C253 Return

The moon hung in the deep night sky like a gleaming disc, surrounded by a tapestry of twinkling stars.

In the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, a sharp *crack!* echoed through the silence.

Spirit Stones crumbled to pieces, their Spirit Qi dissipating as they fell from Yu Yuan's grasp.

Awakening from his prolonged meditative cultivation, Yu Yuan's face lit up with a smile at the sight of the fragmented Spirit Stones around him.

He glanced towards a nearby spectacle.

Bathed in the cool moonlight, a vibrant, multicolored cloud, several acres in size, floated midair, its form stable yet ever-changing.

The cloud pulsed, and within it, under the moon's glow, he could see a dance of seven-colored lights weaving a tapestry of wonder and beauty.

He was aware that the slender girl was concealed within, immersed in her cultivation.

During her practice, she had to be in her true form.

Not wanting him to witness her true appearance, she chose to seclude herself within the colorful miasma each time she cultivated.

Ever since he had agreed to accompany her, she had been adapting, undergoing a silent metamorphosis.

Whenever she emerged from the miasma, standing before him, Yu Yuan would note the sharp, crystalline spines on her back growing progressively shorter.

Some appeared to retract completely into her body.

The peacock-like spines that adorned her back were too peculiar, unfit for open display within the realms of the Human Empire.

Knowing this, she had embarked on a new phase of evolution and concealment, striving to adjust her form to more closely resemble a human.

Like her, beings of high intelligence and power could mold their bones, muscles, and sinews to better suit their needs and desires, a transformation that many great demons and monsters undergo upon reaching a certain stature.

Yu Yuan had faith that before long, she would stand before him, indistinguishable from a true Human Clan girl, poised and graceful.

"Two months have passed."

He inhaled softly, his gaze drifting towards the Silvermoon Empire, a slight furrow in his brow.

He had not taken the same route back to the empire as his former companions after departing from the secret tunnels beneath Chilly Wind Valley in the Jade Peak.

This was because, at the time of Zhan Tianxiang and Zhao Yafu's departure, the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area was fraught with perils, and malevolent spirits still wrought havoc.

With Qin Yun's guidance, they opted to circumvent the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, taking an alternate route back to the Silvermoon Empire.

He, on the other hand, had no such need.

Once the chaos within the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area had been quelled and the Heaven Sealing Soul Transformation Formation had vanished, his intent in venturing to Jade Peak was clear: to take her with him.

Now, with her at his side and the absence of any lurking fearsome demons or strange spirits in the Forbidden Area, he felt a deep connection to the enigmatic Soul Transformation Pool buried beneath the earth. Naturally, he chose the most direct and secure path through the Forbidden Area to return to the Silvermoon Empire.

"So much time has passed; I wonder how things stand now."

Yu Yuan squinted thoughtfully, his mind wandering to the Silvermoon Empire, Darkmoon City, and the Yu family. "Regardless, I am a scion of the Yu family. After such a long absence, many probably presume me dead."

"Would they ever guess that I, who entered the Forbidden Area Trial at the Pulse Opening Stage, would reemerge having reached the Yellow Court Stage?"

Less than a year had elapsed since he stepped into the Forbidden Area.

In that brief span, he had ascended from the Pulse Opening Stage to the early phase of the Yellow Court Stage, a testament to his rapid progression.

Moreover, the surge in his combat prowess had outpaced his cultivation level!

"Silvermoon Empire, Darkmoon City, the Yu family, and matters left unresolved. The Yu family is, after all, where I was born and raised. Despite a lack of attachment, a return is warranted to see how things fare."

With these thoughts, he drew a gentle breath and tuned into his inner senses.

Concentrating, he became aware of the curious microcosm within the Yellow Court acupoint of his dantian, now enshrouded in swirling mists.

These mists were the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth he had been drawing in nightly for the past two months.

Leveraging the "Glorious Heavenly Wheel" and the essence of his Yuan Body, he had been channeling spiritual Qi from the Spirit Stones in his possession, amassing it within his lower dantian.

At the Yellow Court Stage, his lower dantian was capable of storing spiritual Qi, yet despite his nightly efforts to absorb and refine it, it remained insatiable for the boundless spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

He had only just realized the true extent of his extraordinary talent for cultivation!

In this new realm, the initial phase of cultivation involved saturating the peculiar microcosm within his lower dantian with Spiritual Qi.

This constituted the first thorough purification of the lower dantian.

The capacity of the dantian was directly proportional to its vastness—the greater its expanse, the more Spiritual Qi it could hold, and consequently, the slower the initial cultivation progress.

Initially, Yu Yuan drew solely on the Spiritual Qi from the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area. However, he soon recognized that without employing the Evil Body Refining Skill, the Spiritual Qi from this area was laden with an excess of impurities, filth, and toxins.

