When Mu Peiling arrived five kilometers away, she felt an indescribable fear suddenly fall upon her. The spiritual Qi in the air suddenly grew turbulent. In the blink of an eye, countless strands of spiritual Qi transformed into a whirlpool, causing her to nearly fall from the sky on the magic tool, catching her unprepared.
In her great fright, she forcefully circulated all the spiritual Qi in her body to steady her body. She then hastily glanced around and spotted something that left her amazed.
About three hundred meters in the sky, there were countless specks of spiritual light in the air. They were of countless colors, pulsing from bright to dim, and each contained extremely pure spiritual Qi. They were a beautiful sight to behold.
Mu Peiling was overwhelmed and she swept her gaze into the distance. She grew pale at the sight. Wherever she turned her eyes, she merely saw countless specks of light filling the sky without end.
‘Heavens! What is happening?’ Mu Peiling gazed at this strange scene with wide eyes.
In fact, this marvelous spectacle surrounded the entire area within fifty kilometers of Han Li.
As this woman discovered the spiritual Qi transformations, untold numbers of cultivators had also discovered this anomaly. Those with profound cultivations even gazed in astonishment in the direction of the Drifting Cloud Sect thousands of kilometers away.
Although a majority of cultivators hadn’t seen this before, nor did they know why such an omen appeared, the few that knew were watching with feelings of envy and admiration.
On the main peak of the Drifting Cloud Sect, in a cave residence that was located several thousands of kilometers high, there was a silver-haired old man that was sitting cross-legged. He had an ashen complexion and breathed heavily as if he were gravely ill. But in the instant the spirit lights appeared several hundred kilometers away, his forehead trembled and he opened his eyes in shock, wearing an expression of disbelief.
He ceased his cultivation without hesitation and immediately flew out from his cave residence in a streak of white light. A short moment later, the silver-haired old man appeared at the peak of the main mountain, standing on top of a large rock.
He solemnly stared in the direction of Han Li’s cave residence and his expression wavered.
At that moment, a streak of yellow light came flying from the sky in the direction of the silver-haired old man’s cave residence. But when it caught sight of the silver-haired old man already standing outside of his cave residence, it flew towards the top of the mountain. The light faded away to reveal a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion.
As soon as the middle-aged man appeared, he immediately spoke to the old man with disbelief. “Senior Martial Brother Cheng, you must’ve felt it. Am I mistaken? Is there truly someone condensing a Nascent Soul within our Drifting Cloud Sect!?”
The silver-haired old man narrowed his eyes and replied without turning his head, “Mistaken? Impossible. We’ve both experienced his before. There is someone truly condensing a Nascent Soul within our sect. Moreover, they have already reached the final stage and are just about to finish.”
The middle-aged man muttered with certainty, “This is baffling! The only late Core Formation cultivators in our sect is Martial Nephew Feng and that spy surnamed Hu. Martial Nephew Feng had spent the last two years striving to reach great perfection stage. He can’t have reached false Nascent stage so soon, let alone form a Nascent Soul. As for the spy from the Heavenly Fiend Sect, his cultivation was already wasted and fell several levels. It can’t be him.”
“Humph! Of course we know the cultivations of our martial nephews. Although this person may be condensing a Nascent Soul in our Drifting Cloud Sect, he isn’t necessarily one of our sect members.. Perhaps he is a daring character who infiltrated into our sect. After all, the spiritual Qi of the Dreamcloud Mountains is rich and abundant, an optimal spot to condense a Nascent Soul.”
The middle-aged man frowned and resentfully said, “Senior Martial Brother, what should we do now? It seems he is about to smoothly condense his Nascent Soul.”
“That seems to be the case. We should stay here for now. Although I don’t know whether or not they have endured the final stage, we would only disturb them if we were to appear. As for the final stage, inner demon backlash, it could take several months or even several years of internal experience to resolve. But in reality, that time actually only passes by in just a moment. Junior Martial Brother Lu, could it be that you’ve forgotten that you experienced backlash during your Nascent Soul condensation?” The silver-haired man’s complexion paled, but his attitude remained calm.
