Chapter 419: Chapter 415: 415: A Spectacular Sight

On Wednesday, after a night had passed, the spiritual energy in the valley had risen considerably.

However, Feng Jun felt it and decided it was still not suitable for practicing the Swallowing Heaven Technique. The Gathering Spirit Array needed to absorb spiritual energy for at least a day and a half to exhibit ninety percent of its effectiveness.

Moreover, the speed at which the twenty-seven Gathering Spirit Arrays absorbed spiritual energy was not twenty-seven times that of a single array.

These twenty-seven arrays were simply too close to each other.

Yet the disciples all felt the tremendous change in spiritual energy in the valley.

There was also a crow circling over the valley, cawing incessantly, its excited state evident from its cries.

By Thursday, at dawn, the three disciples were stunned by the sight in the valley.

The weather was originally clear, but the entire valley was shrouded in a dense white fog, resembling a celestial realm.

From the “Disciples Exclusive” channel on the walkie-talkie came Xu Leigang’s excited voice, “I bet this is definitely not mist… There wouldn’t be fog in Peach Blossom Valley in this kind of weather!”

“It’s definitely not fog,” Wang Haifeng yawned on the walkie-talkie, “This is terrible, I was thinking it’s just dawn, I could sleep another half hour, now I can’t sleep at all…”

“You can rest for an hour,” Feng Jun’s voice came through, “By then, I will enter the valley and officially start my closed-door cultivation, and you’ll be busy.”

Xu Leigang’s voice transmitted again, “Haifeng is joking. We three have already discussed how to take turns resting…”

An hour later, after eating breakfast, Feng Jun officially entered the bamboo forest, The first Gathering Spirit Array there was temporarily closed. Counting this one, there were twenty-eight arrays in total.@@novelbin@@

He felt that this Heaven-Swallowing Formation, composed of twenty-seven arrays, provided four to five times the spiritual energy needed for his cultivation. Even if advancing to the next stage required more energy, it should still be sufficient for his use.

Feng Jun walked up to a stone table, drew a cigarette and took some time to gather his emotions. Then he took a deep breath, held his breath, focused his mind, and began to impact the Qi Refining Second Layer.

Wang Haifeng was the first to notice something unusual. He couldn’t see clearly into the valley, but suddenly he noticed a small, inconspicuous vortex forming in the center of the fog, “Look at the center, there’s a vortex, right above the bamboo forest, it’s very small… Hey, it’s starting to get bigger.”

“Holy moly,” Xu Leigang also shouted through the walkie-talkie, “Master’s practice is making such a huge commotion.”

Gazi timidly expressed, “Am I the only one who feels the flow of spiritual energy?”

Of course, the other two did not want to show weakness, claiming that they too felt it.

Wang Haifeng expressed his surprise, “Why do I feel like this fog is actually spiritual energy? But… Gazi mentioned it, didn’t he? Earth is a dying realm; the nature’s spiritual energy isn’t abundant.”

Xu Leigang said, “Wait until the sun comes out and see. If the fog does not dissipate, then we might have an explanation.”

The sun rose quickly, but the fog in the valley did not diminish much. Instead, the white vortex in the center kept expanding, and now it appeared to be over five meters in diameter and was still growing.

A large amount of fog was being sucked into the vortex as if there was a bottomless pit underneath.

However, from the bottom to the top of the valley, the fog kept emerging. It was only upon close observation that one could see the fog could come from the ground or the treetops, with much of it appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

When the vortex expanded to about seven or eight meters in diameter, it finally stopped growing.

However, half an hour later, the vortex shook violently and expanded rapidly again, reaching over ten meters in diameter.

“Holy moly,” Wang Haifeng was peeling a tea egg when his hand slipped, and the egg dropped into a basin on the ground. He didn’t bother to pick up the egg and instead grabbed the walkie-talkie, “Brothers, the disturbance from Master’s cultivation is making me question my life.”

After a while, Gazi’s voice came through the walkie-talkie, “Stay calm, Feng, can we be richer than Buffett? Let’s set a small goal first, like… External Release of Internal Qi.”

Feng Jun’s other abilities were hard to measure for them, but they all knew about External Release of Internal Qi. Xu Leigang was the first to witness it, and later, at the strong request of Wang Haifeng and Gazi, Feng Jun demonstrated it two more times.

As for Aerial Absorption, only Zhang Caixin had seen it.

The vortex that grew over ten meters was just too big. The fog continued to be produced, but couldn’t keep up with the consumption. By almost eleven o’clock, the fog in the valley finally vanished completely, revealing the lush bamboo forest.

Xu Leigang was confused again, “Is this really fog or not? In the end… can it not withstand the sun?”

“You better worry about the important things, Lei Gang,” Gazi’s rough voice interjected, “Whether it’s fog or not, you can ask Master later… It looks like someone is heading your way.”

In fact, this fog was not entirely composed of spiritual energy, just like the previous fog in the rain, it was created when spiritual energy mixed with tiny water droplets.

Today, the spiritual energy in the valley was extremely dense, and at dawn, when dew was just forming, this miraculous scene appeared—an exceptionally widespread one at that.

Therefore, it looked as if Feng Jun had devoured a tremendous amount of spiritual energy, but that was only a portion of it. Now that the fog was gone, he was still practicing the Devouring Primordial Heaven Technique, feeling that the spiritual energy was still quite abundant.

