Translator: 549690339
Fu Hua parked the car on the side, carefully adjusted his clothes, then removed several delicately-wrapped gift boxes from the car and held them in his hands.
Standing at the front gate, Fu Hua hadn’t even reached out to knock when the doors of the courtyard silently swung open by themselves.
“Come in!”
Shen Yuan’s voice slowly drifted from within the courtyard.
Fu Hua paused slightly, then stepped into the courtyard.
Following behind Fu Hua, Xue Mingzhi scowled disdainfully, and began to mutter quietly, “So pretentious...”
Before he could finish his sentence, the moment Xue Mingzhi entered the courtyard, he felt his spirit shake.
He could distinctly feel that the mere distance of a door had transformed into a completely different environment. The strong Spirit Energy almost choked him.
All the pores on his body opened wide. The supreme Spirit Energy continuously penetrated his body, giving him an unprecedented feeling of comfort.
“This concentration of Spirit Energy!!!”
Xue Mingzhi opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
He came from a noble family in the Imperial Capital and had witnessed grand occurrences.
Whether it was the Spiritual Lands built on high-grade Spirit Veins by the State Duke’s Residence, the cultivation chambers rented by the sects, or even the cultivation fields inside the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, he had personally experienced all of them.
But no matter which one, none could compare with this seemingly inconspicuous courtyard.
Without exaggeration, all the Spiritual Lands he had experienced couldn’t even qualify to line the shoes of this courtyard in terms of Spirit Energy concentration.
Coming to this realization, Xue Mingzhi felt an incredible disbelief.
Before his arrival, he had specifically investigated. The old district of Wenn City didn’t even have a decent Spirit Vein and was not a suitable place for cultivation at all. Even the Imperial Astronomical Bureau didn’t establish a branch in the old district of Wenn City.
That such a dense Spirit Vein was born under such circumstances was completely beyond Xue Mingzhi’s understanding.
“Could this place be an undiscovered treasure land?”
“Mingzhi, why aren’t you moving?”
As an ordinary person, Fu Hua only felt comfortable after stepping into the courtyard, and did not notice the change in the density of the Spirit Energy. Therefore, he found it strange to see Xue Mingzhi standing still.
Then, a realization dawned on Fu Hua’s face.
“Alt, you lived here for a while when you were little. You must have a sense of familiarity with this place!
But this courtyard has already been given to Teacher Shen by my father. If you’re interested in it, I can arrange for someone to build you another one in the same style.”
Fu Hua’s remarks made Xue Mingzhi astounded once more.
“Uncle, are you saying that this place is the old house where my grandfather used to live?”
“It is indeed that old house.”
Xue Mingzhi was completely stupefied.
If it was the old Fu mansion, it was definitely not an undiscovered treasure land. Even if Old Master Fu was generous, he wouldn’t just give away such a place.
This meant that this treasure land was artificially transformed.
“How is it possible to transform such a Spiritual Land in a place devoid of any Spirit Vein?”
Despite the reality before his eyes, Xue Mingzhi found it hard to accept.
Fu Hua couldn’t understand Xue Mingzhi’s inner thoughts, so he just urged,
“Come on, Teacher Shen is waiting for us.”
As he said this, Fu Hua, carrying the gift boxes, set foot on the gravel path.
After only a few steps, both Fu Hua and Xue Mingzhi felt things were not quite right.
They had both lived in this courtyard before. Fu Hua especially had grown up here and was well-informed about every little change in the courtyard.
Yet this gravel path, which he was extremely familiar with, seemed incredibly long now, as though it had been extended by several times.
Looking at the surrounding space, it no longer seemed cramped as the courtyard used to be. Instead, the space had become incredibly vast.
“This is...”
Even Fu Hua, who was an ordinary person, realized something was wrong, not to mention Xue Mingzhi who had been observing it secretly.
“Is this the space created by a Great Cultivator’s grotto residence?”
“No, Duke Ninghai’s Mansion also has a space carved out for a grotto residence. But that space feels distinctly unstable, and you can sense the change in spatial layers upon entering it.
However, this courtyard does not show any sign of spatial instability. Everything looks just like the outside world, the only difference being the change in the size of the interior space.”
“Could it be... this is a Secret Realm!”
An even more shocking idea arose in Xue Mingzhi’s heart.
If the creation of the Spiritual Land could somehow be explained by some special treasures, then turning an ordinary courtyard into a Secret Realm in a few months was an extraordinary feat.
Just as such a thought flashed through his mind, Xue Mingzhi heard Fu Hua muttering to himself.
“I was here two weeks ago and I didn’t notice any significant changes. So how come it suddenly became different from before?”
“Two weeks!!!”
Terror struck Xue Mingzhi’s heart.
If what Fu Hua said was correct, and the transformation of this Secret Realm took only two weeks, then the capability of the creator of this Secret Realm was on a whole other level.
“How could such a being appear in the world during the early period of the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge?
Could it be that he is not afraid that the incomplete Heaven and Earth Dao will affect his Dao Path?”
As Xue Mingzhi was pondering, the two had already walked past the gravel path and several buildings in the courtyard.
The houses, while appearing rather antiquated and unremarkable in their style, were fronted by a courtyard graced with a lushly foliaged jujube tree.
Under this tree, a large cat, fierce as a tiger, rested next to a stone table with a chessboard, the Tianyuan position already occupied by a black piece.
On the other side of the courtyard was a small pond where Shen Yuan stood, seemingly observing the fish it contained. At his feet, a cute little black cat was tearing at a dried fish, held up in its paws.
