11:45 AM, Wednesday
Luckily for Tie Zhu, his ferry ride to the island port was short and swift. As he stepped off the boat, the fresh and inviting air enveloped him and he took a deep breath, savoring the stark contrast from the city air. The island was a popular tourist destination, renowned for its Xishan National Park, and the port was surrounded by a flurry of bustling shops and restaurants vying for customers.
Despite the island's remote location, it continued to attract throngs of visitors, drawn to the national park and its historical temples. As Tie Zhu walked amongst the strangers, memories of a previous visit with his parents flooded back. It had been a decade since that visit, but the memories remained vivid in his mind. He had come to pray at the ancient temples and seek blessings from the gods.
Over the past decade, a lot had changed in Tie Zhu's life. Once a top student with a bright future, his life took a drastic turn just two years ago. Despite this, Tie Zhu remained resolute, determined to make a better life for himself and earn the pride of those around him.
As Tie Zhu explored the island, Wang Yazhu suddenly spoke "The spiritual essence here is around three times more concentrated than in the city, you should try looking around the island though as there are too many people here." he reminded Tie Zhu.
Hearing Wang Yazhu's reminder Tie Zhu immediately snapped out of his nostalgic thoughts. They followed the stream of visitors along a winding path that led them into the sparsely populated bush lands. Only a quarter of the island was open to tourists, as this was the location of the ancient temples. The remaining three-quarters of the island was left untouched, a dense forest with rugged terrain.
As they walked along the common trail for 15 minutes, Wang Yazhu detected a strange fluctuation in the spiritual essence. He informed Tie Zhu that it was coming from a location slightly to the north and could prove useful for his cultivation. Wang Yazhu, once an Ascended God, had a keen spiritual awareness, allowing him to detect even the slightest abnormalities.
"There's an unusual fluctuation in spiritual essence here, the source of it is just a bit north from here, it might be useful for your cultivation!" He said with a hint of excitement in his voice, as he thought in his mind that the sooner Tie Zhu can advance the faster he can take over his body!
When Tie Zhu heard Wang Yazhu's discovery, he quickly came to a halt and scanned his surroundings, observing the stream of visitors passing by. He wanted to find a way to discreetly leave the trail and venture north, towards the source of the strange fluctuation in spiritual essence. As the distance between him and the other tourists gradually grew, Tie Zhu saw his chance and made a break for it, slipping into the denser brush land. With a determined step, he navigated his way through the rugged terrain, heading towards the northern part of the island. His heart raced with excitement, eager to uncover any secrets that may lay ahead.
* * *
Panting heavily, Tie Zhu muttered under his breath, "How much further is it? I've been trudging through this rough terrain for the last 45 minutes." He had been climbing steep hills and navigating through the twisted forest, his progress slowed by the difficult terrain. He estimated that he had covered about 2.5 kilometers, his muscles aching from the physical exertion."
Wang Yazhu reassured Tie Zhu, "It's not much further. It should be just ahead in that cave. I can feel the presence of something that's absorbing the spiritual essence within a two-kilometer radius. Even if you don't investigate the cause, you could still cultivate here. The spiritual essence is about five times more concentrated than in the city, likely due to the unknown factor absorbing it. This location is quite ideal, and it's far enough from the common path that no one would stumble upon it by accident. The person who set this up probably never expected anyone to discover their secret."
In fact the tiny fluctuations of spiritual essence that Wang Yazhu noticed were so incredibly minute that unless a cultivator was at the Nascent Soul Stage, they would have never noticed. In this case one had to just curse their luck for running into this unfortunate situation.
Hearing Wang Yazhu's response, Tie Zhu decided that he might as well investigate source absorbing the spiritual essence. As soon as he stepped into the cave, a cool and comfortable sensation enveloped him, due to the high concentration of spiritual essence. His hair stood on end and goosebumps formed on his skin, as the environment underwent a sudden shift.
"Why did the environment change so suddenly?" Tie Zhu questioned, confused about the sudden change.
"It seems that someone tried to hide this place by setting up a small barrier to prevent the leak of spiritual essence. As a result, a large amount of spiritual essence has been trapped in here, leading to this buildup," Wang Yazhu explained. "The source of the spiritual essence absorption should be hiding beneath those rocks over there, to the left."
When Tie Zhu heard this he eagerly rushed to the pile of rocks that Wang Yazhu had indicated, gently removing the surrounding rocks. As he removed the last stone what he saw caused him go gasp slightly.
It was an elegantly designed transparent crystal bottle. The intricate design and the delicate engraving of a majestic Qilin seemed to come alive as the light from the condensed spiritual essence inside shone with a brighter luster. He felt as though he was holding a piece of art, a piece that had been crafted by the gods themselves. The aura that radiated from the bottle was both calming and invigorating, and he felt as though he was being bathed in the purest form of energy.
"Oh, lucky for you. This just happens to be a mid-tier Earth grade Spirit bottle. Spirit bottles are able to absorb the surround spiritual essence and condense it into a liquid state. This not only makes it easier to absorb but also removes all the impurities allowing your future cultivation to progress more smoothly. For anyone under the core formation stage this would be a priceless treasure and from the looks of things this one is around 85% full. For it to be able to reach this level it must have been storing Essence for at least 2 years." Wang Yazhu explained.