Chapter 177: Chapter 177

Ding Jiu dared not say anything further; he knew he had just been trying to leverage the Elder's influence.

He cast a sidelong glance at Jiang Yu and saw that she had been pulled behind two Golden Core cultivators, while he himself was being dismissed by the Elder.

He wanted to say something to admit his mistake, but his own Elder was also summoned to inspect the formation's aura beyond the Great Mountain.

Jiang Yu was ordered to stay behind Elder Qian, standing among the group of Golden Core cultivators, listening as they assigned tasks.

Before long, she was standing on Elder Qian's flying sword, circling the Great Mountain with Master Xu Wu and his disciple.

At this time, most Foundation Establishment cultivators had entered the second layer, and many small squads merged into larger groups when fellow sect members met.

Only Wen Xin's party lagged a few steps, falling behind; although they kept moving eastward in the second layer, they only gathered a small amount of mid‑low grade spirit herbs.

They found not a single high‑year, high‑grade herb.

There was no other reason; the batches of people ahead had already harvested everything cleanly.

"I suggest we change direction; otherwise we'll end up with nothing in this second layer," a Guiyuan Sect disciple muttered, feeling cramped and wishing he had followed Jiang Yu's group from the start.

At first, several people agreed, so they immediately shifted the route toward the northeast.

As the saying goes, "When people move, trees die," and indeed they stumbled upon ten‑thousand‑year spirit medicine.

Unfortunately, just as they were about to harvest everything, another squad of cultivators arrived to snatch them, dressed like the folk of Dragon Emperor Island.

While the scuffle continued, a distant squad of cultivators swooped in; Wen Xin's heart lurched, fearing they might be Heavenly Origin cultivators.

In that moment of distraction, she was kicked over, and the angle of her fall allowed her to see the incoming cultivators clearly.

Then she saw her clan brother Wen Luo, and she leapt with ecstatic joy, drawing another sword against the enemy while shouting his name to the sky.

Wan Xiyue fixed her gaze inside and, not seeing Jiang Yu, felt a bit disappointed.

Meanwhile, Lu Chenxia and his group, a day after leaving Heart‑Lake Island, unexpectedly ran into the later‑arriving Guo Jue party.

The two squads merged into one, letting the accompanying Qi Haohao await the Eastern Continent cultivators, constantly transmitting messages, preparing to finish gathering this batch of medicine before parting ways.

Around the Great Mountain on this side, Foundation Establishment cultivators flying past Jiang Yu couldn't help glancing at her twice.

It wasn't because she was beautiful, but because of the thunder‑type artifact she wielded; most assumed she possessed a Thunder Spirit Root.

Jiang Yu didn't mind the stares, as long as they didn't scan her with spiritual sense; a glance or two wouldn't affect her cultivation.

Mid‑flight, Jiang Tu suddenly transmitted, "Can we stop? I don't recognize this formation, but I just noticed a celestial crane.

Whenever they circle and flutter, the formation's radiance dims a few degrees."

"We can't stop. Are you trying to find a node on that red‑crowned tree we just passed?" Earlier, Jiang Yu had also noticed that tree.

Jiang Tu nodded in agreement; Jiang Yu, using her spiritual sense to sketch on the jade tablet in her hand, replied while multitasking, "We can see it, and the Golden Core cultivators can too.

Our current split‑around‑the‑mountain is to map and piece together the whole mountain, identify the formation, and then strike precisely."

Sure enough, after Jiang Yu's group completed the task and returned to the foot of the mountain to submit the jade tablet, several Golden Core cultivators began studying it together.

After a while, cultivators from the Eastern Continent approached, requesting cooperation.

"Jiang Yu, they've entered the Eastern Continent many times; do they really have no memory of this mountain?" Xu Wu whispered to Jiang Yu, while constantly watching Ding Jiu a hundred zhang away.

Jiang Yu wasn't sure either, but Jiang Tu, invisible, leapt onto her shoulder, perking his ears to listen to a group of Golden Core cultivators speaking.

