Chapter 112: Absorbing Divine Mist, The Divine Palace First Emerges

Whoosh! Whoosh...

Wang Daozhen unleashed his ultimate secret technique, spitting out flying swords condensed from spiritual energy. More than a dozen of them flew like a rain of swords towards Li Weiyi.

Hearing the dense and sharp whooshing sound behind him, Li Weiyi held himself back again and again, but ultimately, he still didn't dare to use his most powerful and recognizable Evil Camel Bell and Black Iron Seal. If his identity were exposed, the consequences would be endless. Without the certainty of killing everyone to silence them, he even less dared to use the spatial power of the Taoist Ancestor Tai Chi Fish.

Using the Ghost Banner, however, carried less risk of exposure. But there was no time to activate it!

Li Weiyi was forced to use the Pure Void Cicada Catching Steps, employing incredibly exquisite movement to dodge the spiritual energy flying swords behind him. He couldn't completely avoid them; two struck him. But wearing the Corpse Robe Soft Armor and Night-traveling Clothes, he only suffered some internal injuries. His body was not penetrated, and he could still withstand it.

Whoosh!

He channeled spiritual energy to his right arm, and a short spiritual sword was thrown like an arrow, flying towards Chen Jingtang on the bank, delaying him for a moment.

After landing on shore, Li Weiyi stood in front of dozens of young disciples who had not yet crossed the boundary of the Five Seas Realm, like an unyielding divine mountain shielding them from wind and rain. He looked at the spiritual light fire cloud launched by the Great Nian Master of the Sui Sect and roared, "Hurry and go! Leave this to me!"

What he promised, he had to do. Li Weiyi's eyes were firm, his will like gold and iron. He held up the Ghost Banner with both hands, frantically mobilizing the ancestral field spiritual energy.

Whoosh!

A large amount of netherworld mist surged from the banner, and a ghost figure clad in armor, about ten feet tall, appeared. Holding a battle axe, it was majestic and formidable, colliding with the spiritual light fire cloud launched by the Great Nian Master of the Sui Sect. The netherworld mist and fire cloud collided, splitting this world into darkness and light.

"Jingtang, the first battle must be won, and it must be a complete victory, leaving no one behind. This battle in the Spring Realm is the first battle, crucial for forcing the Nine Li Hidden Sect to reveal themselves. Take this mid-tier spiritual artifact; it will surely help you decimate your foes."

In Chen Jingtang's mind, he heard the commander's words from before their departure, and he felt deeply ashamed. Looking at the young Nine Li disciples fleeing into the boundary of the Five Seas Realm one by one, he became angry and anxious. How would he report back? Would he tell the commander that a young man from the Spring Realm had blocked all of them?

Chen Jingtang let out a long roar and threw out the mid-tier spiritual artifact iron book.

Clatter!

The iron book was composed of thirty-five pages. The pages were sharp and spun rapidly, transforming into a sky full of whistling, shimmering iron shards, flying out.

Bang bang...

The thirty-five pages broke through the Ghost Banner's defense. Chen Jingtang, following closely behind the pages, threw a punch that sounded like a tolling bell. The punch made the air indent and the ground shake.

Just as Li Weiyi took this punch, before he could stabilize his footing, he was struck by the Array-rending Whip suddenly launched by Wang Daozhen, who had appeared from behind him. Even the Corpse Robe Soft Armor and Night-traveling Clothes couldn't withstand it; all the bones in his body felt like they had come apart, and his body was thrown high into the air, plummeting towards the boiling Sui River.

Wang Daozhen had sacrificed seven of the nine talismans on his treasure robe to bypass Li Weiyi and reach a spot close to the Five Seas Realm boundary from behind, delivering a surprise, fatal blow.

"I'll deliver the final blow!"

A rune flew from the center of the Great Nian Master of the Sui Sect's brows, striking Li Weiyi an instant before he fell into the river.

"Having taken a blow from the Array-rending Whip, he is sure to die," although Li Weiyi was killed, Wang Daozhen showed no hint of joy, because all the young cultivators of the Nine Li tribe had escaped into the mist ahead. Only two talismans remained on his treasure robe, so he dared not pursue them. In recent months, eight Five Seas Realm martial cultivators had crossed the boundary of the Five Seas Realm and self-immolated. The mysterious energy around Buried Immortal Town was terrifying, dividing the land into different regions.

Clang!

Zhuang Yue's sword, previously on her back, had automatically flown out at some point, but it was too late to rescue him. For some reason, she felt very distressed and said in a deep voice, "If all the martial cultivators of my Azure Sky City had such responsibility and will, why would we worry about not eliminating the rebels?"

Before this, Zhuang Yue had never imagined that her perception of a person could change three times in just one day. She said, "I'll go kill them all!"

