Mortal: Traveling Between Two Realms with Mei Ning to Pick Up Trash

Mei Ning led Zhou Yu to an open space outside the cave. The ground was flat rock, cleaned by the sea breeze, making it a good place to practice martial arts.

"You don't have enough spiritual power at the first level of Qi Refining to use high-level spells." Mei Ning stood opposite him, her hands behind her back like a teacher. "I'll teach you two of the most basic ones: spiritual power protection and spiritual power enhancement."

She raised her right hand, and a faint spiritual light emanated from her palm.

"Spiritual energy protection involves spreading spiritual energy to the surface of the body to form a thin layer of protection. The effect is limited and cannot block attacks from magical artifacts, but it can help you withstand some aftershocks and ordinary wind blades."

With a flick of her finger, a layer of transparent spiritual light covered her entire arm, as if wrapping it in a thin film.

"The method is very simple: draw spiritual energy from the dantian and use your mind to guide it to evenly cover the whole body. Do not favor one part over another, do not interrupt the flow, and keep it stable."

Zhou Yu nodded, closed his eyes, and began to mobilize the meager spiritual energy in his dantian.

The spiritual energy flowed slowly from his dantian, spreading along his meridians to his limbs, barely covering his hands and torso with a thin layer, while his legs and head were basically naked.

He looked like a lowly soldier with only half a suit of armor.

Mei Ning glanced at it and commented, "It's barely usable; more practice is needed."

"Secondly, spiritual energy enhancement." She drew an ordinary short sword. "Infusing spiritual energy into a weapon can increase the power and sharpness of an attack. The method is similar to spiritual energy protection, but the spiritual energy must be concentrated and not dispersed."

With a casual wave of her hand, a flash of light appeared on the short sword, and the sword energy drew a shallow mark on the ground.

Zhou Yu took out the horizontal sword from his storage bag, and Mei Ning's eyes flickered.

He tried to channel his spiritual energy into the blade, which flowed from the hilt to the edge, but the effect was far less noticeable than Mei Ning's. The blade only shone faintly for a moment, with almost no change.

"That's enough," Mei Ning said. "You have too little spiritual power right now. It's already good enough that you were able to infuse it in. Tomorrow, once we enter the cave, you stay behind me and don't run around or touch anything. If you see any danger, run away."

Zhou Yu put the knife away and nodded solemnly.

"Sister Mei Ning," Zhou Yu suddenly spoke.

"Um?"

"Thank you."

Mei Ning glanced at him, then looked away and gazed at the distant sea.

"You've said it many times," she said.

"I'll say it... many more times in the future," Zhou Yu said with a smile.

Mei Ning didn't reply. She turned and walked into the cave, but stopped after a couple of steps and turned her head to add a sentence.

"Go back and pack your things, don't oversleep tomorrow."

"No way," Zhou Yu said, then muttered softly, "I can't sleep anyway."

He had never heard Mei Ning snore, but Mei Feng's snoring was real. Last night, he was almost "shaken" awake by the snoring, and he had to turn over every ten minutes or so.

……

At night.

Mei Feng and Mei Ning were already asleep.

Mei Feng's snoring started right on time. Zhou Yu lay on the stone bed, turned over, and pressed the pillow under his head, trying to block out the bewitching sound.

Useless.

The sound seemed to penetrate everything—pillows, blankets, stone walls—nothing could block it.

He rolled over again, lying on his back, staring at the dark cave ceiling.

My mind was racing with thoughts of the Golden Elixir Cave for tomorrow.

This so-called Golden Core Cave doesn't exist in the original story, but the fact that Mei Ning and the others survived suggests they weren't in any real danger.

However, this does not mean that you are absolutely safe.

Zhou Yu stared at the cave ceiling, becoming increasingly clear-headed with each thought.

He sat up.

Mei Feng's snoring continued, while Mei Ning's side was as quiet as if no one was there. Zhou Yu tiptoed out of bed and slipped out of the cave.

The open space outside was brightly lit by the moonlight, so bright that you could see clearly without turning on a lamp.

Zhou Yu took the calligraphy brush out of his pocket.

Looking back at the cave entrance, the curtain hung quietly, and no one followed.

"Last time I went in too far and disturbed that thing." Zhou Yu thought to himself, "This time I won't be greedy. I'll stay within ten steps and see if there's anything I can pick up. Ten steps, just ten steps. I'll pick it up and leave. I definitely won't stay any longer."

Now I am a cultivator, although I am very weak, but I am still much stronger than when I was a mortal.

Take out a knife, then take out a brush and lightly draw a line on the ground, and a crack appears.

That vast and ancient aura swept over us once more, and a hazy light peeked through the cracks.

Zhou Yu took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Then he immediately discovered a serious problem.

