"Two hours are up," Bu Bu's voice rang out, and Yun Ze also emerged from his cultivation.
"Hoo…"
He exhaled a breath of turbid air, feeling the Qi Sea within him, a sense of unreality washing over him.
Qi Sea Nine Realms!
After consuming the Nine Revolutions Casting Qi Pills for a full two days, he had finally reached this realm!
However, as Yun Ze reached the Qi Sea Nine Realms, his cultivation had also dropped to the early stage of Qi Refining Seventh Level.
This was already no small feat.
One had to consider, this was the Qi Sea Nine Realms! Its volume was double that of the Qi Sea Eighth Realm! If Yun Ze hadn't had a large amount of pure spiritual liquid in his Sumeru Ring, he might have already fallen to the early stage of Qi Refining Sixth Level.
"Qi Sea Nine Realms?"
"Mhm."
After Yun Ze woke up, he took control of the mountain demon and sped forward at several times their previous speed, carrying the two with him. "I should be able to hold on for a day now. How about we run for a day first?"
"No need."
Bu Bu shook her head. "Stop for now."
"Huh?"
Though Yun Ze was puzzled, he still obeyed Bu Bu and stopped. "We… we're not leaving?"
"We can't leave. Feel the surrounding space, and you'll know."
Yun Ze frowned, closed his eyes, and sensed the secret realm's space.
Damn it!
Those spirit beasts had spread out! They were now like a giant net, spread across the secret realm, closing in on Yun Ze and the others! Although these spirit beasts covered tens of thousands of miles and couldn't complete their encirclement in a short time, this secret realm was only tens of thousands of miles wide! Forget three years, even three months would be enough for them to complete the encirclement! This meant that no matter how they ran, they would inevitably encounter these spirit beasts!
"You feel it?"
"It's a bit tricky."
Yun Ze opened his eyes and looked at Bu Bu. "What do we do now?"
"Wait."
Bu Bu replied, then turned to look behind them. "The message from your jade slip just now said that the girl with the three-element heavenly spiritual root should be here soon. Let's see how much Source Qi they've collected first."
"Alright."
Yun Ze agreed. They were short by three hundred and thirty-nine strands of Source Qi. No matter how powerful Xiu Yun and the others were, they couldn't collect so much Source Qi in just one day. Bu Bu just wanted to see their efficiency in collecting Source Qi before making further plans.
Before long, Dan Chenyu's figure appeared in the air.
Wei Lanshu waved her hand. "Sister Yu, we're here!"
Hearing Xiao Shu's voice, Dan Chenyu flashed and arrived in front of the three. She directly handed over a ball of misty green energy. "A total of twenty-seven strands. How much more is needed?"
"We need three hundred and sixty-five in total. Including what you brought, we're still short by three hundred and eleven."
Yun Ze didn't hide it from her. The reason he hadn't told Xiu Yun and the others the exact amount of Source Qi needed at the time was that he feared they would mistake it for a method of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment. If they were to try it rashly, who knew what other troubles would arise. But Dan Chenyu was different. After Yun Ze established his Heavenly Dao Foundation, he would have to cooperate with her in research, and he would definitely tell her that this Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment method could not be replicated. Unless she could withstand Bu Bu's fury.
"So much?"
Dan Chenyu frowned and quickly explained the situation on their end. "Besides Su Ling, myself, Xiu Yun, and Gu Wudao, everyone else is injured, and one person from the Demon Cave has died."
"Died!? Weren't there only one Nascent Soul stage…"
"Now there are four, and possibly even more."
Four? This was going to be difficult!
"You don't need to worry."
Seeing Yun Ze frown, Dan Chenyu said, "For some reason, when I came over, I saw that the spirit beasts had dispersed. It seems they are no longer pursuing you. There should be no danger for the time being. We just need to find spirit beasts that haven't reached the Nascent Soul stage."
"It's not that simple…"
Yun Ze sighed helplessly and then told Dan Chenyu what Bu Bu had said. After listening, her brows furrowed tightly. It wasn't the spirit beasts' strength that was terrifying, but their intelligence! Guerrilla warfare? They simply abandoned the front line and encircled them again! This not only minimized their guerrilla efficiency but also bought time, allowing more Nascent Soul stage spirit beasts to emerge! Once they successfully completed their encirclement again, the group might face not just four Nascent Soul stage spirit beasts, but forty, or even four hundred!
"Actually, there's still a chance."
While waiting for Dan Chenyu, Yun Ze had also thought of a way to break the deadlock. "In the entire secret realm, besides these ten-odd people, there should be about eighty-odd others. Even if we exclude some of the weaker ones who have already died, this number should still be around forty."
"Forty people isn't a lot," Dan Chenyu frowned.
"I know, but what if there are forty Foundation Establishment cultivators? Forty cultivators who can kill one Foundation Establishment stage spirit beast a day?"
"Foundation Establishment?"
