Mortal: I am the young sect master of the Thousand Illusions Sect

Chapter 86 Golden Feather Breakthrough

Amber Island, located in the southwest sea area of ​​the Chaotic Star Sea, is under the jurisdiction of Kui Xing Island under the Gui Xing Palace. It is only a medium-sized island.

The island has a radius of nearly 100 miles and is home to more than 10,000 ordinary people. A small seaside town and several villages are scattered along the island's coast, where the smoke of cooking fires lingers.

At the very center of the island sits a rocky mountain, its body containing a vast amount of granite, and its underground spiritual veins are of medium to high quality. As a result, a small family of cultivators chose this place to settle down and establish their clan.

This family's resources are considerable among clans of similar size, boasting three Foundation Establishment cultivators. Taking advantage of the mountain's spiritual veins, they have developed a small market town on the mountainside, attracting Qi Refining cultivators from all directions to stay, cultivate, and trade, and it has gradually prospered.

But today, Amber Island is destined to be restless.

Above the azure sky, a flying boat, its body shimmering with a golden light and swirling with spiritual energy, soared through the air and hovered steadily in mid-air above the stone mountain.

A powerful and profound divine sense, far surpassing the Foundation Establishment level, slowly spread out, enveloping the entire small mountain. All the cultivators in the mountain felt their minds suddenly sink, their spiritual energy stagnate and become difficult to move. They felt an instinctive awe and even subconsciously softened their breathing.

Three Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Wang family on the island were managing affairs in the market town on the mountainside when they sensed this terrifying pressure. Their expressions changed simultaneously, and without daring to delay for even a moment, they all summoned their magical artifacts and took to the air, bowing respectfully on the clouds below the Yellow Crystal Boat.

The leading elder of the Wang family, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, spoke respectfully, not daring to look directly at the figure on the boat: "The Wang family of Amber Island welcomes Senior Core Formation! May we ask what your instructions are for visiting Amber Island? We will do our utmost to serve you."

Su Mixin stood at the bow of the yellow crystal boat, her gilded cloud silk robe fluttering slightly in the wind. Her expression was indifferent, and she did not descend to talk to the others.

Its majestic voice, amplified by a powerful divine sense comparable to that of a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, transformed into an invisible sound wave that resounded throughout the entire stone mountain.

Every cultivator in the mountain market and caves heard it clearly: "This mountain is being temporarily requisitioned by me. All cultivators and mortals in the mountain must evacuate within one hour. Those who fail to leave by the deadline will face my ruthless methods."

As soon as he finished speaking, the pressure from the Core Formation stage intensified, like a mountain pressing down, proving that these words were no joke.

After saying this, the three dared not linger and sped off towards the market and various cave dwellings. As they flew, they shouted orders, and the entire stone mountain was thrown into chaos. Countless Qi Refining cultivators hurriedly packed up their pills and magical artifacts and retreated towards the mortal villages at the foot of the mountain. The once bustling market on the mountainside quickly descended into chaos.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye. With Feng Hou's reminder, Su Mixin knew that there was no one left in the market on the mountainside, the caves in the mountains, or even the hidden chambers. The entire granite mountain was silent and empty, with only the whistling sound of the sea breeze sweeping across the rock walls echoing.

Huang Jingzhou's spiritual light vanished, and Su Mixin lightly touched the boat with her toes, her figure floating lightly to the top of the highest peak of the stone mountain.

He raised his hand and waved it in the air. More than a dozen array flags with different flowing lights shot out from his sleeves and landed on the cliffs of different heights on all four sides of the mountain. The flag tails were wrapped with spiritual light and disappeared into the rock strata in an instant.

This time, venturing deep into the outer sea, they encountered countless monsters and the road ahead was fraught with uncertainty, so Su Mixin dared not slacken her efforts in the slightest.

The two great formations he set up when he first rented the Holy Mountain Cave in Tianxing City—the Eight Gates Locking Mist Formation and the Reversed Five Elements Formation—have long been stored in his personal world ring.

Although Qin Zhou and Qin Lian, the siblings, were left to guard the cave, the Holy Mountain Cave itself had a protective array set up by the Star Palace, which was enough to protect the two of them safely.

To create an absolutely safe and undisturbed secluded place for Jin Yu's cultivation, he once again set up two large formations. Layers of light curtains rose from the ground, and a semi-transparent light shield covered half of the mountaintop, isolating the internal and external auras, preventing any internal movements from leaking out, and making it difficult for external sounds to enter.

After the formation was completed, Su Mi's mind stirred, and a dazzling golden light shot out from the world ring on her right hand.

Jin Yu spread his wings, which were covered with gilded feathers, and circled leisurely in the sky above the peak, scattering tiny golden rays of light with each flap of his wings.

It immediately lowered its body and slowly walked to Su Mixin's side, obediently lowering its head covered with golden feathers, a soft and gentle murmur escaping its throat, carrying a trace of unease about breaking through to the next realm.

