After extorting spiritual energy from a third group of cultivators within ten days, Nan Yan’s primal spiritual energy recovered to about three-quarters of her peak level. During this process, she noticeably felt her spiritual power becoming more robust, her movements subtly aligning with nature.
Nan Yan recalled her master, Treasure Qi Tathagata, explaining that the threshold from the Nascent Soul to the Deity Transformation stage required comprehending one’s own Dao. The stronger the connection between spiritual energy and the myriad things of heaven and earth, the closer a cultivator came to finding the true source of the Great Dao.
Ordinary cultivators took varying times to break through: three to five days for Foundation Establishment, half a month for Core Formation, and a month for Nascent Soul. However, all Nascent Soul cultivators claimed that advancing to Deity Transformation required only a single thought, achieving it effortlessly.
Yet, for this single thought, countless Nascent Soul cultivators in the mortal realm studied tirelessly, with only a handful ultimately reaching Deity Transformation.
Comparing herself to other cultivators she’d encountered, Nan Yan sensed she was likely ahead of the pack. She released the mechanical bird given by Yuan’ang, which coincidentally sensed a direction near Red Hill Mountain. She decided to seek the spirit well he had mentioned.
After traveling through mountains and seas for days, Nan Yan thought she wouldn’t encounter other cultivators. However, one afternoon, just as she finished off a silver-ringed hyena and collected five earth-attribute spiritual energies, her white jade ring began to heat up unprecedentedly.
…Many people were approaching.
The rings sensed each other, becoming more precise with proximity. A cool sensation indicated allies, while heat warned of enemies.
Nan Yan felt she might have overdone the extortion lately. If the approaching group was led by an imperial son, she might face lethal consequences for her actions.
However, her recent travels had been purposeful. She was now less than a hundred li from Red Hill Mountain. If she pushed herself to break through…
Just as the thought crossed her mind, Nan Yan suddenly felt a purple light envelop her. Looking up, she saw an unorthodox cultivator chanting and manipulating a black-and-white magical ring, attempting to trap her.
So fast?!
Inwardly, Nan Yan reminded herself not to underestimate the world’s heroes. She reacted swiftly, sweeping her Buddhist beads to shatter the purple light’s constraint, then instantly teleported a hundred zhang away.
Sure enough, she heard an excited voice behind her:
“Imperial Son, this woman easily broke my confinement. She might have collected more spiritual energy than you! She’s a fat sheep!”
“Capture her!”
Nine figures swiftly flew in from all directions. Leading them was Lu Sheng, the You State imperial son whom Nan Yan had seen at the Dao Gave Birth to Heaven event, his legs encased in mechanical armor.
“It’s you again, you nun. How dare you extort from my You State people.” Lu Sheng was prepared. He immediately launched a volley of dragonfly-like mechanical constructs that seemed to come alive in the air, pursuing Nan Yan from all directions.
“I advise you to surrender. Considering you’re a woman, I’ll spare your life if you hand over your spiritual energy.”
Someone nearby laughed, “What about the energy she’s already refined?”
“What can we do? I heard Chen State’s imperial son treats her like a sister. Li Chi might dare to dual cultivate with her, but I won’t. Though if she’s willing, that’d be a win-win.”
Hearing the confident mockery behind her, Nan Yan slightly tugged at the corner of her mouth. She wasn’t afraid of them, but a mutual defeat wouldn’t benefit anyone in this situation.
However, those mechanical dragonflies were indeed formidable. In the blink of an eye, they were upon her. Nan Yan could almost see the exquisitely crafted needle-thin spikes embedded in their heads.
“Tch.”
Nan Yan frowned, her body flashing with Buddhist light. Unexpectedly, half an image of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara appeared, directly knocking away a cultivator who was too busy laughing to watch where he was going.
“What is this?!”
Though limited by spiritual power, only half of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara manifested. Nevertheless, its lotus seat, as large as a temple, sent chills down the spines of the unorthodox cultivators present.
“Is this a Buddhist technique? I’ve never heard of anything like this!”
