After retrieving the Qiankun Ring and confirming the Corpse Puppet would not escape again, the trio and the spirit beast returned to the underground palace.
Indeed, the Qiankun Ring contained many good items. High-grade Spirit Stones and Crystal Jade went without saying; there were also pills, materials, Magical Treasures, and more.
After over a hundred thousand years, the pills and spirit herbs had almost completely lost their Spiritual Qi and were of little value. Regarding materials, Jing Xingzhi picked out items related to nurturing his sword; the rest were given to Qin Xi and Mo Tiange. The Magical Treasures were divided equally among the three—even if they weren't needed, they could be sold for Spirit Stones. The cultivation technique jade slips could be copied, so each received a copy. As for the high-grade Spirit Stones and Crystal Jade, since Jing Xingzhi had conceded most of the materials, he was given a larger share. Finally, the Qiankun Ring itself: since both Mo Tiange and Qin Xi already had one, it was given to Jing Xingzhi.
Unfortunately, no treasury tokens were found within this Qiankun Ring. However, even if they had obtained a treasury token, it would have been difficult for them to re-enter. The restrictions outside the treasury could automatically repair themselves; over these past few years, they had long since been restored to their original state. Given their cultivation levels, breaking them would be extremely challenging.
Regardless, the contents of this Qiankun Ring represented astonishing wealth. Each of the three gained something, not only recouping the losses from the Corpse Puppet trapping operation but also making a substantial profit. Everyone was pleased. After putting away their gains and informing Yang Chengji, they left the underground palace.
Yang Chengji cultivated the Yuan Demon Great Method, and the most suitable place for his cultivation remained the original cave. Therefore, he continued his secluded cultivation there with no intention of leaving.
As for Mo Tiange, Qin Xi, and Jing Xingzhi, after exiting the underground palace, they split up according to the pre-defined safe zones to search for abandoned Cave Abodes with abundant Spiritual Qi, each settling down separately.
Within this Immortal Palace, Cave Abodes rich in Spiritual Qi were not lacking. The best were naturally those located on the solitary peaks. These Cave Abodes originally belonged to God Transformation cultivators. Several years ago when they first entered the Immortal Palace, the restrictions on these abodes had been mostly broken by the late-Nascent Soul cultivators, and the good items were essentially swept clean. Without expending much effort, they could simply tidy up the Cave Abodes a bit, re-lay some formation restrictions, and move in.
Of the fifteen Core Formation Stage puppets Mo Tiange had painstakingly crafted, fourteen were destroyed. She was heartbroken. Later, she went to retrieve the wreckage, repaired them, and finally managed to assemble three complete ones. She placed two of them in the Void Heaven Realm to replace the two destroyed stone statue puppets, while the remaining one was kept outside to serve tea, fetch water, and handle miscellaneous tasks.
After ordering the puppet to tidy up the main cultivation chamber, Mo Tiange looked at the neat and orderly Cave Abode with great satisfaction.
The Cave Abode they had chosen was located on the highest solitary peak within the Immortal Palace. It was remote and exceptionally quiet. Stepping out of the abode, one could see the entire scene of the Immortal Palace—the view was breathtakingly beautiful. The drawbacks were that the Spiritual Qi was slightly inferior and the abode itself was somewhat small.
This didn't matter. No matter how small the Cave Abode was, it was still once the residence of a God Transformation Elder of this sect. The main cultivation chamber was fully equipped; it was just the living quarters for disciples that were not spacious. As for the Spiritual Qi, that was even less of a concern. Within this Immortal Palace, how bad could the Spiritual Qi possibly be? Furthermore, after leaving the underground palace this time, Mo Tiange was about to enter seclusion for Nascent Soul Formation. The two of them would definitely need to enter the Void Heaven Realm, so the conditions outside were not of great importance.
After settling in, Mo Tiange did not immediately enter seclusion. The matter of forming her Nascent Soul was no trivial affair. The slightest misstep could lead to irreversible consequences. If the Core shattered and failed to form the Nascent Soul, a century of cultivation would be wasted. Therefore, in addition to the cultivation insights left by Mo Yaoqing and Fuyaozi, Qin Xi himself was recalling the circumstances of his own Nascent Soul Formation, carefully summarizing various details for her reference.
