Chapter 403

Half a day later, the flying vessel arrived at a lush valley.

Elder Futo waved his hand, and the great ship landed.

One by one, everyone stepped down from the vessel.

Though it was a valley, the surroundings had been built with opulent grandeur, guarded by tens of thousands of imperial guards.

A massive golden energy barrier enveloped the rear half of the valley.

Elder Futo smiled warmly and said, "This is it… esteemed prodigies, follow me!"

The twelve followed Elder Futo to the edge of the great array.

He Pingsheng's spiritual sense swept over it—the array was fourth-rank.

And it was of the protective mountain array tier.

Even a Nascent Soul peak cultivator could not shake it in the slightest.

Since the imperial family protected this place so well, the Seven-Star Spirit Spring must be extraordinarily precious.

Boom…

At that moment, a gap opened in the golden array barrier.

Elder Futo led everyone into the array.

Inside the array, it was still a valley.

The difference was that the spiritual energy here was extraordinarily dense—even denser than the spiritual veins near some major sects.

"Sssss… such dense spiritual energy!"

"If one cultivated here, wouldn't progress be twice as fast?"

Several prodigies walked while discussing.

He Pingsheng had already unleashed his spiritual sense, sweeping it over the entire valley.

His spiritual sense now reached thirty thousand zhang, covering two hundred li with a single thought.

He saw it!

Behind the bamboo grove ahead lay a massive pool.

Or rather, an immortal pool.

Mist shrouded the pool, obscuring most of the spirit spring from view.

His spiritual sense could not penetrate it.

But he could see a tiny, continuous trickle of spirit spring water dripping from above, each drop falling into the pool.

The flow was minuscule.

Yet over centuries, it had formed a pool dozens of zhang across.

"Follow me!"

Elder Futo led everyone to the edge of the immortal pool soon after.

This time, they could see it with their own eyes.

The pool's shape was irregular, roughly fan-like, twenty zhang long and wide.

Around the pool grew countless purple bamboo.

The grove was dense, with only a winding path leading out—so if one didn't use spiritual sense, this place was nearly cut off from the outside.

"Enough!" Elder Futo said. "The spirit liquid here has accumulated for thousands of years. The imperial family opens this place only once every hundred years, and only for their own inner disciples!"

"You've all been granted an extraordinary fortune!"

"All of you, step into the liquid and bathe!"

"Don't worry about privacy—the spirit liquid contains the Five Elements Dao laws, which block spiritual sense."

"You are all children of heaven; the imperial family trusts you won't steal the spirit liquid."

"I urge you all to behave with integrity!"

"Go!"

Elder Futo waved his hand. "You have three months. After three months, depart directly from here for the Profound Gate Sacred Land, 【Tainian Mountain】."

With that, Elder Futo left.

The twelve looked at each other, then one by one leapt into the spirit liquid.

The liquid wasn't deep.

Only three chi.

So cultivators could sit in it and cultivate.

"Aren't you going to claim a spot?" Liang Huaqiu nudged him.

He Pingsheng glanced around and said, "Fine."

He found a quiet corner and stepped into the pool.

The surrounding spirit liquid pressed against his body.

He Pingsheng gave a bitter smile.

This damn thing…

It's the same principle as absorbing spiritual energy from the heavens—spirit energy enters through the skin, flows into flesh and blood, gathers at the spirit roots, then moves through the meridians for refinement.

But…

I'm a five-element spirit root.

What use is this spirit liquid to me?

Plop…

The next moment, Princess Qinghe Liang Huaqiu also leapt into the pool.

She landed just behind He Pingsheng, about three chi away.

"Hmph…" She grimaced the moment she entered. "This doesn't seem friendly to our five-element roots!"

"Indeed."

He Pingsheng frowned slightly.

His spiritual sense shot out instantly.

In his dantian, countless root-like filaments merged with the spirit liquid.

Liang Huaqiu had said this liquid contained not only abundant spiritual power but also Five Elements Dao laws.

If he couldn't absorb spiritual power, he'd absorb the Dao laws instead.

Boom…

The others in the pool also began absorbing the surrounding spirit liquid.

Around each of them, vortices formed.

Some were large, some small.

The largest belonged to Tian Jia Shen, ranked first—his vortex reached five chi in diameter.

"Tian Dao friend truly has extraordinary talent!"

"Indeed… his cultivation method must be exceptional, or he couldn't stir such a massive vortex!"

"Hey... Ascetic Dao friend, you're not bad either—you're only slightly behind Tian Dao friend!"

"Hahaha… flattery, flattery!"

Over there, others stared at their own vortices—some flattering, some smug—while others turned their gazes toward He Pingsheng and Liang Huaqiu.

One look, and they were stunned.

He Pingsheng's Five Elements Heaven Scripture rotated automatically, constantly absorbing spiritual energy around him.

Even though he wasn't actively cultivating, spiritual energy still entered his body.

But the speed was too slow.

It wasn't the scripture's fault—it was his spirit roots holding him back.

Thus, the vortex around his body was less than half a chi.

Liang Huaqiu was even worse—she was worse than He Pingsheng. Frustrated, she gave up entirely and glared at the others: "What are you staring at?"

"What's so interesting?"

"Never seen a five-element spirit root before?"

Everyone quickly looked away, but their expressions turned sly.

Yet no one looked down on He Pingsheng or Liang Huaqiu—they all knew that in this world, spirit roots had no absolute good or bad, for after Nascent Soul, all karmic debts must be repaid.

Above Nascent Soul, all beings are equal!

What they lacked wasn't cultivation—it was Dao law.

And at the level of Dao law, these single-element cultivators couldn't match He Pingsheng's five-element roots.

"Hmph…" Liang Huaqiu snorted in annoyance, then lifted a jade hand and swallowed a supreme 【Mingwu Pill】. "Can't I cultivate Dao through pills?"

He Pingsheng also swallowed a Mingwu Pill and began comprehending Dao law.

With the Mingwu Pill's triple comprehension boost, He Pingsheng's Dao root filaments stretched out across the entire pool.

Within the pool, the countless spirit droplets indeed contained Five Elements Dao laws.

These boundless Five Elements Dao laws flowed through the root filaments into his dantian.

There, they were refined.