Chapter 163: The Target Has Arrived

Zhang Pu had momentarily entertained some disheartening thoughts, but he immediately shook them off, mindful not to let them ruin his mood.

Especially in a place like this, one could never allow themselves to be controlled by any adverse atmosphere.

Without delay, Zhang Pu handed Ye Hui a medicinal pill and instructed him to take it.

Ye Hui was already well aware of the immense value of such pills and swallowed it immediately.

Almost instantly, he felt his physical condition improve dramatically.

As his own spirits lifted, Zhang Pu’s thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Among the advanced cultivation techniques he was currently practicing, aside from the Sun-Moon Formula, there was another: the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds, an eerie and peculiar art originating from the Nether Astral Realm.

At present, his mastery over the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds was just as shallow as his grasp of the Sun-Moon Formula.

Moreover, unlike the Sun-Moon Formula, this technique did not afford such abundant opportunities for practice. The latter primarily relied on light—sunlight, moonlight, starlight, lamplight, and even firelight could all be harnessed. Even when Zhang Pu was not actively practicing, this miraculous technique would circulate and cultivate itself autonomously, though the rate of advancement under such passive conditions was agonizingly slow.

Because Zhang Pu was eager to ascend rapidly to the pinnacle of this world, he found this slow progress unacceptable. He would even resort to purchasing herbs and seeking out pills for his cultivation, sparing no expense.

While the Sun-Moon Formula lent itself well to this approach, the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds, owing to its bizarre nature, could not follow such a straightforward path.

First of all, medicinal pills yielded little to no effect for the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds, rendering them a mere waste, nor did it primarily absorb light like the Sun-Moon Formula did.

In truth, the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds relied heavily on the environment in which it was practiced.

Ever since his rebirth, Zhang Pu had failed to find an ideal location favorable for practicing this technique. Whenever the dark astral moon grew dim, he simply preferred not to practice at all.

Zhang Pu knew that when he had previously overthrown Lin Zhifa, it was only a stroke of luck achieved through half-reliance on the Sun-Moon Formula and various other tactical arts from the cultivation world. He was well aware that if he encountered an opponent stronger than Lin Zhifa, he might not possess the capability to plant a spiritual seed within them.

Against purely human adversaries, this technique was virtually useless.

Consequently, Zhang Pu had largely left it half-abandoned, especially since he now lived in a world dominated by humans, where even the local fauna consisted of almost no magical beasts or fierce monsters. Phantoms and wraiths seemed to exist only in old legends.

Normally, Zhang Pu acted as though he only remembered the Sun-Moon Formula and had completely forgotten about the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds.

Yet today, quite suddenly, in a place such as this, a certain thought flared up in his mind.

Why didn’t I think of this sooner! This might very well be the ideal sanctuary for practicing the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds!

Indeed, this was a marvelous location for cultivating the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds.

Zhang Pu shouted inwardly with exhilaration, having deduced it through several mystical methods from the cultivation realm.

Fortunately, he refrained from actually yelling aloud; otherwise, Ye Hui would surely have thought he had suffered a sudden mental breakdown.

Zhang Pu calculated that practicing the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds in a place like this would yield results in a single day that surpassed an entire year spent anywhere outside the forbidden zone.

He never expected that the greatest treasure for him within this forbidden zone of the Tri-Hall Association would turn out to be this very thing.

This was truly like searching high and low for something only to find it effortlessly without a second thought!

How could he have ever anticipated such a turn of events beforehand?

Zhang Pu suppressed the surging excitement in his heart, forcing himself to calm down. Yet, in the end, unable to restrain himself, he began circulating the technique of the Grand Cultivation of Spiritual Seeds right where he stood.

Almost immediately, he felt the resonance.

Beside him, Ye Hui abruptly sensed an even heavier, bone-chilling yin energy.

Sensing Ye Hui close by, Zhang Pu instantly halted his cultivation.

Furthermore, he had not lost his head to excitement; he still remembered the very reason he had come to this forbidden zone in the first place—to help Ye Hui, and by extension the Tri-Hall Association, because Gao Yun had been abducted to this very place by some mysterious person.

"Ye Hui, let's keep moving forward!"

Zhang Pu glanced at the middle-aged man, who was as robust as an ox. Earlier, Ye Hui had been panting heavily as if on the verge of collapse, but thanks to the medicinal pill, he now appeared entirely recovered.

As he said this, Zhang Pu suddenly remembered that his personal stock of pills was nearly exhausted. True, he had been consuming them steadily during this period without a moment to spare for refining more. On the other hand, the Sea of Flowers Cottage managed by Liu Yingde had just begun to take shape, and the medicinal herbs and flowers had not yet reached maturity for concocting pills. Still, they were very close. Zhang Pu figured that once he finished matters here and got the Sea of Flowers Cottage fully operational, it would be just about time to harvest the herbs and manufacture medicines.

Ye Hui naturally followed Zhang Pu's lead, and the two resumed their march to find Gao Yun and the mysterious figure.

A moment later, Zhang Pu suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Unaware of the reason, Ye Hui halted as well, watching to see what Zhang Pu had discovered.

Zhang Pu truly had made a discovery. Although the surrounding wilderness had remained monotonous for miles, just now, Zhang Pu had instinctively projected his divine sense outward once more.

This time, it was not met with the empty void of their previous attempts.

This time, Zhang Pu sensed their target—he was certain it was Gao Yun and that mysterious person!

"We've reached the target. Let's creep up carefully," Zhang Pu whispered to Ye Hui.

Despite being a grown man, Ye Hui felt his palms sweating with tension at that moment. Was it out of fear for the terrifying mysterious person, or due to the eerie atmosphere of this peculiar environment? He himself could not tell!

Yet Ye Hui’s movements were far from clumsy. He immediately followed Zhang Pu, silently and stealthily gliding toward a specific spot.

Before long, they caught sight of two figures ahead.

Curiously, both of those figures were seated.

Zhang Pu had first perceived them as Gao Yun and the mysterious person through his spiritual senses.

What Ye Hui saw next with his own eyes was this:

Several dozen meters ahead, amidst a patch of rocky terrain and stunted shrubs, Gao Yun was sitting facing their direction, while a figure in a black cloak sat with their back turned toward them.

Both Ye Hui and Zhang Pu fixed their gazes upon this cloaked figure.

At a single glance, Zhang Pu felt the person looked somewhat familiar!

Drawing even closer now, Zhang Pu and Ye Hui felt that Gao Yun should be able to see them clearly, yet Gao Yun sat there completely lifeless, like a mere wooden puppet.

There were no lush, deep forests within this forbidden zone. Zhang Pu surmised that not only had the animals fled this place, but even most plant life probably struggled to survive here, all because of that overwhelming aura of death!

As for the few plants that managed to grow here, they were dark, stunted shrubs seemingly hailing from a netherworld, none of whose names Zhang Pu recognized.