Chapter 16: Dense Spiritual Qi

Blinking his eyes several times, Zhang Nuo finally came to his senses a moment later. He stared at the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" in his hands for a long time, but at this moment, the sword case was just as it had been before; there was simply nothing special to be seen about it.

As for the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" on the sword case, it lazily flapped its wings a few times at this moment, then burrowed into Zhang Nuo's embrace. No matter how Zhang Nuo tried to communicate with it using his mental sense, the insect had no reaction at all, as if it had fallen into a deep slumber.

Everything came quickly and went quickly. Zhang Nuo looked at the sword case, his head full of confusion. When he first saw this "Nine Dragon Sword Case," the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" had been incredibly agitated. Thinking about it carefully, there must be some kind of connection between the insect and the sword case. After the scene that had just occurred, Zhang Nuo was even more convinced of this point.

Yet, after eating the insect's product, the sword case had not undergone any changes, which made him extremely curious! Stroking the sword case with one hand, after a long while, Zhang Nuo finally calmed his mind. He set the sword case aside, simply stopped thinking about it, and began to continue his cultivation. There were still five years until the battle for the Chief Disciple, and within these five years, he had to cultivate to at least the Sixth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

Judging by Zhang Nuo's aptitude, five years was not nearly enough time. Even if he cultivated tirelessly every day, whether he could reach the Sixth Layer was still an unknown.

In the dead of night, inside Lin Fan's Cave Abode, Gao Dakuan and the others had all fallen asleep. Only Zhang Nuo was still cultivating without pause. Without the restriction of the Spirit Insect in his body, his current cultivation speed was much faster than before, but even so, the gap between him and the geniuses was still vast.

Just at this moment, a layer of faint white light suddenly appeared on the surface of the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" beside Zhang Nuo. This layer of white light was extremely subtle; even if one did not look carefully, it would be impossible to discover. At this time, Zhang Nuo was sitting with his eyes closed, cultivating earnestly, and did not notice the change happening to the sword case beside him at all.

The white light flowed continuously over the sword case, just like a thin mist in the mountains. Following the flow of the white light, the surrounding Spiritual Qi began to spread toward the sword case. The speed at which the Spiritual Qi gathered was not very fast, so Zhang Nuo, who was in the midst of cultivation, did not feel anything.

As time passed, the concentration of Spiritual Qi around the sword case became higher and higher, and the nine dragon heads on the sword case all slightly opened their mouths at this moment, crazily absorbing the Spiritual Qi.

Zhang Nuo, who was concentrating on his cultivation, also suddenly felt that the Spiritual Qi around him had become denser. With no time to think, he also desperately absorbed this Spiritual Qi into his own body.

Lin Fan's Cave Abode was built in a place where Spiritual Qi was dense to begin with; the Spiritual Qi inside the Cave Abode was many times stronger than the outside world. It was only due to Zhang Nuo's own reasons that his sensitivity to Spiritual Qi was not as strong as Gao Dakuan and the others, which was why his cultivation speed was so slow. But now, since the Spiritual Qi around him had suddenly become dense, he naturally would not let this opportunity pass.

An hour later, the white light on the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" suddenly dimmed, and the Spiritual Qi in the surroundings stopped surging toward this place. Everything returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened at all.

Opening his eyes, Zhang Nuo stopped his cultivation after discovering that the Spiritual Qi had thinned. Recalling everything that had just happened, he couldn't help but feel happy. In just one hour, his cultivation had risen by a notch; dense Spiritual Qi was the best supplement for a cultivator.

"If only there could be such dense Spiritual Qi every day!"

Stretching, Zhang Nuo muttered in a low voice. At this moment, his gaze fell upon the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" beside him. The sword case was still sitting there quietly, without any changes.

"The Spirit Insect has such a big reaction to you, which means you are not trash!"

As he spoke, Zhang Nuo picked up the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" again. He understood that the things chosen by the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" could not be trash; there must be a reason for it, he just hadn't discovered it yet.

The next morning, a mental sense from the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" suddenly reached Zhang Nuo's mind. The insect actually said it was hungry and wanted to eat.

Seeing that the insect had recovered its spirit, Zhang Nuo's heart was set at ease. Ever since it condensed the white crystal yesterday, the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" had been in a state of slumber. Now that it said it was hungry, it meant that no major incident had occurred.

Jumping down from the bed, Zhang Nuo took the Spirit Insect and walked out of Lin Fan's Cave Abode. He was deeply afraid that bringing the insect in and out of the Cave Abode like this would arouse the suspicion of Lin Fan and the others, so after leaving the cave this time, he used his mental sense to say to the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect":

"I will let you out of the Cave Abode; go find ores yourself. I will come back here to pick you up in ten days! Do not run around! You can only look for food within the Divine Sword Mountain Range!"

The Spirit Insect flew out from Zhang Nuo's embrace, its little head moved, and then it flew away without looking back!

Watching the Spirit Insect gradually move away, Zhang Nuo smiled slightly. The "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" had already acknowledged him as its master; even if someone else took this insect, it would be impossible to command it. Moreover, who would think that such an inconspicuous insect was a Heavenly Sky Grade Spirit Insect?

After finishing all this, Zhang Nuo returned to Lin Fan's Cave Abode, hid in the Stone Chamber, and began his dull cultivation once again.