When Lin Xiao had walked deep enough that there was no trace of human presence around him, and he was certain he was far enough from where people lived, he finally stopped.
The area was filled with wild mountains ranging from tens to hundreds of meters in height. Each had its own unique shape.
He picked one that looked the most lush, striking, and imposing, and walked over to it.
Then he pulled out his peach wood sword.
He aimed at the base of this nameless wild mountain, gathered his strength, and raised his hand.
Fourth Form of the Cloud Middle Sword Art!
Dim Moonlight Severing the Mist!
A thunderous roar erupted as a massive, vicious gash was cut diagonally across the base of the wild mountain.
As the strike landed, it kicked up a sky full of dust and shattered rock.
A host of animals, startled by the commotion, scrambled frantically in every direction.
However, the gash left by this single sword strike was clearly not enough to shake the mountain's foundation. After the dust, debris, and soil settled back down, the mountain still stood firm, unmoved.
Lin Xiao had expected this, of course.
After all, he was only at the Golden Core stage.
Cleaving a whole mountain in two with a single sword stroke? Not realistic.
But if his strength wasn't enough, he could make up for it with sheer effort.
Facing the wild mountain he had chosen, he took a deep breath and raised his peach wood sword once more.
Fourth Form!
Fourth Form!
Fourth Form!
...
Finally, before his spiritual energy was completely depleted, he managed, through his astonishing perseverance, to completely sever the mountain from its roots and dig the whole thing out.
At this point, the wild mountain still sat steadily before him, but its base was completely disconnected from the ground.
Lin Xiao felt greatly relieved. He sat down cross-legged on the spot and began recovering his spiritual energy.
Only after his spiritual energy had recovered by more than half did he finally stand up, walk over to the mountain, and wrap it entirely in his spiritual energy.
At the same time, he opened the Item Synthesis device.
The next moment, the mountain that had just been lifted whole out of the ground was tossed into the open slot of the synthesizer.
Then, gritting his teeth, he made his first extravagant move: he invested a massive sum of fifty thousand spirit stones into the back slot.
That was every last spirit stone he had on him.
He then added a small white house made of Condensed Frost Jade, which he had taken from the storage room earlier.
This was the first time Lin Xiao had invested so heavily in the synthesis function.
He felt his heart bleeding.
With every item he put in, he kept silently repeating what he wanted in his mind, gritting his teeth and muttering, "It has to work, it has to work!"
When everything had been placed, the system spoke up:
[Item synthesis in progress. Please wait.]
Lin Xiao sat cross-legged and waited, and while he waited, he made a show of sharpening his sword with spiritual energy, and even gave his peach wood sword a polish.
This synthesis seemed to take especially long.
After a long while, the system's voice slowly echoed in Lin Xiao's mind once more:
[Synthesis successful. Item has been delivered to your private storage. Please check.]
Lin Xiao held his breath and opened his private storage.
There, in the storage, sat a shrunken miniature mountain that had completely transformed in appearance.
Beside it was displayed the mountain's name: Spirit Essence Mountain.
He decisively used his Appraisal skill on it.
[Spirit Essence Mountain: A great mountain capable of generating vast amounts of spiritual energy and nurturing spirit veins. As long as the spiritual energy it produces is not over-consumed, it can nurture spirit veins within itself over time, and as time passes, the grade of the spirit veins it nurtures will also increase.]
It worked!
Seeing this appraisal result, Lin Xiao was overjoyed.
Originally, he had just wanted a mountain that could automatically produce lots of spiritual energy so that the floating island wouldn't have thin spiritual energy.
This way, after some time, the Yaoguang Floating Island could have its very own spirit vein!
He just didn't know how long "some time" would be.
But even if no spirit vein formed for a while, the spiritual energy produced by this Spirit Essence Mountain would be plenty to sustain their daily cultivation and life on the floating island.
Having obtained what he wanted, he returned to the sect, fully satisfied.
Without disturbing anyone, Lin Xiao went alone to the stone platform beside the secret garden.
By now it was evening, and the sunset had painted the sky a warm orange-red.
The air was filled with the long-missed, mouthwatering aroma of food from the Lingxian Sect.
Clearly, Fuzi's cooking was almost done.
Lin Xiao's stomach let out a growl.
It wasn't that he was hungry as a Golden Core cultivator; it was just a subconscious physiological reaction triggered by the smell of Fuzi's cooking.
Thinking of the Spirit Essence Mountain in his private storage, he quickened his pace and stepped onto the stone platform that teleported to the floating island.
Get the job done quickly, then go eat!
Arriving on the floating island, he looked around and finally chose a location in the northern part, not right at the edge, but not in the center either.
Then he took the Spirit Essence Mountain out of his private storage and placed it there.
The Spirit Essence Mountain was about a hundred meters in diameter and just over a hundred meters tall, very regular in shape.
But its appearance had changed compared to before synthesis.
Actually, it looked even better than before.
Now, the mountain's body was a deep cyan color all over, but in some places it shimmered with a blue-green luster. It was covered in exotic flowers and herbs that, while not particularly useful, were extremely beautiful to look at. The rocks were arranged in pleasing formations, and a few green pines dotted the slopes.
And on the peak, there was actually a small waterfall cascading down in layers!
As the waterfall rushed down, the spray of mist swirled around it, adding an ethereal quality to the Spirit Essence Mountain.
The source of the waterfall's water was unknown, but it flowed endlessly.
The water that flowed down washed over the ground of the floating island, forming a winding little stream that ran all the way to the island's edge.
Lin Xiao originally thought the water would flow over the edge and fall down to the stone platform below, but instead it did not plunge downward.
Rather, it spread along the island's edge and formed a shallow natural water channel that ringed the entire island.
At first, because it was mixed with the dirt of the ground, the water was quite murky. But before long, the water gradually became clear and pure.
As the water from the waterfall flowed around the entire floating island, it was obvious that the spiritual energy in the air was gradually getting denser.
Lin Xiao opened the interface for the Yaoguang Floating Island and saw that the average spiritual energy density value, which had been 30 before, had already risen to 56, and was still steadily climbing.
Finally, it came to a stop at 78.
It hadn't jumped into the hundreds or thousands all at once, but that was only natural.
After all, the Spirit Essence Mountain didn't immediately spew out massive amounts of spiritual energy the moment it landed. The fact that it had already doubled the island's spiritual energy was enough to satisfy him.
As the Spirit Essence Mountain continued to operate day after day, the island's spiritual energy would only become richer over time.
And if it could nurture a spirit vein in the future, things would get truly comfortable.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
