In Aotian’s mind, a flood of knowledge began to flow as if it had no end.

That was the feedback he received with Lei Yun’s acceptance as a disciple of the sect, and also the definitive proof that his deduction had been correct: the boy was the reincarnation of a powerful cultivator.

‘Damn! Damn! Mahayana, the boy was a Mahayana! Of course, it would’ve been better if he were an Immortal, but hell, Mahayana already helps a lot at this stage!’

Aotian’s eyes gleamed with excitement as knowledge regarding that realm poured in, and he had to restrain himself from trembling with nervousness and joy, struggling to calm down.

Soon the feedback process ended, and he let out an internal sigh of relief.

‘Haah… thankfully, System Feedback isn’t like Soul Search. The knowledge already comes processed, completely clean, and doesn’t overload my multiple minds to process or receive it. If I had to depend on my own minds to handle the Feedback, forget about the knowledge of a Mahayana—even just the daily perception of ten thousand disciples would already kill me.’

He thought, relieved, and then began to study his new knowledge.

‘Many techniques and spells were acquired. Although most are thunder-based, there are still some good methods of the five basic elements he must’ve read at certain times in his past life. Unfortunately, not everyone overloads their minds reading every kind of technique like I do. Otherwise, the knowledge of a Mahayana who lived for so many years would be enough for me, at the very least, to synthesize Void Refinement techniques… well, I’m being too greedy, the current result is already more than good enough.’

‘In fact, it’s more than good. The techniques are the least of it, the methods are the most valuable. Before Lei Yun’s Feedback and reading the minds of various cultivators, I was fumbling around on how to fully use the realms of Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, and Void Refinement, but now I’ve cut many shortcuts, and it’s no longer a false realm gained only through systematic advancement like before.’

A smile of joy almost appeared on his lips, but, so as not to draw Rihai’s attention, who was watching him while massaging his head, he transferred his will to laugh over to Bao Wuji.

…

Back to Bao Wuji, before the eyes of the ancestors, he held the head of one who had just lost his last breath of life, when suddenly a wide grin appeared on his lips.

“HAHAHAHA!!” A loud, delighted laugh echoed through the once opulent hall, now with its ceiling shattered and floor cracked.

The ancestors, eyes wide in panic, trembled even more intensely before that crazed man, more like a demon, who laughed joyfully as he reaped lives.

…

Back in the main body, Aotian calmed down after laughing fiercely through Bao Wuji’s body and felt more at ease.

‘Good, very good. Now I feel more confident. Although the feedback only returns insights, experiences, techniques, and information related to cultivation, without involving common sense or worldly knowledge, it still left me much more at peace. Moreover, Lei Yun seemed to have been a master of Mahayana-Tier formations and talismans, while his other arts were below that realm, but not by much. Thus, my profit was simply too amazing. Now, no one would suspect that Bao Wuji isn’t a true, ancient Void Refiner with the knowledge I possess.’

Reassured, he began to reflect on the cultivation realms he now understood through Feedback.

‘The three Body realms: Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core.’

‘The three Soul realms: Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Void Refinement.’

‘The Immortal Transition Realms: Tribulation Transcendence, Mahayana… Lei Yun stopped here, so I don’t know further.’

‘Perhaps Lei Yun believed that after Mahayana came immortality—the final and eternal realm. I suppose that would be normal from a native’s perspective… but in the xianxia stories I used to read, immortality was rarely the end. It was usually just the beginning of a new phase, with a whole new set of realms to climb through—same structure, different names. The protagonist would do the same thing all over again, just in the immortal world this time. That got repetitive fast… man, I dropped so many novels after the protagonist ascended’

‘Anyway, I digress. Ascension is still a long way off for me, and who knows what really comes after Mahayana?’

He blinked thoughtfully, then quickly set the matter aside, not in a rush.

‘It’s better to focus on the now.’

…

Beiyan Continent, Shadowfallen Burial Mountain.

Gu Jian and the other avatars had quietly arrived at the edges of a huge cavern in the mountain.

Through his avatars, Aotian could see the entrance, and there were several people there.

The cavern was wide and tall, and formations could be felt pulsing on the ground and walls, seemingly protective measures of the mountain to prevent that important place from being destroyed. The rightful source is novel•fire.net

But Gu Jian and the avatars frowned slightly as they observed the cavern’s interior.

There, a vast lake of golden water covered the ground, and hundreds of people were seated upon various stones scattered throughout the lake.

Some larger stones at the back held more people, while the closer to the center, the smaller they became, with fewer people seated.

Mu Luyin and Lei Yun also arrived behind the avatars at that moment.

The girl observed the lake with narrowed eyes and spoke to everyone via sound transmission.

[“So your target is the Dragon Lake of the second boundary. No wonder you said it would be dangerous.”]

