Xie Yan and Yu Ci’s arrival startled Geng Fu, who was busy on the top floor.
The banquet had been set up, but at this hour, it was absolutely inappropriate to seat the two most distinguished guests at anything other than the main table.
The plump shopkeeper hurried over and respectfully invited them to move to the adjacent Cloud Bamboo Garden.
Cloud Bamboo Garden was the best spot in Heavenly Wings Pavilion for enjoying the view. Its semi-enclosed space was unsuitable for grand feasts but served perfectly as a lounge for esteemed guests.
Yu Ci was quite fond of this place, while Xie Yan, at this moment, had nothing on his mind except for the Golden Bone Jade Plate, so he simply followed Geng Fu’s arrangements.
After settling the two esteemed guests in the garden, Geng Fu did not dare linger. Once he ensured that refreshments had been served, he excused himself with a bow.
The Cloud Bamboo Garden soon fell silent.
Yu Ci glanced at Xie Yan and saw that the immortal had closed his eyes, meditating as if he intended to remain that way until the banquet began.
The Fish Dragon, instinctively wary of Xie Yan, kept its distance, swimming through the bamboo groves. Yu Ci chuckled at the sight, then leaned against the railing and gazed out over Cliff City.
The crisscrossing streets bustled with people, and shopfronts opened their doors, sending plumes of smoke and steam into the air. The mingling haze of city life and high-altitude mist obscured the dark, imposing cliffs on the opposite side, as if they had been erased from the dusky sky.
Amused by this illusion, Yu Ci chuckled and shifted his focus to the countless lights of the new district. With nothing better to do, he practiced the Star-Linking Secret Art he had learned from the Celestial Qi Gathering Secret Talisman Manual to pass the time.
The stars had not yet appeared in the sky, so he used the city’s lights instead, tracing connections between them against the backdrop of the vast mountain city to form talismans—Tranquil Heart Talisman, Five Thunder Talisman, Void Stepping Talisman… Various talisman patterns flickered through his mind. Perhaps this, too, could be considered cultivation, though he was mostly enjoying himself.
However, when he attempted the Fivefold Tranquil Heart Talisman, he failed. This talisman was particularly complex, and with the city lights constantly flickering, the unstable conditions made it difficult to apply the Star-Linking Secret Art properly. After several unsuccessful attempts, he stopped forcing it and simply drew the talisman by hand. The moment it was complete, radiant light scattered in the air, dissolving his frustration.
Xie Yan merely cast a glance his way but couldn’t be bothered to interfere.
The flash of talismanic light on the top floor naturally did not escape the notice of the cultivators above, but knowing that an untouchable immortal was present, they only whispered among themselves and did not dare to investigate.
Feeling the energy ripple outward, Yu Ci adjusted his posture to a more comfortable one and closed his eyes. Days of cultivation had ingrained a habit in him—whenever he released a Fivefold Tranquil Heart Talisman, he would take the opportunity to practice his divine soul perception. As Xie Liang had mentioned, combining these two aspects was an excellent way to train one’s soul.
Guided by experience, Yu Ci expanded his “Mind Lake.” A series of massive concentric circles spread outward, forming a positive cycle—his senses gathered information, refined his awareness of the environment, and in turn, sharpened his perception.
Gradually, a vague image took shape: railings, bamboo groves, indistinct human figures, and small, lively creatures swimming through the air.
This was Cloud Bamboo Garden.
This state of perception was exactly what Xie Liang had described—a Core Refinement cultivator’s golden core achieving the state of “Void Reflection, Illuminating the Vast Realm.”
Previously, Yu Ci could enhance his divine soul perception using the Fivefold Tranquil Heart Talisman, but he needed extensive preparation to reach this state. Now, while his method and preparation time had not shortened, the place where his awareness manifested had changed.
Here, the sky was dark, with a bright moon hanging above, casting a serene glow over the quiet mountains and forests. At the center, a small lake shimmered like scattered silver. Within its waters swam a shadowy figure—his soul projection, yet to fully take form.
At some unknown point, Yu Ci’s consciousness had already entered his “Void Within the Mind.”
The key lay in the central lake.
In the structure he had arranged for his Void Within the Mind, the bright moon represented the traces of the past, the boundless darkness signified the unexplored future, and the mountain forest and small lake symbolized everything he currently possessed. The central lake, in particular, could be seen as the embodiment of his spirit and form, while the surrounding forest reflected external influences—most notably, the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror. The two were interdependent.
To Yu Ci, the shadow swimming in the central lake was his “mental image,” but it could not be separated from the lake itself. The lake was an extension of the mental image, symbolizing his “physical image” and corresponding directly to his divine spirit or, more precisely, the fundamental structure of his “Concentric Circle Theory.”
Naturally, then, the “Mind Lake,” representing his divine spirit structure, seamlessly merged with the central lake, indistinguishable from one another.
Of course, one could not forget the role of the surrounding mountain forest, which symbolized the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror. Beyond reflecting his mental image, the treasure also acted as a bridge between his Void Within the Mind and the external world, connecting what was originally an isolated inner space to the greater heavens and earth.
