Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

A month later.

Beside the Spring of the Spirit Eye.

Lin Zui sat cross-legged, circulating his cultivation technique to slowly absorb the pure spiritual energy that easily dissipated from the spiritual spring.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Zui suddenly opened his eyes. The bottleneck of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment that had imprisoned him for twenty years shattered under the impact of the massive spiritual energy.

The spiritual root vortex seemed to be unleashed, and began to frantically absorb the spiritual energy from the spiritual spring. In just a short while, his magical power improved by a large margin.

However, such good fortune only occurs at the moment of breakthrough. Soon, this mysterious feeling subsides, and the spiritual root vortex returns to calm, restoring its normal state.

"Oh, what a pity. If only things could stay this way forever."

Shaking his head to banish this unrealistic idea from his mind, Lin Zui spread his consciousness and looked towards Qin Mengyao on the other side.

This woman was also cultivating with complete concentration. In just over a month, her cultivation level had broken through from the eleventh level of Qi Refining to the twelfth level. With her Heavenly Spiritual Root talent, she would probably be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment level in less than a year.

Although he really wanted to start refining the next spiritual root right now, he remembered Yan Ruyan's previous situation. Her cultivation would definitely be greatly slowed down, which was not what he wanted to see.

After all, they were still in danger, and the opponent's cultivation level was too low, which would ultimately be a great burden.

"Forget it, let's wait until she breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

Lin Zui made his decision and didn't disturb the other party. He took out a bottle of pills to aid Foundation Establishment stage cultivation, swallowed one, and continued cultivating with the combined effects of the spiritual spring's spiritual energy.

Time flies, and eight months have passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Lin Zui, who was cultivating, suddenly opened his eyes, his brows furrowed. Sensing the two figures flying back and forth outside the cave, he could no longer bear it.

"What's going on with these two? They've been loitering around here for over ten days, why haven't they left yet?"

Lin Zui was puzzled. Because he had cultivated the "Divine Soul Resonance Technique," his divine sense was much stronger than that of a normal cultivator. Therefore, he discovered the two of them on their very first day of arrival.

However, Lin Zui initially thought they were just passing by and would leave soon, so he didn't take it to heart.

Unexpectedly, these two uninvited guests stayed around and flew around from time to time. I don't know what they were doing.

Although Lin Zui was quite confident in the secrecy of this cave, and the two of them had indeed not found it in so many days, it was still not a good idea to let the two of them wander around outside like this.

"Forget it, let's go out and take a look. If there's any threat, let's make them disappear as soon as possible."

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Zui's eyes, and with a swift movement, he escaped from the cave.

……

In the mountains and forests.

Two middle-aged cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage were gathered together, looking at a red bead in front of them and exchanging whispers.

"Brother, we've been searching here for over ten days, and we still haven't found anything. Is there really some kind of opportunity here? Or are you just overthinking it?"

One of the two, a slightly younger monk, asked dejectedly.

Another middle-aged man with a full beard and a somewhat sinister look shook his head very firmly.

"Impossible. I'm certain that this feeling points to some kind of opportunity. It's just a pity that the scope is too large and there isn't enough time to search every inch of the place."

"Brother, why don't we just forget about it? In four or five days, the Xuanhuang Pool Secret Realm will open. It's a rare opportunity that even we rogue cultivators can compete for, and there won't be any cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage participating. It's much more reliable than this place. Let's hurry over there, or it will be too late."

"Hmm...that's true. We can't escape here anyway. We can come back and search slowly after we come out of the Xuanhuang Pool Secret Realm."

"Yes, yes, let's go to the Xuanhuang Pool first. I've been looking forward to that secret realm for a long time and I've wanted to see it for myself."

The young cultivator revealed a hint of anticipation.

"Hmph, don't be too happy yet. While there are indeed some opportunities in there, you can't get everything."

The sinister-looking middle-aged man looked at the young cultivator with a strange expression, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

"Do you know why the demonic path would share the Xuanhuang Pool secret realm, allowing us rogue cultivators to participate?"

"Uh... wasn't it said that hundreds of years ago, the great rogue cultivator Tiankui Sanren reached an agreement with the demonic path, which allowed the demonic path to open the Xuanhuang Pool and share the opportunity with us rogue cultivators?"

"Hmph, nonsense. Even if Tiankui Sanren were only at the early Nascent Soul stage, or even at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, what right would he have to make the entire demonic path yield?"

A sinister middle-aged man sneered.

"It's just a false rumor that the demonic sect deliberately spread to mislead people."

"What? It's fake? How did you know, brother?"

The young man looked on incredulously.

"If I hadn't overheard a few demonic cultivators talking about this last time I participated, I would still be in the dark."

"Big brother, what exactly happened? Tell me quickly."

The young monk immediately became interested.

"Alright, I'll tell you, so you'll be aware of the situation."

"Speaking of this Xuanhuang Pool, it is indeed a secret realm of heaven and earth that has been passed down since ancient times. It is rich in spiritual energy and has countless natural treasures. It is said that when it was first discovered, there were even spiritual flowers and herbs of ten thousand years old. In particular, the Xuanhuang Pool in the center is said to have the miraculous effect of cleansing the marrow and transforming people. The ancient books even record that some people have directly improved their cultivation level by relying on the miraculous effect of the Xuanhuang Pool."

Of course, this matter is from a long time ago and can no longer be verified. What later generations know is that after countless years of opening, the spiritual treasures inside have become fewer and fewer. Although the Xuanhuang Pool still has some effect, it is only applicable to the Foundation Establishment stage at most. It has no effect on cultivators above the Core Formation stage.

It was under these circumstances that news spread that Tiankui Sanren and the Demonic Path reached an agreement to open the Xuanhuang Pool to the public, allowing independent cultivators to enter and seek opportunities.

Most people assumed that the Xuanhuang Pool was becoming increasingly useless, and the demonic path looked down on it, so they did this favor. But in reality, the demonic path wouldn't be so kind. Their true purpose was to use us rogue cultivators as resources to cultivate their own people!

"What! What... what are you talking about?"

The sinister middle-aged man gave a cold laugh.

"Do you know why, even as spiritual treasures within the secret realm become increasingly scarce, the Xuanhuang Pool at its center still maintains its remarkable effect of cleansing the marrow and refining magical power?"

"Brother, stop beating around the bush and just say what you want to say!"

"Hmph, that's because the entire secret realm was originally a huge magic array set up with the Xuanhuang Pool as the center. Whenever someone dies in the secret realm, the cultivator's flesh, blood, soul, spiritual power and everything else will be absorbed by the array and into the Xuanhuang Pool, where they will be refined into a wisp of Xuanhuang Qi."

It is this wisp of primordial energy that allows the Xuanhuang Pool to maintain its miraculous effect of cleansing the marrow and refining the essence. The reason why the demonic path opened the Xuanhuang Pool to us rogue cultivators is not to let us find opportunities, but to use our flesh and blood to increase the primordial energy of the Xuanhuang Pool.

"What!?"

The young cultivator suddenly stood up, a hint of fear in his eyes.

"This...this...Big brother, then...then should we still go?"