Gou Zai Fei Men made up myths

"Hahaha! I did it! I finally did it!" Shi Tie withdrew his fist, looked at the broken stones on the ground, was stunned for a moment, and then burst into deafening laughter, dancing with excitement.

The commotion immediately alerted everyone!

"Brother Tiezi! You've broken through?!" Zhang Daniu rushed back from the back mountain, staring dumbfounded at the shattered oak stone.

Su Xiao, Li Xiaocao, and others also rushed over, their faces beaming with delight.

"Good! Junior Brother Tie, well done!" Shen Mo's voice came, filled with undisguised praise.

He strode over and patted Shi Tie's arm, which was as hard as iron. "The potential of a giant has begun to emerge! From this day forward, you will be the true foundation of body refinement for my Qingyun Sect!"

"Hehe! Sect Leader! I...I didn't disgrace our Qingyun Sect!" Shi Tie scratched the back of his head, his dark face beaming with a wide smile, his eyes reddening with excitement.

Only he knows how much hardship and sweat he endured to achieve this moment.

Shi Tie's breakthrough was like a strong wind that swept through every corner of Qingyun Mountain, raising everyone's morale to a new level!

If the senior disciple is this strong, what reason do the junior disciples have not to work hard?

In the afternoon, the sun blazed overhead, and the air was thick with heat. But the Qingyun Sect disciples' passion for cultivation burned even hotter than the weather.

Shi Tie consolidated his newly acquired power and tried to wield a heavy iron rod that Shen Mo had specially bought for Sun Xiaohou, making a powerful and swift movement.

Zhang Daniu was green with envy and practiced the "Earth-Shaking Skill" even more diligently.

Su Xiao began to try practicing a more complex technique for using divine sense.

Li Xiaocao carefully tried to use her own weak wood-elemental spiritual energy to nourish a somewhat wilted moon orchid, her eyes focused.

Even Ah Yuan sat down next to Li Xiaocao in a very convincing manner, trying to sense the breathing of the plants.

Zhao Qingyan failed to draw a talisman once, but she was not discouraged and laid out another talisman paper.

Lin Xiaofan was still gritting his teeth and cultivating diligently, but he seemed to have slowed down his pace a little.

Shen Mo stood on the stone steps in front of the main hall, gazing at this vibrant scene.

The disciples made great progress in their cultivation, each with their own strengths. The sect's affairs were well-organized, and its connections with the outside world were on track.

Days passed by, and life on Qingyun Mountain was peaceful yet fulfilling.

The disciples performed their duties and their cultivation steadily improved. The spiritual herbs in the herb garden grew one after another. Although the "Enlightenment Cave" on the back mountain never showed any more miraculous signs, the disciples felt at ease every month when they went in to sit.

Occasionally, some wandering cultivators from the foot of the mountain would come hoping to "absorb some immortal energy" outside the cave, but they would all be politely turned away by Shi Tie and his companions at the mountain gate.

The reputation of Qingyun Sect as "having a solid foundation, adhering to rules, and not to be trifled with" gradually spread.

It was just past noon that day, and the sun was shining warmly. After finishing her training, A-Yuan couldn't stay still, so she started kicking a few small pebbles in the open space in front of the main hall.

She was young, so Shen Mo and Su Xiao didn't restrict her. As long as she finished her homework, she was free to play.

While playing, a pebble rolled to a pile of miscellaneous items in the corner. The pile of things was something that the little monkey had picked up when he returned from the market a while ago. It contained some unused ores, animal bones, and the like, which were temporarily left there unattended.

A-Yuan ran over to pick up pebbles and caught a glimpse of a fist-sized, dark stone in the pile of debris. In the sunlight, it faintly gleamed with a damp, eerie light, looking quite peculiar.

The little girl, overcome with curiosity, reached out her hand and picked up the stone.

The stone was cold to the touch and a bit heavy. A-Yuan held it in her hand, examining it from all angles. As she looked at it, she suddenly felt something was amiss.

The coldness of the stone seemed to seep into her heart through her palm! Then, everything went blurry before her eyes!

