Chapter 113: Secluded Cultivation at Spirit Twilight Valley

"The Soul Coagulation Pill? So that pill from the Precious Heaven Pavilion auction was acquired by this Spirit Twilight Valley's Supreme Elder."

Jiuyou looked at the square jade box in his hand, his gaze calm and utterly devoid of emotion.

Inside the jade box lay a pill of deep purple hue, its medicinal fragrance restrained, spiritual light flowing across its surface. Naturally, this item had been found in the Golden Core cultivator's storage pouch.

"Forget it."

A flicker of spiritual light gathered at Jiuyou's fingertip, and the jade box transformed into a streak of light that flew into his storage pouch. This item was completely useless to him now, but keeping it stored away could do no harm.

He pressed two fingers together, and radiant light shimmered at his fingertips. Several streams of spiritual light flew out from the storage pouch, slowly condensing into solid form before his eyes.

Five eighth-level beast pills, and one ninth-level beast pill.

One Myriad Spirit Pill, obtained from the Black-Robed Burly Man he had slain during the Nascent Soul competition back then.

One earthy-gray pill, retrieved from the storage pouch of the Elder surnamed Yu, named Geng Earth Pill. After a breakthrough, consuming it could rapidly stabilize one's cultivation foundation.

A crystalline spirit stone, precisely the supreme-grade spirit stone obtained during that trip to Heavenly Abyss Mountain. It had not been put to use when breaking through to Mid-Nascent Soul, but now, with the attempt at Late Nascent Soul looming, this stone could no longer be left to gather dust.

Finally, several stalks of Tranquility Herb, their medicinal fragrance rich and spiritual energy glistening, the youngest being at least three thousand years old. This was already the maximum age these herbs could reach.

With these treasures in hand, breaking through to Late Nascent Soul should not prove difficult.

However, before that, some preparations were still needed.

Jiuyou raised his hand and waved. Several sets of formation flags flew out from his sleeves, embedding deeply into the four walls of the cave dwelling. Rings of light lit up one after another, enveloping the entire cave.

He still wasn't reassured. Though this place had been designated a forbidden area, and the Supreme Elders of Spirit Twilight Valley generally wouldn't come to disturb someone helping a disciple form their Nascent Soul, he couldn't shake the fear of the unexpected. Better safe than sorry.

He then spent several more months of focused effort repairing that set of illusion-killing mist formation flags that Nether Luo had laid down at the entrance of the Cold Ruins valley, quietly arranging them around the outer perimeter.

Everything was in place.

Jiuyou calmed his mind, his azure eyes slowly closing as he began to circulate his cultivation technique. The Tranquility Herb was ignited, and a wisp of cyan smoke curled upward. His entire being sank into a profound state of mystery.

As the technique circulated, the dense spiritual energy beneath the mountain's veins was continuously drawn upward, surging into Jiuyou's body. The Nascent Soul within his dantian greedily devoured the incoming spiritual energy.

When his mana was brimming and the timing was ripe,

Jiuyou raised his hand and swallowed the Myriad Spirit Pill, beginning to refine it. With a thought, his mana enveloped those six transformed beast pills. The six pills revolved slowly around him, and vast quantities of beast pill essence were drawn out, merging into his dantian, slowly transforming and absorbing.

Medicinal power, beast power, mana. Three forces intertwined and fused within his body, surging along his meridians.

Under the relentless scouring of these three forces, Jiuyou's aura continued to climb higher and higher.

Time flew by at an astonishing pace.

The sun and moon revolved in turn, spring and summer yielding to autumn and winter. Year after year, and in the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

In the decade since, thick ice and frost had coated the stone walls inside the mountain cave where Jiuyou was in seclusion. Powerful mana churned and surged through the cave. Had he not set up the Isolation Formation long ago, the leaking aura would have been detected by the outside world long since.

Inside the secret chamber, the chill had long since seeped in.

The Golden Core cultivator, bound hand and foot, was still alive. To prevent the man from freezing to death from the released cold, Jiuyou had placed that Crimson Sun Pearl, filled with solar essence, beside him, and even assigned a Soul Wraith Puppet to stand guard.

The Golden Core cultivator curled up in the corner, his spine running cold. The murderous aura and killing intent carried within that chill was horrifying to behold. How many people must one have killed to accumulate such a dense aura of slaughter?

Only now did he vaguely begin to suspect that this Nascent Soul cultivator who had suddenly appeared was probably the very one who had destroyed the Crystal Spirit Sect all those years ago.

What exactly was this senior trying to accomplish by making such a tremendous commotion?

He didn't know.

He only hoped that such a huge disturbance would be detected by the elders outside, and that they would come to rescue him soon.

