"Do you wish to awaken the second slumbering immortal?"
Hearing this, Ling Xian's eyes immediately blazed with fervour.
The second immortal!
The Elixir Immortal alone had given him the Twin Treasures of Elixir Dao and an elixir scripture that could drive all alchemists in the world mad. What supreme treasure would the second immortal bring him?
Even if he received nothing, the guidance of an immortal would be enough to make all cultivators in the world go crazy! One must know that the entire cultivation world had not seen anyone ascend for a full thirty thousand years.
"Master, where can I find the Soul Nurturing Lake?" Ling Xian asked impatiently.
"This, I am not clear either. It depends on fate. When the edge comes, you will be able to find the Soul Nurturing Lake and thus awaken the second immortal," the Elixir Immortal shook his head.
"Okay, disciple will definitely find it." Ling Xian clenched his fists, his eyes filled with determination.
"No rush. Even if you don't find it, the second immortal can still awaken. I'm a little looking forward to his appearance. It's been thirty thousand years, and I haven't even had anyone to talk to," Lian Cangqiong smiled faintly, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes.
It's been thirty thousand years, old friends, it's time for you to wake up too.
"Master, who is the second immortal to awaken? There should be a record of him in historical annals, right?" Ling Xian was very eager.
"It wouldn't be fun to tell you now, but I can tell you that he is much more famous than I am. And you'd best raise your cultivation quickly; otherwise, when he wakes up, I can't guarantee whether he will take you as a disciple," the Elixir Immortal smiled.
"Take me as a disciple?" Ling Xian was puzzled, saying, "Master, I have already become your disciple. From what you're saying, do I still need to become his disciple?"
Lian Cangqiong sighed lightly and said, "I also don't want to share a disciple with them, especially a disciple with such peerless talent as you. But you know our situation; only our souls remain, surviving thanks to this wondrous Nine Immortals Painting. When we entered it back then, there was an agreement that the nine of us would collectively choose one disciple to inherit our legacy. Whoever woke up first would have the right to choose a disciple. And I chose you. I believe you will not disappoint the other eight immortals."
"So, does that mean disciples will have nine masters?" Ling Xian was dumbfounded.
Nine masters, and all of them are supreme immortal-level beings. This great fortune is simply heaven-defying!
"That's right. As those old fellows wake up one by one, you will no longer be exclusively my disciple." A trace of reluctance flashed across Lian Cangqiong's face. The thought of having to share such a talented disciple with those eight old scoundrels made his heart ache.
"But, there is an unwritten rule in the cultivation world: a woman does not marry two husbands, and a son does not serve two masters," Ling Xian hesitated. Although he couldn't cultivate since childhood and wasn't considered a cultivator, the deeply ingrained ideas of the cultivation world had accompanied his growth. If a person had two masters, they would be scorned and disgraced.
"Rules are meant to be broken. None of us nine cares, so what do you care about?" The Elixir Immortal chided with a smile, "You've gotten a great advantage and are still acting coy. Having nine immortals guide your cultivation, this opportunity, tsk tsk, even the Divine Fortune Immortal, who was known as the Son of Heaven one hundred thousand years ago, didn't have this kind of opportunity."
Ling Xian gave an awkward smile, his heart filled with joy. This feeling was like waking up to countless spirit stones raining down from the sky.
"Alright, your top priority now is to raise your cultivation as quickly as possible. Otherwise, when those old scoundrels wake up and are dissatisfied with you, they might use some extreme methods to train you, and I won't step in," the Elixir Immortal winked, teasing, "They aren't as kind as I am; each one is more ruthless than the last."
"Master, you can rest assured about that. I have already obtained a secret realm token from Ye Xiaotian. When the secret realm opens in ten days, I should be able to break through quickly with the opportunities inside," Ling Xian took out the secret realm token, a faint milky white light shimmering.
A secret realm is a peculiar, small world between heaven and earth, perhaps naturally formed,
or perhaps born after the demise of a senior expert. The spiritual energy inside is several times that of the outside world, and many rare heavenly treasures grow there. It has a similar effect to rare spatial spiritual treasures like the Nine Immortals Painting, but unlike the Nine Immortals Painting, a secret realm will disappear for a period after appearing once, then reappear at a specific time, repeating this cycle until the secret realm's lifespan ends.
Qingcheng is the only area among the nearby ones that possesses a secret realm. Although it is only the lowest-level secret realm, which only allows cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage to enter, it is still a secret realm. It opens once every five years, and each time it attracts cultivators from other small cities to see if they can encounter some opportunities.
The next opening time for the secret realm is in ten days. Therefore, this secret realm token is naturally very precious. If it weren't for Ye Youlan being poisoned, Ling Xian would not have been able to obtain this secret realm token from Ye Xiaotian. According to rumours, each secret realm can only accommodate fifty cultivators. Among these, the three major families each occupy ten spots, and the remaining twenty spots are decided by the City Lord, whether to give them to friends and family or trade them with cultivators from other small cities; no one will interfere.
"Secret realm token?" Lian Cangqiong's eyes showed a nostalgic look as he sighed, "It's been a long time since I've seen this thing. But what kind of good secret realm could there be in a small place like Qingcheng? I'm afraid the spiritual energy isn't even as abundant as within the Nine Immortals Painting."
