Chapter 28: Changes on Serenity Cloud Island

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Shen Yan’s lips as he placed the items left behind by Xu Daoqing into his own storage pouch. Only after thoroughly erasing all traces of the corpse did he return to Yunxiu Peak.

Three months passed in a flash. During this time, Shen Yan did not leave the mountain but spent his days lingering between Yunxiu Peak and the Teaching Hall.

In his time spent with Senior Brother Yan over these three months, Shen Yan learned that within Jade Immortal Sect, there was a secret art capable of condensing water into ice.

As an overseas sect of immortals, Jade Immortal Sect exhibited a peculiar phenomenon: few of its disciples were willing to cultivate water-based techniques.

Shen Yan only learned the reason after some inquiry. Although practicing water attribute arts atop the boundless sea indeed allowed for swift advancement, there was a significant drawback—ordinary disciples at the Qi Refining stage had no chance of entering or leaving the restricted area on Jingyun Island.

Only those like Sun Mingshuo, who had received personal approval from a core disciple, were permitted to open the barrier and enter or exit freely.

As a result, even though the area within Jingyun Island’s restriction was not small, the number of people far exceeded the available resources. The water attribute spiritual energy seemed abundant, but once divided among all, each person received less than those cultivating other elemental energies.

Previously, Senior Brother Yan had also advised Shen Yan that cultivating the Water Origin Technique in the early Qi Refining stage would inevitably be slow.

Though Shen Yan had Yang Yun backing him, Yang Yun herself was deeply occupied with her own cultivation. How could she have time to help Shen Yan?

Shen Yan, however, brushed this aside with the excuse that he disliked conflict.

The secret art that had caught his eye was called the "Art of Ice Condensation."

Unfortunately, acquiring such a secret art required a substantial amount of contribution points. Shen Yan had not completed any tasks on Jingyun Island and naturally had no way of earning contributions.

Yet Shen Yan was in no hurry. As the saying goes, sharpening the axe does not delay the woodcutter’s work. At Qi Refining stage, one could control at most forty-nine drops of Profound Heavy Water. Once he fully refined his quota, he could then simply find an innate spiritual item for Yang Yun to exchange for contributions from her.

Then, he could redeem both the Water Origin Technique and the Art of Ice Condensation, smoothly advancing to the mid-stage of Qi Refining. By then, even Yang Yun herself would likely be no match for him!

Shen Yan harbored great ambition. He refused to abandon his quest for vengeance for the sake of seeking immortality. The annihilation of the Yang family was urgent to him.

Yang Yun remained the greatest obstacle in his path. How to overcome her had become Shen Yan’s primary focus during this period.

From what he had learned, the gap between late Qi Refining and the completion of Qi Refining was not merely one of magical power. At Qi Refining completion, a portion of the power within a cultivator’s dantian had already been transformed into true essence, the hallmark of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Qi Refining cultivators absorbed the world’s spiritual energy and innate violet qi, storing magical power in the dantian, thereby transcending their mortal flesh.

But those who had attained completion compressed their magical power, transforming the gaseous energy in the dantian into the liquid state of true essence.

Using true essence, whether for casting spells or controlling magical artifacts, yielded power far superior to ordinary magical energy. Moreover, those at Qi Refining completion could coat their bodies in true essence as a protective barrier—just as Shen Yan had once controlled seawater to form a shield.

Unless someone could shatter the true essence barrier with a single blow, it was virtually impossible to so much as injure a cultivator at Qi Refining completion.

Thus, Shen Yan ultimately set his sights on Profound Heavy Water—a secret treasure, each drop weighing a thousand pounds. With forty-nine of them, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the early stage would be hard-pressed to withstand the assault.

Days rose and set; time flew swiftly. Early summer arrived, and at dawn, the air was thick with dew.

Shen Yan had just refined another drop of Profound Heavy Water and, mounting his crane, sped towards Jingyun Island.

Soaring high above, he gazed at the bustling outer disciples below, reflecting that were it not for the Imperial Seal he possessed, he would be just like them—dreaming day and night to trade places.

He returned to the Quiet Heart Abode to sit cross-legged in meditation—more for appearances, to satisfy observers, than for personal benefit.

By now, his martial art, the Primordial Unity Technique, had been fully accomplished. While of little further use to one whose body was already imbued with magical power, the training still honed his will and self-control, so Shen Yan had not abandoned it.

Aside from that, his Water Origin Technique had reached its utmost limit.

As for the Green Lotus Sword Song, a cultivation method from the Green Lotus Sword Sect, Shen Yan had yet to practice it. To follow the way of the sword, one must first possess a flying sword.

After killing Sun Mingshuo and his companions, Shen Yan had acquired three flying swords, but none were water-aligned. Their materials were mixed and impure, and he was unwilling to make any of them his life-bound sword.

Thus, he resolved to continue cultivating the Water Origin Technique and advance to the late stage of Qi Refining.

To exchange for late-stage cultivation methods, however, required sect contributions. He planned to seek some from Yang Yun.

Meanwhile, his Profound Heavy Water count had reached forty drops—soon, he would reach the limit for a Qi Refining cultivator.

"Miss Mingyu, Shen Yan requests an audience with Senior Sister Yang. Would you kindly inform her?"

Standing before the main hall of Yunxiu Palace, Shen Yan waited a moment. Spotting Mingyu passing by in haste, he called out.

Mingyu paused, her bright eyes scrutinizing Shen Yan, then realization dawned.

"So it’s you."

She stared at him in surprise. "Shen Yan, there’s not much time left before the year the Peak Master allotted. Aren’t you worried about being blamed if you don’t search for an innate spiritual item?"

Hearing this, Shen Yan chuckled inwardly. The woman was trying to probe his progress by hinting at the search for such an item.

But there was no keeping this matter secret; after all, he needed an innate spiritual item to exchange for contributions from Yang Yun. So he answered directly, "Thank you for your concern, Miss Mingyu. I’ve spent several bitter months searching the sea, and at last, I have found an innate spiritual item."

He produced a wooden box, opened it to reveal a stalk of spiritual herb the thickness of a chopstick and completely blue-gray in color, and handed it to Mingyu. "Would you kindly inform the Peak Master that I discovered a stalk of Clear Dust Grass in the sea last night and have come to present it?"

Clear Dust Grass was the weakest medicine containing innate violet qi that Shen Yan had found in the ocean. Even so, Mingyu was astonished, her mouth agape.

Her eyes widened with disbelief; Shen Yan had actually found such a rare herb!

"I’ll inform the Peak Master at once," she said, not daring to delay. The two core disciples on Jingyun Island were fiercely competing, and the Peak Master, Yang Yun, could greatly aid her cultivation.

"Peak Master, Shen Yan presents a stalk of Clear Dust Grass for your inspection."

Within the silent chamber of the main hall, Yang Yun was meditating and absorbing the world’s spiritual energy. Upon hearing Mingyu’s voice outside, her mood instantly brightened.

Not long after her conflict with Yu Qing, Yu Qing had confronted her, accusing her of bullying her juniors and covertly harming the three outer disciples who had blocked the way before.

Yang Yun knew nothing of the deaths of those three outer disciples and naturally denied the accusations. The matter escalated to the point where they nearly fought on the dueling stage.

In the end, even a Foundation Establishment elder, who had been in seclusion for years, was drawn out to quell the commotion.