Chapter 239: Nemesis
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The crowd of several hundred were exploring the wilderness of the moon’s bright side. The black skies didn’t seem to be affecting the glow.
In the areas surrounding them, plants could occasionally be seen surfacing. That was because the appearance of the Spirit Qi transformed the moon, making it habitable. The only issue was that there was such a strong suppressive force that affected everyone, including w.a.n.g Baole, who had such great physical strength.
After advancing for approximately half an hour, some physically weaker female cultivators were out of breath and had slowed down despite having reached the peak of True Breath realm.
“Activate the Qi Fostering Art and sense the changes in the surrounding Spirit Qi in order to locate the fragments. However, the fragments that can be used for Foundation Establishment are unique, and therefore have to be chosen from many different fragments…” w.a.n.g Baole looked at the female cultivators who had slowed down as he muttered to himself. He tried to activate the Qi Fostering Art but was unable to sense any Spirit Qi.
There is no Spirit Qi here. w.a.n.g Baole scratched his head. As he looked towards Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng, he realized that they didn’t sense it either.
As for Huang Shan, w.a.n.g Baole had secretly observed him several times and discovered that, from the beginning, he had remained silent and didn’t seem dangerous. That calmed w.a.n.g Baole down slightly, though he was still cautious.
The Spirit Qi on the moon was unevenly distributed. There were numerous areas without any Spirit Qi, and that was where the people from the four major Dao Colleges found themselves.
Therefore, no matter how hard they tried to activate the Qi Fostering Art, it was futile. w.a.n.g Baole was somewhat frustrated, and after thinking about it, he decided to try and adjust his devouring seed.
Time to wake up! This fella has been disobedient ever since it was fed… It seems like I shouldn’t let it get its fill in the future… w.a.n.g Baole thought as he woke the devouring seed, attempting to activate it.
However, the devouring seed didn’t have much of a reaction. w.a.n.g Baole slapped his tummy in frustration and was about to begin nagging when, for some unknown reason, the devouring seed began moving after being slapped.
“Hmm?” w.a.n.g Baole’s eyes lit up, hurriedly slapping his tummy several more times. He realized that the devouring seed moved several times again. That made w.a.n.g Baole pleasantly surprise, as he began to slap his tummy continuously.
Seeing what w.a.n.g Baole was doing, Zhuo Yifan and Zhuo Yifan were confused. The other disciples from the Dao Colleges either noticed w.a.n.g Baole or turned their attention to him in bewilderment after hearing the sound.
Soon, many people began to notice w.a.n.g Baole slapping his tummy continuously. They were incredulous but didn’t think much about it. Li Yi, who was amongst them, looked at w.a.n.g Baole condescendingly and with annoyance, sneering.
Huang Shan also took a look, but quickly retracted his gaze and didn’t react.
Without caring about how others were viewing him, w.a.n.g Baole was extremely delighted. As he slapped his body, the devouring seed within his body seemed to be slapped awake, slowly activating and picking up speed. After a brief moment, the skin under w.a.n.g Baole’s s.h.i.+rt had turned red, and that was when the devouring seed was finally activated.
As it activated, a suction force was produced. In his exhilaration, w.a.n.g Baole hurriedly controlled the suction force, maintaining it below the limits of detection by the others.
Even though it was under slight control, the devouring seed was instinctively sensitive to Spirit Qi. Therefore, with it activated, it was significantly more efficient at detecting the Spirit Qi compared to w.a.n.g Baole when he was using the Qi Fostering Art.
Very quickly, w.a.n.g Baole was able to detect some Spirit Qi spreading from the north-west direction with the help of the devouring seed’s suction force. The Spirit Qi was weak and would be impossible to detect if one were to depend on the Qi Fostering Art. w.a.n.g Baole looked excitedly in the north-west direction.
And at that moment…
“I have found one! It’s in the north-west direction!” Amongst the crowd, a voice that carried a hint of hubris emerged.
w.a.n.g Baole was shocked as he turned around to take a look. Immediately, he saw s.h.i.+ Ling, the disciple from Holy River Dao College who was naturally more sensitive to Spirit Qi than anyone else with her hands crossed and her jaw raised, gloating with delight as she announced to the people beside her.
“It has been found?”
“She’s no doubt a natural at sensing Spirit Qi! I have tried for a whole hour and didn’t even detect anything!”
s.h.i.+ Ling’s discovery instantly caught the attention of the crowd. Soon, everyone was das.h.i.+ng towards the location mentioned by s.h.i.+ Ling. Along the way, w.a.n.g Baole felt frustrated as he traveled with the crowd. Before long, they had reached a piece of barren land in the north-west direction.
He could distinctively sense that there were hints of Spirit Qi spreading out on the barren land. Apparently, s.h.i.+ Ling could detect it as well. As she led the crowd with the wind in her hair, the ma.s.ses began digging. Gradually, after excavating tens of feet into the ground, a fragment the size of a fingernail was found.