In the eyes of Wang Haifeng and the others, it was at the moment when the vortex expanded violently to ten meters that Feng Jun advanced to the Qi Refining Second Layer.

At this moment, the Heaven-Swallowing Formation could fully sustain his cultivation, and he felt confident that reaching the third level of Qi Refinement would not be an issue.

As for advancing to the intermediate level of Qi Refinement, that was a different story. In theory, his enlarged version of the Spirit Gathering Array was almost twice as effective as Yu Changqing’s Gathering Spirit Array Plate. In the mobile phone realm, it would be sufficient for the cultivation of four intermediate-level cultivators.

Twenty-seven similar Spirit Gathering Arrays could support the spiritual energy needs of a hundred intermediate-level cultivators.

However, these arrays were placed too close to each other, so, cutting the effect in half, they should provisionally be able to supply enough spiritual energy for fifty intermediate-level cultivators.

Taking into consideration the scarcity of spiritual energy in the Earth Realm—let’s say it amounts to thirty cultivators.

Then, the biggest problem lies in the Devouring Primordial Heaven Technique… it is particularly consuming of spiritual energy!

Therefore, even with such a vast support of spiritual energy, Feng Jun was not confident he could cultivate up to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement here.

In fact, he was somewhat worried whether he could even manage to reach the third layer’s peak in one go.

However, in practice, he was now certain that reaching the peak of the third layer wouldn’t be an issue.

As for breaking through to the fourth layer, that was hard to say since everyone knows that an extraordinary amount of spiritual energy is required to break through a level.

It’s only after breaking through to the fourth layer that this spiritual energy would basically suffice for his cultivation at that level.

The fifth layer of Qi Refinement? Sorry, I haven’t thought that far ahead… it’s too brain-burning.

During this round of cultivation, Feng Jun thought if he couldn’t reach the third layer, then after breaking through to the second layer, he would rest at the peak of the second layer; now it’s clear he can advance to the peak of the third layer.

The Devouring Primordial Heaven Technique could essentially take one from the beginning all the way to the third layer of Qi Refinement in one stretch before needing to pause, being especially consuming of spiritual energy but allowing for extremely fast cultivation.

Feng Jun believed he wouldn’t need too much time to reach the third layer’s peak—likely a matter of five or six days, though to be on the safe side, he set half a month as his deadline, not wanting to put Xu Leigang and the others in a passive position.

In reality, the apprentice trio wasn’t passive at all. Initially, they thought guarding such a large territory of three to four hundred acres would stretch them thin, but in practice, it turned out not to be the case.

Keeping watch over the valley midway up the mountain was quite straightforward—finding the right location, one point was enough to monitor everything.

Considering the abundance of trees on the mountain that could create blind spots in their surveillance, they added two auxiliary observation points, which perfected the setup.

Those at the auxiliary points didn’t need to watch constantly; occasional checking sufficed, and they even had time to carry out patrols.

Xu Leigang, who had been trained for this, chose a main observation point that even allowed for monitoring the villa.

Lil’ Greeter twisted her waist and came to deliver the lunch when halfway there, she heard a cold snort through the walkie-talkie, “Stop right there!”

With a snap… it was over, she wiped away tears and turned back, sobbing… “I have to do it over again.”

“Gazi, you’re being too much,” the voice from the walkie-talkie continued non-stop, “Learn from Hai Feng to cherish fragility and beauty.”

“I didn’t say anything though,” Gazi’s voice sounded puzzled, “Hai Feng bro, why are you imitating me?”

“Ignore Fatty Xu with his silent fervor,” Hai Feng snorted coldly, followed by the light snap of a cigarette being lit over the walkie-talkie. He took a deep inhale before speaking gravely, “That was him impersonating you just now.”

“Only his observation point has a view of Li Shishi.”

“Cut the crap, it was clearly you who impersonated him,” Xu Leigang snorted coldly, “Your observation point can see her as well.”

“The two of you are really going too far,” Lu Xiaoning lamented, on the brink of tears, “What’s the fun in messing with a young guy like me? Go tease the girls… ”

The girls… cough, that afternoon, they appeared—no, she appeared: the queen.

Sister Hong arrived at Luohua Manor with two people to look for Feng Jun.

Upon receiving the news, Hai Feng was a bit bewildered but promptly discussed it with Xu Lei and Lu Xiaoning. Ultimately, they decided the visitor had to be let in. The master had already planned for everyone’s future, and in that plan… how could Sister Hong not be included?

Moreover, Coach Wang already knew that these two seem… to have rekindled their past affections?

This was Sister Hong’s first visit to Luohua Manor, and that famously enormous wall captured her attention for quite a while. Driving up to the villa, the mountain scenery also impressed her, eliciting her admiration.

Arriving at the villa, she recognized both the new and the old Assistant Li, but she was obviously more familiar with Li Shishi, so she asked, “Where’s President Feng?”

Li Xiaobin was thus spared from answering, while Li Shishi hesitated, then spoke tentatively, “You might want to ask Manager Wang, I don’t have the specifics.”

Hai Feng also felt a headache coming on about how to answer this question, privately complaining, ‘Master, why didn’t you clarify this with her before you went into seclusion?’

After a moment’s hesitation, he responded anyway, “President Feng is in seclusion.”