Chapter 214: Gelatinous Ice Lotus

"An illusion array with no trace of Spiritual Power or magical energy fluctuation—this array is truly impressive."

Now Yunhe can be considered a Second Stage high‑grade array master; he has gained a deeper understanding of array doctrine, fully aware that for an array to achieve zero leakage of magical energy or Spiritual Power requires profound mastery of array arts, as well as the arranging cultivator's exquisite skill in setting up array banners and array implements.

Hovering beyond the hazy clouds, Yunhe's divine sense swept over the area but could not detect anything; without the aid of the specialized illusion‑and‑array detector 'Spirit Eye', he probably would not have discovered this place at all.

"No wonder this array, despite having existed for countless years, still produces this effect."

On one hand, because it is a pure illusion array lacking any defensive or offensive capability, the array's energy consumption is minimal.

On the other hand, the array is arranged with extreme perfection and has no leakage of magical energy or Spiritual Power, so its consumption is even lower.

Pure illusionary deception, compared with other arrays, can naturally persist longer.

He slowly extended his hand, feeling no resistance at all on his palm.

Yet in his sight, his hand seemed to have been severed in mid‑air.

Although the He family ancestor entered this place with a Cultivation Base of the Refining Qi stage without encountering much danger, Yunhe cannot be certain that the illusion array truly contains no risk; perhaps the ancestor was simply extraordinarily lucky.

So, to be safe, Yunhe gently patted his spirit‑insect bag, and dozens of Crimson Shadow Golden‑winged Bees flew toward the illusion array, moving around inside at his command.

He himself summoned the Flowing Cloud Falcon Boat and sat outside the illusion array, waiting silently.

About a day later, those dozens of Crimson Shadow Golden‑winged Bees returned unharmed.

At this point, Yunhe finally stopped hesitating, folded away the flying boat, and stepped in.

Hum—

He only felt his vision grow hazy for a moment, then found himself on a modest cloud island.

Looking from the outside in, he could see only a relatively dense cloud veil, nothing else.

But looking from the inside outward, everything outside could be taken in his sight.

Moreover, within the illusion array there was no cloud‑obscured view; the sun shone brightly, and the breeze was gentle.

"Interesting," Yunhe's eyes twinkled slightly.

He became somewhat intrigued by this illusion array.

If he could acquire or learn it, arranging it around a cave dwelling would provide excellent concealment, and a scaled‑down version placed in certain special locations could also serve as a shield.

After entering the illusion array, his divine sense faced no barrier; a single sweep almost entirely encompassed the cloud island.

This place.

Indeed, Spiritual Power is scarce; although the island's vegetation is lush, there are few active demon beasts, and most have very weak Cultivation Bases, posing no threat to him at all.

After scrutinizing the illusion array for a moment, Yunhe turned and flew toward the island's center.

According to the few descriptions left by the He family ancestor, he indeed found a fissure about three zhang wide at the island's center.

When he stood at the fissure's opening and looked down, all he saw was utter darkness, a bottomless abyss.

His divine sense also swept the fissure, detecting only jagged rocks and damp soil, and found no other abnormalities.

This made Yunhe involuntarily furrow his brows.

"Am I overthinking?"

After a moment's thought, he loosened his robe, summoned no magical energy, and leapt down.

Since he was already here, not descending to take a look would be contrary to a secret‑seeker's conduct.

What if there's also an illusion array concealing this place?

Clack.

Very quickly.

Yunhe moved deftly to the fissure's bottom, stepping onto the damp soil.

With a body now comparable to a late‑Second Stage demon beast, even a height of five or six zhang, let alone thirty or forty zhang, causes him no discomfort.

After reaching the fissure's bottom, Yunhe began to feel his way cautiously.

If this place holds no secrets, why go to such lengths to lay an illusion array covering the entire cloud island?

Surely something is hidden, but it isn't easy to uncover.

Yunhe reactivated his 'Spirit Eye' and began searching the small fissure bottom.

After searching for a while.

"Hmm?"

Yunhe was suddenly startled.

When he brushed dust off a rock wall in the fissure, he saw a strange symbol.

This symbol is invisible without the 'Spirit Eye', but becomes visible when it is activated.

