The Mysterious Realm of the Heavenly Book, Part 5

The small boat sailed into a dense fog. The thicker the fog, the whiter the vision.

When the scene before her turned pure white, Su Qing’s vision flickered, and lush mountains and clear blue skies appeared.

The sound of wind rustling leaves reached her ears.

Water flowed gurglingly, a gentle breeze wafted, and birds chirped intermittently.

The paper with ink characters had completely vanished. She had entered a real world. She looked around, realizing she seemed to be in a vast mountain range.

The ink-character paper lake was already within the secret realm, so how did it turn into this?

Su Qing was puzzled: ‘How many layers does this secret realm have? Could it be multiple layers put together?’

Body Cultivators never wasted brain cells on things they couldn’t understand. Su Qing simply began to explore.

The ground beneath her feet was wet grass. As soon as she landed, she felt the dampness.

Now, after a few breaths, even the corners of her clothes had become heavy and wet, and strands of hair by her forehead were clinging to her face with water marks.

Su Qing looked around.

It wasn’t after a mountain rain, nor was this dampness due to dew. It was the dampness of spiritual energy.

Yes, the spiritual energy here was so abundant that it could condense into tiny droplets, hanging on the stems and leaves of plants.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, spilling into the mountains, causing the spiritual liquid on tens of thousands of leaves to shimmer collectively.

Su Qing exclaimed, “Such dense spiritual energy!”

She knew that the mountains of the Sword School of the World were renowned for their abundant spiritual energy, especially the back mountain where Earth Mother resided, which was even more exceptional. That was why many beautiful and rare ethnic groups could be found there.

But the abundance of spiritual energy here was not only comparable to the back mountain but even surpassed it significantly.

No wonder the third secret realm was called the “Rescue Secret Realm.” Cultivating in such a place for decades, if one still couldn’t advance, it would truly be a disservice to their teachers.

Students cultivating in the Sword School were already accustomed to a wild life in the mountains. Seeing mountains was no different from returning home; they adapted well.

Having the rare opportunity to land in such a blessed place, Su Qing planned to first find a secluded mountain cave, set up her belongings, and then recuperate and cultivate in seclusion within this mountain.

She had forgotten one thing: the denser the spiritual energy, the easier it was for high-tier demon beasts and plants to be born. The third secret realm was universally acknowledged as the one with the highest attrition rate, and not without reason.

…

Before long, Su Qing, relying on her rich wilderness survival experience, found a mountain cave.

This mountain cave was situated at a higher elevation, with a concealed entrance, covered by climbing vines and obstructed by trees. It could be described as easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Upon entering, one would find that although it wasn’t exactly a hidden paradise, the space was quite spacious, though the passage was a bit too long and narrow.

The narrowness was not an issue. The main point was that the air inside was extremely humid.

Humidity was a good thing; it indicated abundant spiritual energy, and that it was close to the spiritual vein beneath the mountain, which was beneficial for cultivation.

Perhaps with the nourishment of this spiritual energy, she could advance without the aid of spiritual medicines.

Su Qing’s heart surged. She was calm and cautious by nature.

As usual, she clenched her Aura Concealment Art, holding her breath and releasing her divine sense, carefully perceiving her surroundings. Aside from insects and field mice, she detected no other living creatures.

Only then did she relax.

She used her sword qi to sweep away the dust and cobwebs from the walls, placed a futon beneath the rock wall, palms upward, and began to absorb spiritual energy, silently reciting the Heart-Calming Art.

It was her one thousand ninety-ninth attempt to break through to Foundation Establishment Layer 8.

Gradually, with each breath, spiritual energy swirled within the cave.

Su Qing’s acupoints around her body lit up one after another, and her thirty-six major and minor spiritual meridians glowed in sequence.

Spiritual energy entered through her acupoints and circulated within her meridians, finally condensing into tiny droplets that fell into her dantian.

Her dantian was already full of spiritual energy.

The droplets fell, yet merged into her dantian, showing no signs of a breakthrough.

Su Qing was not anxious.

The surrounding spiritual energy was abundant; advancement was only a matter of time. She calmly took her time to refine it.

As night fell, a bright moon hung in the night sky. At some unknown moment, a sliver of bright moonlight leaked through a crack in the cave ceiling, precisely illuminating her brow.

In the moonlight, even the dust floating in the air seemed to be still.

She closed her eyes. The moonlight dyed her dark eyelashes with frost. Su Qing’s expression was calm and indifferent, her breathing long and steady, as she entered a mysterious and peculiar state.

She seemed to be the heavens and earth, and the heavens and earth seemed to be her.

