Chapter 464

Chapter 464: The Spiritual Grains in the Peak are Ripe

After speaking, the elder waved his hand, and the two returned to the previous room once again.

Although they had returned to the secret realm and the previous chains had vanished into thin air, Ji Yang still felt the invisible shackles around his body.

At this moment, Ji Yang understood the meaning behind the elder’s words; he seemed to have no choice.

Moreover, the power of his lightning calamity had confirmed the reality of the chains, as they could absorb the world-destroying thunder. This was indeed related to the heavenly path and not a mere illusion fabricated by the elder.

Listening to the elder’s last inquiry, Ji Yang fell into silence.

The elder also remained patient, quietly waiting.

For him, time was nothing.

“If you are unwilling, I will not force you. Even with Talent Jealousy, one must still seek their own path; it does not guarantee becoming a True Immortal. I am merely providing a place for cultivation in this corner of the world.”

“Besides, there is still about a thousand years left. Even if you refuse, I can find someone else.”

Ji Yang heard the elder’s gentle voice by his ear.

After considering this, Ji Yang made his decision:

“Thank you, senior, for your kindness, but I must apologize; I cannot agree to your request.”

Ji Yang’s refusal caused the elder to fall silent for a moment, and Ji Yang felt a bit anxious. Not agreeing to the elder’s request could easily lead to trouble, like losing his position.

“May I ask why?”

After a while, the elder finally spoke slowly, turning his gaze toward Ji Yang.

Ji Yang hesitated a bit before responding:

“The spiritual grains grown within the peak have ripened. I must return to harvest them.”

The elder was taken aback upon hearing this and then nodded, realizing Ji Yang was not speaking deceitfully.

If Ji Yang had no heart for cultivation, it would be of no use to force him to stay.

“Very well, in that case, I cannot assist you in breaking through to Unity with the Dao.”

From the elder’s words, if Ji Yang had agreed to his request, he might have been able to break through to Unity with the Dao right now.

“By the way, what do you mean by a thousand years?”

Seeing that the elder had not yet left, Ji Yang hurriedly asked.

“The heavenly path is flawed, and spiritual energy is gradually dissipating. After a thousand years, the Cultivation World will have no more spiritual energy. Only when the heavenly path is restored can the spiritual energy from the heavens and earth return, but all spiritual beings in the cultivation world will vanish.”

Ji Yang’s face revealed understanding upon hearing this. It seemed that the flaw in the heavenly path had occurred in ancient times; no wonder there was so much less spiritual energy today.

“Even someone like you, senior, can’t escape?”

The elder shook his head:

“As spiritual energy dissipates, the path will also sink; no one can stop it!”

Although Ji Yang had never witnessed such a scene, he could feel the world’s desolation just by hearing the elder’s words.

“Alright, since you do not wish to stay here, I will see you off.”

Ji Yang paused in surprise, still processing the situation when the elder had already waved his hand.

In an instant, Ji Yang felt as if he were floating like duckweed in water, drifting with the wind.

Watching Ji Yang’s disappearing figure, the elder stood in place for a moment, revealing a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Should he retract that strand of time essence?

After some thought, the elder ultimately chose not to act. He felt that there was an elusive fog surrounding this young man.

Waiting a little longer wouldn’t hurt; he could reclaim that essence after finding the next person.

When Ji Yang opened his eyes again, he discovered that he had arrived in an unfamiliar place.

It wasn’t entirely strange; from the spiritual energy surrounding him, it seemed he had returned to the middle levels of the secret realm.

This made Ji Yang’s expression darken.

Though the old man appeared indifferent, he had effectively shut down Ji Yang’s thoughts of obtaining other essences.

Still, surviving was no small feat.

Moreover, his experience in the upper levels of the secret realm had also yielded great rewards.

However, despite these benefits, Ji Yang felt rather heavy-hearted.

The Chains of the Heavenly Dao restricted him, making it seem as if he were free while preventing him from breaking through his realm.

Even without the Chains of the Heavenly Dao, Ji Yang had little confidence in overcoming the calamity clouds of Unity with the Dao.

Without his special ability, Ji Yang might have truly listened to the elder’s advice and chosen to cultivate here. Under the guidance of such a powerful cultivator, his realm would surely rise higher.

But Ji Yang had other ideas.

If he were an ordinary cultivator, facing this situation, he would undoubtedly make no progress, possibly getting stuck at the late Void Refinement stage and unable to cultivate.

After all, one more step forward meant facing the terrifying heavenly thunder calamity, with the Chains of the Heavenly Dao on him—this was not something an ordinary cultivator could handle.

They would have to struggle to suppress their realm, fearing that any accidental absorption of excess spiritual energy could force a breakthrough.

But he was different; he could choose not to cultivate and instead quietly accumulate cultivation points. With the limit of 9999 cultivation points, Ji Yang saw a brighter path and future ahead.

This meant Ji Yang didn’t have to worry about being stuck at the late Void Refinement stage.

