Chapter 454: Seven Star Spirit Seer

When Yu'er first entered the blood-mud space, she felt the world spin, as if she were falling from a great height. Her head swam, and her small body spun in circles next to Li Weiyi, completely unaware of what was happening.

"Master, what is this place?" she asked after finally managing to steady herself, her eyes observing the surroundings.

The ground was red, as if soaked in fresh blood. After Li Weiyi reached the Spirit Master realm, the blood-mud space was about one hectare in size. Now, after multiple expansions, it had become enormous.

"This is a secret realm!"

Li Weiyi was very reluctant to bring Yu'er into the blood-mud space, as he did not want to expose this secret. Yu Yaozi herself, along with her unstable condition, presented a significant risk. However, at the moment, there was no other option. In the Netherworld of the Dead, dangers lurked everywhere, both above and below ground. Only by hiding in the blood-mud space could they be truly safe. He couldn't possibly leave Yu'er alone outside.

"Master, what is a secret realm?" Yu'er blinked her large eyes and asked curiously.

"They are special, independent spaces! Some are formed from transcendent ancestral lands. Others come into being after a Martial Dao Celestial Emperor dies, their Qi Ocean remaining eternal and imperishable, leading to vegetation growing within, capable of cultivating precious and essence herbs. Still other powerful secret realms are connected to ancient immortals."

Li Weiyi spoke, enduring his injuries, then took out a large quantity of food and spring water and placed them on a massive jade boat, over thirty meters long.

"Yu'er, for a while, your Master needs to heal... your Master needs to enter seclusion. Can you take care of yourself?"

"Mhm!" Yu'er nodded deeply. "I'll practice diligently," she said. "In the future, I'll definitely be able to help Master, and we'll fight bad guys together."

Li Weiyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, unsure how to respond. He patted her head and said, "Help me take good care of the seven little ones."

Sitting cross-legged, he activated the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish with his psychic power, weaving a cyan cocoon of time. As a Five-star Spirit Master, activating the pale cyan fish eye once could maintain the cocoon of time for six days, providing a month of cultivation. At the Six-star Spirit Master realm, it could last for ten days. As long as he remained undisturbed by the outside world, he could cultivate in seclusion for fifty days at a time. Based on past experience, Li Weiyi estimated that upon reaching the Seven-star Spirit Master realm, the cocoon of time would undergo a transformation, and the flow of time within it would change even further.

Li Weiyi took off his provincial governor's robe and the Blood Handprint Demonic Armor. His chest was a patch of dark purple, slightly concave.

"Crack."

Gritting his teeth, he endured the intense pain and mobilized his entire body's Dharma Qi to force his fractured and sunken ribs back into place. The stronger the physical body, the less susceptible it was to severe injuries, providing greater survivability against sneak attacks and assassinations. However, once bones and internal organs were wounded, recovery took a significant amount of time. Even more terrifying were injuries to the Nine Springs, Qi Ocean, Wind Mansion, or Ancestral Land, from which recovery was incredibly difficult, almost impossible, and sometimes even incurable.

Inside the cocoon, five days later. The cracks in his internal organs and golden bones had become invisible to internal inspection. However, Li Weiyi knew clearly that if he were to fight an enemy with full strength, they could still tear open again. He required a long period of nourishment and recovery.

He released the page of the Book of Earth that had been suppressed in his Wind Mansion. The aura of Fu Wenyan that lingered on it had already been refined by the Seven-Clawed Flame Heavenly Dragon Dharma Qi. Strands of Azure Cloud Qi flowed across the surface of the Book of Earth. The characters on it contained a vibrant aura of the Grand Dao, and they belonged to the writing system of the Sage Sect's Sea of Learning. This was a true scripture!

Li Weiyi first carefully studied it, comprehending the Dao essence left behind by the Saint who had written this true scripture, as well as the Azure Cloud Qi on the Book of Earth. He then sought out scriptures and texts related to the Sage Sect's Sea of Learning and translated the content of the Book of Earth word by word, sentence by sentence.

