The saying goes that a pint of rice is a kindness, but a bushel of rice is a debt.
Li Yunxian observed Min Juan’s expression. In this situation, not making a request would leave Min Juan and the others with too great a debt of gratitude, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing for them.
To them, cause and effect were very important.
A great kindness that could not be repaid was no different from a great grudge.
Thus, Li Yunxian thought for a moment and said considerately, “Do you have any Cultivation Saint Lands here?”
Li Yunxian was currently at the Jindan Mid-Stage. She still remembered her promise to the Principal of Wenwu Academy to visit the Heaven’s Ruins after reaching the Golden Core stage.
Once this exchange mission concluded, Li Yunxian would undoubtedly have to fulfill that appointment.
She didn’t know the situation at the Heaven’s Ruins, but having a stronger cultivation would certainly be a good thing.
Reaching the Nascent Soul stage was impossible for Li Yunxian before she resolved her Divine Soul issues.
However, taking advantage of the exchange period to raise her cultivation to Jindan Great Perfection and enter the Heaven’s Ruins in her best possible state was a very good option.
Besides that, Li Yunxian truly didn’t have many demands.
For a Sword Cultivator, one person and one sword was the most pleasant way to live in the world.
Li Yunxian didn’t have much desire for material goods or power.
She had mentioned her desire to see an Interstellar Cultivation Saint Land when she was on Qingxing.
However, those who received Li Yunxian at the time were only at the Foundation Establishment or Golden Core level of cultivation.
Cultivation Saint Lands were not something people at their level could access.
But Min Juan didn’t have that problem.
With the power in her hands, she could easily make arrangements for Li Yunxian.
After hearing Li Yunxian’s request, she paused for a moment, feeling that this demand was far too simple.
But Min Juan thought about it; as a former Tribulation Stage expert, Li Yunxian was currently only at the Golden Core stage. Improving her cultivation was indeed her most pressing need.
There were many Cultivation Saint Lands in the Interstellar world. After a moment of thought, Min Juan said to Li Yunxian, “In the Yinhai Star System, there are three Saint Lands suitable for you right now.”
“One is the Manxian Pond. It is filled with Immortal Spirit Qi, which can cleanse the impurities from the body, bringing it to a state of clarity and purity, thus increasing cultivation speed.”
“Another is the Wandao Sea. It is known as the place closest to the Tiandao. One can gain a deeper understanding of their own Dao path and achieve enlightenment there.”
“The last one is Full Moon Valley. It is night there more than ninety percent of the time throughout the year. It is filled with moonlight, dark and tranquil—a Saint Land for Yaoxiu and Guixiu.”
“Which one do you want to go to?”
Li Yunxian blinked. The Saint Lands Min Juan listed sounded much more impressive than the ones she had heard of in Shenzhou.
As expected of the Interstellar world; with such vast territory, they had an abundance of these kinds of resources.
However… there still wasn’t a place that could repair the Divine Soul.
Li Yunxian felt a slight sense of regret, but she wasn’t surprised.
Divine Soul issues had always been this troublesome; there were no shortcuts.
Comparing these places, the one that tempted Li Yunxian the most was naturally the Manxian Pond.
She knew about Immortal Spirit Qi. It was said that when one successfully underwent Transcendence and ascended, this aura would leak from the place of ascension.
It was a breath of cultivation that was a step beyond regular Qi.
But why should a person have to choose?
“I want to go to all of them,” Li Yunxian said directly.
Min Juan burst into laughter upon hearing this.
She didn’t think Li Yunxian was greedy; she only thought she was being considerate.
After all, Min Juan had been worried that the demand Li Yunxian made was too small.
Li Yunxian’s words could be seen as her looking out for her.
Even though she was so busy because of Li Yunxian, Min Juan couldn’t help but feel her favorable impression of her increase.
She turned to look at Su Wenjing, who had been standing quietly beside Li Yunxian without speaking, and then answered meaningfully, “Of course you can. If needed, you can also bring someone with you.”
It was precisely because Su Wenjing was a Yaoxiu that she mentioned Full Moon Valley.
It was specifically intended to give Li Yunxian a favor to sell.
