Chapter 234: Long Awaited Reset
Li Yao flew through the darkened skies at her maximum speed, her body cutting through the air like a lightning bolt. The wind whipped against her face as she soared over forests, valleys, and smaller mountain ranges, searching for the perfect location. She flew for what felt like hours, her divine sense constantly scanning the terrain below for an isolated spot far from any human settlements.
[This place should do,] the Empress spoke as they crested a particularly remote mountain range.
Li Yao slowly descended toward the mountain, settling gracefully on a comfortable peak that offered a clear view of the surrounding wilderness. The location was perfect, it was far enough from civilization that no one would come to disturb her peace like before, though she didn’t really mind if they came, she just hoped they would be stronger than the trash from before.
[...]
She arranged herself in a meditative position on the rocky surface, her breathing becoming deep and controlled as she prepared for the breakthrough attempt. Closing her eyes, she concentrated internally on her golden core. The usually solid core had grown increasingly soft over the few hours, like an egg preparing to hatch.
Now she just needed to guide that transformation, helping her core hatch a nascent soul.
She began performing qi circulation exercises according to the Empress’s instructions. As she continued performing the exercises, the previously clear night sky began slowly gathering dark clouds around her position, thunder rumbling ominously in the distance.
Meanwhile, many miles away, Xiang Yu had just finished placing the final formation disk at the southeastern corner of the sect’s territory. He carefully filled each disk with spirit stones and sent a controlled stream of qi into the formation network to activate it.
As the formation came online, Xiang Yu thought to himself that although the cost of maintaining it continuously would be quite steep, he didn’t regret the expense at all. Even if all his earnings went directly toward keeping the formation operational, he wouldn’t mind. The security it provided was worth any price.
When the formation fully activated, Xiang Yu noticed the area around him begin to distort and blur, as if he were looking through heat waves rising from sun-baked stone. The cloaking effect was taking hold, making the sect appear like nothing more than empty wilderness to any outside observer.
Next, he felt the spiritual energy concentration inside the sect begin to rise dramatically. The change was immediate and noticeable—the air started to thicken with qi, creating an almost intoxicating atmosphere. The spiritual density continued climbing until it reached levels that made Xiang Yu’s eyes widen in amazement.
With this level of qi concentration, even pigs could probably cultivate to immortality. Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but the enhancement was genuinely incredible.
He returned to his spirit vein after confirming that all functions were working perfectly. The formation he had created was genuinely OP—it could completely resist the attacks and divine sense of Void Traversing realm cultivators and below. Of course, this protection came with the caveat that they needed sufficient spirit stones to maintain it.
With their current resources, they should be able to sustain the formation for about a week. As long as they continued trading with the other major sects, that timeframe would extend considerably. Only such a comprehensive defensive system could ease Xiang Yu’s uneasiness, even if just slightly.
After returning to the cave, Xiang Yu stripped and dove into the spirit spring. Earlier, he would have hesitated to remove his clothes because of Li Yao, especially after she had received the divine sword. But now that she was away, he didn’t feel uneasy anymore. It was quite ironic.
He decided to use the remaining time until reset for intensive qi cultivation, taking advantage of the enhanced spiritual energy now flooding the sect.
He closed his eyes and felt the energy enter his body through two distinct pathways—gently through his dantian via normal cultivation, and violently through his skin courtesy of his competing bloodlines. The sensation of cultivation relaxed him completely, and he quickly lost track of time in the meditative trance.
He was suddenly jolted awake by the familiar chime of the system notification. His eyes fluttered open as he gazed at the glowing screen materializing before him.
...