The Sage Sect's Sea of Learning was established by Sage "Azure Cloud" and was one of the top cultivation lands in southern Yingzhou, renowned as a place where a hundred schools of thought contended. Madam Ye and the Fu family, to which Fu Wenyan belonged, were among these hundred schools. It was unknown how many pages the Book of Earth contained, but any true scripture of this caliber, if even a single page's existence were leaked, would undoubtedly attract a large number of masters from the Sage Sect's Sea of Learning. This explained why Princess Deng Feng had wanted to seize it and silence him.

After fully translating it, Li Weiyi discovered that this page of the Book of Earth described how to absorb the essence of the earth's origin. By doing so, one could enhance the quality of their internal Dharma Qi, thereby strengthening their foundation and making their combat power far superior to martial cultivators of the same realm. This was the "Chapter on Earth Origin Essence Qi."

Li Weiyi began to practice, absorbing the earth origin essence Qi of Shao Yang Star according to the methods described in the Book of Earth. Three days later, strands of blood-red airflow surged from underground, drilling into Li Weiyi's Ten Springs acupoints and continuously gathering towards his Spirit Palace and Wind Mansion. Simultaneously, a surge of mystic energy poured into his bloodstream. His vital energy rapidly increased.

"As expected of a true scripture compiled by a Sage; even initial cultivation gives a sense of profound mystery. Long-term absorption of the earth origin essence Qi from various life realms will surely yield even greater rewards."

"With such a treasure, Fu Wenyan will never give up easily." Li Weiyi wondered if Fu Wenyan's master at the Salvation Temple, or the elders of the Fu family, knew about the secret of the Book of Earth. If they did, they would certainly come to the Lingxiao Life Realm to reclaim it.

Once his injuries were fully healed, Li Weiyi drew the "Rising Sun True Spirit Great Formation" in mid-air. Only after completing the proper arrangements did he release the Gray Corpse Ape from the Malevolent Camel Bell. The moment it was released, the fully activated Purple Firmament Thunder Seal smashed down, hitting its head.

"Thud! Thud..."

The Gray Corpse Ape was already disoriented and utterly defenseless. Li Weiyi struck it repeatedly, scattering its very soul. Li Weiyi released his psychic power to investigate and found an inner world within the ape, similar to an ancestral land. First, he dug out a Dao fruit containing a dense corpse aura and preserved it.

Within this inner world, there was also a treasure box and a section of a Blood Phoenix Tree. This section of the Blood Phoenix Tree was enveloped in a thick, wood-scented blood mist. It was two meters in diameter and twelve to thirteen meters long. Its bark was multicolored, resembling the patterns on phoenix feathers. The cut end of the trunk was smooth, indicating it had been severed by a sharp weapon. Inside, strands of fresh red blood dripped out, instantly turning into a blood mist upon contact with the air. Its woody structure shimmered golden, as if woven from threads of gold.

"Such a treasure tree, which must have grown for countless millennia, was actually cut down by them!" Li Weiyi sighed inwardly but could understand. When something truly couldn't be protected, it was better to destroy it than leave it for an enemy. This was only one section of it! And it was unclear if it was a trunk or a branch.

Li Weiyi used his Yellow Dragon Sword to cut off pieces of the multicolored bark. It was very soft and incredibly resilient. The woody fragrance it emitted calmed the mind and filled the body with strength. Simply by smelling it, one could feel its wondrous properties. If the Phoenix Blood Tree were still alive and in its complete state, its value would likely not be inferior to an Emperor Elixir.

After cutting off several pounds, Li Weiyi suddenly stopped, thinking of Shao Yang Star's unique soil structure. What if it could be revived? So, using a propagation method, he found the moistest soil in the blood-mud space and buried the twelve to thirteen-meter-long trunk two to three meters underground. After a moment's thought, he piled all the immortal soil and spiritual earth he possessed around it. He also mobilized the earth origin essence Qi of Shao Yang Star to nourish the trunk.

