47: Chapter 47 Full Moon Night, Snatching Food from a Tiger's Mouth

Three days later, Qi Yang, with a hunched back and holding a basket of freshly picked nether grass, appeared shakily at the foot of Jianzhi Peak under the guise of delivering tonics to his wife.

The guard Disciple at the entrance was nearly amused by his senile appearance. After checking his identity jade token, he impatiently waved him through, not even bothering to send anyone to follow him.

What trouble could a century-old trash at the Qi Condensation Third Layer possibly cause?

Qi Yang stayed on Jianzhi Peak for less than half an hour. Instead of looking for Su Qinghan, he pretended to be lost and, guided by a kindhearted Senior Brother, inadvertently walked past the notice board of the Library Pavilion.

Posted prominently on the notice board was this month's duty roster for the inner sect's Forbidden Grounds, along with a simple diagram marking the entrance positions of each Forbidden Ground.

Qi Yang's cloudy old eyes merely gave it a casual glance before he hunched his back and staggered away.

But every single line and annotation concerning the interior of Spirit Spring Cave on that diagram had already been deeply etched into his mind.

After returning to the secret chamber in the Nether Grass Field, Qi Yang drew the internal layout of Spirit Spring Cave on the ground.

Spirit Spring Cave was divided into three layers.

The outermost layer was the storage area, holding already refined low-quality xuanyin water for the daily cultivation of Inner Sect Disciples.

The middle layer was the refining area, featuring a specialized Formation to filter and purify the raw xuanyin water gushing from the Spiritual Vein.

The innermost layer—the source of the Spiritual Vein—was the place with the densest Spiritual Qi in the entire Spirit Spring Cave.

The xuanyin water there was completely undiluted raw liquid; a single drop was worth a whole vat in the outer layer!

And to refine the foundation establishment pill, the required xuanyin water had to be the raw liquid from the inner layer!

The diluted stuff in the outer layer simply wouldn't suffice!

"The tunnel I dug leads right to the rock wall between the middle and inner layers."

Qi Yang gestured the distance on the map with his finger.

"Break through the rock wall of the middle layer, and less than five zhang further in lies the source of the Spiritual Vein!"

On the night of the full moon, during the half-incense burner's time when the flaw in the Spirit-Severing Formation appeared, he had to use Earth-attribute and Water-attribute Spiritual Power to open a hole at the Formation's weak node.

Pass through the hole, enter the middle layer of Spirit Spring Cave, and then carve through the five-zhang-thick inner rock wall.

After that, collect the water and return the way he came.

Finally, seal the hole with Earth-attribute Spiritual Power, leaving no trace behind.

The timeframe was suffocatingly tight.

But Qi Yang had no way back; there were still five days left until the night of the full moon.

In these five days, he had to make his final preparations.

First, break through to the Qi Condensation 8th Layer.

The icy cold Spiritual Qi deep within the tunnel was dense to the extreme. Coupled with his continuous consumption of top-grade poisonous herbs over the past half-month, the Poison Wood Spiritual Power inside his Dantian had long expanded to a critical point.

The barrier to the Qi Condensation 8th Layer had already been cracked in countless places by his impacts; it was just one final push away!

That night.

Qi Yang sat cross-legged in the deepest part of the tunnel, merely three zhang away from the Spirit-Severing Formation.

He retrieved five century-old top-grade poisonous herbs ripened by the black gourd from his Storage Pouch and stuffed them all into his mouth, chewing and swallowing them in one gulp.

Boom!

Wild, violent toxicity exploded inside his body, crushed and transformed by the Five Elements Grindstone into a torrential flood of Poison Wood Spiritual Power that slammed fiercely against that already riddled barrier!

Crack!

Accompanied by a crisp shattering sound, the barrier collapsed with a bang!

The Dantian Qi Sea suddenly expanded, and Poison Wood Spiritual Power surged and filled it like a bursting dam, making every Meridian in his body hum and tremble!

Qi Condensation 8th Layer!

Qi Yang snapped his eyes open, a terrifying, icy green light gleaming deep within his cloudy eyes.

One hundred years old, Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root, Qi Condensation 8th Layer.

He was still four layers away from the Qi Condensation Twelfth Layer Great Perfection, and Foundation Establishment was even further out of reach. But it didn't matter—on the night of the full moon five days later, he would obtain the xuanyin water.

At that time, with the three main herbs plus all the supplementary ingredients, all the Materials for the foundation establishment pill would be fully assembled.