Whether the favor was actually sold wasn’t important; what mattered was the intent of considering things for Li Yunxian.
Any Tribulation Stage expert was an old fox.
Li Yunxian didn’t respond this time; she also looked at Su Wenjing.
Su Wenjing: “…”
How did this suddenly involve him?
“I don’t need to,” Su Wenjing refused in a low voice.
He was stuck in the Fenshen Stage, but it wasn’t because of a lack of cultivation resources.
Li Yunxian gave an “oh” and said cheerfully, “Then, I’ll just go by myself.”
After speaking, Li Yunxian curiously asked Min Juan, “Are there many Yaoxiu in Full Moon Valley?”
Min Juan looked at Li Yunxian with confusion and nodded. “Of course. Most of the Yaoxiu and Guixiu in the entire star system are there.”
“Are you planning to go to Full Moon Valley?” Min Juan asked curiously.
In theory, a human cultivator practicing in Full Moon Valley was no different than practicing in an ordinary place.
Su Wenjing, suddenly realizing something: “…”
As expected, he heard Li Yunxian’s cheerful and expectant voice.
“Mhm. I heard that when Yaoxiu absorb moonlight, they usually use their original forms,” Li Yunxian said.
Su Wenjing: “…”
Su Wenjing couldn’t help but recall the sensation Li Yunxian had left on his tail previously.
The corners of Su Wenjing’s mouth pulled into a straight line.
“Then I’ll go too,” Su Wenjing blurted out instinctively.
Li Yunxian was stunned for a moment, then she began to laugh under her breath.
Su Wenjing: “…”
His ears turned red once again.
Min Juan looked at Su Wenjing and then at Li Yunxian. This bit of gossip immediately dispelled much of the irritability she felt from her heavy workload.
Her eyes also crinkled into a smile.
“Fine, that’s fine.” There was a teasing note in Min Juan’s voice.
Su Wenjing: “…”
Although he was being teased, Su Wenjing didn’t say anything like he was just talking nonsense earlier.
He simply lacked emotional experience in this area, so he was a bit awkward. But among those who reached the Tribulation Stage, none were not thick-skinned fellows.
Since he was certain his heart wanted to go, Su Wenjing naturally chose to follow his heart without question.
In his mind, he was even thinking about the fact that Li Yunxian hadn’t rejected him going along.
***
In the end, Li Yunxian and Su Wenjing went to Full Moon Valley together, but… they didn’t stay long.
They stayed for less than an hour before Li Yunxian left without looking back.
She had experienced what it meant for a dream to be shattered.
In the Tiantong Royal Beast Garden, those Spirit Beasts all looked like they carried an ethereal immortal aura, and most were quite good-looking.
But as for Yao…
That was two extremes.
There were some that were very beautiful.
For example, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon race that Su Wenjing belonged to was so beautiful that Li Yunxian was drawn to his villa at first sight.
There was also a colorful deer in Full Moon Valley that looked like a rainbow under the moonlight. But most of the others…
They were a mess of limbs with two heads, no eyes, or eyes all over their bodies. Or they were tiger heads on snake bodies, or dog heads on fish bodies—all sorts of random combinations.
It was truly an eyesore!
Seeing the scene of demonic chaos in Full Moon Valley, Li Yunxian: “…”
In the Cultivation World, the Yaoxiu who revealed their original forms were all quite good-looking, which had given Li Yunxian a false impression.
She thought all Yaoxiu were beautiful.
As it turned out…
It was just that the ones who weren’t good-looking wouldn’t reveal themselves!
So now it was Su Wenjing’s turn to start laughing at Li Yunxian for her superficial love of animals.
This fox was really annoying!!
Since they had gone to Full Moon Valley together, Su Wenjing also accompanied Li Yunxian when she went to the Wandao Sea.
However, this time Su Wenjing came out before long, leaving Li Yunxian inside to cultivate.
He was the captain of this Interstellar exchange; Li Yunxian could do her own thing, but he couldn’t completely let go of the members.
And the Wandao Sea was of no use to Su Wenjing.
Staying inside was just a waste of time.
