Back then, I didn’t care at all.
After all, Mao Qingzhu was famous in name only, and Xu Qingjun was seen as the shame of the Xu Family.
This mother and daughter were nothing more than outsiders.
But now...
"Madam, Miss! Let me take you..."
Seeing Mao Qingzhu walking out with the young girl, Xu San hurriedly approached with flattery.
Unexpectedly, perhaps it was an illusion.
The young girl suddenly glanced at him, half-smiling: "Weren’t you laughing quite happily before?"
Xu San broke out in a cold sweat, wanting to cry out his innocence a thousand times.
Back then, he was just complaining internally, how could it have been an outright laugh?
But before he could explain, Mao Qingzhu had already floated away with Qing Jun.
...
As if a world away.
In a blink, two days passed.
From Yunxi District to Lingyin Sect, the journey took two to three days.
Chen Ye stood in the narrow, cold confinement room of the Spiritual Ship, and sighed softly.
The last time he took the Spiritual Ship to Lingyin Sect, he was in high spirits, entering the sect confidently with two apprentices, settling in Luoli Courtyard full of hopes.
But this time...
Even though his cultivation had advanced to Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, and he held the financial authority of Lisong Valley’s spirit fields, his achievements far exceeded those of his first arrival.
Yet now he was imprisoned, reduced to a prisoner.
His spiritual power was forcibly restrained, making movement difficult, like a fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of others.
"Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer could dominate the market, and nobody would dare belittle you. But in the eyes of a behemoth of a sect, it is merely like an ant or a weed."
Chen Ye understood in his heart.
Reaching the position of managing Lisong Valley, overseeing the spirit fields, and his own cultivation reaching Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, it’s false to say he wasn’t even a little satisfied.
But reality gave him a harsh slap.
"Ultimately, cultivation is the most critical; without strength... all painstaking achievements, taking Lisong Valley as a foundation, would be nothing but a speck in the eyes of the truly strong, easily changed hands in an instant. And yet, I was indulging in the thought of enjoying peaceful solitude..."
Once, Chen Ye thought of staying in this distant Lisong Valley, with two apprentices, away from the storms, leisurely cultivating days away, as a nice choice.
But the cruelty of the Cultivation Realm allows no room for luck.
If one does not strive for advancement, they will sooner or later become the "fortune" in the eyes of other ambitious cultivators.
Chen Ye’s thoughts stopped, his mind sinking into the Dantian Energy Sea.
Excruciating pain stabbed into him like maggots infesting him, continuously eroding his dantian.
"Is this... a Second Tier Magical Treasure? Ha, dealing with a Qi Cultivation Cultivator like me, it’s an overkill."
Chen Ye sneered softly and cautiously activated the Evergreen Technique.
He didn’t intend to attempt unlocking the Spirit Lock Nail.
Soon he would head to the sect; unlocking it now would be futile and could even cause trouble.
But at the very least, understanding it, and figuring out how to control it was essential.
Thus, even if unexpected situations occurred, he would still possess the ability to deal with them.
As soon as the cultivation technique began circulating and activated the dantian’s spiritual power, the dark Spirit Lock Nail immediately glowed with spiritual light, forcibly interrupting the technique’s operation.
"No... forcibly using one’s spiritual power to impact the Spirit Lock Nail can indeed crush the seal, but the dantian would also be destroyed along."
Chen Ye felt that the Spirit Lock Nail was almost integrated with the dantian; forcibly pulling it out would entail the dantian’s destruction.
Fortunately,
Once he had cleared this game, as a competent player, he might not remember every strategy by heart, but he had some impressions in mind.
Although the game’s timeline was five hundred years later,
In the Cultivation Realm, five hundred years is but a fleeting moment.
Five hundred years later, the Spirit Lock Nail was still a common means of imprisoning cultivators, albeit significantly refined several times.
The existence of refinements indicates previous defects.
Chen Ye remembered a side quest in the game, which involved helping an Artifact Refiner find materials for creating a Spirit Lock Nail.
"I remember, Spirit Lock Nail only being used on Qi Cultivation Cultivators, with three solutions: First, the magic caster releasing it. Second, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the Late Period removing it with robust spiritual power. Third, an Artifact Refiner..."
Spirit Lock Nails are products of artifact refining; for others, it may seem unbreakable, but for an Artifact Refiner versed in its creation, it’s merely child’s play.
And in the game’s side quest, the Artifact Refiner intended to use Wisp Stone to randomize the spiritual power circuits and runes inside the Spirit Lock Nail to prevent other refiner’s unsealing.
"But... while I understand the rationale, where could I find an Artifact Refiner?"
Chen Ye sighed; he had become a prisoner, how could he seek outside help?
He gathered his thoughts,
and delicately guided the spiritual power of the Evergreen Technique, navigated around the dantian firmly suppressed by the Spirit Lock Nail, instead circulating it through his body’s meridians.
The feeling was like a dry riverbed once again nourished by spring water.
Though the flow was slow and the quantity scarce, ultimately it broke the dryness.
Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief; luckily, his Evergreen Technique was profound, needing no fixed running route.
Though it was less than a tenth of his peak condition.
But at least, he had the cultivation equivalent to an average Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer; paired with his Sword Intent and Geng Metal Qi techniques, even without external aids, he could muster a certain combat strength.
"And... Divine Sense!"
Though the spiritual power was restricted, the robust Divine Sense forged by the Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique still existed!
As his thoughts raced, reshaping his Dao Heart, the door to the confinement room slowly opened from the outside with a "creak".
The piercing light caused him to instinctively squint his eyes.
Lingyin Sect, arrived.
Unlike the other sect peaks surrounded by ethereal mist, here, shadows constantly enveloped the area, the air filled with a sense of foreboding.