I'm determined to become an immortal!

The waters of Wanshou Pool are calm and still.

A gate to the water palace, made of huge bluestone, stands quietly at the bottom of the pool.

The gate was covered with rough yet intricate array patterns, radiating spiritual pressure fluctuations.

He Sheng glanced at it and saw some familiar traces, knowing that it was the work of Piao Ge's formation master, Li Daoyun.

"Senior Xuan Gui, He Sheng is returning south from Wan Chen Mountain and is passing through this place. I have come to pay my respects and would like to request an audience with you."

He Sheng's voice traveled clearly through the water into the mansion.

He didn't adopt a humble attitude, as that wouldn't fit Piao Ge's persona, but the mere use of the word "senior" was enough to convey his stance.

However, he was met with silence.

"Could it be that I underestimated the animosity between the Star-Backed Black Tortoise and Brother Piao?"

About a hundred breaths later, just as He Sheng was beginning to have doubts, the seemingly indestructible stone door emitted a muffled rumble and slowly opened to both sides.

A damp, heavy smell wafted over, and what came into view was a wide waterway, with luminous pearls emitting a soft glow on both sides, illuminating the interior of the water palace as if it were daytime.

At the end of the waterway stood a magnificent palace with a towering roof and beams and pillars carved from single pieces of first-grade mid-level spiritual material, Cold Star Stone, exuding an air of solemnity and luxury.

In my memory, Piao Ge had only been to this water mansion once, but he still had some impression of it.

Following his memory, He Sheng went straight into the main hall.

In the center of the main hall, a colossal creature was coiled up—the Star-Backed Black Tortoise.

Its body is several meters long, and the star patterns on its carapace flow around it. At first glance, it looks like a moving hill, which is very imposing.

The Star-Backed Black Tortoise slightly opened its enormous eyes, as big as lanterns, glanced at He Sheng, and said indifferently:

"Fellow Daoist He, have you made a special trip to visit us? Are you here to bring up old matters again?"

The old story Old Turtle mentioned was naturally Piao Ge's suggestion that he return to the He family, which shows that Old Turtle still holds a grudge.

Fortunately, He Sheng was prepared. With a flick of his wrist, he took out an exquisite jade box and said:

"This junior went to Wanchen Mountain to attend Senior Brother Wan's Foundation Establishment celebration. During the banquet, the Foundation Establishment cultivators exchanged information and resources."

Seeing that a fellow cultivator had taken out this second-tier spiritual material, Stardust Sand, I thought that the senior would surely like it, so I exchanged it for it and now present it to you.

He Sheng's actions—both offering a polite greeting and referring to himself as a "junior"—clearly revealed his intention to ease tensions.

The old tortoise naturally understood; as a long-lived species among demonic beasts, it had always been quite intelligent.

After advancing to the second tier, the reason it maintained contact with the He family was twofold: firstly, to continue receiving offerings from the He family, and secondly, to have external support outside of Tiandu Mountain.

This is why, despite its conflict with Piao Ge, it hasn't completely severed ties with the He family.

After all, Piao Ge is already a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his cultivation talent is extremely high. In the future, he may be able to advance further to become a Pseudo-Core cultivator, or even a Core Formation cultivator.

"Ah Sheng, you're so kind."

The old tortoise, having received He Sheng's signal to bow down, readily accepted the offer, changing his form of address to acknowledge He Sheng as a junior, and then promptly put away the Starry Sand.

This item is indeed quite useful to it.

As for the origin of this Stardust Sand, it was indeed obtained by Brother Piao from a fellow Foundation Establishment cultivator at the celebration, but naturally it was not intended to be given to Old Turtle. Rather, Brother Piao was preparing for advancing to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Once a Foundation Establishment cultivator advances to the late Foundation Establishment stage, their magical power will increase significantly, allowing them to barely power the rudimentary form of a magical artifact.

Therefore, many Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivators with abundant resources will start collecting high-quality spiritual materials early on to prepare for refining the prototype of magic weapons after advancing to the next stage.

"Qing'er, Bai'er, hurry up and offer Ah Sheng some spiritual fruit and wine."

The old tortoise was clearly quite satisfied with the generous gift of Stardust Sand.

As soon as he finished speaking, two water snakes, one green and one white, suddenly swam out from the two narrow waterways behind him.

Although these two water snakes were only as thick as an arm, their scales shimmered with a spiritual luster, clearly indicating that they were intelligent demonic beasts.

Each of the two water snakes carried a tray on its head; one contained several chilling white spiritual fruits, and the other contained an exquisite jade pot.

He Sheng didn't stand on ceremony. After he woke up, although the mysterious life force repaired his injuries, his body was still in a state of exhaustion and kept sending out signals to eat.

