“Alright, the matter has already been settled. Do as you will. You don’t need to mind this old man, I still need to properly a.n.a.lyze my moves from the last game.” The boy waved his hand toward the other cultivators and lowered his head as he closely examined the chessboard.
When the Core Formation cultivators heard this, they hurriedly brought the party over to one side of the hall.
Shortly after leaving the stone hall, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator couldn’t help but sigh, “I truly didn’t think that Fellow Daoist Bai was actually... Junior Martial Brother Yue, did you know about this beforehand?”
“I didn’t. Senior Lan merely said that he was coming here for a bit of business. How could I pry any further?” The yellow-clothed cultivator’s expression grew somewhat unsightly when he spoke.
With that said, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator shut his mouth and didn’t mention the matter any further to the group of disciples behind him.
Under this gloomy atmosphere, Han Li and the rest of the party continued walking through a long corridor. After making a turn, they arrived before a set of faintly yellow stone doors that had a man with disheveled hair sitting in front of it.
Although this person’s face was covered by his messy hair, one could tell his age from his white hair.
The yellow-clothed cultivator wore a respectful expression when he spotted him.
“Brother Wei, I’ve brought the disciples of the Sword Trial a.s.sembly. Is it alright for them to come in?”
The disheveled-haired man responded with a profoundly deep voice, “Since they’ve already arrived, they may come in. But since the Wine Nectar is shedding slower than we antic.i.p.ated, they must wait a while.”
Han Li quickly swept his gaze towards the man and a cold glint flickered from his eyes. This man was a Core Formation cultivator at the peak of the false Nascent stage. Han Li couldn’t help but take notice of him.
When the grey-clothed old man heard him, his expression revealed a trace of excitement. He stepped forward and said with a trembling voice, “Senior Martial Brother Wei, are... are you doing well?”
This person was a Drifting Cloud cultivator!
The disheveled-haired cultivator sighed and slowly said, “It seems that during the many years I haven’t seen Junior Martial Brother Yu, you’ve grown quite elderly.”
“Senior Martial Brother, why...”
This Senior Martial Brother Wei calmly said, “Enough. Since we’ve reunited, our destiny together hasn’t run out. Don’t speak anymore of what happened that year. When I entered this place, I made a death oath to condense a Nascent Soul or never leave. Besides, I’ve also found out from our two Martial Uncles that the sect is being cleanly handled by Junior Martial Brother Feng. I’m not worried in the slightest.”
When the grey-clothed old man heard this, his expression grew dim and he stifled the questions that he wished to ask.
“Junior Martial Brothers, wait for a moment. I will open the restrictions and allow you into the sacred area.” Old Man Wei stood up and shot a magic seal towards the yellow stone door which silently opened in response.
Having yet to clearly see what was behind it, Han Li first felt a wave of pure spiritual Qi envelop him.
As expected, this was where the Spirit Well Tree was located.
He felt that this pure spiritual Qi wasn’t inferior to the jade spirit well in the slightest. In fact, it felt as if it were slightly superior. It was truly worthy of its reputation as the best spirit well.
Under Old Man Wei’s guidance, Han Li and company were brought through the door into a huge cave.
This cave was about a kilometer wide and a hundred meters tall. It appeared as if they were underground.
What was particularly shocking about the scene were the many various-sized stalact.i.tes and stalagmites that formed a natural stone forest. A majority of the cave was densely filled with them, forming a small maze.
Under closer examination, Han Li discovered faint white lights twinkling from between the stone pillars. It seemed as if someone had placed some sort of restriction there.
As Han Li continued to ponder, Old Man Wei led the party to the edge of the stone forest and took out an ancient, palm-sized white mirror with a flip of his hand. Then with a quick mutter, he raised his hand and shot a white beam of light from the mirror into the stone forest.
With a woosh, the beam of light disappeared into the stone forest. He soon put the mirror away and wordlessly stood in place with his hands behind his back.
While the young cultivators were left confused, the ground suddenly trembled and a shocking scene occurred.
The forest of stone began to glow with a milky-white sparkling light. Soon after, the light turned yellow and the various stone pillars began to move away. By the time the young disciples recovered from their shock, a straight path through the stone forest had emerged.
Han Li’s heart stirred upon seeing this, but his expression remained calm.
The many cultivators walked down the small path and headed towards the center of the stone forest at a leisurely pace, eventually reaching the legendary Spirit Well Tree at the center.
Han Li glanced at the ten meter tall object in front of him and thought, ‘Is that truly the Spirit Well Tree?’
The object in front of him was as thick as an arm and a faint green. It appeared entirely unlike a tree and more like a pillar of stone.
However, the entirety of the cave’s astonis.h.i.+ng spiritual Qi was truly coming from this b.u.mpy stone pillar, and there was a faint golden barrier of light around it that covered even the roots that emerged above the ground. From how carefully it was protected, it appeared to truly be the Spirit Well Tree.
As Han Li silently cursed, the other cultivators wore fiery expressions as they gazed at the tree. If they were to directly cultivate underneath the three, they would be able to make rapid progress so long as they avoided any bottlenecks.
Han Li didn’t pay attention to the Spirit Well Tree for long. His attention soon dropped onto the jade bottle at the foot of the spirit well tree. The bottle was about half way full and slowly emitted a strong medicinal aroma.
Han Li mused, ‘Could that be the half-refined Brightsight Water?’
When the others arrived ten meters away from the Spirit Well Tree, they stopped. Only Old Man Wei continued to walk forward. It seemed the barrier had no effect on him as he managed to pa.s.s through without obstruction.
When the old man arrived in front of the spirit well tree, he circled around it and raised his hand, pressing it against the center of the tree. His fingers then began to sparkle with green light as he released spiritual power.
When the others outside the barrier saw this, they couldn’t help but hold their breath, fearing that they would disturb the old man.
A short moment later, Old Man Wei shook his head and withdrew his hand. The green light promptly faded away.
The old man turned around and calmly said, “The Spirit Well Tree hasn’t reached the optimal point to extract the Wine Nectar. There are still eight hours to go. Before this, you may rest nearby the tree. I have already prepared the Brightsight Water. It only needs the Wine Nectar to finish.”
“Then we’ll do as Brother Wei says.” The two Core Formation cultivators nodded their heads. The old man surnamed Yu appeared particularly obedient.
As for Han Li and company, they each sat around the stone tree under the instructions of the Core Formation cultivators, and began to cultivate.
Old Man Wei then lowered his body and grabbed onto the jade bottle by the Spirit Well Tree, casually tossing it into his sleeve.The faint light barrier then suddenly released a blinding light and prevented anyone from clearly seeing what was happening within.
Han Li frowned, seeing that the others were indifferent to the scene, and began to speak with Silvermoon.
Silvermoon slowly said, “Brother Han, why have you called for me?”
Han Li insipidly responded, “Your earth movement techniques are superb. Would you be able to secretly enter the light barrier? I only need to you acquire the root of the Spirit Well Tree and take it back to me.”
“Brother Han, please wait a moment. I will make an attempt in my tool spirit form.” Once that was said, Silvermoon materialized as a fist-sized wolf and secretly bore into the earth underneath Han Li.
Han Li closed his eyes with an unchanged expression and sunk into a meditative state.
Han Li then suddenly raised his brows and narrowly opened his eyes as his gaze dropped onto Du Dong.
Sitting at the corner to the group, he motionlessly drooped his head down with his hands forming a incantation gesture, appearing as if he was in cultivation.
When Han Li saw this, he smirked and inwardly scoffed at him.