Zhou Bupo wiped his sweat and squeezed out a forced smile. “The underground cave must have been under a probe-blocking restriction, which is why we lost our view. Look, now that these two disciples have exited the cave, the projection has restored itself. Sect Master Huang, you really don't need to worry.”
Huang Siqi suppressed the anxiety in his heart and nodded. “I hope so.”
He hadn't agreed to let Shen Chaoyue participate in this trial in the first place. She had only just restored her spiritual root, and her cultivation was merely at the first level of Qi Condensation. She could barely even protect herself.
But the child was stubborn, insisting that an opportunity in the depths of the mystic realm was calling to her. Coupled with his eldest disciple stepping forward to guarantee he would protect his junior sister, he couldn't sway her and had reluctantly agreed.
Now that both disciples had lost contact at the same time, if anything really happened to them, how would he account for it to the sect when he returned?
Inside the mystic realm, Shen Chaoyue walked up to the stone crevice where the red sun fruit grew, and her footsteps halted.
The red sun fruit from before was now gone, leaving only a small stump of its stem.
She squatted down to examine the cut—it was clean and neat, not bitten by a demon beast, but plucked by a person.
“Senior Brother, the red sun fruit has been taken.”
Yun Yanchen frowned as he swept his gaze over the messy footprints and broken grass stems around them. Someone had entered after them, plucked the fruit, and left.
Seeing Shen Chaoyue's slumped shoulders and crestfallen face, he quickly comforted her, “Though the red sun fruit is gone, these spiritual plants are also rare treasures.”
Shen Chaoyue did not respond, feeling incredibly depressed.
Was the opportunity she had rushed all this way for really just the red sun fruit? The great opportunity had likely been snatched by someone else first.
Ah well. Since she was already here, she could only accept it.
Suppressing the frustration in her chest, she began to pluck the thousand-year flesh-growing vines nearby.
Yun Yanchen didn't say much either, silently following behind her to help.
At the edge of the Qingyu Lake.
Suddenly, ripples of spiritual energy spread across the lake's surface. The spiritual energy was ridiculously dense, condensing directly into a thick white mist that rolled and surged just above the water.
Just as Jiang Yuran and her group emerged from the dense forest and reached the lakeshore, they were hit full in the face by this spiritual energy. Several disciples inhaled deeply on the spot, feeling their meridians instantly grow more comfortable.
“The spiritual energy here is so abundant, there must be a great opportunity at the bottom of the lake!” A flash of joy crossed Jiang Yuran's eyes, and she turned to the senior brothers behind her. “Senior Brothers, shall we go down and take a look?”
Lin Xibai shook his head.
The mist on the lake was growing thicker and thicker, making it nearly impossible to see the center of the lake.
This place was clearly unusual; he would be a fool to actually go down. However, this spiritual energy was incredibly pure. It would be better to absorb it and cultivate first, then wait for the people of the Heavenly Origin Sect to arrive and let them pave the way.
“To be safe, let's just cultivate on the shore for a while. There's no rush to enter the water.” Having said that, he found a flat spot, swept his robes aside to sit down, closed his eyes, and began absorbing the spiritual energy.
Seeing their eldest senior brother sit, the other Flowing Cloud Sect disciples sat down one after another.
Jiang Yuran stamped her foot in frustration. With such a great opportunity right before them, why didn't her senior brother dare to take a gamble?
But since all of her senior brothers had sat cross-legged, she couldn't say anything more on her own. She could only sit down reluctantly.
The mist on the lake grew denser, almost completely enveloping the entire body of water.
Not long after, Pei Zongyuan arrived at the lakeside with the disciples of the Heavenly Origin Sect.
Since their eldest senior brother, Yun Yanchen, wasn't there, he didn't dare to rashly lead the others into the water.
He swept his gaze over the shore and saw the Flowing Cloud Sect disciples sitting in a neat row, cultivating.