Most importantly, this rare symbol of the cultivation world was one Yunhe actually recognized!

Because, it turned out to be.

"Demon‑race script?!"

This left Yunhe somewhat stunned.

Moreover, it isn't ordinary demon‑race script but an ancient demon language; had he not obtained many ancient demon texts from Qingyao, he might not have understood its meaning.

After a brief lapse, Yunhe formed a strange incantation according to the meaning revealed by the text.

Rumble—

The fissure suddenly gave a slight tremor, and its bottom quivered gently.

Soon, a unique seal manifested before him.

Yunhe's expression grew odd; the seal here turned out to be a demon‑race seal?

Had he not seen the symbol and deciphered the demon text, he might never have discovered the seal.

As the seal activated, a new passage to deeper levels opened within the previously bottomed fissure, and a surge of intensely dense Spiritual Power erupted.

"So this island isn't lacking Spiritual Power; it's been cut off and sealed off?"

Yunhe cautiously extended his divine sense, after confirming there was no danger, he flew in.

He went downward all the way.

The deeper he went, the denser the spiritual qi became; this density even made Yunhe secretly startled.

"At least it can already rival the spiritual qi density of a middle-grade third-tier spirit vein, right?"

Soon he arrived at a spacious cavern beneath the earth fissure.

The huge cavern was extremely tranquil; on the surrounding rock walls crawled numerous roots of unknown plants, thick and dense like a giant nest.

The cavern floor was extremely flat, glowing moss illuminating the entire area.

Three thick, milky-white jade pillars stood within.

These jade pillars, made of unknown material, were obviously finely carved; each was covered with symbols, or rather, monster race script.

"This is."

Yunhe couldn't help but walk forward, a gleam flashing in his eyes.

Could this place truly be the abode of a powerful monster cultivator from ancient times?

His gaze did not linger on the pillars but fell on the platform between them, where lay a white lotus stand one chi high and half a zhang wide, as clear and translucent as ice crystal.

Suddenly, Yunhe's eyes narrowed; he reached out and pulled, and the lotus stand flew to his feet without any hindrance.

As the lotus stand approached, Yunhe immediately sensed the dense spiritual qi in the place moving with it, making him think "Indeed" and his expression involuntarily showed great joy.

"A spirit-eye object!"

The "Gathering Spirit Pearl" Yunhe possessed is a rare spirit-eye object; whenever he opens or changes his abode, he must set up a Gathering Spirit Array and the pearl to increase the spiritual qi density inside.

Although for him now the pearl's effect is minimal, he still adheres to the principle that even a little increase is worthwhile, always carrying the pearl.

And this ice-crystal-shaped lotus stand before him is clearly a spirit-eye object of higher rank than the Gathering Spirit Pearl!

No wonder after breaking the seal he could feel such dense spiritual qi.

If he sits on this lotus stand while meditating, it would undoubtedly greatly increase his cultivation speed and enhance the absorption and conversion of spiritual artifacts after a full circulation of mana.

In short, this item is a major treasure for aiding cultivation!

If taken out, it would surely move the hearts of countless Yuan Ying cultivators.

Yunhe reached out and lightly touched it, gaining a deeper understanding of the lotus stand in his mind.

"Congealed Fat Ice-Clear Lotus!"

Not only does it increase spiritual qi density and speed, it also has the effect of condensing the spirit and calming the qi, reducing the likelihood of inner demons arising.

Most importantly.

This "Congealed Fat Ice-Clear Lotus" also slightly boosts the success rate of Nascent Soul formation!

Unlike the "essence-qi-spirit" three gates that foundation establishment, golden core, and Nascent Soul all must pass, Nascent Soul entails an additional gate called the "Heart Demon Tribulation," and this lotus increases the cultivator's chance of passing it.

Although the increase is small, it is absolutely a rare treasure.

This lotus can no longer be simply measured in spirit stones.

"Good, good."

Yunhe's face lit with joy; he never expected to find such a treasure here, truly not wasting the months he spent searching.

If he didn't possess the "Spiritual Eye," he probably couldn't have discovered the illusion array and found this island; if he couldn't read the monster script, he likely couldn't have broken the seal to enter this place—no matter how you look at it, this doesn't seem prepared for human cultivators.