Jiang Ning remained calm, as if nothing in the world could disturb her emotions. Seeing that Li Weiyi still hadn't emerged from the water, she simply said, "The four major sects of Lizhou are not rebels. Do you have a reason to kill them? Or do you want to force them to rebel? A reminder: we people of Luan Tower should not be swayed by personal emotions. Those seven wondrous insects, however, can be taken."

Zhuang Yue said, "Logically, when an insect controller dies, their insects, even if not dead, should lose control. Why are they still attacking those people?"

"Wondrous insects are naturally different from fierce insects; it's not surprising they have special characteristics," Jiang Ning said.

Li Weiyi fell into the Sui River, which was scalding like boiling water. Even with the Night-traveling Clothes and Corpse Robe Soft Armor protecting him, a solid blow from the Array-rending Whip left him severely injured, almost to the point of losing consciousness. More critically, before he fell into the river, the rune launched by the Great Nian Master of the Sui Sect landed on him, and his body instantly became immensely heavy, sinking rapidly towards the riverbed, unable to return to the surface.

At the bottom of the Sui River, lava-like golden substances flowed, emerging from the earth's core. It was these incredibly hot substances that boiled the Sui River, scorching both banks of the great river into barren Gobi deserts.

Li Weiyi was not afraid of suffocating in the water; he had already mobilized his Nine Springs spiritual power, circulating it within his trace meridians. Nor was he afraid of the scalding boiling water; the Night-traveling Clothes could resist it. But he was genuinely afraid of the golden substance at the river bottom; it looked like it could melt gold and iron. What about his mortal flesh?

Li Weiyi forcibly maintained his fading consciousness, his brow glowing, mobilizing his spiritual light fire, intending to activate the Taoist Ancestor Tai Chi Fish and enter the blood-mud space for refuge.

At this moment, the navel Shenque acupoint, which had shown no reaction even after twelve Spring-breaking Needles were inserted, suddenly felt slightly swollen and a warmth emerged. Then, wisps of air began to flow into it from the surrounding heaven and earth. Li Weiyi jolted, his consciousness instantly clearing from excitement.

It wasn't an illusion. There genuinely were wisps of unknown power continuously entering his body through his navel, due to the internal circulation of his 108 trace meridians. This situation was like a fetus in the womb absorbing nutrients through the umbilical cord. And now, Li Weiyi was that fetus, and Heaven and Earth were the mother.

This concerned whether he could open the Tenth Spring. Li Weiyi didn't care about the danger, nor about being severely injured; even if the King of Hell came, he wouldn't enter the blood-mud space. However, he definitely couldn't touch the golden substance at the river bottom. Therefore, after activating the Taoist Ancestor Tai Chi Fish, he summoned the jade boat spiritual artifact belonging to Zhu Qinfeng, the Governor of Yanzhou, from the blood-mud space.

Whoosh—

The thirty-meter-long jade boat landed on the slowly flowing golden substance at the river bottom. And Li Weiyi's immensely heavy body landed heavily on the jade boat.

It wasn't until half an hour later, when the power of the rune dissipated, that Li Weiyi's body returned to its original weight, feeling much lighter. He quickly got up and sat cross-legged.

He opened his eyes. The surroundings were golden, and the water temperature was frighteningly high. He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the unknown power continuously pouring into his navel. The navel Shenque seemed to genuinely contain an inherent inner world, with energy continuously flowing in, showing no sign of stopping. However, he couldn't sense this inherent inner world currently.

Li Weiyi continued to maintain the internal circulation of his spiritual power, using his spiritual sense to communicate with his three masters in the blood-mud space, informing them of the strange situation he was encountering.

Master Pot was the most excited: "No doubt about it! This at least shows that Shenque truly exists, the Tenth Spring truly exists, and the direction of our efforts is not wrong!"

Master Spirit Tablet said, "According to Li Weiyi's description, there is already a vast inherent inner world beneath his navel Shenque acupoint, capable of continuously absorbing mysterious energy from heaven and earth. In other words, this inherent inner world is different from Fengfu and Zutian; it wasn't opened up, it was always there."

"It exists between heaven and man, but the heaven-man channel hasn't opened, so it can't be sensed, communicated with, or used."

"What I'm curious about is whether everyone's Shenque is such an inherent inner world that already exists, or is it that only he possesses such an inner world?"

Master Pot said, "Why think so much? Opening it is the most important! Break through the Tenth Spring, fight back, and even a martial cultivator of the Five Seas Second Realm can be slain!"

Master Coffin, who had been silent, was analyzing and contemplating: "The unknown power absorbed into your navel Shenque could be the immortal mist filling this heaven and earth."

"Medicinal herbs can absorb immortal mist and transform into unusual medicines. Why can't cultivators?"

