Chapter 217: The Spring of Spiritual Eyes

After the disciple went to retrieve the spirit beast, Han Li quietly waited at the guest reception platform, merely glancing at the surrounding restrictions.

Apart from the mountaintop where Han Li was located, the rest of Spirit Beast Mountain was divided by colorful restriction arrays into various spirit beast habitats of different sizes. Each area enclosed by a restriction was a breeding ground for a specific type of spirit beast, and no one except the rotating disciples of Qilin Pavilion was allowed to enter. This was to prevent strangers from disturbing the spirit beasts or untamed beasts from harming outsiders. Therefore, although Spirit Beast Mountain appeared quiet, it actually harbored at least a thousand different spirit beasts, a truly astonishing scale!

The female disciple did not keep Han Li waiting long. After the time it took to eat a meal, she emerged from a restricted area, holding a fist-sized small beast, and headed straight towards Han Li.

"This is a Twin-Pupiled Rat," the female disciple said respectfully to Han Li, gently stroking the small beast's soft fur. "The rental fee is one low-grade spirit stone per day."

"Alright, here are three spirit stones. I'll need it for three days," Han Li calmly replied to her.

The girl took the spirit stones, handed the spirit beast to Han Li, and then produced a small white pouch, speaking to him. "After three days, Uncle-Master only needs to release the Twin-Pupiled Rat, and it will return to Qilin Pavilion on its own. During this time, we hope Uncle-Master treats this beast kindly. This pouch contains its favorite earth-pear fruits; Uncle-Master can feed it a few whenever there's time."

Han Li nodded slightly and casually took them. Then, under her respectful gaze, he flew off on his artifact.

Han Li flew northwest through the air. As he traveled, he couldn't help but examine the docile Twin-Pupiled Rat in his arms. At first glance, this small yellow beast truly resembled a common field mouse. It had the same small stature, yellow fur, and slender tail. The only difference was the pair of large eyes on its face, strikingly different from those of a field mouse. Despite this single difference, it immediately made the creature incredibly adorable! What made it even more special was the faint five-colored light flickering in its eyes, further highlighting its mysterious and extraordinary nature. Even Han Li, accustomed to being indifferent, couldn't help but caress the beast a few times upon seeing its docile appearance. He even had a strong urge to raise one himself!

However, Han Li also knew that despite its current docility, this small beast was, in fact, a genuine mid-tier level one demonic beast. Besides its magical twin pupils, this beast possessed steel teeth capable of chewing raw copper and iron, and foreclaws that could penetrate metal and stone. It was far from as harmless as it appeared on the surface! Thinking this, Han Li gently poked the beast's small ear. Seeing it twitch amusingly a few times, he couldn't help but chuckle, as if the long-buried childlike innocence within him had resurfaced.

Han Li traveled with the beast for an entire day, finally stopping at the outermost northwestern reaches of the Taiyue Mountain Range. Continuing north for over a hundred li from this spot would lead into Yuanwu Nation's territory, specifically the domain of the formidable cultivation sect, Heavenly Star Sect. There was also a market city established there, subtly confronting Huangfeng Valley's market city from east to west. Two hundred li to the west lay the border between Jianzhou and Xizhou, the smallest prefecture in Yue Nation.

This prefecture was also the only one among the Seven Great Sects' territories without any resident cultivators. This was because, apart from loess plateaus, the prefecture largely consisted of vast, endless deserts, accounting for more than three-quarters of Xizhou's total area. The entire prefecture's population combined was merely over 100,000, leaving it with virtually no available resources or manpower. Consequently, it naturally failed to attract the attention of the Seven Great Sects.

Han Li chose to open a cave dwelling in this vicinity for two reasons. Firstly, this area was located in a relatively desolate part of the Taiyue Mountain Range, bordering Yuanwu Nation on one side and approaching Xizhou on the other. These were places where fellow disciples and other cultivators rarely passed. Thus, no one would disturb his cultivation. Secondly, it wasn't far from Heavenly Star Sect's market city. If he wished to sell some medicinal herbs or buy anything, he could easily conduct transactions there without fear of being recognized. With these two considerations in mind, Han Li chose this location, even though its spiritual energy wasn't the best. This was unlike the cave dwellings of other Foundation Establishment disciples, which were densely concentrated in areas with the richest spiritual energy.

After landing, Han Li placed a pre-prepared thin rope around the Twin-Pupiled Rat's neck to prevent it from running too fast and getting lost. Then, he took a yellowish, round fruit from a small cloth pouch and gave it to the small beast, which began to nibble on it. Moments later, after completely devouring the earth-pear fruit, the Twin-Pupiled Rat became energetic. After letting out two soft "shoo-shoo" sounds, it suddenly darted into the nearby bushes and disappeared from sight. Han Li, unhurried, slowly followed along the rope.

