One Month

Yuchu's reasoning for doing this didn't seem to make sense—at least not based on the information Xu Yuan currently possessed. Drawing conclusions in the absence of sufficient information was pointless. Besides, the matter wasn't particularly critical; locating the illusion's source and breaking out was the true priority. And so, their days of living together slipped by one after another. Inheriting Jinghe's cultivation gave Xu Yuan his first true taste of what it felt like to be an immortal cultivator. He had no need for sleep at night and didn't feel the least bit drowsy, effectively gaining an extra third of every day to attend to his own matters. Taking advantage of his status as a second-generation core disciple, Xu Yuan visited the tenth floor of Wenyuan Pavilion to memorize a top-tier cultivation manual known as the "Huanyang Art." He had pried this detail from those pampered scions; it was the very art Jinghe was currently cultivating. An orphan's treatment naturally lagged behind that of the other nine scions whose elders were still alive and well. Their cultivation resources were supplied almost without limit, and the sect's cultivation techniques and secret arts were theirs for the taking. The sect held plenty of arts far superior to the Huanyang Art, but with Jinghe's current status, the tenth floor of Wenyuan Pavilion was as high as Xu Yuan could go. He couldn't even catch a glimpse of the lightly clad young beauty stationed up on the thirteenth floor. Still, Yuchu sending him into this secret realm could truly be considered a stroke of fortune. If he had lacked cultivation arts or secret methods, almost everything beneath the tenth floor of the Qionghua Sect's Wenyuan Pavilion would have been his for the choosing. The question was, did he lack cultivation methods? He didn't. The Chancellor's Manor possessed far more cultivation methods than this Wenyuan Pavilion. Furthermore, refined over ten thousand years, their quality was significantly superior to what was housed here. Of course, that wasn't an absolute rule. Throughout history, from ancient times to the present, brilliant and astonishing talents had never been in short supply. The techniques they created naturally had their own unique strengths. The Huanyang Art was one such example. He studied the Huanyang Art while simultaneously searching for the illusion's source within the Vault Palace. Half a month flew by in the blink of an eye without the slightest progress, though during this time Xu Yuan did manage to clear up one thing he had always been curious about: How the internal structure of a sect like the Qionghua Sect differed from other sects. While it lacked a direct line of succession, the Qionghua Sect could still be considered the spiritual successor to the universally coveted Hehuan Sect. By leveraging his cultivation to eavesdrop on the disciples' conversations along the way, Xu Yuan indeed discovered many differences, though matters were not quite as exaggerated as he had imagined. The sect's monthly Dual Cultivation Ceremony wasn't some wild orgy. Dual cultivation came in many forms—both proper and improper. There was no need to elaborate on proper dual cultivation methods; they required stripping off one's clothes. The improper kind, on the other hand, mostly involved circulating energy to transfer qi. Disciples would circulate the same technique to transfer qi and reinforce one another, or utilize the differences between male and female constitutions to balance yin and yang, channeling qi to shore up weaknesses. The Dual Cultivation Ceremony belonged to this latter category. When it came to relationships between male and female disciples, however, things here were somewhat different from the conservative outside world—in fact, it felt a bit like the modern era of his previous life. Some senior brother would dump a senior sister and immediately hook up with another senior sister. Some senior sister would maintain dual cultivation relationships with two junior brothers at the same time—and the proper kind, at that. The Vault Palace was vast, and endless gossip among the thousands of disciples was constantly in the air. Naturally, aside from these relatively normal occurrences, there were also a few less conventional ones. While searching for the source with Tianyan, using their cultivation to scout all over the Vault Palace, they occasionally ran into young couples taking the sky as their blanket and the earth as their bed. With his cultivation, Xu Yuan watched with relish every single time, while the young girl Tianyan was driven half out of her mind. Afflicted with aphrodisiac poison, she couldn't bear the sight of such things. Every time Xu Yuan finally finished watching, left wanting more, Tianyan