The instant the Spirit Wandering Talisman activated, Shi Yu felt the air around her warp violently as her entire body was sucked into a vortex. The scenery before her eyes blurred, expanding and contracting infinitely like a melting candle, seemingly on the verge of shattering into pieces at any moment.
After a dizzying spell of disorientation, her feet finally touched solid ground.
Overwhelmed by severe dizziness, she nearly stumbled, leaning against a tree as she coughed softly.
“Tier-2 teleportation talismans really come with quite a few side effects.” Shi Yu suppressed the lightheadedness and nausea, turning around to take in her surroundings. “Where am I?”
Looking around, she saw towering green trees stretching into the night sky, their high canopies swaying alongside the shadows of flowers. The damp air was rich with the thick scent of vegetation.
Moonlight filtered through the canopy, casting dappled light and shadow onto the ground. The dense forest was blanketed in deep tranquility, broken only by the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze.
“Something's not right.” Shi Yu pulled out a silk ribbon and tied up her hair, which had fallen loose when her hairpin broke, while cautiously stepping forward.
It was silent—unusually silent. Aside from the wind rustling the leaves, there was practically no other sound.
“A mountain range should be teeming with spirit beasts. How could there be no calls or roars at all?”
Uncertain of her current location, a wave of unease crept into her heart.
Wu Hao and his two accomplices could catch up at any moment. Taking a deep breath, she focused her mind and wrapped herself in divine sense to check for anything unusual.
Tracking techniques always required some kind of medium. Those three excelled at controlling venomous creatures and snakes, so it likely had something to do with that.
Sure enough, upon careful examination with her divine sense, she discovered something amiss.
Her divine sense “saw” tiny specks of fluorescent light clinging to the corner of her robes and the back of her right hand, yet opening her eyes revealed nothing.
“Yinghuo Pollen.” Shi Yu's eyes darkened.
Prepared through special methods, this pollen allowed a type of spirit beast known as the Tracking Butterfly to pursue its target endlessly.
Yinghuo Pollen was colorless and odorless. Once it touched skin or flesh, it could not be washed or wiped away; it would only dissipate naturally over time.
Shi Yu immediately shed her pollen-stained robes and changed into a new set, stuffing the old clothes into the Fate-Tapping Bell before looking down at the back of her hand.
Dealing with the pollen on her clothes was simple, but the pollen on her skin…
Frowning slightly and biting her lower lip, Shi Yu didn't hesitate for long. With a thought, the curved blade from the Hidden Hatred Flute flew into her left hand.
She didn't have the time to wait for the Yinghuo Pollen to dissipate on its own, so she had no choice but to use a crude method.
Popping a Rejuvenation Pill into her mouth, Shi Yu held the blade in her left hand and slashed down, decisively slicing off the piece of flesh on the back of her hand tainted by the pollen.
“Mmf!” A muffled groan escaped her lips as cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
Truth be told, Shi Yu was quite sensitive to pain, and carving off her own flesh felt agonizing.
Yet compared to the pain, she cared far more about keeping her life.
After taking a brief moment to recover, she forced herself to rally, casting the slice of flesh into the Fate-Tapping Bell as well to destroy later once she was out of danger.
Swallowing the Rejuvenation Pill, she drew out diluted Life Spring water and took a large gulp.
The milky-white, coalesced Life Spring water dissolved down her throat into a surge of vibrant vitality that flooded her meridians. The wound on the back of her hand instantly stopped bleeding, while her depleted spiritual energy gradually replenished.
Shi Yu exhaled slowly.
This action might not completely prevent Wu Hao and the others from tracking her, but it would buy her some time.
Now, her priority was figuring out where she was and reaching a safe location as soon as possible.
Just as she was about to step forward, she felt an unusual stir from the yellow sprout inside her dantian, causing her to pause in surprise.
Looking inward, she saw that her yellow sprout Dao Foundation radiated a lush, emerald glow, surrounded by several new red spiritual energy Qi cyclones.