As for Mo Tiange, she was contemplating her mental state, waiting until her heart was calm and certain before entering seclusion.
A phoenix cry sounded from outside, followed by a message from a spirit beast. Mo Tiange rose and left the Cave Abode, only to see Qin Xi feeding pills to a Chongming Bird.
"Is this your Chongming Bird?" The bird before her was over ten feet long, its entire body red and bright as flame, with long, gorgeous tail feathers remarkably similar to a phoenix's tail. Most peculiarly, the bird's eyes each had two pupils, hence the name Chongming Bird.
The Chongming Bird was a very rare type of spirit beast. Not only was it adept at fire-attribute spells, but it also possessed immense strength, making it powerful among spirit beasts of the same rank. Ancient texts stated that the Chongming Bird possessed a portion of phoenix bloodline, being a branch of ancient divine beasts, and also had the effect of warding off evil.
Mo Tiange remembered that Qin Xi had obtained this Chongming Bird back during his Foundation Establishment period and had raised it for two hundred years. However, like most cultivators, the spirit beast he raised couldn't keep up with his own cultivation progress and was of little help in combat, so he rarely kept it by his side. When she had left back then, this Chongming Bird was only Fifth-Rank. Now, it had already reached Seventh-Rank! If it advanced again, it would become an Eighth-Rank spirit beast, equivalent to a Nascent Soul cultivator!
Qin Xi fed the last Beast Spirit Pill to the Chongming Bird, then patted its head. The Chongming Bird cried out once, spread its wings, and flew into the sky.
He said, "Thanks to all the Beast Spirit Pills you left behind, over these fifty-some years, this Chongming Bird has advanced two ranks. In a few more decades, it might have the possibility of advancing to Eighth-Rank."
"Really?" Watching the Chongming Bird soaring in the sky, she felt quite envious. "That's strange. Your Chongming Bird smoothly advanced from Fifth-Rank to Seventh-Rank. How come Feifei and the others, after eating so many pills, haven't advanced a single rank?"
Hearing this, Qin Xi laughed. "You, think about how old they are. I've raised this Chongming Bird for at least two hundred years. Although I haven't been as extravagant as you, I haven't skimped on feeding it pills either. How long have Feifei and Xiaohuo been with you? In my opinion, although spirit beasts don't have as many bottlenecks as human cultivators when advancing, they have astonishing lifespans and also require long periods of accumulation. Perhaps advancing to Fifth-Rank is when they need that accumulation. Look at that Cang Dragon Xiaofan—it's the oldest, hasn't it already cultivated to the peak of Fifth-Rank? It will probably advance to Sixth-Rank soon."
Mo Tiange thought about it and agreed. Feifei and Xiaohuo, although she obtained them early, had only been cultivating for a little over a hundred years at most. As for Xiaofan, although it hadn't been with her long, it was already about eight hundred years old. It was usually the most well-behaved, unlike Feifei and Xiaohuo who dared to eat any spirit herb. Yet, among the three spirit beasts, it cultivated the fastest. It seemed Qin Xi's theory about accumulation held some merit.
"By the way, do you remember the Blood-Eating Vine?" Speaking of spirit beasts, Mo Tiange suddenly remembered this thing. When they first entered the Immortal Palace, they passed through a forest of Blood-Eating Vines. Fuyaozi had said that this thing fed on spirit beasts, but for spirit beasts, it was also a great tonic. For that reason, they had cut down many and stored them in their Qiankun Bags.
"Of course I remember. I was planning to use this item to try and help the Chongming Bird break through to Eighth-Rank. You can also see if these Blood-Eating Vines can help your spirit beasts break through their bottlenecks."
No sooner said than done. The two took out the Blood-Eating Vines they had cut back then and distributed them to their respective spirit beasts.
Upon seeing the Blood-Eating Vines, the four spirit beasts reacted with surprising similarity, like cats seeing fish—they all pounced on them and ate voraciously.
Curious, Mo Tiange asked Feifei, "Is this thing very tasty?"