The cultivation process at the Yellow Court Stage diverged sharply from that of the Spirit Accumulating Stage; there was no longer an urgent need to forge and temper the physique.

The Evil Body Refining Skill could exploit the violent, murky energies of the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area to break down bone and tissue, turning the various impurities and toxins in the Spiritual Qi into significant aids.

The Yellow Court Stage, however, demanded a different approach.

The Spiritual Qi that flowed into the unique microcosm of the lower dantian had to be free of even the slightest contamination—absolute purity was essential!

Using the "Glorious Heavenly Wheel" to draw in the Spiritual Qi from the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area was a viable method, but it required a preliminary process of purification to isolate the most pristine Spiritual Qi for the dantian.

Through his practice, Yu Yuan noticed that this method was somewhat inefficient.

At that juncture, Spirit Stones emerged as a superior alternative.

Back when he was in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, he had gathered a number of Spirit Stones. His subsequent battles alongside Lee Yuchan, Lee Yu, and Zhan Tianxiang had yielded an even greater bounty of these stones.

In his possession, he even had Spirit Crystals of exceptional purity and quality.

Yet, considering his current status at the Yellow Court Stage, using Spirit Crystals for cultivation would be extravagantly wasteful.

Thus, he opted to harness the Spiritual Energy from the Spirit Stones he had, channeling it towards his lower dantian.

Nevertheless, after a full two months, the small world within his lower dantian, designated for storing Spiritual Qi, was still not brimming with energy—there remained ample space to fill.

For cultivators at the Yellow Court Stage, whether it's about expanding the lower dantian or refining Spiritual Qi, the first imperative step is to ensure it is suffused with Spiritual Qi.

This stage of cultivation is all about the concept of "overflow." It's only after being "filled" to the brim with Spiritual Qi that one can further expand their lower dantian or refine the Spiritual Qi once more. It took Yu Yuan two months to reach this initial state of fullness, yet he still hadn't achieved it.

"Extraordinary talent can sometimes act as a counterbalance to one's cultivation realm, preventing too rapid a growth. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing—it simply means there's a need for greater accumulation," an indifferent, ethereal voice unexpectedly broke the silence.

Yu Yuan's face shifted with the voice's arrival. Since re-entering the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, he hadn't come across any other cultivators or encountered any bizarre spirits or monsters. The sudden voice, which seemed to specifically address the traits of his Yellow Court Stage cultivation, put him instantly on alert. The stranger's words made him realize something—he had been under observation, and possibly not just for a day or two.

In the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, even with his covert connection to the Soul Transformation Pool, someone had managed to watch him undetected. What level of mastery did this observer possess?

"Hu! Hu! Hu!" The colorful miasma churned with the emergence of the voice.

Within the swirling miasma, a figure with claws bared and teeth flashing turned her gaze to a spot just behind Yu Yuan, where jagged rocks lay strewn.

From behind one of these rocks, a white-clothed youth emerged with an air of nonchalance. "My name is Zhou Cangmin," he said, smiling at Yu Yuan and offering a courteous bow.

"The esteemed Imperial Advisor of the Rainier Empire!" Yu Yuan exclaimed, taken aback. Regaining his composure, he furrowed his brow and added, "If I'm not mistaken, we've crossed paths in this realm before."

Zhou Cangmin, manifesting as a Yin God, nodded in acknowledgment. "I was above," he said, gesturing skyward.

"Your Yin God showed quite an interest in me from the heavens," Yu Yuan remarked with unexpected calmness. "Was it because a sword soul happened to recognize me, allowing me to resonate with the Heaven Sealing Soul Transformation Formation?"

"It's not solely for that reason," Zhou Cangmin replied with a smile. He produced a pellet, and within its hollow center, a soul shadow began to coalesce.

"Ghoul Glyph Sect, Kuan Xianyun!"

Yu Yuan whispered, his voice tinged with disbelief. "Despite his escape from Chilly Wind Valley, he still couldn't break free and ended up in the clutches of the Imperial Advisor."

"The Dragon Whisker Poison Heart Pill that Lau Zaihe had—it was actually from me," Zhou Cangmin revealed.

At those words, a flicker passed through Yu Yuan's eyes as he quietly attempted to connect with the Soul Transformation Pool.

He was acutely aware that in the face of the Rainier Empire's Imperial Advisor—a figure deemed a fearsome adversary by the entire Silvermoon Empire—he possessed no strength to oppose him.

Even with her assistance, their chances of victory were slim.

"You hold many misconceptions about me," Zhou Cangmin noted, his smile easy and knowing as if reading Yu Yuan's mind. "My interest in you is purely out of curiosity. I'm eager to understand your motives and the reasons behind your actions in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area and Chilly Wind Valley."

"Furthermore, while the Rainier Empire and the Silvermoon Empire are at odds, I no longer share that enmity."

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