The appearance of the Xuantian Breathing Technique would allow Ji Yang’s essence condensation to grow steadily, preventing him from being hindered during future breakthroughs.

These two factors could keep Ji Yang’s realm smooth and unobstructed.

As for the final heavenly thunder calamity, he could withstand it with his strong physical body. As long as his body was powerful enough, the calamity would have no effect on him.

In dealing with the thunder calamity, a robust body was more practical than any magical artifact.

With these three advantages, Ji Yang had the confidence to refuse the elder.

However, he was still far from his goal and needed more accumulation.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Ji Yang quietly looked down at the many low-level spiritual plants that other cultivators overlooked, nodding in satisfaction. The saying was indeed correct.

Then Ji Yang began to harvest the low-level spiritual plants from the ground. Each plant was capital for him to confront the calamity clouds in the future.

Power +1

Agility +1

Physical Quality +1

……

Half a month later, Ji Yang placed a spiritual plant in his storage bag.

The middle levels of the secret realm yielded far less than the upper levels.

He had originally planned to visit the upper levels to harvest some spiritual plants, but he couldn’t even find the entrance to the upper levels this time. This made him suspect that he was being targeted.

With only a few days left until the exit of the secret realm opened, Ji Yang decided not to search any longer and instead scoured the middle levels of the secret realm.

His efforts over the past half month had been quite fruitful. He had gathered countless White Light Points, and his cultivation points had increased from 13 to 50, all without actively seeking high-level spiritual plants.

Although he was far from the limit of 9999 points, as long as he worked hard, it was just a matter of time.

Such gains were still significant in this rich spiritual plant environment. Once he left, he might not have the same opportunities.

In addition to the Light Points and spiritual plants, Ji Yang had also triggered the state of essence comprehension twice while harvesting spiritual plants.

Unfortunately, these two insights had only increased his essence condensation by 0.1 percent.

This showed that as essence condensation increased, even with the Xuantian Breathing Technique, it was difficult for Ji Yang to rapidly raise his essence condensation in a short time.

After finishing harvesting a patch of spiritual plants, Ji Yang continued without stopping, moving to another area to gather more.

……

Half a day later, several figures looked down at the barren ground beneath their feet, appearing puzzled.

They had stayed in the secret realm for so long and had never seen such terrain—it was completely devoid of plant life.

“Junior Brother Cui, doesn’t that figure look like Junior Brother Ji?”

At this moment, a nearby cultivator suddenly pointed at a figure in the distance and asked Cui.

Cui looked over and then showed a surprised expression:

“It’s Junior Brother Ji! Come on, let’s go over!”

Over the past few days, the group had found quite a few spiritual plants, but unfortunately, due to the lack of a skilled cultivator in harvesting spiritual plants, many had been damaged, making them miss Ji Yang greatly.

Seeing Ji Yang again brought them immense joy.

The key was that Ji Yang not only could harvest spiritual plants but also had a spiritual treasure in hand, making it quite safe to be around him.

However, as they approached, they saw Ji Yang uprooting a low-level spiritual plant from the ground. It seemed that the strange terrain they had seen earlier was all his doing.

This added a hint of peculiarity to their expressions.

“Junior Brother Ji!”

Before they could close the distance, they called out from a distance.

Upon hearing their voices, Ji Yang looked over and smiled, saying,

“Oh, it’s Senior Brother Cui! What brings you all here?”

Although Ji Yang’s tone held some surprise, he was not truly caught off guard by their arrival.

His primordial spirit energy had already sensed their presence, but after some consideration, he chose not to leave and instead waited for them to come.

With the days to leave the secret realm drawing ever closer, Ji Yang didn’t have anywhere else to go, so he decided to leave the secret realm with Cui and the others.

Half a month ago, Ji Yang had already dispelled his disguise and returned to his original appearance.

“Junior Brother Ji, it really is you!”

Cui exclaimed with joy.

However, another disciple from the He Dao Sect remarked in surprise,

“Junior Brother Ji, didn’t you go to the upper levels of the secret realm? Did you come back?”

Before Ji Yang could respond, Cui quickly coughed twice:

“Ahem.”

Hearing this, the questioning disciple quickly understood.

From Junior Brother Ji’s area of harvesting spiritual plants, it was likely that he had been there for most of half a month, making it clear that he had not gone to the upper levels of the secret realm and had been searching for spiritual plants alone since parting ways with them.

Bringing this up now would surely put everyone in an awkward position.

In response to this inquiry, Ji Yang casually replied,

“I went there and found out that you need to be at the Void Refinement stage to reach the upper levels, so I then looked for opportunities in the middle levels of the secret realm.”

“I see, it’s my fault for not explaining it clearly back then,” Cui lamented.

“Since we’ve run into each other again, why don’t you join us?”

Cui quickly extended the invitation, and Ji Yang readily agreed.

After all, he had already harvested most of the low-level spiritual plants in that area, so now he just needed to wait to leave the secret realm.