“Half a month?” Mu Qiuhan murmured, her voice hoarse.
So she had only cultivated for fifteen days inside that magic artifact… But the non-stop cultivation, day and night, had made her think for a moment that decades had passed.
There was no concept of day or night within the Dream of Floating Life; she could only roughly judge the passage of time by the changes in her own cultivation. If it were according to her former cultivation speed in the Demon Realm, just getting from the Nascent Soul stage to the Soul Transformation stage would have taken her nearly twenty years.
As for going from the Soul Transformation stage to the Void Refinement stage, that would be an even longer period, lasting a hundred years.
Although Mu Qiuhan had long known that the fire element spiritual energy within her cultivated several times faster than ordinary spiritual energy, she had already factored this in when estimating. But she didn’t know that the power of the Fire-Breath Worm would also increase as the host’s spiritual energy improved.
Now, as she was about to step across the threshold of the Void Refinement stage, the Fire-Breath Worm inside her had also grown much stronger nourished by the spiritual energy. Consequently, her cultivation speed was already different from the beginning; saying it was ten times that of ordinary cultivators would not be an exaggeration.
Mu Qiuhan stood silently where she was, seeming stunned by Shang Ningye’s words, “half a month,” and taking a moment to recover.
Shang Ningye, however, knew this wasn’t the case. She had seen what her master, Perfected Dao You, looked like after staying in the Dream of Floating Life to cultivate for a long time.
It was a kind of indifference that held no concern for anything in the world, and also the biggest drawback of the magic artifact, the Dream of Floating Life—It could cause those who cultivated within it to gradually lose their human emotions.
Shang Ningye observed Mu Qiuhan with some concern. Mu Qiuhan had spent a considerable amount of time inside the artifact this time, and Shang Ningye worried it would have an effect on her.
The Dream of Floating Life had indeed affected Mu Qiuhan. When she first entered the artifact, she still remembered that she needed to come out in time to refine an antidote for Shang Ningye.
Every so often, she would pause her cultivation, check her spiritual core internally, and estimate how long had passed outside based on her cultivation progress.
But later on, although she hadn’t forgotten about it, its importance gradually faded with the passage of time. So much so that eventually, Mu Qiuhan completely pushed it to the back of her mind and focused solely on improving her cultivation.
If Shang Ningye hadn’t suddenly burst in today and pulled her out, she might have continued cultivating indefinitely.
Why shouldn’t she keep cultivating? Was there anything in this world more important than absolute power? The scene of summoning wind and rain at the Tribulation Stage was still a distant memory, and she was still a long way from reaching that level of cultivation again…
A trace of irritation arose in Mu Qiuhan’s heart. A burning sensation in her spiritual core arose almost simultaneously.
Mu Qiuhan instinctively lifted her head and saw the Ice Crystal Beast nearby had bristled all its fur, adopting a defensive posture.
Mu Qiuhan found it somewhat difficult to control the irritated thoughts in her mind. She wanted to just slap the annoying white beast away from her sight.
However, she steadied her emotions and let out a low growl, “Go back!”
The Fire-Breath Worm inside her seemed to sense a hint of threat under that powerful aura. It obediently curled up and dared not move, and the feeling of irritation in her chest also disappeared with it.
Just as Mu Qiuhan stepped halfway into the threshold of the Void Refinement stage, she was gradually becoming free from the fire poison within her body and no longer needed to rely on the Ice Crystal Beast’s fur during cultivation. She figured that in a few more days, the Fire-Breath Worm would be completely obedient to her, just like a domesticated spiritual beast.
This was the benefit of absolute power.
Chuxue couldn’t sense the threat from its natural enemy anymore, so it gradually relaxed. It wasn’t aware of the changes in Mu Qiuhan after she had cultivated in the Dream of Floating Life this time, and opened its mouth to ask, “Little Ye plans to escape with those rats from the sect. I don’t want to go. What do you think?”
Hearing this, Shang Ningye gave Chuxue a helpless glare. “I told you it’s not escaping, just temporarily hiding in the back mountain. We’ll be back.”
“The demons are attacking fiercely this time. There are many disciples in the sect, and I heard many disciples and elders were sacrificed when the formation was broken yesterday. I agree with the elders’ decision to lead the disciples to hide in the back mountain and temporarily avoid their fiercest attack.”
Chuxue let out a cold snort. “There are many demonic beasts in the back mountain, and quite a few with high cultivation. If we accidentally run into one, they won’t be any easier to deal with than the demons!”
Shang Ningye nodded. “That’s what the elders mean. The disciples from Jade Dragon Peak are active in the back mountain year-round and know a bit about the demonic beasts there. When the time comes, we’ll figure out a way to lure the demons into the demonic beasts’ territory and let them fight it out.”
Hearing this, Chuxue snorted again.
