63: Chapter 63 The pool is a thousand feet deep

He felt like a bottomless well, and those drops of spiritual liquid were the spring water within. He had originally thought this well could produce a hundred and eight drops at most, but now over two hundred had surged out, yet there was still no sign of it drying up.

Two hundred and eighty drops.

Three hundred drops.

Three hundred and twenty drops.

Finally.

It finally began to slow down.

The last drop of spiritual liquid condensed into form and gently fell into the deepest part of the Dantian.

Three hundred and sixty-five drops.

Yun Ming's consciousness quietly floated within the Dantian, gazing at those three hundred and sixty-five drops of spiritual liquid.

They were not scattered randomly.

They were in an arrangement.

The three hundred and sixty-five drops of spiritual liquid were arranged in a profound trajectory within the Dantian—it was a pattern he had never seen before, yet he felt a faint sense of familiarity.

The Heavenly Stars.

Three hundred and sixty-five, exactly matching the Number of One Yuan and corresponding to the positions of the Heavenly Stars.

And his Dantian was that miniature starry sky.

Yun Ming watched in a daze.

Then he saw something even more startling—

Those five Spiritual Roots.

The Five Elements Spiritual Roots were supposed to be five dull, unremarkable grey lines.

But at this moment, they were shining brilliantly.

Five-colored light emanated from deep within the Spiritual Roots, illuminating the entire Dantian. The light was soft yet firm, reflecting and echoing with the three hundred and sixty-five drops of spiritual liquid. With every echo, the spiritual liquid would tremble slightly, and the Spiritual Roots would brighten a bit more.

It was as if they were originally one.

It was as if they were always meant to be this way.

Yun Ming's consciousness stared at those five Spiritual Roots for a long time, gazing at those three hundred and sixty-five star-like drops of spiritual liquid.

A long, long time ago, he had faintly suspected that his Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Root might not be an ordinary Spiritual Root.

He had thought it was thanks to the Supreme Profound Pure Qi Art.

But looking at it now—

It wasn't.

However, the current Yun Ming couldn't understand what exactly was happening to his body, so he could only set it aside for now.

Yun Ming's consciousness slowly withdrew from the Dantian.

He opened his eyes.

The waterfall still murmured, and the rainbow remained faint. Sunlight spilled from the top of the cliff, shining on him with a cozy warmth.

He looked down at his hands. He knew that everything was different now.

Foundation Establishment was complete.

Three hundred and sixty-five drops of spiritual liquid.

Five Spiritual Roots shining brilliantly.

And he could finally begin to look for a way to refine this Blessed Land.

Yun Ming stood up and looked toward that bottomless pool of water.

It was time to go and explore it once more.

Yun Ming did not hesitate any longer.

He took a deep breath and leaped into the pool.

Water splashed, and the cool sensation instantly enveloped his whole body. Unlike the last time, he was now a Foundation Establishment Cultivator; the three hundred and sixty-five drops of spiritual liquid within him circulated like stars, and his level of spiritual energy was far beyond what it had been during the Qi Refining Stage.

He circulated his spiritual energy to protect his body and dove downward.

Ten zhang.

Twenty zhang.

Fifty zhang.

One hundred zhang.

The surroundings grew darker until he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Only when he circulated his spiritual energy did a faint glow appear on the surface of his body, illuminating the water within three feet of him. That light reflecting in the dark pool was like a lone star falling into an abyss.

He continued to dive.

One hundred and fifty zhang.

Two hundred zhang.

Two hundred and fifty zhang.

The water pressure grew stronger, like invisible giant hands squeezing from all directions. Yun Ming expanded his spiritual energy shield, which creaked under the pressure, nearly shattering. He gritted his teeth and added another thirty percent of spiritual energy.

Three hundred zhang.

Three hundred and fifty zhang.

The spiritual liquid inside him was being consumed at a visible rate. Each drop of spiritual liquid converted into spiritual energy could not last long under the heavy pressure of this thousand-foot-deep pool. He clearly perceived that the three hundred and sixty-five drops of spiritual liquid in his Dantian were decreasing one by one.

Ten drops.

Twenty drops.

Fifty drops.

One hundred drops.

Finally—

His feet touched something soft.

Yun Ming's heart lifted, and he looked down. With the help of his protective spiritual light, he saw that beneath his feet was a patch of pitch-black silt, fine and soft, sinking slightly as he stepped on it.

