Chapter 4

Gu Fei sat cross-legged under a large tree in the courtyard, completely ignoring the other disciples in white robes who passed by. Under the astonished gazes of these disciples, he practiced the ancient body-refining technique to heal his injuries.

As Gu Fei practiced, the surrounding spiritual energy gradually converged on him, seeping into his muscles and flesh, gradually expelling the internal bruising through his pores.

All the fourth-generation disciples of Tai Xuan Sect who lived in this courtyard were already used to Gu Fei's behavior. In their eyes, Gu Fei was a cultivation fanatic who often inflicted injuries upon himself.

Enduring the pain to strengthen his body was the entry path for practicing this ancient technique. Although the primordial energy of heaven and earth is an external force, one must use it to stimulate the muscles and flesh to generate one's own power.

When the sun was high in the sky, Gu Fei finally spat out a mouthful of dark black bruising, and his breathing became smooth.

Wang Yuanzhi's palm strike used the Five Dings' Mountain Splitting Technique, a low-level Daoist art. However, if practiced to a high level, it could have the power to split mountains and rocks.

Gu Fei, struck by Wang Yuanzhi, suffered internal injuries. After practicing to heal himself, his injuries were about 80% healed.

Gu Fei, who practiced the ancient body-refining technique, had a strong recovery ability, and his body was at least one to two times stronger than that of an average cultivator.

Gu Fei stood up from the ground and looked at the sky: "It's not early anymore. I hope I can still make it in time!" The Bi Shui Cold Spring was a hundred miles away, and even without considering the time spent catching the Bi Lin Carp, the round trip would be quite a challenge.

The five major cultivation realms are: Awakening, Transcendence, Void Mastery, Half-Deity, and Saint. The Awakening realm is the first step for cultivators, the stage where their potential awakens.

Among countless ordinary people, those who can truly cultivate and have the potential to become strong are not many. The Awakening realm is a threshold; if one cannot cross it, it means they lack the potential to cultivate and the qualifications to become strong, and they will always remain ordinary.

Cultivators in this realm are generally not able to fly in the air, unless they use special means, such as借助法器.

Gu Fei, who practiced the ancient body-refining technique, followed the path of defying heaven through martial arts. To fly in the air, he would need to reach the Void Mastery realm. Otherwise, he would have to run on the ground.

Leaving the courtyard, Gu Fei headed down the mountain.

The Bi Shui Cold Spring was located between two small peaks a hundred miles away, a peculiar place in the Tai Xuan Mountain Range. The lake water was always icy cold but never froze.

Due to the extreme cold, there were almost no aquatic creatures in the cold spring. However, in this bone-chilling cold spring, a low-level demon beast, the Bi Lin Carp, lived.

How low-level was this demon beast? So low that it had not yet developed intelligence and only relied on instinct to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for simple cultivation.

If there was anything special about this demon beast, it was that it had a bit more strength and could spit water jets, giving it some offensive capability.

The Tai Xuan Sect captured these low-level demon beasts not for food but for the demon beast core in the Bi Lin Carp's belly.

After more than an hour of climbing over mountains, Gu Fei appeared on a stone wall beside the Bi Shui Cold Spring. Looking down at the water, he felt a chill and his brows furrowed into a "川" shape.

The water surface was calm like a mirror, and the water color was black, indicating that the water was very deep, with no bottom in sight.

The hundred-acre cold spring was completely still, like a piece of jade embedded between two stone peaks. The surroundings were covered with large and small black rocks, as black as ink.

There were no green plants or vegetation on the rocks. Only a hundred feet away from the water's edge did the green of the mountains appear.

The Bi Shui Cold Spring could only be described as "deadly silent."

Gu Fei took a deep breath, leaped from the rock, and plunged into the water like an arrow, headfirst. The water surface did not splash, only rippling slightly.

The water felt as heavy as mercury, making it difficult to create any waves. Even the ripples quickly disappeared on the water surface.

Although Gu Fei was prepared, the moment he plunged into the water, he still felt uncomfortable, as if he were suddenly enveloped in a mass of ice water. To be precise, the water in the Bi Shui Cold Spring was even colder than ice water.