Dan Chenyu was not a fool. Hearing Yun Ze's hint, she naturally understood what he meant. Forty Foundation Establishment cultivators, plus their dozen-odd people. They could collect fifty strands of Source Qi in a day! The remaining three hundred and twelve strands of spiritual energy seemed like a lot, but calculated this way, it would take at most seven days to collect them all! Given the speed at which the spirit beasts were encircling, seven days would not be enough for them to be completely surrounded!
"But where can we find these people?" Dan Chenyu couldn't help but frown.
Yun Ze gave a wry smile. "Guess why I know there are still forty people?"
Dan Chenyu's eyes lit up! "You can find them?!"
"Just their approximate locations."
Yun Ze took out the sheepskin scroll given to him by Mu Siyue from his Sumeru Ring and quickly drew over ten circles on it. He had sensed them while cultivating the Yu Dian. At this moment, he could already sense the trajectories of most life activities within the secret realm, but they were too vague to determine precise locations, only general areas. "These circles indicate their frequent activity areas. They shouldn't leave them in a short time. We can have some of the injured go find them, but what about the materials for Foundation Establishment…"
"I'll provide them!"
Dan Chenyu said without hesitation. "Since this Heavenly Foundation Secret Realm is just a scam, I don't need to establish my foundation now. It's fine to wait a bit longer. If those materials can help us get out, it will be well worth it!"
"Generous!"
Yun Ze gave her a thumbs-up. Truly from a wealthy family… To give away so many sets of materials for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment so readily. When would he ever have such confidence?
"Then I'll go tell Xiu Yun and the others about this first."
"We'll set up a temporary base here for now."
Yun Ze replied. As he watched Dan Chenyu ascend, he was about to sit down and continue cultivating when he saw her fly back.
"Oh, right, one more thing."
"What?"
"I saw Xiu Long on the way. You guys…"
"Just ignore him," Bu Bu said before Yun Ze could speak. "However, that guy will be useful later. If we can avoid letting him die, it's best not to let him die."
"Alright."
Dan Chenyu agreed and then rode her sword back in the direction she came from.
"Useful?"
Yun Ze looked at Bu Bu, puzzled. "What use?"
"You'll know when the time comes."
Bu Bu sat down cross-legged, holding the green ball of light that had integrated twenty-seven strands of Source Qi in her hand. "Alright, don't waste time. Circulate the cultivation method for three hours. When you can sense spatial fluctuations without closing your eyes, then we'll talk!"
"...Okay."
Yun Ze closed his eyes again and began to circulate the cultivation method called Yu Dian. This cultivation method was strange. Take the Five Elements Sword Art, for instance. When circulating those five cultivation methods, one either needed spiritual roots of the same element to assist, or relied on the Qi Sea. But when Yun Ze circulated this method, none of the spiritual roots in his body reacted, and even his Qi Sea remained still! When he cultivated, no spiritual energy surged into his body; it only deepened his comprehension of space. This was the sole use of this cultivation method.
Wait!
No, what was that?
Yun Ze vaguely sensed a miraculous thing appearing in his Qi Sea! He sank his consciousness into his Qi Sea and tried to respond to it. Soon, he detected something amiss! This feeling was like the feeling he had when he unsealed the second immortal jade! Could it be… A thought arose in Yun Ze's mind! After he completed one cycle of circulation, he stopped circulating the Yu Dian and began to circulate the Five Elements Sword Art instead! As spiritual energy surged madly into his body, he became even more certain of his judgment! That thing that had just appeared must be a spiritual root! A space-attribute spiritual root!
Yun Ze quickly opened his eyes. With just one glance, he felt that the world before him had changed! The spatial fluctuations that he could only sense with his eyes closed were now fully displayed before him!
"You sensed it?"
Bu Bu had already refined the Source Qi. Seeing Yun Ze open his eyes, she handed him another green sphere. "Here, swallow this first."
"Is this the world you see?"
Yun Ze took the sphere and swallowed it directly, still curious about the new world he saw. "It's truly unimaginable."
"You're mistaken."
Bu Bu replied calmly. "The world I see, you can't imagine at all."
Yun Ze was speechless, not knowing what to say.
"Alright, since you've awakened your spiritual root, it's time for the next stage."
"Next stage?"
Yun Ze was a little confused. But when he looked at Bu Bu, he felt a wave of panic! Where did this girl get a two-meter-long spiked club from? She was currently weighing it in her hand!
"You… What are you doing! Calm down!"
"Sorry, what we need now isn't calmness, but…"
As Bu Bu spoke, she raised her hand and swung the spiked club towards Yun Ze's head!
"Carnival!"
…
Heavenly Foundation Secret Realm.
In a blood-red ditch, a spinal bone slowly coalesced. The figure beneath the water's surface seemed to see something, its lips moving as if speaking. If someone who could read lips were present, they would definitely be able to decipher seven words. "I, finally found you."