Chapter 330: Chapter 317: 2 Years

Ten pieces of "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea" brewed for tea can improve a Golden Core Stage Cultivator’s cultivation by ten years.

But for Purple Mansion Stage cultivators, only three pieces are needed to achieve this effect.

Zhouyang, already having two pieces of "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea" on hand, was naturally overjoyed upon discovering two more pieces of "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea".

The two pieces of "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea" in front of him, though not yet fully mature, already exuded a tea fragrance, which means they already had the effect of enhancing cultivation. Together, their effect could match that of one mature piece of "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea".

This means that now he only needs to pick these two pieces of "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea" and brew them for tea to increase his cultivation by ten years out of thin air.

"There’s no rush to pick the tea. First, let me try whether the [Qianyang Immortal Light] is effective against that erosive force. If it really is effective..."

Zhouyang’s eyes sparkled, and he suddenly waved his hand to release a flying sword, opening up a cave dwelling on a small hill behind the tea tree.

Moments later, Zhouyang had opened up a temporary cave dwelling with only two or three stone chambers, then he waved his hand to take out a set of Tier Three Array from his Storage Ring, encompassing the whole valley in array protection, and disappeared into the cave dwelling.

Inside the cave dwelling, Zhouyang sat cross-legged, using his Divine Sense to carefully perceive the presence of the strange force within him.

It had been five days since he entered the "Cloud Mist Marsh", and that strange erosive force had accumulated considerably within his body.

Although this force did not greatly affect his strength, it was like a sword hanging over his head, constantly reminding him to take the matter seriously.

If he did not take it seriously and allowed this force to build up to a certain level, it would erupt abruptly, quickly leading to the total necrosis of his flesh.

Numerous predecessors in the cultivation realm had never figured out the origin of this strange force, and Zhouyang was naturally not arrogant enough to think he could unravel this mystery.

Therefore, after carefully sensing the presence of this force, he retracted his Divine Sense and began to stimulate the "Qianyang Treasure Pearl" to release "Qianyang Immortal Light" to refine his body.

Sizzle, sizzle!

To Zhouyang’s astonishment and delight, something unexpected happened.

Upon his release of the "Qianyang Immortal Light" for body refinement, the strange force accumulated within him was instantly refined like snow under a bright sun.

Yes, refined.

Instead of being expelled from Zhouyang’s body, this strange force was directly refined by the power of "Qianyang Immortal Light" into wisps of black smoke that drifted out through every pore of his body.

Zhouyang’s nostrils twitched, detecting a distinct burnt smell akin to scorched insects in the black smoke.

This greatly surprised him, causing him to murmur, "Could this strange force not be some kind of evil qi or miasma energy, but rather a certain type of microorganism or even gu insect?"

Upon careful thought, this hypothesis indeed seemed plausible.

If the strange force were an energy, then its intrusion into a cultivator’s body would naturally conflict with the cultivator’s magical power.

It’s known that a cultivator’s magical power emphasizes purity — the purer, the better.

With each breakthrough in realm, a cultivator’s magical power undergoes a purity improvement.

Such purification ensures that originally mist-like magical power at the Qi Cultivation Stage can become liquid at the Foundation Establishment Stage, and eventually solidify into an indestructible Golden Core at the Golden Core Stage!

Consequently, if an alien energy intrudes into a cultivator’s body, it will naturally face fierce rejection from the cultivator’s magical power.

If a cultivator’s strength is insufficient to expel intruding alien energy, they would either be killed by it or expend a large amount of magical power resisting its erosion, engaging in a tug-of-war to slowly wear down the intruding alien energy.

No matter which scenario unfolds, unlike the strange power in the mist of "Cloud Mist Marsh", it would not have no effect on the cultivator’s strength until it fully erupts.

If this strange power were a type of microorganism or gu insect, it would be completely understandable.

Microorganisms and bacteria naturally exist in symbiosis with animals and humans. When few in number, they pose no threat; only when their numbers proliferate to a certain extent do they become a deadly plague.

As for why cultivators face no issues if they leave the "Cloud Mist Marsh" before the strange power erupts, it can be entirely explained by the fact that the outside environment is unsuitable for the survival and reproduction of the microorganisms from the "Cloud Mist Marsh".

Once cultivators exit the "Cloud Mist Marsh", the microorganisms accumulated within them naturally perish due to the unsuitable exterior environment.

As for why demon beasts can survive long-term in the "Cloud Mist Marsh", it can be attributed to their robust bodies, which grant them resistance to pathogenic microorganisms.

"If this hypothesis is correct, then the idea that the [Cloud Mist Marsh] is a forbidden area formed by a super array does not hold. This place should be a natural forbidden area for human cultivators, generated by the world itself!"

Zhouyang murmured to himself, now showing a face full of smiles.

