Mortal: I have a Spirit Gathering Cauldron

The next morning, Lin Feng awoke from his meditation.

After opening his eyes, Lin Feng looked around the small attic room, which was less than ten square meters.

Wooden bed, wooden table, wooden chair, and several used soundproofing sheets pasted on the wall.

"It's really inconvenient to live in a place like this after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage." Lin Feng shook his head and stood up to stretch his limbs.

Moreover, the spiritual energy concentration in this small attic is too low; even setting up a spirit-gathering array would be a waste of spirit stones. More importantly, it offers no privacy.

"I have to move."

Lin Feng quickly washed up and changed into a clean yellow robe, the standard robe for Foundation Establishment disciples. He had received it from the council hall yesterday. The material was several levels better than that of outer sect disciples' robes. It felt light and airy on his body, with a faint flow of spiritual energy.

He stepped onto the green leaf magic artifact and slowly flew towards the Qilin Pavilion.

The Qilin Pavilion is located between the outer and inner areas of Huangfeng Valley, and it is a place where sects raise and rent spirit beasts.

Lin Feng landed in front of the Qilin Pavilion, put away his magical artifact, and stepped inside.

After spending three low-grade spirit stones to rent the rat for three days, Lin Feng thanked him and turned to leave the Qilin Pavilion.

He flew directly towards the mountain gate of Huangfeng Valley. After exiting the mountain gate, he unfurled the Qingfeng Banner, his figure transforming into a wisp of green smoke, and sped towards the northwest of the Taiyue Mountains.

The Taiyue Mountains stretch for thousands of miles, and Huangfeng Valley occupies only a small part of it. The northwestern part of the mountains, near the outer edge, is sparsely populated, frequented by demonic beasts, and has a much lower concentration of spiritual energy than the sect's inner area, but it is better off being hidden.

What Lin Feng is looking for is the Spring of Spiritual Eyes.

In the original story, Han Li found the Spirit Eye Spring in the outermost part of the northwestern Taiyue Mountains. The Spirit Eye Spring can increase the concentration of spiritual energy and assist in cultivation.

For Han Li, this thing was dispensable, since he cultivated by taking drugs and the concentration of spiritual energy didn't affect him much.

But for Lin Feng, the Spirit Eye Spring is a treasure.

The speed at which the Spirit Gathering Cauldron upgrades materials depends on the concentration of spiritual energy in the surrounding environment. The higher the concentration of spiritual energy, the faster the upgrade.

The concentration of spiritual energy near the Spirit Eye Spring is several times that of ordinary places. If the Spirit Gathering Cauldron is placed above the spring, the time required to upgrade spirit stones and pills should be significantly reduced.

"Old Demon Han cultivates by taking pills anyway, so spiritual energy isn't important to him. He's still in seclusion building his foundation, and he won't be out for at least another ten months. I'll gladly accept this Spirit Eye Spring," Lin Feng muttered as he flew.

Lin Feng urged the Qingfeng Banner, increasing his speed even further.

After flying for a full day, Lin Feng landed in the outer area of ​​the northwestern part of the Taiyue Mountains.

The mountains here are low and the vegetation is sparse, so the concentration of spiritual energy is much lower than that in Huangfeng Valley.

Occasionally, one or two low-level demonic beasts could be seen darting through the forest. Sensing Lin Feng's Foundation Establishment stage aura, they would run away at a distance.

Lin Feng took out the Twin-Pupil Rat and placed it in his palm.

The double-pupiled rat's nose twitched a few times, and its double-pupiled eyes darted around as if scanning its surroundings. It jumped down from Lin Feng's palm, sniffed the ground, and then ran off in one direction.

Lin Feng followed behind.

The two-eyed rat wasn't fast; it walked and stopped frequently, occasionally pausing to sniff the ground before changing direction. Lin Feng wasn't in a hurry either, and simply followed it as it wandered around the mountains.

On the first day, nothing was gained.

The Twin-Eyed Rat found a small spiritual vein with a higher concentration of spiritual energy than the surrounding area, but it was still far from meeting the standards of the Spirit Eye Spring. Lin Feng shook his head and continued leading the Twin-Eyed Rat deeper into the area.

The next day, they still found nothing.

Lin Feng began to doubt whether he had remembered it wrong. Was the Spirit Eye Spring really in the northwest of the Taiyue Mountains?

"I'll look for another day. If I can't find it, then I'll give up." Lin Feng set a deadline for himself.

On the evening of the third day, the two-eyed mouse suddenly became excited.

It leaped off a rock and charged wildly toward a massive mountain wall.

The mountain wall was over a hundred feet high, covered with dark green moss, and looked no different from the surrounding mountains. But the two-eyed rat seemed to have gone mad, and burrowed directly into an inconspicuous crevice at the base of the mountain wall.

Lin Feng was overjoyed and quickly followed.

He took out a high-grade flying sword from his storage bag, infused it with spiritual energy, and the sword transformed into a streak of azure light, slicing towards the mountain wall. Rock fragments flew everywhere, and a hole large enough for one person to pass through was carved into the mountain wall.

The cave was pitch black, but Lin Feng's divine sense clearly detected a dense fluctuation of spiritual energy ahead.

He walked along the narrow passage for more than ten feet, and suddenly the view opened up before him.

This is a naturally formed small stone chamber, about two zhang square.

In the center of the stone chamber, a spring the size of a palm was bubbling up. The water was crystal clear, radiating a faint spiritual light, and the spiritual energy in the air was so dense that it almost condensed into mist.

The Fountain of Spiritual Eyes.

Lin Feng squatted down, scooped up a handful of spring water, and brought it to his lips.

