Aftermath

Instincts and gut feelings of immortal cultivators are not to be treated lightly.

The mightier the figure, the more accurate their senses.

Right now, Ouyang Li felt the world's malice. It was as if some gigantic eye opened high above in the skies and looked at this world or continent, focusing specifically on the mortal country that he was in.

It was majestic and carried an aura of destruction. The feeling it gave… it was as if there was no escape!

However, right at this moment, the Mysterious Bead pulsated. It quickly hid the Ouyang Li's aberrant cultivation base, partially nullifying this terrifying pressure from the environment.

It seemed that his treasure was reacting in response to the malice.

Soon, the all-encompassing sight retracted. However, it seemed to be hesitant, and it forcefully descended eight more times in the span of a few minutes.

"Fortunately, it didn't manage to locate me."

Ouyang Li sighed. Soon, everything returned to normal.

The first thing he did was thoroughly inspect his body. "This malice… was it really because of me?"

He thought it was doubtful, especially if one considered that coincidences in the Cultivation World were never separated from the law of fortune. At least, that's what cultivators believed in.

Sonn, Ouyang Li was shocked speechless.

He realized that as soon as the bead fluctuated, his turbulent cultivation base stabilized, and there was no need to forcefully advance now. However, it was only now that he could take a look at himself and what he saw scared him!

Firstly, his abundant Shen transformed into a divine sense.

Other than that, Ouyang Li's inner energy enlarged his meridians and liquefied without merging with his Jing and Shen. It was all very weird.

The liquified Qi wasn't spiritual essence that he expected it to be. Not at all! Additionally, his spiritual root became one with his Jing source. His Jing also started to grow without depending on his potential and longevity, but rather by draining Qi from the outside world instead.

It was unheard of! He has actually advanced by two small realms at once. And his Spiritual Roots transformed too! Furthermore, what was this strange substance in his lower dantian? It was neither gaseous Qi nor spiritual essence...

"Could it be that it's a liquid Qi? But shouldn't laws of entropy disallow it to form in there?"

Ouyang Li was greatly confused.

"How come did I enter the 8th and the 9th stage of the Qi Gathering Realm consecutively? Weren't I already at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm before? Wasn't it said that this realm only had seven layers?"

Ouyang Li didn't have time to worry about all of this. It was because after the Heavenly Lord's Nascent Soul was gone, a whole formation array started to fall apart.

It was only now that Tan An and the girl started to show signs of regaining consciousness. After all, up until this moment, they were still being trapped in the illusion!

"What happened?" Ying Yue was the first to wake up. After all, her cultivation base was a bit higher. Without waiting for an answer, she then poured some of her energy into the boy's body.

Looking around, Ouyang Li didn't know what to say. As the formation disappeared, a small gorge appeared in the place of the heavenly meadow. It looked almost exactly the same as the place he saw while fighting that... old monster.

There were hundreds of drained corpses laying around, and the smell was simply terrible. However, there were also a few mountains of Spirit Stones.

They must have been used to power up the Array Formation before. It's just that most of them have already been used up.

However, he soon noticed something reflecting the light. The object was placed near the core flag of the broken formation array.

It was actually a ring!

"No way! Could it be…?"

Ouyang Li glanced at the girl, but she was too busy helping Tan An to notice. Therefore, he extended his newly developed divine senses trying to sense the object.

That's right! He now had a divine consciousness, and he could easily determine that it was a spatial artifact. He never saw one before, but he read a lot of books and knew how to identify one.

Unfortunately, the artifact was protected. As a result, Ouyang Li was incapable of using his senses to penetrate it. He was curious about the ring's contents but didn't dare to forcefully open it. Who knew what would happen if the attempt failed? After all, he has just developed his divine consciousness. He didn't want to suffer from backlash so soon!

"I should procure it for my sect." He decided. "After all, it should be counted as a fortuitous encounter. With this ring in my hand, I could easily explain becoming true-blue Immortal Foundation cultivator!"

That's right. Ouyang Li should be able to advance as soon as the bead helps him balance his three newly transformed treasures: Jing, Qi and Shen. In a few days, he would finally be able to take this final step.

As for keeping the ring for himself, Ouyang Li wasn't stupid enough to do such a thing! Even a Golden Core cultivator didn't have enough strength to hold onto one. He should exchange it with a sect for some Spirit Stones and ask for a good position in the sect.

Right now, he would be happy if they didn't interrogate him too forcefully. Also, he felt that next, a plump job would be the most suitable for him.

"Looking at those huge mountains of Spirit Stones, it seems that poverty has limited my imagination" He sighed. "Who knew that even the Spirit Stones can be separated into different grades?"

Back in the sect, the quality of the stones from his monthly quota was incomparable to the ones gathered by the fallen Heavenly Lord.

"Well, looking at the wealth of this Nascent Soul cultivator, I might even be able to exchange his ring for a position of Elder!" Ouyang Li laughed out cheerfully.

For now, he ignored tall mountains of Spirit Stones. Instead, focused on his fellow cultivators. He cursed in his heart that they both turned out to be so useless in this endeavor. Still, he should take care of them, as they were members of a great sect.

