Chapter 130: Emerging from Seclusion!
On the Dou Qi Continent, if they continued cultivating spiritual energy, once their spiritual energy ran out with no way to replenish it, they would need Jiang Yun to set up a conversion array to restore it—far too cumbersome.
The three could also go to the Great Thousand World to cultivate. However, they still had matters to attend to on the Dou Qi Continent and couldn't simply leave for the Great Thousand World on a whim. Thus, switching back to the Dou Qi system was the most stable and convenient method.
The old Dragon Emperor still needed to be rescued. There were still many fortuitous encounters on the Dou Qi Continent yet to be found. All of this required strength.
Moreover, the Dou Qi Continent's cultivation system wasn't without its merits. The spatial power here was extremely active—making it an excellent place to comprehend space.
"Fine."
Having heard Jiang Yun's explanation, no matter how reluctant Medusa and Zi Yan were, they could only follow Jiang Yun's suggestion.
Besides, they had also just felt a faint sense of maladjustment, as if heaven and earth were developing a rejection toward them. They had to realize that their current strength, converted back, would be at the Dou Zun level.
Dou Zuns on the Dou Qi Continent could already skillfully wield spatial power and possessed an extremely high degree of attunement with the world. Since they had begun cultivating, this sense of rejection was a first.
This made the two women understand: if they wanted to keep staying on the Dou Qi Continent, they had to switch back to its cultivation system.
Fortunately, though reluctant, the two women didn't have an aversion to it. At worst, once all matters were resolved and they truly ascended to the Great Thousand, they would formally cultivate the spiritual energy system then.
This time could simply be treated as a rehearsal!
The three immediately sat cross-legged within the Life-Death Gate and began switching back to the Dou Qi system. The energy here was dense—an excellent location.
The Dou Qi Continent's system was, of course, something the three were long familiar with. They easily sensed the Dou Qi between heaven and earth. After dispersing the spiritual energy within them, they effortlessly began restoring their internal Dou Qi.
Converting high-level energy to low-level energy wouldn't produce the mutually conflicting situation that had occurred when spiritual energy was introduced.
Back then, when spiritual energy poured into the body, the Dou Qi within couldn't match its quality—the body naturally began resisting, causing the two to clash. Now, however, the quality of the spiritual energy within them was higher than the outside Dou Qi. Unless the three actively allowed it, Dou Qi simply couldn't contend against it.
Thus, there was no energy conflict. Under the three's active control, the conversion of Dou Qi was smoothly completed.
Jiang Yun's strength reached nine-star Dou Zong. Zi Yan was at two-star Dou Zun. Medusa held the highest strength—peak three-star Dou Zun.
Suffice to say, in just over a year, the strength of all three had undergone substantial advancement, each crossing a major realm. Zi Yan had even crossed two.
"Boom—"
Three vast auras permeated the horizon. The space in the sky twisted. A hundred-zhang-wide energy vortex converged from outside, descending heavily upon the three seated figures.
Unexpectedly, this time, all three had finished simultaneously!
"These auras... is this Dou Zong?" Sensing the intensity of these vast auras, Qing Lin's cheeks immediately filled with astonishment. A moment later, drawing in a sharp breath, she murmured with a trembling voice.
"No!" Gazing intently at the three, Xiao Yi Xian shook her head. After musing for a moment, she said, "This is stronger than Dou Zong. This is Dou Zun!"
"Dou Zun!" Hearing this, Qing Lin covered her mouth in shock, her eyes wide as she watched the three figures slowly awaken.
As the words left her mouth, Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin both trembled slightly. They had thought their own progress was already immense—they hadn't expected the gains of Jiang Yun's trio to be even more extraordinary.
As the energy dragon dissipated, the three figures atop the mountain peak slowly became distinct. Eventually, they finally, completely, appeared within the gazes of Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian.
After rising, Jiang Yun lazily stretched. His very skin and flesh seemed to writhe at that moment. The bones inside him, like a complex mechanical device whose mechanisms had been activated, emitted a series of crisp sounds from bone rubbing and colliding against bone.
"Phew—"
Feeling that close, tight-knit sensation with the surrounding space once more, and the sense of comfort permeating his body, a breath carrying a hint of searing heat followed his throat and was expelled from Jiang Yun's mouth.
"Sure enough, in whichever world you are, you cultivate that world's system. Even a more advanced system still feels utterly out of place!"
Jiang Yun clenched his palm. Sensing the 'weak and feeble' Dou Qi within him, he chuckled as he spoke.
"Indeed!" Zi Yan nodded. As a Taixu Ancient Dragon—a darling of space itself—she was even more keenly attuned to this feeling. The difference before and after was something she felt even more profoundly.
She extended her palm, then abruptly clenched it. The space before her directly and violently distorted into a strange, concave depression. If this were used against a Dou Zong, it would be more than enough to catch them off guard and rupture their body into a pulp of blood and flesh on the spot.
