On the twenty-first day, at noon, in a corner of the Malevolent Spirit Sect's area where the formation had not been activated, the spiritual energy began to fluctuate abnormally. The surrounding energy surged towards one person. Black light pulsed erratically from his body, then began to emit a tangible black luster. A series of crisp cracking sounds echoed from him.
Among the cultivators from the various sects sitting cross-legged in this area, only a very few glanced over. Some didn't even move, remaining seated in meditation. Clearly, this was a common occurrence they had grown accustomed to.
After half a quarter of an hour, Li Yan slowly withdrew his cultivation art, and the black light around him dissipated completely. A look of joy appeared in his eyes. Twenty-one days after entering the Secret Realm, he had successfully broken through to the peak of the initial stage of the eighth level of Qi Condensation. He had already broken through to the initial eighth level that morning, but he felt his inner breath was still surging with no signs of stopping. He knew this was his body adapting to the environment, and his cultivation art and the spiritual energy of the world were gradually reaching a higher degree of harmony. This was the benefit for newcomers here. For demonic beasts born in this place, their bodies would undergo a qualitative cleansing from the world's spiritual energy at birth, but this effect would diminish over time, forcing them to rely on diligent practice.
He once again calmed his mind and regulated his breath. It took him nearly two more hours to basically stabilize his realm at the initial eighth level of Qi Condensation. Feeling the spiritual energy still bursting forth from within him, he pondered for a moment before gathering his remaining momentum to charge towards the peak of the initial eighth level. More than an hour later, he felt the tide of spiritual energy in his body slowly recede. He opened his eyes, felt the spiritual energy within him, and was thrilled to find he had succeeded in breaking through again.
Feeling an unprecedented power in his body, Li Yan had the urge to fight someone. He knew this was a false sense of inflation brought on by his increased strength.
Li Wuyi shifted his gaze from the Heaven's Heart Compass to Li Yan. He had woken from his cultivation in the past few days to find his own cultivation had improved as well. Although it was just the slightest loosening, it brought him some joy. One could cultivate for over a decade in the Pseudo-Core Realm and not see the slightest improvement. As for condensing a Golden Core, it sounded like it was just half a step away, something one could push through with a little more effort. But in reality, countless Foundation Establishment cultivators had failed at this half-step, unable to cross it in their entire lives, ultimately turning into a handful of yellow earth and entering the cycle of reincarnation with regret. It could be said that not even one in a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators could successfully condense a Golden Core. The lucky few favored by the heavens were a tiny number.
Since waking from his cultivation, Li Wuyi hadn't continued. Although he was anxious, as a veteran Foundation Establishment master, he knew that this slight loosening was an opportunity many might not encounter in decades. So many Foundation Establishment masters were stuck for decades, unable to advance even a single bit. His entry into the Secret Realm this time was likely a last-minute arrangement by his master. Perhaps it was because Miao Wangqing and the others had failed to make it into the top forty-nine, leaving someone to handle matters at Little Bamboo Peak. In the end, the Sect Master had actually informed him to enter the Secret Realm as well. It seemed they wanted to give Li Wuyi more opportunities, even if it was just to cultivate here for a few extra days.
When Li Wuyi received the Sect Master's notice, he was stunned at first, then filled with immense respect. He was not qualified to be here this time; he wasn't a contestant. Every extra person entering consumed more resources for the passage. And he couldn't just bump anyone from the top forty-nine. His only option was to enter as a team leader. He didn't know how Wei Zhongran had negotiated this with the sect, but he must have pulled some major strings. The greatest fears in cultivation were karma and owing favors. Yet Wei Zhongran had done this so quietly. To others, he was not a qualified cultivator, and his path would not be long.
Li Wuyi knew this slight loosening was the greatest gain of this trip, so he didn't ask for more and began to focus on other matters. He looked at the Heaven's Heart Compass and observed his surroundings, paying special attention to the three sects and the three groups of demonic beasts. Aside from the strangeness of the Qi Condensation cultivators from the other three sects, the Tier-1 demonic beasts opposite them were almost all at the late stage, with only seven or eight at the mid-stage. Even those seven or eight were incredibly powerful, likely being natural variants or from powerful bloodlines. This meant that the danger for his little junior brother and the others in the Wheel of Life and Death had increased by another degree. He now felt a tinge of regret for letting Li Yan come. This was a feeling rarely seen in him. Li Wuyi never regretted his decisions.