Feifei, while hurriedly munching away, nodded vigorously. It usually paid great attention to its image; there weren't many times it would disregard its manners like this.
She then asked Xiaofan, "Xiaofan, do you recognize this thing?"
Xiaofan was more honest than Feifei. Hearing the question, it stopped eating and answered, "I don't know. But it smells really delicious, and eating it makes my whole body feel comfortable. My Spiritual Qi circulates very quickly."
"Oh..." It seemed this was the instinct of spirit beasts.
"You three, don't eat too much all at once." She admonished them and then left the Void Heaven Realm.
In the Cave Abode, Qin Xi was sitting before a desk. Beside him was a pile of pills, Magical Treasures, and miscellaneous items, with several Qiankun Bags tossed on the table.
Seeing this scene, Mo Tiange raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing? Taking out all your belongings?"
Qin Xi shook the Qiankun Ring in his hand. "With this, Qiankun Bags are no longer needed."
They had obtained one Qiankun Ring from the God Transformation ancient cultivator in the first Cave Abode atop the Bitter Cultivation Cliff. During the negotiations, Perfected One Yuanmu had given them another. Combined with the one from the God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet's hand, they had exactly three, one for each of them and Jing Xingzhi.
The Qiankun Ring was far superior to the Qiankun Bag in countless ways.
In the current cultivation world, the most advanced Qiankun Bags were made from the hide on the belly of high-rank spirit beasts. High-rank spirit beasts possessed unique storage spaces with considerable capacity. Ordinary Qiankun Bags were essentially large pouches sewn from beast hide, using spatial compression techniques to make them appear small.
The Qiankun Ring was different. It utilized ancient space-tearing techniques. The space inside was not only large but also independent, especially suitable for storing spirit herbs, pills, and other items that required the preservation of Spiritual Qi. It was simply incomparable to Qiankun Bags.
Moreover, even if restrictions were placed on a Qiankun Bag, they were relatively easy to break. Whoever obtained it could claim it.
The Qiankun Ring was different. More complex restrictions could be placed on it. If the person who obtained it lacked sufficient cultivation, they could not open it. Unless the owner died, the restrictions would weaken and eventually dissipate.
Most importantly, retrieving items from a Qiankun Bag was nowhere near as convenient as from a Qiankun Ring. For high-level cultivators like them, combat situations changed in an instant. Retrieving a Magical Treasure from a Qiankun Bag, no matter how fast, took time and could easily be observed by the enemy. The Qiankun Ring was different; worn directly on the finger, Spiritual Qi moved with thought, allowing one to retrieve a Magical Treasure imperceptibly and catch the enemy off guard.
The two of them had obtained many items from the Immortal Palace. Because Jing Xingzhi was present, they hadn't had a chance to properly sort through them. Now that they finally had an independent Cave Abode, it was the perfect time for inventory.
Seeing this, Mo Tiange also transferred all her items from her Qiankun Bags. After a round of sorting, everything was stored in the Qiankun Ring.
During this process, she discovered that Qiankun Bags could actually be placed directly inside the Qiankun Ring. It was important to know that a Qiankun Bag could not be placed inside another Qiankun Bag. However, the Qiankun Ring was an independent space and could contain Qiankun Bags.
Several months of such leisurely days passed. Once Qin Xi had explained all his Nascent Soul Formation insights to Mo Tiange, the two tidied up, laid down formation restrictions, and prepared to enter seclusion.
This seclusion, barring any accidents, would last until Mo Tiange completed her Nascent Soul Formation. This process' duration was unknown—perhaps three to five years, perhaps over a decade.
During this time, with Jing Xingzhi and Yang Chengji outside, someone needed to manage this Cave Abode. However, the matter of Nascent Soul Formation was equally not to be taken lightly. Having a Nascent Soul cultivator present would be much safer. Therefore, Qin Xi had to enter the Void Heaven Realm.
Fortunately, although Feifei was a spirit beast, it was worth half a person. With its intelligence, entrusting the Cave Abode to it shouldn't be a problem. After brief discussion, the two handed over external matters to Feifei and entered the Void Heaven Realm.