Lu Sheng was also greatly startled. He quickly dodged the range of the unfolding lotus seat, only to see his mechanical dragonflies lose their spiritual power connection under the Avalokitesvara’s sealing light, clanging to the ground as mere ordinary iron.
This far exceeded everyone’s understanding of Buddhist cultivators. However, as an imperial son, Lu Sheng had exceptional qualities. He immediately calmed down and tapped his mechanical pouch, releasing hundreds of thin chains that vanished upon emergence.
“Try my Stealth Spirit-Binding Chains!”
Stealth Spirit-Binding Chains!
Nan Yan had experienced the power of these in the Beast-Sealing Grand Formation. This artifact could only be created by a master of mechanical arts. However, Lu Sheng was only at the Core Formation stage, so the Stealth Spirit-Binding Chains he could control were slightly weaker, able to conceal their presence but not the sound of their movement.
Nan Yan closed her eyes, expanding her auditory perception. She immediately discerned their trajectory and, to Lu Sheng’s shock, twisted her body to perfectly avoid the chains’ entrapment, fleeing towards Red Hill Mountain.
“I don’t believe this!”
Unable to even catch her with his sect’s ultimate treasure, Lu Sheng lost his composure. He was determined to capture her at all costs. After pursuing over ten li, suddenly everyone’s jade rings reacted.
Meanwhile, Nan Yan released a mechanical bird from her storage ring. As the bird frantically flapped its wings in a specific direction, her eyebrows raised slightly, a plan forming in her mind. She flew swiftly towards the new direction her white jade ring sensed.
Sure enough, just as the You State cultivators unleashed a barrage of mechanical constructs towards Nan Yan, a five-colored light, neither thunder nor wind, suddenly swept across from afar. The flying mechanical constructs immediately experienced chaotic spiritual energy, teetering in the air.
Lu Sheng, exasperated, shouted, “Yuan Magnetic Holy Light! Yuan’ang, why are you interfering when I’m hunting an orthodox cultivator?!”
On a distant mountain, five or six unorthodox cultivators from Wu State had gathered, with Yuan’ang seated at their center.
Yuan’ang replied haughtily, “This imperial son only saw you approaching menacingly with mechanical constructs from afar. How was I to know the details?”
Mechanical engineers were most formidable in the first month of the Mountain and Sea Prohibition, but their constructs were driven by five-element spirit stones. The yuan magnetic force, which disrupted the five elements, was their insurmountable nemesis.
Lu Sheng gritted his teeth and said, “We’re clearly on the same side. If you’re sheltering an orthodox cultivator, aren’t you afraid I’ll tell our Si State allies?”
“Sheltering?” Yuan’ang glanced at Nan Yan, noticing her still abundant spiritual energy despite being pursued for so long, and frowned slightly. “I don’t care who you want to kill, but if you’re obstructing me from claiming a spirit well, I won’t be so polite.”
Spirit well?!
Lu Sheng’s heart leaped with joy, his expression instantly changing. “Brother Yuan, have you found a spirit well?”
Yuan’ang replied, “I haven’t pinpointed the exact location, but there’s a stone tablet ahead with ‘Red Hill Mountain’ written in ancient demon script. I sensed powerful demonic and ghostly energies there, likely indicating a spirit well. Unfortunately, the mountain is swarming with blood bees. Even if we gathered all cultivators from the three major factions, we might not break through the blood bees’ encirclement to reach the spirit well, let alone with our current Foundation Establishment level spiritual power.”
Sensing the implication in his words, Lu Sheng smiled and said, “I understand now. The spirit wells in this Mountain and Sea Prohibition are likely guarded by powerful beasts, perhaps even stronger ones elsewhere. Brother Yuan, if you have a plan, why not share it? As for the spirit well… we’re both at Core Formation stage. We can’t absorb it all anyway, so what’s there to argue about?”
Yuan’ang seemed to have been waiting for this response, but maintained his aloof demeanor. “Your Lu family is as cunning as ever. I do need the assistance of mechanical engineers, but remember, without my Yuan Magnetic Holy Light, you’d never locate the spirit wells so quickly.”
