“Alright, the matter has been resolved. The three of you should go about your business and not bother with this old relic. I still need to carefully study the gains and losses of this chess game.” The child waved his hand dismissively at the other cultivators, shaking his head as he spoke. Then, he truly lowered his head to scrutinize the chessboard before him.
Upon hearing this, the grey-robed elder and the others dared not delay and promptly voiced their assent. Led by the yellow-robed cultivator, they exited the hall through a side door.
“I truly never expected that Fellow Daoist Bai was actually… Senior Brother Yue, did you know about this beforehand?” The middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Crafts Sect couldn’t help but sigh as soon as they were a short distance from the stone hall.
“I had no idea. Senior Lan merely mentioned he needed to handle some matters here. How could I dare to inquire further?” The yellow-robed cultivator’s expression also darkened slightly.
Hearing this, the middle-aged cultivator fell silent, asking no more. The group of younger disciples behind them, having witnessed the earlier events, were even more hesitant to speak up casually.
In the somewhat oppressive atmosphere, Han Li and the others passed through a long corridor, turned a corner, and were led to a pale yellow stone door. Before this door sat a disheveled figure, motionless in a meditative posture.
Though the person’s face was obscured by tangled hair, the grey-white locks suggested they were far from young.
At the sight of this person, the yellow-robed cultivator’s face revealed a trace of respect.
“Brother Wei, I’ve brought the disciples for the Sword Trial Conference. Should they enter now?”
“Since they’ve arrived, let them in. The Spirit Nectar seems to be flowing later than anticipated, so these disciples will have to wait a bit longer.” The disheveled figure spoke calmly, his voice surprisingly steady and deep.
Han Li’s gaze swept over the person briefly, a cold glint flashing imperceptibly in his eyes. This disheveled cultivator was actually at the late Core Formation stage, already at the peak of the False Nascent Soul realm. This made Han Li pay extra attention to him.
Upon hearing the disheveled man’s voice, the grey-robed elder’s face lit up with excitement. He stepped forward quickly, his voice trembling slightly as he said, “Senior Brother Wei, you… how have you been?”
This person was actually a cultivator from the Falling Cloud Sect!
“Junior Brother Yu, it’s been so many years. You’ve aged a bit too,” the disheveled cultivator sighed softly, speaking leisurely.
“Senior Brother, why did you—”
“Enough. That we, as fellow disciples, can reunite here means our bond isn’t yet severed. Let’s not speak of the past. When I entered this place, I swore a solemn oath: I would not leave the mountain until I formed my Nascent Soul. Moreover, I’ve heard from our two uncles that Junior Brother Feng has managed the sect’s affairs impeccably. I have no worries on that front.” This Senior Brother Wei spoke with calm composure.
Hearing this, the grey-robed elder’s expression dimmed slightly, and the words he had been about to utter were swallowed back.
“Junior Brothers, wait a moment. I’ll open the restriction and lead you into the sacred ground.” Senior Brother Wei stood up, flicking a spell from his sleeve toward the yellow stone door. Instantly, the door split silently in two.
Before Han Li could clearly see what lay inside, he felt a surge of pure spiritual energy rush out from the doorway.
Indeed, this was the location of the Spirit Eye Tree.
However, upon brief comparison, the purity of this spiritual energy was no less than that of his Spirit Eye Jade—perhaps even slightly superior. Truly worthy of being a top-tier Spirit Eye treasure.
Led by the disheveled elder, Han Li and the others stepped inside, where a massive stalactite cavern suddenly appeared before them.
The cavern was several hundred feet in length and width, with a height of twenty to thirty feet. At first glance, it was as if they had stepped into an underground world.
Even more astonishing was the forest of stalagmites of varying sizes growing from the ground, forming a natural stone maze that densely filled most of the cavern.
Upon closer inspection, Han Li noticed faint white spiritual lights flickering between the stone pillars, clearly indicating the presence of some restriction.
As Han Li pondered this, the disheveled elder led the group to the edge of the stone forest. With a flip of his hand, he produced a small white ancient mirror about the size of a palm. Without a word, he began chanting, then raised his hand, causing a beam of white light to shoot from the mirror into the stone forest.
