Chapter 42: Discovery

The first thing Li Zhirui did upon returning to the small courtyard was check on Da Qing's condition. Seeing that his breathing was calm and unchanged from before, he finally felt at ease enough to go rest.

At the same time, Li Shiren and Li Shilian flew to the summit of White Head Mountain. The former set up a Spirit Gathering Array, while the latter planted the Ice Heart Grass. Subsequently, they extracted spiritual energy from spirit stones, transforming it into a fine, continuous drizzle to nourish the Ice Heart Grass seeds before finally releasing the Ice Silk Silkworms.

"I remember the family has a few first-tier water-attribute spirit fruit trees. Before the Ice Heart Grass fully grows, let's feed them spirit fruits," Li Shilian asked. "How often do the spirit stones in the Spirit Gathering Array need to be replaced?"

"Approximately every three months."

To be fair, the Li family's attempt to cultivate these Ice Silk Silkworms was quite troublesome. On Great Banyan Island, the summit of White Head Mountain was the only place with year-round snow. However, the mountain was too high for Qi Refinement cultivators to fly to the top; they could only fly to a height of a thousand feet and then had to climb the rest of the way on foot.

Foundation Establishment cultivators could fly up, but the family's four Foundation Establishment members were all extremely busy and had no time to feed the silkworms.

Fortunately, this situation would not last long. In just five months, the Ice Heart Grass would fully grow. At that point, they wouldn't need to climb the mountain frequently to feed the silkworms; they would only need to come up periodically to replace the spirit stones in the array.

"Slow down when descending the mountain. Look for a path that is easier to climb."

Li Shiren nodded and then steered the spirit boat to descend slowly.

After a period of searching, they finally found a flat slope on the western flank of White Head Mountain, which would make the ascent much easier.

...

After resting, Li Zhirui did not rush to contemplate the newly acquired alchemy techniques; instead, he was pondering something.

Currently, he had observed the combat styles of the family's three Foundation Establishment cultivators, all of whom coordinated with their spiritual beasts to exert even greater strength.

Thus, Li Zhirui was wondering how he could coordinate with Da Qing to enhance his own strength.

"As a member of the Azure Profound Turtle clan, Da Qing can learn Water and Wood attribute spells through his bloodline."

However, because Da Qing rarely engaged in magical combat with others, Li Zhirui was not entirely sure which specific spells he had mastered.

"The lethality of Water and Wood spells is inferior to Metal and Fire, and their defensive capabilities are inferior to Earth, but they are not without their own advantages," Li Zhirui analyzed calmly. "Or rather, the weaknesses of Water and Wood spells are their strengths; they are not as extreme as the other three elements, but they are more well-rounded."

"Furthermore, as a turtle, Da Qing is slow-moving, possesses a peaceful temperament, and dislikes fighting, but he can be used for defense or to support me." As the thought arose, many ideas followed, giving Li Zhirui a preliminary method of coordination.

However, as for the specifics of how to execute it, he would have to wait until Da Qing finished molting and try it personally.

Li Zhirui suppressed his thoughts and silently recited the Heart-Clearing Incantation to maintain a peaceful state of mind before taking out the alchemy manual to begin contemplating the Pill Nourishing and Pill Extraction techniques within it.

Meanwhile, in the backyard of the main hall, Li Shiqing hung the Divine Turtle Painting before him. He did not rush into contemplation but instead used incense and bathing, combined with the Heart-Clearing Incantation, to adjust his state to perfection before immersing his divine sense into the scroll.

In the painting, spiritual light flickered on the back of the divine turtle, but it dissipated in an instant, as if it had never appeared at all.

Within the scroll, Li Shiqing witnessed the growth process of a divine turtle—from crawling out from underground alongside many siblings, escaping the capture of heavenly birds, to surviving several near-death experiences in the vast ocean...

After an unknown number of years, the divine turtle had grown into a colossal behemoth. One day, the sea area where he resided suddenly erupted in chaos; waves dozens of feet high rolled incessantly, and even more terrifying waterspouts were being birthed.

"Roar—"

The divine turtle was startled from his slumber by the giant waves. He surfaced in fury, transforming into a gargantuan turtle spanning tens of thousands of miles. His long roar tore through the storm in the sky, and as he struck the turbulent sea with his four limbs, the raging waters instantly calmed, as if the previous apocalyptic scene had been nothing more than an illusion.

