The young Taoist boy Li Muzi was stunned, feeling as if he had missed something important.
Shui Miao returned to the platform of the Sixteenth Palace of Thunder, where the Bagua pattern instantly transported him back to his original location. He located his previous standing spot and stomped his foot, his consciousness immediately returning to his physical body. Slowly withdrawing from his meditative state, he opened his eyes and saw the fox spirit, Seventh Miss, sitting cross-legged nearby.
Sensing Shui Miao’s movement, Seventh Miss quickly opened her eyes. “Brother Shui Miao, why did you come back so quickly? Did you find an immortal to help you?”
“It’s hard to say…”
Shui Miao gently shook his head, deep in thought as he murmured, “It felt like I found someone, yet also like I didn’t. A White Armor Immortal General from the Fifth Heaven gave me a jade pendant, which merged directly into my soul. I don’t know if this pendant can protect me.”
“It should be able to…” Seventh Miss was taken aback. She didn’t understand the function of the pendant, but she was astonished that a general from the Fifth Heaven was a very powerful figure indeed. “If it couldn’t protect you, why would the Immortal General even give it to you, Brother Shui Miao?” Of course, since Seventh Miss had never been to the Immortal Realm, she couldn’t provide an accurate answer.
Shui Miao interrupted this unverifiable topic and asked, “How much time has passed outside?”
“Just a moment or so. Time in the Ninth Heaven flows the same as in the mortal world,” Seventh Miss quickly replied. “Brother Shui Miao, I suppose you didn’t make it to the Eighth Heaven, right? I heard that entering the Eighth Heaven requires passing some kind of trial.”
“I didn’t go!” Shui Miao looked at Seventh Miss and shifted the conversation to the nine types of spiritual energies that interested him. “In this world, there’s the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. Do you know of any other spiritual energies besides these seven?”
“Hmm, let me think…”
Seventh Miss pondered for a moment and then asked in return, “Does spiritual energy from demons count?”
“I don’t think so.”
Shui Miao broke into a sweat. If it were that simple, he would have thought of it himself!
Obviously, the other two types of spiritual energy required by the Spirit General were rare and precious. If it were something so ordinary, the Immortal General wouldn’t have specially come all the way from the Fifth Heaven just to give him the jade pendant and explain all this.
“That’s true…” Seventh Miss mused. “Yin and Yang and the Five Elements are natural energies—the energies that create all things. What other energies in this world could be considered as creative forces? Could it be the energy of life and the energy of death?” She thought seriously and came up with the idea of the vitality of the living and the lifeless energy of ghosts.
“Let me think again…”
Shui Miao still felt it wasn’t that simple, so he shook his head slightly. “Seventh Miss, if you have something to do, you can go first.”
With Seventh Miss around, Shui Miao felt he couldn’t concentrate on figuring out the eighth and ninth types of spiritual energy.
“I, I don’t really have anything to do…”
Seventh Miss thought Shui Miao was trying to send her away but then reconsidered—Shui Miao had only said she could go if she had something to do.
Seeing that Seventh Miss didn’t leave, Shui Miao was somewhat helpless. He closed his eyes and ignored her, continuing his contemplation.
Seeing Shui Miao in meditation, Seventh Miss immediately sat cross-legged again as well.
Shui Miao thought and thought, and besides the vitality and death energy mentioned by Seventh Miss, he came up with many other terms related to “qi,” but something still felt off. He felt his thoughts were too simplistic. After thinking for quite a while, he became increasingly frustrated and finally stopped, calming his mind, focusing his thoughts, and entering a meditative state.
Looking at the cracked Heaven’s Gate in his meditation, Shui Miao felt confused again. The young Taoist Li Muzi had said that if he joined an immortal sect, someone from the sect would naturally guide him. Now, the mysterious Spirit General had given him a jade pendant, so he must now be considered under the Spirit General’s protection. Therefore, joining another sect in the Immortal Realm would probably be inappropriate.
If he couldn’t join another sect, he wouldn’t know what to do next.
Also, this Heaven’s Gate in his meditation led to the Immortal Realm. When it opened, many Immortal Killing Winds would blow in, which would be extremely troublesome. Even immortals in the Ninth Heaven had to hide in their immortal palaces to avoid these winds. As a mere cultivator, how could he possibly withstand them? But if he didn’t open the Heaven’s Gate, then little Immortal Qi would pour in, affecting the speed of his cultivation.
This was a contradiction, and Shui Miao was deeply troubled.
Shui Miao also recalled that the last time he was in this meditative state, why had the Immortal Qi self-destructed?
Was it because his power wasn’t sufficient? After thinking it through, Shui Miao believed this was the only explanation. After all, he had only been cultivating for a short time. He simply couldn’t withstand the powerful killing winds yet. It would be better to accumulate strength slowly and wait until he was stronger.
Just as he was pondering, Shui Miao suddenly noticed a purple mist emanating from his chest! This mist spread within the meditation realm and eventually reached the Heaven’s Gate, filling in the cracks and sealing the gate. The Heaven’s Gate now appeared patched up, yet Immortal Qi could still flow in smoothly.
“This mist must be what the Spirit General gave me to protect me from the Immortal Killing Winds!”
Shui Miao quickly deduced the purpose of the purple mist.
That’s right!
Purple Qi!
Suddenly, Shui Miao thought of the purple energy—the Qi of Fortune—he had seen before when gambling. After absorbing it into his body, his luck had become extraordinary!
But if this purple energy was indeed one of the nine types of spiritual energies the Immortal General had mentioned, then he already had it and didn’t lack it anymore.
Then, what was the final missing type of spiritual energy?
“Hu huu huu huu…”
Suddenly, a howling wind sound came from beyond the Heaven’s Gate. Shui Miao looked up and saw the Heaven’s Gate crack turn black!
“That was close!”
Shui Miao was secretly alarmed. If it hadn’t been for this purple energy, who knew how much Immortal Killing Wind would have blown into his meditation realm!
“Purple Qi! Isn’t there already purple energy in my Immortal Qi?”
Shui Miao recalled how he had transformed his robe into a purple Taoist robe in front of Li Muzi before. Could the jade pendant be reminding him to use purple energy to resist the Immortal Killing Wind? Thinking of this, Shui Miao willed his Immortal Qi to separate out a large amount of purple energy, which gathered at the crack in the Heaven’s Gate, blocking the Immortal Killing Wind.
Not long after, the Immortal Killing Wind receded.
Shui Miao exhaled in relief, preparing to exit his meditation, when suddenly he sensed a force sucking at his purple energy! Before Shui Miao could react, the jade pendant appeared again, shooting out a murky yellow-black energy that flew straight out through the Heaven’s Gate. Immediately after, the pulling force vanished.
“What exactly was causing this?”
Shui Miao didn’t dare to chase out immediately. After waiting a few seconds, he extended his consciousness beyond the Heaven’s Gate. His soul instantly arrived, standing on the clouds, and he saw a familiar figure quickly retreating in the distance…
“It was him—the young Taoist Li Muzi!”
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