Chapter 214 Cultivation Path A (Part 8) Path A's combat power is maxed out...
"Everyone," Xiao Ruochun walked over, lightly tapping her palm with her fan, "We'll be at Cloudwind Ridge soon. The sect leader said the entrance to the secret realm will open precisely at midnight tonight. Although this is supposed to be a training exercise, there are still quite a few spiritual herbs in the core area. Let's try to avoid unnecessary conflicts with other sects. Do you all understand?"
Among this group, Xiao Ruochun had the highest cultivation level, having reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and naturally became the leader of this team.
"Yes, Senior Brother Xiao."
Not far away, Chu Zhiyin maneuvered the flying ship to a secluded spot in Yunfeng Ridge. When the moon was high in the sky, the secret passage opened.
The Cloud Wind Ridge Secret Realm wasn't particularly large, nor was it small. Because it had been around for so long, the disciples of the three upper sects had little interest in a secret realm they had explored countless times, and therefore did not attend. The people from the nine lower sects, however, arrived at six of them, including the disciples of the Burning Star Sect. After the disciples of the nine lower sects entered first, the Jade Balance Sect and the smaller sects followed suit.
As the scenery before them distorted, in an instant, the Yuheng Sect members were transported to a vast desert filled with yellow sand.
Upon seeing this, Mu Qingdai exclaimed in surprise and instinctively hid behind Xiao Ruochun.
"Senior Brother Xiao, where is this place? Is it inside a secret realm?"
"Everyone, hold on!" Xiao Ruochun immediately formed hand seals and turned to shout to the crowd, "Junior brothers and sisters, quickly protect yourselves with spiritual energy! Don't scatter!"
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly mobilized their spiritual energy and activated protective spiritual arrays to keep the swirling yellow sand outside.
Tang Suyi quickly scanned the surroundings, frowned, and asked, "Everyone, how far can your spiritual senses reach?"
"Senior Brother Xiao, my spiritual sense can only extend ten zhang at most," Lan Hongying said, her expression changing slightly.
"Me too." Mu Qingdai bit her lower lip lightly. "This place is completely different from what Master described."
"I don't know, this place is quite strange." Xiao Ruochun put away his folding fan and said in a deep voice, "Let's find a sheltered place to stay first! We can find a way to investigate after it gets light tomorrow."
Chu Zhiyin nodded slightly and said softly, "This is the only way. I just sensed that the spiritual energy in this desert is very thin and carries a domineering, dry feeling. Please be careful."
"Um."
As darkness fell, the Yuheng Sect members did not linger and headed northwest, following the direction indicated by the spirit chariot.
This desert is vast; as far as the eye can see, there isn't a single blade of grass, let alone any sign of human habitation. Occasionally, you pass by a few protruding sand dunes, but they offer little protection from the wind and sand.
"Senior Brother Xiao, do you think there might be monsters here?" Mu Qingdai asked anxiously, clutching Xiao Ruochun's clothes tightly.
Xiao Ruochun wasn't in the mood to worry about these things right now, so he just offered a few words of comfort and then fell silent.
"Junior Sister Mu, don't panic." Tang Suyi continued walking. "Most of the monsters in the secret realm live in places with abundant spiritual energy, and they are rarely seen in such desolate places."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Tang." Mu Qingdai smiled, secretly glancing at Song Ce at the back of the group, and said sweetly, "Then everyone be careful and don't fall behind."
At this moment, Song Ce shifted his body slightly to the side, and no movement of the wind or grass within a radius of ten thousand feet could escape his perception. His spiritual sense was so vast that it could almost completely cover this desert that had never been set foot in before.
The group walked for about two hours, stumbling along the way. Just when everyone was almost exhausted, Xiao Ruochun, who was walking at the front, suddenly shouted in a low voice: "Stop!"
The group immediately stopped and looked in the direction he indicated. They saw a dark cave entrance vaguely visible under the sand dune, like a natural grotto half-hidden by the wind and sand.
Xiao Ruochun examined the cave intently for a moment before saying, "There is a faint flow of spiritual energy in this cave, so it should be fine. Let's go in and hide for the night first."
As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward and waved his hand, sending out a burst of spiritual energy that swept away the pile of quicksand at the cave entrance, revealing an entrance that could only accommodate one person at a time.
"It's a grotto! Senior Brother Xiao is truly amazing!" Mu Qingdai exclaimed with a smile.
"Of course! Senior Brother Xiao is already in the late Foundation Establishment stage. He'll definitely be able to advance to the Golden Core stage in a few years!" Lan Hongying said smugly, glancing at Tang Suyi behind her. "Unlike some people who are already over thirty but are still only in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage..."
"you!"
"Alright, stop arguing! Who wants to go down and investigate first?" Xiao Ruochun asked.
The group exchanged glances, and Mu Qingdai was the first to look at Song Ce at the back of the group, then secretly gave Xiao Ruochun a wink.
Xiao Ruochun gripped the spirit sword at her waist, turned around and said gently, "Qingdai, Hongying and Zhiyin are all young ladies, and Junior Brother Tang has been on guard the whole way... In my opinion, Junior Brother Song, why don't you go?"
Song Ce smiled and said, "Okay, I..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Zhiyin, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly spoke up: "Senior Brother Xiao, we've been walking for more than two hours without seeing a single person. How come such a conspicuous cave suddenly appears?"
Xiao Ruochun was taken aback upon hearing this and did not respond.
Lan Hongying pursed her lips upon hearing this: "Senior Sister Chu, you're being too cautious. It's just a grotto, isn't it? Or is there some kind of monster that eats human essence or some kind of killing formation hidden inside?"
