When the middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion saw his fearsome appearance, he revealed trace of admiration. “Hehe! Senior Martial Brother Yue seems to have made much progress in his Ghost Fiend Arts. It seems cultivating near the sacred tree has made cultivation far easier.”
Although his words weren’t loud, they had clearly reached Cultivator Yue’s ears. The yellow-clothed cultivator immediately rolled his eyes and snorted, “If you’re willing to be confined to this place for sixty years, you can diligently cultivate as well. Though I wonder if Junior Martial Brother Pai would be able to endure it, given his temperament.”
The middle-aged Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator wore an embarrassed expression and said, “I was merely speaking without consideration. It must be be extremely difficult for Senior Martial Brothers Yue, Wu, and Tian to stand guard here. My words...”
“Enough! No need to speak any further. These restrictions are something that our Nascent Soul Martial Uncles placed down. I will only be able to open the restrictions for a short amount of time. Hurry up!”
The yellow-clothed cultivator then slapped his hands together and summoned a yellow command medallion. He then began to chant with a solemn expression.
The command medallion suddenly glowed with a grand yellow light and began to radiate nearby, melting away the light barriers in an instant, revealing a ten meter wide passage.
“Everyone go! Be quick!” The scholarly man urged them as soon as he saw this and took the lead, flying forward in a streak of white light.
The other two Core Formation cultivators gave similar commands and shot forward as well.
When Han Li and company saw this, they hastily followed after them on their magic tools.
Chapter 630: A Boy
As soon as the party reacted the stone gate, the yellow-clothed cultivator’s command medallion dimmed and the passageway completely disappeared.
Facing the group, he indifferently said, “Follow,” before turning around and forming various hand incantations with his fingers. He then raised his arms and shot out a scarlet and yellow light from his hands towards the huge stone gate.
Suddenly, talisman characters on the tightly-shut stone gate began to stir and it began to release a series of low-hums. The gate slowly opened to reveal a long passageway.
The yellow-clothed cultivator wordlessly stepped through the passage and the others glanced at each other before closely following after him.
Han Li stood at the center of the disciples and seemed to be staring forward with great intensity. But in actuality, he was sweeping his spiritual sense across everything nearby.
This rectangular passageway was a man-made tunnel that lead into the heart of the mountain. Not only were the walls smooth, but there were a few profound talisman characters every couple of steps. Although Han Li couldn’t study them for the time being, he was certain they weren’t only there for decoration.
After walking for only about three hundred meters, their surroundings brightened and they arrived at a tidy stone hall that was about two hundred meters wide and eighty meters tall.
The center of the stone hall had a meter high limestone platform with ten lines perpendicularly intersecting from each side. From the sets of black and white pieces arranged on the platform, it appeared to be a chess game during a crucial moment.
There was an old man and a young boy sitting cross legged across from each other on the platform. The old man appeared to be in his late fifties while the young boy appeared to be less than ten years old. From his flawless appearance, it appeared as if this were a perfect child that had reincarnated.
“Martial Uncle Lan! What is Senior doing here?” When Cultivator Bai saw the child, he suddenly shouted in surprise and hastily saluted him.
“Martial Uncle Lan?”
The grey-robed old man and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator were initially surprised to see the child there. But after hearing Cultivator Bai address him by name, their expressions greatly changed. Once they saw the boy’s ponytail, bare feet, and the golden band on his arm, they suddenly recalled the name of a legendary Senior.
“Juniors Du Bei and Yu Shan’an pay their respects to Senior Lan!” In their alarm, the two rushed to salute him.
“Stand. Didn’t you notice that I am at a crucial point in my game with Martial Nephew Hu? Let’s talk after I’ve finished.” The boy’s voice was as young as his appearance, but each of his words carried an aged tone filled with poise.
“As you command!” Cultivator Bai and the other two Core Formation cultivators instantly acknowledged him and silently loitered nearby, not daring to appear sullen in the slightest.
