Chapter 542

"If you encounter powerful demon beasts and cannot return to Shushan for the time being, find a way to lure these demon beasts into the territories of other demon beasts."

"Compared to you, most demon beasts prefer their own kind, whose life essence is much richer."

"But try your best not to provoke those demon beasts; in the Demon-Locking Tower, Shushan disciples are quite heavily hated."

"Besides that, there is one more thing I almost forgot to mention."

Jiang Yan pointed to the surroundings.

"The operation of the Demon-Locking Tower, while not entirely dependent on Qi—after all, Qi cannot support the operation of such an Immortal Artifact—"

"The Qi generated by the Demon-Locking Tower refining demon beasts is still very useful for cultivators."

"On this first floor, most of the demon beasts have already been melted down; later on, other disciples can be allowed to come to the first floor of the Demon-Locking Tower to cultivate for a period of time."

"But after that, more demon beasts at the Refining Essence into Qi stage will need to be sent in to replenish the tower."

"Once you, Head Seat Zhongli, leave the Demon-Locking Tower, remember to tell Alice about this."

"Let the Merit Hall implement this matter."

Zhongli nodded and said softly:

"Rest assured, Sect Master, I will convey this to Elder Alice."

"Then let's continue moving upward."

Jiang Yan pointed to the marvelous rune array on the ground.

"With your cultivation, you need to reach at least the fourth level for it to be of any help to you."

"But at the same time, starting from the fourth level, you will face all kinds of dangers."

"Only demons at the Refining Qi into Spirit level can step above the fourth level."

"Additionally, the first three levels are basically all demon beasts, and most of these beasts are just unrefined, wild, and lack any great ability; they are simply wicked."

"But the demon beasts that can reach the Refining Qi into Spirit level mostly have inheritances."

"In fact, there is no shortage of members from great demon clans who were captured and thrown in for committing crimes; these demons are much more formidable than those wild ones."

"Especially above the fourth level, you might also have the opportunity to see true Demonic Cultivators, Evil Cultivators, Ghost Cultivators, and so on."

"In short, the real danger begins at the fourth level, but the arrival of crisis also represents the arrival of opportunity."

"Many existences within the Demon-Locking Tower possess techniques not recorded in Shushan, and many demon beasts themselves are precious materials."

"If you can obtain enough cultivation methods and demon beast materials,"

"it will count as having explored the Nine Nether Secret Realm once."

Jiang Yan explained everything in detail to Zhongli, and the two continued their journey upward.

Inside the Demon-Locking Tower, more than a month had already passed.

During this time, Jiang Yan and Zhongli could not say they had gained nothing, but their harvest was truly not much.

Most of the time, the two spent searching for the passage to climb higher in the Demon-Locking Tower.

As for demon beasts, they naturally encountered some.

But they were all small demons at the Refining Essence into Qi stage, which Zhongli dealt with casually; he had no interest in taking them away, so he simply left them to decompose naturally and turn into Qi.

Finally, when nearly two months had passed according to their perception of time in the Demon-Locking Tower,

they finally found the teleportation passage to the fourth level.

Standing before the passage, Zhongli did not need to sense it deliberately; he had already perceived a faint sense of life-threatening danger.

Zhongli took a deep breath.

The time before was just child's play; now, it was finally time to enter the main event.

From the moment he stepped into the passage, he would be facing nothing but demon beasts at the Refining Qi into Spirit level.

And the time that followed would also be the time for him to seize every opportunity to break through to the peak of Refining Qi into Spirit.

All his plans, all his ambitions, were in the battles to come.

Jiang Yan glanced at Zhongli, whose face was brimming with unmasked fighting spirit; seeing this, Jiang Yan felt relieved.

He chuckled softly:

"After tossing about for so long, it's finally officially beginning. I presume you, Head Seat Zhongli, are already impatient."

Zhongli nodded heavily.

"Naturally."

"Confidence is a good thing, but..."