The ancient puzzle that troubled countless cultivators was solved by him just like that. He was naturally delighted and proud, even entertained the thought of writing a book to share his speculations with cultivators worldwide.

Of course, that’s impossible; he’s not done living yet!

Moreover, his speculation had one stumbling block that couldn’t be explained, which was the source of the force in Cloud Mist Marsh that suppressed cultivators’ divine sense. This couldn’t be explained by bacteria and microorganisms!

However, Zhouyang didn’t attempt to find out the reason for this. He came to Cloud Mist Marsh for adventure and treasure hunting, not to solve mysteries.

Since discovering that Qianyang Immortal Light could refine the anomalous power within him, Cloud Mist Marsh was practically no different from the outside world to him. Even if he opened a cave abode here for long-term cultivation, he wouldn’t be negatively impacted.

That’s enough!

In that case, he could completely reside on this island temporarily, and only consider leaving once the Cloud Mist Immortal Tea outside the cave abode fully matures.

"According to the records, once the fragrance of the Cloud Mist Immortal Tea blooms fully, it will mature in three to five years at most, and one to two years at the least."

"If that’s so, why not cultivate on this island for a period, while waiting for the Immortal Tea to mature, and also search for spiritual objects in the surrounding area?"

Zhouyang’s eyes squinted slightly, and he immediately made up his mind.

Once he made his decision, he immediately renovated the cave abode again, and created several stone chambers with different functions, such as a bedroom, spirit beast chamber, artifact refining chamber, cultivation chamber, and storage chamber.

Then Zhouyang settled down on this nameless island.

This island was located deep within Cloud Mist Marsh, and it might be decades before anyone passes by, so Zhouyang need not worry about being discovered while cultivating here.

Only a few demon beasts from Cloud Mist Marsh attempted to occupy the island after discovering the disappearance of the former dominator, Azure Wave Cloud Tiger, who used to reside there.

These ignorant demon beasts naturally became souls extinguished under Zhouyang’s sword.

Besides daily cultivation, Zhouyang would often leave the island to search for spiritual objects.

However, he only searched within a thousand-mile radius around the island, for fear of getting lost and unable to return.

After all, relative to the vast Cloud Mist Marsh, his island is but a lonely island in the sea.

This way, in less than a month’s time, Zhouyang had nearly exhausted the spiritual objects within a thousand miles around the island.

He’s not greedy, after exhausting the spiritual resources within this area, he focused wholeheartedly on cultivating in seclusion on the island.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Zhouyang had been in Cloud Mist Marsh for two years.

During these two years, he took a Tier Four Spirit Pill every six months to refine his cultivation, effectively achieving two years worth of cultivation results equivalent to ten years without taking elixirs, achieving a gap that’s five times in difference!

If things continued this way, in less than five years, his cultivation would likely advance to the Third Layer of the Purple Mansion.

Meanwhile, Zhouyang’s progress in other aspects of cultivation did not lag behind.

Thanks to the help of Azure Wave Golden Pen, his talisman making art progressed tremendously over these two years, successfully advancing to Tier Three Middle Grade, and expectedly, he would be able to craft Tier Three High-Grade Spirit Talismans in a few years.

Moreover, the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle he raised also consumed two Beast Spirit Pills over these two years, advancing to a Tier Two High-Grade Demon Beast, close to becoming a Tier Three Demon Beast.

Once the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle advances to Tier Three, it could practically serve as a mount.

The flight speed of a Tier Three Golden-winged Thunder Eagle, though not as fast as Zhouyang’s Illusory Cloud Ship flight, is only a couple of degrees slower than his sword flight speed.

Zhouyang held high expectations for this Golden-winged Thunder Eagle, feeding it with rare spiritual objects from a young age, including Tier Three Essence Pills, Tier Four demon beast meat, and Beast Taming Sect’s specially prepared spirit beast rations, even used Qianyang Immortal Light to temper its body and refine the anomalous power within the mist of Cloud Mist Marsh.

It’s worth knowing that even his Dao companion Xiao Ying, and his father Zhou Xuanhao, didn’t receive such treatment!

But there was no choice; due to the significant importance of the Qianyang Treasure Pearl, until he has enough strength to protect this treasure, only the spirit pet with which he signed a Demonic Soul Contract, assured of maintaining secrecy, did Zhouyang dare to share the existence of this treasure with.

Under such premium resources, the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle not only grew at a pace far exceeding its kin in natural conditions but also boasted superior physical attributes and combat power compared to its same-tier kin.

Zhouyang expended so many resources not just to raise a swift mount, but to develop a mighty battle pet that could help him defeat strong enemies in the future.

Therefore, he was very attentive to the practical training of the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle, finding demon beasts of the same tier as opponents every ten days or half a month to train its combat ability.

As of now, not a single demon beast of the same tier has survived the life-and-death struggle against the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com