The treasure box was a storage chest with an internal space, lined with cold jade, and it contained twenty-three thousand-year essence herbs. Among them were one three-thousand-year-old herb and three two-thousand-year-old ones. They had been freshly harvested from the spiritual soil herb garden of the old Yuzhou provincial city.

"Given the Gray Corpse Ape's cultivation, to have received such a large share means other Yin Ghost Commanders must also have a portion." Li Weiyi sighed deeply with regret, secretly lamenting that he had been delayed by Fu Wenyan. Otherwise, he would surely have made a fortune from the battle to attack the old Yuzhou provincial city.

The territory under Lord Lan's rule spanned a vast thirty-one states. One could imagine that a vast plundering war was currently raging across this Netherworld land. All factions were contending, each eager to get rich.

With his injuries now fully healed, Li Weiyi could barely resist the urge to immediately end his seclusion and join this world-changing resource struggle. But he resisted! He was not currently lacking resources. His top priority was to cultivate as quickly as possible and acquire strength like Fu Wenyan's—the ability to survive even against Eternal Realm giants. Otherwise, just Princess Deng Feng, Qiongyi Daozi, and the others would be too much for him to handle.

Li Weiyi's gaze fell upon the Gray Corpse Ape's exposed golden bones, and his eyes narrowed. He raised his Yellow Dragon Sword and shaved off layers of the golden bone until the shimmering golden bone marrow inside was revealed. The marrow fluid evaporated, turning into a golden mist. Just then, above the distant Tanggu Sea, the Golden Crow broke through the waves and flew out, scattering brilliant light. Instantly, the golden mist enveloping Li Weiyi became even more dazzling, like a cluster of golden light particles.

Li Weiyi took out a cold jade bottle and carefully collected the mist. The Gray Corpse Ape's golden essence bone marrow had long been corroded by corpse qi, death qi, and the dark, strange powers of the Netherworld; it only appeared golden and brilliant. It could not be consumed directly and had to be refined. As for the shaved golden bone fragments, they were also treasures, and Li Weiyi planned to use them to refine Earth Sword Talismans.

One month later.

Inside the cocoon of time, Li Weiyi had cultivated for over four months. His primary focus had been on comprehending more than a dozen true scriptures and classics, including the "Book of Brilliant Stars," "Nine Heavens Secret Treasury," "Book of Earth," and "Eight Trigrams Profound Scripture," as well as cultivating his physical body.

In Li Weiyi's view, the cultivation of the Twelve-Petal Dao Lotus of the Spirit Palace was always the top priority, as it was the foundation of his Grand Dao. No matter how much time it took, every step had to be solid. Secondly came psychic power cultivation and physical body cultivation. As for the Dragon Seed Dao Lotus of the Wind Mansion, he largely left it alone, paying it little mind and allowing it to advance freely.

After over four months of arduous cultivation, the Twelve-Petal Dao Lotus of the Spirit Palace finally advanced from the early Fourth Heaven to its peak. The strength of his bones and muscles both increased significantly, reaching the intensity of a 40% Eternal Body. With physical strength alone, he could contend with an Eighth Heaven martial cultivator.

What broke through first, ahead of the Twelve-Petal Dao Lotus of the Spirit Palace, was his psychic power. In Li Weiyi's Mind Realm between his brows, the seventh psychic star condensed, officially marking his entry into the Seven-star Spirit Master realm. While the internal changes were significant, the external changes occurred first. The blood-mud space expanded significantly, so much that Yu'er could no longer see its boundaries. When Li Weiyi activated the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish again, the time ratio of the cocoon of time had indeed changed due to the substantial increase in his psychic power. Previously, the time ratio with the outside world had been one to five. Now, it reached one to six.