After the female disciple went to retrieve the spirit beast, Han Li waited quietly on the reception platform, occasionally glancing at the restrictions around him.
Apart from the mountaintop where Han Li stood, the rest of Spirit Beast Mountain was divided into habitats of varying sizes by colorful restriction arrays. Each enclosed area was a breeding ground for a specific type of spirit beast. Aside from the rotating disciples of the Qilin Pavilion, no one else was permitted to enter. This was to prevent strangers from disturbing the spirit beasts or untamed creatures from harming outsiders.
Although the entire Spirit Beast Mountain appeared quiet, it was actually home to at least a thousand different spirit beasts—a truly astonishing scale!
The female disciple did not keep Han Li waiting long. Within the time it takes to finish a meal, she emerged from one of the restrictions, holding a small beast the size of a fist, and walked straight toward Han Li.
“This is the Twin-Pupiled Mouse. Renting it costs one low-grade spirit stone per day,” the female disciple said respectfully, gently stroking the soft fur of the little creature.
“Alright, here are three spirit stones. I’ll need it for three days,” Han Li replied indifferently.
“In three days, Senior only needs to release the Twin-Pupiled Mouse, and it will return to the Qilin Pavilion on its own. During this time, I hope Senior will treat it well. This bag contains its favorite Earth Pear Fruits—you can feed it a few when you have time,” the young woman said, handing over the spirit beast to Han Li and producing a small white pouch.
Han Li nodded slightly and calmly accepted it.
Then, under her respectful gaze, he flew away on his artifact.
Han Li flew northwest through the air.
As he traveled, he couldn’t help but examine the well-behaved Twin-Pupiled Mouse in his arms.
At first glance, the small yellow creature resembled an ordinary field mouse, with its petite size, yellow fur, and slender tail. The only difference was its pair of large eyes, which were entirely unlike those of a field mouse. This single distinction made the creature incredibly adorable!
Moreover, its eyes faintly shimmered with five-colored flowing light, adding to its mysterious and extraordinary aura.
Even someone as aloof as Han Li couldn’t resist stroking it a few times, and he even began to wonder if he should raise one himself!
However, Han Li was well aware that despite its current docility, this little creature was a genuine mid-tier level-one demon beast. In addition to its mystical dual pupils, it possessed steel teeth capable of chewing through copper and iron, and front claws that could pierce gold and stone. It was far from harmless!
With this in mind, Han Li playfully flicked the creature’s small ear, watching it twitch amusingly. He couldn’t help but chuckle, feeling a long-buried childlike innocence resurface.
Han Li flew with the creature for an entire day before finally stopping at the outermost northwestern region of the Tai Yue Mountain Range.
Continuing north for another hundred li would bring him into the territory of the Yuan Wu Kingdom, which was controlled by the Tian Xing Sect, a major cultivating faction. A market was established there, standing in implicit opposition to the Huang Feng Valley’s market to the east.
Two hundred li to the west was the border between Jian Zhou and Xi Zhou, the smallest prefecture in the Yue Kingdom. This prefecture was the only one without any presence from the seven major sects. Aside from loess highlands, it was mostly an endless desert, covering over three-quarters of Xi Zhou. The entire prefecture had a population of only about a hundred thousand, offering neither resources nor manpower. Thus, it naturally fell outside the interest of the seven major sects.
Han Li had chosen this area to establish his cave abode for two reasons.
First, it was a relatively desolate part of the Tai Yue Mountain Range, bordering the Yuan Wu Kingdom on one side and close to Xi Zhou on the other. Both areas saw little traffic from fellow disciples or other cultivators, ensuring his cultivation would remain undisturbed.
Second, it was not far from the Tian Xing Sect’s market. If he wanted to sell medicinal herbs or purchase items, he could easily do so there without fear of recognition.
With these considerations in mind, Han Li selected this location, even though its spiritual energy was not the richest. Unlike other Foundation Establishment disciples who clustered their cave abodes in areas with the densest spiritual energy, he chose solitude.
After landing, Han Li tied a pre-prepared slender rope around the Twin-Pupiled Mouse’s neck to prevent it from running too fast and getting lost. Then, he took a yellow round fruit from the small pouch and tossed it to the little creature to nibble on.