As for the old man playing chess with the boy, he wryly smiled at the three but remained silent. As for the yellow-robed cultivator, he respectfully stood behind the boy as if he were differentially waiting upon him.
When the young cultivators heard their three martial ancestors suddenly call out to the boy as Martial Uncle, they became restless. They instantly realized what this meant and stared at the boy with anxious hearts.
In the instant Han Li saw the boy, he felt his heart drop. This was a genuine early Nascent Soul cultivator. Why had he appeared here?
However, he soon recovered his calm. While he wasn’t currently an opponent for an early Nascent Soul cultivator, it wouldn’t be any problem for him to escape. Additionally, he was confident that the Nascent Soul cultivator wasn’t here for him.
With that in mind, Han Li began to plan for any contingencies that may occur.
In the end, the boy and the Old Man played for another quarter hour before the old man stepped back from the chessboard and respectfully said, “Senior Lan’s chess skills are excellent. This disciple concedes!”
A trace of happiness appeared on the boy’s face, but his gaze soon turned and he doubtfully said, “Martial Nephew Hu, you didn’t deliberately lose to me, right? We agreed that you wouldn’t hold back against me.”
When the old man heard this, his face appeared to have grown longer and he hurriedly said, “Junior wouldn’t dare to deceive Senior. It is just that Senior’s chess skills have made massive improvements.”
The boy smiled and said, “Hehe, I also feel that my chess skills have made quite the improvement from before. It seems that it was quite worth it to practice against those mortal chess masters.”
The boy’s smile then faded away as he changed topics, “Alright, let’s put the chess pieces away. There is business to attend to.”
He turned turned around to face the cultivators that were waiting on him. After sweeping his gaze over the Core Formation cultivators, it finally settled onto the scholarly man’s face.
The boy leisurely asked, “Martial Nephew Bai, how many years has it been since you entered the Ancient Sword Sect?”
Cultivator Bai’s face revealed slight puzzlement, but he sincerely answered, “This Junior entered the sect over a hundred years ago.”
A strange expression flickered within the boy’s eyes and he sighed, “A hundred years! It must’ve been quite tough for you.”
The scholarly man’s expression changed and he forced a smile, “Martial Uncle, what do you mean?”
The boy stared at the scholarly man and said with an icy tone, “What do I mean? As the successor of the Righteous Dao’s Overwhelming Pavilion Sect Master, your esteemed self has maintained you cover in the Ancient Sword Sect for quite the while. Haven’t you had any thoughts of visiting your master?”
When Cultivator Bai heard the boy, his complexion instantly paled.
The other two Core Formation cultivators revealed shock in their eyes and unconsciously took several steps back from Cultivator Bai.
“Fellow Daoist Bai, is Senior Lan speaking the truth?” The middle-aged cultivator asked in disbelief.
Cultivator Bai’s face fluctuated between red and white, unable to give an excuse. After wearing an unsightly expression, the scholarly man said, “Since Martial Uncle
has already fully investigated me, there is no use in denying this. However, I will not idly stand by and allow myself to be captured!”
As soon as he said that, his body flashed with white light and he shot towards the disciples behind him. His glowing white hand was reaching out towards the black-clothed Meng Di who possessed the Ninesword Spirit Constitution!
“What are you doing?!” The two Core Formation cultivators furiously shouted. Their bodies flickered with light and they moved to rescue Meng Di, but they were clearly too late.
However, Meng Di managed to react in his alarm, and he raised his hand to fiercely release a dense strike of sword Qi.
Unfortunately, there was too great a difference in their cultivations. The sword Qi wasn’t even able to injure Cultivator Bai in the slightest and was dissipated in an instant. But before Meng Di was captured by him, Cultivator Bai’s body suddenly trembled and he fell flat on the ground. The light shining from his hand had disappeared without a trace.
Meng Di couldn’t help but blankly stand in place at a completely loss.
