Mountains and Rivers Spiritual Nest

"A Mountains and Rivers Spiritual Nest? What kind of place is that?" Qin Ming asked in surprise. Supporting Li Qingyue, he searched through this vibrant land brimming with life. "Originally, it forms naturally. With a bit of arrangement, it becomes an extraordinary place. Some can grow rare, precious herbs, while others are favored by royal clans as burial sites for relocating ancestral graves..." Li Qingyue explained as she walked. Her exquisite, flawless face was pale now, and her silver armor was severely damaged, with very little of it remaining. For instance, on her left arm, only the shoulder still had armor plates attached, leaving her fair forearm bare. The cracked armor covering her body was stained with blood, conveying a tragic, fractured beauty. Li Qingyue was heavily injured. Not only had her silver armor been shattered, but even the golden undergarment beneath it, inscribed with life-saving runes, had broken and lost all luster. Qin Ming took out the medicine Tang Xumi had given him and asked if she could take it and whether it would help her injuries. Li Qingyue shook her head. She had already taken spiritual medicine, but it had little effect. She had narrowly escaped death this time; the divine glow within her Yellow Court had nearly been extinguished. The spirit light forged from her conscious awareness now flickered like a candle flame, no longer blazing as brilliantly as the sun as it once had. Outside the Luofu Immortal Mountain ruins, Meng Xinghai felt a deep unease. He increasingly suspected that someone was trying to orchestrate Li Qingyue's elimination, or even put her in grave peril. Sure enough, as bloodstained gold-armored guards and elite outer realm disciples fled outside, the situation within gradually became clear. Many were astonished: five core disciples had joined forces in the white bamboo forest to severely wound Li Qingyue, dealing a crushing blow to her vitality and completely stripping her of the qualifications to vie for the near-immortal artifact. "At least ten gold-armored guards died at Li Ye's hands, but he also shed blood, suffered severe injuries, and had his protective runes extinguished." Hearing this news, Meng Xinghai's expression darkened. The situation of those two was precarious; if someone intercepted them now under such conditions, they would be in dire straits. "It's far too dirty!" How could he fail to see that this had been set up? From the very start, all the core disciples had feared Li Qingyue, and before entering the "Spiritual Cave," they had already reached an implicit agreement behind closed doors. Many lamented. Li Qingyue originally had the greatest hope of obtaining that legendary item, yet she was eliminated just like that. An elder sighed, "It truly wasn't easy for her this time. Surviving a siege by five core disciples and breaking out is enough to prove herself." Though the waters were murky, some could see clearly, sensing something fishy and sniffing out a hint of danger. A middle-aged man in ethereal feather robes spoke up: "Even if she doesn't obtain the near-immortal item, Li Qingyue has established immense prestige among this generation. With today's battle record, how many in the future will dare refuse to acknowledge her?" "It is still regrettable. Had she obtained that item, she might well have become the leader of the outer realm in the future." Another sneered faintly, "Talking about that is pointless now—Li Qingyue is already out!" Across the cities of the night mist world, countless gamblers wailed once more, feeling completely cheated. Even the most authoritative night papers had become "accomplices," misleading them. "Mountain God, just destroy everything! I don't want to live anymore!" "Among those extraordinary places, some become spiritual nests, some turn into burial sites, and some condense into fiend apertures..." Li Qingyue explained slowly to Qin Ming. In this vitality-rich land, vegetation flourished amid vermilion cliffs and peculiar crags, presenting magnificent scenery. Brooks fed by Fire Springs meandered through the mountains, nourishing this spiritually blessed expanse. "How truly magnificent!" Qin Ming marveled. Ahead, a waterfall plunging a thousand zhang cascaded downward, translucent and glowing with blazing red clouds of light, illuminating these splendid mountains and rivers. A Fire Spring forming a waterfall would be the rarest resource in the outside world, around which great cities would be founded, yet here it was merely part of the scenery. "Truly worthy of having been a premier blessed land." Qin Ming gazed into the distance. There were many such wonders, with