Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 345 Swallowing the Sea
In just seven days, the total amount of spiritual energy swallowed into the cave was four times the total amount of spiritual energy swallowed by Xiao Changfeng during his three months of spiritual accumulation.

This is due not only to the abundance and purity of the spiritual energy in this place, but also to Tu Yifei's affinity for spiritual energy, his profound magical power, and his physical endurance.

The more spiritual energy a whale swallows into the cave, the stronger the spiritual pressure becomes, which is more beneficial for compressing the dantian's magic liquid in the next step, making it easier to condense the elixir and make the elixir more solid.

Based on Tu Yifei's current performance, he has already laid the foundation for the upstream True Core stage.

In contrast, Bai Cailing, who was simultaneously absorbing spiritual energy from the No. 2 dojo, had only absorbed 30% of the spiritual energy into her cave at this moment, which was less than Xiao Changfeng had done back then. However, she should be able to surpass him in the next half month.

However, back then, Xiao Changfeng's spiritual energy was insufficient, too scattered, and not pure enough, so the ultimate limit was only about half the spiritual energy of the Biyun Sect's dojo. If Xiao Changfeng were here, perhaps it could double again.

As for the No. 3 cave where Li Ji'an was located, spiritual energy was only beginning to surge at this moment.

"Old Bai, you can rest assured now. Even if our Yifei needs to absorb the spiritual energy of one and a half dojos, it shouldn't affect your daughter." Gu Tianfeng, the president of the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce, laughed as he looked at Bai Cailing's father.

"Haha, Lao Gu, you Tai'an really dug up a good seed this time. With this kind of talent, he probably has the potential to reach the Golden Core stage, definitely a Nascent Soul seed." Chairman Bai said with great envy.

"You flatter me, you flatter me. We are already satisfied that young friend Tu has been able to form a true core in the upper reaches of the Tao." Gu Tianfeng smiled modestly.

Then, looking at the fluctuations of spiritual energy around Bai Cailing's dojo, he said, "Young friend Bai, although the amount of spiritual energy you have absorbed is not large, if you stabilize it for the next half month, it will definitely increase by another 10 or 20%, and you will have the foundation for a mid-level True Core. Congratulations!"

"Haha, my daughter's talent is not as good as that of young friend Tu, and she does not possess the true ancient immortal scriptures of your esteemed merchant guild. She is already satisfied with being able to form a mid-level true core. We'll see what happens next."

As the two were talking, the spiritual energy above Li Ji'an's cave began to fluctuate rapidly.

"The Surabaya Chamber of Commerce is quite willing to spend money to attract talent."

"Hmph, this isn't being willing to give, it's a waste. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators really don't need to come to this training ground; it's quite a waste of resources."

"It's not just a waste of resources, but also a squandering of commercial resources. So many high-quality seedlings from various chambers of commerce are waiting in line. It seems it's time to give the Chamber of Commerce some advice."

President Gu and President Bai stared at the spiritual energy above Li Ji'an's cave and said with considerable dissatisfaction.

These words were meant for the head of the temple, so there was no attempt to hide them or transmit them telepathically.

Just then, Master Yuxiao, who had just arrived at the outer perimeter of the temple, heard everything.

She didn't seem surprised, because this was exactly what she expected.

Out of gratitude to her husband, she told Li Ji'an that she could do something for him. Li Ji'an only asked for this one thing, and even when she offered other more attractive terms in exchange, Li Ji'an remained steadfast.

Therefore, she gritted her teeth and applied for this temple for Li Ji'an.

Even the most talented individuals with earth-elemental roots within the Sishui Chamber of Commerce, after evaluation, were deemed unnecessary to use the Feihong Dojo.

When she applied for the temple, she had already been repeatedly questioned and confirmed by the person in charge, so she had already anticipated today's outcome.

Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Dan Ding Pavilion of the Jiu Ding Chamber of Commerce, Master Chun Yuan would occasionally gaze into the distance, showing great interest in Li Ji'an's recent Core Formation.

I don't care what achievements he might make; my main concern is that he doesn't want to die inside.

Otherwise, if Wu Weixiong were to come out, the hope of reuniting with Uncle Wanfa Zhenjun would be shattered.

"Does Fellow Daoist Chun Yuan know that young friend?" Master Tong asked calmly, sitting opposite him and holding a white chess piece.

