This is the pure spirit energy found only in Yimu spirit liquid!
She swept her divine sense over the surroundings, but saw only ordinary plants and no places abundant in spirit energy.
The traces in the dense forest were messy, with activity from various animals and cultivators mixed together, making it impossible to see where the wooden sheep had come from.
“Junior Sister Yuan Zhi, where did you encounter this wooden sheep?”
“Near the inner perimeter. If you want to go, Senior Sister, I'll lead the way,” Yuan Zhi said, pointing to the east.
She had just collected some Purple Sun Flower dew and encountered the wooden sheep shortly after coming out.
When the wooden sheep saw her, it was as if it had spotted a mortal enemy; it kicked its hooves and charged at her.
She had used up the only low-grade Swift-Walk Talisman she had to run to the edge of the forest. Because the talisman's spirit energy was exhausted, it had caught up to her, leading to the scene Gu Ningyun had witnessed earlier—it had been a close call.
Although the escape had been a bit frantic, she had visited this dense forest many times. If she were to return to that previous spot, it wouldn't be a problem.
Gu Ningyun heard Yuan Zhi's words but didn't immediately agree.
This wooden sheep's attack power wasn't high, and she didn't know if it would seek advantage while avoiding harm or bully the weak while fearing the strong, hiding away once it saw her.
She wanted to follow the wooden sheep to find the wood spirit liquid; it wouldn't do if it hid and didn't come out.
After thinking for a moment, Gu Ningyun took out a yellow-rank top-grade earth wall talisman, an earth-tunneling talisman, and a stealth talisman and handed them to Yuan Zhi.
“Junior Sister Yuan, lead the way. If you encounter a danger you can't handle, activate the earth wall talisman.”
“If I tell you to run, use the earth-tunneling talisman to leave, then use the stealth talisman to escape back to Tingyang City.”
Seeing Yuan Zhi agree to everything, Gu Ningyun put away the wooden sheep's remains and applied a stealth talisman to herself. “Let's go. I'll be right behind you. Don't be afraid.”
She followed Yuan Zhi into the dense forest, twisting and turning past rocks and mounds, and the spirit energy in the forest gradually became more abundant.
As they reached the area near the inner perimeter, the vegetation became even more lush. Without careful attention, Gu Ningyun would step on grass leaves and leave behind signs of trampling.
A stealth talisman could hide one's form and aura, but it couldn't make one's weight vanish into thin air.
Gu Ningyun looked at the traces she had left and furrowed her brows.
This wouldn't do.
If she encountered an enemy in the future, unless she remained perfectly still, any observant person could find her through these telltale signs.
Gu Ningyun calculated her methods in her mind, going over 《Wind Walk》 repeatedly.
The Entry stage of Wind Walk involved borrowing the power of the wind.
Wind only made sound when it blew against objects or whistled through the air.
In essence, it was silent and formless.
Could she use the power of the wind to support her weight and hide her sounds?
Gu Ningyun channeled the wind spirit energy in her body to the soles of her feet, following the trajectory described in 《Wind Walk》.
A lifting sensation came from beneath her feet. It seemed feasible!
However, the essence of 《Wind Walk》 was for her to borrow external wind; using only her own spirit energy wouldn't work. Not only was the consumption high, but it was also fundamentally counterproductive to the philosophy of 《Wind Walk》.
Gu Ningyun raised her hand and swept it through the air, feeling the coolness pass between her fingers.
Wind was everywhere.
If she could make the spirit energy fluctuations beneath her feet synchronize with the external wind spirit energy, could she borrow the wind's power to a greater extent?
If she circulated wind spirit energy to cover her entire body and resonate with the natural wind spirit energy, could she fundamentally merge into the wind?
The more she thought, the deeper her understanding of the wind became.
The circulation of 《Wind Walk》 did not stop for a moment, but this time it wasn't to increase her speed, but to borrow more power from the wind.
Yuan Zhi led the way. Although she was returning to the place where she had been in danger, she didn't feel panicked at all.
One reason was the yellow-rank top-grade talismans Gu Ningyun had generously given her, which provided confidence and reassurance.
The second reason was that although Gu Ningyun was using a stealth talisman, Yuan Zhi could still feel that the Senior Sister Gu who had saved her life was right beside her through the faint sounds of trampling.
But as they walked further, she felt something was not quite right.
Why were Senior Sister Gu's footsteps getting lighter and lighter?
She suppressed the unease in her heart and walked a bit longer, her steps becoming hesitant.
Why had Senior Sister Gu's presence vanished completely?!
She stopped and looked around. There was only the faint sound of the wind whistling through the quiet forest.
Gu Ningyun was checking the results of her research.
As 《Wind Walk》 circulated, she stepped directly onto a weed.
The weed's leaves shook in the wind as it stretched its body, leaving no trace of being stepped on.
She moved around lightly, feeling the energy of the natural breeze, her eyes brightening slightly.
It worked!
Not only that, but Gu Ningyun discovered that 《Wind Walk》, which hadn't progressed much since reaching the Entry stage, was now faintly touching the threshold of Small Success after this bit of research and practice.
She believed that as long as her cultivation increased and her understanding of the wind and 《Wind Walk》 deepened, she could break through to the Small Success stage.
This trip to the dense forest was worth it.
Seeing Yuan Zhi's hesitation and realizing they hadn't reached their destination yet, Gu Ningyun transmitted via divine sense: “What's wrong?”
Senior Sister Gu's voice suddenly rang in her ears, startling Yuan Zhi.
She opened her mouth to speak but then remembered Gu Ningyun's stealth plan and remained silent.
Gu Ningyun immediately understood her concerns and transmitted: “Condense your divine sense into a thread and touch my divine sense. Then you'll be able to find me and transmit your voice to me.”
“The method for divine sense transmission is very simple. Just take the words you want to say to me in your mind and place them on that thread of divine sense to send them to me.”
Speaking of which, she had specifically learned this divine sense transmission while researching stealth talismans to see if they could hide divine sense.
The reality of her research was quite harsh; she had been engaged in wishful thinking. Divine sense couldn't be hidden at all and was easily discovered by anyone with a primordial spirit cultivation higher than hers.
She immediately reminded herself that when using a stealth talisman, she should avoid indiscriminately extending her divine sense unless necessary.
Hearing Gu Ningyun's explanation, Yuan Zhi tried to extend a thread of divine sense near her ear.
Feeling a divine sense power much stronger than her own, she transmitted: “It's nothing, Senior Sister Gu. I just suddenly couldn't feel your presence anymore and thought you had fallen behind.”
“You can't feel any trace of my presence at all?”
“Right. Before, I could still sense you through telltale signs in the surroundings, but now it feels like you've vanished into thin air, as if I'm the only one in this forest.”
“This is the effect of wind spirit energy. If you have time, you can also explore the application of your own spirit energy and techniques. It's very interesting.”
“Thank you for the guidance, Senior Sister. I'll try it later.”
Even through the divine sense transmission, Gu Ningyun could hear the surprise in Yuan Zhi's voice.
“Let's go. Be careful.”
After walking for some time along the boundary between the inner and outer perimeters, they came to a place where the vegetation was tangled.
Gu Ningyun carefully extended her divine sense. From quite a distance away, behind a patch of bushes, she discovered the figure of a wooden sheep.
At the same time, her divine sense also detected a widespread rustling movement, as if herds of creatures were active.
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