“How could I have possibly forgotten! I never want to think of it again. Inner demon backlash causes one's deepest fears to appear in their heart. If it weren’t for the Spirit Tempering Pill I had taken before forming a Nascent Soul, I would’ve certainly been unable to make it through the pain.” The middle-aged man surnamed Lu couldn’t help but shudder. His face grimaced when he recalled the experience.
“That’s right. This person has yet to endure the final stage and hasn’t yet finished a Nascent Soul. There is no point in talking about how we should deal with him. There’s no need to rush. But if he is fortunate enough to enter Nascent Soul stage, it would be too late to block him. Instead of offending him, wouldn’t it be better to just calmly observe him and wait for the outcome? Besides, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing if this person were to form a Nascent Soul in our Drifting Cloud Sect. Perhaps we would be able to befriend him and have him join our sect!”
The middle-aged man felt his heart stir. “Senior Martial Brother means to say that this person is a vagrant cultivator?”
The silver-haired man smiled and turned to the middle-aged man, “Yes, that is most likely to be the case. If he were from a sect or clan, why would he dare to sneak into our Drifting Cloud Mountains to form a Nascent Soul? It would’ve been better for him to form a Nascent Soul under the protection of high grade cultivators. Did you remember how seriously the sect treated us when we attempted to form our Nascent Souls?”
Having recalled previous memories, the middle-aged man couldn't help but chuckle, “How could I have forgotten? In the several months it took for me to form a Nascent Soul, the sect sealed off the mountain and were vigilant of attack. Even a sect protecting formation was laid down. From what you’ve said, it does seem that this person is truly a sectless vagrant cultivator.”
The silver-haired old man slowly said, “If this person truly is a vagrant cultivator, we should do our utmost to entice him and not offend him. Since it is much more difficult for a vagrant cultivator to form a Nascent Soul than a sect cultivator, their abilities must be impressive; they cannot be underestimated. Furthermore, this cultivator isn’t burdened by a sect, unlike us. He will have fewer misgivings upon acting on grudges than a cultivator who came from a sect. Isn't Eccentric Heavenvenge an example of this? Is it not because of his profound cultivation and superior abilities that we dare not to easily offend him? Does his ruthless and unbridled actions not inspire fear into many of the sects in the Heavenly South Region?”
When the middle-aged man heard this, he silently nodded his head in agreement.
Then the old man’s eyes lit up and he softly shouted,“It’s starting!” The middle-aged man was startled and he hastily sent his spiritual sense into the distance.
At that moment, the specks of light surrounding Han Li’s cave residence became increasingly numerous, and gradually condensed into a single mass of light across the sky. After a short moment, the sky surrounding him by fifty kilometers began to shine with a layer of dense rainbow light. Loud rolls of lightning surged from the mass of light. Soon, it began to quickly concentrate and gather together at its center, Han Li’s cave residence.
Above the small mountain of Han Li’s residence, a half-kilometer wide sphere of light glistened brilliantly, blinding anyone who dared to look directly at it.
Suddenly, a world shaking boom clapped through the sky, swaying through the entire mountain. At that moment an azure pillar of light shot towards the sky from the mountain, piercing straight through the sphere of light in the sky.
The huge sphere of light immediately became covered in dark clouds, bringing about a storm of lightning and wind. Within this storm, the light began to shrink, but its colorful flashes of light only became more dazzling.
The cultivators nearby had already rushed close to the small mountain at its center and were observing this astonishing phenomenon in the sky. They each looked at each other in dismay, not knowing what they should do.
Not long after, under the gaze of the astonished bystanders, that huge sphere of light condensed into a translucent, fist-sized ball that contained a fearsome amount of spiritual Qi. Those that observed nearby looked on with amazement, not daring to rashly take any action.