Master Chun Yuan smiled slightly: "That young friend Huang is also from the Tiancang Domain, and we get along quite well."

"Hehe, I thought it was Fellow Daoist Chun Yuan who found a chosen one of the gods," Master Tong said tentatively.

Master Chun Yuan chuckled: "Those favored by the gods are not so easy for us to find."

"Oh? So that rumor from back then can't be true?" Master Tong probed again.

"Since Fellow Daoist Tong is still so suspicious of me, why not dissolve the spiritual contract?" Master Chun Yuan stood up expressionlessly, walked to the railing, and gazed into the distance.

Master Tong smiled nonchalantly, put down the chess piece in his hand, and also came to the railing.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Chun Yuan, we have known each other for three hundred years and we understand each other quite well, so there is no point in saying these things."

Today, let's just speak frankly.

"To be honest, fellow Daoist, I've long heard of the so-called Celestial Master of the Liu family in your Cangyun Prefecture 150 years ago. That one must have been a chosen one of the gods, right?"

Upon hearing this, Master Chun Yuan's expression changed instantly.

However, before he could speak, Master Tong smiled again and said, "Rest assured, I am open with you, fellow Daoist, so I have no other intentions. I just want to know if True Lord Wanfa handed it over to True Lord Beixuan in time back then?"

Master Chun Yuan's expression improved, and he frowned slightly and sighed: "Since Fellow Daoist Tong is so frank, I will tell you the truth. It's not that my uncle doesn't want to hand it over to True Monarch Bei Xuan, but that the one favored by the gods is just a shell, and his soul has long been destroyed by the little thief from the Liu family."

"Just an empty shell left?" Master Tong raised an eyebrow and stared directly at the other person.

“Excellent!” Venerable Chun Yuan affirmed.

Seeing the other party's doubt, Master Chunyuan added, "If that weren't the case, Uncle would have handed it over to True Lord Beixuan long ago. Even if he wasn't granted the opportunity to advance to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, he would at least have had the opportunity to transform into a Nascent Soul. How could the old thief Jin Kui have succeeded?"

Upon hearing this, Master Tong nodded slowly, believing what he had said.

Two years ago, the Tong family was investigating the murderer who harmed Tong Liang. They inadvertently discovered the hidden cultivation master Chun Yuan. The Tong family's retainers fought with him several times, causing him to flee in a sorry state. It was not until Master Tong himself arrived that they reached a cooperation agreement with Master Chun Yuan.

As a descendant of the once powerful Wanfa Zhenjun, Chunyuan Shangren and Tong Shangren of Wanshang Domain had known each other for a long time.

Moreover, they are all Eastern representatives secretly searching for divine favored individuals for the Northern Mystery True Lord, and there is both cooperation and competition between them.

boo~
Just then, a strange sound came from above Cave No. 3.

"Huh? This is it?"

The strange noise instantly drew everyone's attention to the area around the dojo.

"Spirit Explosion!" Master Tong exclaimed.

Master Chun Yuan also looked towards Li Ji'an's cave and let out a soft exclamation.

The so-called "spiritual explosion" is the sound of spiritual energy exploding when the suction force of spiritual energy reaches an extremely high level during the first step of core formation, namely, swallowing and absorbing spiritual energy.

"Could this be the legendary spirit explosion?" The onlookers from the Yaochi Chamber of Commerce and the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce realized belatedly.

"How is this possible? To unleash the effect of a spiritual explosion at this stage, the suction force to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy must reach an incredibly high level. How could young friend Huang, with his mediocre magical power, possess such a suction force?"

"Could it be that the cultivation method he practices has a special effect on spiritual energy affinity?"

"Could it be that there's some special method for swallowing large quantities of food?"

……

After the spirit explosion at Dojo No. 3 was confirmed, there was a lot of discussion around.

It's no wonder everyone was surprised, as there are only two people recorded in the entire Wanshang Domain over thousands of years.

They were all unique geniuses of their respective eras.

Moreover, the records are all from a thousand years ago, and this generation has only heard about them.

Just as everyone was shocked, the spiritual energy around Li Ji'an's cave began to surge rapidly, rushing towards his cave.

The speed is even faster than Tu Yifei's seven days ago.

"Could it be that there's something wrong with Cave Three?" Master Tong stared for a long time before asking uncertainly.

Then, with some doubt, he asked the Pure Yuan Venerable beside him, "How can young friend Huang withstand such a rapid absorption of spiritual energy?"

