, do not blindly seek speed."
Listening to Lechuan’s guidance, Fang Qingyuan nodded in agreent. He understood his master’s aning—one could not go far by greedily chasing speed.
’Besides, I can use this ti while I’m refining my Magical Power to start practicing the Five Elents Undying Body,’ he thought.
’A Qi Refining Cultivator starting the Five Elents Undying Body from scratch would probably need thirty years just to reach the Foundation Establishnt Realm.’
’But since I’m practicing it from a higher realm, and I have the help of the Immortal Mansion and a highly compatible Five Elents Spirit Root, it should only take about three years to master the Qi Refining Realm portion of the Five Elents Undying Body.’
’In three years, once my Five Elents Undying Body has broken through to the Foundation Establishnt Realm and my Magical True Essence is fully refined, that will be the perfect ti for to break through to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishnt.’
After giving Fang Qingyuan his advice, Lechuan gestured to Huo Cheng.
"Senior Brother Huo, since everyone is here, please tell us the full story of your mission."
Huo Cheng didn’t look particularly disheveled, but Fang Qingyuan noticed that his appearance had aged sowhat.
’That’s not right,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. ’Golden Core Cultivators have long lifespans. A re year or two should be nothing to them.’
Sure enough, as soon as Huo Cheng opened his mouth, he revealed the greatest secret of the mission.
"That day, I took Martial Nephew Ling Ziqing and traveled to the Death Swamp. Following the signal transmitted by Heiye, I searched for a long ti before finally discovering a spatial rift."
"We passed through that spatial rift, only to find many more on the other side. Having no other choice, we continued onward."
"For so reason, these kinds of spatial rifts are far more nurous in the Death Swamp than in any other Land Realm. After passing through five or six rifts in succession, we finally found a trace of Heiye."
"But when I found Heiye, he was not alone. There were people from the Nanchu Sect with him!"
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