He had been brought into the sect by Wei Zhongran as a teenager and had practically been born into the cultivation world, witnessing countless schemes and betrayals. But ever since Lin Daqiao and Li Yan had joined, he had felt a kind of purity and freshness from them, a freshness that belonged to humanity, or perhaps the innocence of youth. This was especially true for Li Yan, who had lived in the mortal world longer than Lin Daqiao. Unconsciously, he had begun to treat Li Yan like a real younger brother. Although he cared for all his junior brothers and sisters, his affection for Li Yan was much more familial. This was rare for him. Li Wuyi's ruthlessness was famous not just on Little Bamboo Peak, but throughout the entire Malevolent Spirit Sect. This was why many people, despite being asked by Wang Tian, were unwilling to move against Li Yan. They were all afraid of offending this madman. What's more, Li Wuyi had an even bigger madman above him. Many Golden Core elders privately told their disciples not to provoke anyone from Little Bamboo Peak. There were only a few of them anyway, and it wasn't easy to run into them. Besides, the disciples of Little Bamboo Peak never started trouble, with the exception of Li Wuyi. This kid's personality was a carbon copy of Wei Zhongran's—harmless on the surface, but crazy to the bone. Once he went mad, probably only those above the Golden Core realm in the Malevolent Spirit Sect could control him. It was uncertain if any cultivator of the same realm could defeat him. Li Wuyi killed people as easily as eating and drinking, yet you couldn't feel a single trace of anger from him.
Comparatively, Li Wuyi was easier to manage. His realm was what it was, and there were many above him who could suppress him after he caused a scene. Wei Zhongran, on the other hand, could probably only be disciplined by his own Nascent Soul master. Even if the sect's Nascent Soul Ancestor stepped in, that guy would likely fight to the death. If he wasn't subdued in the first instant, he could probably drag many cultivators of the same realm down with him. So, Li Wuyi had likely become this way from being constantly influenced by Wei Zhongran since he was young.
Li Wuyi had noticed Li Yan's situation that morning, and the corners of his mouth had curled up. 'Little Junior Brother is indeed hiding his strength well. If not for our sparring session, I would have been fooled by him. Sixth-level Qi Condensation my ass. Today he has officially entered the eighth level. But it looks like he still has strength to spare. He wants to keep pushing, but that won't do. His realm will be unstable.' He was about to send a voice transmission to stop him but immediately retracted his divine sense. A smile appeared in his clear eyes as he felt Li Yan suppressing his aura, a sign of stabilizing his realm.
'It seems Little Junior Brother knows not to be hasty and greedy for quick success. But why is this Myriad Essence Art so strange? That black light is clearly formed from extremely pure water essence energy. How can a Miscellaneous Spirit Root have such pure qi?' Li Wuyi found the black light emanating from Li Yan rather strange. The "Myriad Essence Art" was not exclusive to the Malevolent Spirit Sect; many mid-sized sects had it. It was a very basic cultivation art, characterized by its all-encompassing nature. But most cultivators would choose a cultivation art of their strongest attribute to practice for better results. Very few chose a moderate and peaceful art like the "Myriad Essence Art." One could cultivate it for decades and still not reach the tenth level of Qi Condensation. No one in the Malevolent Spirit Sect had practiced this art for several generations, so Li Wuyi was not very familiar with it. But he was not one to get bogged down in details. As long as it wasn't a major issue he couldn't figure out, he wouldn't waste his thoughts on it.
Seeing Li Yan stabilizing his realm, he turned his gaze back to the Heaven's Heart Compass. Only twenty-four black dots remained. As for the other sects, the Ten-Pace Courtyard had twenty-two white dots left, the Supreme Mystery Teachings had nineteen red dots, and the Pure Land Sect surprisingly had twenty-seven orange dots. Among the three demonic beast teams, the smallest one had only eleven green dots, while the other two were about the same, with around twenty dots each.