The bottom of the pool.

He had finally reached the bottom of the pool.

At this point, he roughly estimated the depth of his dive to be at least over three hundred zhang.

Yun Ming was in no hurry to search; instead, he first stabilized his position and looked internally at his Dantian.

Of the three hundred and sixty-five drops of spiritual liquid, only about one hundred and eighty drops remained.

Over half had been consumed.

He was secretly alarmed. If he hadn't succeeded in Foundation Establishment this time and condensed an amount of spiritual liquid far exceeding ordinary people, he probably wouldn't have reached the bottom of the pool before dying from spiritual energy exhaustion. An ordinary Early Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator could condense thirty-six to seventy-two drops of spiritual liquid at most; it would be absolutely impossible for them to dive this far.

Yun Ming composed himself and began to survey his surroundings.

The bottom of the pool was not wide, about ten zhang in diameter. All around were pitch-black rock walls, smooth as mirrors, their material indistinguishable. Above was the pitch-black deep water, and below was thick silt.

He bent down and scooped up a handful of silt.

The mud was fine and smooth, cool to the touch, with faint glimmers of spiritual light flowing between his fingers. Yun Ming leaned in for a closer look, and his pupils suddenly constricted—

This mud...

He had seen records of it in the Sect's archives.

Spirit Soil.

An extremely rare natural spiritual treasure that can nourish spiritual plants, accelerate growth, and even bring dead Spiritual Roots back to life. Legend has it that those top-tier Sects cultivate thousand-year Spirit Medicine and ten-thousand-year spiritual trees by spreading a layer of Spirit Soil at the bottom of their medicine fields. With this substance, the growth speed of Spirit Medicine can be increased several times over, and the quality is also significantly improved.

In the outside world, Spirit Soil is priceless and hard to find. A small handful is worth nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones, and even then, it's often unavailable.

And right now, what he was stepping on was an entire pool bottom of Spirit Soil!

Its thickness was unknown, and its breadth was several zhang.

Holding the attitude that only a fool wouldn't take advantage of a bargain.

He did not hesitate and immediately took off his naxu ring, circulating his spiritual energy and aiming it at the silt beneath his feet.

A flash of green light erupted from the ring, and a massive suction force surged from within. The Spirit Soil seemed to be summoned, turning into streaks of black light and flowing continuously into the ring.

The Spirit Soil poured in like flowing water, piling up into a small mountain inside the ring.

He also didn't forget his main task; while digging the mud, he looked for the key to refining the Blessed Land.

Yun Ming composed himself and began to search the bottom of the pool in earnest.

Unfortunately, the bottom of the pool was too dark.

At a depth of three hundred zhang underwater, not a single ray of daylight could penetrate. His protective spiritual light could only illuminate three feet around him; any further was a darkness so thick it wouldn't dissipate. In such an environment, the naked eye was nearly useless.

He could only release his Divine Sense.

After Foundation Establishment, his Divine Sense could cover a radius of a hundred zhang. Now, focusing his power to activate it, his Divine Sense spread out in all directions like a tide—

Three feet.

One zhang.

Three zhang.

Ten zhang.

His Divine Sense touched the rock walls at the edge of the pool bottom; they were smooth and cold, without any abnormalities. He controlled his Divine Sense to sweep closely along the rock walls, inch by inch, not missing any possible cracks or markings.

Nothing.

There was nothing at all.

He then probed his Divine Sense deep into the Spirit Soil.

Although the Spirit Soil could block a portion of Divine Sense, Yun Ming used his spiritual liquid to force it downward. One foot, two feet, three feet... until his Divine Sense touched the bedrock of the pool, there was still only silt and nothing else.

Yun Ming was not reconciled.

He changed directions and continued the search.

The bottom of the pool was about ten zhang wide; he went in circles, sweeping over every inch.

No hidden doors.

No Formation fluctuations.

Not a single trace that could be related to refining the Blessed Land.

Yun Ming stopped in the center of the pool bottom, his brow furrowed.

He had just over a hundred drops of spiritual liquid left. If he kept searching, he feared he wouldn't even have enough spiritual energy to return.

Could it be that the key to refining the Blessed Land isn't here?

Or did he miss something?

He looked up at the endless darkness above and then down at the Spirit Soil he had dug into uneven pits.

Forget it.

Today's search can only end here.