The First Cave Heaven Realm

Yan Yun did not plan to break through to the Cavern Heaven Realm just yet, so she gathered all the disciples in the Purple Abyss Pavilion who met the requirements and asked who was willing to try breaking through to the next realm now.

Soon, a young man named Mu Wenjie stepped forward.

Yan Yun had given them a heads-up about this, telling them not to be afraid, that even if they failed, they would not die.

With the candidate selected, the next step was to concoct the medicinal liquid. Yan Yun handled the entire process herself.

The required medicinal ingredients were all spirit herbs, because the upgraded version made from ordinary herbs would have a much fiercer effect; the toxin intensity had to be one to two times that of the previous liquid.

Once all the ingredients were gathered, Yan Yun tossed them all into a large vat and boiled them over a fierce fire, finally producing a vat of liquid that glowed within its purple depths.

This medicinal liquid, brewed from spirit herbs, also emitted a very fragrant aroma, no longer the traditional medicinal smell of ordinary herbs.

The cost of this alone was at least over a hundred spirit stones.

“Alright, Sect Master, esteemed elders, the medicinal liquid for the breakthrough is ready,” Yan Yun said with satisfaction after scooping up a spoonful, tasting it in front of everyone.

This stuff was lethally toxic. Forget a Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator, even a Cavern Heaven Realm cultivator would likely die from a single sip. But for poison cultivators like Yan Yun, it was a great tonic.

It was just that her current look of enjoyment made her seem like an evil witch.

“Mm, this vat of medicinal liquid feels completely different from the one they used for their initiation. Go ahead, boy. With your Acting Pavilion Master here, you have nothing to worry about,” Yunhong gestured to Mu Wenjie.

Mu Wenjie first looked at Yan Yun, who nodded at him. Only then did he walk to the vat, remove his outer robe, and jump in.

“Wenjie, the method for breaking through is similar to the one for initiation. Guide the poisonous liquid into your body to further advance the toxins within. The rest is the same as how a conventional cultivator advances to the Cavern Heaven Realm. You need to condense a Cavern Heaven vortex, except we poison cultivators need to use toxins to do so,” Yan Yun reminded him.

Mu Wenjie nodded solemnly, then began to circulate his cultivation to absorb the toxins.

As he did, the vat of poisonous liquid began to emanate a purple energy, rather than entering his body directly as a liquid. After the purple aura surged into his body, Mu Wenjie felt a vast energy. He quickly formed a hand seal—the seal for condensing a Cavern Heaven vortex. He needed to guide this poisonous gas to a certain point in his body and condense it.

After a cultivator condenses a Cavern Heaven, the flow of energy in their body becomes several times faster, allowing them to cast more powerful spells. The same principle applied to poison cultivators.

As time slowly passed, purple patterns also appeared on Mu Wenjie’s body’s surface. But this time, the patterns were different from those during initiation. They were a special kind of pattern that spread from his chest. A very unique purple design appeared on his chest, looking like a thorny vortex.

After the purple pattern appeared, the purple energy in the vat began to go berserk. A large amount of energy erupted from the vat, converging above Mu Wenjie’s head to form a purple vortex rune. The rune spun rapidly, accelerating its consumption of the purple energy produced by the toxins in the vat.

Seeing this, many people thought Mu Wenjie was about to succeed.

“That’s a Cavern Heaven vortex! Is he succeeding?” Fairy Yunshuang and the others’ eyes lit up.

But they had celebrated too early. Just then, the toxins in the vat were completely drained, turning it into clear water. The rune instantly lost its subsequent power and began to tremble unstably. Mu Wenjie’s originally calm expression also turned to one of pain.

“Ah!” A miserable scream came from Mu Wenjie’s throat.

Everyone’s expression changed.

“This? Little girl Zi, what’s going on?” Yunhong asked hastily. They could see that this was a sign of failure in condensing a Cavern Heaven.

Yan Yun didn’t explain much. She immediately went to Mu Wenjie’s side, formed a hand seal, and pointed a finger at the pulsating rune on his chest, then drew in.

