87: Chapter 87 Spirit Gathering Pool

Comparing the map, Chen Moxuan searched around the foot of Poyun Peak.

Perhaps because the scent of exotic beast blood on him was too strong, he did not encounter a single exotic beast along the way.

Before long, a massive, naturally formed crater came into view.

The crater walls were covered in crystallized textures, refracting iridescent light.

Inside the crater, the pool water was clear, with fine starlight dancing and floating on the surface.

"It seems this is the Spirit Gathering Pool."

Chen Moxuan paused to gaze at it, then continued forward.

Suddenly, the air around him rippled strangely, and a translucent barrier emerged from the Void Realm, exerting a massive resistance that prevented him from moving forward even an inch.

Immediately after, a line of information from the Secret Realm appeared before his eyes.

[Ahead lies the Spirit Gathering Pool area; entry conditions are a top ten ranking in points, or entering the top one hundred three days after the Secret Realm opens.]

[Detected entrant is ranked first in points; entry conditions met.]

In an instant, Chen Moxuan felt the pressure around him drop sharply, as if he had just surfaced from the deep sea; the surrounding resistance vanished without a trace.

At the same time, several water spouts surged in the center of the pool, and a lotus flower, seemingly solidified from ice crystals, rose from the center of the vortex.

In the center of the lotus was a pedestal just large enough for one person to sit on; the petals opened and closed gently, releasing wisps of mind-clearing, cold fragrance.

The Ice Lotus of Enlightenment was formed by the condensation of the essence of the Spirit Gathering Pool's water.

Only by sitting atop the Ice Lotus of Enlightenment and immersing half of one's body in the pool water could one maximize the miraculous effects of the Spirit Gathering Pool, helping the practitioner instantly enter a state of Epiphany and directly access their spiritual platform.

The reason the Spirit Gathering Secret Realm limited entry to only the top one hundred people was because the Spirit Gathering Pool could only condense one hundred Ice Lotus of Enlightenment flowers in a year.

Moreover, the location of each Ice Lotus of Enlightenment differed, and the duration of their effectiveness varied greatly.

Taking the most remote Ice Lotus of Enlightenment as an example, once a Martial Artist sat upon it, the cold fragrance contained within the ice lotus that could suppress the Martial Artist's distracting thoughts would completely evaporate after at most two hours, rendering it useless.

As for the ice lotus in the center of the pool, its effect could last for two full days, and it would only appear when the person at the top of the points leaderboard stepped into the Spirit Gathering Pool area.

However, under normal circumstances, even if a Martial Artist in the Spirit Gathering Secret Realm secured first place, they would not immediately head to the Spirit Gathering Pool.

The process of condensing a Heart-Phase Dao Seed in one's spiritual platform varied from person to person, and the time required was difficult to predict.

Putting aside whether one could successfully condense a Heart-Phase Dao Seed, once a Martial Artist entered a state of Epiphany on the Ice Lotus of Enlightenment, they would be completely unable to perceive external conditions.

Before successfully completing the condensation of the Heart-Phase Dao Seed, or until the effectiveness of the Ice Lotus of Enlightenment was completely exhausted, they could not leave on their own.

Rashly rushing to the Spirit Gathering Pool as the first-place holder would certainly allow one to enjoy the longest duration of Epiphany.

But in doing so, upon emerging from the pool, it was highly likely that one's ranking would have slipped significantly, falling far behind others.

The Spirit Gathering Pool was, after all, a fixed reward for the top one hundred; as long as one could maintain their ranking, this reward would not escape.

One had to know that countless other Opportunities were hidden within the Spirit Gathering Secret Realm, and the means to obtain points would also decrease as time passed.

Therefore, the vast majority of people would focus on stabilizing their rankings and exploring the Secret Realm during the first few days.

However, these concerns were clearly not issues Chen Moxuan needed to consider.

He did not belong to this year's Project Starfall members at all, and the ranking was of no use to him other than being a condition imposed by the Secret Realm's rules for entering the Spirit Gathering Pool.

As for other Opportunities, they were nothing more than Martial Skills or precious martial equipment, and their priority could not compare to the Spirit Gathering Pool.

After all, from the very beginning, he had come specifically to condense a Heart-Phase Dao Seed.

"It feels a bit too smooth."

Gazing at the Ice Lotus of Enlightenment before him, which exuded an ethereal aura, Chen Moxuan couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Although he had slaughtered dozens of exotic beasts along the way and eliminated several blind Martial Artists.

He still felt in his heart that before stepping into the Spirit Gathering Pool, he would encounter some extremely troublesome obstacles to stop him.

If one asked why, that was how a complete story with a beginning, development, turning point, and conclusion was always arranged.

However, that was also true.

The present was a reality he was experiencing, not a story in a book.

How could there be so many pre-arranged coincidences and twists?

Chen Moxuan leaped lightly and landed steadily on the Ice Lotus of Enlightenment in the pool, sitting cross-legged.

The serene, cold fragrance emitted by the ice lotus quietly permeated through his pores.

Chen Moxuan immediately felt his heart settle and his spirit brighten; an indescribable sense of peace slowly spread from the depths of his heart throughout his entire body, and his thoughts became clear and lucid.

Just then, as if drawn by some force, the Ice Lotus of Enlightenment began to sink slowly.

The pool water gently rippled and rose up.

This pool water was extremely peculiar; as Chen Moxuan soaked in it, he felt absolutely none of the damp, sticky sensation of ordinary water.

His clothes remained as dry as new, without a single water stain.

Yet his body felt as if it were immersed in a pool of warm, gentle spring water, and his entire being was relaxed to the extreme.

Chen Moxuan couldn't help but close his eyes; he could feel his Mental Energy recovering rapidly.

As the ice lotus continued to sink, the pool water gradually submerged Chen Moxuan's shoulders and neck.

Until his entire body was completely submerged in the water, leaving only his head exposed above the surface, the ice lotus finally stopped sinking.

And in that very instant, all sounds from the outside world ceased abruptly.

Chen Moxuan opened his eyes wide; what met his gaze was a purely black world of void.

"Is this... my spiritual platform?"

The world manifested by each Martial Artist's spiritual platform was different.

Some were an ocean, some were a desert, and some were a starry sky.

But a Martial Artist's initial spiritual platform often appeared monotonous.

It required the Martial Artist to use their own martial arts insights as a foundation to gradually enrich this spiritual world.

The practice of the Spirit Ascension Realm was essentially the process of constructing the spiritual platform world.

The beginning of this process was to condense a Heart-Phase Dao Seed, which symbolized the Martial Artist's Dao Heart and the foundation of their own martial arts, and plant it within this world.

As for the method of condensing the Heart-Phase Dao Seed... every Martial Artist's martial path and the Dao they realized were vastly different, and could not be defined by a unified standard.

For this step, apart from relying on Mental Energy to shape it, everything else required the Martial Artist to comprehend it themselves; others could not interfere, nor could it be easily taught by words or examples.

Precisely because of this, many Martial Artists were stuck at the Perfection of the Tiangang Realm, unable to take that crucial step for the rest of their lives.

Chen Moxuan pondered slightly and decided to try it first.

Being in this spiritual platform world, he could clearly perceive that his Mental Energy was like an extension of his body, and he could use it with ease.

With a thought, strands of pure white energy emerged from thin air in this originally dead and silent black void world.

These energies converged toward the center of the world, growing increasingly powerful, and a white point of light quietly appeared.