Chapter 187: Re-entering the Immortal Realm (Part 5)

As the breath entered his body, Shui Miao immediately felt the small black entity within his spiritual realm come alive. It seemed to transform into a slowly rotating black vortex, absorbing the spiritual energy within his realm…

“It’s a black hole!?”

Shui Miao’s heart trembled as the thought crossed his mind.

Had he actually cultivated the Soul-Devouring Qi?

Naturally, Shui Miao had no idea about the miraculous nature of the Yuan Dan (Golden Elixir). A few breaths of its energy were enough to rival decades of his cultivation.

“What are you doing?”

The supervisor happened to glance back and saw Shui Miao leaning over the Yuan Dan, his mouth nearly touching the golden gourd. Startled, he hurried over and pulled Shui Miao away. Shui Miao managed to inhale twice more before being dragged out of the storeroom by Xiao Liuzi, who then shut the door and angrily confronted him: “How could you do that? Those are elixirs specially made for the sect leader. Do you want to get me killed too?”

“No way…” Shui Miao was taken aback, then grinned: “I was just sniffing. It’s not as serious as you say. At most, I won’t go in again, okay?” Though he said this out loud, he thought otherwise. If he could get inside, he definitely would. Just sniffing wouldn’t cause any problem, right?

“No, not even sniffing. Once you sniff, you’ll want more.” Xiao Liuzi glared at Shui Miao and shoved the Yin-Yang Five Elements Pill into his hands, grumbling: “Here, take it. And remember, you must keep today’s incident a secret. If the sect leader finds out, both of us will be executed. Also, this Yin-Yang Five Elements Pill has already been taken out. If you don’t consume it soon, its spiritual potency will dissipate.”

“That serious!”

Shui Miao accepted the Yin-Yang Five Elements Pill somewhat incredulously.

“Nonsense, why would I lie to you for no reason?” Xiao Liuzi angrily turned and walked away.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m going to have some fun. These pills aren’t in a hurry to be packed anyway.”

If they weren’t in a hurry to be packed, wouldn’t the spiritual potency of the pills dissipate? Shui Miao’s mind raced, sensing something suspicious about Xiao Liuzi. Why would he specially come in to give him a spiritual pill? That was too good a deal. There must be a hidden plot. The Yin-Yang Five Elements Pill couldn’t be consumed. After thinking for a moment, Shui Miao casually picked up an empty gourd and placed the Yin-Yang Five Elements Pill inside.

Outside the pill hall, Xiao Liuzi transformed back into the supervisor’s appearance. Sensing Shui Miao placing the pill into the gourd, he became highly vigilant and regretted his impulsiveness, realizing he had been too obvious. The supervisor thought for a moment, recalling that mortal cultivators were often hypocritical—they might pretend not to consume the pill but secretly take it when he was away. Thinking thus, the supervisor calmed himself and no longer felt so anxious.

As Shui Miao placed the pills into the gourd, he secretly spread his spiritual sense, only to discover that this place was peculiar—he couldn’t sense anything at all with his spiritual perception.

Cautious and not daring to act rashly, Shui Miao continued placing the pills into the gourd while simultaneously absorbing spiritual energy to cultivate.

About ten minutes later, Shui Miao noticed that the spiritual energy within his realm was gradually diminishing, completely absorbed by the black vortex, which had grown larger, now the size of an egg. The vortex required a massive amount of spiritual energy, making Shui Miao feel hungry and eager to consume spiritual pills to replenish his energy.

Shui Miao shook his head, feeling empty and distressed within his spiritual realm.

Thus, he picked up the gourd containing the Yin-Yang Five Elements Pill…

Sensing Shui Miao picking up the gourd, the supervisor outside became instantly excited.

But immediately afterward, Shui Miao put the gourd down again, muttering to himself: “No! I can’t eat it. If there’s some hidden plot within, I’ll be in big trouble! However, the intense spiritual aura from the storeroom earlier…” As the sensation grew stronger, Shui Miao stood up and walked to the spot where Xiao Liuzi had stomped his foot earlier, imitating his actions by stomping his own feet several times, but the storeroom door remained unresponsive.

“This brat is actually scheming to get into the storeroom! Truly not simple!” The supervisor coldly chuckled. The storeroom door was imbued with sentience; it wouldn’t open for just anyone. Except for himself and the sect leader, no one else could open it, no matter how hard they stomped their feet.