She had entered the Dao.

Su Qing cultivated with such ferocity, utterly lost in it, disregarding her own life.

When she opened her eyes again, more than five months had passed.

The good news was that she had successfully broken through to Foundation Establishment Layer 8. The bad news was that she was no longer in her original cave, but inside the belly of a demon beast.

Although she was familiar with this scenario, being eaten unknowingly was truly somewhat frustrating.

She had already tried her best to make herself less appetizing.

But the demon beasts in these mountains only cared about size, not quality.

Seeing her, this enormous entity, they immediately felt it was a great bargain, swallowing her whole without a second thought to digest her slowly.

This time, she was devoured by a creature called the Rock-Breathing Silkworm.

Although she had carefully surveyed her surroundings, she never expected to find traces of the Rock-Breathing Silkworm, which had been extinct for nearly ten thousand years.

Such creatures were born and lived in the mountains.

Their aura had long since merged with the rocks, and they had extremely long lifespans, their hearts beating only once a year.

Normally, they were indistinguishable from rock and soil, which was why she had overlooked them.

‘If I’m eaten, I’m eaten. It’s not the first or second time, anyway.’ The problem was that in just five months, this silkworm was pecked open from the mountain rock by a Red-feathered Long-tailed Finch, then dug out and eaten by its claws.

That was nothing. But this Red-feathered Long-tailed Finch was also a careless creature.

While it was drinking water by the spiritual spring, it was bitten in the throat by its long-ambushed natural enemy, the Two-Eyed Serpent, and swallowed whole, along with the Rock-Breathing Silkworm in its belly, and Su Qing in the silkworm’s belly.

Thus, in just a few months, Su Qing changed hosts three times, enduring the hardships to become the bottom of the food chain.

It was worth celebrating that she had achieved some success in body tempering. Now, her three hosts were almost completely digested, yet she was perfectly fine.

This vast mountain range was truly fraught with crises, and survival was difficult.

Many lives appeared and disappeared daily. For example, a Golden Peng had just hatched eggs and now had five hungry chicks. To feed them, it had to desperately hunt.

A Golden Peng was a Tier 4 demon beast. With its capabilities, it was completely normal for it to casually snatch a Tier 3 Two-Eyed Serpent as a meal for its children.

Therefore, Su Qing’s appearance in the nest of a Nascent Soul-stage Golden Peng was truly too ordinary.

The only thing she needed to face was how to explain to an enraged mother that her presence here was purely accidental, and that she was absolutely not here to steal eggs, or birds, or people.

Indeed, not only was she in the nest, but there were also two unlucky humans, with broken legs, tossed aside as emergency rations. These two lay quietly motionless on the bones left over by the chicks.

If not for the weak rising and falling of their chests, they would be no different from the remnants of those that had been pecked clean.

If possible, this Golden Peng believed her to be its child. She was also not unacceptable. Unfortunately, Su Qing didn’t have much fur, so she couldn’t fool it at all.

Su Qing: “…Do you believe me if I say I was just passing by?”

The Golden Peng stood at the edge of the nest. It was incredibly colossal, like a creature from ancient legends, a full ten meters tall. Even its newborn chicks were as tall as Su Qing.

Thus, when it looked down at the intruder, the reflection in its cold beast eyes was not that of a human, but rather of tiny, weak insects.

The oppressive aura of a high-tier demon beast assaulted her.

Su Qing retreated a step, pondering how to escape unscathed.

Her own survival was easy enough, but those two unlucky individuals might truly perish inside.

The situation was urgent, leaving her little time to think. In an instant, the nest shook. The Golden Peng suddenly stretched its neck and let out a long, sharp shriek from its throat. 

The five chicks understood their mother’s command and all rolled, huddling beneath their mother’s wings.

After confirming the chicks’ safety, the Golden Peng slowly spread its gigantic wings—in an instant, the entire nest was covered by the shadow of its wings. These wings, capable of shielding its children from wind and rain, were also its best weapon against enemies.

It violently flapped its wings, making a sound as loud as thunder.

In an instant, a fierce gust of wind howled from beneath its wings, surging towards Su Qing.

This wind was incredibly sharp, always the Golden Peng’s unfailing killing weapon. Wherever it passed, mountains shattered and rocks rolled down.

Su Qing was at the center of its attack.

Even if she dodged in time, she would inevitably be affected. Fortunately, she had thoroughly read the “Cultivation World Flora and Fauna Encyclopedia” and had anticipated the Golden Peng’s usual attacks. As it was still gathering its power, she took out the Binding Immortal Rope and tied the two fallen individuals in the nest together.