Day 58: (Day 5)
[Body Refining: 17th Layer (8500/17,000) (+2500/17,000)]
[Foundation Establishment: 2nd Layer (5500/12,000) (+1500/12,000)]
[Mind: Level 6 (5940/10,000) (+300/10,000)]
[Soul: Infant (82,900/100,000) (+100/100,000)]
[Spiritual Root: High-Grade Omni-Element (1700/3000)]
[Transcendent Dao Body: Level 1 (580,020/1,000,000) (+20/1,000,000)]
[Chaos Body: Level 2 (11,500/20,000) (+500/20,000)]
[Bloodline: Dragon, Phoenix: True Blood (1300/4000) (+300/4000)]
[Enlightenment: Sacred (4280/5000) (+80/5000)]
[Spirit Flame: Abyssal Void Flame: 5th Grade (42,850/50,000) (+50/50,000)]
[Sacred-grade Soul Spike: Intermediate (50/300) (+50/300)]
[Sacred-grade Ten Seasons Sword Art: Major Success (100/400) (+100/400)]
[High-grade Lightning Strike: Completion (50/500) (+50/500)]
[High-grade Fire Palm: Completion (170/500) (+50/500)]
[High-grade Water, Wood, Earth, Metal, Lightning Palm: Completion (50/500) (+50/500)]
[High-grade Ice, Wind, Light, Dark Palm: Completion (50/500) (+50/500)]
[Cook: 1st Grade (130/900) (+30/900)]
[Appraiser: 2nd Grade (340/800) (+100/800)]
[Alchemist: 4th Grade (300/600) (+60/600)]
[Blacksmith: 4th Grade (200/600) (+100/600)]
[Runesmith: 4th Grade (200/600) (+152/600)]
[Formation Master: 4th Grade (100/600) (+60/600)]
[Medicine: 6th Grade (100/400) (+60/400)]
[Spirit Farmer: 6th Grade (2/400) (+2/400)]
[Teacher: 8th Grade (50/200) (+30/200)]
[Experience Points Doubled]
[Teacher: 8th Grade (50/200) → 8th Grade (100/200)]
[Spirit Farmer: 6th Grade (2/400) → 6th Grade (4/400)]
[Medicine: 6th Grade (100/400) → 6th Grade (200/400)]
[Formation Master: 4th Grade (100/600) → 4th Grade (200/600)]
[Runesmith, Blacksmith: 4th Grade (200/600) → 4th Grade (400/600)]
[Alchemist: 4th Grade (300/600) → 3rd Grade (0/700)]
[Appraiser: 2nd Grade (340/800) → 2nd Grade (680/800)]
[Cook: 1st Grade (130/900) → 1st Grade (260/900)]
[High-grade Ice, Wind, Light, Dark Palm: Completion (50/500) → Completion (100/500)]
[High-grade Water, Wood, Earth, Metal, Lightning Palm: Completion (50/500) → Completion (100/500)]
[High-grade Fire Palm: Completion (170/500) → Completion (340/500)]
[High-grade Lightning Strike: Completion (50/500) → Completion (100/500)]
[Sacred-grade Ten Seasons Sword Art: Major Success (100/400) → Major Success (200/400)]
[Sacred-grade Soul Spike: Intermediate (50/300) → Intermediate (100/300)]
[Spirit Flame: Abyssal Void Flame: 5th Grade (42,850/50,000) → 4th Grade (0/60,000)]
[Enlightenment: Sacred (4280/5000) → Divine (0/10,000)]
[Bloodline: Dragon, Phoenix: True Blood (1300/4000) → True Blood (2600/4000)]
[Chaos Body: Level 2 (11,500/20,000) → Level 3 (0/30,000)]
[Transcendent Dao Body: Level 1 (580,020/1,000,000) → Level 2 (0/2,000,000)]
[Spiritual Root: High-Grade Omni-Element (1700/3000) → Superior (0/4000)]
[Soul: Infant (82,900/100,000) → Nascent (0/200,000)]
[Mind: Level 6 (5940/10,000) → Level 7 (0/20,000)]
[Foundation Establishment: 2nd Layer (5500/12,000) → Foundation Establishment: 2nd Layer (11,000/12,000)]
[Body Refining: 17th Layer (8500/17,000) → 18th Layer (0/18,000)]