advanced Fire Springs clustering densely. No wonder a thousand years ago, the grand figures of the outer realm had attempted to elevate this place into a grotto-heaven. "Are there any grotto-heavens in the night mist world?" Qin Ming asked. "Not to my knowledge," Li Qingyue said. Mount Luofu possessed the qualities of a grotto-heaven, but the time for its metamorphosis had not yet arrived. "Here are inscriptions left by our patriarch. We'll search along this path." Li Qingyue touched the moss-covered stone cliff. Suddenly, her foot caught and she nearly collapsed, showing just how severe her injuries were. Qin Ming quickly caught her again, a worried look on his face. "With injuries this severe, could anything happen to your sea of consciousness or Yellow Court?" "Once we find the spiritual nest, none of this will matter. Those five didn't have it easy either—two were nearly killed by me, and the other three were also badly injured," Li Qingyue said. Qin Ming could not help but marvel at how time changed everything. The elegant young girl of the past had grown to such a stage, capable of slaying outer realm core disciples, rising with ferocious momentum. He felt dissatisfied with himself and could only sigh. He was also heavily injured, yet none of his opponents were famous figures—only Tan Yu had even been mentioned. Figures like He Tai, who carried the bearing of a youthful grandmaster; Chen Shuhang, who had mastered the Five-Color Thunderfire force; Jiang Congyun, disciple of the Pure Yang Palace; the enigmatic successor of the Five Elements Palace; and the registered disciple of the Yuqing lineage—these were the truly formidable figures, each having mastered top-tier heavenly light forces. Tan Yu had merely been mentioned in passing as someone who had fused over ten types of heavenly light forces in the Newborn stage. But wasn't that true of anyone with decent backing? "I'm still not strong enough!" Qin Ming sighed, feeling that if he crossed paths with those truly formidable figures, he might well meet his end here. Li Qingyue spoke: "Don't sell yourself short. You are already extraordinary. Having undergone only five rebirths as a Newborn, you can already slay Outer Sages. Those people have lineages behind them, were meticulously groomed, and stepped into the Outer Sage domain long ago. I believe you will quickly close the gap and surpass them." Ever since Qin Ming's body began its rebirths, things had gone smoothly. He had fused various heavenly light forces and had even wiped out Golden Rooster Ridge single-handedly, achieving dazzling feats. But upon arriving here, he found he could hardly look down upon opponents from the greater world. "I must work harder to improve myself!" he said, nodding. Mainly, having Li Qingyue as a comparison made the difference stark: she could slay the strongest core disciples of the outer realm, while the ones he fought were largely nameless. "Oh? We should be close," Li Qingyue said with delight. Brilliant divine light swirled in her eyes as she peered ahead with an esoteric ocular art. "Over there!" She pointed out a path. In this area, golden maple trees covered the hills and plains, every leaf glowing translucent yellow. Reflected by Fire Springs, it was an ideal location to build a cottage and dwell. Qin Ming supported Li Qingyue as they passed through the woodland where golden leaves drifted down, arriving before a rocky mountain devoid of soil and vegetation. Chiseled stone steps climbed steeply toward the mountainside. "This is the place. I hope this spiritual nest is still usable." Li Qingyue spotted the markings left by her patriarch on the stone mountain. Qin Ming helped her ascend the steep slope. Arriving halfway up the mountain, they saw a sealed stone door. "There's movement in the distance!" "Li Qingxu!" The two spotted Li Qingxu's figure appearing on a distant mountain peak. He was confronting the Tathagata renegade, Xiang Yiwu; the two seemed to have just exchanged a blow. "He's like a haunting ghost. He definitely knows you're injured and followed us all the way here—is he trying to seize a chance to strike?" Qin Ming stared into the distance. Li Qingyue said, "It might not necessarily be for revenge. He could have heard that my patriarch made preparations here and wants to enter the spiritual nest as well." Though this matter was closely kept, Li Qingxu's master held immense status and had the clearance to examine sealed archives, so he might have uncovered clues. Qin Ming said, "Xiang Yiwu is truly fierce, actually holding off Li Qingxu." His expression was solemn. Without this Tathagata renegade nearby, he and Li Qingyue might have faced a perilous