Spiritual energy was a wonderful thing.
It was like a fountain of life, capable of nurturing many heavenly treasures and earthly wonders—what were known as cultivation resources.
Things like spirit veins, spirit stones, and various medicinal herbs—almost all were nurtured by spiritual energy.
Anything nurtured by spiritual energy possessed a Spiritual Breath.
Spiritual Breath was colorless and odorless, invisible to the eye and undetectable by smell; only divine sense could perceive it.
Purple-Green Twilight Cloud Breath could be considered a rare Spiritual Breath. At least in Gu Qingfeng's memory, this kind of breath wasn't common. As for the situation after the revival of all things in the modern era, that was unknown.
In his memory, things containing Spiritual Breath like Purple-Green Twilight Cloud were without exception good treasures. As for what exactly they were, Gu Qingfeng couldn't judge for the moment; he would only know once he got there.
That night.
Gu Qingfeng moved through the void, each step covering nine meters—truly shrinking the earth to inches.
He hadn't refined a flying sword, so this wasn't sword flight.
Nor was it some wind-riding flight spell.
It was a lightness skill.
A lightness skill he had created himself, named Void Meteor Step.
When executed, he tread the void, his person like a meteor, swift as a shuttle.
The location of the discovered Cave Dwelling was very, very far from Yunxia Sect.
Even with Gu Qingfeng using Void Meteor Step, it took a full two hours, only arriving at that desolate mountain wilderness as dawn began to break.
What he found strange was that the two groups who had been fighting here earlier hadn't entered the Cave Dwelling, and the woman who had cleaved open the minor natural formation with one sword hadn't entered either. They were all tightly clustered around the cave entrance, as if waiting for something.
Perhaps noticing Gu Qingfeng's arrival, these people immediately grew vigilant. One of the men shouted sharply.
"If you know what's good for you, get lost right now, or we'll take your life!"
Gu Qingfeng landed on a large tree in the distance. He didn't advance, nor did he speak. With a single glance, he saw these fellows' cultivation was mostly around the seventh or eighth stratum of late Foundation Establishment. Only that woman's cultivation was decent—she had already established her True Being form.
"Looking for death!"
Seeing Gu Qingfeng neither speak nor leave, the man who had just shouted sharply drew his flying sword, about to attack.
"Huang Yao, what are you doing!"
The woman shouted in reprimand.
"True Being Qing Ning, this person lingering here clearly intends to compete with us for the Cave Dwelling."
"Did he say he wants to compete?"
True Being Qing Ning looked at the man called Huang Yao with clear distaste. "Moreover, this Cave Dwelling is ownerless to begin with; everyone has the right to contend for it."
The man called Huang Yao still wanted to say something when, from the opposite group, a man mocked, "Huang Yao, oh Huang Yao, this isn't your Yunxia Sect. I advise you not to be too arrogant. That 'Head of the Twelve Courts' title of yours is nothing once you leave Yunxia Sect!"
"Zhang Hengsheng, I think you're looking for death!"
Huang Yao flew into a rage, his voice sharp as he prepared to strike, but was stopped by a white-clad man standing in front of him.
Zhang Hengsheng sneered. "Learn a little. Both are Heads of the Twelve Courts, but you're far inferior to Li Qiandong."
The white-clad man called Li Qiandong said, "Zhang Hengsheng, that's enough."
Zhang Hengsheng snorted coldly and paid no further attention.
In the distance, standing on the tree, Gu Qingfeng heard their argument and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. He hadn't expected one of these groups to actually be disciples of Yunxia Sect, and the two leaders seemed to be Heads of the Twelve Courts?
What a coincidence.
Gu Qingfeng said nothing, looking toward the cave entrance.
At the moment, the entrance was shrouded by a Formation.
It was a very simple Formation, used to block the Purple-Gold Twilight Cloud Breath inside the cave from leaking out.
It was likely set up by the woman called True Being Qing Ning.
The purpose was obviously to avoid detection by others.
But he didn't know what exactly these people were waiting for.
Gu Qingfeng released his divine sense, probing along the cave entrance. Inside was chaotic, extremely chaotic. Many Formations were collapsing, highly unstable. Probably, the reason these people waited outside was fear that rashly entering would mean a brush with death.
Cave Dwellings were extremely complex existences.
Randomly digging a hole in a mountain wasn't a Cave Dwelling; that was just a cave.
A true Cave Dwelling was a small secret realm opened within nature using supernatural means.
Every cultivator, upon reaching a certain realm, would open their own Cave Dwelling. Firstly, for seclusion.
Secondly, for comprehension.
And later, for undergoing tribulations.
A sect was ultimately a sect, located within the mundane world, inevitably burdened with worldly affairs, unsuitable for both seclusion and comprehending the great Dao.
Most importantly, Cave Dwellings could be used to refine various elixirs, magical treasures, talismans, and such. Refining these things carried great danger; ordinary places weren't suitable.
Most Cave Dwellings were very hidden, generally impossible to discover. Of course, there were exceptions. Since all Cave Dwellings were opened based on the laws of nature, whenever nature underwent changes, some ancient Cave Dwellings would gradually appear in the world.
As for what caused this particular Cave Dwelling to appear, Gu Qingfeng didn't know. But one thing was certain: there was no one inside this Cave Dwelling. If there were, they wouldn't have let the formation cores wither, nor would they have watched idly as the Formation structures inside gradually collapsed. After all, it was a Cave Dwelling; most Formations inside were for protecting elixirs and treasures.
About half an hour later, after the Formations inside had completely collapsed, they waited a little longer. The woman called True Being Qing Ning said, "The Formations inside the Cave Dwelling have all collapsed. I just used my divine sense to probe carefully again; there shouldn't be any danger. But just in case, I'll go down first. Once I confirm it's safe, you can follow."
The two groups looked at each other, then nodded.
They were outstanding elites among the youth, clearly aware that while there might be treasures inside a Cave Dwelling, it was also filled with various unknown dangers. Over the years, those who died inside Cave Dwellings were too many to count. Treasures were important, but one needed to be alive to seize them.
True Being Qing Ning summoned her flying sword, circulating spiritual power, about to charge in when a voice suddenly came.
"Little sister, if you go down like that, you'll surely die."
Hmm?
True Being Qing Ning was startled, looking around. The speaker was none other than Gu Qingfeng.
"You... what do you mean!"
"What just collapsed were only the Formations. The formation cores haven't collapsed yet. When those things explode, the force is astonishing; it could tear you to shreds in an instant."
Before True Being Qing Ning could speak, the one called Huang Yao stepped forward, haughtily shouting, "Who are you! What business is this of yours!"
"I'm just passing by. Seeing you all so young, I can't bear to watch you lose your lives like this."
Gu Qingfeng jumped down from the tree, taking out a Redleaf Monster Fruitlet to eat.
"You? Overestimating yourself!"
Huang Yao appeared young and impetuous, extremely arrogant and overbearing. Seeing Gu Qingfeng approach, he prepared to teach him a lesson.
"Huang Yao! If you dare act recklessly again, I'll throw you in right now!"
True Being Qing Ning was utterly fed up, shooting him a disgusted glare before looking at Gu Qingfeng. "Fellow Daoist, thank you for your kind reminder. But I just used my divine sense to carefully probe. All thirty-seven Formations inside the Cave Dwelling have completely collapsed, and their formation cores are the same..."
"There's one formation core that hasn't collapsed—the most important and deeply hidden one."
The recent instability at Chuangshi...
Had to wait until now to upload.