As soon as the fragment emerged, a thick cloud of Spirit Qi was given off, evoking everyone’s desire. However, since s.h.i.+ Ling discovered it, and compet.i.tion for the fragments within the four major Dao Colleges wasn’t allowed, the only thing they could do was watch the fragment be taken away before their eyes. Despite that, even though the Spirit Qi of the fragment was strong, it wasn’t one suited for Foundation Establishment.
“Rest a.s.sured, everyone. As long as I, s.h.i.+ Ling, am around, it won’t be a problem for each of you to obtain a fragment.” s.h.i.+ Ling announced as she grabbed the fragment in her embrace and flung her sleeves.
Her words filled everyone with antic.i.p.ation as they crowded around her and continued their search forward. w.a.n.g Baole watched everything from the sidelines, feeling indignant and extremely disgusted by her.
I don’t believe that my devouring seed would lose to this Spirit Qi sensor! w.a.n.g Baole stared as he activated the devouring seed and began his search again.
Time flew by, and after five minutes, while the crowd was still searching, w.a.n.g Baole trembled internally as he sensed a surge of Spirit Qi. In his delight, he was about to exclaim out loud when…
s.h.i.+ Ling managed to be a step faster again. With pride and delight in her voice, she announced.
“I found another one. It’s right in front, a thousand feet away!”
w.a.n.g Baole trembled, standing in shock as he stared at the crowd das.h.i.+ng towards the location after hearing those words. Very quickly, another fragment was found. However, it was a pity that it was still not the required fragment for Foundation Establishment.
w.a.n.g Baole felt a strong sense of exhilaration from everything that was happening.
She’s my nemesis? w.a.n.g Baole inhaled deeply, looking at s.h.i.+ Ling who was gloating with pride as she flung her sleeves. Watching her, w.a.n.g Baole grew more indignant.
What weird habit is that? Flinging her sleeves? w.a.n.g Baole sneered, thinking about whether he should leave the group and search on his own. However, he felt that if he left, it would show that he was less competent than s.h.i.+ Ling.
With that thought, w.a.n.g Baole felt that he shouldn’t concede defeat. Therefore, he increased the suction force of the devouring seed, focusing all his attention on searching for the Spirit Qi, with the goal of being faster than s.h.i.+ Ling in finding the fragments to prove his capabilities.
The only issue was… the idea was good, but things didn’t go according to the way w.a.n.g Baole had planned. Soon, when he sensed the fragment for the third time…
“I found it again, hah!”
w.a.n.g Baole inhaled, gritting his teeth and continued his search, until…
“The fourth one! It’s in the south-east direction!”
“There are so many here! The fifth one is three hundred feet away, right there!”
“The sixth one is right there, in the area approximately a thousand feet in front!”
As s.h.i.+ Ling announced continuously, the crowd was surprised by how sensitive s.h.i.+ Ling was to the Spirit Qi. There were even a few female cultivators whose eyes lit up with pa.s.sion when they looked towards s.h.i.+ Ling.
However, it seemed like the number of fragments suitable for Foundation Establishment were few and far between. Even though s.h.i.+ Ling managed to find many fragments, none of them were suited for Foundation Establishment.
Even though they couldn’t be used for Foundation Establishment, the fragments were still extremely valuable.
Could this fellow be a reincarnation of a radar? For the first time, w.a.n.g Baole felt helpless. Seeing s.h.i.+ Ling delightfully fling her sleeves every time she found a fragment made w.a.n.g Baole sigh deeply.
Forget it! It’s not that I am weaker than her. I need to keep a low profile. After all, Huang Shan seems a little weird, and I shouldn’t attract too much attention. It’s better if I go solo! w.a.n.g Baole took in a deep breath, filling himself with determination. He was about to notify Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng when suddenly, his devouring seed immediately sensed a concentrated wave of Spirit Qi charging towards it.
“I found it!” w.a.n.g Baole shouted loudly instinctively. However, as he shouted, s.h.i.+ Ling, as well as everyone else, exclaimed at the same time while trembling.
“I found it too!”
“It’s such a concentrated wave of Spirit Qi, right in front!”
As the crowds squealed in delight, everyone soon discovered that the wave of Spirit Qi was more prominent than any they had sensed before. It seemed to be right ahead, where there appeared to be a huge reservoir of Spirit Qi emanating in all directions, filling the entire area.
It instantly fired everyone up. Immediately, they all dashed forward. Even w.a.n.g Baole suppressed his annoyance as he picked up speed with the others.
Soon, when they managed to get a clear look at what was ahead, they all held their breaths and were soon hyperventilating.
w.a.n.g Baole was also shocked into a daze. Right in front of them was a basin with hundreds of fragments that weren’t buried deep in the ground, but scattered all over the surface. It was as if a huge fragment once existed there before breaking apart and scattering its fragments in the entire area!
It made the Spirit Qi extremely concentrated. The nearer one was to it, the more concentrated it was!
“Gos.h.!.+ Right here…”
“Remnants of the fragments? How is this possible? Such an obvious trace of the fragments and no one has discovered it before?”