My ears were ringing, as if there were many, many sounds of water, splashing and gurgling, or like the rumbling of rocks collapsing!

She seems to have... seen something?

It's not about seeing with your eyes, it's about...feeling.

It was pitch black, filled with murky, bubbly water. At the bottom, there seemed to be enormous, leaning stone pillars.

Further away, indistinctly, there seemed to be a dilapidated palace, half submerged in water and half exposed, with dark, gaping windows and doors that looked frightening.

At the palace gate, there seemed to be two blurry shadows moving about. They were hard to see clearly, but they felt... ominous.

A-Yuan cried out in surprise, her little hand trembling, and the black stone fell to the ground with a "thud." Her face turned deathly pale, her chest pounded, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

"A-Yuan? What's wrong?" Su Xiao, who was sorting medicinal herbs not far away, heard the noise and quickly put down what she was doing. She walked over quickly, squatted down, and worriedly held A-Yuan's slightly trembling shoulders.

"Senior Sister Su..." A-Yuan grabbed Su Xiao's arm, her voice trembling with tears, her little finger pointing to the black stone on the ground.

"That...that rock...it...it gave me nightmares! It was so scary! There was black water! And...and a dilapidated house! There was something in the water!"

Su Xiao frowned slightly, picked up the stone, and examined it carefully. It was cold to the touch and hard in texture; apart from its dark color, it didn't seem to have anything special about it.

She was a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining, and her spiritual sense was much stronger than A Yuan's, but even after careful sensing, she did not detect any abnormal energy fluctuations.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's just an ordinary stone, maybe... it's dirty?" Su Xiao softly comforted her, but she was suspicious in her heart.

Ah Yuan is a pure-hearted girl with exceptionally keen senses; her talk of "nightmare" may not be unfounded.

"Come on, let's go see the sect leader with Senior Sister." Su Xiao took A Yuan's little hand, picked up the stone, and walked towards the side hall.

In the side hall, Shen Mo was studying the array diagram, trying to deduce a more complex defensive array.

Seeing Su Xiao walk in with A Yuan, whose eyes were red and who was holding a black stone, he put down the jade slip and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Sect Leader, when A-Yuan was playing just now, she touched this stone and said... she had a very scary dream." Su Xiao handed over the stone and briefly explained the situation.

Shen Mo took the stone, scanned it slightly with his divine sense, and a thought immediately struck him.

This stone... contains a very faint trace of cold, damp vapor, and the nature of this vapor seems to be different from ordinary water spirit energy, carrying a hint of... decay and antiquity.

"Ah Yuan, don't be afraid, tell me slowly, what did you see?" Shen Mo's voice was calm and reassuring.

A-Yuan sniffed and, haltingly, described the vague feeling she had just experienced:

"...It was dark...lots of water...there were big stone pillars in the water...fallen down...and...and a house with a huge hole in it?"

"Soaking in water...at the doorway...there seems to be...a shadow moving at the doorway...I can't see clearly...but...but it feels so fierce..."

Her description was incoherent and her vocabulary was limited, but the more Shen Mo listened, the more serious his expression became!

Black water... collapsed stone pillars... a half-submerged palace... a menacing shadow...

This combination... it's so much like... some kind of underwater ruin or... ancient cultivation cave recorded in ancient books?! Moreover, it's the kind of cave with strong restrictions and protective power!

Shen Moqiang suppressed the shock in his heart, his face remaining calm, and gently patted A Yuan's little head to comfort her:

"Alright, it's nothing. It's just an ordinary ore I picked up from Yunmengze. It might have been tainted by some of the cold, damp energy from there. You're young and your senses are very sensitive, so it affected you. It's not a nightmare, don't be afraid."

He took a small packet of sweet candied fruit from his storage bag and handed it to A-Yuan: "Here, have some to calm your nerves. You can skip your homework this afternoon; go play with Sister Xiao Cao."

A-Yuan took the candied fruit, her tears turning to laughter. With the heart of a child, she quickly forgot her fear and skipped off to find Li Xiaocao.