With this connection, Yu Ci could perform divine soul perception within his Void Within the Mind, link to the outside world, and project the gathered information inward, much like how the Divine Map imprinted reality within a talisman. However, in terms of scope and clarity, he still had limitations.
Before the Divine Map disappeared, Yu Ci had been trying to merge his spiritual perception with it, but he had no clue how to do so. Now that the Divine Map was gone, he had unexpectedly achieved a breakthrough. The wonders of the world were truly unfathomable.
At this moment, the vast space outside the central lake remained unchanged, with mountains and forests standing as before. However, near the lakeshore, a hazy outline of "Cloud Bamboo Garden" had appeared, a manifestation of his spiritual perception and a sign that the internal and external voids were connected.
In truth, Yu Ci’s training to strengthen his spiritual perception had not gone smoothly. The atmosphere inside Heavenly Wings Pavilion was extremely complex. With so many cultivators gathered there, their auras intermingled, creating an immense flood of information. While this allowed Yu Ci to make more detailed and well-founded judgments, it also amplified the complexity of the environment by dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
As he had lamented earlier atop the cliff, even a mere Dragon Fish exuded such a complicated flow of Qi that it exceeded his ability to grasp. Let alone a gathering of over a hundred seasoned cultivators on the upper floors, all influencing and reacting to one another.
This created an odd paradox—on the one hand, Yu Ci’s perception of the objects around him, such as fences, tables, chairs, and various decorations, had become increasingly precise. These were the results of his spiritual perception making accurate judgments. On the other hand, the images of the cultivators within his sensing range remained chaotic and indistinct, their presences tangled together in an indecipherable mess.
Under the influence of the Fivefold Tranquil Heart Talisman, Yu Ci’s sensing range extended beyond three miles. However, due to the overwhelming complexity, he could only clearly perceive the boundaries of Cloud Bamboo Garden. He was aware that, while he was focused on his perception training, several powerful cultivators had entered the garden one after another to greet Xie Yan.
These cultivators had distinct auras, but whenever he attempted to probe further, his spiritual intent seemed to crash against an invisible barrier, as though something was obstructing his perception. Over time, as more people arrived, their auras mingled, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish them. This left Yu Ci feeling frustrated, yet he had no idea how to penetrate the thick "curtain" that separated him from deeper insight.
After struggling for a while with no progress, Yu Ci sensed that nearly everyone who was supposed to arrive had already gathered. He was about to give up for the time being when, suddenly, the tides of his "Mind Lake" surged violently—someone new had entered his inner world.
Compared to the other highly cultivated figures, this person's Qi was astonishingly simple! It was as if a gaping hole had appeared in the thick curtain—a weak point, a flaw. The moment this weak point emerged, Yu Ci no longer cared who it was. His spiritual perception instinctively surged forward, and the immense force he had accumulated for so long flooded through the gap. In that instant, he seemed to hear the crisp sound of a barrier shattering.
Then, a round, chubby figure tumbled out from the void.
The plump man moved his thick lips, as if speaking, but Yu Ci couldn’t hear a single word. Instead, he "saw" something—starting from where the fat man stood, vivid colors began spreading outward in all directions.
At first, the man's figure had been like a rough ink sketch, an abstract outline drawn with freehand strokes. But as the colors filled in, he transformed into a finely detailed painting—so vivid and lifelike that he seemed to step right out of the artwork into reality. Even the surroundings grew brighter and more distinct along with him.
At that moment, Yu Ci thought of the Divine Map.
And at that same moment, Xie Yan's voice rang in his ears. "Let's go."
Yu Ci jolted, his mind snapping back from the depths of his Void Within the Mind to the real world.
Inside Cloud Bamboo Garden, seven or eight people had already gathered, naturally forming a small circle around Xie Yan. Now, they were all standing, preparing to leave. Several of them cast strange looks in Yu Ci’s direction.
When Xie Yan had stood up, Yu Ci had been the only one still lounging against the railing, eyes closed in meditation, waiting for Xie Yan to personally call him before he would open his eyes and return to reality.
Yu Ci remained calm. For a cultivator, training always came first. Since Xie Yan himself didn’t mind, why should he care about anyone else's stares?
He nodded and smiled at the familiar and unfamiliar cultivators in the garden before standing up. In that brief moment, he noticed that Geng Fu was bending at the waist, making a "please" gesture to invite the immortals to their seats—his appearance was exactly the same as what Yu Ci had just seen in his Void Within the Mind.
Moreover, the fat man remained completely unaware of the spiritual impact Yu Ci had just unleashed on him.
Just then, a scorching pain stabbed through Yu Ci’s left forearm.
Inside his sleeve, the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror was burning hot. The intense heat seeped into his body through the tender flesh of his inner arm, merging into his True Qi and spreading throughout his entire being, making it impossible to distinguish where his own energy ended and the external force began. Driven by this fiery surge, Yu Ci’s heartbeat pounded uncontrollably.
It felt as though he had just made an incredible discovery…
Unfortunately, he had no time to study it further.
By now, Xie Yan had already taken the lead, and the prominent figures of Cloud Bamboo Garden were stepping out from the bamboo grove one after another.
Outside, the banquet hall resounded with the melodies of eight different instruments, filling the air with festive cheer.
The time had come. The Treasure Exchange Banquet was about to begin.