Su Mixin raised her palm and gently stroked the smooth, warm feathers on Jin Yu's neck. She channeled a wisp of her own pure and gentle sword energy into her palm to soothe it, and said in a soft voice, "There is no need to be afraid. The spiritual energy here is abundant, the great formation protects you from disturbance, and I will also do my best to protect you. Just break through without worry."

After calming them down, he moved to the open space at the summit, made a hand seal, and set up a small spirit-gathering array. The array patterns faintly emitted a pale white halo from the ground.

Then, he probed the space of the world ring with his divine sense and took out piles of low-grade and mid-grade spirit stones. He poured them out and covered the entire spirit gathering array eye. Dense spiritual energy flowed out from the spirit stones and condensed under the constraint of the array.

With everything in place, Su Mixin floated back dozens of feet and stood quietly in the clouds, his eyes lowered as he focused on guarding the side. He single-handedly blocked all external interference. Whether Jin Yu could successfully advance to a level five demon beast depended entirely on itself.

Golden Feather flapped its wings and stepped into the center of the Spirit Gathering Array, then lay down and fell into silence.

Three days later, Jin Yu suddenly opened his eyes, his golden fur standing on end, and his sharp golden eyes suddenly shone with a dazzling light.

In an instant, a strange change occurred. The clear sky above the stone mountain turned dark in an instant, and thick black clouds gathered from all directions, pressing down and covering the light screen of the great array. Deep in the clouds, silvery-white lightning crackled and moved faintly. This was a strange phenomenon caused by a demon beast breaking through its realm and condensing its demon core.

A vast and violent demonic aura surged forth from Jin Yu's body, soaring into the sky and crashing against the dark clouds above, causing them to churn endlessly. Mixed with the purest and most unparalleled metallic spiritual energy of heaven and earth, all metallic spiritual energy within a radius of a hundred miles seemed to be drawn together by an invisible force, frantically converging towards the peak.

Endless golden energy swirled and coiled, pulling and rotating above the spirit-gathering array, quickly condensing into an enormous golden vortex of spiritual energy. The vortex spun at high speed, emitting a deafening buzzing roar. Countless sharp, knife-like golden streams flowed along the inner wall of the vortex, their golden light dazzling. Even from the coast dozens of miles away, the golden light shooting into the sky from the top of the stone mountain could be seen.

Jin Yu stood at the very center of the vortex, his body trembling slightly. The bottlenecks within his body shattered layer by layer, and his originally thin wings grew wider and thicker at a speed visible to the naked eye. Fine dark gold patterns appeared on his feathers, and his limbs and bones were constantly being tempered and reshaped under the influence of a massive amount of golden spirit and demonic energy, occasionally emitting a cracking sound.

It raised its head and let out a long cry, its clear and melodious voice piercing through the dark clouds. The roar mixed with the vortex of spiritual energy spread throughout the entire Amber Island. With each cry, the demonic aura around it became thicker and thicker, and the demonic pressure it emitted rose steadily, from the peak of the fourth level to the fifth level of demonic beast.

The coastline and forest clearings at the foot of the mountain were already crowded with people who hadn't gone far.

The three Foundation Establishment elders of the Wang clan, along with a group of Wang clan members, stopped far away behind the reef, staring intently at the dark clouds that blotted out the sky and the dazzling golden vortex on the mountaintop. The three of them had tense expressions and were filled with shock and fear.

"The appearance of such strange phenomena in the heavens and earth, along with the cries of eagles, indicates that a metal-attribute winged spirit beast is breaking through its realm and condensing its demon core."

""

The second elder of the Wang family's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice trembling. The pressure of the Core Formation senior's divine sense, which had been maintained for several days, had already made it difficult for them to breathe. Now, the spiritual energy storm stirred up by the advancement of the spirit beast could disrupt the spiritual power flowing in their bodies even from several miles away.

The elder frowned, his palm unconsciously clenching his personal magic weapon: "The spirit beast under the mount of a Core Formation cultivator has broken through to the fifth level of demon beast. That senior must be no ordinary person. We must not get even half a step closer."

The Third Elder gazed at the ever-churning golden vortex atop the mountain, filled with helplessness: "What a beautiful home we once had, now we can only watch from afar. We can only hope that this senior's spirit beast will successfully break through and leave soon, so that we can return to our clan and cultivate in peace."

The large number of scattered Qi Refining cultivators around them were in an uproar. After the sudden change, a small number of them had already flown away from Amber Island together. However, even in the inner sea area, there were already many low-level demonic beasts, which were still quite dangerous for Qi Refining cultivators.

Therefore, most of the independent cultivators remained around Amber Island, waiting for a chance to return.

The crowd huddled together in small groups in the woods, gazing up at the astonishing sight on the mountaintop, their voices rising and falling, a mixture of fear and envy.

"My god, the commotion caused by this demonic beast's breakthrough is terrifying! Dark clouds loom overhead, and golden spiritual energy forms vortexes!"

"As expected of a Core Formation cultivator!"

"I was forced to hastily leave the cave just now, and I was still a little unwilling. But now, seeing this strange phenomenon in the world, I am filled with fear. If anyone had lingered in the mountains for the sake of treasures, they would probably have been severely injured by the violent spiritual energy by now."