It wasn’t that Chuxue didn’t know what Shang Ningye was saying; the elder who came to deliver the message earlier had explained it very clearly.
At present, the elders from the main peak and all the disciples had already gathered at Jade Dragon Peak. The reason they came to find Shang Ningye was because there were many plants and trees in the back mountain, and Shang Ningye often liked to spend time there in the past. Thus, she was more familiar with the back mountain than ordinary disciples and elders.
Otherwise, why would those people think of coming for her at this moment?
Chuxue felt indignant in its heart.
Because of her physical condition, and also because she had previously promised Mu Qiuhan to protect her during cultivation, Shang Ningye hadn’t left this place for even half a step these past few days. It was the same for Chuxue.
The demons had been attacking for several days, but no one had come to tell them about it, much less remind them to be careful.
If the mountain-protecting formation hadn’t been broken and these people hadn’t suffered a defeat, wanting to hide in the back mountain and ask Shang Ningye to guide them, how else would they have remembered her at this time?
It was lucky Little Ye had a personality that didn’t hold grudges; those people took advantage of this very trait and repeatedly made excessive demands.
This time, Chuxue absolutely would not agree to Shang Ningye going into the mountain with them. What a joke! Not to mention her old wounds were still healing and she wasn’t suitable for long journeys, if they encountered any enemies along the way and the sect suffered heavy casualties, Shang Ningye, as a medical cultivator, would have to spend a large amount of energy healing the injured, perhaps even harming herself again to treat them.
Chuxue was determined and threatened her, “If you insist on going, I’ll go with you. But before we leave, we must follow the Patriarch’s dying instructions, activate all the mechanisms he left behind, and destroy this burial ground to prevent the demons from finding it and desecrating the bones.”
“Why go that far?” Hearing this, Shang Ningye furrowed her brows. “The formation my master left behind is enough to withstand two cultivators at the Mahayana stage. Even if the demons find this place, they won’t be able to enter easily.”
“That may be true, but didn’t you hear Yu Ji say just now that the demons sent two generals at the Mahayana stage this time?”
Mu Qiuhan listened to their argument expressionlessly, not saying a word the entire time.
The human and the beast couldn’t convince each other, so they both turned their gazes towards Mu Qiuhan.
Mu Qiuhan acted as if she didn’t see their burning gazes. She took out a beautiful magic artifact from her storage ring and handed it to Shang Ningye, “I see there are quite a few spiritual herbs in your courtyard that I need. I’ll trade you this item for them; it’s not like I’m taking advantage of you.”
After saying that, she walked towards the outer courtyard.
Shang Ningye took the magic artifact Mu Qiuhan handed her blankly. The item was shaped like a star disk, completely black, with patterns carved on it that she had never seen before.
Chuxue glanced at the magic artifact in Shang Ningye’s hand, then looked up at Mu Qiuhan’s departing figure, and its eyes instantly widened.
For a moment, the human and the beast both forgot the argument before them.
Mu Qiuhan returned after getting the spiritual herbs, saw the two living beings inside staring at her, and didn’t seem to mind. She fiddled with the freshly obtained spiritual plant in her hand, seeming somewhat satisfied.
Shang Ningye watched Mu Qiuhan in silence, as if thinking about something important.
It was Chuxue who couldn’t help but speak first, “What kind of magic artifact was that just now?”
It tilted its head towards Shang Ningye.
Mu Qiuhan wrapped the spiritual plant in spiritual energy before replying, “It’s for saving your life. It can quickly transfer your position, but it can only be used twice a day.” She got it a long time ago from Wu Ling.
After saying that, she pulled out an alchemy furnace from her storage ring and threw all the spiritual herbs she just got into the furnace.
Seeing this, Chuxue asked, “Are you refining medicine? I’ll go get that Golden-Edged Chonglou plant right now.”
“Hm?” Mu Qiuhan seemed a bit puzzled hearing this. She cast a spell to control the spiritual fire, wrapped it around the alchemy furnace, and casually replied, ” Golden-Edged Chonglou? Hundred Revolution Pills don’t need that ingredient.”
Chuxue had been by Shang Ningye’s side for many years and was not unfamiliar with the effects of these medicinal pills. “Hundred Revolution Pills?” It asked incredulously, “Are you breaking through to the Void Refinement stage?!”
Mu Qiuhan didn’t say a word in response to this question.
Shang Ningye was also extremely shocked at this moment. In just fifteen days, she was about to cross from the Nascent Soul stage to the Void Refinement stage?
Even her master, Perfected Dao You, couldn’t have such terrifying cultivation speed even with the help of the Dream of Floating Life.
Her heart sank slightly; no wonder the Dream of Floating Life’s effect on Mu Qiuhan seemed much more severe than on others she had known before. She had thought fifteen days wouldn’t cause much harm, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