Unfortunately, because I had been in a dangerous situation all along, I could only endure it.

The spirit fruit was served, and he smelled its faint fragrance. He immediately took a big bite and then drank the spirit wine heartily.

As the spiritual fruits and wines entered his stomach in turn, He Sheng felt warm currents flowing out, and his fatigue was immediately relieved. His dantian magic power seemed to be nourished and surged.

After drinking another cup of the spiritual wine, He Sheng felt the time was almost right and couldn't help but say:

"At Senior Brother Wan's Foundation Establishment Ceremony, I had the privilege of listening to the sermon of that fake Core Formation Elder from the Golden Cloud Sect."

I was completely captivated by the music, but I always felt like there was a layer of paper between us that I couldn't break through.

However, on the way back south, he seemed to have an epiphany.

I wonder if the senior could arrange a secluded place for me to meditate and comprehend some of his teachings?

If I can achieve a breakthrough through this, I will never forget the kindness shown to me by my predecessors today.

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in the huge tortoise eyes of the Star-Backed Black Tortoise.

It is indeed a rare opportunity for a pseudo-core cultivator to preach, but the old tortoise does not quite believe that He Sheng can break through on this occasion.

It had also heard about some of the things that had happened to the He family in recent years, and felt that the root cause was that He Sheng's cultivation had been thwarted and he was unable to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, which caused him to develop mental obstacles and thus his behavior became increasingly eccentric.

However, He Sheng's current request was negligible, so it naturally wouldn't refuse, only saying:

"In that case, Qing'er, take Asheng to the Meditation Cave. It's secluded and quiet there, perfect for quiet meditation and contemplation."

"Thank you for your kindness, senior!"

After He Sheng expressed his gratitude, the blue water snake named "Qing'er" immediately swam ahead and led the way, guiding He Sheng through several winding and narrow waterways until they arrived at a hidden water cave.

"Senior He, this is the Meditation Cave."

This azure water snake, less than ten feet long, was only a first-tier demon beast. Its aura was similar to that of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, so it naturally treated He Sheng with great respect.

He Sheng looked around, checking the distribution of waterways as he took out the azure umbrella. The strange fish that had been inside the umbrella was now lifeless.

"Let's give this as a gift for our first meeting."

He Sheng casually took the strange fish out of the parasol and handed it to the green snake. The snake's vertical pupils immediately lit up, and it spat out its saliva, looking very eager.

"Is the immortal master real?"

"nature!"

The green snake immediately swallowed the strange fish whole, a look of satisfaction on its face.

Seeing this, He Sheng seized the opportunity to ask:

"Senior Xuan Gui has arranged this cave in a truly ingenious way, but I wonder if there are any other exits?"

In case of an emergency...

Having received a benefit and seeing He Sheng's friendly attitude, the green snake naturally couldn't keep its mouth shut and blurted out:

"Rest assured, Immortal Master, we have nothing in abundance in our Longevity Pool Water Palace except for the waterways, which are interconnected in all directions."

For example, hidden within this Meditation Cave is a secret waterway that leads directly to an underground river.

As the green snake spoke, it pointed with its tail to an inconspicuous corner inside the water cave. He Sheng scanned it with his divine sense and indeed saw a narrow and deep waterway.

Seeing this, He Sheng felt much more at ease and thought to himself:

"With this waterway here, even if that suspected Core Formation cultivator really comes knocking, as long as the old tortoise does a little bit of obstruction, I can quietly slip away through this waterway without anyone noticing!"

He Sheng was overjoyed and gave some more spirit stones to the green snake. The snake was even happier and started talking non-stop:

"Speaking of our Tiandu Mountain, things have been a bit turbulent these past few years."

Although the kings were of the same blood, they were not without their share of friction.

In particular, a few years ago, a big piece of news spread in the mountains that a precious light had appeared deep in the Black Vine Ridge to the north. Several kings sent people to investigate and it seemed that they had discovered something extraordinary.

The kings even fought each other over this, and half of Black Vine Ridge was destroyed.

..."

He Sheng listened patiently, occasionally chiming in with a few words, until the Green Snake had recounted all the secrets of the mountains, the preferences of the great demons, and the division of territories. Only then did he find an excuse to send her away.

After seeing the green snake off, He Sheng immediately went into the water cave and confirmed that the waterway leading to the underground river was indeed unobstructed before he could finally relax.

"With this path forward, I can finally take some time to recuperate."

He Sheng let out a long sigh and sat cross-legged on a flat bluestone.

Since waking up, he has been on the run. He didn't have much magic power to begin with, and he could only barely keep going.

The consumption of spiritual energy was also considerable. Although the subtle and profound artistic conception was profound, its application to spiritual energy also resulted in some additional consumption.

