Chapter 63: Passive
Deep within the Fire Spirit Mine in the South Mountain Great Rift Valley.
Hua Changxi was cultivating with her eyes closed, lying on a stone platform half a meter high, one meter wide, and two meters long, entirely constructed from top-grade fire spirit stones.
After a short while, Hua Changxi, whose brows were tightly furrowed, opened her eyes. Looking at the data before her, her face was filled with solemnity and confusion.
『Realm: Core Formation Realm 1.35 million/10 million』
It had been a month and a half since she advanced to the Core Formation Realm.
Upon reaching the Core Formation Realm, her cultivation speed had increased slightly, from absorbing and gaining one thousand spiritual energy points per hour to two thousand spiritual energy points per hour.
She could cultivate for eleven hours a day, meaning she gained 22,000 cultivation points daily.
After 35 days, she should have gained 770,000 cultivation points.
Yet, she had only gained half of that.
During the Qi Refining Realm and Qi Sea Realm stages, as long as she absorbed spiritual energy, the data would increase, and when the spiritual energy within her body accumulated to a sufficient amount, she would automatically advance.
She was accustomed to this cultivation model and had once thought cultivation was that easy.
However, after advancing to the Core Formation Realm, this model no longer worked!
She absorbed spiritual energy, but the data did not increase.
“Where exactly did it go wrong?”
Hua Changxi felt a bit panicked. With no one to ask, she could only try to figure it out herself, but she had been struggling for over half a month with no progress.
If cultivation went wrong, not only would her realm not improve, but it also wasted time.
Gu Jin Fan’s appearance, and the possibility of the Asura Gate targeting the Creation Pomegranate, filled Hua Changxi with a sense of urgency.
She had no one to rely on, no power, no manpower. The only thing that could give her confidence was diligently improving her cultivation. As long as her strength was sufficient, she wouldn’t fear coercion or harm.
Now that her cultivation couldn’t advance, she was truly anxious.
Hua Changxi’s emotions were in disarray, and she couldn’t cultivate peacefully. She left the Fire Spirit Mine. As she exited the Great Rift Valley, she saw the personnel stationed outside.
These people were arranged by Jiang Ye and Zhuo Fan. They were considered inner perimeter personnel, with additional patrol personnel on the outer perimeter of South Mountain.
After observing these people secretly for a while and seeing that their patrols were quite thorough, Hua Changxi felt a little relieved, knowing that the four elders were very attentive to the Fire Spirit Mine.
The four elders, including Elder You Four, took the Fire Element Creation Pill the day after Gu Jin Fan appeared. After forming a fire spiritual root, the four of them left the Medicine Valley to search for cultivation methods.
Now, over a month later, she wondered how their progress was.
Hua Changxi really hoped the four of them could obtain cultivation methods soon, as relying solely on martial artists for protection wouldn’t be enough to truly possess the Fire Spirit Mine.
Only when the four elders became cultivators and improved their strength would they have a chance to contend if the Fire Spirit Mine was discovered by outsiders in the future.
This was the fundamental reason she made the deal with the four elders, offering them the Creation Pill.
Only cultivators could protect the spirit mine.
As for herself, she could support the four elders from behind the scenes, but she didn’t want to be on the front lines of combat. What she truly desired was to be a highly skilled technician, indispensable and far from the fray.
A high-grade alchemist would be perfect.
Hua Changxi returned to the Medicine Valley. On her way to the dormitory, she encountered two laborers. From their conversation, she learned that the four elders had returned, and she quickly headed towards West Mountain.
As she reached halfway up the mountain, Hua Changxi spotted Guo Yu from afar. Just as she was about to approach and greet him, she noticed that Guo Yu’s demeanor was somewhat off.
He was acting furtively, looking around nervously, his expression tense. Guo Yu’s behavior instantly brought a word to Hua Changxi’s mind: surveillance!
Surveillance of whom?
The only outsider who could freely enter and exit the stone cave on West Mountain was her!
Hua Changxi was well aware that her cooperation with the four elders was based on mutual benefit, and their relationship was not particularly solid.
However, their cooperation had just begun, a time when both sides needed to build trust. Yet, they were acting in a manner of concealment and vigilance, which made her feel very uncomfortable.
Hua Changxi wasn’t particularly interested in other people’s secrets, but if the four elders sent Guo Yu to surveil her, the matter they were discussing was most likely related to her.
She could accept the four elders having their own hidden agendas, but she didn’t want to be schemed against, especially after the incident where she was almost betrayed by Yang Chuan. She no longer fully trusted these four.
With this thought, Hua Changxi skirted around, avoiding Guo Yu, and went to the side of the stone cave.