After Lu Sheng made more flattering promises, including a guarantee not to harm the Buddhist cultivator who could repel ghost tides, they finally reached an agreement.
“Very well, let me first explain the characteristics of the blood bees. Listen carefully…”
Several hours later, as dusk approached, the moment the cultivators had been waiting for finally arrived.
“…Is that the blood cloud?”
“Shh, keep quiet.”
As the sun sank into the distant sea, the purple afterglow reflected in the water gradually turned blood-red.
The blood-red color easily evoked images of a nocturnal beast’s fierce gaze. Slowly, Nan Yan saw strange shadows appear in the blood cloud.
Sometimes it resembled a mutilated bird, other times a giant turtle, and even a dismembered bear monster… She realized that the blood cloud was countless blood bees returning with their hunted prey.
It was both majestic and cruel.
The blood bees’ home was a crimson mountain, starkly contrasting with the surrounding deep green forest.
“…I’ve been observing for five or six days. After the blood bees return to their nest, they spend two hours consuming their prey. As long as we don’t use spiritual power, we won’t alert the worker bees patrolling Red Hill Mountain. We’ll need mechanical constructs for transportation. We should cross the blood bees’ territory within half an hour. Once we reach the central valley, we’ll be temporarily safe.”
As the time arrived, the cultivators prepared themselves, each mounting a mechanical spider and instantly disappearing into the dense forest.
The entire Red Hill Mountain exuded an ominous, bloody smell. Whenever the cultivators encountered a patrolling worker bee, they stopped and sent a small mechanical fly coated in blood flying in the opposite direction to lure it away before continuing on their spider mounts.
Emerging from a thicket, Nan Yan heard a low gasp beside her. Following the person’s terrified gaze, she saw a small volcano-shaped hill about ten li away. The crater’s opening was almost transparent, like fiery glass, through which they could vaguely see a giant queen bee inside, enjoying the food brought back by the worker bees.
The cultivators held their breath, even slowing their mechanical spiders, creeping past this area like vigilant mice.
After another half hour, Nan Yan’s eyes suddenly lit up as she saw a ravine where all the plants emitted a blue glow. She could even smell faint traces of primal spiritual energy in the air.
“It really is a spirit well!” Everyone was overjoyed but remained cautious, scanning the ravine with their divine sense. Moments later, someone seemed to discover something and whispered in alarm.
“There’s a big snake watching us…”
The cultivators quickly readied their magical treasures. They saw a lazy white snake coiled around a blue crystal tree. Unlike the python Nan Yan had encountered before, this white snake exuded an ethereal aura similar to the nine-colored deer. Its body was snow-white, with small horns barely visible on its head, and eyes as beautiful as glass beads.
After a brief standoff, the white snake curiously glanced at them, its gaze lingering on Nan Yan a bit longer, before burying its head back into its coiled body to sleep.
Someone sighed in relief and said, “I’ve seen this in an encyclopedia. It’s a water-wood snake that can cultivate into a flood dragon by absorbing the essence of heaven and earth and spiritual energy. They’re very docile and never actively attack other creatures.”
A greedy cultivator suggested, “If that’s the case, couldn’t we capture it to use as…”
“Are you crazy? This snake is at least at the Nascent Soul stage!”
The cultivators became even more cautious. Fortunately, Red Hill Mountain’s perimeter was heavily guarded by blood bees. Although the bees, being fire-attributed, could absorb the wood spiritual energy mainly contained in this spirit well, too much wood energy would be detrimental to their cultivation. Unless the ravine exploded, it shouldn’t alert them. With the water-wood snake being harmless, they passed through a field of glowing grass without incident and saw a pit emitting dense primal spiritual energy.
“So this is the spirit well…” All the cultivators, including Nan Yan, looked eager.
“Come, Zhengyuan Daoist,” Yuan’ang confidently stood before the pit and said, “I’ll use my yuan magnetic power to break through the chaotic five-element currents above this pit. If a ghost tide appears, it’s up to you.”
Nan Yan caught a hint of subtle calculation in his expression but said nothing, simply nodding with a smile.
“After you, Imperial Son.”