Chapter Eighty-Five: Returning to the Cave Dwelling

Even so, as the Celestial Lotus Seed fell into Wang Zhenling’s Moon Wheel Heavenly Palace, it immediately emitted radiant beams of light. The spiritual energy it absorbed was released slowly and gently, filling the palace and steadily reinforcing and perfecting the Moon Wheel Heavenly Palace.

At this moment, Wang Zhenling sensed that although the Moon Wheel Heavenly Palace was not yet fully formed, it had already surpassed the one-inch mark.

“If I truly complete the forging of the Moon Wheel Heavenly Palace, then the strength of my primordial spirit will be ten times greater than that of an ordinary Divine Sprout cultivator, nearly reaching the realm of a Divine Elder... Even now, though the Divine Chamber has not been fully forged, it has already reached one inch. My primordial spirit’s condensation is absolutely not inferior to that of a Divine Sprout!”

A Divine Sprout cultivator needs to open a one-inch Divine Chamber before their primordial spirit can fully condense.

And now, although Wang Zhenling’s Moon Wheel Heavenly Palace has yet to be fully forged, the Divine Chamber has already reached one inch. It follows, then, that once the Moon Wheel Heavenly Palace is complete, the strength of his primordial spirit will be immense!

In fact, at this moment, it would not be difficult for Wang Zhenling to forcefully break through the Divine Sprout realm.

Yet he restrained himself.

Gradually withdrawing his cultivation, night began to fall.

From outside his courtyard came cheerful voices and faint chatter. It seemed someone had bought a fat dog and was planning to cook dog meat today, causing bursts of laughter.

Wang Zhenling smiled faintly; these were his trusted men.

Though he was still merely a steward, he had already formed a small core team.

Not to mention veterans like Zhu He and Wang Hu, as the clan increasingly valued Wang Zhenling, several talented individuals were sent to assist him.

They all understood that after achieving such great merit, that county captain Chen Bushi would surely be promoted and transferred next year.

Wang Zhenling himself would be nominated as a filial and incorrupt candidate, admitted to the National Academy to study. With his achievements and backing, his future prospects were naturally bright.

However, this was not what pleased Wang Zhenling most.

What filled him with pride was the neat arrangement of twenty roughly equal-sized yellow-skinned gourds in his room.

Each gourd was filled with spiritual water.

These were extracted from the spiritual energy he seized while suppressing the Qi Mountain cultivators and destroying various spiritual veins.

This time, the amount of spiritual water he had obtained was truly abundant; it was time to return to his cave dwelling for a look!

He had already instructed his men that he would be secluded for study and no one was to disturb him.

In this cold and harsh weather, there could be no urgent matters.

Even if someone foolishly trespassed into the courtyard... Wang Zhenling could simply say he had gone out to enjoy the snow and plum blossoms.

After all, his alias was the Plum Mountain Recluse—wasn’t that elegant and refined?

Thus, Wang Zhenling crossed over without worry.

Within the Juntian Cave Dwelling, no change occurred except that the water level in the spirit pool had dropped slightly.

Wang Zhenling had initially worried that these yellow-skinned gourds were not magical artifacts and thus could not cross realms.

Juntian Temple’s records clearly stated that ordinary objects could not follow one’s crossing unless they were magical treasures or specially forged artifacts.

Yet evidently, these specially treated gourds filled with spiritual water were no ordinary matter.

They had accompanied Wang Zhenling through the crossing!

He poured the spiritual water from each gourd into the spirit pool.

These were waters he had personally collected, so naturally there was no issue.

Soon, the entire spirit pool was restored to full.

As the colorless spirit pool rippled, the Celestial Green Lotus within seemed to grow even more vibrant with life.

The Celestial Green Lotus emitted a faint glow, as if smiling joyfully.

This finally allowed Wang Zhenling to breathe easy—at least for the time being, he need not fear the spirit pool drying up!

“This should be enough for me to cross back and forth at least ten times... But I destroyed only one Qi Mountain to obtain this much spiritual water. Where will I find so much spiritual water next time?”

While pleased, this question caused a slight headache, so he shook his head to temporarily set it aside.

The last two excursions to the treasure mountains yielded little—barely a few scraps gathered haphazardly.

Now, having time, Wang Zhenling intended to carefully select treasures in the mountain.

Not to mention, cultivating within this cave dwelling would likely accelerate his progress astonishingly.

Moreover, Juntian Temple housed numerous treasures, magical artifacts, and scriptures, all highly enticing.

Especially some artifacts and magical treasures—if they could be restored, that would be ideal!

If he had a few powerful artifacts in hand, Wang Zhenling could have some confidence in self-defense.

However, if there were truly valuable treasures here, why would Zhenyunzi remain behind instead of taking them all away?

Thus, Wang Zhenling turned the matter over in his mind and reluctantly admitted that while some treasures and artifacts might be repairable or forgeable, none were usable by someone at his low cultivation level.

Ever since encountering the Qing Teng Daoist, Wang Zhenling suspected that this world’s crossers were not limited to Juntian Temple alone.

He then poured over many of the temple’s original handbooks, discovering numerous things of interest.

Previously he had come and gone in haste, but this time he thoroughly read through the million-word chronicles of the temple’s successive masters, mastering all its secrets.

“Interesting, so much has happened at Juntian Temple over the years!”

“This end-of-law world is gradually losing cultivators, yet there should be far more treasures here. Looks like I must venture out again!”

By now, Wang Zhenling’s cultivation was no longer inferior to Zhenyunzi’s at the time of crossing.

Armed with all the temple’s secrets, he no longer felt the same caution and resistance toward this end-of-law world and resolved to go out and explore.

Incidentally, Zhenyunzi still commanded several squads collecting lost artifacts and treasures from the cultivation world.

One wonders if they had found anything worthwhile after so long.

Originally, Wang Zhenling had obtained a few drops of jade marrow from an outer disciple named Shi Quan.

He had consumed two drops and still preserved one, unwilling to waste it.

This substance greatly aided cultivation, especially in forging the Divine Chamber.

With this in mind, Wang Zhenling voluntarily stepped out of the Juntian Cave Dwelling’s isolated space into the outside world.

The outside world remained so barren of spiritual energy that entering it felt like a fish out of water, nearly suffocating immediately. After a long while, he finally adapted.

Yet then Wang Zhenling noticed something odd—he hadn’t felt this suffocated the last time he was here.