Pei Zongyuan's mind whirled, and he immediately called his fellow disciples to sit down and meditate.
His thoughts were straightforward: if there were real danger, how would the Flowing Cloud Sect dare to sit here so peacefully?
The rich spiritual energy drifted outward in all directions, drawing disciples from various sects to the lakeside one after another.
When the crowd saw that the disciples of both the Heavenly Origin Sect and the Flowing Cloud Sect were meditating peacefully, they assumed there was no danger here. Consequently, they also sat down cross-legged on the spot to cultivate.
In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the grassy shore of the lake was filled with a ring of people sitting with their eyes closed in meditation.
Inside the cave, Shen Chaoyue sensed the surrounding spiritual energy suddenly becoming pure and dense. She exchanged a glance with Yun Yanchen, and the two quickly walked to the cave entrance.
Looking outside, both of them froze.
Before they had entered, it was just an ordinary lake, but now it was completely shrouded in mist, and nothing could be seen.
Moreover, this spiritual mist kept surging upward within the boundaries of the lake, not spreading into the surrounding forest at all, as if it were enclosed by an invisible barrier.
Yun Yanchen released his divine sense to investigate. “Could there be a spirit vein at the bottom of the lake?”
The two walked in a full circle around the lake, but aside from white mist, there was only white mist. They couldn't detect anything at all.
However, on the grass along the lake, disciples from various sects were sitting in rows to cultivate. The massive, orderly crowd looked even more disciplined than a sect's morning class.
Shen Chaoyue suppressed the doubts in her heart and turned to look at Yun Yanchen. “Senior Brother, perhaps we are overthinking. So many people are cultivating here; let's sit down and absorb the spiritual energy as well. It would be a waste to let such pure spiritual energy go to waste.”
Yun Yanchen nodded and found an empty spot to sit down and cultivate.
Such a huge commotion naturally did not escape Xue Mingzhao's eyes.
Gazing at the pillar of mist shooting straight into the sky ahead, the two exchanged a look—something was wrong.
Su Ye stared for a long while but couldn't make out anything. “Junior Sister, how about we stay further away? This place looks too bizarre.”
Xue Mingzhao thought so too. While the spiritual energy was good, her life was more important.
Just as she was about to nod, the Chaos Spiritual Root in her dantian protested, “I want to absorb it! Every day I have to follow you and absorb that toxic, garbage spiritual energy in the Grand Primordium Sect. Now that we've finally encountered such pure energy, you're actually not letting me absorb it? What is your problem?”
Xue Mingzhao frowned. “This is clearly abnormal. It feels like it's deliberately drawing people toward the lakeside. Anyone who doesn't run is a fool.”
“This spiritual energy density is ten times that of the Grand Primordium Sect! Besides, do you think I wouldn't know if there was something wrong with this spiritual energy? If you don't let me absorb it, you're just letting a heaven-sent gift go to waste!”
Xue Mingzhao hesitated.
The Grand Primordium Sect's spiritual energy was already sparse and toxic. The Chaos Spiritual Root pitted its wits against her every day, going on strike at the slightest disagreement.
Now, it was actually offering to help her absorb spiritual energy of its own accord. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take this opportunity to stockpile some and refine it slowly after returning.
While she was still wavering, her peripheral vision suddenly caught a familiar figure—Shen Chaoyue.
Xue Mingzhao was instantly reassured.
The female lead was right here, so what was there to be anxious about?
The original book hadn't mentioned the mist on this lake. Could this be a minor fortuitous encounter for the female lead?
She raised her hand to point ahead and said softly, “Look, Senior Brother, the people from the Heavenly Origin Sect are here too. Even if something happens, they'll be the ones holding the front line. Since this spiritual energy is being delivered right to our doorstep, let's leech some of it for a bit.”
Su Ye nodded without the slightest hesitation.
It was the same as before: whatever his little junior sister told him to do, he would do!
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