With a soft *puff*, the light beam vanished into the forest as if swallowed by mud. The elder then stowed the mirror and stood silently with his hands behind his back.
Just as some of the younger disciples were growing puzzled, the ground began to tremble slightly. Then, a sight that left the low-level cultivators dumbfounded unfolded.
The stone pillars, large and small, simultaneously emitted a milky white glow, followed by vast swathes of yellow light rising from the forest. Some of the pillars began shifting before their eyes in a dazzling display. By the time the younger disciples snapped out of their stupor, the stone forest had parted to reveal a straight, narrow path.
Witnessing this, Han Li’s expression flickered briefly before returning to normal.
The group followed the path effortlessly to the center of the stone forest, where they finally beheld the legendary Spirit Eye Tree.
“Is this thing really the Spirit Eye Tree?” Han Li was somewhat speechless as he gazed at the object before him, which stood about ten feet tall.
This straight, pale green object, as thick as an arm, looked more like a stone pillar than a tree. Most people would likely mistake it for a green stone column, with no resemblance to a tree whatsoever.
Yet, the astonishingly rich spiritual energy of the entire cavern indeed emanated from this knobby “stone pillar.” Moreover, the pillar was encased from top to bottom in a faint golden light barrier, sealing it tightly. Given such meticulous protection, this had to be the genuine Spirit Eye Tree.
Though Han Li harbored many silent criticisms, the grey-robed elder and the others gazed at the tree with fervent eyes. If a cultivator could practice directly beneath this tree, they could likely cut their cultivation time by nearly half, barring any bottlenecks.
Han Li, however, didn’t linger on the tree for long. His eyes quickly shifted to a jade vial at its base. The vial, about half a foot tall, was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, emitting a faint, familiar medicinal aroma.
*Could this be the partially prepared “Bright Spirit Water”?* Han Li wondered silently.
The others stopped several feet away from the Spirit Eye Tree, but the disheveled elder strode forward without hesitation. The faint golden barrier seemed to have no effect on him, allowing him to pass through effortlessly.
The elder circled the tree twice before placing a hand on its midsection. With a slight surge of spiritual power, green light flickered at his fingertips.
Though most of the onlookers had no idea what he was doing, they instinctively held their breaths, afraid of disturbing him.
After a long moment, the elder shook his head slightly and withdrew his hand, the green light vanishing instantly.
“The Spirit Nectar within the tree isn’t yet at the optimal time for extraction. We’ll need to wait another three or four hours. Until then, rest nearby. I’ll complete the final step of preparing the Bright Spirit Water, so it’s ready once the nectar is added.” The elder turned and spoke calmly.
“Everything shall be as Brother Wei says!” The middle-aged and yellow-robed cultivators nodded in agreement, and the grey-robed elder naturally had no objections.
Thus, under the instructions of the Core Formation cultivators, Han Li and the other younger disciples sat cross-legged in the center of the stone forest, some meditating, others practicing their breathing techniques.
Meanwhile, the disheveled elder bent down to pick up the jade vial beneath the tree. With a casual flick of his sleeve, the golden barrier suddenly flared with blinding light, obscuring everything within.
While the others seemed unfazed, Han Li frowned slightly and silently summoned the artifact spirit, Silvermoon.
“Brother Han, you called? What is it?” Silvermoon’s voice drifted into his mind.
“I remember you’re proficient in earth escape techniques. Can you secretly infiltrate that light barrier from underground? I don’t need you to do anything else—just retrieve a small section of the Spirit Eye Tree’s root for me,” Han Li said coolly.
“Give me a moment, Brother Han. I’ll test it with my artifact spirit form and return shortly.” With these words, Silvermoon transformed into a fist-sized miniature wolf and slipped unnoticed into the ground beneath Han Li.
Han Li’s expression remained unchanged, his eyes slightly narrowed as if in deep meditation.
Suddenly, Han Li’s eyebrows twitched, and his gaze shifted imperceptibly toward the burly man, Du Dong.
The man sat cross-legged in a corner of the group, motionless with his head bowed and hands forming a seal, seemingly engrossed in cultivation.
Seeing this, the corner of Han Li’s mouth curled slightly, carrying a hint of barely perceptible mockery.
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