Actually, Ouyang Li thought that they should move away from here as quickly as possible.

Who knew whether the death of this old monster alerted someone equally powerful?

Extending his divine consciousness, Ouyang Li could clearly sense a huge pillar of Qi rising into the sky. Powerful cultivators can probably feel it even from beyond the boundary of this mortal kingdom.

"Well, after such a huge formation goes bang, it would inevitably attract the attention of some wondering experts. Even in such a barren area, it just can't go unnoticed." He sighed.

Just as Ouyang Li predicted, a red-robed man with a purple mark of anvil and flames appeared just an hour later.

By this time, the two Fire Mountain Disciples were already busy separating good Spirit Stones from those that had already been used up.

It was the first time Ying Yue and Tan An even saw such wealth. They were clearly excited, and they did their best to try and salvage as many Spirit Stones as possible.

Seeing huge piles of precious resources, as well as the three youngsters happily working together, eyes of the newly arrived person glistened.

"What happened here?" He asked with bewilderment. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have a divine sense. He actually ignored the precious resources and focused on the two disciples wearing robes of the Fire Mountain Sect.

Ouyang Li suspected that the newly arrived one was a Deacon.

Fire Mountain Deacons were equivalent to Gentle Wind Valley's Stewards. It was no wonder the man arrived quickly. After all, they were in the contested area. Such a huge commotion was rarely seen in the mortal world. Ouyang Li had no doubt that, after sensing the quickly dispersing pillar of Qi, even more powerful experts would be arriving soon.

"This man must be at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm!" Ouyang Li realized. "Sometimes, more powerful Deacons would be Immortal Foundation cultivators. I doubt he is one of them, though. Otherwise, he would have already extended his senses and I would probably lose the ring as well."

"Tan An, Ying Yue?" The man clearly recognized the two disciples from his sect. "Quickly explain the situation here! Weren't you supposed to be on an herb gathering mission in the Autumn Forest?" He questioned them sternly.

"Uncle master Bai! It's good that you arrived here first. We have actually changed it at the last moment. We… we wanted to test our skills." The girl answered weakly.

"That's right, uncle. We truly didn't expect it to be so dangerous. It appears that there was a remnant spirit of some expert here. Fortunately, this senior from the Gentle Wind Valley offered his hand. With his assistance, we barely managed to survive.

"You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into. Just you wait till the Grand Elder finds out about it!" He warned while taking his time to study the youth from the competing faction.

"Uncle, you must not!" It was Ying Ye that begged the man. "Grandpa is too busy dealing with the sect affairs at this time. There is no need to bother him with those little things, right?"

However, the newly arrived Deacon completely ignored her pleas. He sensed extremely weak divine sense touching his body and his face gradually turned solemn. There was no doubt that it came from the inconspicuous youngster, still quietly sorting the Spirit Stones.

But why did he wear Outer Disciple robes?

"You have my respect, fellow Taoist." Albeit very slightly, the man still bowed his head. "In the name of the Fire Mountain Sect, I thank you for taking care of these juniors.

"You are being too courteous, fellow Taoist. It was only my duty to help in this situation. After all, we are all members of the Great Sects. Besides, I was also instructed by my Gentle Wind Valley to come here and investigate the situation."

"Is that so..."

"Uncle, although he has indeed helped us, you must redress our grievance!" Demanded Tan An. "Not only has he humiliated us in front of the mortals, but he also…"

"Shut up and show some respect!" Immediately, the Deacon shut him up. "This Taoist here is half-a-step Immortal Foundation cultivator. His actions are not something that you can casually discuss."

The boy's eyes bulged. Although he knew that Ouyang Li dealt with a remnant spirit of a strong cultivator in this gorge, he wasn't clear about the ghost's power.However, it shouldn't be too powerful, right?

Besides, wasn't this boy from the Gentle Wind Valley only at the 7th stage of the Qi Refinement Realm? When did it suddenly become half-a-step into Immortal Foundation Realm? If it's like that... uncle master Bai wouldn't be stronger than him!

Ying Yue was also shocked. They expected Ouyang Li to be, at the very most, at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. Well, who knew that the Gentle Wind Valley disciples would turn out to be even more cautious than them?

It came to the point where a powerhouse wore an Outer Disciple robe! Did he have no shame?

On the other hand, the Deacon's thoughts were way more meticulous. Who sent this boy here?

He wondered.

A formation array here... it could only be set up by someone incredibly powerful. What was the reason? Did Gentle Wind Valley know about it?

Besides that, Ouyang Li was so young and, at the same time, he had such a high cultivation base. Could it be that there was an even more powerful master hiding behind him? Could it be that Gentle Wind Valley was after the spiritual ore here?

Interesting. He knew that he couldn't stay here much longer. He needed to quickly report his findings to the sect. That is… if he was even allowed to leave this place.

Suddenly, the man shuddered, feeling a bit uncomfortable. His Fire Mountain Sect and the Gentle Wind Valley should be equally powerful, right?