would furiously cast several Heaven Character True Words just to suppress the turbulent stirring in her heart. Yet aside from these spectacles, they found not a single clue regarding how to break the illusion. The Meishen cherry tree sapling remained completely out of reach. They had tried every approach without finding a shred of hope; the higher-ups of the Qionghua Sect had hidden the divine tree with exceptional secrecy. Left with no choice, Xu Yuan and Tianyan could only resort to instigating their "dearest, most beloved friends." As it turned out, these pampered scions were even more eager than Xu Yuan had anticipated. Tianyan simply brought up the topic of the Meishen cherry tree, and the group immediately raised a clamor, insisting on going to see it with their own eyes. They didn't require any coaxing at all. Bai Fan, the son of the Qionghua Sect Master, served as their inside man responsible for temporarily disabling the formation. Yun Xi, the Grand Elder's daughter, was tasked with stealing the soul key seal to guide everyone past the spirit puppets' inspection. Tang Jiuqing, the disciple of the Sixth Elder, was to lure away the guards stationed at the vital inner vault. Everything was meticulously planned. The next day, the group gathered to await news, only to receive grim tidings from the second disciple of the Deacon Elder. Give up waiting; all three are down. The brave warriors have become martyrs. Bai Fan had been strung up by his sect master father and thrashed with the Qingqiong Whip. Tang Jiuqing had been sentenced to solitary confinement in the Youbi Pavilion. Yun Xi, being a girl, got off somewhat easier—she was merely placed under house arrest in her own quarters. Hearing this news, just as Xu Yuan prepared to regroup and devise a new plan, the scions all began to beat a retreat. Their reaction left Xu Yuan completely speechless. Huh? That was it? Over before it even began? Getting strung up and whipped wasn't going to kill you anyway. Your sect master old man is at least a Saint; back then, even Xu Changge knew how to hold back his strength when whipping me. Would your father not know how to do the same? If you get locked in solitary confinement, just bang your head against the wall. House arrest is even easier—your legs belong to you, so just run out. And the rest of you, The whip didn't even touch you, so why are you chickening out already? Whatever happened to being arrogant scions? Whatever happened to being second-generation hedonists? That's all you've got? After a brief silence, Xu Yuan spoke up, but constrained by his persona, he could only drop subtle hints. Yet after a few sentences, he realized that saying anything more was useless. The backbone of these "dearest friends"—the backbone of pampered scions—had been temporarily broken. With that, the last shortcut for Xu Yuan and Tianyan to approach the Meishen cherry tree sapling was completely blocked. Recognizing that this matter could not be rushed, Xu Yuan ceased to feel any urgency at all. He had come to realize the greatest opportunity this illusion offered him. Time. He had spent far too little time in this world of Cangyuan. Though he had read a vast number of records, compared to an entire world, it was merely a drop in the ocean. Whenever he encountered something he didn't understand outside, he had to ask either Ran Qingmo or Old Man Luo. Now, inside this illusion, he still had to ask Tianyan. Xu Yuan began borrowing and reading ancient records. The first month within the illusion slipped by in this manner. Over the course of that month, Xu Yuan gradually loosened some of the constraints he held over Tianyan. Regardless of what was happening in the outside world, and regardless of what had happened before or would happen in the future, the two of them were truly grasshoppers tied to the same string right now. Because, Their dearest friends brought them a piece of news: The Qionghua Sect was about to select a Saintess. And then, Tianyan discovered that she couldn't purge the aphrodisiac poison from her body. Even with Xu Yuan assisting her from the side, it couldn't be completely cleared. The poison had taken root within her like maggots clinging to bone. Even so, as long as she remained unprovoked, the washboard Saintess's combat strength had recovered to roughly seventy percent of her normal state. Upon learning that the Qionghua Sect was going to select a Saintess, Xu Yuan immediately began a new round of combat practice. Naturally, to avoid blowing his cover, Tianyan was the only sparring partner he could turn to. Tianyan readily agreed. An increase in Xu Yuan's combat strength would benefit them both within this illusion. Besides, When it came to beating up Xu Yuan, she was genuinely enthusiastic.