Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
In the desolate wilderness, where silence reigned supreme.
A stunningly beautiful woman in snowy white palace attire, with a voluptuous and enchanting figure, gracefully approached. Her delicate feet and the hem of her splendid dress hovered half a foot above the ground as her radiant eyes surveyed the lifeless earth beneath her.
The soil here was pitch-black as ink, compacted and weathered, hard as stone. From time to time, strands of deadly, corrosive black mist would rise from the ground, lingering in the air and forming persistent clouds of darkness. Nearby, a river over a hundred yards wide flowed by, its waters a lifeless shade of grey-black.
To ordinary beings, this place was a true land of misfortune, where even approaching the periphery was impossible. Only cultivators at the Understanding Mystery Realm could occasionally pass by, but they too could not linger long, lest the chaotic and violent spiritual energy tides harm them.
At the very least, one needed to be at the Nascent Soul Realm or have the protection of suitable magical instruments to remain unaffected in these dead zones for extended periods. Of course, any sane cultivator would not choose to reside in such a forsaken place.
Suddenly, a wave-like chaos of light and shadow emerged from the distance, spreading slowly along the ground, dispersing the lethal black fog and calming the restless spiritual energy. A cool and tranquil aura filled the surrounding space.
In her eyes, the chaotic light and shadow stabilized after expanding to a radius of two hundred miles, then began to seep into the depths of the earth, halting gradually at a depth of over seven hundred yards.
After a quarter of an hour, the chaos of light and shadow slowly faded away.
She gently lifted her hand, drawing a handful of soil to examine closely. The soil had changed color, its destructive energy dissipated, replaced by a faint but growing vitality, slowly but steadily increasing.
Not far away, a handsome young man in luxurious purple robes, with eyes like stars and an air of ease, floated over and greeted her with a smile, "Sister Ice Falcon, how do you find this ability?"
This was a private request from Ice Falcon Celestial Lord. When outside, Qing Muling could only address her as 'sister' and not as 'ancestral master'.
Ice Falcon Celestial Lord nodded with restraint, her voice cool and gentle, "It's very good, but can your body withstand it?"
Qing Muling replied, "It's manageable. I can hold out for a day and a night, and after meditating for an hour, I can recover. It's just that the consumption of medicinal resources is rather extravagant."
Ice Falcon Celestial Lord chuckled, "You needn't worry about that. With the sect's current wealth and resources, covering your expenses alone is no issue at all. You just focus on improving your cultivation."
Saying this, she stepped forward and naturally took Qing Muling's hand, transferring a gentle and rich spiritual power that instantly replenished all his expended energy.
For Ice Falcon Celestial Lord at her current level of cultivation, this was a mere trifle, and there was no need to use the Ziyu Returning Spirit Pill anymore.
"Alright, let's move on to the next spot."
***
Ice Falcon Celestial Lord stepped through the air, leading Qing Muling to another dead zone above, and repeated the purification process.
Months had passed since Qing Muling unified the two sects. After finding a more suitable method for his cultivation advancement, he immediately discussed the matter with his protector, Ice Falcon Celestial Lord, and asked for her assistance.
Ice Falcon Celestial Lord readily agreed and even offered him an even more extravagant proposal: to increase the efficiency of purification and quickly gain more heavenly merit, he could continuously consume Pure Yuan Reincarnation Pills.
The Pure Yuan Reincarnation Pill was even more valuable and effective than the Ziyu Returning Spirit Pill, temporarily elevating one's cultivation from the True Person Realm to the True Unity Realm, with effects lasting half an hour and no side effects.
Temporary cultivation-boosting pills were not uncommon, but they usually came at the cost of lifespan and potential. Cultivators would not choose such self-destructive options unless in a life-or-death situation.
As for demonic sects, they would standardly issue such pills to their expendable warriors in mass training.
However, the Pure Yuan Reincarnation Pills produced by Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace were made with various precious holy medicines as the main ingredients, supplemented by dozens of vitality-enhancing herbs, and carefully crafted by high-level alchemists using postnatal Spirit Treasure-level cauldrons, avoiding all adverse side effects, making them particularly rare and valuable.
