Chapter 280: Entering the Underground Immortal Mansion

Li Weiyi looked at the now extremely faint Cocoon of Time, immediately withdrew the Dao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish hovering above his head, left the blood mud space, and returned to his room.

Peeking through the cracks in the door and windows, he saw that it was already dawn.

Tuoba Butuo's voice rang out from outside: "Brother Weiyi, it's already seven o'clock. We must depart promptly at seven forty-five."

Li Weiyi put away the formation flags and responded to him.

Tuoba Butuo's footsteps faded, and Li Weiyi fell into thought: "Is it only seven o'clock? How is that possible?"

When he arrived at Qifeng Ancient Commandery City last night, it was already late, with darkness fully set in.

Returning from Tang Wanzhou's tent, it must have been at least midnight.

"I was in the blood mud space for a grand total of only four hours."

"In the Calamity Fire Realm, it would take me at least three days to refine one Star Daylight Pill. Even if I've reached the Spirit Adept realm and my refining speed is two or three times faster than before, it should still take at least a day. But now, I've clearly refined the Star Daylight Pill I consumed. Where's the problem?"

"The Cocoon of Time?"

Li Weiyi inwardly observed his spiritual world.

His Psychic Star had not only fully recovered but had also grown larger and brighter.

Li Weiyi sighed deeply, temporarily suppressing all his doubts. He put his seven little companions into his insect pouch, donned his provincial governor's robe, wore the Blood Handprint Demonic Armor as an undergarment, and finally put on the second-grade Hundred-Character Artifact battle attire he had retrieved from Zuo Shi's corpse.

He wrapped the Yellow Dragon Sword in black cloth and slung it over his back.

With everything prepared, he left the room and, following the scent of meat, went to have breakfast first.

After eating, Li Weiyi met with Tuoba Butuo. They went to the open ground outside the tent to choose their mounts.

The Tuoba clan of Tanzhou possessed unique skills in beast taming and rearing.

Tuoba Butuo selected a two-meter-long Fire Fox for Li Weiyi and explained: "Fire Foxes aren't as large as other exotic beasts, but they are the most practical in underground spaces. They are not only fast, but their reactions, jumping ability, and sensitivity to danger surpass those larger creatures."

"Of course, even so, it's just a means of transport. If we truly encounter danger, we'll still have to rely on ourselves."

On the open ground of the encampment.

The martial cultivators gradually gathered; no one dared to be late.

They were all taciturn, with half of them over sixty years old, though they appeared to be only in their forties or fifties.

Tang Wanzhou emerged from the tent, dressed in a dark Xuan-black men's outfit, wearing metal arm guards and leg guards. Her figure was tall and straight, her demeanor exceptional, and spatial vital energy flowed around her.

After a brief speech, she swung onto a three-meter-long Three-Tailed Snow Fox and led thirty-seven riders, moving majestically towards the entrance of the underground immortal estate.

Hoofbeats echoed loudly, kicking up clouds of dust, startling all the forces gathered in Qifeng Ancient Commandery City.

Every move of Snow Sword Tang Ting garnered nationwide attention.

"That young monarch of the Northern Realm is going to explore the Eighth Path again. Who knows what she found inside to be so persistent."

"It's said that Snow Sword Tang Ting has lost many experts trying to reach the depths of the Eighth Path."

"Previously, they only entered in small groups of no more than ten people. This time, the scale is massive, with experts aplenty. Either they are supremely confident, or they are aiming for something monumental."

"How about... we follow them? Perhaps we could pick up some scraps?"

Everyone was eager to move, brimming with great confidence in Tang Wanzhou, the young monarch.

Greed overcame reason, so they all followed.

Two identical, short and thin old men, with sickles tucked into their waists, appeared at the city gate of the commandery. They exchanged glances, and eerie smiles spread across their faces.

The next moment, they vanished with the crimson sandstorm.

The desolate wilderness was covered only by dense grave mounds and tombstones.

For more than half a year, the ground had been trampled by countless martial cultivators and exotic beasts, leaving it barren like a Gobi desert.

A fissure, over a hundred li long and dozens of zhang deep, with sheer cliffs, appeared before Li Weiyi's eyes. It was unimaginable that such destructive power could be caused by a transcendent battle.

He carefully sensed his surroundings.