The reason Min Juan listed the Wandao Sea for Li Yunxian was because she speculated that since Li Yunxian’s cultivation had regressed so significantly, perhaps her Dao of cultivation had been broken.
In such a case, the Wandao Sea offered immense help when restarting one’s path.
However, neither Li Yunxian nor Su Wenjing were in that situation.
By the Tribulation Stage, everyone had already defined their own Dao path; the Wandao Sea didn’t help them much.
Li Yunxian came here to try and grope her way through the Dao of Time to see if she could take another step forward.
The answer was indeed yes.
There was a Dao of Time within the Wandao Sea.
That was why Li Yunxian stayed behind, while Su Wenjing had no need to.
Li Yunxian stayed in the Wandao Sea for a month, sensed the Dao of Time until she reached a bottleneck, and then came out.
***
Finally, Li Yunxian went to the Manxian Pond.
This was a place that even those in the Tribulation Stage could use at will. Li Yunxian cultivated here with great peace and tranquility.
The Immortal Spirit Qi nourished Li Yunxian’s body, smoothing over the time her body needed to adapt and repair from the tempering she underwent in the cracks of time.
Li Yunxian had forged an extremely clean and clear cultivation foundation. Combined with the Immortal Spirit Qi, her cultivation felt as though it had grown wings.
Without realizing it, Li Yunxian fell into an extremely rare state of enlightenment. The Immortal Spirit Qi in the Manxian Pond spontaneously surged into her body.
It wasn’t until she heard her preset alarm ring that Li Yunxian dizzily emerged from that state of highly efficient cultivation.
She hurriedly checked her cultivation and was instantly broken into a cold sweat.
Without any mental state issues, and since Li Yunxian’s own Innate Talent and Spiritual Root weren’t bad, there were almost no bottlenecks in her cultivation.
With the addition of the Immortal Spirit Qi and enlightenment, in the month or so she spent in the Manxian Pond, she had rapidly broken through to Jindan Great Perfection.
To be precise, she was frantically testing the edge of breaking her core to form a soul.
Li Yunxian could feel that within her Dantian, a Nascent Soul had already begun to re-condense… halfway.
The other part of her broken Divine Soul shrouded the half-formed Nascent Soul like a mist.
If she had woken up a moment later, she feared she would have forged this semi-lucid Divine Soul into her infant soul.
If such a Divine Soul… broke out of the Golden Core like that, it was hard to say if her mind would still be normal afterward.
“Misfortune is what fortune relies on; fortune is where misfortune hides” was a complete truth for Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian was extremely depressed.
Every time something bad happened to her, the end result was always good.
And if things went even slightly smoothly for her, the final result was always shocking.
Not daring to stay any longer, Li Yunxian hurriedly left the Manxian Pond and checked the messages on her communicator.
It was another dense pile of messages.
With a quick scan, she saw that some were messages from the representatives of those factions, reporting on the current progress according to the plan.
However, the latest one was already from a month ago.
Li Yunxian had never replied, so it seemed these fellows had already consciously transitioned to coordinating with Min Juan’s side.
Li Yunxian chose to continue ignoring them, not even looking closely at the specific contents of those messages. She quickly scanned the messages from Sheng Yu, Ying Wenhe, and the others.
It was also about the current status of the Li Clan.
To summarize: Li Yunxian’s previous act of beating everyone up had completely cleared away the obstacles.
Without interference from other forces and with the official support of those looking the other way, development in all aspects was proceeding very smoothly.
Only Sheng Yu was complaining and crying over there because the advertisements at the shop entrance had been taken down. Now it was bare and not lively at all, and she wasn’t used to it.
Li Yunxian decisively ignored Sheng Yu’s miserable words.
Good riddance!
There were also many messages from the Exchange Group, though most were discussions within the group chat.
The content didn’t have much to do with Li Yunxian, and the overall atmosphere was very peaceful.
To this, Li Yunxian felt: “…”
That shouldn’t be right!
Wasn’t Su Wenjing also someone very good at stirring up trouble?
How could there be no impact at all!
How could things be so calm and tranquil while she was gone!!!
She refused to accept this!!