txolops Chapter 57: Seclusion for 5 Years
Chapter 57: Seclusion for 5 Years
Han Xiaoliu slowly opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance appearing briefly before returning to a calm, still gaze. These eyes had been fixed on the stone wall before him, weathered and scarred by time, for a full five years.
Five years, more than 1,800 days and nights.
There is no rotation of the sun, moon, and stars, no vitality of the changing seasons, only the constant, faint glow of the array nodes above, and its own monotonous, repetitive breathing.
He raised his hand expressionlessly, his knuckles stiff from holding the same position for so long. He slowly moved his wrist, making a soft "crack" sound that was particularly jarring in the deathly silent room.
An indescribable sense of boredom welled up from the bottom of his heart, as if even his soul had been shrouded in a layer of gray. He opened his mouth, a dry, hoarse sound escaping his throat, but he had no desire to speak.
For the past five years, he has been like a stone statue, confining himself to this small space.
For the first three years, following the methods of the *Huangting Jing*, he painstakingly and painstakingly cultivated three dantian within his body. The process was no less arduous than carving ravines into a stubborn rock; each surge of spiritual energy was accompanied by excruciating, tearing pain.
For the next two years, he worked tirelessly, like a foolish old man, using his spiritual power day and night to cleanse and expand the boundaries of these three dantian until their capacity reached the limit that his body could bear.
At this moment, he slowly stood up from the futon. He was still thin, but his whole demeanor was completely different.
He didn't deliberately release his aura, but within three feet of him, the air seemed to become viscous, and even the light was slightly distorted.
A calm, profound, and unfathomable aura naturally emanated from him, as if he himself were a dormant volcano, calm on the outside but containing a terrifying power capable of shaking mountains.
This is not the superficial outward release of spiritual power like that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, but a qualitative change from the inside out, a unique field formed after a massive amount of spiritual power is compressed to the extreme.
With a slight thought, the vast, ocean-like spiritual energy within his dantian began to circulate as if controlled by his own limbs. If there were any early Foundation Establishment cultivators present at this moment, they would be astonished to find that the spiritual energy emanating from this person, though not deliberately ostentatious, gave them a heavy sense of oppression, as if facing a Core Formation stage senior.
His total spiritual power is at least five times that of cultivators of the same level.
"Heart-Stealing Talisman..." Han Xiaoliu murmured to himself.
This extremely energy-consuming technique is no longer a desperate trump card in his hands. He estimates that if he were to activate it at full power and cast two sealing spells in succession, the effect would be nothing more than two slightly larger ripples in a sea of spiritual energy.
If used to refine talismans, regardless of the success rate, he was even confident that he could perfectly inscribe five or six finished products before exhausting his spiritual power in one go.
This Heart-Losing Talisman can seal an opponent's spellcasting, but it does not affect the activation of magic items and equipment skills.
In the world of low-level cultivators where everyone relies on spell-based attacks, this is undoubtedly a devastating blow. Even in a place like the Chaotic Star Sea, this talisman might have limited effect against those Core Formation stage monsters who are used to using magical artifacts for attacks. However, for the unknown and dangerous environments he is about to enter, it is still a trump card that can turn the tide at crucial moments.
Han Xiaoliu's gaze fell on the only exit of the quiet room, the stone door sealed by the array.
Five years of silence and five years of tedious cultivation finally allowed him to raise his cultivation level to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
Mid-stage of foundation building, complete.
However, the growth of this body seems to be lagging behind the pace of his consciousness.
The spiritual energy level in the Dreamy Minor Realm had stagnated at level 40 several months ago, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not make any further progress.
A profound emptiness gripped him. It wasn't the weakness from depleted spiritual energy, but rather the bewilderment and anxiety of not knowing what lay ahead after achieving his goal.
He walked to the stone gate, placed his palm on the cold stone wall, and felt the slight tremor from the array.
It's time to go out for a walk.
……
Realm Lord: Han Xiaoliu
Level: 26 (Mid-Foundation Establishment)
Sects: Fangcun Mountain, Underworld
Cultivation Techniques: *Qingyuan Sword Manual*, *Elephant Armor Technique*, *Huangting Scripture*, *Soul-Binding Technique*
Equipment: Level 0 Cloth Belt
Spirit Stones: 4+ (Remaining after selling a large quantity of century-old medicinal herbs!)
Yin De: 0
Merit: 120
Sect contribution points: 60
Summoned Spirits: Bubble, Wild Boar
Support characters: Love Silk Maiden, Seven Emotions Spider
Gang: None
Innate Skills: Azure Sword Aura, Azure Sword Shield, Sword Shadow Splitting Technique, Basic Five Elements Spells, Auxiliary Spells
Gang skills: Crafting skills, Alchemy skills, Tailoring skills, Traditional Chinese Medicine knowledge, Cooking skills, Smelting skills, Tracking skills, Escape skills.