He could feel lingering transcendent power fluctuations that had yet to dissipate.

"Boom!"

Tang Wanzhou was the first to stop at the cliff edge, gazing at the endless fissure before her. Her eyes shone with aspiration as she declared heroically: "Qilin Zang tore the earth with a supreme artifact; his battle prowess was unmatched, reaching the very pinnacle. In time, this monarch shall also achieve this, and surpass him."

"Let's go down!"

The thirty-eight riders reached the bottom of the fissure and galloped for dozens more li. Numerous massive boulders began to appear in the soil.

Some boulders were stele-shaped, inscribed with ancient texts.

Others were stone pillars, stone gates, stone horses, or stone tigers; the largest were dozens of zhang tall, grand and imposing. This greatly astonished Li Weiyi, who was visiting the underground immortal estate for the first time.

This place was nearly a hundred meters below the surface.

The structures became increasingly dense and orderly, with stone steps and colossal bronze beams appearing.

The bronze beams were embedded in the soil and rocks, rusty, extremely ancient, and ubiquitous.

Beside him, Tuoba Butuo informed Li Weiyi: "When this place was first discovered, there were still vast quantities of jade pillars, azure glazed tiles, profound silver Buddha statues, black iron Buddhist shrines... Anything valuable has been cleared out!"

Along the way, they encountered martial cultivators from various major forces, who all retreated upon seeing Snow Sword Tang Ting's convoy.

Upon officially entering the underground, the light suddenly dimmed.

Each mount had a fist-sized stone lamp hanging around its neck, illuminating the passage.

Li Weiyi, Tuoba Butuo, and four other Spirit Adepts followed closely behind Tang Wanzhou, at the front of the group.

The outer perimeter of the underground immortal estate had long been cleared, so everyone was relaxed, with no tension in the air.

Li Weiyi was still contemplating the strange events of last night: "Even if the Cocoon of Time is truly profound, it requires powerful psychic energy to weave. Otherwise, what good is it if it only lasts for a day or two?"

"I've gained 16,000 units of cultivation energy. Even if I go to Tanggu Sea and use the Fusang Divine Tree for tempering, it would still take three months to fully cultivate the Sixth Sea before I can even begin cultivating the Seventh Sea."

"If I activate the pale green fish eye in Tanggu Sea, with both effects combined, would it be faster?"

"I still need to raise my psychic energy as quickly as possible, otherwise, activating it just once nearly collapses my Psychic Star."

"If I become a Two-Star Spirit Adept, perhaps I can maintain the Cocoon of Time for longer."

Thinking this, Li Weiyi took out a Star Daylight Pill and swallowed it, oblivious to his surroundings.

Even with the artifact battle attire covering him, a large swath of bright light still surged from his skin.

"Young friend Li, are you consuming a Star Daylight Pill?"

An aged voice spoke from beside him.

Li Weiyi looked over.

It was Old Man Shanze, the First Spirit Adept of the Shanli tribe. His mount, a Jade-Eyed Golden Tiger brought from Lizhou, had been raised for sixty years and possessed formidable strength comparable to a Dao Seed Realm demonic beast. Its aura was exceptionally powerful.

Most of the Jiuli clan members Li Weiyi knew, such as Yin Jun, Li Songlin, Cang Li, Yin Jiu, Yao Xingyue... were almost all straightforward, so he naturally held a good impression of Shanze as well.

There was nothing to hide.

Given the other party's profound psychic attainment, asking such a question surely meant he had a certain degree of certainty.

Li Weiyi said, "Senior Shanze, do you also know about Star Daylight Pills?"

Old Man Shanze smiled, his round, plump face creasing: "This is a good item, a high-grade magical pill. However, its formula is controlled by the imperial court, and it can only be bought at exorbitant prices in the Underworld Market or from transcendent great clans affiliated with the court. It's said that one Star Daylight Pill can cost as much as 110,000 to 120,000 Yongquan Coins."

"What? How much?"

Li Weiyi exclaimed, realizing his impropriety, and quickly lowered his voice: "Is it that expensive?"

Shanze explained, "This is a high-grade magical pill! With your psychic attainment as a One-Star Spirit Adept, consuming just three of these can expand your Psychic Star to its limit, granting you the conditions to attempt to break through to Two-Star Spirit Adept. For other One-Star Spirit Adepts, this process would take at least two or three years of cultivation."