As the observer of all this, Li Shiqing gained an epiphany, and a visualization technique slowly flowed into his sea of consciousness.

When the final word emerged, Li Shiqing snapped awake, his eyes gleaming with brilliance and his face covered in smiles.

This visualization technique, named "The Divine Turtle Subduing the Sea Map," was far more powerful than he had imagined. If one could master it to the point of cultivating an Inner Landscape Manifestation, it would not only suppress the sea of consciousness and resist inner demons but could also launch divine sense attacks!

However, this meant the preciousness of this visualization technique would rise to a whole new level. Before the Li family possessed sufficient strength, it would be impossible to allow all disciples to practice this method.

While visualization techniques were not exceedingly rare, most on the market only served to protect the sea of consciousness and strengthen the soul, having little effect on resisting inner demons.

But since the Divine Turtle Map could both resist inner demons and launch divine sense attacks, the value of this method skyrocketed.

"However..." Li Shiqing frowned slightly, a hint of doubt arising in his heart. He had merely probed the scroll with his divine sense to find the technique, and by immersing his divine sense, he had understood the method. Why had the Yuanming Sect not achieved this? Why had the cultivators at the auction house not achieved this?

What Li Shiqing did not know was that the speck of spiritual light concealing the secret of the Divine Turtle Map had been absorbed by Li Zhirui after he obtained the scroll—or more accurately, it had been absorbed by the wisp of divine soul belonging to Da Qing within Li Zhirui's sea of consciousness.

No matter how much Li Shiqing pondered, he would never suspect Li Zhirui, for he was merely a Qi Refinement cultivator; how could he possibly possess such formidable means?

Fortunately, Li Shiqing did not dwell on this too long. He immediately used the family jade slips to summon Li Shilian, Li Shiren, and Li Zhirui.

Li Shiqing intended to temporarily keep the Divine Turtle Map and the visualization technique a secret, allowing only a very small number of clansmen to know of them. In his plan, besides the three he had just summoned, only Li Shiting would be allowed to know and practice the technique.

In other words, until the Li family became sufficiently powerful, one would have to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage to practice this visualization.

The three arrived at the main hall quickly. Li Shiqing took out three jade slips and said with great solemnity, "Once you have memorized this method, destroy the jade slips!"

"Second Brother, what is this..." Li Shilian keenly sensed that Li Shiqing's attitude toward the visualization technique had undergone a world-shaking change.

"This visualization technique contains a divine sense attack method. To avoid attracting the greed of others, only Foundation Establishment clansmen are permitted to practice it for the time being."

The expressions of the three changed. A divine sense attack method could be considered the most precious type of spell, second only to the divine abilities that only Nascent Soul cultivators could master! One could imagine how precious this was; if this news were leaked, the Li family would undoubtedly fall into great danger!

"Zhirui, the Divine Turtle Map does not need to be placed in the Scripture Pavilion. You will keep it directly, but you must absolutely never take it off Great Banyan Island."

In truth, Li Shiqing had wanted to leave the Divine Turtle Map in the backyard for greater security and a lower probability of information leaks.

But upon reflection, Li Shiqing relented. This was, after all, Li Zhirui's opportunity. By being willing to hand the visualization technique over to the family and allowing clansmen to observe the map, Li Zhirui had already done much for the family.

If Li Shiqing were to seize the map for himself, even if he had no intention of claiming ownership, the actual owner would effectively become him. How would Li Zhirui, the one who obtained the opportunity, feel?

Thus, Li Shiqing ultimately chose to return the scroll to Li Zhirui to keep safe himself.

"Zhirui understands!"

Li Shiqing nodded and said, "For the next few days, you three shall use the Divine Turtle Map to practice the visualization technique here in the main hall."

With that, Li Shiqing led the three into the backyard.

Looking at the lifelike divine turtle in the painting, the three adjusted their states and successively immersed their divine senses into it. Although they could observe it with the naked eye, doing so was more conducive to practicing the visualization technique.

And this was precisely why Li Zhirui had previously wanted to keep the scroll in his own hands.