Chapter 40: Cultivation Increase, Fourth-Rank Formation Master

【Year eleven, you failed to set up a fourth-rank formation and wasted a large amount of materials.】

【You did not feel heartache over it, instead continuing to ask Qingyunzi for more.】

【Qingyunzi said he was unwilling, but in truth he had long since prepared all the resources for you.】

【After all, if a fourth-rank formation master could appear within the Soul-Refining Sect, that would undoubtedly be a good thing.】

【Year twelve, after a year of settling, you once again set up a fourth-rank formation.】

【This time, you succeeded halfway. The formation you set up was stronger than a third-rank formation, but inferior to a fourth-rank formation.】

【You named it, the half-step fourth-rank formation!】

【“The materials needed to set up a fourth-rank formation are already scarce. If you fail again this time, then I have absolutely no way either.” Qingyunzi complained to you, then reluctantly handed you the last set of fourth-rank formation materials.】

【“Rest assured, this time I will definitely succeed. Once this fourth-rank formation exists, my Soul-Refining Sect’s strength will rise another step!” You patted your chest in guarantee.】

【“That Secret Realm is about to open. By my estimate, it’s a matter of these next two years. Are you going to pick up your disciple?” Before leaving, Qingyunzi reminded you.】

【“Got it. Remember to call me in two years.” With the materials in hand, you couldn’t wait to enter secluded cultivation.】

【Entering the secret chamber, you took out your entire fortune, one hundred thirty thousand mid-grade spirit stones.】

【Among them, fifteen thousand spirit stones were obtained from the storage bag of the Cloud Mist Sect Master you had slain.】

【Who knows why, but the spirit stones in the storage bags of both sect masters were pitifully few!】

【One hundred thirty thousand mid-grade spirit stones covered the entire secret chamber. You began absorbing spiritual qi to cultivate.】

【After two failures, you understood why you could not set up a fourth-rank formation. Your cultivation was insufficient!】

【The Immortal-rank cultivation art, the Boundless Longevity Art, began to circulate. All the spiritual qi between heaven and earth converged into your body, and the spiritual power within the mid-grade spirit stones surged into you.】

【Your cultivation, which had not moved for several decades, now began to skyrocket madly!】

【The hundreds of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones on the ground were drained one after another, turning into powder.】

【Finally, at a certain moment, your cultivation reached a bottleneck, and in the next second it was shattered by the vast spiritual qi!】

【You broke through!】

【Your cultivation reached Golden Core Layer Seven!】

【“Hoo~” You exhaled a mouthful of spiritual qi and opened your eyes.】

【“Where are my spirit stones???” You looked at the thick layer of spirit stone powder on the ground, unable to believe it.】

【“A full one hundred thirty thousand mid-grade spirit stones, just gone like that?”】

【You were stunned by the spirit stones your own cultivation had consumed.】

【“With this many resources, I’m afraid even a Nascent Soul cultivator could be nurtured, right?”】

【You finally understood why Qingyunzi no longer provided you cultivation resources. At this rate, which sect could afford to supply it?】

【Perhaps, this was the drawback of having too deep a foundation and being invincible among those of the same rank…】

【“Forget it. Golden Core Layer Seven should be enough.” You thought no more of it. Gone was gone.】

【Taking out the materials needed to set up a fourth-rank formation, you began to lay the formation!】

【The formation you were setting up this time was called the Five Elements Phantom Spirit Formation!】

【It required fourth-rank materials of five attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, to set up.】

【Once successfully set up, the formation would operate on its own by absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth according to the principle of the five elements generating one another. Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator mistakenly entered it, they would be trapped deep within illusions, unable to find their way out!】

【Year fourteen, Qingyunzi came to the entrance of your cave residence, intending to call you out of seclusion.】

【“Fellow Daoist Wuji, the Secret Realm is about to open. We should set off!” Qingyunzi called twice. Seeing no response from you, he pushed the door open and entered.】

【“Mas… Master? Why are you here?” The moment he stepped inside, a figure appeared before Qingyunzi. The person turned around. It was Qingyunzi’s Master, the previous Sect Master of the Soul-Refining Sect!】

【“Master, I missed you so much!”】

【“No, my Master clearly already perished, body and soul. This must be fake. Break!”】

【“Senior Sister, hehe…”】

【“Junior Sister……”】

【“Father…… Mother……”】

【You, currently in the secret chamber, had naturally already noticed Qingyunzi mistakenly entering the illusory formation. But you did not speak up to warn him, because having just successfully set it up, you also wanted to test the power of this fourth-rank illusory formation.】

【You watched Qingyunzi within the illusory formation, crying one moment and laughing the next, and found it rather amusing.】

【Qingyunzi stayed within the illusory formation for a full day, without any sign of waking.】

【Since the Secret Realm was about to close and you still needed to pick up Shangguan Lan, you did not let Qingyunzi remain in the illusory formation for too long.】

【“Snap!” You lightly snapped your fingers. The illusory formation vanished, and Qingyunzi woke from it.】

【Qingyunzi stared at you for a moment, then suddenly spoke. “Cough cough, Old Brother Wuji, you didn’t hear anything, right?”】

【As he spoke, Qingyunzi even took out a storage bag and stuffed it into your hand.】

【You opened it and looked. There were actually ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones inside!】

【“I heard nothing. I have only just come out of seclusion myself. Fellow Daoist, you sought me out for…?” You feigned confusion.】

【“Hahahaha!” Qingyunzi met your gaze, and the two of you shared a knowing smile.】

【At the Secret Realm, you followed Qingyunzi to the Secret Realm and waited for your disciple’s return.】

【“These past few years, the Cloud Mist Sect has declined!” Qingyunzi looked in the direction of the Cloud Mist Sect and transmitted to you.】

【The Cloud Mist Sect Master had been killed by you, and within the sect, factions fought fiercely over the position of Sect Master.】

【Though a Spirit Transformation Ancestor had come out of seclusion to hold the fort, decline was still hard to avoid.】

【The four great sects, including the Soul-Refining Sect, were gradually devouring the Cloud Mist Sect’s power in the north.】

【Qingyunzi also told you another piece of news. “My four great sects have recently been discussing a joint effort by all four to swallow the Cloud Mist Sect whole!”】

【“War is coming!”】

【You understood. This was the true world of cultivation, a world of cultivation that devoured people without spitting out the bones!】

【BOOM—————!】

【The Secret Realm, unopened for fourteen years, rumbled loudly at this moment. Before long, the Secret Realm’s gates slowly opened.】

【The Elders of the five great sects had long been waiting here, quietly awaiting the disciples inside to come out.】

【“The Secret Realm is open, everyone run!” A voice came from within the Secret Realm, and soon a large number of cultivators flew out on their swords, afraid that a second’s delay would mean they couldn’t get out.】

【“What’s going on, what exactly happened inside the Secret Realm?” Watching the disciples flee in panic from the Secret Realm, an Elder spoke up to ask.】

【“In… inside there’s the Little She-Devil. She kills everyone she sees in the Secret Realm. The Cloud Mist Sect’s disciples were all slaughtered by her!”】

【“What!!!”】