This was the supreme power of a Dou Zun. Yet such easy 'playing' with space would have been absolutely impossible in that battlefield ruin.
"Sigh—it's just that there's a feeling of 'emptiness' inside!" Medusa sighed softly, a tone of regret in her voice.
"Swoosh!"
Right at that moment, the sound of rushing wind rapidly approached. Then, two figures flickered and appeared beside the three, accompanied by a delighted voice.
"Congratulations, Brother Jiang Yun, Sister Zi Yan, on your successful breakthrough!"
"To think in such a short time, Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian can both already use Dou Qi wings. How fast!" Watching Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian, who had sprouted Dou Qi wings, Zi Yan sighed, her tone full of emotion.
Back then, her own speed breaking through to Dou Wang hadn't been slow, but it absolutely couldn't compare to Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian's. She truly had to lament—even among top-tier bloodlines, there were gaps.
"That's not all!" Jiang Yun's gaze swept over the two, a strange look in his eyes. Under Zi Yan's curious stare, he looked at Xiao Yi Xian and said, "Xiao Yi Xian is already a Dou Huang—a three-star Dou Huang, at that!"
"What!" Jiang Yun's statement immediately drew Medusa's and Zi Yan's sidelong stares. They had to remember that before entering the ruin, Xiao Yi Xian was still at the Da Dou Shi level. To think that in just one short year, she had advanced so explosively.
One had to recall, although Jiang Yun had left quite a bit of cultivation supplies for the two back then, even Qing Lin, who had practically been cultivating with cheats on, was only a nine-star Dou Wang. Xiao Yi Xian's cultivation speed, after purging the Calamity Poison Body, was actually even more terrifying than the Jade-Green Snake Triple Flower Eyes.
What was the logic behind this?
"You noticed?" Xiao Yi Xian looked at Jiang Yun with some surprise. She had originally wanted to give him a surprise. She never imagined she ultimately couldn't hide it from Jiang Yun.
"Sister Xiao Yi Xian, didn't I tell you—nothing can be hidden from Brother Jiang Yun!" Qing Lin giggled from the side, her voice full of pride.
"How did you do it?" Medusa, snapping back to her senses, asked curiously.
The appearance of one terrifying cultivation bloodline after another had already caused her mindset to slightly lose balance.
Xiao Yi Xian naturally knew who Medusa was. While slumbering inside the Nine-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python, she hadn't been completely ignorant of the outside world. She knew the entire process of how Xiao Yi Xian and Jiang Yun's group had met.
That was precisely why she was so shocked at Xiao Yi Xian's rapid rise in cultivation!
One had to realize, actually counting, she herself was already over a hundred years old.
Although this age would become increasingly negligible as one's cultivation rose, still, watching Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian successively possess such cultivation at the tender age of sixteen—it couldn't help but spark a trace of envy in her heart!
Qing Lin and Xiao Yi Xian looked at Medusa, momentarily falling silent. They weren't familiar with this fierce, formidable woman. They hadn't had time to ask about her before. What was the situation here?
Now that the other was asking questions, Xiao Yi Xian didn't know for a moment whether she should answer.
Sensing the wariness directed at her, Medusa naturally wouldn't press the question. She withdrew the curiosity in her eyes, shifting her gaze elsewhere. Her feet stirred slightly, about to leave.
"Go ahead and tell. I'm quite curious too. No need to hide anything—everyone here is one of us!" Jiang Yun, having noticed the anomaly, said gently, simultaneously giving Medusa a soft smile.
"Hmph!" Receiving Jiang Yun's look, Medusa felt warmth in her heart. Yet outwardly, she merely gave a cold snort and gently turned her head aside.
Who's 'one of us' with you?
It was just that the feet which had just moved away quietly crept back!
Having received Jiang Yun's affirmation, Xiao Yi Xian swept a glance at Medusa, this bewitchingly alluring woman. A silent mutter rose in her heart: Another one?
But still, she quietly began to explain: "It's the Bodhi seed." Reaching out, she retrieved from her collar an object glowing with emerald-green light—it was precisely the Bodhi seed Jiang Yun had given her back then.
Now resting against Xiao Yi Xian's chest, set off by that patch of fair, white skin, it appeared even more brimming with vibrant vitality!
"The Bodhi seed?"
Zi Yan's and Medusa's curious gazes fell upon that utterly unremarkable Bodhi seed. Hadn't Xiao Yun (Jiang Yun) said this thing was for sensing the Bodhi Tree?
It also had the effect of raising cultivation?
"I don't know why, but with the Bodhi seed, my cultivation rises with exceptional smoothness, without encountering a single bottleneck. Combined with the resources you left behind—that's how I was able to advance so quickly!"
Holding the Bodhi seed, Xiao Yi Xian looked at Jiang Yun and said softly.