No one dared to set foot on the stone mountain. They could only gaze at the black clouds and golden vortex at the summit from afar, feeling the overwhelming demonic energy and sharp golden spiritual energy sweeping in. Their hearts were filled with mixed emotions as they quietly waited for the earth-shattering demonic beast to break through and come to an end.

At the summit, Jin Yu's body shone with golden light, and the last barrier of his realm shattered. The overwhelming pressure of a level-five demon beast swept in all directions, and the huge golden vortex suddenly contracted inward, with most of it turning into pure spiritual energy that poured into Jin Yu's body, while a small amount of the remainder dispersed in all directions.

The thick, dark clouds in the sky slowly dispersed, and the stray flashes of lightning that had been moving through the clouds also disappeared.

As the dark clouds dispersed, the blinding golden light gradually receded, and the overwhelming demonic energy receded layer by layer, all returning to the body of the golden-feathered creature.

Su Mixin moved swiftly, instantly arriving at the center of the Spirit Gathering Array and landing beside Jin Yu.

Jin Yu spread its brand-new, broad golden wings, raised its head and let out a clear and passionate cry towards the sky. The sound was clear and full of excitement and joy after breaking through the shackles. The feathers around its body shimmered with a deeper dark golden luster, and the heavy pressure unique to a level five demon beast slowly subsided, with no trace of the violent and frenzied feeling from before.

Looking at its brand-new appearance, Su Mixin smiled faintly and gently patted the edge of its wings: "Don't recklessly dissipate your newly acquired cultivation. Quickly calm down and stabilize your realm."

Jin Yu let out a soft, gentle cry, then folded its wings and lay obediently in the center of the pile of spirit stones. It closed its eyes and entered a state of calming and stabilizing its breathing, with the golden spiritual energy around its body slowly circulating.

Seeing that Jin Yu had settled down, Su Mi no longer lingered.

The purpose of this trip to Amber Island, besides finding a secluded place for Jin Yu to break through his limitations, is also to find the spiritual eye buried deep beneath the mountain.

Taking advantage of the time when Jin Yu was in seclusion to consolidate his realm, it was the perfect opportunity to begin his exploration.

His figure transformed into a dazzling golden streak of light, swooping down from the mountaintop and instantly landing in front of a secluded courtyard on the outermost edge of a small market town halfway up the rocky mountain.

The courtyard occupies a decent area, with walls built of polished bluestone. Inside, there are more than ten wooden houses arranged in a staggered pattern. The windows of the houses are carved with simple spiritual patterns. Although not luxurious, they are kept very clean.

The front yard has been transformed into a delicate little garden, with various common ornamental flowers and herbs planted along the bluestone path. Two wooden swings stand side by side in the center of the garden, their vines and ropes intact, swaying gently in the breeze, exuding a delicate atmosphere of life.

Behind the courtyard, there is another neatly cultivated medicinal field with clearly defined ridges. Various low-grade medicinal herbs take root and grow in lush green patches, making it easy to see that the people living here have put a lot of effort into managing it.

Just as Su Mixin was surveying the layout of the courtyard, a clear, cold voice from Feng Hou slowly rang out from his sea of ​​consciousness: "Master, this is the courtyard. The most time-saving and labor-saving way to reach the location of the underground spiritual eye is to excavate a passage downwards from here."

"The entire rocky mountain is made of extremely hard granite, which is time-consuming and laborious to excavate. However, this courtyard has a layer of soft sand underneath, making it much easier to move through and dig."

Su Mixin nodded slightly, stepped directly into the courtyard, and quietly spread out a wisp of divine sense, sweeping through every corner of the entire courtyard.

But as soon as his divine sense reached the center of the garden, he raised an eyebrow, let out a soft exclamation, and stopped in his tracks.

Su Mixin walked slowly to the two swings standing side by side in the center of the garden. She lowered her eyes and looked at the two smooth wooden seats. Her gaze was fixed on the words lightly engraved on them. The left swing was engraved with the words "Yuan Yao", and the adjacent right swing was engraved with the words "Yan Li".

The handwriting is delicate and elegant, clearly the work of a woman.

Su Mixin murmured to herself, a hint of surprise rising in her heart: "Could it really be the two of them?"

He secretly compared the events in the original work with what he knew, carefully sorting out the chronology.

In the original story, Han Li arrived at Tiandu Street on Kui Xing Island for the first time at the age of fifty-one, where he encountered two women, Yuan Yao and Yan Li, who at the time claimed to be independent cultivators from the vicinity of Kui Xing Island.

Now he was fifty-two years old, and Han Li was five years older than him, so their ages were quite close.

Looking at the current situation, Amber Island is under the jurisdiction of Kui Xing Island and is not far from Kui Xing Island.

The mountainside market town on Amber Island was a place where cultivators from all directions gathered and settled, and all its conditions perfectly matched the scene described in the book.

This courtyard is likely the residence where Yuan Yao and Yan Li are currently cultivating.

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