However, speaking of this, it is indeed strange. Among them, there are spiritual objects from hundreds of years ago, and logically, even if restrictions were applied to preserve them, there should have been a loss of spiritual resonance, or even a complete loss of spirit light, turning them into worthless items.

Yet, these spiritual objects have not only avoided such a fate, but are remarkably well-preserved, as if they were sealed just a few days ago.

Because of this, Li Zhirui and Fu Chengguang no longer looked at this spring lightly, as they realized it likely resulted from the effects of the spirit water it produced.

But whether the spiritual objects concealed themselves, or were obscured by other items, unless closely approached to the spring, they would have thought this was just ordinary spring water, without imagining it to be so special.

Li Zhirui suddenly had a notion; he suspected there might be some secret hidden in this valley, and immediately released his divine sense, probing in all directions, attempting to find the reason, even delving into the depths of the earth.

Yet, despite his efforts, after much searching, he found nothing particularly unusual, nor did he detect any trace of a third spiritual object.

"Fellow Daoist, did you discover anything?"

He shook his head, about to speak, but suddenly recalled something, and instead of probing underground, he surveyed the entire valley from high above.

From this vantage, he indeed noticed something subtle, though he was not very certain, hesitantly asking, "Fellow Daoist, you have quite a bit of understanding about formations. Could you take a look at this valley? Is it a natural formation?"

Although Fu Chengguang did not explicitly state his proficiency in formations, it was evident from the traces of his actions that he was well-versed in the Dao of the Array.

"Is it really?!"

His curiosity piqued, his divine sense rose to the sky, overlooking the valley, allowing the mountain trends and feng shui formations to manifest within his mind.

"Fellow Daoist, sharp eye! Indeed, this is a formation! And it's a very rare innate formation! As for its effects, they can only be understood and analyzed through further contemplation."

Fu Chengguang opened his eyes, filled with excitement far exceeding his joy at having obtained that spirit plant, speaking somewhat anxiously and a bit embarrassed, "Fellow Daoist, would you mind staying here a while longer? So I might comprehend this innate formation?"

For him, this naturally held substantial benefits, but for Li Zhirui, it would be a waste of time since he did not practice the Dao of the Array.

"Fellow Daoist, at your leisure. I can take this time to properly sort through the methods and texts I've acquired earlier."

While he had glanced over them, it was only in passing, without deep comprehension, and he hadn't had the opportunity to fully understand or digest them.

"To compensate for your time loss, please accept this spiritual object!"

As he spoke, Fu Chengguang handed over a white jade pendant.

"No need to be so courteous, Fellow Daoist. It's better if you keep it..."

But before Li Zhirui could finish, the jade pendant was tossed into his arms, and upon looking back, he found the other already immersed in deciphering the formation, leaving him with no choice but to accept it.

Merely playing with it briefly, he discerned its effect; a Heavenly Immortal Rank spiritual object, which normally serves to store mana. In battle, not only can it directly absorb mana into the body, it can also use the stored power to perform attack, defense, and other divine powers, making it quite valuable.

"Interesting! Who would have thought this small valley could hold so many astonishing things."

A spiritually intelligent mutated being, spirit water with unique effects, and a valley that formed an innate formation; such a small area holds three rather precious spiritual objects.

Li Zhirui made a remark and then moved to another side, taking out a jade slip that recorded the Earth Immortal Technique, immersing his mind within, starting to comprehend from the beginning.

Speaking of which, it could only be them. If it were other cultivators, they would never spend such valuable secret realm time delving into methods.

After all, secret realm time is limited; logically one should hasten to find spiritual objects and amass cultivation resources. As for other pursuits, they can entirely wait until after leaving.

...

Meanwhile.

The central area of the secret realm, where spiritual energy is most abundant.

A large group of cultivators gathered here, visibly divided into two factions.

On one side, the cultivators from the Three Mysterious Sect and allied powers, and on the other, opposing cultivators.

The former, possessing a map of the secret realm, knew the distribution of spiritual objects, so they rushed straight here upon entering, eager to swiftly collect all the precious spirit plants cultivated here.

But surprisingly, another group of cultivators also realized this!

Though they lacked knowledge of the secret realm's core location, typical reasoning suggested it likely lay in the central area where spiritual energy is most concentrated.

So, even without a map, relying on secret techniques and using spiritual energy density as a clue, they spent effort to find the core region, albeit slightly slower.

Moreover, upon their arrival, the spiritual objects had not yet been fully harvested.

Considering these spiritual objects are relatively valuable, coupled with some not fully matured requiring careful transplantation, their collection speed naturally slowed.

Thus, the Three Mysterious Sect and allied parties had no choice but to arrange cultivators to fend off from the front while hastening the collection of spiritual objects, now unconcerned about potential damage to the items.