He felt countless tiny chills penetrate his pores, causing an extreme cold that made him feel as if his skin were being torn apart.

Practicing the ancient body-refining technique, Gu Fei's muscles trembled slightly, generating heat to counter the unbearable cold.

He could control every muscle and bone in his body.

The benefits of a strong body were evident in Gu Fei. Without any protective Daoist energy, he was the only fourth-generation disciple of Tai Xuan Sect who dared to enter the Bi Shui Cold Spring.

If it were any other fourth-generation disciple, they would likely be frozen stiff and sink to the bottom of the spring without protective Daoist energy.

The Bi Lin Carp lived in the cave walls a hundred meters below the Bi Shui Cold Spring. Therefore, fishing was not an option; one had to dive in.

Gu Fei quickly descended in the extremely cold water. As the depth increased, the light in the water gradually dimmed. When the black cave walls appeared with holes, Gu Fei stopped descending and used the weak light to check if there were any Bi Lin Carp in the holes.

If he descended further, his eyes would be useless, and it would be difficult to catch the Bi Lin Carp in the dark water.

After half an hour, Gu Fei had searched over a hundred holes and had not seen a single fish scale, which made him feel frustrated and puzzled.

"Burble!" A string of bubbles emerged from Gu Fei's mouth. His powerful body allowed him to hold his breath for half an hour, but exhaling meant he needed to surface for air.

Gu Fei swam towards the surface, using his hands and feet.

"If I could reach the stage of muscle and bone refinement, with all my meridians unblocked, holding my breath for several hours in the water would be a common feat," Gu Fei thought.

After surfacing for air, he dived again and continued searching. The Bi Lin Carp, which were usually common, seemed to have disappeared, making Gu Fei feel something was wrong.

When he surfaced for air a third time and dived again, he found a large cave. It was much larger than the holes where the Bi Lin Carp lived.

The cave was about two zhang in diameter, with a round opening and walls made of black rock as dark as ink.

All new disciples were warned that the Bi Shui Cold Spring had no bottom, and the large caves in the underwater rock walls were unknown. They were strictly forbidden to explore them.

The dark cave had no light, and in the weak light from the surface, it looked like a giant mouth ready to swallow anything nearby.

Standing before the cave, Gu Fei felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

He carefully swam past the cave, but suddenly, he felt a strong current surge from the cave, knocking him off balance.

In the darkness, two faint light points quickly moved towards the cave entrance. A dozen or so green-glowing fish, about a foot long, shot out of the cave and fled past Gu Fei in panic.

These fish with emerald-like scales were the Bi Lin Carp he had been searching for.

However, at this moment, Gu Fei was no longer concerned about the Bi Lin Carp. A black shadow, as thick as a water bucket, rapidly emerged from the cave, creating a powerful water pressure that hit Gu Fei, causing a sense of overwhelming pressure.

A demon beast! Gu Fei's heart raced. The icy cold water did not make him shiver, but now, his hair stood on end. Focusing, he saw that the two light points in the cave were the eyes of the demon beast, fist-sized and glowing with a green light.

"Run!" Without hesitation, Gu Fei's muscles tensed and then exploded, and he swam upwards with all his might. His powerful muscles made him shoot towards the surface like an arrow.

In a split second, a black shadow shot out of the cave, passing under Gu Fei's feet. The shadow was over ten zhang long and as thick as a water bucket.

A hundred meters was a short distance, but in the water, the resistance made movement slower. With a sudden burst, Gu Fei shot up twenty to thirty meters in the water.

With full effort, Gu Fei could burst three times to leap out of the water, but he could only burst once, and he only had one chance.

His muscles contracted again, but before he could burst, he felt a tight grip around his waist, as if he were being勒住 by a huge, incredibly strong rope. Pain shot through his chest and abdomen, and the breath he was holding was immediately expelled, forming a string of bubbles that rose to the surface.

In an instant, Gu Fei was entangled by the demon beast that had emerged from the cave and pulled into the dark cave on the rock wall, disappearing into the unknown depths, leaving only a few bubbles rising to the surface.