Tang Suyi sneered, "If you're not afraid, why don't you go down and scout it out for Junior Brother Song?"
"You... Tang Suyi, don't push your luck!"
Seeing the two about to clash, Xiao Ruochun snorted and walked between them, saying in a deep voice, "Junior Sister Lan is overthinking it. If Junior Brother Song encounters danger, he can leave the secret realm by crushing the jade pendant, so you don't need to worry. Junior Brother Song, right?"
Song Ce chuckled lightly, nodded slightly to Chu Zhiyin, and then stepped into the entrance of the grotto without saying anything more.
Xiao Ruochun stared intently at the disappearing figure. He immediately took out a yellow talisman from his storage bag and flicked it with his finger. The talisman turned into a streak of fire and flew away with Song Ce.
The yellow talisman only illuminated an area of about ten feet in front of them. The group could vaguely see the uneven stone wall, but other than that, there seemed to be nothing unusual.
"It doesn't seem dangerous at all." Lan Hongying breathed a sigh of relief, her tone tinged with disdain. "I knew it! Senior Sister Chu was just worrying unnecessarily! If it were me..."
However, before she could finish speaking, the sand beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently. Xiao Ruochun, who was guarding the cave entrance, exclaimed, "This is bad!"
The next instant, a sharp roar suddenly erupted from the entrance of the cave, followed by a torrent of thick blue smoke and golden quicksand gushing out from the narrow opening.
Xiao Ruochun reacted extremely quickly, immediately summoning a fire mirror to block in front of the group, while shouting, "Quick!"
Chu Zhiyin, Tang Suyi, and the others also unleashed their magical treasures to jointly resist the sudden impact. However, this strange power was simply too strong, and their defenses were shattered in an instant after only a moment.
Everyone felt a tremendous force coming from above, and their bodies were involuntarily thrown forward. Everything went black before their eyes, and they quickly lost consciousness.
After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Ruochun slowly woke up.
He shook his slightly dizzy head and subconsciously looked around, finding himself lying on a patch of lush green grass. Not far from him, Chu Zhiyin, Tang Suyi, Mu Qingdai, and Lan Hongying were also lying on the ground, still unconscious.
"Cough cough." The next second, Chu Zhiyin also woke up.
She coughed a few times, clutching her chest, her voice hoarse: "Senior Brother Xiao, where is this? How did we get here? Where is Junior Brother Song?"
Xiao Ruochun slowly shook his head, his expression quite grim. "If I'm not mistaken, this place must be the true Cloud Wind Ridge Secret Realm. As for Junior Brother Song..."
He paused, a hint of regret in his voice, "I'm afraid the chances of survival are slim."
At this moment, Tang Suyi, Mu Qingdai, and Lan Hongying also woke up one after another. After hearing Xiao Ruochun's words, they all fell silent.
Although Lan Hongying didn't have a good impression of Song Ce, they had all come together for training, and now only he was missing, leaving her feeling somewhat uneasy. She clenched her fists and sighed, "Should we go look for him? Maybe Junior Brother Song still has a chance."
Chu Zhiyin glanced at her with some surprise upon hearing this, but before she could speak, Mu Qingdai said softly from not far away, "It's no use, the grotto has already collapsed. Even if Junior Brother Song wasn't buried underneath, he's probably already..."
"Hmph! How do you know before you've even looked?"
Mu Qingdai was taken aback and immediately fell silent. The group fell silent for a moment, and the atmosphere became very heavy.
Meanwhile, deep underground in the collapsed grotto, a neatly dressed young man in blue slowly opened his eyes.
He looked around and found that he was in an extremely spacious underground meteorite cave. Many crystal-clear Qingxi stones hung from the top of the cave, emitting a faint blue light.
Here, Song Ce had no mission restrictions; he only needed to survive and retrieve the Peace Jade. Therefore, 702 granted him the world's memories with maximum access, naturally including all the extraordinary encounters that existed in this world. He closed his eyes, sensing the rich and pure spiritual energy within the meteorite cave, and was surprised to find that this place was in no way inferior to the strange spiritual energy space from back then.
Song Ce stood up and walked in the direction with the densest spiritual energy inside the meteorite cave. Before long, a spring about ten zhang square appeared in front of him—it was actually the Earth Spirit Spring.
He walked to the spring and slowly stretched out his hand.
The spring water was warm and silky to the touch, and a vast amount of pure spiritual energy flowed directly from his fingertips into the heart of the plant. Without further hesitation, he sat cross-legged by the spring, calmed his mind, and immediately entered a meditative state.
Song Ce's original cultivation level was just at the Foundation Establishment stage. After entering meditation, he gradually climbed to the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage, only one step away from the Golden Core stage.
At the same time, the Heart of Grass and Trees was operating wildly within his body, and a patch of green grass gradually grew inside the barren underground meteorite cave...
After an unknown amount of time, the surging spiritual energy within his body spontaneously assaulted the invisible barrier of the golden core. With a soft "crack," the precarious bottleneck was finally broken through. Instantly, an even more powerful surge of spiritual energy formed within him, until a translucent golden core slowly coalesced in his dantian, taking shape.
But Song Ce did not wake up at this moment.
Although the spiritual energy of the Earth Spirit Spring was abundant, it was gradually being depleted. With the autonomous operation of the Heart of Plants, the spiritual herbs that originally only grew in the meteorite cave were also spreading and growing outwards, gradually transforming the barren meteorite cave into a beautiful paradise.
As time passed, these spiritual herbs continuously provided spiritual energy to the Earth Spirit Spring, achieving a delicate balance between the two. At this moment, Song Ce was immersed in cultivation, completely unaware of everything around him.
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Author's Note: [Peeking while covering face]
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