Jiang Yan pursed his lips and said softly:

"From here on, we must act separately. You need to stay on the fourth level for a while to temper yourself before continuing to climb to the fifth level."

"As for whether or not to ascend to the sixth level, that is up to you."

"It's just that the fourth to sixth levels are not my final destination, so we need not travel together."

"Do not forget, Head Seat Zhongli: three years. Once the three-year period is up, you must leave the Demon-Locking Tower immediately."

Zhongli nodded earnestly.

"I am confident I will reach the peak of Refining Qi into Spirit within three years."

"That would be for the best... Take care, Head Seat Zhongli."

The two stepped into the fourth level simultaneously, and by the time Zhongli reacted, Jiang Yan had already vanished.

Zhongli did not panic; he simply looked in a certain direction based on his intuition and cupped his hands:

"I wish the Sect Master success in achieving his desires."

A moment later, Zhongli turned and walked in the opposite direction.

His current goal is...

To hunt one hundred demon beasts at the early stage of Refining Qi into Spirit and twenty at the middle stage within three months!

324. Lumine: What's investing Mora? Watch me invest in the future Head Seat of Shushan!

The journey of Jiang Yan and Zhongli into the Demon-Locking Tower could be considered to have officially begun.

Although everyone at Shushan was curious about what kind of situation would occur inside the Demon-Locking Tower, no one wanted to go in and find out.

They would just take a nap, and upon seeing that several hours had passed, they would suddenly realize that a few hours in Shushan might be several months of effort inside the Demon-Locking Tower.

Thinking of this, they could not help but sigh at the wonder of the power of time.

Ganyu and Yae Miko had already gone to Jiang Yan's cave dwelling to enter seclusion.

Besides Jiang Yan and Klee, they were the only ones who could enter and exit his dwelling at will.

There, the Enlightenment Tea leaves and the Bodhi tree of inquiry provided Dao rhymes from their vigorous growth, which could allow them to gain a deeper understanding of the path of cultivation.

Ganyu also patiently imparted her insights from before and after her tribulation to Yae Miko, striving to help her undergo her own tribulation in a short time.

Alice had settled Klee and had already bid farewell, heading toward the Dark Sea.

All affairs of Shushan, large and small, were temporarily handed over to Venti, though Shushan didn't seem to have much going on in daily life anyway.

Before Jiang Yan left, he had already arranged everything clearly; furthermore, the most important inner sect disciples were all working hard in seclusion.

As for the rest, whether they were outer sect disciples or people from Teyvat, as long as it wasn't a catastrophic disaster, it was all trivial.

The Outer Sect Elder Council could resolve it.

If all else failed, Neuvillette and Furina could also resolve the trouble.

With Jiang Yan away, although no one was preaching, and breakthroughs in cultivation were slow, techniques could still be studied on one's own.

To go to the Nine Nether Secret Realm, the focus naturally had to be on combat techniques.

The news that most inner sect disciples had begun seclusion soon spread to the outer sect disciples.

The outer sect then spread this news throughout Liyue Harbor, and immediately, the outer sect disciples also began seclusion.

Only some nosy ordinary people remained, spreading this news further and further.

Shushan once again entered a state similar to closing its gates.

And over in Teyvat, because of the changes brought about by the resurgence of spiritual energy, things were also intensifying.

This change, Lumine, who was far away in Inazuma, was definitely among the first to notice, even if not the very first.

After slaying the last monster in front of her with a sword, Ayaka exhaled, feeling somewhat exhausted.

"The strength of the monsters has been enhanced."

Lumine calmly handed Ayaka a bottle of water, and the latter drank it in one gulp, nodding with a touch of melancholy.

"Indeed. It's not yet apparent with Hilichurls, but non-human monsters like Slimes and Whopperflowers have received quite significant enhancements."

"It seems the resurgence of spiritual energy has indeed accelerated its spread to Inazuma."

Hearing this, Kujou Sara frowned slightly.