Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 158: Late Jindan Period
Liu Sijun nodded in agreement: "That's right, there might be important clues about the Xuanji Hall's conspiracy hidden around this altar. Let's search carefully again."

So the four of them split up again and searched carefully around the altar.

On the other side of the altar, Liu Sijun discovered a hidden compartment with strange symbols engraved on it.

Using her spiritual power, she gently opened the hidden compartment, inside which lay a tattered scroll.

Liu Sijun carefully took out the scroll, unfolded it, and saw that it recorded some ancient rituals and mysterious spells of the Blood Spirit Cult, and mentioned a place called "Source of Blood Spirit".

According to the scroll, the Source of Blood Spirit is the core of the Blood Spirit Cult's power. If one can control the Source of Blood Spirit, one can possess world-destroying power.

Liu Sijun handed the scroll to Gu Changzhou and said, "Changzhou, look at this. Xuanji Hall's target might be the Blood Spirit Source."

After reading the scroll, Gu Changzhou's expression became very solemn: "If that's really the case, the consequences would be unimaginable."

We must find the location of the Blood Spirit Source as soon as possible and stop them before the Mysterious Hall does.

Min Rui and Tong Lei leaned over and looked at the contents of the scroll. Min Rui said, "Does this scroll mention where the Blood Spirit Source is?"

Liu Sijun shook his head: "It only says that the source of the blood spirit is hidden in a mysterious place on the continent, but it does not mention the specific location."

Tong Lei frowned and said, "This is going to be difficult. The mainland is so vast. How easy is it to find a place whose location is unknown?"

After pondering for a moment, Gu Changzhou said, "Since Elder Wuji Tower can decipher the map, perhaps he also knows clues about the Blood Spirit Source. Let's go back to Wuji Tower and consult the elder."

Everyone thought the plan was feasible, so they immediately set off back to Wuji Tower.

Upon returning to Wuji Tower, they went straight to the elder's residence. Seeing them return, the elder already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on and asked, "Did you find anything in the Fallen Soul Mountains?"

Gu Changzhou recounted to the elder in detail his encounter with the demon god and the discovery of the scroll.

After listening, the elder frowned and slowly said, "I have heard of the Blood Spirit Source in some ancient books. It is said that the Blood Spirit Source is related to a great war in ancient times. It is hidden in a mysterious space where time and space are distorted, and the entrance only appears once every hundred years in a specific location."

Liu Sijun's heart stirred, and he asked, "Elder, do you know any pattern in the location where this entrance appears?"

The elder shook his head slightly: "There is no fixed pattern to the location where this entrance appears. However, each time it appears, there are some strange omens in the world. As far as I know, the next time the entrance will appear is in a month. To determine the exact location of the entrance, we will need to rely on the treasure of the Wuji Tower—the Myriad Manifestations Star Chart."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt both nervous and hopeful.

Gu Changzhou said, "Elder, then we will trouble you to use the Myriad Manifestations Star Chart to help us determine the location of the entrance. We must find the Source of Blood Spirit before the Mysterious Hall to stop their conspiracy."

The elder nodded: "This matter is of great importance. I will go and make preparations immediately. You may rest in Wuji Tower for now. I will inform you as soon as I have the results."

Gu Changzhou and the others settled down at Wuji Tower, waiting for news from the elder.

While waiting, they didn't sit idle. They diligently trained every day to improve their strength and make full preparations for the impending crisis.

During his time at Wuji Tower, Liu Sijun devoted himself entirely to cultivation.

The situation that followed was fraught with peril at every step. With her current cultivation level, preventing the Xuanji Hall from obtaining the Blood Spirit Source would be extremely difficult. In her secluded chamber, the spiritual energy was so dense it seemed almost tangible, surging and billowing like milky-white clouds.

Liu Sijun sat cross-legged on the futon, his palms facing upwards, circulating his spiritual power and guiding the surrounding spiritual energy to flow into his body continuously.

She will combine the method of spiritual energy circulation she learned from the Taixu Mirror with her own cultivation techniques in an attempt to break through the bottleneck.

However, the road to breakthrough was not smooth sailing.

Whenever Liu Sijun felt she was about to reach the threshold of the late Golden Core stage, an invisible resistance would block her way.

She was extremely anxious, but she also knew that haste makes waste, so she could only calm down and repeatedly study every detail of the technique.

One day, Liu Sijun suddenly had a flash of inspiration while cultivating.

She recalled that the tattered scroll about the Blood Spirit Cult mentioned a unique method for sensing spiritual power.

Although it differed from her own cultivation method, its subtle methods of observing spiritual energy fluctuations greatly inspired her.

She tried to integrate this method of perception into her own cultivation process.

When she circulated her spiritual energy again, she keenly sensed a slight obstruction in the flow of spiritual energy within her body.

This blockage doesn't usually affect the flow of spiritual energy, but it becomes the biggest obstacle when breaking through a bottleneck.

Liu Sijun concentrated her mind, guiding her spiritual energy like a gentle stream to slowly wash away the obstruction. As the spiritual energy continued to flow, the obstruction gradually loosened. But just then, a powerful backlash suddenly struck, and Liu Sijun felt a surge of blood in her chest, almost spitting out a mouthful of blood. But she did not give up. Gritting her teeth, she gathered her spiritual energy again and continued her assault. Time and again, after countless attempts and failures, finally, the obstruction was successfully broken through.

In an instant, a surge of powerful spiritual energy erupted within her body, surging forth like a flood bursting its banks.

Liu Sijun quickly guided this spiritual energy, circulating it according to the cultivation path of the late Golden Core stage. The spiritual energy in the secret chamber was drawn in and surged wildly towards her, forming a huge vortex of spiritual energy.

As spiritual energy continued to gather and compress, the golden core within Liu Sijun's body shone brightly. The original golden core gradually transformed, becoming more rounded and solid, and the patterns on its surface became increasingly clear and complex.

When the last trace of spiritual energy was absorbed by the Golden Core, Liu Sijun successfully broke through to the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

After her breakthrough, she felt a tremendous change within herself. Not only was her spiritual power more abundant, but her perception of the surrounding environment also became several times more acute.

Meanwhile, Gu Changzhou, Min Rui, and Tong Lei also made considerable progress in their cultivation at Wuji Tower.

Gu Changzhou's mastery of the power of stars became increasingly refined, and the power of his Star Sword Qi reached a new level; Min Rui's control over earth-type spiritual power became more adept, enabling him to unleash even more powerful earth-type spells; and Tong Lei's fire-type spiritual power, under constant tempering, became even more intense and violent.

The day after Liu Sijun's breakthrough, the elders hurriedly arrived at their residence.

His expression was solemn, and he held an octagonal star chart in his hands, which was the treasure of Wuji Tower—the Myriad Manifestations Star Chart.

(End of this chapter)