But regardless, it has now come to his advantage.

Although he can take elixirs to raise his cultivation base, no cultivator would disdain higher spiritual qi density; possessing this lotus, he has greater confidence in assaulting the late Golden Core stage and even aspiring to the Nascent Soul realm, which is unattainable for most cultivators.

Yunhe was overjoyed, wishing he could immediately experience the enhancement brought by the Congealed Fat Ice-Clear Lotus.

Unfortunately, this place is not a safe spot for secluded cultivation; who knows what dangers may lurk in this seemingly tranquil cavern.

After scanning the Congealed Fat Ice-Clear Lotus back and forth with his divine sense dozens of times and confirming nothing was hidden, he then stored the lotus and turned his gaze back to the three jade pillars.

It is obvious that the monster script on these three jade pillars is also ancient monster script; although reading it is somewhat troublesome, Yunhe still calmed himself and examined it carefully.

Not looking would be fine; the more he looked, Yunhe's expression, after a brief surprise and disbelief, gradually became solemn.

Who knows how much time has passed.

When Yunhe finally finished reading the content recorded on those three jade pillars, his inner turmoil was like an overturned river and sea, long unable to calm.

The Yun Shang Realm, in extremely ancient times, actually was the domain of the monster race!

Although he had some suspicions beforehand, upon confirmation Yunhe still couldn't help feeling shocked.

In ancient times, the spatial barriers of the cultivation world were not as solid as they are now; powerful beings from the ancient monster realm crossed the void with great force, allowing the monster race to successfully descend into this world.

Furthermore, in that era, within this realm, the monster race were the true rulers, while human cultivators were merely their "rations".

At least in the Yun Shang Realm, that was the case.

Until later, after the cultivation world's spatial barriers were reinforced over long years and finally stabilized, the void passage between the ancient monster realm and the ancient cultivation realm became hard to maintain; the monster race, lacking continued support, was eventually defeated by the rising human cultivators.

And at that time, the force that organized all human cultivators of the Yun Shang Realm was called the "Yun Shang Palace"!

Of course, the territory actually occupied by the Yun Shang Palace was only the Yun Zhong Realm, driving all remaining monster races into the Yun Wai Realm.

This is also why the Yun Wai Realm has so many monster beasts and Yun Zhong beasts.

It is said that at that time the monster race even established a monster court in the Yun Shang Realm, and the ruins of structures left on those cloud islands in the Yun Wai Realm are actually remnants of that vast monster court.

Over these years, the Yun Shang Palace has been searching the Yun Wai Realm for the most important "Heavenly Monster Palace" of the monster court's royal court, yet has still not found it.

Because no one knows the size of the entire Yun Wai Realm, the "Heavenly Monster Palace" could be hidden somewhere in its corners; as for its exact location, even the existence of the ancient monster script inscribed on the jade pillars is unknown.

Besides this, the entity that left the ancient monster script also left a very crucial piece of information.

Initially, when the ancient monster race descended into the Yun Wai Realm, they did not merely bring a massive monster populace; they also brought a monster race supreme treasure, the "Luo Tian Hu Lu Vine"!

Using it to stabilize the void passage.

But later, due to the reinforcement of spatial barriers, the monster race had to retreat; the Luo Tian Hu Lu Vine, having already taken root, was consequently left behind in the Yun Shang Realm.

However, the monster race's protection of this vine was extremely thorough; it has now become a secret realm.

If one wishes to enter that secret realm, one must possess the "Net Heaven Order" to gain a brief opportunity to enter.

Upon seeing this, Yunhe couldn't help but think of the azure gourd left on the altar deep in Thunder Mountain, and what he held in his hand

"Could this be the 'Net Heaven Order'?"

Yunhe took out the special token he had discovered in the ancient pill-master's secret realm thatched cottage.

His eyes gleamed with bright light.

If the existence that left these demonic scriptures is speaking the truth, then the "Net Heaven Gourd Vine" can be called a treasure possessing the power of heavenly rotation, whether for human cultivators or demon beasts.

(End of chapter)