Smiling slightly, Ling Xian explained, "Master, you are mistaken this time. Although the spiritual energy in the Qingcheng secret realm is not that abundant, disciples have heard that it contains a unique spiritual medicine called Divine Qi Flower. This spiritual medicine can not only quickly increase cultivation but also enhance the power of the divine soul. Every time the secret realm opens, more than half of the people go there specifically for this flower."
"So it's the Divine Qi Flower." The Elixir Immortal was surprised, but also a little puzzled.
He was obsessed with the path of alchemy his entire life, dealing with various spiritual medicines all day long, so he was naturally no stranger to this wondrous medicine that could both increase cultivation and enhance the divine soul. However, as far as he knew, although the Divine Qi Flower was only ranked as a ninth-grade spiritual medicine, its rarity was no less than that of a fifth-grade spiritual medicine, and it only existed in some large secret realms.
Therefore, hearing Ling Xian say that there would be Divine Qi Flowers in this small Qingcheng secret realm, Lian Cangqiong couldn't help but feel a little confused. Could it be...
"Hmm, since there are Divine Qi Flowers, it is indeed worth going to see. You need to speed up your cultivation; your current cultivation is too low." Lian Cangqiong looked at Ling Xian, seeing his eyes filled with bright light and a rich spiritual energy flowing throughout his body, and couldn't help but smile slightly, "You have already reached the peak of the fourth level of Qi Condensation. You can consider breaking through to the next realm."
The bright light in Ling Xian's eyes intensified greatly. He immediately sat down cross-legged, preparing to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body.
He took out the Qi Condensing Pills he had refined from his storage pouch and swallowed them in one gulp. The high eighty percent efficacy entered his body, instantly transforming into a vast spiritual energy that dispersed.
Just now, when he was expelling the poison for Ye Youlan, he had already felt the bottleneck stirring. If it weren't for the inappropriate situation at the time to break through, he would have already done so. Now, with the push of the eighty percent efficacy Qi Condensing Pills, it was naturally a matter of course.
In the void, strands of pure heaven and earth spiritual energy swirled around him, rushing into his body like a spring, then turning into an irresistible torrent that surged into his dantian.
Before long, an aura surpassing the fourth level of Qi Condensation soared into the sky. Ling Xian opened his eyes, feeling the power within his body, and couldn't help but grin.
Fifth level of Qi Condensation!
This cultivation level, among the collateral disciples of the Ling family, if not the best, could certainly be considered outstanding. And he had only taken two days to reach a realm that others would take several years to achieve. It must be said that his talent was indeed astonishing.
Generally speaking, there is a bottleneck at each level of the Qi Condensation stage. Normally, one can cultivate quickly with elixirs, but when reaching a bottleneck, unless it is a spiritual elixir with a breakthrough effect and an efficacy of seventy percent or more, no matter how many elixirs are consumed, it will be useless. It relies on each person's talent. This is why the cultivation world places talent first in cultivation.
If a person's talent is good enough, then the minor realms in the ordinary stages are not bottlenecks for them at all, and they can smoothly cultivate to the next realm. Only when reaching a major realm will those bottlenecks that cultivators regard as obstacles to cultivation appear.
And for someone like Ling Xian, who possesses the blood of an ancient Heavenly Venerate within him, sealed by the heavens, possessing peerless talent, cultivation is as simple as drinking water and eating. For minor realms within a major realm, there is no need to worry about bottlenecks appearing. For example, in the cultivation from the Qi Condensation stage to the Foundation Establishment stage, as long as spiritual energy is sufficient, he can instantly reach the peak of Qi Condensation.
Of course, doing so would lead to an unstable foundation, and future cultivation would become increasingly difficult. No cultivator would do that. Instead, they accumulate little by little, trying to break through to the next realm as a matter of course.
Clenching his fist, Ling Xian fiercely threw a punch at the air. A powerful surge of magical power followed, actually creating an air explosion!
But Lian Cangqiong shook his head in dissatisfaction and asked, "You don't seem to have cultivated any spell techniques, do you? Otherwise, the magical power at the fifth level of Qi Condensation shouldn't be this weak."
Frowning, Ling Xian suddenly remembered the mysterious spell technique he had found in the family's scripture storage pavilion. With a thought, a book with a blue cover appeared out of thin air.
"Master, this book was found by a disciple in the family's scripture storage pavilion. When I first saw it, it was as if a voice in my heart was saying that I must obtain it, but I couldn't understand the characters on it at all, so I haven't cultivated it."
"Can't understand?" Lian Cangqiong frowned. With a wave of his hand, the spell technique book flew to him and then automatically turned pages.
Looking at the strange characters on it that resembled tadpole script, Lian Cangqiong hesitated for a while before saying uncertainly after a long time, "These are... characters from the Primordial Era."
"Primordial Era?"
Ling Xian gasped. The Primordial Era is at least several billion years ago. Could a book from that time still be preserved until now?
"No, it's not entirely from the Primordial Era, because the cover of this spell technique book is written in our current script, but the content is in the characters of the Primordial Era." Lian Cangqiong frowned and thought for a while, muttering, "Three Flowers Scripture... This name sounds a bit familiar