Sighing, Shui Miao leaned against the giant stone door and sat on the ground.

He knew he had underestimated the situation. How could the storeroom door of the Ninth Heaven, the foremost sect, be opened so easily by just stomping a few times?

However, as his spiritual energy became increasingly depleted, Shui Miao’s head grew more and more painful…

What was going on?

The supervisor sensed Shui Miao’s pained expression and began to suspect—could there be a flaw in the Yin-Yang Five Elements spiritual energy Shui Miao was cultivating?

The supervisor didn’t suspect that Shui Miao had come with ulterior motives, since it was he himself who had assigned Shui Miao to the pill hall; he could have sent him elsewhere.

“Ahh!!”

Suddenly, Shui Miao couldn’t help but clutch his head and cry out in agony…

The force generated by the black vortex within his spiritual realm had spread to his soul-body, causing an excruciating transformation! However, soon after, his soul-body adapted to the change, and the pain instantly vanished! Yet, to his astonishment, Shui Miao realized he had become the black vortex itself—the airflow within the pill hall was rushing into his soul-body… filled with immense spiritual energy. As the energy flowed into his soul-body, he felt extremely, incredibly comfortable.

The wind howled, the suction growing stronger. Shui Miao couldn’t control it anymore; he could only go with the flow, indulging in the pleasurable sensation.

At the same time, Shui Miao could sense his power rapidly increasing, his consciousness extending further and further.

“Monster! You’re a monster!”

Sensing Shui Miao’s transformation, the supervisor rushed in, grabbing Shui Miao by the collar. But suddenly, he realized his own spiritual energy was being drained by Shui Miao!

The supervisor’s spiritual energy was strong, and he was startled, immediately trying to break free.

But Shui Miao tightly embraced him, involuntarily murmuring how good it felt…

The more spiritual energy he absorbed, the better Shui Miao felt.

While Shui Miao felt pleasure, the supervisor suffered greatly!

“Brat, what kind of demonic cultivation method is this!?” The supervisor screamed hysterically, forcefully pushing Shui Miao away, attempting to activate his spiritual energy to escape—but found he couldn’t summon any energy at all, all his spiritual power rapidly draining away…

Shui Miao’s current state was akin to the “Absorbing Star Grand Method.”

“Sorry, I can’t control it!”

Though Shui Miao’s mind remained lucid, he couldn’t stop the black vortex from spinning.

“Hmph!”

Suddenly, a large pill gourd nearby was sucked toward him by the force. The gourd automatically cracked open, and dozens of pills were drawn to his soul-body… The pills possessed extremely potent spiritual energy, instantly satisfying the vortex’s suction, and the surrounding winds abruptly ceased.

The supervisor gasped for breath, glaring at Shui Miao, and roared: “Brat, you’ve crippled half my cultivation and ruined so many Zhenyuan Pills. Will you join our Yuxu Sect or not? If not, I’ll kill you right here and now!”

Even at this moment, the supervisor was still trying to recruit Shui Miao into the sect.

But at the same time, a massive hammer appeared in his hand. The hammer was shaped like a tiger’s head, appearing clumsy yet exuding a purple glow—it was an ultimate immortal artifact known as the Heaven-Shaking Hammer, specially left behind by the Ninth Heaven’s sect leader for the supervisor to guard the sect. Among all of the Ninth Heaven, there were only three ultimate immortal artifacts. Once unleashed, its heaven-shattering and earth-destroying power was nearly unstoppable.

Before such a hammer, Shui Miao was but a wisp of cloud.

As soon as the hammer appeared, Shui Miao felt an overwhelming pressure in his chest, an instinctive urge to kneel and submit.

But immediately after, the jade pendant on Shui Miao’s chest emitted a flash of green light, instantly dispelling all pressure and fear.

“Eh… What… what is this?”

The supervisor was momentarily stunned, as he too felt a tremendous pressure in his heart, and an urge to kneel and submit.

“Whoosh…”

At that moment, something strange happened again…

A beam of white light suddenly shot into the pill hall from outside. The supervisor barely saw the flash before Shui Miao vanished. He quickly spread his spiritual sense to locate him, but could not find any trace of Shui Miao across the entire immortal mountain.