“Greetings, Teacher Shen!”
Fu Hua bowed reverently.
Shen Yuan shifted his gaze from the fish and nodded at Fu Hua.
“You’re here.”
A smile appeared on Fu Hua’s face as he tried to make small talk:
“I’ve come repeatedly over the past three days but found you weren’t home.”
“I was just visiting a friend and got a bit delayed,” Shen Yuan replied casually.
Fu Hua maintained his smile: “Understandable, understandable.”
He then pulled Xue Mingzhi, who was standing behind him, and spoke earnestly:
“Quickly pay your respects to Teacher Shen.”
Xue Mingzhi was dazed, even Fu Hua’s tugging couldn’t bring him back to reality immediately.
Having appreciated the spiritual energy concentration and secret realm of the courtyard, Xue Mingzhi thought he was prepared for whatever was to come.
But upon truly stepping into this small courtyard, he realized how extraordinary this place was.
The cat as ferocious as a tiger dozing beneath the tree was not only a Qi Transformation Stage monster of the monster tribe, but there were also hints of the Mountain Sovereign’s aura of the Tiger Tribe circling around it. This suggested that this cat might have received the legitimate lineage of the Tiger Tribe’s Mountain Sovereign.
Mountain Sovereigns were local deities responsible for governing their mountainous domains. The central legacy of the Tiger Tribe astonishingly ended up in a cat who was kept in a courtyard. If this got out, all the old folks of the Tiger Tribe would probably go insane.
The seemingly insignificant little pond was priceless. All the spiritual energy in the courtyard came from this pond, the flowing liquid was like condensed Spirit Energy.
This reminded Xue Mingzhi of the Natural Spirit Pool, considered a treasure by the Dragon Sovereign of the Aquatic Tribe, and was sufficient to nourish the Spirit Vein of a body of water.
Moreover, there was a fleeting hint of dazzling golden light in the pond, which was definitely not ordinary. Xue Mingzhi had even detected a trace of True Dragon aura from it.
The reason why he could be so sure about the True Dragon aura was because he had attended a banquet held by the heir apparent, where he had seen a True Dragon descendant of the Yellow River Dragon Palace.
This True Dragon Child was a guest of honor at the banquet, and all the main heirs of the prestigious families were all trying to befriend him. He was the center of attention of the entire banquet.
Xue Mingzhi was barely qualified to attend the banquet, and didn’t even have the privilege of approaching the True Dragon Child.
He found the banquet overwhelmingly impressive, to the point where he could hardly forget the aura of the True Dragon Child.
Yet now, the True Dragon’s aura that was revealed by the golden shadow in the pond seemed even purer and nobler than that of the True Dragon Child.
“Although he wasn’t a true dragon, he was undoubtedly among the purest of bloodlines among the True Dragon’s children.”
The golden shadow in the pond even surpassed him, could it be...”
“A True Dragon?”
“No, no, no. Even now, there are only a few True Dragons left in the Four Waterways Dragon Palace, so how could a True Dragon be kept by humans at will in a pond? Considering the pride of True Dragons, they certainly wouldn’ t accept living in such a small pond.”
“It must be a pure-blooded Dragon Child!”
Xue Mingzhi tried to suppress this terrifying thought.
But even if it’s a pure-blooded Dragon Child, the fact that Shen Yuan could casually raise it in his pond proves Shen Yuan’s transcendence.
“Greetings...Teacher Shen!”
Xue Mingzhi nervously bowed to the elegant young man dressed in white before him.
In Xue Mingzhi’s eyes, every move Shen Yuan made seemed full of profound meaning, completely discarding his previous narrow prejudices.
If anyone dared to call Shen Yuan a hoax again, Xue Mingzhi would be the first to argue.
After Xue Mingzhi spoke, Fu Hua introduced him with a beaming face:
“He’s my nephew. I brought him to meet Teacher Shen this time to expand his horizons, so he’d stop being so arrogant all the time.”
With just a glance, Shen Yuan saw that Xue Mingzhi had already reached the late stage of Essence Refining. With the current Spirit Energy Tidal Surge, he could be considered a genius.
After some thought, Shen Yuan raised his right hand. A drop of Spiritual Liquid rose from the Natural Spirit Pool and slowly fell towards Xue Mingzhi.
“I didn’t prepare any gifts for your first visit. Just take this drop of Spiritual Liquid. It’s enough to help you complete your Essence Refining to Qi Transformation.”
Fu Hua’s face immediately lighted up with joy, and he slapped Xue Mingzhi’s head. “Why don’t you quickly thank Teacher Shen!”
Xue Mingzhi’s eyes widened. Shen Yuan’s seemingly casual movement was done without a trace of Mana fluctuation, which was a realm beyond his understanding.
And that drop of Spiritual Liquid floating in front of him, as substantial as Spirit Energy also proved that Shen Yuan’s words held no falsehoods.
This drop of incredibly pure Spiritual Liquid couldn’t only help him break through, but it might even have some leftover.
Moreover, using such pure Spirit Energy for Essence Refining to Qi Transformation would not only make the quality of one’s Mana far exceed their peers, it would also be incredibly beneficial for future cultivation.
In the Imperial Capital, this drop would be a priceless treasure, even if one wished to trade it for a large sum of money, it wouldn’t be possible.
A tremendous wave of elation surged in Xue Mingzhi’s heart. Now, he finally understood why the entire Fu Family would flatter Shen Yuan relentlessly.
Just a casual gift from a first meeting was enough to make many cultivators covet it.
“Thankyou, Teacher Shen!”

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