Chapter 244 - The Spirit Pool
Just as a hint of surprise showed on Liu Ming’s face, he heard the faint voice of a man.
“Which faction are you a disciple of? And do you have the token to enter the Spirit Pool? If not, then go back to where you came from!”
Hearing the words, a chill went through Liu Ming’s heart. But he immediately bowed and replied:
“Liu Ming of the Nine Infant faction respectfully greets you, elder. I plan on entering the Spirit Pool for a month. The entry token-- I have brought it with me.”
After speaking, he immediately took out a light silver token and held it forth with both hands.
“Oh, since you have the entry token-- of course, you can stay. But I must first check whether it is real. Then, I can take you into the lands of the Spirit Pool,” the man’s voice said evenly.
At the same time, from the staircase came footsteps: thump, thump. A man dressed in white robes walked leisurely down from the second floor.
The shape of his face was slightly long, and his appearance was slightly ugly, but his eyes shone, and he gave the impression of floating on air.
“Since you’re from the Nine Infant Faction, is your teacher’s surname Zhong or Zhu?” With a few steps, the man walked right in front of Liu Ming, and after a brief assessing glance, he suddenly said this with a smile.
“My teacher’s name is Zhong!” Liu Ming was slightly surprised, but after hesitating briefly answered honestly.
“So you really are Junior Sister Zhong’s disciple! Heh heh, I heard that a number of years ago she took on a disciple called Bai Congtian, but not long ago it was also said that he changed his name. That wouldn’t be you, would it!” The white-robed man said with a light smile. With that he raised his hand and waved it once; the token in Liu Ming’s hand trembled slightly, sprang into the air with a light ‘sou’ sound’, and dropped solidly into the man’s hand.
“Do you know my teacher, elder? Indeed, my original name is not my current name,” Liu Ming was startled but did not dare hesitate to say.
“So it really is you. Indeed, I heard from Junior Sister Zhong that you made great contributions to our sect in the trials of the Secret Realm some years ago. No wonder you possess this token.” The white-robed man seemed quite interested.
“That’s over-high praise, elder -- I was only fortunate. But, elder, I don’t know your name!” Liu Ming, after hearing that the man seemed very familiar with Martial Aunt Zhong and asked with a thought in his heart.
“It seems your teacher has never mentioned me. But that’s all right -- before too long, your teacher and I will be family. Junior Sister Bing’s disciples will also be mine. My surname is Tong, and you can call me Martial Uncle Tong.” The white-robed man said with eyes crinkling, as he glanced twice at the token in his hand, and then tossed it back.
“Oh, so it is Martial Uncle Tong!” Hearing this, Liu Ming, though somewhat stunned, greeted him honestly.
“Very good. Martial Nephew Liu, since we’re all family, I’ll, of course, arrange a place close to the center of the Spirit Pool.” The man surnamed Tong said with a laugh. Then, with a clench of one hand, he made a number of consecutive hand signs toward the formation in front of him.
Immediately, with a ‘weng’ sound, a layer of pale white light rose from the surface of the white formation.
“Thank you very much, Martial Uncle.” Hearing these words, happiness went through Liu Ming’s heart.
Before coming here, he had specially investigated everything about the “Spirit Pool” inside the sect.
He knew that the “Spirit Pool” was actually a spot inside the sect, found by forerunners of the Barbarian Ghost Sect, where the Yuan Li of Heaven and Earth was most concentrated. They had put down special restrictions so that the Yuan Li of Heaven and Earth could only enter and not leave, and thus caused the Yuan Li inside to be incredibly pure beyond comprehension.
The center of the whole restricted region was naturally the spot where the Yuan Li was most concentrated, and the results of training there were also considerably better than a position on the outer edge.
Like this, he followed the white-robed man into the middle of the formation and was transported in a flash into a lowland deep in the valley, where strange plants grew and eddies of white fog floated in the emptiness.
Liu Ming inhaled slightly and immediately felt a strong wave of Yuan Li fill his chest cavity, and could not help but react visibly.
Only thus did he know that this ‘white fog’ was actually manifested out of overly concentrated Yuan Li -- it really lived up to the name of ‘spirit pool’.
Sweeping his gaze around the surroundings, he saw that in the fog in the distance there were some stone houses, somewhat distant from each other. At the point where he was looking, there looked to be about five or six.
The white-robed man strode forward, taking Liu Ming along. After covering a distance and expending the energy of a whole meal, he brought him to a bluestone house corralled on all sides by eddies of white fog.
Outside this stone house, the stone walls were also imprinted with silver ley lines, and on the stone door, there was a diamond-shaped recess several inches deep.
“Martial Nephew Liu, this is the training ground second only to the central area. You can train here. A month from now, I will take you out. Also, these rooms all have mysterious restrictions placed on them. Only the token in your hand can open them.” The white-robed man pointed at the stone house in front and said with a smile to Liu Ming.
Naturally, Liu Ming said his thanks happily and followed him to the stone door. He then placed the silver token in the recess on the door.
