Chapter 1678: Changes and Plans
Li Yan gazed at the delicate woman in white who appeared to be in a deep sleep. His mind immediately went back to that young girl in the Peiyang Market, standing alone and helpless in the crowd.
He knew Bai Rou’s personality well. She was like a pure lotus, detached from the world. Though she possessed combat power, she was extremely reluctant to fight. She always doubted her own abilities, feeling that she couldn’t do anything right.
Yet back at Wind-Cool Mountain, she had overcome her own cowardice to enter the blood and gore she loathed most. During his Nascent Soul Ceremony, she had been an unremarkable presence among the Golden Core disciples, sitting quietly with the Four Directions Peak. But when the First Master and the demons attacked, she had revealed her brilliance.
And this time, she had silently faced a Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator alone. For Bai Rou, that required immense courage. First, she had eased the crisis for Qianji and Zi Kun, and then she had dared to rescue Li Zhaoyan from a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
And she was only at the Initial-stage Nascent Soul!
After Dong Fuyi finished speaking, Li Yan’s expression remained unexpectedly calm. He shifted his gaze from Bai Rou to his master.
“Master, is there any way to restore her?”
Beneath Li Yan’s calm expression, Dong Fuyi sensed a fierce determination.
“Even in the upper realm where I can use my full power, I cannot restore her now. It is too late. The difficulty lies in what I said: that force has integrated into her Sea of Consciousness. Her mind is on the verge of collapse and cannot withstand any outside force; it can only be nourished with pills. Once the nourishment begins, the cracks in her Sea of Consciousness will slowly heal and solidify…
By the time her mind can withstand other forces, that binding energy will have become even more deep-rooted. It will be impossible to remove it through techniques. For now, use the True Essence Pill to nourish her and fix the cracks first. As for the binding force that has permeated her mind…”
Dong Fuyi paused, seemingly searching for the best solution.
“…Well, I do know of a celestial herb called ‘Hazy Moon Purity.’ It has the effect of purifying the Sea of Consciousness. But it has only ever appeared in the Immortal Spirit Realm; I’ve never heard of it in the lower realms.”
“Master, can this celestial herb be purchased in the major markets of the Immortal Spirit Realm?”
Li Yan felt a surge of hope. This was a powerful master of the Body Integration realm and the well-traveled Dong Fuyi. If he didn’t have a solution, there truly was little hope for Bai Rou. Hearing his words, Li Yan’s eyes lit up. His master did indeed have a way.
“Since you’ve come from the Immortal Spirit Realm, you should know how vast it is. I never needed that herb before, so I only know it has appeared in the Cangxuan Realm, though it rarely shows up in markets. Anything targeting the soul or the Sea of Consciousness—whether it be pills or herbs—is a rare treasure in any realm. Even if it appears in a market, by the time you get the news, it’s likely already gone.
This is something I will have to investigate personally once we reach the Immortal Spirit Realm. Once the girl’s mind is stable, we can at least ensure her life is not in danger for the time being. I suggest you take her with you. Follow me back to the sect; we can search for ‘Hazy Moon Purity’ while looking for other treatments.”
Li Yan nodded without hesitation. He would spare no effort to save Bai Rou. Furthermore, upon his return, he had asked Gu Jiuqi about the Malevolent Spirit Sect’s position in the upper realm, and he was delighted to learn it was also in the Cangxuan Realm.
He faced too many difficulties and problems; it was rare to have such a stroke of good luck. This way, he wouldn’t have to constantly cross between realms. Just sending Mu Guyue and Mu Sha to the Jiyou Realm would be exhausting enough, and he was only a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
“Master, since we are speaking of returning to the Immortal Spirit Realm… I wish to ask if it is possible to place several people in a storage space and find an ascension node to bring them with me?” Li Yan wanted to take several others with him; allowing them to ascend individually carried too high a risk of death.
“Of course that is possible. However, the heavenly pressure and danger the carrier must bear will increase manifold. But the carrier’s strength remains the same. If the carrier perishes, ninety-nine percent of the people inside the storage space will not survive. But you need not worry about that; leave such a small matter to me,” Dong Fuyi said dismissively. This was a difficult task for an ordinary Immortal Spirit Realm cultivator, but it was nothing to him.