The spring water tasted sweet, and a warm, spiritual energy flowed from the throat into the abdomen, circulating throughout the body via the meridians. Although it wasn't a medicinal pill, long-term consumption was highly beneficial for cultivation.

"Found it." Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

Three days, it was worth it.

Instead of setting up the cave dwelling, he spent an hour digging deeper into the stone chamber using his flying sword.

He had been digging tunnels in the mines for five years and was very skilled at it. His flying sword was much faster at cutting through rocks than a pickaxe, and in an hour, he had dug out a simple cave dwelling with a room, a living room, and a warehouse.

The "room" is the cultivation room, located at the very back, where the Spirit Eye Spring is situated. The "hall" is the area for daily activities, containing a stone table and two stone stools. The "warehouse" is the storage area, with several stone niches dug out to hold bottles and jars.

It's not exactly luxurious, but it's habitable.

Lin Feng took out the five illusionary array flags from his storage bag and, according to the array diagram, placed them in the five locations around the cave. He infused them with spiritual energy, and the flags glowed faintly. A thin layer of white mist emanated from the flags, enveloping the cave.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary mountain wall, blending into the surrounding scenery.

"Alright, this will do." Lin Feng clapped his hands. "Anyway, I won't be staying here for long. I'll be on my way again soon. I'll leave this cave to someone who's destined to find it."

He returned to the cultivation room and took out a few earth pears from his storage bag, placing them in front of the double-eyed rat.

The two-eyed mouse picked up a pear and started munching on it. It finished the fruit in a few bites, then looked up at Lin Feng as if to ask, "Is there any more?"

Lin Feng gave it a few more coins. After it had eaten its fill, he released it out of the cave. The little guy could go back on its own, which saved him trouble.

Then Lin Feng sat cross-legged next to the Spirit Eye Spring and summoned the Spirit Gathering Cauldron.

A small, dark blue cauldron floated above the spring, slowly rotating. Lin Feng took out a low-grade spirit stone from his storage bag, threw it into the cauldron, then closed his eyes and began to sense the changes in the concentration of spiritual energy.

The concentration of spiritual energy near the Spirit Eye Spring is nearly 50% higher than that deep within the mine. The Spirit Gathering Cauldron is operating at a significantly faster speed, and the spirit stones within it are being flushed by spiritual energy much more frequently than before. It is estimated that it will only take about three days to upgrade them to mid-grade spirit stones.

"A good place." Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction, withdrew his divine sense, and began to plan what to do next.

The first thing: the Wind-Escape Shuttle.

I bought a catalog of top-tier flying magical artifacts from Wanbaolou, but I haven't had time to craft it in preparation for the Crimson Forbidden Land.

The Wind-Trapping Shuttle is extremely difficult to forge and requires the rare magical material Cloud Wind Essence. Cloud Wind Essence can only be found in small quantities in the extremely rare Cloud Wind Stone mine. Since I don't have any Cloud Wind Essence on hand, I need to go to the market to buy some Cloud Wind Stones to upgrade it.

In the days that followed, whether on the battlefield of demonic cultivation or fleeing to the Chaotic Star Sea, flying artifacts were crucial for survival.

While the Breeze Flag is useful, its actual flight speed is far inferior to that of a top-tier flying magic weapon. With the Wind-Escape Shuttle, few at the Foundation Establishment stage should be able to catch him.

The second thing is the Great Evolution Technique.

In the original story, not long after Han Li established his foundation and opened his cave dwelling, the young leader of the Thousand Bamboo Sect, Senior Brother Lin, delivered himself to his door. That guy wanted to possess Han Li's body, but Han Li killed him instead, and the Great Evolution Technique fell into Han Li's hands.

But now, he has taken over the Fountain of Spiritual Eyes.

Lin Feng wasn't sure if his senior brother would come back to this location. In the original story, his senior brother had chased him here. Now that the Spirit Eye Spring was with him, would his senior brother still come to his cave?

"Waiting around like this won't work," Lin Feng shook his head. "What if he still goes to Han Li's cave? Then I'll be at a huge loss."

We must take the initiative.

Senior Brother Lin's true identity is the young leader of the Thousand Bamboo Sect. He is hiding in the Yellow Maple Valley because he is being hunted down by the current leader. He is about to break through to the third level of the Great Evolution Technique and has developed an unwarranted ambition to contact his old subordinates and return to the Thousand Bamboo Sect.

According to the timeline, in about ten months, this guy will court death and be thoroughly humiliated by the current leader of the Thousand Bamboo Sect.

"I need to find him before that and find a way to trade for the Great Evolution Technique." Lin Feng stroked his chin. "If the trade fails..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his eyes turned cold.

The third thing is Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin.

The nearest market to the cave dwelling is the Tianxing Sect Market. In the original story, it was there that Han Li met Qi Yunxiao and obtained the incomplete version of the Inverted Five Elements Formation.

Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin are a couple. One is proficient in weapon crafting, and the other is proficient in formations. One has a sincere heart, and the other has the body of a dragon's roar.

Unfortunately, despite their extraordinary talent, their cultivation level was ultimately too low, and they ended up as a pair of star-crossed lovers.

Their legacy is all valuable, enough to last them for hundreds of years.

Xin Ruyin's array formation insights were so profound that even Han Laomo, who had reached the Nascent Soul stage, was still using them; such talent was truly heaven-defying.

"Time is of the essence, we need to hurry." Lin Feng stood up and paced back and forth in the stone chamber, deep in thought.

"Let's go to the market first," Lin Feng decided. "Sell the things we don't need and exchange them for pills and materials. While we're at it, let's see if we can run into Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin and get our hands on their inheritance."

"Then I'll come back and refine the Wind Shuttle. Refining weapons takes time, so I can use that time to get in touch with Senior Brother Lin."

There's a lot to do, let's take it one step at a time.