Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 528 - 260. Refining Techniques like Stars, Divine Skills Ascend to the Skies (Combined Chapter)

Chapter 528: 260. Refining Techniques like Stars, Divine Skills Ascend to the Skies (Combined Chapter)

Lin Jian was known as the Nine Streams Hermit. In his youth, he had often frequented the mountains and rivers of places like Jiangzhou, Yuzhang, and Yuanzhou. Qingmei Creek was among them, a favorite spot from that time.

From this perspective, it was indeed possible that something of significance remained here.

But Lin Jian had been in seclusion for many years. What could have possibly remained until now? Lei Jun pondered.

First, he broadly surveyed the mountains and rivers surrounding Qingmei Creek but saw no other people or Great Demons.

Then, with Lei Jun at the center, two streams of Mana—one black, one white—shot out, beginning a meticulous search of the area.

It was just as with Xu Yuanzhen, Yuan Mobai, and the others in the past. Now, with his current level of Cultivation, when Lei Jun searched for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures within a defined range and with dedicated effort, almost nothing could escape his perception and search, barring very few exceptions.

Soon, the Yin Yang Dual Qi vibrated in unison, penetrating deep into the bedrock.

The next moment, the waters of Qingmei Creek began to ripple.

The entire ribbon-like stream seemed to boil, yet continued to flow unceasingly.

Then, steam billowed from the creek, giving rise to a copious mist that quickly spread.

Deep within the mist, at the bottom of the boiling creek, a water vein—distinctly different from its surroundings—was faintly visible.

Like a fish in boiling water, it instantly shot into the distance, seemingly endowed with its own spirit and intelligence.

This special water vein was an emerald jade color, with a luster flickering within it as if it were the Star River.

Illuminated by the jade water’s light and veiled by the hazy mist, it also resembled the distant, ethereal Galaxy—eye-catching, yet it sped away in an instant.

Yu Chen Real Water? Lei Jun thought, nodding slightly upon seeing this.

He had read about it in ancient texts. Yu Chen Real Water is often born at the intersection of water and sky. It inherits the charm of water below and the stars above, infusing the essence of the Mercury Water Luminary within itself and holding profound mysteries.

But according to the records, it had not appeared in the world for many years.

In recent years, however, the surge of Global Spiritual Qi had gradually brought many long-lost Spiritual Objects back into existence.

Yu Chen Real Water itself is a Spiritual Object of high Spiritual Nature and could serve even greater purposes in the hands of the right person.

The heritage of the Jiangzhou Lin Clan places great importance on the true meaning of mountains and rivers, and Yu Chen Real Water is indeed a treasure that matches their aspirations.

However, for Lin Jian, although this Spiritual Object was precious, it was not urgently needed. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

What he was most concerned about were Spiritual Objects that could help him heal and prolong his life.

Yu Chen Real Water itself cannot do this.

But legend has it that a Spirit Grass called Sky-reaching Vine might be born from Yu Chen Real Water and be nourished by it.

The Sky-reaching Vine is precisely the life-sustaining, longevity-restoring Spiritual Object that Lin Jian urgently needs.

However, Lei Jun, watching the lifelike, intelligent water vein fade away in the hazy mist, did not give chase.

His expression was serene, and the Heaven-piercing Earth-penetrating Taliscript flowed in his eyes.

The vast mist before him suddenly dissipated. Once it vanished, the scenery before his eyes changed dramatically.

The landscape remained the same. Qingmei Creek was still Qingmei Creek. Everything that had just occurred seemed like an illusion, no longer existing.

Only then did Lei Jun seem to hear a chanting voice in his ears:

"Where paths diverge, they stretch on endlessly; the Grand River parts into nine great branches."

The voice was tinged with age yet captivating. As it rose and fell, it naturally influenced the heavens and the earth, altering the mountains and lakes.

Thus, the scene before Lei Jun’s eyes changed once again.

Qingmei Creek suddenly widened, becoming like a great river. The surrounding mountains unfolded like a scroll, then contracted, enveloping Lei Jun.

The stream, now raging like the Grand River itself, gave rise to nine tributaries in that instant.

Within each tributary seemed to reside a vein of Yu Chen Real Water.

Yet all of them appeared both real and illusory.

Of particular note, these nine tributaries were far from being the current limit of Qingmei Creek. Inside, there were boundless variations that could continue to increase and branch out at any moment.

This is the magical power prohibition left by Lin Jian, Lei Jun realized.

It was just as when he first arrived in this world and encountered Xu Yuanzhen: after she failed to find the Celestial Master Seal in Qingshan, she had left behind a Yin Fire Tiger to await later arrivals.

The Great Scholar of the Confucian Chanting Sect at the Eighth Heavenly Layer, Lin Jian, had also left behind his own poetry at Qingmei Creek.

The Chanting Sect’s Seventh Layer of Heaven Realm is called Enter Divinity, while the Eighth Heavenly Layer Realm is known as Exit Divinity. The concept is Mastery to Transmutation. For practitioners of Exit Divinity, their poetry, songs, and odes achieve a state of masterful transformation, creating a tangible poetic realm. By invoking the natural elements of the surroundings, they draw all nearby phenomena into this crafted poetic realm, as Lin Jian had done here.

The vein of Yu Chen Real Water that had earlier seemed to flee like a startled fish was merely a diversion.

It was an illusion meant to trick those who approached into leaving, thus protecting the real Yu Chen Real Water of Qingmei Creek.

If a visitor saw through this initial illusion, only then would Lin Jian’s poetic realm genuinely manifest.

Similarly, the streams currently branching into nine veins were not real but an evolution of the illusion within this poetic realm.

For those with weaker Cultivation Strength, entering this illusory realm meant being trapped by its endless, diverging paths, with no escape.

Combined with the initial deception, this approach had elements of "politeness before force," to some degree.

As this poetic realm expanded and contracted, no sign of what transpired within would be visible to other latecomers from the outside world.

If someone else did detect the anomaly, they would simply undergo the same process again.

Its endlessly diverging paths could trap innumerable people.

Given Lei Jun’s current level of Cultivation, entering Lin Jian’s poetic realm posed no danger to him.

Lin Jian may have been a Great Scholar of the Eighth Heavenly Layer, but now aged and weakened, he no longer possessed the Vast Magical Powers of his prime.

The poetic realm here at Qingmei Creek was not cast by Lin Jian in person but was a legacy, a magical power prohibition he had left behind.

Since the Chanting Sect’s School of Dharma borrows from the laws of nature, there was no need to worry about the remaining power in Lin Jian’s prohibition depleting quickly.