Chapter 4

Gu Fei sat cross-legged under a large tree in the courtyard, completely ignoring the other disciples in white robes who walked by. Under their surprised gazes, he began to circulate the ancient body cultivation 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 no longer surprised by Gu Fei's actions. In their eyes, Gu Fei was a cultivation fanatic who often inflicted injuries on himself.

Strengthening the body was the entry point for practicing this ancient technique. Although the primordial energy of heaven and earth was an external force, to generate one's own power internally, one had to stimulate the muscles and flesh with external primordial energy.

It wasn't until midday that Gu Fei opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of dark black blood, and his internal energy finally became smooth.

Wang Yuanzhi's palm strike used the Five Dings' Mountain Splitting Technique, a low-level Daoist spell, but 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 from the impact. After practicing to heal himself, his injuries were about eighty percent healed.

Gu Fei, who had practiced the ancient body cultivation 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 it's not too late!" The Bi Shui Cold Spring was a hundred miles away, and even without considering the time spent catching the Bi Lin Li, the round trip would be quite challenging.

The five major cultivation realms—Awakening, Transcendence, Void Mastery, Semi-Deity, and Sainthood—Awakening was the first step for cultivators, the stage where their potential awakened.

Among countless ordinary people, those who could truly cultivate and become strong were few. Awakening was a threshold; if one couldn't cross it, it meant they lacked the potential to cultivate and the qualifications to become strong, and they would always remain ordinary.

Cultivators at this realm, even if they practiced Daoist techniques, generally couldn't fly in the air unless they used special means, such as magical artifacts.

Gu Fei, who practiced the ancient body cultivation technique, was on 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 of the spring, there were almost no aquatic creatures in it. However, in this bone-chilling cold spring, a low-level demon beast, the Bi Lin Li, lived.

How low-level was this demon beast? It was so low that it hadn't developed any intelligence and 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 was strong and could spit water arrows, giving it some offensive capability.

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

After more than an hour of climbing, Gu Fei appeared on a stone wall beside the Bi Shui Cold Spring. Looking down at the water, feeling the cold air rushing towards him, Gu Fei's brows furrowed into a "川" (shaped like the character for 'mountain').

The water surface, about ten meters below, was as calm as a mirror. The water in the spring was not blue but black, indicating that the water was very deep, with no bottom in sight.

Looking around, the hundred-acre cold spring was completely still, like a piece of jade embedded between two stone peaks. The surroundings were covered with rocks of various sizes, a black rock as dark as ink.

There was no green plant or vegetation on the rocks. Only a hundred feet away from the spring did the greenery 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 spring headfirst like an arrow, without causing any splashes on the surface, only ripples.

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

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

He felt countless tiny cold currents, as if they had a will of their own, penetrating his pores, causing an extreme cold that made him feel as if his skin was being torn.

Circulating the ancient body cultivation technique, Gu Fei's muscles trembled slightly, generating heat to counteract 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 directly.

If other fourth-generation disciples didn't use Daoist energy to protect themselves, they would likely be frozen stiff and sink to the bottom of the spring.

The Bi Lin Li lived in the cave walls a hundred meters below the Bi Shui Cold Spring, so fishing was not an option; the only way was to dive in.

Gu Fei quickly descended in the extremely cold spring water. As the depth increased, the light in the water gradually dimmed. When the black cave walls with holes appeared, Gu Fei stopped descending. With the weak light, he could just see if there were any Bi Lin Li in the holes.

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

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

"Burp!" 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 tendon and bone transformation, with all my meridians unblocked, holding my breath for several hours in the water would be a common thing," Gu Fei thought.

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

When he surfaced for air a third time and dived again, he found a large cave. It was called large because it was much bigger than the holes where the Bi Lin Li lived.

The cave was about two zhang in diameter, with a round entrance and walls 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, and they must not venture deep into them.

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

Looking at the cave in front of him, Gu Fei felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

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

Faintly, he saw two dim light spots moving quickly towards the entrance from inside the dark cave. Then, a dozen or so one-foot-long green-glowing strange fish shot out of the cave, fleeing past Gu Fei in a panic.

That was...

These strange fish with emerald-like translucent scales were the Bi Lin Li that Gu Fei had been searching for.

However, at this moment, Gu Fei paid no attention to the Bi Lin Li. A black shadow as thick as a water bucket rushed out of the cave, creating a powerful water pressure that hit Gu Fei, causing an overwhelming sense of pressure.

A demon beast! Gu Fei's heart shook. The icy cold water of the spring didn't make his hair stand on end, but now, his entire body hair stood up. Focusing his gaze, he saw that the two light spots in the cave were the eyes of the demon beast, fist-sized and emitting a faint green glow.

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

In a flash, "whoosh!" a black shadow rushed 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, with the resistance, the speed of movement slowed. With a quick surge, Gu Fei shot up twenty to thirty meters in the water.

With full effort, Gu Fei only needed to burst his body's strength 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, Gu Fei felt a tightness around his waist, as if he were being tightly bound by a huge and incredibly strong rope. Pain surged in 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 rushed out of the cave and was pulled into the dark cave on the rock wall, disappearing into the unknown depths, leaving only a few bubbles rising to the surface.

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**End of Chapter**