Chapter 189: Essence Pond Spirit Liquid

Dong Feng was clearly full of curiosity toward Chen Fei.

Recently, there were two things that had made the Sacred Land of Skyreach famous. One was the Immortal Music Secret Realm, and the other was undoubtedly Chen Fei!

This direct disciple of a Dao Realm elder, despite only being in the Dao Realm himself, had countless registered disciples grumbling enviously about his supposed good fortune. But just moments ago, when Dong Feng endured an attack from Chen Fei within the Thousand-Layered Pagoda, he realized that kind of force wasn’t something that could be explained by “luck.”

To put it bluntly, Dong Feng felt that under Chen Fei’s attack, he wouldn’t even have the space to survive!

Chen Fei, however, had no time to pay attention to Dong Feng.

At that moment, he only felt something strange.

The Essence Pond Marsh was unusually calm. Despite having ventured so deep, they hadn’t encountered a single demonic beast!

And based on beastly habits, that clearly meant there were more powerful demonic beasts deeper within the marsh.

But that raised a question.

What level of beast would be stronger than a peak grade-nine one?

Logically speaking, beasts of that level shouldn’t exist in the Immortal Music Secret Realm. Otherwise, for Dao Realm disciples, this place wouldn’t be a land of opportunity to hone themselves—it would be a training ground straight from hell!

“Essence Pond Spirit Liquid!” Dong Feng suddenly exclaimed, snapping Chen Fei out of his thoughts.

Following the direction of Dong Feng’s outstretched hand, Chen Fei saw a pool of light-blue liquid. Above its surface, faint spiritual energy wafted—clearly unusual.

“We’re rich! There’s actually this much of it!” Dong Feng laughed with unrestrained joy. If he hadn’t still been shaken by their earlier encounter with the Illusory Marsh Beast, he might have already charged ahead.

Chen Fei observed the area but didn’t sense anything immediately threatening.

Still, he remained cautious. “Let’s go. We’ll check it out first!”

Finding such a large pool of Essence Pond Spirit Liquid meant they were deep within the marsh now. But to find the stardust water of the Celestial River, they still needed some luck.

Seeing Chen Fei already on the move, Dong Feng didn’t dare delay. “Senior Brother Chen, I’ll add another shield. It’s not as powerful as a full barrier, but it should be enough to fend off a sneak attack from any beast!”

With that, Dong Feng manipulated his Thousand-Layered Pagoda, forming a thin protective film around them both.

As they neared the Essence Pond Spirit Liquid, Chen Fei inhaled deeply. The misty spiritual energy felt incredibly soothing.

“This is a rare opportunity. Let’s cultivate first and raise our strength!” Chen Fei made the decision immediately.

Dong Feng agreed. Although they could take the spirit liquid back and trade it with the Forging Academy, there were priorities—improving themselves was more important.

More importantly, this pool had been discovered together with Chen Fei. It wouldn’t feel right to hog it all for himself.

Chen Fei, however, had no such concerns. He walked directly into the Essence Pond Spirit Liquid.

As his body slowly sank in, a faint smile appeared on his lips. Excellent—there was more than enough of this spirit liquid to temper his body!

Dong Feng was dumbfounded by Chen Fei’s actions.

“Senior Brother Chen…” he called out.

Chen Fei turned around, still smiling. “This kind of chance is rare, Junior Brother Dong. Start cultivating!”

Of course, Dong Feng wanted to cultivate—but he had never seen anyone do it inside the Essence Pond Spirit Liquid!

Sure, the liquid could temper the body, but it was also corrosive! It would steadily erode a cultivator’s protective aura. Direct skin contact could even result in damage that was hard to heal!

Dong Feng, if he wanted to use the liquid to refine his body, would normally take just a bit, wrap it with spiritual energy, and slowly refine it.

But Chen Fei hadn’t considered that. He was fully aware of the liquid’s corrosiveness. However, with the Void Heaven Cauldron in his body, was there even a chance for it to corrode him?

The Void Heaven Cauldron blazed with full power, removing all impurities—especially the corrosive elements—from the spirit liquid before channeling the purified energy into Chen Fei’s body.

Inside Chen Fei, faint rune patterns flickered. These runes had clearly not undergone special refinement and remained in their most primitive state.

Chen Fei was unaware of this. All he felt was a cool, soothing sensation flooding his body.

To Dong Feng’s perception, Chen Fei had become the center of a vortex, rapidly absorbing the spirit liquid around him.

Dong Feng opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but didn’t know what to say.

Fortunately, he quickly came to his senses and sat cross-legged. If he didn’t start cultivating now, Chen Fei would absorb everything!

But just as they began cultivating, a pair of blood-red eyes appeared out of thin air, staring fixedly at Chen Fei.

Those enormous eyes hovered ominously overhead, yet Chen Fei remained completely unaware of them.

As more spirit liquid was drawn into their bodies, a dense mist began to gather in the surrounding area. Eventually, when the Void Heaven Cauldron within Chen Fei gently trembled and stopped absorbing, Chen Fei slowly opened his eyes.

Only a quarter of the original pool of spirit liquid remained.

Seeing Dong Feng still absorbing it slowly, Chen Fei couldn’t help but shake his head.

He raised his fist, and a series of cracking sounds echoed from within his body. Feeling the nearly explosive strength now surging through him, Chen Fei’s eyes lit up.

This breakthrough had increased his physical strength by at least fivefold!

Normal spirit weapons probably wouldn’t even pierce his skin if he didn’t defend himself!

“Something’s off. Why is there such a dense spiritual mist?” Chen Fei frowned and turned around instinctively.

His pupils contracted sharply.

Hovering in the air was that massive blood-red eye, staring straight back at him.

“What the hell is that!” Chen Fei’s body tensed instantly as he began retreating slowly.

At that moment, Dong Feng also snapped out of his trance. “Senior Brother Chen, what’s wrong…?”

He looked at Chen Fei, confused.

Chen Fei didn’t respond, still locked in a staring contest with the eye.

Dong Feng turned to look—and froze.

Just like Chen Fei, he became cautious, swallowed hard, and stammered, “Senior Brother Chen, what should we do?”

“If it’s a blessing, it’s a blessing. If it’s a curse, you can’t dodge it.” Chen Fei frowned.

That massive eye was bizarre. Chen Fei could sense it was alive, yet it hadn’t attacked them—it only stared viciously.

There were only two possible explanations.

One: it was sealed, unable to break free. No matter how furious it was, it couldn’t do anything.

Two: it was in a crucial stage—perhaps breaking through or absorbing some treasure—and couldn’t be distracted by them.

Either way, the best response was to act first.

Dong Feng’s face paled. “You don’t mean we’re going to fight it, do you?!”

“What else?” Chen Fei shot back. “If you’re scared, Junior Brother, collect what’s left of the spirit liquid and go. We’ll part ways here.”

Dong Feng hesitated.

On one side, the benefits were within reach. On the other, there was a rare opportunity. If he could cling to Chen Fei’s coattails, even becoming a formal disciple might not be his limit!

It was a difficult choice indeed.