Now that they have arrived at the Longevity Pool Water Mansion, with the old turtle protecting them from the front and a backup plan in place, He Sheng is naturally prepared to recuperate and recover.

He first took a few pills to restore his magical power, feeling the medicinal effects dissipate in his body, and then tried to learn from Brother Piao how to meditate and practice breathing exercises.

Although he was a little unfamiliar with it at first, the "Qinglan Water Element Technique" was not a very profound technique. With Piao Ge's memories and experience, He Sheng quickly got the hang of it.

As the cultivation technique was activated, the spiritual energy generated by the spiritual fruits and wine consumed earlier began to circulate in the meridians. After being compressed by the meridians and refined by the cultivation technique, it transformed into drops of magical power, which eventually flowed into the spiritual sea in the dantian.

One drop,

Ten drops,

100 drops

...

It was as if a rain was falling on the Spirit Sea, with droplets of water forming threads as they fell into it.

According to the "Qinglan Water Elemental Technique", when one reaches the peak of the mid-Foundation Building stage, the spiritual sea contains a total of 3,600 drops of magical power.

Even with the help of pills that restore mana, the cultivation technique can only restore a maximum of seven or eight hundred drops of mana after circulating through the body for one full cycle.

...

He Sheng's mind raced. Based on Piao Ge's memory, he calculated that at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, it would take about half an hour for the cultivation technique to complete one full cycle.

His spiritual power had not yet recovered by more than half, and he wanted to continue to meditate, but the problem was where would he find so much time?

After all, the person who had been following him all along wasn't far away from him.

"But I wonder if the subtle ripples of the artistic conception can enhance the circulation of the cultivation technique?"

A sudden thought flashed through He Sheng's mind.

This is not surprising, since he had previously separated the subtle ripples from the water escape technique and added it to his divine sense perception, which was very successful.

He Sheng acted immediately upon thinking of it, clearing his mind of all distractions and visualizing the "Rippling Mood" while simultaneously circulating the "Clear Rippling Water Element Technique," attempting to harmonize the two.

hum...

He Sheng's perception seemed to transform into the finest net in the world, pervading the entire Wanshou Pool.

This perception was different from divine sense; it allowed one to "see" tiny, multicolored specks of light.

These specks of light are trace amounts of spiritual energy, invisible to the naked eye. They are scattered throughout the world, and their content is extremely thin, making them difficult for ordinary cultivators to detect.

However, things are different inside this water palace. The Longevity Pool has a second-order spiritual vein, which is why the old turtle opened up the water palace here.

The trace amount of spiritual energy that He Sheng is currently "seeing" mostly originates from the spiritual veins.

As he circulated his cultivation technique, these trace amounts of spiritual energy seemed to be drawn towards him.

Boo!

An invisible ripple seemed to spread around He Sheng.

Within the cave, countless transparent light spots were forcibly stripped and extracted from the water vapor, transforming into tiny water droplets invisible to the naked eye, which then penetrated directly into the body!

As soon as these water droplets enter the body, they condense directly into clusters in the meridians without needing to undergo tedious preliminary refining.

The amount of spiritual energy that would normally take at least an incense stick to burn to accumulate was filled into the meridians in just a few breaths under the enhancement of the artistic conception.

follow closely,

These clusters of spiritual energy, like rivers flowing into the sea, converged into the dantian through the meridians, and then poured into the spiritual sea like a torrential downpour.

In a short period of time,

The mana in his dantian recovered by nearly a thousand drops!

He Sheng never expected that after using the Mindful Ripples Technique to enhance the Clear Ripples Water Element Technique, even the way of breathing exercises underwent a fundamental change.

The original method of cultivation involved consuming spiritual food and pills to generate spiritual energy within the body, followed by circulating the cultivation technique to absorb the wisps of spiritual energy into the dantian.

Then, following the route required by the cultivation method, the spiritual energy is circulated and transformed into specific magical power through the compression of the meridians and the specific refinement of the cultivation method.

After being imbued with the essence of ripples, one can not only directly absorb trace amounts of spiritual energy from heaven and earth into the body, but also skip the subsequent steps, directly achieving the convergence of all rivers and the formation of magical power from the gathering of ripples.

"Moreover, after enhancing the 'Subtle Ripples' state of mind, not only was the speed of mana recovery nearly one-third faster than the previous methodical breathing exercises, but the time spent was also reduced by almost half."

He Sheng was overjoyed, truly feeling that comprehending the essence of "Ripples" was like finding a treasure.

But in the blink of an eye, something even more surprising happened!

Click...

It seemed as if an extremely solid layer had shattered, imperceptibly.

He Sheng quickly tried to comprehend it and discovered that what had shattered was actually the cultivation bottleneck that had blocked Piao Ge for three years, preventing him from breaking through no matter how hard he tried!