Chapter 57

The middle-aged man lowered his head and looked for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "This place is quite peculiar. Two years ago, a bit of spiritual energy suddenly burst forth, attracting many strange beasts. Since then, a faint spiritual energy has occasionally been emitted, causing these strange beasts to often linger here."

The young man's eyes sparkled, and he suddenly said, "Senior Brother, could there be some treasure here?"

The middle-aged man chuckled and said, "Some of the elders also thought there might be treasure here and came to investigate, but they ultimately concluded that it was just the emission of spiritual energy from an underground spiritual vein, a common occurrence, not any treasure."

The young man sighed in disappointment and muttered, "What a pity. If there were really some treasure, that would be great."

The middle-aged man laughed and said, "Alright, it's not early. I'll catch a black crystal beast with a higher spiritual nature, and then we'll go back." He scanned the many beasts on the ground with his divine sense and found seven or eight black crystal beasts, observing each one.

At that moment, all the beasts on the ground, which had been breathing calmly, suddenly seemed to be startled. They immediately started to stir, and some even began to growl.

Gradually, the growls grew louder, and finally, all the beasts roared in unison, their roars directed at a moss-covered cliff.

The middle-aged man was stunned and was about to call his fellow disciples to leave when a massive divine sense suddenly appeared, sweeping around in an instant. The middle-aged man's face changed drastically. With his cultivation at the 12th layer of the Condensation Qi stage, he felt as if he were being seen through, with no means of resistance.

The woman surnamed Xu beside him also turned pale. Her sword light flickered, and she lost her grip, falling to the ground. She let out a cry and fell from the air with the young man who was hugging her.

The middle-aged man's sword light also flickered, and he barely managed to control it. He used all his strength to quickly rush out, grab the two, and land on the ground. This single action made him drenched in sweat.

After landing, he immediately clasped his hands and said respectfully, "I am Li Hai, a disciple of the Xuan Dao Sect. I did not know that a senior was cultivating here. Please forgive my rashness."

The woman surnamed Xu also came to her senses. The divine sense had made her uneasy, and she hurriedly said respectfully, "I am Xu Fei, a disciple of the Xuan Dao Sect."

The young man was now pale with fear, standing behind the young woman and tightly gripping her clothes, too scared to speak.

The beasts on the ground, under the divine sense, were all frightened like cicadas in winter, their eyes filled with fear as they lay motionless on the ground.

"Xuan Dao Sect..." a沧桑 voice slowly echoed from all around, with no discernible emotion in the tone.

The middle-aged man inwardly cursed. If he were alone, he could have fled immediately if the situation turned bad. But now, with his junior sister and junior brother here, if he fled alone, his master would surely hold him accountable. He could only hope that the other party would consider the Xuan Dao Sect nearby and that they had not done anything to provoke them, hoping for their safety.

But after the other party spoke, they fell silent, and the middle-aged man's heart pounded. He gritted his teeth and thought that his life was more important. If the other party decided to kill, he would have to save himself first.

The woman surnamed Xu was sweating, extremely nervous. Seeing that her usually calm third senior brother was now pale with fear, she was even more terrified. After hesitating for a long time, she said in a soft voice, "Senior, we believe we have not done anything to provoke you, you..."

Before she could finish, the沧桑 voice suddenly made a light "hmm" sound, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "You said your surname is Xu?"

The woman surnamed Xu was taken aback and said respectfully, "I am surnamed Xu."

The voice fell silent for a long time, then sighed, "You may leave." As he spoke, a strange phenomenon appeared in the sky, as if an invisible hand had flicked the three, sending them flying far away.

The middle-aged man's face turned ashen. He was inwardly terrified. In that instant, he felt as if his entire body was restrained, unable to resist. If the other party had truly intended to kill, he would have been dead by now.

In fear, he said nothing and, grabbing his junior brother and sister, fled as soon as the restraint disappeared. He was worried that the other party might change their mind and used all his strength to turn into a rainbow and disappear into the horizon.

After the three left, the moss-covered cliff on the ground suddenly made a crisp sound, and large rocks began to fall, revealing a pitch-black cave.

A man with long hair down to his waist slowly walked out. He had a fair complexion and sharp eyes. As he stepped out of the cave, all the beasts lying on the ground immediately whimpered and trembled, their eyes filled with pleading.

The long-haired man, about twenty years old, had a cold expression. He glanced at the beasts indifferently, then looked in the direction of the Xuan Dao Sect on Hengyue Peak, feeling quite moved.

He was Wang Lin, who had been in seclusion for four years.

"Condensation Qi is already complete, but reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is truly too difficult. I have tried countless times, but it still doesn't work. Situ, the method you mentioned, can it really quickly help me reach the Foundation Establishment stage?" Wang Lin's eyes flickered as he muttered to himself.

"Indeed, have you decided to use my method?" Situ Nan smiled smugly and continued, "I've advised you before. Although reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is difficult, using my method guarantees success."

Wang Lin's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he said, "But with my current cultivation, I can't even defeat a Foundation Establishment expert, let alone capture one alive."

Situ Nan laughed and said, "Don't worry about that. I'm here. This time, for your Foundation Establishment, I'll risk it again. As long as you give me a chance, I'll help you capture the opponent. But it's best to choose someone who has just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, so I don't have to waste too much Essence of the Nascent Soul."

Wang Lin pondered for a moment, sighed, and said with a bitter smile, "Situ, this kind of base-stealing technique is purely selfish and will surely lead to the death of the one whose base is stolen. Let's think about it again."

"You, I've advised you so many times. In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak, and selfishness is a given. With your mindset, when will you reach the Nascent Soul stage? If you don't want to use my method, that's fine. If you can obtain top-quality wood-type materials to upgrade the Tian Ni Pearl, you can cultivate with wood-type spiritual energy, which is enough to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. Or, if you can find a Nascent Soul expert to help you, otherwise, don't even think about it." Situ Nan said discontentedly.

Wang Lin fell silent for a moment and said, "I wonder how others have successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage?"

"Simple. Generally, if a sect has a Nascent Soul expert, they can use their cultivation to help disciples reach the Foundation Establishment stage. If I still had my physical body, I could help you too. In our country, the status of a Nascent Soul expert is equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage here. Although they are not too many, they are sufficient to help disciples complete the Foundation Establishment process." Situ Nan huffed and said.