This Golden Core cultivator spent one terrified decade after another. He had once harbored hope, but now, with who knows how many years having passed, his heart had long since turned to dead ash.

In the blink of an eye, forty-eight years had passed in the outside world.

Two hundred miles away, at Spirit Rock Mountain.

This mountain was the tallest peak of Spirit Twilight Valley, the place with the densest spiritual energy in the entire sect, and also the secluded cultivation ground of the sect's Supreme Grand Elder.

At this moment, atop the mountain, two figures sat facing each other, drinking tea and playing chess.

A man and a woman.

The old man had white hair and a white beard, draped in a white feathered robe embroidered with cloud patterns. The woman wore a blue brocade robe, her countenance dignified and composed.

The old man was none other than Spirit Twilight Valley's Supreme Grand Elder, who styled himself as Senior Spirit Cliff. The woman was the sect's Third Elder, surnamed Yu.

"Hahaha, Junior Sister, you've lost again."

Senior Spirit Cliff placed a piece down, completely sealing off all of Elder Yu's remaining retreats.

Elder Yu stared at the chessboard, a hint of worry between her brows, and with a "clack" returned her piece to the box.

"Sigh. Fourth Junior Brother has gone out traveling, and Second Senior Brother has left for the Northern Plains battlefield. Now, within the sect, it's just you and me, Senior Brother." She paused. "Speaking of which, Junior Nephew Li has been in seclusion for over forty years now, and still hasn't broken through. After all these years, he couldn't still be stuck at the inner demon trial, could he?"

Senior Spirit Cliff stroked his beard, his brow deeply furrowed. He raised his head to gaze toward Junior Nephew Li's seclusion site, then slowly relaxed his brows.

For a Golden Core cultivator, with the sect having prepared all the logistical support, a successful Nascent Soul Formation usually took only twenty to thirty years. Yet this Junior Nephew Li had been in seclusion for a full forty-eight years, which was truly concerning.

If the breakthrough failed, the sect's centuries-long scheming would all come to naught.

Spirit Twilight Valley had suffered a gap of several hundred years between its Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators. If this Junior Nephew Li couldn't fill that vacancy, then once their current Nascent Soul elders all passed away in a few hundred years, Spirit Twilight Valley would face a period with no Nascent Soul cultivator at the helm.

When that time came, other powers would pounce on them like starving wolves catching the scent of blood. The sect's millennia-old foundation would be destroyed in one fell swoop.

Just as the two were at their wit's end,

the spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly began converging toward a single direction.

It was precisely the direction of Junior Nephew Li's seclusion.

At first it came in trickles, then gradually turned into surging torrents of spiritual energy. Above the entirety of Spirit Twilight Valley, a massive tide of spiritual energy formed, swirling like a vortex as it rushed toward that mountain peak.

Elder Yu stood up, joy barely contained in her eyes. She walked slowly to the edge of the jade pavilion, gazing at that tide of spiritual energy in the sky, murmuring to herself.

"This is... is Junior Nephew Li about to form his Nascent Soul?"

Senior Spirit Cliff also rose slowly, a trace of surprise in his heart, yet he still nodded with relief. A flash of white light passed before his eyes as his Divine Sense extended toward that direction.

"With such vast spiritual energy gathering, it should be so."

Once Junior Nephew Li succeeded in forming his Nascent Soul, Spirit Twilight Valley would have five Nascent Soul cultivators. At that point, among the several great mountain ranges within a hundred thousand miles, they would be the most powerful sect.

The spiritual energy converged more and more, swelling ever greater.

In the valley below, disciples looked up one after another, staring in astonishment at that mountain peak. Some who didn't understand what was happening suddenly realized the truth after hearing explanations.

Cries of shock rang out one after another from the valley.

The spiritual energy converged with overwhelming force, and even the spiritual veins beneath the earth were continuously drained, surging toward that mountain.

More and more gathered.

More and more.

Only then did Senior Spirit Cliff and Elder Yu suddenly realize something was wrong.

Though the scene of a Nascent Soul cultivator's breakthrough was grand, this absorption of spiritual energy was far too much, even vastly exceeding the combined mana of the two of them.

This... no longer looked like the Nascent Soul Formation scene that a Golden Core cultivator should produce.

Suddenly, a jade token at Senior Spirit Cliff's waist lit up. A frantic, trembling voice came through from it.

"Bad news, Grand Elder! Junior Nephew Li's... Junior Nephew Li's Soul Lamp has gone out!"

The old man's expression changed drastically, and he barked, "What?!"

Elder Yu had also heard the voice transmission. Their eyes met in midair, and both saw the terror reflected in each other's gaze.

Their gazes once again turned toward that enormous vortex of spiritual energy.

Their faces were filled with sheer horror.

As if they had laid eyes on something utterly terrifying beyond comprehension.