"Some of these unusual medicines can help pure immortal bodies transform, and some can help open up Fengfu, Zutian, and Qihai. This indicates that the immortal mist of Buried Immortal Town possesses both immortalizing power and spatial power."

"Perhaps it's the uniqueness of Li Weiyi's physique, or perhaps the specialty of the breathing technique. That's why he can absorb immortal mist while holding his breath and entering internal circulation."

"It's easy to verify the conjecture: return to the surface of the water. It's hard to see clearly in the water, but on the surface, whether immortal mist gathers or not can be seen at a glance."

Li Weiyi always trusted Master Coffin's knowledge and wisdom, but he was too severely injured at the moment, and with powerful enemies surrounding the riverbank, he genuinely felt that the river bottom was a good place for healing and cultivation. Besides, what if Master Coffin was wrong? What if, upon returning to the bank, the absorption state at his navel no longer occurred? As it concerned whether he could open the Tenth Spring, Li Weiyi was extremely cautious and unwilling to take risks. So, he mobilized his Nine Springs spiritual power to circulate within his trace meridians, healing his injuries while continuing to maintain that profound absorption state. He didn't care if it was good or bad; as long as there was a change, it was a great thing.

Five days later, the absorption state stopped; he could no longer absorb naturally. Li Weiyi, whose injuries had healed, put away the jade boat and swam back to the shore.

After landing, the surroundings were unusually quiet, shrouded in white mist. The ground was an endless expanse of scorching red earth, clearly no longer within the boundary of the Five Seas Realm. Evidently, the flow of the golden substance at the river bottom had carried him downstream.

His spiritual sense had a subtle connection with the seven Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors; he could sense that they were still alive and their approximate location. "Could these seven little guys have been caught?" Li Weiyi clearly sensed that their location was along the path the Five Seas Realm martial cultivators from Cangli had taken into the town. These seven were not in the Five Seas Realm, so why would they take that path? They were extremely fast; could Wang Daozhen have caught them?

"Never mind, I'll go find them after breaking through the Tenth Spring!"

Li Weiyi sat cross-legged in meditation, holding his breath, but no matter how his spiritual power circulated internally, his navel Shenque showed no reaction.

"Since natural absorption isn't working, I'll try the Spring-breaking Needle."

He took off his upper garment, took out a Spring-breaking Needle, and inserted it into his navel. He performed the Jade Void Breathing Technique, his mind and spirit calming, all his senses and consciousness concentrating on the Shenque acupoint.

Gradually, Li Weiyi saw it! He saw the shimmering, immortal mist-like light beneath the Shenque acupoint, and at the same time, a vast inherent inner world unfolded in his consciousness. But the barrier between this inner world and the Shenque acupoint was thicker than all nine previous springs combined.

Whoosh!

As Li Weiyi breathed regularly, the immortal mist from the surrounding heaven and earth surged in like streams of radiant light, entering his navel Shenque. His surroundings became increasingly bright; the colorful mist gathered, transforming the red earth into an immortal realm. Every strand of his hair, every inch of his skin glowed, like a true immortal.

The continuous influx of immortal mist into the Shenque's inherent inner world gradually thinned the barrier. Li Weiyi felt incredibly elated, feeling that with every passing moment, he was closer to opening the Tenth Spring. He only wanted to remain immersed in this state forever.

Bang!

The sound of a battle erupted in the nearby mist. Li Weiyi startled awake. First, he glanced at his navel; the Spring-breaking Needle had completely melted.

"It's true that the tree desires calm, but the wind won't stop. So be it, I'll go to a place closer to Buried Immortal Town to absorb the immortal mist. The immortal mist will be denser there, absorption faster, and it shouldn't take many days to break through the Tenth Spring."

He put on his Corpse Robe Soft Armor and Night-traveling Clothes, then activated the Night-traveling Clothes' invisibility power. He vanished into the mist, silently heading towards where the battle had broken out. Along this river path, those in the Five Seas Realm couldn't enter, so there shouldn't be many masters.

After walking about two li, Li Weiyi saw a wounded black figure fleeing quickly through the mist. It was very familiar, and the aura matched. It was Hidden Twenty-Five.

Hidden Twenty-Five had completed his Pure Immortal Body transformation and was no longer his former skinny self, possessing a cold, noble air.

"No, that's not right. With Hidden Twenty-Five's ninety-one trace meridian foundation, since he completed the Pure Immortal Body transformation, who on this Spring Realm path could force him to flee?" Li Weiyi didn't believe that an existence of the Demon King's sixth-generation grandson's caliber would just pop up again.

"Hand over the unusual medicine, and I'll spare your life."

"Amitabha!"

A Buddhist chant, resounding like a great bell, came from the mist. Following that, there were dense hoofbeats that shook the ground.