Shortly after devouring the Earth Pear Fruit, the Twin-Pupiled Mouse suddenly perked up. With a couple of light “squeaks,” it嗖的一下 darted into the nearby grass and vanished from sight.
Han Li calmly followed along the rope at a leisurely pace.
…
Han Li stood at the foot of a steep peak, staring blankly at the massive cliff face opposite him, which towered over a hundred zhang high.
The rope in his hand extended through an extremely narrow crevice directly into the cliff face.
It was already afternoon of the second day. After nearly two days of arduous searching, the Twin-Pupiled Mouse had suddenly begun sprinting frantically upon reaching this peak. It hurriedly led him here before squeezing through the crevice and disappearing inside.
Han Li looked at the tightly stretched thin rope in his hand, his curiosity piqued. After a moment’s thought, he patted his storage pouch, and the massive silver sword appeared in his hand.
Gripping the rope with one hand, Han Li wielded the silver sword with the other, cutting through the narrow fissure as easily as slicing tofu. In no time, he had widened it into a rough entrance large enough for a person to squeeze through.
Once inside, he immediately summoned a protective barrier around himself and began cutting through the rock step by step along the rope. All the scattered debris and dust were blocked by his water-attribute barrier, keeping him clean.
This physically demanding work continued for over an hour until a crude stone passage, several dozen zhang long, gradually took shape. When Han Li swung his sword once more, there was a sudden “crash” as the stone wall finally gave way.
Overjoyed, Han Li exerted all his strength, hacking wildly a few more times to completely break open the stone wall before stepping through in one swift motion.
A natural cave, about ten zhang in size, appeared before him. The moment Han Li entered, a rich wave of spiritual energy washed over him, leaving him utterly astonished!
His gaze followed the rope in his hand to the center of the cave, where a small spring bubbled incessantly. The Twin-Pupiled Mouse lay contentedly in the middle of the several-foot-wide water pool, swimming around leisurely.
“What is this?”
Han Li was truly shocked this time because the dense spiritual energy in the stone cave almost entirely emanated from this spring.
He hurried over, scooped up a handful of the spring water, and examined it closely.
“This is a Spirit Eye Spring, without a doubt!” Han Li confirmed his suspicion without much effort.
“Although the spiritual energy contained in the spring water isn’t as exaggerated as the rumors claim, and the spring itself is very small, it is indeed the rare Spirit Eye Spring,” Han Li murmured in disbelief, plunging his hands into the water.
Then he closed his eyes, feeling the faint strands of spiritual energy rising from the water, his face a mix of shock and delight.
To speak of spirit springs, one must first understand the concepts of spiritual veins and spirit eyes in the cultivation world!
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth is not evenly distributed across the world. Some places have richer concentrations, while others are more sparse. Over time, areas with dense spiritual energy generally form spiritual veins, large or small.
Large spiritual veins can stretch for tens of thousands of li without interruption, while small ones might only span a few li, pitifully narrow. Regardless of size, once these spiritual veins take shape, they automatically emit faint spiritual energy, ensuring the local spiritual energy circulates endlessly without exhaustion.
However, the spiritual energy produced at different points along these veins is not uniform. The locations where spiritual energy accumulates most densely are, of course, most suitable for cultivators to meditate and practice. These spots are known as “spirit eyes” in the cultivation world.
Generally, these “spirit eyes” are intangible and colorless, perceivable only through a cultivator’s sensitivity. But any place referred to as a spirit eye is undoubtedly the point with the richest spiritual energy in the nearby spiritual vein.
Although spirit eyes are typically intangible, merely names for specific locations, if the spiritual energy of a spirit eye becomes excessively dense and remains so for a long time, it may gradually materialize, forming spirit eye entities. Examples include Spirit Eye Pearls, Spirit Eye Stones, Spirit Eye Springs, and even the legendary highest-level Spirit Eye Trees!
The emergence of these materialized spirit eyes is an extremely rare occurrence. Without exception, they form only after tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, coupled with serendipitous circumstances.
Therefore, these materialized spirit eyes emit far denser spiritual energy than ordinary spirit eyes. Meditating and practicing near them undoubtedly has miraculous effects on accelerating cultivation speed.
The finest spirit eye entities can even increase a cultivator’s speed by twenty to thirty percent. Moreover, once these entities form, whether Spirit Eye Trees or Spirit Eye Springs, they can be relocated using magical power without diminishing their efficacy.
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