Over the next few days, Mo Tong and Ji Yu came over every day to take care of mundane chores for her, bringing along the spiritual plants and materials she needed for alchemy and talisman drawing, as well as many fine items they had gathered over the past two years.
Shi Yu holed up in her cave dwelling, concocting pills and drawing talismans, occasionally refining a few quick knick-knacks whenever an appealing material caught her eye. With her cultivation now close to the Foundation Establishment Realm, her efficiency in producing low-grade pills, spirit talismans, and artifacts was remarkably high. In just a few days, she amassed a sizable stock, enough to supply the shop for over a month.
Fortunately, it was only a small shop, so she could handle the supply alone. If it were any larger, it would take far more time and energy.
On the day set for entering the Xuexiao Spirit Node, Shi Yu emerged from her main chamber to find Mo Tong and Ji Yu carrying a stack of exquisitely designed paper booklets and piling them into a corner. She asked casually, “More visiting cards and invitations?”
Mo Tong nodded. “Yes, just as you instructed, Ah Yu, we declined them all on the pretext of your seclusion.”
Ji Yu grinned. “As for the gifts they sent, we either rejected them on the spot or sent them back.”
Over the past two days, visiting cards and invitations had fluttered into the cave dwelling like snowflakes, accompanied by numerous people bearing gifts for a visit, causing quite a headache.
The cave dwelling, originally quiet and secluded, had become bustling with visitors. The four associations had even secretly dispatched guards to keep watch nearby to prevent nefarious individuals from taking advantage of the crowd. Thus, although it lacked tranquility, it remained peaceful overall.
Shi Yu said helplessly, “Put out word that if anyone needs pills concocted or artifacts refined, they should simply register their requests at the two associations instead of coming here directly.”
Seeing Mo Tong nod, Shi Yu produced a storage ring packed with pills, spirit talismans, and other items, handing it to him. She looked at the two of them and said, “While I am cultivating in seclusion inside the spirit node, I'll have to trouble you two to take good care of the cave dwelling and the shop.”
“Don't worry, Sister!”
“Ah Yu will surely achieve foundation establishment smoothly.”
...
After giving a few more instructions, under the watchful eyes of Mo Tong and Ji Yu, Shi Yu summoned her cloud boat, Moon-Embracing.
Moon-Embracing expanded in the wind. Tapping her toe lightly against the ground, she leaped aboard and headed toward the Array Association.
When she arrived, President Cui was already waiting at the entrance, dressed in a far-from-neat Taoist spirit robe. His gaze was deep, revealing not a hint of emotion. Seeing Shi Yu, he offered no pleasantries and simply turned to lead the way inside.
Shi Yu hurriedly stepped off the cloud boat and caught up with his footsteps, entering the interior of the Array Association. The moment she stepped through the door, she felt a dense wave of spiritual energy permeating the air, as if the entire association were enveloped in rich, mellow Qi.
Looking up, she saw that the inner walls and flooring of the Array Association were completely made of Azure Light Jade. This jade had decent spiritual energy conductivity and was often used to refine low-grade array plates at affordable prices, but the sheer quantity used here added up to a staggering cost.
Exquisite dragon-pattern reliefs were carved into these pieces of Azure Light Jade, combining to form a massive Spirit-Gathering Array.
Shi Yu quietly sensed it. “This Spirit-Gathering Array increases the spiritual energy density inside the association by twenty percent compared to the outside...”
It didn't sound like much, but considering it covered the entire Array Association, such a vast area of effect was truly remarkable.
President Cui led her deeper inside, passing through a corridor protected by three layers of defensive arrays before reaching the end, where a circular platform ten feet across came into view.
“A teleportation array?” Shi Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Yes.” President Cui explained, “The Xuexiao Spirit Node is of vital importance. The original passage was sealed and blocked long ago, so entry is only possible via a pre-arranged array.”
Shi Yu nodded in realization. “I see.”
This teleportation array consisted of nine massive profound iron stone slabs, each carved with complex array runes. Six white jade pillars surrounded the perimeter, as smooth and delicate as congealed fat, also carved with intricate array runes that linked with the profound iron slabs to form a complete array pattern.
Shi Yu swept her gaze over it. Possessing a foundation in formations and having comprehended space laws even deeper after assimilating the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, she dissected the entire array in her mind after just a few glances, thinking:
“This teleportation array isn't particularly high in grade, supporting a maximum range of fifty miles. It seems the Xuexiao Spirit Node isn't very far away.”
President Cui stepped forward, inserted a handful of spirit stones into the array core, and activated the formation. A gentle, faint cyan light bloomed across the surface of the circular platform, emanating a mysterious fluctuation of spiritual energy.
He then produced a shiny, polished little bowl and handed it to Shi Yu. “When you wish to emerge, simply strike this bowl.”
Shi Yu took the little bowl. Seeing several restrictions drawn upon it, she recognized it as a voice-transmission artifact and carefully stowed it away.
As the array required a brief warm-up period after activation, President Cui uncharacteristically offered a few extra words: “Inside the spirit node, beyond the dense spiritual energy benefiting your cultivation, there is also a body-tempering effect.”
“Though we are not body cultivators, we must not neglect the physical body's cultivation. Once inside, remember not to focus solely on gorging yourself on the rich spiritual energy; expend some effort on body tempering as well. Body tempering is far from pleasant, but if you endure it, the benefits to you will be substantial.”
Shi Yu nodded respectfully. “I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for your guidance, President Cui.”
President Cui's expression softened slightly, then he fell silent, watching the flow of spiritual energy within the teleportation array.
After a moment, he spoke: “Go on in.”
Shi Yu nodded and stepped onto the circular platform.
A few breaths later, translucent barriers of spiritual energy rose around the platform, and a powerful suction pulled from within. The scene before Shi Yu's eyes gradually blurred, and in an instant, her figure vanished from the platform.
...
As the array's escape light faded, Shi Yu suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar realm. Stumbling slightly before gaining her footing, she was immediately enveloped by a dense, piercing chill.
Once the dizziness from teleportation subsided, she looked around. As far as the eye could see, everything was wrapped in a vast expanse of white ice fog. The cold bit to the bone; when she gently exhaled, a plume of white mist rose from her lips and instantly congealed into tiny ice crystals fluttering in the air.
Startled, Shi Yu felt as though her blood were on the verge of freezing. She hastily circulated her spiritual energy to fend off the cold, only to discover that the flow of Qi within her meridians had become exceedingly sluggish and laboured.
“The cold air here is extraordinarily potent—it can actually suppress the flow of spiritual energy.”
She attempted to probe her surroundings, only to find her spiritual sense hindered as well, barely able to cover a range of thirty feet.
"..."
Possessing a Fire-attribute Spiritual Meridian, Shi Yu was naturally close to fire, so being in such a bone-chilling place was far from comfortable.
“However...” She stepped forward. “This cold air has the effect of focusing and centering the mind.”
As the cold air seeped into every inch of her skin, it rendered her mind clear and sharp, while her spiritual sense perception unknowingly grew more concentrated. Within her dantian, the Yellow Sprout Dao Foundation wobbled twice under the invasion of the chill, its color becoming even more limpid and delicately lush.
“The spiritual energy density here is also much higher than outside.”
The area where she landed had a spiritual energy density roughly fifty to sixty percent higher than the outside world. At the pinnacle of the Xuexiao Spirit Node, the density would be a full hundred percent higher. It seemed she needed to venture further inside.
Rate on N.U.
