Searching for treasury tokens from the cave abodes on the surrounding minor peaks sounded simple, but was actually quite difficult.
Because, while it wasn't hard to discover that there were cave abodes on these minor peaks, the cultivators who had entered the Immortal Palace, though not numerous, were also not few. If they encountered others, conflict would be unavoidable.
In the face of opportunity, any friendship from inviting them to share in this grand event was worthless. Moreover, the three sects had only disclosed the news of this secret space in the Guixu Sea out of necessity. Those old, crafty great cultivators—would they feel grateful for that? Their earlier concessions when entering the Immortal Palace had already been giving face.
Following the three senior members of his sect, Ling Yunhe pondered for a long while before finally asking, "Two Senior Uncles, Granduncle, do you truly believe what Fellow Daoist Mo said?"
Hearing his question, True Person Yuan Mu glanced at him sideways and said meaningfully, "Asking this question finally lives up to our expectations of you."
Ling Yunhe was taken aback.
Seeing this, Ling Shiyu patted his shoulder with a smile and said to True Person Yuan Mu, "Senior Brother Yuan Mu, this lad of mine, other things aside, when it comes to his Dao heart, there's no need for concern."
True Person Yuan Mu also smiled upon hearing this. Without spelling it out, he said gently to Ling Yunhe, "The path of cultivation is not easy. Having reached our level, we must cherish our lives even more. Even when great benefits lie before us, we must know what to choose and what to forgo. That junior may not be completely without concealment, but, as she said, her cultivation realm is right there. Some things, even if she wanted to deceive us, she couldn't. Without tangible, substantial benefits, there's no need to push her too hard, especially since she is not alone now."
"Furthermore, you know what our greatest purpose for this journey is," Perfected One Iron-Face also said in a calm tone.
Ling Yunhe was slightly startled, then nodded gravely. Decades ago, when the Heavenly Demon Tower emerged, he had already learned what kind of secret the founder of the Jiuyan Sect had left behind. Later, when the Five Sacred Objects emerged one after another, and he gained the recognition of the God-Restricting Bead, he truly entered the core of the Jiuyan Sect as a Core Formation cultivator. The matter of the Guixu Sea could not be allowed to fail. The opportunity left by the founder concerned the rise and fall of the Jiuyan Sect for a thousand, even ten thousand years.
Precisely because he knew how momentous this matter was, he had carefully tucked away his own little thoughts, simply handling affairs from the standpoint of the Jiuyan Sect's sect master.
He had thought that he only had these small, private thoughts, and that no one else would know. Yet it turned out these elders were all aware. He could frankly admit that ever since the trip to Carefree Valley, he had viewed Mo Tiange differently, hence his reluctance to oppose her and his efforts to leave her a way out. But that was all.
It was a strange feeling. He had once carefully considered it. Perhaps the burden of the "genius" title he had carried since childhood was too heavy. Even his best friend and closest brother could not share it, and in the end, they turned against each other. But Mo Tiange—she was sharp and reliable, always able to see everything clearly, yet she would never speak of it. Just as he had said before, she was someone you could befriend but not bully, a "safe" person, someone who allowed him to relax.
If she were a man, he would have definitely considered her a confidant. But she wasn't, so some other thoughts arose.
Because the path of immortal cultivation was too lonely. Whether it was a confidant or a Dao companion, both were precious, and a confidant was not as enduring as a Dao companion.
However, none of that was important anymore. Not just because she already had a Dao companion, but also because he realized that, in the end, they were different.
He, Ling Yunhe, was now the sect master of the Jiuyan Sect. In the future, he would be the pillar of the Jiuyan Sect. He had to support an entire sect, leading its countless disciples. And Mo Tiange? Perhaps in the distant Outer Sea, she also had a prestigious master and sect. But clearly, even with a sect, she was more inclined to single-mindedly pursue the immortal path. Therefore, on the immortal path, she walked faster and more freely than he did.
Understanding this, he felt relieved. They were not suitable for each other. Even without Qin Shoujing, it would have been the same.
These small thoughts of his stemmed from loneliness. But on the path of immortal cultivation, who wasn't lonely? What he needed was to cultivate his own state of mind, not to seek a Dao companion.
Thinking of this, Ling Yunhe smiled faintly. Perhaps, from another perspective, he should thank Mo Tiange. This feeling of sudden clarity had allowed a breakthrough in his state of mind. At this point, Mo Tiange might not be someone he couldn't befriend, but there was also no need to force it. If there were no conflicts of interest on this journey, perhaps in future years when they met again, they could still become confidants. But if there were conflicts...
True Person Yuan Mu, who had been about to fly towards a solitary peak, suddenly stopped and frowned. "Someone's there."
At that moment, Mo Tiange and Qin Xi were rushing along a mountain path. Their destination was clearly not those cave abodes built on independent peaks.
Within this Immortal Palace, the number of solitary peaks suitable for opening cave abodes wasn't large, and each one was quite obvious. Consequently, there would inevitably be competition.
The temporary passage into the Immortal Palace was extremely dangerous, so the number of cultivators who could pass through wouldn't be high, but it at least included those Late-Nascent Soul great cultivators. Besides their companions like True Person Yuan Mu, there were six other Late-Nascent Soul cultivators, plus other Nascent Soul mid-stage or early-stage cultivators with remarkable abilities—there would be at least a dozen groups. After entering the Immortal Palace, unless they were particularly unlucky, most of these dozen or so groups could likely find these solitary peaks. A standalone peak with decent spiritual qi—it was obvious at a glance that it was a suitable place to build a cave abode. How could these Nascent Soul cultivators miss it? Ancient cultivators' cave abodes had always been places of opportunity, let alone cave abodes that could occupy an entire peak within an ancient great sect.
Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Mo Tiange was unwilling to wade into these muddy waters.
"We're here."
Hearing the voice, Qin Xi stopped and looked up, only to find a desolate cliff face before him. On the cliff face, every few dozen zhang, there were densely packed cave openings. Beside them stood a towering rock with several ancient characters carved into it: Cliff of Austere Cultivation.
"This is..." he hesitated. Judging by the name, it seemed like a special type of cave abode within a sect, designated for disciples to undergo secluded, arduous cultivation. Any decent sect had places like this; the Xuanqing Sect had them, and even the former Cloud Mist Sect had them. Because low-level disciples didn't have good cave abodes, when they needed to go into seclusion, they required a lot of spiritual qi, which their usual living quarters couldn't provide. The sect would then open up a cluster of cave abodes nearby for low-level disciples to rent for seclusion.
Compared to low-level disciples' residences, the spiritual qi in such cave abodes was indeed much better, but it still couldn't compare to the independent cave abodes of high-level cultivators. Logically, such a place wouldn't house high-level cultivators, and of course, it couldn't possibly hold treasury tokens.
"This way." Mo Tiange, however, paid no heed and went up via a small path to the side.
On the mountainside, there was a simple hut, likely the dwelling of the cultivator guarding these cave abodes and also the location of the protective formation. Cave abodes for low-level disciples wouldn't use overly sophisticated formations, and after so many years, they were long since dilapidated. Mo Tiange easily erased the formation here without much effort and ascended the cliff face with Qin Xi.
"Back then, Master Fuyaozi obtained several ancient cultivators' storage pouches within the Immortal Palace and learned about the Cliff of Austere Cultivation from them. The spiritual qi on this cliff face is indeed average, but at the top of the cliff, there are several Spirit Eyes. Initially, no one knew about these Spirit Eyes. After they were discovered, they were opened up into special high-level cave abodes, only borrowable by those of elder rank or above," Mo Tiange explained as they walked.
A Spirit Eye was a point where spiritual energy was most concentrated on a Spirit Vein. The cultivation world generally believed that a Spirit Vein was actually formed by the diffusion of spiritual energy from one or several Spirit Eyes, creating an area of spiritual qi. In other words, Spirit Eyes were necessary to form a Spirit Vein; they were the core of a Spirit Vein.
However, Spirit Eyes were not easy to find. The distribution of spiritual energy on a Spirit Vein varied in intensity. Points with exceptionally dense spiritual qi usually indicated the presence of a Spirit Eye, but just a few dozen zhang away, one could no longer sense it.
Therefore, not all Spirit Eyes were discovered. Occasionally, extremely lucky mid-level disciples might accidentally find a Spirit Eye location while opening a cave abode.
"I see," Qin Xi nodded lightly, then frowned and asked, "You said that when this Spirit Mountain was torn away to become an independent space, this sect had already declined, and it was during the War of Righteous and Devil. Could there have been an elder in seclusion within these special cave abodes?"
"Yes, we can only rely on luck," Mo Tiange sighed. "If there happened to be an elder in seclusion, we could smoothly find a treasury token. If not, we'll have no choice but to go to those elders' cave abodes and compete with the others."
This was a last resort. They didn't want to conflict with others. After all, this was Yunzhong, not Tianji. And those who could enter the Immortal Palace were all top-tier Nascent Soul cultivators. They still had to deal with True Person Yuan Mu and the others. Consuming their strength on others was not a wise move.
The two headed straight for the top of the cliff. A short while later, they indeed saw separate cave abodes opened there.
Qin Xi looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "There are actually three Spirit Eyes here?"
On this cliff top, three cave abodes had been opened, each spaced about several li apart. In terms of the number of Spirit Eyes, this was quite dense.
"Mhm, truly incredible." It wasn't strange for this Spirit Mountain, with its rich spiritual qi, to have many Spirit Eyes. But for such a small area to have three Spirit Eyes, like here, was very rare.
Without delay, the two reached the first cave abode while talking.
Since only high-level sect members could use this cave abode, the formation outside the door certainly couldn't be as ineffective as before. However, after all, over a hundred thousand years had passed. The independently set defensive formations had long since lost their effectiveness due to depleted spirit stones. Only some special restrictions remained, existing as long as there was spiritual qi in this place.
Mo Tiange took out a compass and other tools to determine the Yin-Yang and Five Elements here. After a moment, she furrowed her brows.
"What's wrong?" Qin Xi asked with concern. "Is it difficult to break?"
Mo Tiange put down the compass, her expression shifting between delight and worry. "This restriction is less of a formation and more of a mechanism. It seems this ancient great sect possessed the Mechanist Arts!"
"The Mechanist Arts?!" Qin Xi was visibly moved upon hearing this. Of course he knew what the Mechanist Arts were—a unique skill, using ingenious methods and various spiritual materials and crystals to create puppets or machinery, granting them power akin to human cultivators.
At first glance, the Mechanist Arts sounded very similar to puppet arts. But the puppet arts that existed in the cultivation world were all like refining corpses, requiring living humans or creatures. Moreover, controlling a puppet required one's own strength to be higher than the puppet's. The Mechanist Arts were different. They didn't require living beings; even if the owner was gone, they could remain intact. And there were no requirements regarding strength!