Immediately, a vast amount of poison energy was drawn from Mu Wenjie’s body into Yan Yun’s.

As this energy entered her own body, Yan Yun’s eyes widened. This amount of energy was comparable to what she would absorb from ten failed cultivators, and it was even purer.

‘Is this the poison energy of the Cavern Heaven Realm? It’s too wonderful. If I absorb from one more, I should be able to reach the perfection stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm,’ Yan Yun thought, forcefully suppressing the fiery turmoil in her heart.

As all the toxins in Mu Wenjie’s body were drawn out by Yan Yun, the patterns on his body and the newly formed Cavern Heaven vortex gradually dissipated, and everything returned to how it was.

“Whew! I’m sorry, Acting Pavilion Master. I… I failed,” Mu Wenjie said apologetically to Yan Yun after seeing that he was fine.

But it should have been Yan Yun apologizing to him, because she had intentionally made him fail the first time. She had, after all, claimed that this was her own research; if he succeeded on the first try, it would seem too fake.

“It’s alright. The dosage probably wasn’t enough. Next time, we’ll need to prepare more poisonous liquid to prevent a lack of power when condensing the Cavern Heaven vortex. I didn’t expect the vortex to absorb the poison energy so quickly,” Yan Yun replied.

Her voice was loud enough for Fairy Yunshuang and the others to hear.

“Mm, that situation just now did indeed seem to be caused by insufficient energy to condense the Cavern Heaven vortex. It seems, little girl Zi, that you may have truly found the right method. So, should we switch to someone else to continue, or wait a few more days?” Fairy Yunshuang asked.

Yan Yun thought for a moment, then looked at Wen Meng and the others. Wen Meng immediately stepped forward.

“Sect Master, elders, Acting Pavilion Master, I am willing to take Junior Brother Mu’s place and test the medicine again.”

With someone willing to continue the test, Yunhong and the others were naturally pleased. They had no objections; whether to continue was entirely up to Yan Yun.

Yan Yun feigned hesitation for a moment, then nodded.

“Alright, let’s try one more time. I’ll go get some more medicine.”

She then walked into the nearby medicinal ingredient storage room and began to take out more ingredients, this time carefully considering a double portion.

Fairy Yunshuang and the others continued to wait quietly.

Half an hour later, a large vat was boiling over a fire, with another large vat placed beside it, ready for replenishment.

“Big Sister Wen Meng, you can begin. If the dosage is insufficient later, I will replenish it immediately. You can break through without worry,” Yan Yun signaled.

Wen Meng had unconditional trust in Yan Yun. She removed her outer robe, jumped into the large vat, and began the breakthrough process anew.

The initial steps went smoothly, and she quickly reached the stage of condensing the Cavern Heaven vortex. At this stage, she also encountered the problem of insufficient energy, but Yan Yun immediately called over several other female disciples of the Purple Abyss Pavilion, having them add more liquid to Wen Meng’s vat.

With the continuous replenishment of medicinal liquid, Wen Meng’s situation stabilized again.

Another half hour passed, and the second vat of medicinal liquid was empty. But by now, the Cavern Heaven vortex above Wen Meng’s head had completely stabilized. An energy more powerful than that of a conventional Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator spread out in all directions.

This meant that Wen Meng had successfully broken through to the Cavern Heaven Realm. She had become the first poison cultivator to reach this realm.

However, since she had broken through at the minor accomplishment stage, although she possessed the energy of the Cavern Heaven Realm, her combat power was only comparable to that of a major accomplishment Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator.

She was a relatively weak Cavern Heaven Realm cultivator.

“Hahaha! Sect Master, she succeeded!” Yunhong and the others were very happy.

Wen Meng formed a hand seal, retracting the Cavern Heaven vortex into her body, and then opened her eyes.

Having reached the Cavern Heaven Realm, her entire demeanor had changed. She now possessed a transcendent, ethereal aura.

Purple energy swirled around Wen Meng’s body, and she slowly floated up from the medicinal vat. She hovered in the air, her face filled with surprise and excitement. After flying a few circles, she descended from the sky.

This was one of the hallmarks of the Cavern Heaven Realm: flight.