Ever since the strand of treasure Qi she obtained from refining the Fire Feather Brocade Robe entered her body, she had been a mere step away from the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm. Now, accelerated by a night of non-stop exertion and life-and-death struggles, she had been pushed directly to the brink of a breakthrough.
After a brief thought, Shi Yu surveyed her surroundings, chose to sit down cross-legged, swallowed a Dew-Condensing Pill, and immediately began her breakthrough.
Breaking through in a desolate mountain forest carried the risk of being interrupted, causing erratic spiritual energy and a failed breakthrough, but she had no better options at the moment.
Every bit of extra strength granted her a bit more power to protect herself.
Clearing her mind and focusing her spirit, she circulated 《Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Record》, drawing spiritual energy from her dantian and guiding it along her meridians in continuous major and minor heavenly circuits.
The surrounding spiritual energy was drawn toward her, entering her body and merging into her dantian. The Qi cyclones surrounding the yellow sprout surged up and down, exchanging internal and external spiritual energy in a unique rhythm.
Inside her dantian, the spiritual energy grew increasingly dense, and her meridians continuously expanded.
The fortieth Qi cyclone, signifying the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, flickered between tangible and illusory. As Shi Yu continuously refined and funneled spiritual energy into it, its form gradually became indistinguishable from the other Qi cyclones.
By the time the morning glow bathed the entire hillside, Shi Yu opened her eyes abruptly, forming hand seals to stabilize her aura, which was still somewhat unstable from her recent breakthrough.
“The fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.”
A touch of joy welled up in her heart as Shi Yu ceased her circulation and exhaled a long breath of turbid Qi.
Her luck was good; she hadn't been disturbed during her breakthrough, so it went smoothly.
Stepping into the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm meant she had progressed from the early stage to the mid stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
Compared to before, her spiritual energy capacity and control had improved significantly, and her soul strength had grown as well.
And the most pleasant surprise of all—
“The Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell has changed again.”
Previously, aside from when she first drew Qi into her body and entered the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm, the Fate-Tapping Bell had only changed once, showing no reaction during her subsequent two breakthroughs.
This time, advancing from the early stage to the mid stage of the Qi Refining Realm triggered another transformation.
Inside her Purple Mansion, the translucent, exquisite bell emitted a soft, shimmering light. Its internal space expanded from one zhang square to three zhang square, instantly becoming much more spacious.
The small medicinal field beside the Life Spring expanded considerably as well, leaving a respectable amount of extra room that could accommodate a fair number of spiritual plants.
With that thought, Shi Yu casually planted the hard-won Dragon Bamboo Grass into the medicinal field.
Finally, her gaze fell upon the Life and Slaughter Springs.
The two springs hadn't changed in size at all, still forming a perfect circle the size of a bowl composed of two fish-shaped halves.
Yet sending her consciousness over revealed that the amount of spring water generated every half-month had increased from two drops to three.
As her cultivation rose, her body could endure more vitality. Her daily consumption of Life Spring water had been steadily increasing compared to before, and the Slaughter Spring water used for artifact refining was consumed in no small amount either.
Now that both springs could produce more water, it was naturally for the best.
With her strength enhanced, her confidence in dealing with crisis grew, allowing her heart to settle slightly.
She stood up, looked around, and pondered deeply.
During her breakthrough, she had felt the increasingly restless fire spiritual energy in the air. “Although I don't know where the Spirit Wandering Talisman sent me, it shouldn't be far from the volcano.”
Her original purpose in coming to this mountain range was to investigate the volcano, so this turned out to be just right.
Just as Shi Yu was about to climb a giant tree to look off into the distance and determine the volcano's direction, she suddenly felt two immense pressures sweep over her. Her knees buckled immediately, pinning her flat to the ground.
Horrific shock filled her heart. Looking up, her pupils contracted sharply.
A falcon and a python plummeted from the sky amid a downpour of blood, crashing heavily to the ground just dozens of zhang away from her.
Rate on N.U.