'The defense of the Buddhist sect is astonishing. It seems they will have more survivors than the other two sects this time as well. When I killed those little monks in the past, they were extremely skilled in encirclement tactics, with deep magical power and the longest stamina. I wonder if Second, Third, Sixth, Changting, and Sister Min will survive? Sigh, cultivation, cultivation, life and death are uncertain.' Li Wuyi sighed inwardly. Besides thinking of Wei Chituo's group of three and Li Changting, he also seemed to be particularly concerned about Zhao Min.
After staring at the Heaven's Heart Compass for a while, Li Wuyi's brow suddenly furrowed. He turned to look at Li Yan, feeling his aura rising again. He couldn't help but complain inwardly, 'I just praised him for knowing when to advance and retreat. Why is he forcibly raising his realm again right after a breakthrough?'
When he turned to look, Li Yan's aura was already climbing steadily. It was too late to stop him. He could only release his divine sense to carefully probe Li Yan. If Li Yan's aura spun out of control, he would immediately intervene. Though displeased, he couldn't just sit by and watch. But when his divine sense swept over Li Yan, he was stunned. Li Yan's aura was extremely stable, like a cultivator whose realm had been consolidated for a long time, now normally charging towards the next bottleneck.
'What's going on?' Li Yan had just broken through two hours ago; he had seen it with his own eyes. And now he was stable? Was it the Myriad Essence Art or the Fragmented Poison Body? He would never know of the existence and power of the True Scripture of Gui Water. It was a supreme cultivation manual created specifically for Li Yan's body type. The realm enhancement and profound spiritual energy far surpassing those of the same level were the greatest secrets of the five immortal sects. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so absurdly difficult to find an heir even after tens or hundreds of thousands of years. Of course, this also required suitable resources, like the extremely dense spiritual energy here. But this kind of situation wouldn't occur many times; the push from external forces was ultimately limited.
Seeing Li Yan's long and deep aura, Li Wuyi relaxed. An hour later, to his astonishment, Li Yan had truly broken through to the peak of the initial stage of the eighth level. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes and been paying close attention, Li Wuyi would never have believed what was happening before him. Even for his own advancement, it would take at least half a month or even longer to properly stabilize. Didn't that mean Li Yan's aptitude was even better than his? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a monster. But he clearly had a Miscellaneous Spirit Root. Li Wuyi was completely baffled and couldn't figure out the reason.
After Li Yan stopped cultivating, he noticed Li Wuyi's somewhat surprised gaze. Being a clever person, he immediately guessed that his performance might be a bit abnormal. But many people had broken through here recently, so very few would be paying attention to him alone. It was only his Eldest Senior Brother who had been watching him continuously. But with the Fragmented Poison Body as an excuse, everything could be explained away.
"Little Junior Brother, with your cultivation speed, I really doubt you have multiple spirit roots," Li Wuyi sent via voice transmission.
"Eldest Senior Brother, you know what kind of spirit root I have. Just a Miscellaneous Spirit Root. My hopes for Foundation Establishment are incredibly slim. This must be a stroke of luck, a blessing from the heavens," Li Yan said vaguely.
"Heh heh, after you rest for a while, you'd better thoroughly consolidate your realm," Li Wuyi didn't press for the root cause, but instead advised him.
"Yes, Eldest Senior Brother," Li Yan listened seriously to Li Wuyi's concern.
"Eldest Senior Brother, do you think Second Senior Brother and the others can rank in the top hundred among all the cultivators who entered this time?" Li Yan quickly changed the subject. He first looked around and saw only six Foundation Establishment cultivators. Four of them seemed to have recovered with the help of the elders. Apart from a loss of vitality, their lives seemed to be in no danger. Of the other two, one was still sitting cross-legged in recovery, while the other was lying on the ground next to an elder, looking to be on the brink of death. After a moment's hesitation, he asked via voice transmission.
How could Li Wuyi not understand Li Yan's meaning? Based on the rate at which the light dots were disappearing and the proportion of people who had already come out, although the final number of survivors might be less than a hundred, their chances of survival were still high if they ranked within the top hundred.