However, no response was received.

Turning his head, he noticed that Master Chun Yuan's face had turned gloomy.

"Fellow Daoist Chun Yuan?" Master Tong looked at him in surprise. "Hmph~ It's alright. I just couldn't bear to see young friend Huang perish like this." Master Chun Yuan came back to his senses and said casually.

"Heh~" Master Tong chuckled and shook his head: "There's no need for such hypocrisy with me. Why would someone of our status care about the life or death of someone unrelated? What is the connection between this young friend Huang and you?"

Master Chunyuan paused for a moment before removing his benevolent mask: "I can't hide it from Fellow Daoist Tong. I will give this boy a Core Formation Treasure, and use it as bait to lure out Wu Weixiong when he forms his Core."

"I see. In that case, your Core Formation Treasure is like throwing a meat bun to a dog," Master Tong said with a gloating smile.

"Hmph! I don't know if there's something fishy about your temple or if that kid is just overestimating himself." Master Chun Yuan's face darkened.

"Regardless of the reason, judging from his magical power, such a devouring of spiritual energy will only result in his body exploding. You should choose a different bait as soon as possible." Master Tong had no intention of comforting Master Chun Yuan.

Meanwhile, the onlookers outside the dojo all recalled the tragedy that had befallen a Core Formation cultivator in front of Cave No. 3.

"Could it be that that person wasn't overconfident back then, but rather, like this person, was inexplicably attracted by spiritual energy, causing their physical body to shatter due to excessive spiritual pressure?"

"Cave No. 3 is no longer usable!"

"Thank goodness we informed Master Tong beforehand, so we weren't assigned to the third dojo."

……

Almost instantly, the onlookers seemed to foresee Li Ji'an's fate.

Seeing this, Master Yuxiao, who had been standing on the outer edge, also shook his head secretly.

Her family's physiognomy skills had never been wrong, and she thought that the spiritual treasure she had given him, which was beneficial to protecting her dantian, would be of some help.

It seems that an early death was inevitable.

Thinking of this, she immediately sent a message to the Chamber of Commerce's temporary headquarters to prepare to collect the body.

"Oh no! That kid is consuming spiritual energy at such a rapid pace; it might affect the spiritual energy of the other two dojos." President Bai said with some concern as he watched Li Ji'an devour more and more spiritual energy.

President Gu glanced at Tu Yifei, who had almost completely devoured the spiritual energy of his cave. He estimated that Tu Yifei would be able to absorb even more spiritual energy in seven days, and that he should be able to reach the goal of one and a half spiritual energies in half a month. He looked relaxed.

Even if something unexpected happens to Li Ji'an's cave, such as excessive consumption of spiritual energy or disorder of spiritual energy in his cave, there is still Bai Cailing's cave with abundant spiritual energy, which Tu Yifei can use to consume it.

"President Bai, don't worry. That young friend has weak magic power and a frail body. Let alone absorbing the spiritual energy of other caves, even if all the spiritual energy of Cave No. 3 were poured into the cave, he might not be able to withstand it."

"Brother Gu is right." Chairman Bai nodded, agreeing with his statement.

However, they didn't say anything more after that, and all their attention was focused on the scale of spiritual energy above Li Ji'an's cave.

One day later,

"It devours 20% of the spiritual energy in a single day!"

"If this continues, it will devour all the spiritual energy in his own cave in five days."

"It's even faster than the Immortal-Slaying Seed!"

"It's alright. With his magical power, the cave's spiritual energy should be at most 50%."

Witnessing firsthand that Li Ji'an's speed of devouring spiritual energy not only did not decrease, but actually increased steadily, with him devouring 20% ​​of the spiritual energy in his cave in a single day, the people around him were secretly astonished.

Two more days,
"They've already swallowed 60%!"

"Can they really withstand it?"

"It should have reached its limit."

While the crowd outside Cave 1 and Cave 2 were discussing, they saw that Master Yuxiao had already led the Chamber of Commerce to Cave 3.

In fact, according to physiognomy, Master Yuxiao had already given up hope. The reason he made this gesture was only for the sake of the Chamber of Commerce's reputation.

However, after everyone waited for a day, the swallowing of the sea within Li Ji'an's cave continued without any sign of stopping.

In the blink of an eye, the third day had passed and the fourth day had arrived.

At this point, the swallowed spiritual energy had already reached nearly 80% of the total spiritual energy in the cave.

