Chapter 602 - 332: The Reappearance of Grafting
The fleet was nearing the Cyan Sea Abyss.
So, shortly after setting out, they finally stopped skimping on Spirit Stones and activated their protective barrier to guard against another attack from Demon Cultivators. As a result, the frequency of Sea Beast attacks on the ships dropped considerably.
For the next few days, the fleet remained on high alert.
The Boundless Sea was the domain of Sea Beasts, a place fraught with danger for cultivators. Especially now, with the recent incident involving the Demon Saint, no one knew what they would encounter next.
As the sky gradually cleared, the color of the sea slowly turned greener.
These two signs indicated that the fleet was not far from the Cyan Sea Abyss.
The rest of the journey was exceptionally smooth.
Aside from a few attacks from Low-tier Sea Beast Groups, they encountered no more ambushes from Demon Cultivators.
...
「About two weeks later.」
The fleet arrived safely at the Cyan Sea Abyss.
It was only upon arriving here that Lü Zhong realized the Cultivation Realm could hold such magnificent beauty. The ship sailed through the waters as if gliding through a piece of pure jade.
Upon closer inspection, however, one would discover that the peculiar color of the sea was caused by a type of algae.
When gathered in massive quantities, they created the wondrous sight before them.
Having reached this landmark Sea Abyss, the fleet no longer needed to venture deeper into the Boundless Sea.
Next, they only needed to travel over ten thousand li to the south to bypass the Unstable Sea. The latter half of the journey would be through shallow seas, where there were few powerful Sea Beasts. The voyage would become increasingly safe.
That night, Lü Zhong was sitting cross-legged in his Quiet Chamber.
Spiritual Qi swirled around him as a wisp of green smoke curled up from a stick of Jade Fragrance incense.
As he continuously circulated his energy, the Noble Green Pill he had just swallowed was rapidly refined, transforming into Pure Spiritual Energy that was absorbed into his meridians, then converted into Magical Power through a full Circulation.
The Spirit Root played the crucial role in this process.
Now that he had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, and thanks to his powerful Primordial Spirit, Lü Zhong could finally see clearly what a Spirit Root truly was. It was just as the ancient texts described: a thing extremely similar to a tree's roots, embedded throughout a person's entire body. It existed somewhere between the corporeal and incorporeal, and its function was also similar to that of a root.
A cultivator needed a Spirit Root to convert the nature's spiritual energy they absorbed.
'It really is like the roots of a great tree,' Lü Zhong thought.
Compared to his previous life, the reason people in this world could practice cultivation was likely because many of them possessed a "Spirit Root." This allowed them to channel the great power of the world into themselves and develop a glorious cultivation civilization.
'But with my experience from my past life, the Spirit Root has always felt... like a foreign object.'
'After all, people in my previous life didn't have an "organ" like the Spirit Root.'
'Am I just imagining things? Or...?'
Lü Zhong didn't dwell on it.
Although he currently possessed a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivation, he was, at best, a minor cultivator who hadn't even reached the peak of the Lower Realm. Not to mention the Middle Realm and Upper Realm that lay beyond.
'I'll probably have to become an immortal to find the answer.'
Lü Zhong immediately gathered his Heart and Spirit, preventing his mind from wandering during cultivation and giving a Celestial Demon an opportunity to strike.
Having refined one Noble Green Pill, he took out another and swallowed it.
In the process, his cultivation rose bit by bit.
The increase was nearly imperceptible, but for a Nascent Soul Cultivator, this was perfectly normal. Lifespans for Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Cultivators were already counted in centuries; after reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, one had to measure time in at least hundred-year increments to see any obvious progress in cultivation.
For someone like Lü Zhong, cultivating with Pills for a hundred years would still yield a considerable increase in cultivation.
If he continued to cultivate like this, it shouldn't be too difficult to reach the cultivation bottleneck. Whether he could break through that bottleneck and advance his cultivation to the Mid-stage Nascent Soul, however, would depend on his personal opportunities.
𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Before he knew it, he had reached the limit of how many times he could circulate his energy for the day.
Seeing this, Lü Zhong had no choice but to stop cultivating.
He exhaled a long breath of Dense Qi and slowly withdrew from his meditative state. As he slowly opened his eyes, a look of shock flashed through them. He realized something was wrong.
The Quiet Chamber, which should have been brightly lit, was now incredibly dim.
Wisps of white mist drifted through the air.
And just outside the Quiet Chamber, twisted figures had formed a circle. They were gesticulating menacingly and whispering amongst themselves, plotting how to capture Lü Zhong.
"Hm?" Lü Zhong's eyes showed shock and suspicion.
A glint of light flashed between his eyebrows, but his vision remained unchanged.
Still unsure if what he was seeing was real, he used the Gray Mist Space's scene playback ability. While remaining vigilant of the unknown entities outside, he reviewed the playback's information to find out what had happened while he was deep in cultivation.
The results came quickly.
About one hour ago, without anyone noticing, the fleet had sailed into a Barrier.
The twisted figures were not an illusion of Lü Zhong's, nor were they the ship's cultivators in disguise—those cultivators were all currently deep asleep. Based on the information he had gathered, he deduced that these unknown entities had appeared because he, unlike everyone else, had not fallen into slumber.
He had no time to ponder why he hadn't fallen asleep.
Lü Zhong then discovered that the twisted figures outside his Quiet Chamber had reached a decision.
Their bodies suddenly swelled, their already contorted forms twisting into something even more hideous and terrifying. Then, with sinister cackles, they all burst through the door and windows at once.
In an instant, an indescribably cacophonous noise filled Lü Zhong's ears.
Only then did he get a clear look at them. Though their contorted bodies resembled giant spiders, every part of them—including the arms holding weapons and the legs supporting their massive frames—was stitched together from various limbs.
'The Limb-Attaching Sect?' The name surfaced in Lü Zhong's mind.
He found himself connecting these monsters to the long-exterminated Limb-Attaching Sect.
He found the thought utterly absurd.
Never mind the fact that the Southern Barbarian lands were countless thousands of li away. Even if the Limb-Attaching Sect had truly been revived, the strength they had shown in the past suggested they lacked the ability to create monsters like these.
After all, every single one of them was no weaker than a Core Formation Cultivator.
Back then, the Limb-Attaching Sect could be easily wiped out by Foundation Establishment Cultivators alone.
He stopped overthinking it.
'Regardless of their origins, the most urgent task is to deal with them.'
Lü Zhong summoned his Green Cauldron Sword, unleashing slashes of Sword Light.
From the earlier playback, he had already confirmed that although these monsters looked bizarre and their origins were a mystery, they could be killed.
'If they can be killed, then what is there to fear?'
In no time at all, the stitched monsters that had rushed into the Quiet Chamber all lay dead by Lü Zhong's sword.
He then rushed straight to Shuini's room.
As expected, she was still deep in slumber and had not been attacked by the monsters.
Seeing this, Lü Zhong breathed a small sigh of relief.
He hurried to the bedside and saw Shuini's eyelids fluttering as she struggled to wake up. But every time she did, the mist drifting in the air seemed to gain a will of its own, surging toward her and pouring into her body.
Once enough mist had poured into her, Shuini's struggles would cease.