The rest would merely be a matter of time.

Qi Yang swallowed a newly refined grade 2 wuxiang pill, tightly suppressing his cultivation of the Qi Condensation 8th Layer back under the disguise of the Qi Condensation Third Layer. Then he closed his eyes and began to conserve his energy...

At the third mark of the Zi hour, fifty zhang underground.

Qi Yang was like a breathless stone statue, staring unblinkingly at the glowing barrier three zhang ahead that radiated five-colored light.

Grade 2 Spirit-Severing Formation, one of the sect-protecting foundations of the Xuantian Sect's inner sect.

Suddenly, a faint tremor resonated from deep within the earth vein, and a burst of icy cold energy, dense enough to almost materialize, surged out from the depths of Spirit Spring Cave!

"It's here!"

A terrifying glint burst from Qi Yang's cloudy old eyes.

Under the impact of this vast Yin Qi, the five-element flow at the fist-sized Formation node directly in front of the Spirit-Severing Formation experienced a brief stagnation.

Right now!

Qi Yang formed hand seals like lightning, and the Poison Wood Spiritual Power of the Qi Condensation 8th Layer inside his Dantian spun frantically.

Yet at this moment, what he was channeling was Water-attribute and Earth-attribute Spiritual Power!

Although the Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root made cultivation as slow as a crawling turtle, its greatest advantage was having all Five Elements complete, allowing him to cast spells of any attribute!

Earth-attribute Spiritual Power transformed into an invisible drill, while Water-attribute Spiritual Power transformed into a soft lubricant.

Qi Yang controlled these two types of Spiritual Power to an exquisite degree, silently piercing into that weak Formation node.

It triggered no alarm whatsoever, not even kicking up a single ripple of Spiritual Qi.

The indestructible Spirit-Severing Formation was dissolved by Qi Yang into a small hole just large enough for one person to pass through!

Qi Yang slithered inside like an eel.

The moment he passed through the Formation, the ambient temperature plummeted to freezing point.

This was the innermost layer of Spirit Spring Cave; the white mist floating in the air was entirely composed of incomparably pure, icy cold Spiritual Qi.

Qi Yang dared not delay in the slightest. Following the direction where the Spiritual Qi was densest, he crouched low and shuttled swiftly through the forest of stalactites.

Covering a distance of less than five zhang, he quickly spotted the source of the Spiritual Vein.

It was a natural stone pool merely the size of a water vat, filled with liquid as black as ink that emanated an extreme chill capable of freezing one's very Soul.

Raw xuanyin water!

Qi Yang was overjoyed in his heart. Just as he was about to step forward to gather the water, his powerful perception suddenly sounded a frantic warning!

He halted abruptly, his gaze locking onto a protruding piece of glacial rock at the edge of the stone pool.

Perched on that glacial rock was a completely transparent toad, no larger than a fist!

If one didn't look closely, it was impossible to distinguish it from the surrounding glacial rock.

"A Tier 1 Peak Yao Beast, the Ice Crystal Toad!"

Qi Yang drew in a sharp breath, his scalp tingling with numbness.

This was a companion Yao Beast equivalent to a human Cultivator at the Qi Condensation 11th Layer! Its sensitivity to fluctuations in Spiritual Qi was even more terrifying than that of an Early Foundation Establishment Cultivator!

If Qi Yang dared to take half a step forward, even if it merely stirred up a slight breeze, this beast would undoubtedly let out an earth-shattering screech.

When that happened, no matter how negligent the Foundation Establishment Stage Elder guarding Spirit Spring Cave was, he would arrive within ten breaths and crush him into meat paste!

Fighting it head-on meant certain death with zero chance of survival!

Retreat?

Having come all this way with the xuanyin water right before his eyes, how could he possibly retreat!

Qi Yang's eyes turned ruthless.

He slowly retrieved a small jade bottle from his sleeve containing a drop of purified poisonous juice from nether grass roots.

He extracted the subtlest strand of Wood-attribute Spiritual Power from his body to wrap around the drop of poison juice, transforming it into a transparent flying needle almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

The Ice Crystal Toad was perching on the rock, its belly swelling and deflating as it greedily inhaled and exhaled the chilly aura of the xuanyin water.

Right at the instant its mouth opened slightly to inhale a breath of cold air, Qi Yang snapped his finger!

Whoosh!

The fine needle of Wood-attribute Spiritual Power wrapping the poison juice shot with pinpoint accuracy straight into the Ice Crystal Toad's slightly open mouth!