The young boy expressionlessly rubbed his small hands and snorted, “Your sect’s Grand Qi Hand has been well refined. But you forget that I didn’t come here only to play chess.”
Apart from Han Li, no one else in the room noticed how the boy had restrained the scholarly man.
Han Li narrowed his eyes as he watched the scholarly man fall to the floor and then looked at the boy with an odd expression in his eyes.
In the same moment Cultivator Bai took action, Han Li was astonished to discover that a red string had suddenly shot out from the boy. The string suddenly shot into the scholarly man’s body and he promptly collapsed.
Han Li had initially believed the string to be a flying needle magic treasure, but under his spiritual sense, he was astonished to discover that the red string was made of a dense, icy Qi. Much to Han Li’s amazement, this string was actually refined from an icy sword Qi!
He recalled having heard that once talented sword cultivators reached a certain stage of cultivation, they were able to transform their sword Qi into a string as they desired, turning it into a battle-deciding attack! This was the first time he had witnessed this, and it was unfathomable to him just how sword Qi was able to reach this stage.
The boy turned to the old man he was playing chess with and said, “Martial Nephew Hu, lock him up in the dragon cave. Keep him alive. Your Seniors still have a use for him!”
The long-faced old man felt his heart tremble before he acknowledged his instructions. He stepped over to the fallen cultivator Bai and carried him to the side of the room before disappearing without a trace.
Han Li’s gaze then turned to look at Du Dong. He noticed that his expression appeared calm, but under closer scrutiny, Han Li noticed that he was clenching his hands into fists.
When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled and paid him no more attention.
Chapter 631: Spirit Well Tree
“Alright, the matter has already been settled. Do as you will. You don’t need to mind this old man, I still need to properly analyze my moves from the last game.” The boy waved his hand toward the other cultivators and lowered his head as he closely examined the chessboard.
When the Core Formation cultivators heard this, they hurriedly brought the party over to one side of the hall.
Shortly after leaving the stone hall, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator couldn’t help but sigh, “I truly didn’t think that Fellow Daoist Bai was actually... Junior Martial Brother Yue, did you know about this beforehand?”
“I didn’t. Senior Lan merely said that he was coming here for a bit of business. How could I pry any further?” The yellow-clothed cultivator’s expression grew somewhat unsightly when he spoke.
With that said, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator shut his mouth and didn’t mention the matter any further to the group of disciples behind him.
Under this gloomy atmosphere, Han Li and the rest of the party continued walking through a long corridor. After making a turn, they arrived before a set of faintly yellow stone doors that had a man with disheveled hair sitting in front of it.
Although this person’s face was covered by his messy hair, one could tell his age from his white hair.
The yellow-clothed cultivator wore a respectful expression when he spotted him.
“Brother Wei, I’ve brought the disciples of the Sword Trial Assembly. Is it alright for them to come in?”
The disheveled-haired man responded with a profoundly deep voice, “Since they’ve already arrived, they may come in. But since the Wine Nectar is shedding slower than we anticipated, they must wait a while.”
Han Li quickly swept his gaze towards the man and a cold glint flickered from his eyes. This man was a Core Formation cultivator at the peak of the false Nascent stage. Han Li couldn’t help but take notice of him.
When the grey-clothed old man heard him, his expression revealed a trace of excitement. He stepped forward and said with a trembling voice, “Senior Martial Brother Wei, are... are you doing well?”
This person was a Drifting Cloud cultivator!
The disheveled-haired cultivator sighed and slowly said, “It seems that during the many years I haven’t seen Junior Martial Brother Yu, you’ve grown quite elderly.”
“Senior Martial Brother, why...”
This Senior Martial Brother Wei calmly said, “Enough. Since we’ve reunited, our destiny together hasn’t run out. Don’t speak anymore of what happened that year. When I entered this place, I made a death oath to condense a Nascent Soul or never leave. Besides, I’ve also found out from our two Martial Uncles that the sect is being cleanly handled by Junior Martial Brother Feng. I’m not worried in the slightest.”