Li Weiyi's heart ached, and he slapped his thigh hard.

Back then, for the Nine Calamity Fire Refinements, he had consumed nine Star Daylight Pills in a row, effectively spending a million Yongquan Coins.

No wonder his Spirit Rank master had said that using high-grade magical pills to cultivate Calamity Fire was a serious waste.

What made him even more speechless was that he had also swallowed a Star Daylight Pill last night to restore his psychic energy, simply wasting over a hundred thousand Yongquan Coins.

Not counting the one he had just consumed, he only had nine pills left.

From now on, every single pill had to be used strategically.

"Old Li must pay me back. Li Ling took eight pills, worth nearly a million," Li Weiyi thought to himself.

Upon hearing Shanze mention that Li Weiyi was already a Spirit Adept, surprised glances immediately shot towards him from within the group.

They all knew the various jokes about this Divine Hermit from the Jiuli Hidden Sect being crippled. Who would have thought that he would recover and forge a new path in psychic energy?

No wonder he dared to venture with these older generation figures; it must be for the Spirit Altar Blazing Starstone fragments.

Shanze transmitted his voice psychically, remarking with emotion: "Your Jiuli Hidden Sect has truly immense power; you can acquire any kind of cultivation resource. Young friend Li, does the Hidden Sect possess transcendent beings?"

Although Li Weiyi had a good impression of Shanze, he didn't trust him.

Every faction surely had its share of good and bad individuals.

Even the Zuoqiu clan, which governed its household with Confucian etiquette, had ungrateful and greedy individuals like Zuoqiu Cangwu and Zuoqiu Qingying. The Jiuli clan had long been heavily infiltrated, so even more caution was naturally required.

Li Weiyi sighed: "I'm just a junior; how could I know such secrets? Don't let the title 'Divine Hermit' fool you; in reality, I've barely met any elders from the Hidden Sect. And from what I know, there are several Divine Hermits in the Jiuli Hidden Sect, such as Li Jiufu and Li Jiao from the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival."

It was no secret that Yin Jiu and Yin Shi-yi were from the Jiuli Hidden Sect.

Shanze nodded gently: "They are indeed extraordinary, able to communicate with the Jiuli Gods; they are truly worthy of the title Divine Hermit. Your Hidden Sect is still more formidable; unlike the nine great tribes, we've only managed to cultivate one Cang Li over all these years."

After walking for dozens of li along the underground passage, the terrain gradually widened.

Before them appeared a magnificent complex of brightly lit palaces. Although all valuables had been removed, the copper walls alone, each weighing tens of millions of jin or more, bore witness to its past splendor and prosperity.

The formation in the main hall had been broken, allowing for direct entry.

As the mounts entered the main hall's grand entrance, Li Weiyi immediately felt a powerful spatial fluctuation. The energy aura of the entire area shifted, and ancient Zen chants and Sanskrit sounds flowed into his ears.

A burning sensation came from his chest.

Li Weiyi dared not take it out.

He could guess it must be the Buddha's sarira on the Tai Chi Fish, likely sensing something and emitting light and heat.

Li Weiyi feigned composure and asked, "Are we now officially inside the underground immortal estate? Have we entered the legendary Wind Mansion of the ancient immortals? The ancestral court of the ancient Bagala Sect?"

Tuoba Butuo nodded: "This is the main entrance hall, where the ancestral statue of Bagala Buddha is enshrined. The entrances to over a hundred passages are all distributed within this hall."

"Do you hear anything?" Li Weiyi asked.

Tuoba Butuo paused slightly, listening carefully: "Killing and fighting? That's normal. Whether entering or leaving the underground immortal estate, one must pass through this main entrance hall. Some old fellows, confident in their powerful cultivation, hide their identities and specifically hunt martial cultivators emerging nearby to seize their treasures."

"Don't worry, they'll scatter like startled birds when they see the Young Monarch."

Li Weiyi naturally wasn't referring to that, so he asked no further questions and followed Tang Wanzhou into the hall, which was several hectares in size. The overwhelming sense of grandeur profoundly impacted him; he had never seen such architecture before.

A hundred-zhang-tall ancestral statue of Bagala Buddha stood before them like a mountain.