Immediately, the whole stone house resonated with a loud ‘weng’; the surface of the stone door flashed silver, and at the same time the door opened slowly.
Liu bowed once more to the white-robed man; then, tamping down the excitement in his heart. He then walked through the stone door.
In the moment that he entered the door, the stone door quietly closed. The ley lines over the whole stone house were flashing; a wave of restriction suddenly spread from above.
Seeing this, the white-robed man smiled and glided away.
At the same time, Liu Ming had seen everything inside the stone house clearly.
Aside from a light yellow futon, and a white wooden bed, there was nothing else.
But Liu Ming was quite satisfied with these arrangements.
He briefly checked the four walls and the flashing silver ley lines; after verifying that they were just ordinary defensive separating restrictions, he relaxed. With this mindset, he sat on the futon.
With a flick of his sleeves, three bottles that looked the same appeared on the ground.
Seeing these objects in front of him, he showed an expression of respect.
Inside the small bottles were the Seventh Blue Aura Qi he got from the Ten Thousand Barbarian Mountains.
If he had only gotten one bottle from the Aura Pit, perhaps he would need to hesitate. But with three bottles in hand, the situation was favorable-- unless the quality of it was bad to the point that it would not be able to proceed to the condensation stage. If not so, then it was definitely worth a shot.
In Liu Ming’s estimate, even though he had three Spiritual Pulses, the Fa Li in his body was pure beyond compare. In addition, he had bought some capsules that would be very useful in the breakthrough of bottlenecks, and he was currently situated in the Spirit Pool. At the same time, he had three bottles of Pure Aura Qi at hand. This lets the success rate of his breakthrough fall at least above sixty to seventy per cent.
And with chances this high, even if this was slightly less than when he had used the Earth Spiritual Pulse to attack the Spiritual Master, it was not too too far off.
Even more importantly, this Seventh Blue Aura Qi was definitely very compatible with the Cultivation Method he had trained in. Even though it could not hope to compare with the Aura Qi of the legend like the Heavenly Star Aura Qi, his was also a high-grade Aura Qi of considerable reputation.
If he could merge it into his Fa Li, the Symbol Qi that would be formed would not only be outstanding in defensive strength but also have the strength of the Freezing Yin element. In addition, it would greatly enhance the power of the similar elements.
For instance, the Icicle Technique he trained in was already at its limit at perfection, but if it had the support of the Symbol Qi from the Seventh Blue Aura Qi, its power would be taken even higher. And if for a Yin Cultivation Method, techniques almost unable to be cast would be able to do so with the support of the Symbol Qi from the Seventh Blue Aura Qi, it was very likely that it could be easily cast.
So, to Liu Ming, who intended to train primarily in the Dragon Tiger Hell Method which was a ghost attribute Cultivation Method, on some level this Aura Qi was even more suitable than the fabled ‘Heavenly Star Aura Qi’.
This was one of the primary reasons that, after hearing of the existence of this Aura Qi from an old lady, he had immediately agreed to her demands.
As Liu Ming thought this, the gaze that looked at the objects in front of him gradually turned heated, but as he calmed his mind, he began to close his eyes and center himself.
This was different than Gao Chong who had to seclude himself for years in order to properly hit the bottleneck because of his shaky Fa Li foundation.
The Fa Li in Liu MIng’s body was already completely pure; he only needed to make a few more preparations before being able to accept the Aura Qi into his body and condense the Fa Li from a gaseous state to liquid state. From this, he would be able to produce the Symbol Qi of his own element and become a Spirit Master.
Thinking this, Liu Ming’s mind gradually became incredibly calm, and finally entered a state of serenity.
One day and one night passed. When he next opened his eyes, his eyes had became clear beyond compare and no trace of distractions remained.
He took out some assistive pills from his sleeve and swallowed them before then channeling his Fa Li.
Immediately, groups of black air poured from his body; after circling once, they became a large ball of black fog that enveloped his body completely.
As time flew by, the black color kept pouring from Liu Ming’s body, making the ball of black fog larger and larger; a short time later, it had almost filled the entire stone chamber.
At this time, Liu Ming opened his mouth and began muttering.
A small bottle containing the Seventh Aura Qi suddenly exploded open without warning. Dots of light blue light flew out, and after flashing once, they sank into the black fog and disappeared.
Alongside the sudden rolling of the black fog, Liu Ming’s body in the middle of it began to give out roaring sounds. At first, the sound was not loud, but in the space of a few breaths’ effort, it became as startling as thunder.
Liu Ming, in the middle of the giant ball of fog, was looking around attentively. His ten fingers moved like wheels turning without stopping; techniques shot from between his fingers sank into the black fog and vanished.
In his abdominal region concentrated hundreds of blue crystal lights like gravel, slowly rotating without stopping. Strands of hair-thin blue light regularly flew out and sank into his lower abdomen and vanished without a trace.
Outside the stone house, under the influence of some mysterious force, even more, white fog gently drifted in this direction.
Almost immediately after, this took the shape of a pale white sea of fog, with the stone house as its heart.