"I've gained some opportunities, and now I've used a secret technique and am actually at the third level of Qi Cultivation,"
Yu Qingtan managed to keep her eyes away from Shen Wanning's face as she spoke.
"Wow, you're already at the third level of Qi Cultivation? But I've reached the fifth level already, heehee,"
said Shen Wanning, releasing a wave of spiritual energy that indeed confirmed her to be at the fifth level.
"When I was teleported to the Trial Demon Tower, I unluckily appeared in mid-air and fell off a cliff. Luckily, there was a river below, and after fainting I was carried by the current to this place. When I woke up, I found myself in this cave and also discovered something good."
Without waiting for Yu Qingtan to ask, Shen Wanning took her by the hand to the edge of a small pool and pointed upwards at a large stalactite, from which hung a droplet of milky liquid, teetering on the brink of falling.
"Stalagmite milk!" Yu Qingtan exclaimed.
Stalagmite milk is a treasure formed by stalactites absorbing nature's spiritual energy at an extremely slow rate, being similar to Spirit Dew in its effects on cultivators, but even more precious.
Aside from enhancing cultivation level, it can also strengthen the body and even improve one's Spirit Root aptitude.
A single drop of stalagmite milk could take at least five thousand years to form.
"That one up there will need at least a thousand more years to fall, but there is a drop diluted in this pool. I had absorbed about sixty to seventy percent of it before breaking through to the fifth level of Qi Cultivation,"
"You're really lucky!" Yu Qingtan said, feeling a bit jealous. She had worked hard to accumulate Charm Points and Affection Value, and she had only reached the third level of Qi Cultivation, while Shen Wanning had gone from the second level to the fifth in one go.
"Heehee, I also felt that my luck improved a lot after I bought that Storage Talisman last time."
"By the way, what day is it now?"
"If we start counting from when we entered, it's just turned the third day."
"Ah, then let's not talk about this now. You should hurry over here and absorb some too."
"They say that the absorption is better if you take off your clothes."
Looking at the small pool, Yu Qingtan cast aside extraneous thoughts and stripped off her clothes.
It was indeed a bit cramped.
"Qing Tan, did you get... bigger~"
...
After more than seven hours, Yu Qingtan and Shen Wanning finally felt that the stalagmite milk in the pool had been fully absorbed.
Shen Wanning broke through again, reaching the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, close to the seventh level.
Yu Qingtan also reached the fifth level of Qi Cultivation.
She opened the System Panel.
[Spirit Root: Water 72/100; Wood 57/100; Earth 56/100; Metal 30/100; Fire 8/100]
[Cultivation Level: Qi Cultivation Fifth Level 307/500]
[Cultivation Technique: Clear Water Technique]
[Spells: Cleansing Spell Beginner 67/100, Water Escape Technique Great Achievement 10/400]
[Skills: Exquisite Dance Minor Achievement 95/200, Butterfly Dance Beginner 45/100, Zither Art Minor Achievement 71/200, Chess Skill Beginner 5/100, Calligraphy Beginner 3/100, Painting Skill Beginner 3/100]
[Charm Points: 17]
[Affection Value: 0]
[System Space Slots: Lower Grade Spirit Stone 105 pieces, Cherry Red Sword, 1 drop of Spirit Dew, 126 pieces of Wasteland Crystal, half-demon "Erha", corpse of Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly, mysterious seed, Sun Flame Jade, various items]
The compatibility values of her Spirit Roots had actually increased by 5, and Wanning's Spirit Roots must have improved as well, true to be a legendary heaven-sent treasure.
Looking at Shen Wanning, she found her getting dressed.
"Ahhh, why did I have to cross over as a female~"
"Qing Tan, you've even grown taller~ Talk to me about your experiences before?"
After getting dressed, Yu Qingtan sat on a stone with Shen Wanning, who had pulled her down, and began to talk.
Yu Qingtan took out some food from her Storage Bag for her.
"Wow, you actually have a storage bag, but I really am starving; I haven't eaten anything in three days."