After advancing to the Core Formation Realm, Hua Changxi’s senses became even sharper. She didn’t need to get too close; as long as she concentrated, she could hear the conversation inside the stone cave.
Inside the stone cave, Elder You’s voice was urgent: “Is the cultivation method in Lu Zhiyuan’s possession real?”
Zhuo Fan confirmed: “Yes, Lu Zhiyuan transcribed the opening chapter of the Five Elements Art, ‘Qi Guiding Technique,’ for me. I cultivated it in the Lu Family’s backyard for a month, and I can now sense Fire Spiritual Energy.”
“You should have seen Lu Zhiyuan’s current appearance. He’s more than ten years older than You Lin, but he looks so much younger now, appearing to be only in his forties.”
Yang Chuan’s expression jolted: “Really?”
Zhuo Fan: “I saw it with my own eyes, of course, it’s real.”
Yang Chuan laughed: “Then if we become cultivators, we can become younger too.”
He wasn’t the oldest among the four, but his appearance was the most aged. He had always cared about this matter.
Jiang Ye looked at Zhuo Fan: “You still haven’t mentioned Lu Zhiyuan’s conditions.”
Zhuo Fan rubbed his nose: “Initially, I offered ten thousand Fire Spirit Stones. Later, after he gave me the Qi Guiding Technique and saw that I could indeed draw spiritual energy, that guy suddenly made an outrageous demand, saying he wanted 100,000 Fire Spirit Stones from me every month.”
Upon hearing this, Elder You, Jiang Ye, and Yang Chuan all frowned.
Jiang Ye looked at Zhuo Fan: “Did you tell him about the Fire Spirit Mine?”
Zhuo Fan looked uncomfortable: “It wasn’t intentional. Lu Zhiyuan is too cunning. He knew I couldn’t stand being provoked and deliberately used words to provoke me.”
Hearing this, the three elders sighed in unison.
“You…”
Zhuo Fan also knew he had made a mistake: “Don’t talk about me. I regret it too. Moreover, Lu Zhiyuan also said he wants to come to the Medicine Valley to take a look in a while.”
Elder You’s expression immediately changed: “What does he want to do here in the Medicine Valley?”
Jiang Ye’s expression was also very grim: “Is Lu Zhiyuan trying to get his hands on the Fire Spirit Mine?”
Yang Chuan also became anxious: “That girl Hua Changxi is not easy to deal with. If you bring outsiders here, what will happen if she finds out.”
Zhuo Fan waved his hand nonchalantly: “If she finds out, she finds out. Lu Zhiyuan said that after he finishes his current business, he will come to find Hua Changxi for a spar.”
“If he’s not Hua Changxi’s match, then we’ll give him 100,000 spirit stones every month.”
“If Hua Changxi is not his match, then the Fire Spirit Mine will have to be redistributed.”
“In short, our share won’t be lacking. Lu Zhiyuan wants to test Hua Changxi’s strength, so let him try.”
Elder You and the other two fell silent.
Zhuo Fan knew he hadn’t handled things well and quickly took out the Qi Guiding Technique: “Lu Zhiyuan agreed to give me the Qi Guiding Technique first. After he comes to see, he will give us the rest of the cultivation method all at once.”
Outside the stone cave, Hua Changxi’s face was as dark as water. She took several deep breaths to suppress her anger before charging into the stone cave to settle accounts with Zhuo Fan.
Her cooperation with these four was too hasty.
She shouldn’t have been prejudiced, thinking that because Elder You had good character, his friends would be the same.
She was too passive right now!
At this moment, Zhuo Fan’s voice echoed from inside the stone cave again.
“Did you know something happened again at Qingzhou Five Finger Mountain?”
“What happened?”
“It was caused by the pomegranate we snatched. You know how much commotion the pomegranate caused when it appeared. After we snatched it, someone must have spread the news that Five Finger Mountain is a Cave Heaven Blessed Land, where strange spiritual medicines and spiritual fruits often appear.”
“Soon, this news attracted attention from all sides, and they all sent their disciples to investigate.”
“The investigation revealed that Five Finger Mountain has dense spiritual energy, making it very suitable for cultivators to cultivate.”
“Therefore, all parties wanted to claim Five Finger Mountain for themselves. It is said that Taisu Palace, Sanqing Palace, Demon Suppressing Division, Asura Gate, and some old noble families have all mobilized.”
“Lu Zhiyuan told me that there are at least five large spirit mines beneath Five Finger Mountain. He didn’t come to the Medicine Valley because he went to Five Finger Mountain.”
“I wonder who will ultimately possess Five Finger Mountain?”