I can't use my spiritual power.

The spiritual energy within his body seemed to be sealed by something, quietly remaining in his dantian, and no matter how he tried to mobilize it, there was no reaction.

Isn't this almost the same as the underworld?

Zhou Yu tightened his grip on the horizontal sword.

Since we're already here, we can't just turn around and leave. It's only ten steps.

After searching for a while, they actually found a partially damaged net under a small mound of earth a few steps away.

Without hesitation, he took out a brush and made a stroke, then glanced back at the direction of the giant beast from before, but there was no movement.

Zhou Yu stepped out of the crack, returned to the island, and then quickly closed the crack.

He looked down at the tattered net in his hand.

"What is this thing?" he muttered, trying to channel a wisp of spiritual energy into the net.

A message popped into my mind.

This net is called the Immortal Binding Net, a magic weapon used by Core Formation stage cultivators to trap enemies. When activated, it transforms into a net several meters long, trapping the target. The net's threads are sharp, tightening the more the target struggles, and it also has a paralyzing effect on spiritual energy.

"Is this what refining is?" Zhou Yu murmured.

However, now that it's damaged, it can probably only trap Foundation Establishment cultivators.

I estimate that I would be exhausted after just one use of my current spiritual power.

but.

Zhou Yu took out the knife. Why couldn't this knife be refined? Was it because its level was too high?

Well, now that we have the Binding Immortal Net, we have a trump card. Hopefully, nothing too unexpected will happen tomorrow.

……

The next day.

"ah--"

Mei Feng got up and stretched.

"Oh? Brother Zhou Yu, you're up so early." Mei Feng yawned as he saw Zhou Yu already up and preparing food.

Zhou Yu, of course, wouldn't say that he couldn't sleep because Mei Feng was making noise; he could only smile and nod.

Mei Ning woke up when she heard the noise, walked out of the cave, rubbed her eyes, her hair was a little messy, and a few strands of hair stuck to her cheeks.

Zhou Yu glanced at her, and a question popped into his mind: How did Mei Ning fall asleep?

Her brother's snoring was like thunder even through the cave, yet she managed to sleep soundly all night? Was it because she was used to it? Or did she have some kind of method to block out noise?

"Good morning," Mei Ning said somewhat vaguely.

"Good morning." Zhou Yu handed over a grilled fish.

The three of them sat around the cave entrance and ate a simple breakfast while enjoying the sea breeze.

After finishing their meal, the three of them set off immediately.

Zhou Yu, without a flying artifact, remained standing behind Mei Ning.

This time he was smarter. Before getting on the flying sword, he tucked the hem of his clothes into his belt to prevent them from fluttering like flags in the wind.

Mei Ning's flying sword took off, and he placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. He didn't grab her, but rather supported her, with just enough force for himself to stand firmly without making her uncomfortable.

It flew for an hour.

The sea breeze blew in from the front, making it hard to open one's eyes. Zhou Yu squinted, hiding his face behind Mei Ning.

"It's just ahead!" Mei Feng shouted from the front, his voice breaking due to the strong wind.

Zhou Yu squinted and looked ahead.

A reef.

No, calling it a reef is too kind; it was a huge rock that had emerged from the sea, smaller than any island he had ever seen before.

It's really fortunate that Mei Feng was able to find this place.

The three landed.

Zhou Yu looked around but found nothing. There was no cave, no restrictions, not even a crack that looked like an entrance.

"Hehe." Mei Feng saw Zhou Yu looking around blankly and laughed a few times. "Brother Zhou, you just don't have much experience. This kind of cave with restrictions must have a concealment array, otherwise it would have been discovered and emptied long ago."

He put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest.

"Watch me."

After speaking, Mei Feng made a hand seal with both hands.

Zhou Yu's eyes lit up; this was the first time he had ever seen someone cast a spell up close.

"Go!" Mei Feng shouted in a low voice.

The battle flags scattered and flew away, landing in several different locations on the reef before disappearing into the ground.

Zhou Yu was somewhat surprised. Mei Feng knew about formations? Sure enough, those who could survive in the Chaotic Star Sea were no ordinary people.

As time passed by, second by second.

Sudden.

The air seemed to be stirred by something, and the true form of the cave appeared before their eyes.

The entrance to the cave exudes an old and worn atmosphere, carrying a strong sense of history.

Mei Feng let out a long breath, stopped the hand seal, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Alright," he said, a hint of smugness in his voice. "I've temporarily suppressed the restriction, and it should last for about two or three hours. We need to hurry, go in, take a look, and come out right away. Don't be greedy."

He turned to look at Zhou Yu and Mei Ning.

"Shall we go?"

Mei Ning nodded, took two steps forward, and stood beside Mei Feng, with Zhou Yu following closely behind.