"It was given to me by Elder Ge Yongcheng of the Ge family. When I was just teleported in..."
Yu Qingtan shared her experiences, avoiding any mention of the system or dismissing it with the excuse of chance encounters.
Transmigration and the system were her biggest secrets, ones she could never tell anyone.
"Wow, Qingtan, you're amazing!"
After listening to the story, Shen Wanning's eyes were full of little stars.
"Wanning, what are your plans from here?"
"I was just planning to hunker down here until the trials end. Unlike you, Qingtan, I have the realm but cannot even leave this melt cave. There was no way for me to find you. Now that you've come, let's just wait it out here. It won't be long now."
"Okay."
"Hmph, wait until I get out, I will learn a few powerful spells."
"Do you have spirit stones?"
"Well, not much, just enough to buy a Fireball Technique, I guess! Don't tell me you have some?"
"I had some, but the Descending Divine Secret Technique burns through spirit stones like crazy, almost used them all up. I actually wanted to buy some spirit rice to eat, now it's going to be tough."
"I want to eat spirit rice too. But we've gained such a big advantage this time, we need to hide our cultivation level."
"Right, but we don't know the Breath-Concealing Technique, though we should hide it for as long as we can. By the way, how much do you feel your physical strength has improved?"
"I don't know; I haven't fought anyone. But I feel like I could easily lift you with one hand right now."
...
As Yu Qingtan and the other chatted idly, a fierce battle was unfolding in the central region of the Trial Demon Tower.
There grew a massive Wilderness Zither-Leaf Banyan, which would mature three fruits every five years, coinciding with the opening of the Trial Demon Tower.
The fruits of the Zither-Leaf Banyan could greatly increase the chances for a late-stage First Stage demonic beast to advance to the Second Stage, thus they were a major target for the beasts.
The fruits were also very effective for human body refinement cultivators, helping their bodies to establish a foundation.
At this moment, not far from the Zither-Leaf Banyan, two Sky-Rending Eagles, only a step away from the Second Stage, were leading hundreds of demonic beasts in an assault against over a hundred human cultivators.
The human cultivators had set up a formation and were struggling to fend off the relentless attacks of the demonic beasts.
The Sky-Rending Eagles' first task was to kill a person, the second was to bring back two Zither-Leaf Banyan fruits, and the third was to eliminate as many human cultivators as possible.
Unfortunately, demonic beasts' intelligence developed slowly, and the intellect of a peak late First Stage beast was comparable to that of a human child of twelve or thirteen.
"Big Brother, what if the trial period ends and we still haven't broken through because these humans have an array plate?"
"Little Bro, it's all because you, you dimwit, said to wait until more of them gathered before striking so we could catch them all in one go. 'Catch them all in one go,' wasn't it?"
After initiating another round of attacks, the two Sky-Rending Eagles communicated in their avian tongue while flying above.
"Big Brother, it's 'net them all in one fell swoop'."
Little Bro felt aggrieved inside; earlier, you said that was a brilliant plan too.
"Hmph, so what do we do now? These idiots are still vying for that Zither-Leaf Banyan fruit."
"Big Brother, why don't we just tell them to hand over that person and then we won't attack them anymore? Anyway, the elder only asked us to make sure to complete the first two tasks."
"Brilliant! I remember you brought a human slave with you this time."
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
Having said this, Younger Brother Eagle flew to the back.
Soon, Sky-Rending Eagles with wingspans of ten feet brought a human over as effortlessly as one would carry a small chicken.
This human slave was reared from a young age on Skyscraping Ridge and understood eagle speech.
Carrying the slave, the Sky-Rending Eagle flew just above the human cultivators, and the slave called out, "Attention, those inside! You are surrounded, but my masters are full today. Just hand over Ge Wenxiong, and we won't attack you any longer. Otherwise, you're all going to die."
Ge Wenxiong was their target because he was a concealed cultivator of the Ges, a cultivator with a superior single Metal Spirit Root, and had the potential to achieve Divinity Transformation.