No matter how Shi Weiming tried to persuade or tempt Meng Zhang, he never relented to wade into that muddy water. Seeing that he couldn't convince Meng Zhang, Shi Weiming left disappointed. Before departing, he hoped that Meng Zhang would reconsider and left behind a book containing detailed information about the Mirage Secret Realm.
After seeing Shi Weiming off, Meng Zhang casually opened the book and started reading. The information recorded inside regarding the Mirage Secret Realm was indeed very comprehensive. It provided detailed descriptions of places suitable for spiritual medicine growth and warned about the various dangers within the secret realm.
With the information from the book as a guide, one could undoubtedly achieve great gains in the Mirage Secret Realm if lucky. However, Meng Zhang remained unmoved and had no intention of entering that place. He had previously entered Taiyi Sect's Trial Ground and obtained significant benefits. As a disciple of Taiyi Sect, he felt at home there and had divine assistance. Not only did he successfully avoid various dangers, but he also obtained precious legacies.
The Mirage Secret Realm was a treasure left behind by the Purple Gold Sect. For cultivators from the Flying Swan Sect and other forces, it was an intrusion into foreign territory. After Flying Swan Sect took over the Endless Sea of Sand, the Mirage Secret Realm had been opened several times. Each opening caused bloodshed and numerous casualties among cultivators.
The widely acknowledged reasons for the heavy casualties were twofold. First, Flying Swan Sect couldn't control the secret realm, leading to increased danger. Second, various cultivators engaged in infighting and mutual struggle, resulting in killings and treacherous acts. However, after understanding this history, Meng Zhang felt that the reasons were not that simple; there were other factors at play.
Purple Gold Sect was, after all, a righteous sect that wouldn't cultivate disciples through harmful means and let them kill each other. The purpose of setting up a trial ground was to train and improve disciples, not to send them to their deaths. The situation in the Mirage Secret Realm was entirely contrary to Purple Gold Sect's original intentions.
Based on his own experiences in the Trial Ground, Meng Zhang couldn't shake the feeling that there were significant mysteries within the Mirage Secret Realm. To be cautious, he decided to keep his distance from that place.
With his mind made up, Meng Zhang set aside this matter entirely and devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation. Two years later, Meng Zhang was already twenty-seven years old.
On this night, following his usual routine, Meng Zhang absorbed the Yin energy from a high place, refining his true qi within his body. Suddenly, he sensed a change in the qi and immediately activated the techniques from the "Sun-Moon Wheel Turning Sutra" to guide a strand of extremely pure Yin energy into his body.
With the assistance of this strand of Yin energy, Meng Zhang finally broke through the last bottleneck within his body, and his true qi circulated smoothly without any hindrance. As he expelled the strand of Yin energy from his body, Meng Zhang's Cultivation Base finally reached the Ninth Stage of Refining Qi, taking another step closer to the Foundation Building stage. The next step for him would be to spend some time refining his true qi and adjusting his physical and mental state before attempting Foundation Building.
With his eyes tightly closed, Meng Zhang carefully sensed the state within his body before opening his eyes. However, what he saw startled him.
The strand of Yin energy he had expelled, tainted with a mysterious aura from his breakthrough, underwent some mutation when it encountered the moonlight from the high and unreachable moon above the Morning Sun Hillside.
The two combined, and a peculiar transformation occurred. A small, palm-sized ball of cold light, resembling the moon, appeared in the air not far from the ground.
Before he could react, a small milk cat, of unknown origin, ran to the ball of light. It was only slightly larger than a mouse and seemed to be still nursing. With surprising strength, it pounced on the ball of light and vigorously started tearing it apart with its adorable little milk teeth.
The ball of light was torn in half by the milk cat, and the remaining half slowly floated up into the air. While munching on the half it had torn off, the milk cat looked at the other half and emitted dissatisfied cries.
At this moment, a fist-sized little bird swooped down from the sky like lightning. It flew beside the remaining half of the ball of light and quickly pecked at it.
In a moment, the ball of light was divided into two parts, and each was swallowed by the little milk cat and the little bird, respectively. Both of them fell into a deep slumber after consuming their share of the light.
Meng Zhang waved his hand, and the two sleeping animals were instantly summoned into his hand. After careful examination, Meng Zhang finally understood what had just happened.
The strand of extremely pure Yin energy he had absorbed and released had come into contact with the moonlight, causing a strange mutation. The ball of light was, in fact, some kind of spiritual creature similar to the Emperor's Flowing Nectar.
Both the small milk cat and the little bird had amazingly coincidental encounters, which drew them to this place. The Emperor's Flowing Nectar possessed the ability to enhance the spiritual intelligence and potential of various beasts, plants, and creatures. It was highly attractive to them, and driven by their instincts, they disregarded all dangers to devour it.
The two small creatures, each having swallowed a part of the ball of light, fell into a deep slumber as they absorbed the benefits they had just gained. Lately, it was the time when spirit grains ripened, attracting numerous birds and beasts to feed. Although the spirit field was guarded by a formation, the formation was not fully active all the time, leaving some gaps for these clever birds to secretly feast on the spirit grains.
The little bird that managed to avoid the hunting of the Scarlet Feathered Eagles and entered this place through a gap in the formation had shown a bit of ability.
[Read at /maxnkoga , without ads and support the work.]