She spoke with a serious expression to those present. There, in the lake, were hundreds of them—and in the current situation, they were all enemies.

And worse: those who reached the second boundary were rarely below Nascent Soul. What stood there were hundreds of cultivators of the same realm as her, and many of them even in the late stages.

[“Dragon Lake?”]

Lei Yun asked, his eyes faintly glowing before the pure and intense energy he could feel even from afar. If used together with his new cultivation technique, he realized his cultivation could soar like a rocket, and with his experience and control, his foundation wouldn’t fall short in quality despite the speed.

[“Yes, the Dragon Lake is actually one of the greatest opportunities in the entire mountain. Even the opportunities of the later boundaries may not be much better. From what I know, the water there is an extremely potent spiritual liquid, capable of strengthening the body, aiding cultivation, and even slightly improving qualifications. According to what my father once told me, this liquid is called Dew of the Dragon’s Lament.”]

She explained, leaving Lei Yun even more interested.

Meanwhile, Gu Jian remained with furrowed brows, thoughtful.

‘I ended up coming to the Dragon Lake…’ Aotian reflected, puzzled.

He knew the lake and had intended to visit it only after reaching his objective.

As for the lake improving qualifications, he knew from the memories he had read that it wasn’t anything that magical. The liquid didn’t alter one’s roots, but it was so potent and beneficial that it could enhance poorly built foundations, correct minor flaws in the cultivation base, cleanse impurities, and strengthen the body. This did, in effect, lead to improved qualifications, since a shaky foundation could limit one’s cultivation path.

If it really improved roots, his target would have been the Dew of the Dragon’s Lament from the very start.

But no. His goal was another. He had been following the treasure radar map in search of the possible spiritual garden, but ended up at the Dragon Lake. From the memories of those men, he knew there was no such garden there.

His eyes narrowed as he studied the mental map more closely, until he reached a conclusion.

‘It’s underneath!’ His eyes immediately gleamed.

The garden had to be underground. This was confirmed by the map in his mind, as the herb symbol was far beneath the piles of different items stored in the same space — which represented the rings of the cultivators in the lake, full of resources.

‘So that’s it… but it’s going to be difficult. I need to study this formation to see if I can access the underground.’

With that thought, he controlled Gu Jian to turn to one of the avatars and gesture to him, sending a sound transmission. Of course, it was unnecessary, but Aotian was practically mastering the art of theatrics and wasn’t about to lose practice now.

The couple, upon seeing one of the avatars moving away from the lake, were surprised. Mu Luyin, however, realized it wasn’t appropriate for her to ask, and Lei Yun, though curious, also didn’t intend to question.

Gu Jian then turned to another elder and, this time, also transmitted to the couple, so as not to leave them completely in the dark:

[“Elder Han, can the formation be crossed?”]

He asked Han Ruoyun, the outer elder of the Formation Pavilion.

Han didn’t reply immediately. He first crouched down, placed his hand on the ground, and discreetly transferred energy, carefully probing with his eyes closed as he analyzed.

[“… Uhmm, this formation has reached Void-Tier level, and it’s not completely poorly made. It seems much effort was put into it. But with the strength we currently have, we cannot break through by force. It will be necessary to follow the formation’s control links to pass through, and the core must be in the center of the lake.”]

He informed, leaving the couple beside them stunned.

While Mu Luyin looked at them helplessly, struggling not to roll her eyes and mock the arrogance with which they spoke about a formation refined over thousands of years by the greatest powers of the Central Plateau, Lei Yun also crouched and placed his hand on the ground, probing.

Although his current energy didn’t allow him to probe very far, he managed to glimpse part of the formation. When he opened his eyes, the seriousness and respect with which he began to look at those men deepened.

‘It really is a Void-Tier formation, built with much effort. Even I think it’s good, but Elder Han still considers it not good enough. How insane must his level be in the art of formation creation? And what is the true cultivation realm of these elders? It’s impossible to know this much with a simple Golden Core cultivation. They must have sealed their cultivations for some reason.’

He thought with a deadly serious expression.

If Aotian knew what was going through the two’s minds, he would probably spread his hands helplessly and say that this time, the Mu girl was right. After all, he was only bragging shamelessly, claiming that the formation wasn’t bad, when he hadn’t even synthesized the Nascent Soul level in formations yet.

If not for Lei Yun’s feedback, a master of formations, he wouldn’t even know what to do with this high-level formation.

Shortly after analyzing the formation and discussing a few things, the avatar sent earlier returned silently and shook his head.

What he had done was leave the protection matrix area of the Dragon Lake and try to enter from underground, but even that route was blocked. He had no choice but to return.

Aotian’s eyes flickered, thoughtful. He then raised his head, stared at the many cultivators inside the great cavern — where the Formation Core was — and his gaze hardened.

‘I guess we’ll have to have a good chat with these people if we want to get in…’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep