Chapter 3: The Golden Spring (Part 1)

Qi Wu Zhen said nonchalantly, “It’s nothing. By the way, to acquire the Soul Spring, you need to create a special seal-space in the altar. Do you know how to do that? Finish it early; otherwise, even if you find the Soul Spring, you won’t be able to obtain it.”
Guo Shier asked carefully, “Is there anything special about this seal-space?”
The old man shouted from within the altar, “Kid, don’t worry. This is all my business. I’ll help create it. Just place it inside the Ancient Ink Lotus. Haha…”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “There’s nothing special about it. It just needs to be well-sealed and large enough. First, find a good spring source, pour the Soul Spring into it, and then you can cultivate it there.”
There were also many tricks to cultivating the Soul Spring. Qi Wu Zhen passed on some teachings specifically explaining how to do so, along with some excellent suggestions for setting up the seal-space. It was because of her carelessness that all the Soul Springs in her seal-space had evaporated while she was asleep.
Guo Shier immediately passed these teachings on to the old man.
The old man studied them carefully and compared them with his existing knowledge about Soul Springs. He found that the teachings given by Qi Wu Zhen were truly remarkable—he lacked a lot of knowledge. Without these teachings, even if given a Soul Spring, he wouldn’t be able to improve its grade, as there were many mysteries involved.
The old man was extremely excited. Soul Springs were also excellent for upgrading the altar’s grade, but they were extremely rare. After finally calming down, he began crafting the seal-space meant for collecting Soul Springs. Greedy as he was, and with ample materials, he created two such seal-spaces—one to be placed inside the Ancient Ink Lotus and the other in the altar.
Fortunately, the old man didn’t have saliva to drool, otherwise he might have done so. Creating a seal-space was a piece of cake for him. However, the method taught by Qi Wu Zhen was a bit special, with the most crucial part being a secret technique designed to strengthen the seal-space. Ordinary seal-spaces didn’t require such trouble, but those used for collecting Soul Springs needed this technique to reinforce them.
Over twenty days passed. During this time, Guo Shier hardly left the mountain or went to see Luo Zhan and the others. He realized that spending time with Qi Wu Zhen allowed him to learn a great deal, especially some secret techniques and unique spell combinations that he could never have learned on his own. Now he had acquired all of them from Qi Wu Zhen.

Qi Wu Zhen was also almost done crafting her sacrificial treasure, though it was still a half-finished product that needed to be placed on the altar for repeated refinement before it could become a true sacrificial treasure. At her level, completing such a treasure required far more effort than it did for lower-ranked altar practitioners. Even so, Qian Chong Xie Yan had already reached the level of a seventh-grade sacrificial treasure.

That day, Guo Shier flew down from the mountain peak. He had been eating only cold noodle cakes and marinated meat during this time, with no time to cook food. This time, he planned to go down the mountain to find something delicious to treat himself to.

Eagle Demon and the others had all returned, and there was still a bloody smell by the lake. Guo Shier knew it was the scent left by the mutated talisman beasts collected by Luo Zhan; they had already dealt with the carcasses.

Luo Zhan handed Guo Shier several talisman bags, saying, “This is some meat suitable for eating. I picked it out specially.” They all knew Guo Shier was a master at cooking talisman food, so they would give him the best ingredients whenever they had any.

Eagle Demon said, “We’ve been eating grilled meat these past few days. It’s made my eyes burn. Shier, get us something delicious.”

Since tasting Guo Shier’s meals, Wang Keer had become utterly obsessed with his cooking skills. Hearing this, she became excited and said, “Sure, sure… Make more delicious food. It’s only now that I realize how delicious talisman food can be.”

Nan You sighed and said, “Another foodie!”

Wang Keer snapped, “Donkey face… What did you say?”

Nan You stammered, “Don… donkey face? What do you mean?”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but burst out laughing. In fact, he had long noticed that most people in the Gu Nan family had donkey-like faces, but he had been too embarrassed to say anything. To his surprise, Wang Keer blurted it out.

Wang Keer smiled mischievously and said, “Don’t understand?”

Nan You nodded. “Yeah, I don’t understand.”

Wang Keer smiled slyly and said, “If you don’t understand, think about it slowly. Talk when you figure it out. If you really can’t figure it out, forget it.”

Nan You tried hard to think, but he still didn’t understand what a donkey face was. After a while, he said, “Okay, I admit I’m a bit slow. I’ll stop thinking about it…”

Wang Keer didn’t know what to say instead. He didn’t understand at all—what was the point of mocking him?

Guo Shier laughed and asked, “What shall we eat today? Any suggestions?”

This caused trouble. Eagle Demon listed several dishes one after another, and Luo Zhan also mentioned a bunch of things he wanted to eat. Nan You said, “I want stir-fried dishes—those small portions with great flavor… Hmm, braised pork ribs are good too. And one soup as well.”

Wang Keer had no idea what to eat; she always just aimed to fill her stomach, so she couldn’t name any specific dishes. She said, “Give me one portion of each of these dishes they mentioned…”
Guo Shier almost fainted—what kind of people were these? He said, “Alright, the demands are too many and impossible to meet. You’ll eat whatever I cook, or… all of you can eat dried meat!”
There was just braised pork in a large pot, along with a few baskets of steamed buns and a pot of bone broth with vegetables—nothing else was prepared. According to Guo Shier, being able to eat their fill was good enough; there was no need for such fuss, leaving everyone in shock.
Even so, the braised pork made their mouths run with grease. All of them were big eaters and ate until their bellies were round. The pot was as big as a water tank, with each piece of meat the size of a fist. The buns served as accompaniments—braised pork was the main dish.
After eating and cleaning up, Guo Shier said, “Zhi Wu Zhen will finish soon. Everyone, wait here for a few days. We’re about to leave this secret realm. By the way, Wang Keer, will you still follow us?”
Wang Keer’s face twisted in distress. Since Qi Wu Zhen hadn’t spoken, she really didn’t dare leave, not even to ask. She shook her head and said, “I’ll stay with the team.”
A few days later, Qi Wu Zhen flew down from the mountain peak and said, “Let’s go.”
Guo Shier asked, “Should we inform the Gu Ji family?”
Qi Wu Zhen replied, “Ignore them.” Because of this, countless experts from the Gu Ji family stayed at the entrance of the secret realm, not daring to leave, until more than a decade later, when they sent many people in to search. Of course, they found nothing.
…
Wang Keer remained in shock because she had witnessed Qi Wu Zhen tear open a passage out of thin air with his bare hands, allowing them to arrive in a new place. Such power far exceeded her imagination.
Guo Shier shook his head repeatedly. If he had such power, he wouldn’t have struggled to find his way home.
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Enough daydreaming. Shier, there should be a Soul Spring here. I’ll take you to find it. This is the Clear Spring Secret Realm—let’s first find a clear spring to collect water from.”
There were also endless forests here, with countless streams within them, and springs gushing out from time to time. Qi Wu Zhen led everyone quickly and soon arrived by a series of small ponds. The water here was very strange, with colorful hues that were dazzling.
Eagle Demon stared at the two small ponds and said, “This water… how can it be this color? Blue is okay, but there’s even golden yellow… It’s too strange.”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “One is the Golden Spring, and the other is the Green Spring.”
Guo Shier asked, “Are both Soul Springs?”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “How could that be? These are just natural springs. You can try them—the water here is different from elsewhere.”
Guo Shier reached out and caught a handful of spring water in his palm. He took a sip, smacked his lips, and said, “This water tastes great—slightly sweet and very refreshing. Excellent water!”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Among natural springs, I’ve never seen anything this pure elsewhere. This is the best water. Especially the water from this Golden Spring—you can collect it… But never mind, let me do it for you. With your abilities, you can only collect the surface water, not the entire amount… Bring out your altar and prepare the secret symbol space.”
Guo Shier nodded and immediately brought out his altar. In an instant, it expanded to cover the entire small pond, hovering less than ten meters above it. Guo Shier rushed over and said, “It’s done!”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Fly to a hundred meters up and wait.”
Guo Shier followed her instructions, flying to a height of a hundred meters to wait. After using soul waves to inform Old Shuai, he watched calmly as Qi Wu Zhen extracted the Golden Spring water.
Qi Wu Zhen smiled slightly. Her method of drawing water was highly skillful—she barely exerted any effort. With just two hand gestures, she gently grasped at the water, causing the entire ground to tremble. The water that had been gushing out began to surge like a fountain, forming a water column one meter in diameter that shot upward.
Qi Wu Zhen shouted, “Catch it!”