Unexpectedly, both sides split into several factions, each insisting their own judgment was correct.

Jiang Tu's ears tingled after listening a while; he transmitted, "What's this mutated Zhou Tian formation? The Great Five‑Elements Inverted formation? Both are wrong.

I suspect this mountain's flamboyant formation light is meant to scare people away during the day.

At night, do you see it still daring to flash and attract people?"

"Your line of thought is good; perhaps flying higher at night to scout will give us a solution," Jiang Yu praised him, then continued talking with Xu Wu.

Jiang Tu, noticing she was unfazed, asked, "Are you a treasure‑seeking cultivator? Waiting here idle for a day while others have already set up big packs elsewhere."

"Don't take it lightly; the more you find, the more beneficial it is to your cultivation."

"I know, so I'll wait another half‑hour and then search with Daoist friend Xu for a place to dig a temporary cave‑hall."

"Think about it: after the seven suns rise together in daylight, how many are still out treasure‑hunting?"

"Perhaps there is; the great sun fire within the sun could be harvested in a few strands for refinement."

"Nurture it, and it might become your anomalous fire."

Jiang Yu only replied occasionally, focusing on exchanging Foundation Establishment experiences with Xu Wu.

Half an hour later, the Golden Core cultivators tried their formation‑breaking methods, but none could open the formation.

Jiang Yu and the lower‑rank disciples were sent to open a cave‑hall; when the seventh sun rose, others were still researching the pieced‑together formation map with their elders.

She, however, chose a small space, set up a formation, and began practicing the newly acquired Thunder‑Fire Technique.

The reason she dared to practice was that the preceding Chain‑Qi method was similar, differing only from the Foundation Establishment stage.

Fortunately, she had only recently begun Foundation Establishment, so the original method's influence was shallow.

Of course, dissipating cultivation isn't possible; she was merely re‑establishing a new spiritual‑energy conduit.

The new practice route was different; having just obtained the technique, her trial results were good, and today, with many Golden Core cultivators present, she could deepen the trial.

She hoped to smoothly convert the original method.

Her attempt lasted until sunset, still not fully awakened.

Elder Qian knocked on the door outside the room; after a long while receiving no reply, he thought she had a mishap in her practice.

While he hesitated about forcibly closing the door, fearing it might affect Jiang Yu, the guardian Jiang Tu rushed to the doorway and said, "Elder Qian, she's in deep meditation at a critical moment."

"Jiang Tu?"

"Yes."

"Fine, we'll break the formation; when it opens you must ensure she's awakened." Elder Qian noted Jiang Tu was at the seventh stage; this place was only a dozen miles from Celestial Crane Mountain.

Golden Core spiritual sense ranges from thirty li in the early stage, fifty li in the middle stage, to eighty li when fully mature, all well within the spiritual sense range.

"Alright." Jiang Tu felt the formation couldn't be broken at that moment, and as expected, at night Elder Qian returned to inspect.

He asked, "How is Jiang Yu?"

It wasn't anything special, just her own attempted conversion, which was not smooth.

The last time, at the very start of circulating Qi, there were slight flashes of thunder and lightning—perhaps just a coincidence.

Thus she was already awake now, and knowing the mountain's formation was still intact, she settled her mind to compare the differences between the two techniques.

"Elder, I have completed my cultivation," Jiang Yu put away the bamboo scroll and opened the room's formation gate.

When Elder Qian saw her pallid complexion, he couldn't help but worry, "Were you caught in a plot by the Five Poison Sect?"

Jiang Yu decided not to keep puzzling over it herself, at least not to act like this when venturing into a secret realm, "No, it's just some unresolved aspects of the technique; after returning to the sect I must ask Elder Dao Xu to clarify a few points."

She didn't ask, and Elder Qian wouldn't rashly give instructions on the technique, "If there's none, that's fine, if there's none, that's fine; hurrying will not bring success, you should rest."

"I'll still go with you to see the great formation," Jiang Yu, being sensible, rode the sword again to the great mountain.

Under the night sky, looking at the mountain, she suddenly sensed a slight difference.