Han Li stood at the base of a perilous peak, staring blankly at the massive mountain cliff opposite, which towered over a hundred zhang high. The rope in his hand extended directly into the mountain cliff opposite, through an extremely narrow crevice. It was now the afternoon of the second day. After nearly two days of diligent searching, the Twin-Pupiled Rat suddenly began to dash frantically when it neared this peak. After hurriedly leading him to this spot, it burrowed directly into the crevice.

Han Li looked at the taut rope in his hand, his curiosity piqued. After a moment's thought, he slapped his storage pouch, and the silver greatsword appeared in his hand. Han Li held the rope with one hand and wielded the silver sword like the wind with the other. In an instant, he expanded the narrow crevice before him into a rough entrance large enough for a person to enter, as if cutting tofu. After burrowing inside, he immediately activated a protective shield around himself, then slowly advanced along the rope, cutting through the mountain rock step by step. All the scattered gravel, ash, and dirt were blocked by his water-attribute shield, allowing him to remain clean.

This strenuous work continued for over an hour, gradually forming a crude stone passage dozens of zhang long. When Han Li struck down with his sword again, there was a sudden "whoosh," and the stone wall finally broke open. Han Li was overjoyed. He exerted his full strength, hacking wildly a few times to completely split open the stone wall, then darted out.

A natural rock cave, over ten zhang in size, appeared before him. As soon as Han Li entered, a dense wave of spiritual energy rushed at him, astonishing him greatly! However, his gaze couldn't help but follow the rope in his hand. He saw that the thin rope extended to the very center of the rock cave, where there was actually a miniature spring eye constantly bubbling with water. The Twin-Pupiled Rat was lying comfortably in the middle of this several-foot-wide pool, swimming contentedly back and forth.

"What is this?"

Han Li was truly surprised this time, as almost all the dense spiritual energy within the stone cave emanated from this spring eye. He quickly walked over, scooped up some spring water, and examined it carefully.

"This is a Spirit Eye Spring, absolutely!" Han Li confirmed his suspicion with little effort. "Although the spiritual energy contained in the spring water isn't as exaggerated as rumored, and this spring eye is very small, it is indeed a rare Spirit Eye Spring in this world." Han Li plunged his hands into the water, murmuring to himself in disbelief. Then, he closed his eyes, sensing the wisps of spiritual energy emanating from the water, his face a mix of surprise and joy.

Speaking of spirit springs, one must inevitably mention the spirit veins and Spirit Eyes of the cultivation world! The spiritual energy between heaven and earth is not evenly distributed; some areas are denser, while others are sparser. Over time, in places with dense spiritual energy, large or small spirit veins typically form. Large spirit veins can stretch for tens of thousands of li without interruption, while smaller ones might only be a few li in size, pitifully narrow. However, regardless of their actual size, once these spirit veins form, they automatically emit a faint spiritual energy, ensuring a continuous cycle of local spiritual energy that will never deplete.

Similarly, the spiritual energy produced in different parts of these spirit veins is not uniform. The most concentrated points of spiritual energy are naturally the most suitable for cultivators to meditate and cultivate, and thus are referred to as "Spirit Eyes" in the cultivation world. The so-called "Spirit Eyes" are usually formless and colorless; their existence can only be perceived through a cultivator's senses. Any place designated as a Spirit Eye signifies that it is the most spiritually abundant point of a nearby spirit vein, an undeniable fact!

Although Spirit Eyes are generally formless, merely an alternative name for a location, if the spiritual energy of a Spirit Eye is excessively dense and can be maintained for a long time, it will gradually manifest as a physical entity, forming a Spirit Eye object. Examples include Spirit Eye Trees, Spirit Eye Stones, Spirit Eye Springs, and even the legendary ultimate Spirit Eye Pearl!

The emergence of these materialized Spirit Eye objects is an extremely rare occurrence. Each one forms only after tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years, of evolution. Therefore, the spiritual energy emitted by these physical Spirit Eye objects is far denser than that of ordinary Spirit Eyes. Cultivating near them has an extraordinary effect of accelerating cultivation speed. The finest Spirit Eye objects can even accelerate a cultivator's speed by nearly twenty to thirty percent. Moreover, once these physical objects are formed, things like Spirit Eye Trees and Spirit Eye Springs can be artificially moved using magical power without diminishing their efficacy.