crisis. This trip into the Spiritual Cave was far more dangerous than he had imagined. Li Qingxu vanished; in the end, he did not engage in a full battle with Xiang Yiwu. Qin Ming whispered, "I'll go see Xiang Yiwu. I need him to do us a favor and hold off Li Qingxu for now. If that guy barges in at a critical moment, things will turn ugly." Li Qingyue nodded. Given enough time, Li Qingxu might indeed find his way here. Before long, Qin Ming met Xiang Yiwu again. Before Qin Ming could even speak, the Tathagata renegade complained, "What's going on? Every time I cross paths with you, I end up facing core disciples of the outer realm. This is genuinely dangerous." "I'll give you the Departing Fire Classic in advance, but you have to help me keep that Li Qingxu at bay. I trust your character." Hearing this, Xiang Yiwu's bronze-bell eyes lit up, and his spirits lifted. "That's fantastic! I've always been clear on gratitude and grudges—give me an inch of respect, and I'll return a foot. I definitely won't let you get the short end of the stick. I have a scripture here, the Wuji Classic, which is even more precious than your extraordinary Departing Fire Classic." The moment Qin Ming heard the title, he knew it was extraordinary and had an illustrious heritage; the two words "Wu" and "Ji" alone spoke volumes. Next, Qin Ming began reciting the scripture, while Xiang Yiwu closed his eyes, listened intently, and actually committed it to memory in silence. "This is an entire book. Can you really memorize it word for word?" Qin Ming was astonished by his talent. Xiang Yiwu explained, "After a Newborn steps into the Outer Sage domain, they can begin utilizing some spirit light of consciousness. My sect has a secret art that can temporarily imprint heard words into the mind for several days. Without paper and brush right now, I can only use this method to memorize it by rote." "Are you truly a renegade?" Qin Ming was skeptical. "Since you treated me with sincerity and gave me the Departing Fire Classic first, I won't hide anything from you either. I wouldn't really call myself a renegade—I'm just being 'free-ranged.' The internal competition in the sect is too fierce, so now I've become 'wild.' The elders want to expand the Tathagata arts and have tested many paths; I'm trying to tread one of them." Xiang Yiwu sighed. How far he could go depended entirely on his own struggles. As the elders put it, anyone who achieves greatness must first endure bitter trials of the will; staying on Spirit Mountain would only ruin them. He said, "If I fail, I'm a renegade. If I succeed and surpass my fellow disciples, then one day I can return and become the Tathagata." "Then I wish you an early ascent to becoming the Tathagata!" Qin Ming smiled. Xiang Yiwu shook his head and sighed, "I wouldn't dare dream of it; some senior brothers are terrifying. I'm still far off. Alas, being wild with no one to raise me is truly tough." After memorizing the Departing Fire Classic, he began reciting the Wuji Classic for Qin Ming. Qin Ming stopped him, saying, "Recite while you demonstrate the moves. Be earnest and focused; I'll learn along with you." Qin Ming had not stepped into the Outer Sage domain, nor did he possess Xiang Yiwu's sect secret art, making rapid memorization impossible. The only way was through mental resonance. Xiang Yiwu nodded and began reciting while demonstrating the extraordinary art. Qin Ming concentrated his spirit completely. This time, the result was superb—he thoroughly grasped the true essence of the Wuji Classic. "You're still just a Newborn, yet you memorized it this quickly?" Xiang Yiwu had assumed he would need to recite it many times, never expecting a single run-through to suffice. The look in his eyes when he gazed at Qin Ming mirrored Qin Ming's earlier amazement. "I barely committed it to memory. If there's still anything I don't understand, I'll consult you again later," Qin Ming said. Before long, he returned to the rocky mountain. Using her unique spirit light of consciousness, Li Qingyue shook the stone door, then opened the entrance. Unlike what they had expected, the air inside was not foul. On the contrary, it was exceedingly fresh, accompanied by waves of billowing spiritual light. Li Qingyue said, "This place connects to the ancestral veins of the earth, far richer in spiritual vitality than many blessed lands." Soon, delight showed on her face as she felt her damaged spirit light of consciousness growing active again, no longer so dim. "Hmm?!" Qin Ming discovered that the moment he stepped inside, his own spirit surged with vigor, as though slowly rising, on the verge of undergoing some kind of transformation.