It is almost equivalent to the total spiritual energy of one and a half Biyun Sects.

"They can actually hold on?"

"Could it be that we've all misjudged them?"

"Judging from that young friend's magical power, this shouldn't be the case. Could it be that he has practiced physical cultivation?"

By this point, some doubts had begun to arise.

Master Yuxiao and the merchants waited outside for a day, but there was no collapse of spiritual energy, which aroused their doubts.

On the fifth day,
Li Ji'an's speed of devouring spiritual energy did not slow down. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he devoured all the spiritual energy in the entire No. 3 Dojo.

"What on earth is going on? How could it possibly withstand this?"

"Apart from those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots or higher, who cultivate Heavenly Grade techniques and whose magical power is refined and pure, how can ordinary cultivators withstand the spiritual energy pressure of the entire dojo?"

"Could he be a second-stage body refiner?"

"Oh no!" Seeing that all the spiritual energy above Li Ji'an's cave had been swallowed up by the whale, the surrounding spiritual energy began to converge towards Li Ji'an's cave.

Moreover, because of its immense suction power, it does not only absorb spiritual energy from one direction, but rather gathers spiritual energy from all directions, causing the spiritual energy around Dojo No. 1 and Dojo No. 2 to shift simultaneously.

The most anxious group was the Tai'an Chamber of Commerce delegation outside Cave No. 1.

Five days ago, Tu Yifei devoured the spiritual energy of his cave, almost draining it dry. However, the speed slowed down afterward. Now, just as he had completely absorbed the spiritual energy and was preparing to plunder it, he suddenly encountered this situation.

Moreover, Li Ji'an's power to devour others shows no signs of waning, and Tu Yifei is clearly no match for him, showing signs of retreating.

In that case, there is still a gap of half a dojo between Tu Yifei and his limit, which will reduce his hope of breaking through to the Golden Core stage by at least 50%!

On the other hand, Bai Cailing has already absorbed 40% of the spiritual energy of her own dojo. The absorption rate is already very slow, and the normal limit is only about 50%. She is completely unaffected by Li Ji'an's current absorption power.

"Stop right now!" Gu Tianfeng could no longer hold back and immediately roared.

At the same time, he said to Manager Tong, "This boy's cave has shown abnormalities, which has affected the formation of the immortal seedlings in our merchant guild. We must stop it immediately!"

Tong, the steward, looked troubled: "President Gu, please calm down. According to the rules of the Daoist temple, unless it has been confirmed that a Core Formation cultivator has encountered an accident, the cave dwelling cannot be forcibly opened, as this would affect the Core Formation process!"

"Nonsense! It's so obvious. Don't you know what's wrong with that kid? It's obvious that there's a problem with Dojo No. 3. In just seven days, he's already swallowed up the spiritual energy of an entire Dojo and put it into his cave. Can he handle that?" Guild Master Gu was furious.

“But…the fact that the spiritual energy of its cave has not collapsed so far proves…” Master Tong argued logically.

"What does this prove? It only proves that he's just putting on a brave face, perhaps relying solely on his physical strength. I dare say that if he loses another ten percent, he might explode and die!" With each moment of delay, Li Ji'an's cave absorbs more spiritual energy, which has a greater impact on Tu Yifei. If this continues, it is estimated that in half a day, there will be no more spiritual energy around Tu Yifei's cave to absorb, and he will be forced to enter the next stage. Gu Tianfeng became increasingly anxious.

“Master Tong, this is clearly an unusual situation. If you cannot make a decision, why not ask Alliance Leader Tong to come out of seclusion?” President Bai was not in a hurry, but he still cooperated with Gu Tianfeng.

Master Tong gave a wry smile, winked at the two men, and looked at Jade Flute Immortal outside Cave No. 3.

Master Yuxiao stood to one side, listening to the other party's negotiation, his face already dark.

Even if the Surabaya Chamber of Commerce is incompetent, it should not be ignored like this.

The one currently forming his core in the Daoist temple is an elder from the Sishui Chamber of Commerce. The elder wants to forcibly open the cave to stop him from forming his core, but he doesn't negotiate with her, the president of the chamber, at all. This is truly outrageous.

She had originally thought that Li Ji'an was likely in grave danger.

If the other party comes to her for discussion first, she might do them a favor.

But at this moment, she was determined not to back down an inch!
(End of this chapter)