Jiang Yun was taken aback. Upon careful sensing, he discovered that when the Bodhi seed was near Xiao Yi Xian, the two seemed to share a unique resonance. Under this resonance, Xiao Yi Xian seemed to be in a state of cultivation at all times.
Was it because Xiao Yi Xian had used the Bodhi Transformation Saliva to activate the wood attribute? The Bodhi seed had originated from the Bodhi Transformation Saliva. For a connection to form between the two—perhaps that wasn't so hard to accept after all?
Moreover, if this were the case... then a monumental fortuitous encounter likely awaited Xiao Yi Xian!
Somewhat strangely, he looked at Xiao Yi Xian. To think that after losing one Calamity Poison Body, she'd gain a Wood Sacred Body?
You girl—are you someone the heavens themselves fight to spoon-feed?!
"Whatever the case, this is all a good thing. Keep the Bodhi seed with you. Sense it well in your daily life—who knows, there might be an unexpected harvest!" In the end, Jiang Yun said with a smile.
"Mm."
"We've stayed here for over a year now. I wonder what the outside world is like. It's about time we left!"
Raising his head to look at the distant exit of the Life-Death Gate, Jiang Yun clasped his hands behind his back, speaking with some emotion.
Behind him, the four women similarly rested their gazes in the distance. Their expressions varied, but what they shared was the presence of excitement.
Soundlessly!
Jiang Yun's five-person group left the Life-Death Gate and appeared on Yun Lan Mountain. Watching the disciples and elders of the Yun Lan Sect coming and going below, not a single person noticed that five living, breathing people had appeared right there.
"Before leaving, let's still bid farewell to the host. Otherwise, it would seem we have no manners!" Jiang Yun's gaze swept for a moment, then landed on a great hall. His eyes seemed able to see inside, where a graceful, poised, and dignified figure sat cross-legged.
In the next instant, a jade slip flew from his hand and shot toward the great hall.
Not long after, Yun Yun hurriedly rushed over. In her palm was precisely the jade slip Jiang Yun had just sent. She looked around in every direction, but saw no one. Yun Yun shook her head with some disappointment.
It wasn't that Yun Yun harbored any particular thoughts about Jiang Yun. Rather, when it comes to a high-level alchemist, anyone would want to establish good relations.
"It seems my Yun Lan Sect and Master Jiang simply lack the fate to meet!" Sighing regretfully, Yun Yun's gaze then fell upon a courtyard, where a young girl was diligently practicing sword techniques—none other than Nalan Yanran.
Watching her hardworking disciple, a soft tenderness flickered in Yun Yun's eyes. She murmured, "Yanran and the Xiao Clan's Xiao Yan—their agreement seems to be nearing its end. I hope after this, the matter can finally be resolved."
As if recalling something, a flash of worry crossed her eyes. She sighed, "A season of many troubles!"
A clear breeze swept past. Yun Yun's figure had already vanished from where she stood. The mountain peak returned once more to tranquility!
Holy City of Jia Ma.
As the imperial capital of the Jia Ma Empire, the Holy City of Jia Ma swallowed and expelled a massive volume of human traffic daily. But recently, the crowds pouring into the holy city from all regions had surged dramatically.
No other reason—the Jia Ma Empire's premier grand event, the Alchemist Grand Meeting held once every eight years, was about to begin!
And the appearance of a seventh-tier alchemist a year ago had added even more fuel to the fire of this particular session!
Inside the city!
Five figures were strolling unhurriedly along the main street, occasionally stopping to watch when they spotted something interesting. These five were precisely Jiang Yun's group.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Jiang Yun had extracted a bit of illusion technique from the Nightmare Heavenly Mist and bestowed it upon the four women. Instantly, in the eyes of onlookers, the five became utterly plain and unremarkable.
Although a single man accompanied by four women still drew gazes from all around, upon seeing the alchemist's robes the man wore, it suddenly seemed perfectly natural.
Hearing the discussions around them, Zi Yan said with brimming enthusiasm, "Xiao Yun, the Alchemist Grand Meeting! It's sure to be lively! Let's go watch!"
"As you wish." Jiang Yun held Zi Yan's hand, ruffling the top of her head with a doting tone.
Then, as if recalling something, he looked at Xiao Yi Xian beside him and said, "When the time comes, Xiao Yi Xian should participate too. It'll be the perfect chance for me to see your current level of alchemy skill!"
"Ah!" Hearing Jiang Yun's words, Xiao Yi Xian immediately covered her mouth and shook her head subconsciously.
Seeing her somewhat lacking confidence, Jiang Yun encouraged her, "An alchemist must constantly exchange and interact with others of the same path. This Alchemist Grand Meeting is an excellent platform—perfectly suited for you."
"Alright then. I definitely won't disgrace my teacher's name!" Hearing Jiang Yun's encouragement, Xiao Yi Xian nodded and said resolutely.