Chapter 5: A Spirit Spring (Part 2)

Guo Shieru secretly chuckled. Spirit springs were extremely rare even in the world of talismans—requiring luck and opportunity to encounter one. Moreover, the spirit spring he had seen had already been taken, so how could he tell Xing Yunzi? He said, “I missed it… I didn’t manage to obtain it, nor do I know where it is. It was just a chance discovery. But I have collected quite a few spirit spring waters.”
Obtaining a single spirit spring was entirely different from collecting spirit spring waters. If one got a spirit spring, it meant an endless supply of such waters, whereas collecting spirit spring waters meant they would diminish with each use. If Xing Yunzi only had some spirit spring waters, he would definitely not be able to exchange them for that much Nourishing Soul Wood.
Xing Yunzi had only heard of spirit springs and had never seen one before, so he was quite interested when Guo Shieru mentioned collecting some spirit spring waters. Even if it wasn’t a full spirit spring, having spirit spring waters was still good—enough to observe and use for experiments. If there were plenty, they could even be used to create certain items.
“Could you show me a little?”
Guo Shieru generously replied, “No problem.” He had plenty of spirit spring waters and didn’t mind at all. He took out a talisman bottle and said, “This contains 30 jin of spirit spring water.”
Xing Yunzi took it, opened the bottle, and took a sip. A hint of surprise appeared on his face as he nodded and said, “It’s indeed good quality. It’s a shame there’s so little. How much… um, how much extra spirit spring water do you have? Let’s exchange.”
This time, Guo Shieru refused to trade. He took out a larger talisman bottle and said, “I have 1,000 jin of spirit spring water here—that’s all I have. If you want it, I’ll give it to you.”
Xing Yunzi was surprised. “Give it to me?”
Guo Shieru knew this guy had almost given away everything he had, and further exchange wouldn’t yield much. So he simply gave it to him generously and said, “That’s right. I’m very satisfied with this transaction, so I’m giving you this bottle of spirit spring water.”
Xing Yunzi rejoiced, “In that case, I won’t be polite.”
Guo Shieru added, “By the way, this bottle of spirit spring water has been slightly purified. You can take a look—it’s different from the previous bottle.”
Xing Yunzi tested it briefly and smiled, “Not bad, not bad. It’s well-purified, and all its properties are preserved.”

Xingyunzi originally had some other plans, but after Guo Shier gave him a large bottle of Soul Spring Water, he gave up the idea of taking action forcefully. These people gave him a very strange feeling—a strong one. He thought it shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with one or two of them, but dealing with all seven of them would likely pose a huge challenge. His biggest concern was that he wasn’t sure he could keep them alive.

Since he didn’t intend to take action, Xingyunzi decided to try to make friends with these people. He said, “If you want to pass through this space, it’s best to wait a while longer. I estimate… one of the biggest obstacles might be cleared again. If that happens… it will be easier for you to pass through.”

Li Ran pondered, “I see… Can you estimate how long it will take?”

Xingyunzi replied, “It won’t be too long…” Having received Guo Shier’s verbal teachings, he spoke fluently: “It should take about half a year to a year before this space shows signs of recovery. The entire space will suddenly stabilize—well, it can stay stable for dozens of days, or maybe just a few days… That will be the best time to pass through.”

Li Ran asked, “If we leave now…”

Xingyunzi smiled and said, “It’s fine to leave now as well. As long as you’re confident you can cross that blocked void, passing through is quite simple.”

Guo Shier said, “Then let’s wait. Anyway, it won’t be long.” Half a year to a year was merely a short period of time for them.

Xingyunzi added, “Just a reminder—once the space stabilizes, you must pass through quickly… Hehe, right after it stabilizes, the entire space will collapse, turning into nothingness. Nothing will remain, unless it’s some rare treasure. Generally speaking, we prefer spaces that collapse like this, because we can find things in the void that haven’t been destroyed—those are often precious treasures.”

Li Ran said, “In that case, let’s go to the passage point and wait. It’s still a long distance from here to the passage. Even if the space stabilizes, we won’t make it in time. We need to get there first.”

Guo Shier agreed, “Right. Waiting at the passage will also take some time.”

Xingyunzi shook his head and said, “That’s good too. At your speed, it will still take dozens of days to get there…”

Qi Wuxin asked, “Dozens of days? How is that possible?”

Guo Shier understood how Xingyunzi calculated things. This guy hadn’t considered spatial rifts or areas of spatial collapse at all; he was calculating straight-line distance. While it might not take half a year for them to get there, it would definitely take several months.

Li Ran said, “If that’s the case, let’s take our leave…”

Xingyunzi nodded, though he seemed a bit distracted. Li Ran and the others didn’t mind. The seven of them reformed the Five-Star Formation, ready to leave immediately.

Just then, Xingyunzi suddenly emitted a burst of light from his entire body. In a flash, he was already a hundred meters away. Li Ran was shocked and quickly led everyone to fly away. Guo Shier stared intently at Xingyunzi, feeling a bit terrified. This man’s strength was extremely formidable. It was unclear whether he would attack them. The Soul-Stabilizing Cauldron also appeared, and all six of them felt as if facing a great enemy. Only Serichelin asked blankly, “What’s going on?”