His understanding of heavenly laws was such that he could freely travel between the celestial and mortal realms, barring the True Immortal Realm. It was only because old monsters of the Body Integration realm rarely appeared in the upper realm that they weren’t seen often; only a sect like the Five Immortals Sect would have someone of his caliber personally descend to find a disciple.
“Master, there is one more thing I don’t understand. Last time I used the Earthen Patch to bring several beasts to the Immortal Spirit Realm. Why did I need Immortal Transformation Fluid to merge my soul with the upper realm’s laws while those beasts didn’t?” Since learning the rules of the two realms, Li Yan had been puzzled by this.
“Oh? They didn’t need Immortal Transformation Fluid? Tell me the details,” Dong Fuyi said, his brows arching with interest. Li Yan had only given a general account of his experiences earlier.
Li Yan then explained about the Snow Mosquitoes and Gu insects within the Earthen Patch. Dong Fuyi listened and asked several questions about the ascension process. Upon learning that Li Yan had been unconscious during the entire journey, he asked when Li Yan first noticed the discrepancy.
Li Yan replied that he first used the beasts in a secret realm on the Sky-Demon Prairie, which was when the question occurred to him. Dong Fuyi stared at Li Yan for a moment, making him feel a bit awkward, before sighing.
“What can I say? Are you stubborn or just lucky? Most people only dare to bring one or two spirit pets during ascension, and they keep them outside the storage space as much as possible to face the path together. You brought so many. Much of the pressure and danger that caused your blackout came from those living beings; otherwise, you might not have lost consciousness at all.
Fortunately, you practiced top-tier body tempering, and your physical body held up against the subsequent pressure while you were out. Furthermore, there are two other reasons why they didn’t die without the fluid. First, the materials for the Earthen Patch came from the Immortal Spirit Realm; they are heavenly treasures of the upper realm.
Since the artifact itself is a treasure of the upper realm, it is nurtured by its laws. Even though you refined it later and the five elements within were slowly perfected by you, it always contained a shred of the upper realm’s heavenly law. This is the fundamental reason why the pressure from those creatures was reduced during the journey.
Furthermore, you said those creatures were put inside long ago. Their physical bodies had been living within that space for a long time, undergoing a subtle transformation. You also said you didn’t use them until several decades after arriving in the Immortal Spirit Realm. Though the Earthen Patch is an independent space, it is still influenced by the external world. Living in the Immortal Spirit Realm for decades, they were indirectly affected by its heavenly laws, which allowed them to survive.
If you had released them immediately upon arrival instead of waiting until your Sea of Consciousness healed, they would have needed the fluid or they would have died soon after,” Dong Fuyi explained.
He also implied that if the insects hadn’t lived in the artifact for so long—if they had been put in right before ascension—the pressure on Li Yan would have been even more fierce. This was why he called Li Yan lucky.
Li Yan broke into a cold sweat. He truly had been lucky. He also realized that putting Zhao Min and the others into the Earthen Patch wouldn’t reduce the danger of his ascension unless they lived there for a hundred years. But since Dong Fuyi had offered to handle it, he didn’t need to worry.
“Can I bring my other relatives to the Five Immortals Sect?”
“This…” Dong Fuyi looked pensive for a moment before nodding.
“No problem. But they are different from that girl Bai. You must think this through: once they enter the Five Immortals Sect, they might not be able to leave for a long time. Our enemies are too many, and their overall strength far exceeds ours. We can only stay in the shadows and use our wits to overcome them!
Your relatives would likely need to reach the Void Refinement realm before they can leave the sect, and even then only through teleportation arrays. To return, they would need us to bring them back. This isn’t a matter of trust; it’s because our foundation cannot afford any mistakes. To put it nicely, we are recluses; to put it bluntly, we are hiding like rats. The main reason for this is that disciples are too hard to find, and the sect simply cannot grow.”
Though he agreed, Dong Fuyi made the conditions clear. Li Yan realized this matched his own suspicions. He had wanted to use the sect’s resources to empower Zhao Min and the others; since there were so few disciples, the resources would be abundant. Furthermore, staying there would allow them to receive pointers from Dong Fuyi and the others—an immense immortal fortune.