When the fierce wind arose, she took out her spiritual sword, gripped it, and unleashed a powerful sword qi towards the bottom of the nest, forcibly punching a huge hole in the Golden Peng’s nest.

Just before the fierce wind completely struck her, Su Qing deftly leaped downwards, taking the two bound by the Binding Immortal Rope with her.

The small mountain of white bone remains accumulated in the nest also clattered downwards with the skeletons.

The Golden Peng was enraged, but its nest was broken, and its chicks had not yet matured.

If it were to flap its wings and leave the nest to pursue its enemies, it would likely not be long before giant pythons coiled their way up, greedily occupying the nest and devouring its chicks one by one.

Therefore, it did not choose to pursue.

However, watching its enemy depart would harm its dignity as a great demon.

The Golden Peng naturally would not give up easily.

The sharp feathers on its wings also rose with its anger.

With a piercing shriek, thousands upon thousands of golden feathers shot downwards, like ten thousand arrows firing at once.

For a moment, between heaven and earth, golden light shone brightly, and the sharp sound of air being torn filled the surroundings.

Since killing the Nascent Soul evil cultivator, Su Qing no longer lacked storage tools.

She pulled the Binding Immortal Rope, falling straight down.

With her left hand, she threw out a storage ring, shouting, “Collect!” The storage ring flashed with spiritual light. It was forcibly awakened by her and began to work, collecting every single golden feather that attacked, leaving none behind.

The items from the Heavenly Secret Alliance were indeed effective. She was very satisfied.

Moreover, the feathers of a Tier 4 Golden Peng were valuable treasures that could fetch high prices.

Although provoking it in its nest was not Su Qing’s original intention, receiving this remuneration was not unwelcome… In short, thanks to nature’s bounty.

After Su Qing landed, she immediately carried the two, bundled like zongzi by the Binding Immortal Rope, and fled.

She ran for most of the day, confirming she had left the Golden Peng’s territory, and only stopped after hiding in a concealed rock crevice.

After confirming her surroundings were safe, Su Qing successively threw out several protective array disks, deploying them around.

She had come to realize that places rich in resources not only nurtured her but also nurtured stronger opponents.

The snakes encountered casually were Tier 3 demon beasts, and the birds were even Tier 4. She dared not imagine how many difficult high-tier demon beasts still lurked in these mountains.

Although most demon beasts had not yet developed sentience and appeared dull compared to humans, Su Qing would never underestimate them.

She had suffered enough setbacks just now and deeply realized her own position.

Su Qing belatedly realized something: how could the Golden Peng just now be so colossal? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen this type of spirit beast before; Hua Ling had one, but that Golden Peng was far from as massive as this one.

Upon closer thought, Hua Ling’s Golden Peng and this one also didn’t look entirely alike.

Recalling the extinct Rock-Breathing Silkworm, Su Qing guessed, ‘Could this Golden Peng also be a Golden Peng from tens of thousands of years ago, which is why it’s different from the current Golden Peng?’

Besides, all the spirit beasts she encountered on this journey were extraordinarily huge.

Even that silkworm could easily devour her.

Moreover, she had felt from the beginning that the spiritual energy in these mountains was unusually dense, completely unlike the thin spiritual energy outside.

At first, Su Qing only thought it was because this place was a secret realm, which made it different from the outside world. Now, thinking about it, was this secret realm guiding her to a much older time?

For example… the ancient era.

As is well known, the spiritual energy of the cultivation world is dwindling day by day.

The spiritual energy in the outside world is becoming increasingly thin. If not for Carefree Immortal’s teachings, the number of rogue cultivators would surely decrease day by day.

Because the increasingly scarce spiritual energy was no longer enough for the numerous cultivators to share.

Furthermore, high-level cultivators found it increasingly difficult to advance, and there had been no ascetics for thousands of years.

It was as if ascending to immortality was just a myth, its greatest purpose merely a carrot dangling before countless cultivators.

The more Su Qing thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

With this hypothesis, after observing the two people she had rescued, she became even more certain of the answer in her heart.

These two people were dressed very simply, so simply that there were almost no delicate traces. Everything was very natural, seemingly taken from nature and simply processed.

They were not pure mortals. Su Qing touched their skin and bones.

Their skin was very rough, as if tempered by the wind and frost of nature, very tough.

Their bones were also hard, bearing traces of body tempering.

This was why, even after their bones were pecked broken by the Golden Peng, they could still tenaciously cling to life.

‘To know or not to know, asking will tell.’

After all safety measures were in place, Su Qing used the spiritual spring to deliver bone-mending and healing pills into their mouths.