Li Ran and the others were extremely tense. This was the first time since they had risen to top-level professionals. Xingyunzi’s strength was truly unfathomable; it was impossible to estimate just how powerful he was unless they fought. But none of them wanted to battle such a person. Someone who could move freely in empty space deserved utmost caution.

Almost at the same time, a gap silently appeared in space, and a woman stepped out gracefully from the void. She was an extremely strange woman. As soon as he saw her, Xingyunzi acted as if facing a great enemy and shouted, “Lanlandai! You’ve been pestering me for so long. Will you ever stop?”

Lanlandai replied coldly, “Give me one of the two spiritual springs… and it’s done!”

Xingyunzi cursed loudly, “Bastard! I found it and claimed it… What does it have to do with you?”

Lanlandai said, “I discovered those two spiritual springs first!”

Xingyunzi snapped, “Since you discovered them first, why didn’t you claim them? You only show up after I’ve taken them, claiming they’re yours… I’ve never seen such an shameless woman!”

Lanlandai screamed, “You’re the shameless one! You despicable bastard! I’ll kill you!”

While remaining vigilant, Xingyunzi said coldly, “We’ve fought from Zhonghai to Qianting, and from Qianting to Aizerou. We both know—what can you do to me?”

Taking advantage of their conversation, Li Ran and the others had retreated a kilometer away, but they didn’t dare flee further. Guo Shier felt slightly uneasy. Having heard their conversation, he knew the spiritual spring that woman wanted was in his possession. Clearly, she was a master of the same level as Xingyunzi.

Lan Landai appeared to be a young woman; judging by her appearance and skin, she seemed to be around seventeen or eighteen years old at most. Yet no one would truly believe she was only that young. The fact that she could cultivate to the point of walking in the void meant she was undoubtedly an ancient being, even though she looked like a young and beautiful woman.

She said, “As long as you give me a Spirit Spring, everything can be discussed. I can also exchange something in return. Otherwise… I’ll keep pestering you… and never let you live in peace!” Immediately afterward, she spotted Li Ran and the others and shouted, “Are these the helpers you called? I’ll kill them first!” She raised her hand and slashed through the air, followed by a violent gust of wind. As her strike was made, the entire space began to tremble.

Countless spatial cracks appeared, instantly destroying the trading platform set up by Xingyun Zi. More and more spatial cracks spread wildly, rushing toward Li Ran and the others.

Li Ran cursed and the group attacked simultaneously. There weren’t many ways to deal with spatial cracks, so they used the same tactic—releasing refined Void Worms. Dozens of them burst forth at once, colliding with the cracks and causing intense spatial fluctuations that quickly erased them. Guo Shieru shouted, “We’re just passersby. If you keep attacking, we won’t hold back!”

Qi Wuzhen was an extremely defiant person. By the time Guo Shieru spoke, she had already attacked. A series of flames appeared out of nowhere, paused briefly in the air, and instantly turned into a vast sea of fire. These weren’t ordinary flames—they came from talismanic fire and had a terrifying nature. Waves of flames surged wildly toward Lan Landai.

Lan Landai was slightly surprised. She hadn’t seen clearly how the opponent had neutralized her attacks, but the ability to block them so quickly surprised her. Soon after, Qi Wuzhen’s attacks arrived.

The flames were fierce, but Lan Landai carelessly reached out into the void, creating a spatial crack. The immense suction force immediately turned the approaching flames into nothingness.

Qi Wuzhen sneered and formed countless red runes with her hands. The endless flames suddenly transformed into hundreds of strange fire snakes, which swam forward rapidly, automatically avoiding the spatial cracks and heading straight for Lan Landai.

At this point, Li Ran couldn’t stay idle either. As the natural leader of the group, he shouted, “Since we’re fighting, let’s do it!”

The other five members immediately launched their attacks. They stopped avoiding and charged straight at Lan Landai.

Xingyunzi was stunned. The person involved hadn’t done anything yet, but those watching from the sidelines got involved and fought alongside his enemies. It wasn’t until Li Ran’s team launched an attack that Xingyunzi realized how terrifying their combat strength was. Aside from their poor understanding of space, their other attacks were extremely sharp. Lan Landai giggled and said, “Clumsy brutes, how dare you reach out at me!” “Shh! Silence!” Li Ran and the others suddenly felt as if they had fallen into thick mud, with the entire space seeming to freeze. Guo Shier suddenly slapped the Soul-Calming Cauldron, producing a loud crash. A powerful wave spread out, making everyone feel lighter. Li Ran shouted, “Well done!” and slammed his hand forward—a massive, highly condensed rune palm that shot out with a whoosh. As the shockwave from the Soul-Calming Cauldron spread, Lan Landai trembled violently and almost fell from the air. Shocked, she vanished from that spot instantly. Xingyunzi, standing not far away, also felt his soul destabilized by the shockwave and hurriedly teleported away.