Chapter 227: Chapter 226: Continue Leveling Up

They held an invitation that didn’t specify any actual content. It simply had the gilded words ’Netherworld Empire’ on it. The rest just indicated the location; there was nothing else. It didn’t even name the invitee. It had just been sent over like that.

But that alone was enough. One could only imagine the consequences for those who received the invitation and dared not go.

Yi Tianyun didn’t dare to contend with an Empire right now. He could fight ordinary Core Transformation Stage experts, but against a Void Spirit Stage opponent, he’d likely just be crushed. Otherwise, with his personality, he would have definitely slapped that arrogant Wang Zhi from earlier.

’So arrogant. With an ego like that, why doesn’t he just ascend to the heavens?’

Of course, Wang Zhi couldn’t ascend to the heavens. His cultivation hadn’t even broken through to the Core Transformation Stage; he was only at the Core Formation Stage.

"It seems our guest has ill intentions. Inviting us over is likely a recruitment attempt." Yi Tianyun looked at the invitation. Holding it in his hand, it felt like a piece of burning charcoal—too hot to handle.

"Mm, with so many Shadow Guards killed, they must think we have other experts on our side. The traitors are all dead, so the only remaining option is to recruit us." The Great Elder pondered for a moment; it was the only explanation that made sense.

Yi Tianyun’s eyes narrowed. He had planned to go anyway, but he’d intended to go with the Star Pavilion. Now, he was going as a representative of the Celestial Extreme Mansion, which changed the meaning entirely. He didn’t care what happened to the Star Pavilion later; it wasn’t his sect, after all.

But the Celestial Extreme Mansion was different now. He had basically taken charge, making the Celestial Extreme Mansion his responsibility. A simple recruitment offer would be fine—he could just feign surrender. But if they were forcefully absorbed as a subsidiary, with people constantly sent over to manage things, then it would be a real problem.

"We don’t have much time. It looks like we should set off soon." Yi Tianyun looked at the time on the invitation. They had two weeks at most.

As for the location, it was set in Julong City, which wasn’t far from the Star Pavilion. Julong City was under the Netherworld Empire’s jurisdiction, so it meant entering their territory, which was not a good thing.

"Yes, it’s indeed about time to leave. We’ll make some brief preparations on our end, and then we can depart," the Great Elder said with a nod.

"How about this: you all go to Julong City and wait for me first. I’m going to a place and will join you shortly," Yi Tianyun said after a moment of thought.

"Alright. I’ll wait for you at the Celestial Essence Inn in Julong City. That inn is quite well-known." Apparently, the Great Elder had been there before, as he named the inn right away.

Yi Tianyun nodded and left the Celestial Extreme Mansion. The Great Elder didn’t ask a single question. The reason was simple: he respected Yi Tianyun’s decisions. If Yi Tianyun wanted to say something, he would, so there was no need to press him for details.

The place Yi Tianyun was heading was, of course, the Star Pavilion. But he wasn’t going to say hello; he was there to absorb the Spiritual Power in the Celestial Spirit Jade Pool. Although he felt a bit bad towards the Star Pavilion, it was the only place he could go to rapidly increase his cultivation at the moment.

With a SPLASH, he jumped into the pool, followed the passage at the bottom, and entered the secret chamber. Just like before, there was no issue. No one would come in here.

Entering the chamber again, he took a deep breath, found a spot, and sat down to meditate.

’Heaven-Devouring Divine Technique, activate!’

’Star Absorption Technique, activate!’

’North Nether Divine Technique, activate!’

After activating all of them, an immense suction force began to frantically pull the Spiritual Power into his body, converting it into a massive amount of experience points. He planned to cultivate here until the meeting began; he should be able to gain a level or two.

As the days passed, the Spiritual Liquid grew thinner and thinner, looking clearer and clearer, just like water. Even the secret chamber, built from Jade Spirit Stones, began to turn transparent.

It was obvious that the secret chamber was connected to the entire Celestial Spirit Jade Pool. If the Spiritual Power in the pool was drained, the chamber would begin to transfer its own. If this continued for long, everything would be completely gone.

This situation was soon noticed by the Star Pavilion. Someone had just gone in to absorb some energy but rushed out in a hurry, complaining with extreme dissatisfaction, "Th-this Celestial Spirit Jade Pool has almost no Spiritual Power left! And you let me go down to absorb it? Give me back my Soul Artifacts!"

This Cultivator had specifically paid several Soul Artifacts to enter. He never expected that upon entering, the concentration of Spiritual Power would be so weak, only a little stronger than outside. It was completely useless to him.

"Impossible. The concentration was quite high last time. How could there be no Spiritual Power left?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Elder Yun walked in with a frown. What greeted his eyes was not the once-dense Spiritual Power, but an extremely thin mist of it, a far cry from what it was before.

"It... it really is..." Elder Yun was stunned by the scene. How could the Spiritual Power just vanish like that? He turned his head to the guard beside him and said in a low voice, "What exactly happened here? Did anyone go in during this time?"

"No one. It has been sealed for some time now; nobody has gone in." As guards, they wouldn’t lie. They were also frightened by the sight before them. It had been inexplicably drained dry. It looked as if it had been absorbed from for a long time, leaving only a pool of clear water.

A Cultivator could still go down, but it would only be to take a bath.

"If no one went in, then this is strange..." Elder Yun frowned. This was a major problem. If it wasn’t investigated thoroughly, it would be extremely troublesome.

"Elder Yun, how are you going to resolve my issue now!" the Cultivator demanded, thoroughly displeased.

"My sincerest apologies. We will return all of your Soul Artifacts. We never expected this to happen," Elder Yun hurriedly apologized.

"Forget it. What rotten luck. A waste of my time." The Cultivator snorted coldly, turned, and left. He had made a rare trip to cultivate here, only to find he could do nothing more than take a bath. How could he not be furious?

Usually, those who came here to cultivate were disciples from major sects. They would travel a thousand miles to get here, only to find they couldn’t absorb anything. Anyone in that situation would be very dissatisfied.

After seeing the Cultivator off, Elder Yun said in a low voice, "Start a thorough investigation. Find out what exactly happened here!"

A group of people flooded into the Celestial Spirit Jade Pool and began to investigate the area, trying to see where the problem had occurred.

Oblivious to the chaos outside, Yi Tianyun, still in the secret chamber, was having a grand time absorbing energy. A steady stream of experience points poured in, ruthlessly helping him level up!

"Ding! Congratulations to Player ’Yi Tianyun’ for successfully breaking through to the ninth layer of the Spirit Pill Stage!"

But he wasn’t satisfied. He continued to absorb frantically. He had one goal in mind now: absorb until he reached the peak of the Spirit Pill Stage, then use an Upgrade Card to break through to the Core Transformation Stage in one go. Only with enough power could he stand against a third-grade faction, let alone an Empire!

Of course, he wasn’t naive enough to think that breaking through to the Core Transformation Stage would be enough to confront an entire Empire.