The value of a True Unity Realm Pure Yuan Reincarnation Pill was equivalent to thirty Ziyu Returning Spirit Pills. If Qing Muling were to consume these for cultivation continuously for a year, the cost would be equivalent to depleting several large spirit stone mines.
Upon learning this, Mu Yinghua didn't hesitate and immediately opened the sect's secret realm treasury, transferring ten thousand Pure Yuan Reincarnation Pills for Qing Muling's use, instructing the elders to send more when needed.
With a generous supply of Pure Yuan Reincarnation Pills, Qing Muling now effectively had the cultivation of the True Unity Realm. With his innate divine power, he could restore a two hundred-mile radius and a depth of over seven hundred yards of the earth's crust to normal in just fifteen minutes.
In the past, the existence of large dead zones and the chaotic spiritual energy tides severely affected the climate of the entire floating land, causing environmental impacts in the normal areas, with constant natural disasters harming the mortal realms.
Unless cultivators set up large Formation Arrays to protect entire cities, the effects of such severe weather could not be avoided, and the cost was too great for any but the most powerful cultivator sects or families to bear, let alone mortal empires.
With the dead zones gone, the protective atmosphere of the floating land became more stable, extreme weather events significantly decreased, and the concentration of spiritual energy increased, making the environment more suitable for all beings to thrive.
Thus, after months of diligent effort from Qing Muling, three smaller floating lands had completely recovered, becoming fertile lands with abundant water and grass, and harmonious weather.
In return, Qing Muling received heavenly merit, which smoothly advanced his cultivation to the third level of the True Person Realm. With such a rate of cultivation increase, it was estimated that in just over a year, he could reach the peak of the True Person Realm and have the ability to challenge the True Unity Realm.
***
"…I heard that in about two months, your sisters will be returning to the sect," Ice Falcon Celestial Lord said after replenishing Qing Muling's energy once more, her dark eyebrows curved slightly, her eyes brimming with mirth. "Whether you like it or not, it seems you'll have to end your travels early and return, right? The girls waiting to compete in the sword tournament have been waiting for you for too long!"
Qing Muling fell silent for a moment before speaking, "It's one thing for others not to know my secrets, but Sister, you shouldn't be testing me with this, should you?"
"I deliberately chose to leave the sect at this time. Do you really think it was just for the matter of selecting a Dao companion, without any other considerations?"
"…"
Ice Falcon Celestial Lord's smile faded slightly as she gazed at him before asking softly, "Have you sensed something?"
"Of course, and I believe with your cultivation, Sister, you must have sensed it too."
Qing Muling continued, "If I don't leave and hide away for a while, it's very likely that I'll bring disaster to the sect, a conclusion I definitely do not wish to see."
Ice Falcon Celestial Lord's beautiful face paled slightly, "So… you really are from the Origin Star Palace? And its master is still alive? When the Sect Master first mentioned this to me, I had my doubts, but to think…"
"Silence!"
Qing Muling's expression turned cold as he grasped her wrist, enveloping them both in a profound and mysterious light filled with Dao Rhyme, completely isolating them from the outside.
In the vast and unreachable depths of The Great Void, from a strange space beyond comprehension, undetectable ripples of chaos emerged, sweeping across countless star clusters, star domains, and immortal realms, covering an expanse of countless miles in the vast void.
With Ice Falcon Celestial Lord's cultivation, she could sense the disturbance when the chaotic ripples passed through the surrounding light, even though their power level was not high and Qing Muling could easily deal with them. However, the level of the Great Dao rules behind them filled Ice Falcon Celestial Lord with dread.
In a breath's time, the chaotic ripples probed back and forth thousands of times before quietly dissipating into nothingness.
Qing Muling breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "From now on, do not mention that word again. Although I'm not too clear on the details, recently, more and more powerful beings in The Great Void have been talking about that place, which has started to awaken her. If she awakens too early because of this, it will not bode well for the sect!"
"…Understood!"
Ice Falcon Celestial Lord nodded solemnly, her expression grave.