Fangcun Mountain Sect Skills: Five Thunder Spell from the Yellow Court Classic, Wood Immortal Escape (Secret Technique), Heart-Stealing Talisman, Three Dantian (Secret Technique)
Underworld Sect Skills: Soul-Binding Technique, Yama's Decree, Six Paths of Reincarnation, Netherworld Earth Escape (Secret Technique)
Core formations: Reversed Five Elements Formation, Yin Gathering Formation, Yin Transformation Formation, Heart Refining Formation
Fantasy Magic Item:
The Bell of Terror (Magic Item): Level 0
Soul-Guiding Banner (Magic Item): Level 5
Summoning Spirit Growth Quest Progress: Shrimp Soldier (Level 15/Level 45), Shark General (Level 15/Level 55)
The stone gate burst open with a roar, and a long-sealed, foul air rushed out. Han Xiaoliu subconsciously squinted his eyes and frowned slightly.
His skin, long deprived of sunlight, had a sickly pallor, gleaming like cold jade in the dim stone hall. His pupils contracted sharply the moment they came into contact with the outside light, his eyes revealing a lingering dullness and emptiness, as if his soul still lingered in those five years of deathly silence, not yet fully returned to its rightful place.
He walked out of the stone chamber with slightly stiff steps, his gait unsteady yet carrying a strange heaviness. After a long period of seclusion, his perception of light had become unusually acute and repulsive.
As he passed the teleportation array in the center of the stone hall, his gaze casually swept over both sides. Out of the corner of his eye, two ghostly lamps, signifying "someone is there," were particularly glaring in the dim light.
The lamp on the left glows with a pale green light. The stone chamber there is a specially made Yin-gathering array, presumably where the ghost cultivator, Jade Lady, was breathing in and out Yin energy.
The one on the right is most likely Shen Gongbao's.
Although that fellow, being a person with four spiritual roots, was not as perfectly suited to the Inverted Five Elements Formation as someone with five spiritual roots, he had the advantage of having more spiritual roots, which allowed him to withstand the overflowing spiritual energy and thus wait the longest.
Han Xiaoliu's lips twitched slightly, forming a stiff, ambiguous smile.
Within this formation, the five elements of spiritual energy were abundant to the extreme. For a "useless" person like him with five spiritual roots, this was a cultivation paradise where he could thrive, with each of the five attributes of spiritual energy in its proper place without any stagnation.
But for cultivators with other spiritual roots, this place is a gentle purgatory. The excess spiritual energy, like fine needles that can penetrate any crevice, forcibly burrows into the meridians, but cannot be refined immediately.
Over time, this untransformable spiritual energy accumulates in the meridians, which at best hinders cultivation, and at worst, it's like a dull knife cutting flesh, leaving the meridians riddled with holes.
Of course, if one can get through this ordeal and rebuild from the ashes, the meridians will indeed become as resilient as the roots of an old tree, and the capacity of spiritual energy will also increase greatly.
But the pain involved is something only those with great willpower can endure.
Han Xiaoliu subconsciously raised his hand to shield his forehead, trying to block out the non-existent "sunlight." He felt a strange restlessness, an almost pathological longing for the vast world that came from being imprisoned in a small space for so long.
He didn't want to feel any spiritual energy anymore; even the slightest fluctuation made him feel suffocated.
"It's been five years..."
He sighed silently in his heart, his lips trembling slightly.
He just wanted to go out, to bask in the sun, to see living people, to smell the earth and the scent of grass and trees, not this stone palace filled with deathly silence and spiritual pressure.
Without further hesitation, Han Xiaoliu composed himself, his pale and indifferent face regaining its composure. Without pausing, with a resolute air, he stepped directly into the light barrier of the teleportation array.
……
Beside the lotus pond, Han Xiaoliu lay slumped on a recliner like a lump of mud, displaying an extremely relaxed yet tense state.
His clothes were open, and his pale skin gradually turned an unnatural red under the scorching sun. His pores seemed to open wide at that moment, greedily absorbing the heat of the ultraviolet rays.
His mouth was slightly open, his breathing heavy and long, as if he wanted to expel all the stale and foul air that had accumulated in his lungs over the past five years. Every inch of his skin exposed to the air was trembling as he enjoyed the pleasure of being "whipped" by the sun.
"Boss, is this angle comfortable?" Bubble stood cautiously behind the recliner like a humble servant. It held a large, emerald-green lotus leaf aloft with both hands, its arms trembling slightly from the exertion, yet it dared not slacken its efforts in the slightest.
The lotus leaf was adjusted to an extremely tricky angle, like a natural parasol, precisely cutting off all the glaring light shining directly on Han Xiaoliu's face, leaving only a cool green shade to cover his eyebrows and eyes, allowing him to fall asleep peacefully in the dim light.
The once bustling lotus pond not far away has now fallen into an eerie stillness.
The shrimp soldiers and shark generals, who were usually so domineering, have become much more obedient and sensible. They dare not make too much noise, for fear of disturbing their boss!