When the grey-clothed old man heard this, his expression grew dim and he stifled the questions that he wished to ask.
“Junior Martial Brothers, wait for a moment. I will open the restrictions and allow you into the sacred area.” Old Man Wei stood up and shot a magic seal towards the yellow stone door which silently opened in response.
Having yet to clearly see what was behind it, Han Li first felt a wave of pure spiritual Qi envelop him.
As expected, this was where the Spirit Well Tree was located.
He felt that this pure spiritual Qi wasn’t inferior to the jade spirit well in the slightest. In fact, it felt as if it were slightly superior. It was truly worthy of its reputation as the best spirit well.
Under Old Man Wei’s guidance, Han Li and company were brought through the door into a huge cave.
This cave was about a kilometer wide and a hundred meters tall. It appeared as if they were underground.
What was particularly shocking about the scene were the many various-sized stalactites and stalagmites that formed a natural stone forest. A majority of the cave was densely filled with them, forming a small maze.
Under closer examination, Han Li discovered faint white lights twinkling from between the stone pillars. It seemed as if someone had placed some sort of restriction there.
As Han Li continued to ponder, Old Man Wei led the party to the edge of the stone forest and took out an ancient, palm-sized white mirror with a flip of his hand. Then with a quick mutter, he raised his hand and shot a white beam of light from the mirror into the stone forest.
With a woosh, the beam of light disappeared into the stone forest. He soon put the mirror away and wordlessly stood in place with his hands behind his back.
While the young cultivators were left confused, the ground suddenly trembled and a shocking scene occurred.
The forest of stone began to glow with a milky-white sparkling light. Soon after, the light turned yellow and the various stone pillars began to move away. By the time the young disciples recovered from their shock, a straight path through the stone forest had emerged.
Han Li’s heart stirred upon seeing this, but his expression remained calm.
The many cultivators walked down the sm
all path and headed towards the center of the stone forest at a leisurely pace, eventually reaching the legendary Spirit Well Tree at the center.
Han Li glanced at the ten meter tall object in front of him and thought, ‘Is that truly the Spirit Well Tree?’
The object in front of him was as thick as an arm and a faint green. It appeared entirely unlike a tree and more like a pillar of stone.
However, the entirety of the cave’s astonishing spiritual Qi was truly coming from this bumpy stone pillar, and there was a faint golden barrier of light around it that covered even the roots that emerged above the ground. From how carefully it was protected, it appeared to truly be the Spirit Well Tree.
As Han Li silently cursed, the other cultivators wore fiery expressions as they gazed at the tree. If they were to directly cultivate underneath the three, they would be able to make rapid progress so long as they avoided any bottlenecks.
Han Li didn’t pay attention to the Spirit Well Tree for long. His attention soon dropped onto the jade bottle at the foot of the spirit well tree. The bottle was about half way full and slowly emitted a strong medicinal aroma.
Han Li mused, ‘Could that be the half-refined Brightsight Water?’
When the others arrived ten meters away from the Spirit Well Tree, they stopped. Only Old Man Wei continued to walk forward. It seemed the barrier had no effect on him as he managed to pass through without obstruction.
When the old man arrived in front of the spirit well tree, he circled around it and raised his hand, pressing it against the center of the tree. His fingers then began to sparkle with green light as he released spiritual power.
When the others outside the barrier saw this, they couldn’t help but hold their breath, fearing that they would disturb the old man.
A short moment later, Old Man Wei shook his head and withdrew his hand. The green light promptly faded away.
The old man turned around and calmly said, “The Spirit Well Tree hasn’t reached the optimal point to extract the Wine Nectar. There are still eight hours to go. Before this, you may rest nearby the tree. I have already prepared the Brightsight Water. It only needs the Wine Nectar to finish.”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 339