Chapter 447: Chapter 444: Nurtured Objects Have Spirits

If Liu Ruyan had been happy about the rise in her Cultivation at first, she was utterly panicked now.

She could feel that while her Cultivation seemed stable, her Martial Dao foundation had actually become incredibly shallow.

She barely understood the fundamentals of the Void Realm, let alone its more profound principles.

In other words, all she had now was a forcibly elevated level of Cultivation, with none of the underlying foundation to support it.

If this continued, her path on the Martial Dao would be all but ruined.

"No, no, stop!"

Liu Ruyan wanted to stop her Cultivation, but she found the Medicinal Power in the Spirit Pool was already out of control. Even when she wasn’t actively absorbing it, it continued to surge madly into her body.

"No, no, no, I don’t want this!"

Liu Ruyan forcibly mustered the True Essence within her body to counteract the Spirit Pool’s Medicinal Power, trying to expel it.

However, all her efforts were in vain.

The rate at which she could expel it was far outpaced by the rate at which the Medicinal Power poured in.

For the first time, Liu Ruyan found her own prodigious talent to be a curse.

If her talent weren’t so great, her Cultivation would have hit a bottleneck and stopped increasing, even while absorbing all this Medicinal Power.

But now? Heavens knew when it would end!

The more her Cultivation skyrocketed, the greater the repercussions would be in the future.

Perhaps after today, she would never be able to improve her Cultivation again.

This was absolutely unacceptable to Liu Ruyan.

’What do I do?!’

Just as Liu Ruyan was at her wit’s end, a dazzling green light erupted from her back. It was like a blazing green sun, blindingly bright and majestic.

Immediately after, the illusory projection of a giant willow tree appeared behind her, its branches lush and its form tall and vigorous.

It was a Mental Realm Transformation, and at the same time, the Liu Family’s unique Bloodline Shrinkage.

Bathed in the light of the green sun, the willow tree, as if receiving some great nourishment, began to sprout new branches nonstop. In the blink of an eye, tender buds unfurled into long, slender leaves.

Not only that, but its already thick trunk began to swell, growing taller and taller.

Its verdant canopy spread out like a great umbrella. Countless willow tendrils danced on an unseen wind. They seemed light, but they pulsed with a unique rhythm that created a heavy pressure, inspiring awe in the hearts of all who witnessed it.

CREAK! CREAK!

The sound of stretching wood was incessant as the old bark split and cracked, revealing tougher, darker new bark beneath.

BOOM!

A dense, wood-elemental aura erupted from the green sun.

At that moment, the enormous illusory willow tree seemed to come to life. It twisted its trunk toward the green sun in what looked like extreme excitement, its tendrils dancing wildly, making sharp "SWISH! SWISH!" sounds as they cut through the air.

This...

It wasn’t just Liu Ruyan who was stunned by this miraculous scene. Outside the Spirit Pool, the powerful experts who had been craning their necks waiting for peanuts were also staring in shock, their eyes glued to the willow tree and the blazing sun, their minds reeling.

Pocket World Realm, Void Nourishing Creatures.

The standard for measuring a genius against a common talent was whether their Pocket World Realm could undergo Transformation, and whether the creatures it nourished could gain a Spirit.

"Nourished creatures" referred to lifeforms birthed from the Grotto Heaven itself, not external objects that an ordinary Cultivator might place inside it for safekeeping.

On the path of the Martial Dao, among the countless thousands of Cultivators, those who could achieve Mental Realm Transformation were already as rare as a phoenix’s feather.

And to achieve Nurtured Objects Have Spirits on top of a Mental Realm Transformation? That was a level of rarity akin to finding a golden phoenix feather or the marrow of a qilin’s horn.

You might not find one such genius among tens, or even hundreds of thousands of Cultivators at the same Realm.

But now, Liu Ruyan had done it!

"Hahaha! A Pocket World Realm and Nurtured Objects Have Spirits! I never thought I’d live to see such a peerless genius," Huangfu Zhong cackled from within the Treasure Tower Immortal Artifact.

"What a pity. This little girl was destined to shine in the Immortal Realm, but thanks to a certain someone’s arrogance, it’s all over for her now."

Huangfu Zhong’s gloating voice was grating. The Liu Family Immortal Ancestor silently clenched his fists, his face a mask of bitter resentment.

He wished he could smash open the Spirit Pool and rescue Liu Ruyan.

But with his power, he couldn’t even put a dent in the Spirit Pool.

The experts from the other Sub-Palaces shook their heads and sighed, casting sympathetic glances toward the Liu Family.

"What can I do? What can I do!" The Liu Family Immortal Ancestor grew more anxious by the second, on the verge of losing his mind.

Mo Qi arranged the ten peanuts from the wok onto a plate, set it aside, and said at a leisurely pace, "This is just the beginning. What’s the rush?"

As he spoke, he shot the Pig Emperor a meaningful look. "Interested in singing a song for that old fellow?"

The Pig Emperor, who had been lying listlessly, perked up instantly upon hearing this.

"Oh, yes! This Emperor has been displeased with him for a long time. To think that two pregnancies weren’t enough to reform him! Well then, let’s see how he likes my singing!"

The words were barely out of its mouth before the Pig Emperor appeared beside the Treasure Tower Immortal Artifact.

Huangfu Zhong instantly went on high alert, as if facing a mortal enemy. He immediately shut his eyes, achieved Unity of Heart and Mind, and focused on Holding the Dantian.

At the same time, he activated the Treasure Tower Immortal Artifact, layering himself in defenses to sever all connections with the outside world as much as possible—sight, hearing, touch, and smell.

The psychological trauma the Pig Emperor had inflicted on him was simply too deep.

That was why the moment he saw the Pig Emperor, he threw up every defense he could and focused with his entire being to avoid falling for its tricks again.

Even so, Huangfu Zhong’s heart hammered with uncertainty.

He suddenly regretted his taunts.

"Heh heh, don’t be afraid. This Emperor will be very gentle," the Pig Emperor said, licking its lips. It began to pace around the Treasure Tower Immortal Artifact, looking for all the world like a composer deep in thought, crafting lyrics and a melody.

As for Liu Ruyan...

In the Spirit Pool, the wood-elemental aura radiating from the green sun grew richer and richer until the entire pool was dyed a vibrant green. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The illusory willow tree’s excited swaying ceased, and it grew steady and solemn.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Countless roots suddenly shot out from the base of the willow tree, spreading out in all directions and growing frantically until they filled the entire Spirit Pool.

HSSSSS—

A powerful suction force emanated from these roots, wildly drawing in the Medicinal Power from the Spirit Pool.

The suction was so strong and the absorption so fast that a visible vortex of Medicinal Power formed on the surface of the Spirit Pool.

As time passed, the color of the illusory willow tree deepened, and its form became more and more corporeal.

At the same time, the green sun floating above suddenly shot down a beam of brilliant light, which landed right between Liu Ruyan’s eyebrows.

BOOM!

A powerful shockwave spread out in ripples, causing the Spirit Pool to shake violently.

The force sent everyone else in the Spirit Pool—including Feng Liang and the other unconscious cultivators from the Sub-Palaces—flying until they slammed into the Array barrier at the pool’s edge.

Feng Liang’s face went pale with shock. One moment he was reveling in the explosive growth of his Cultivation, and the next he was violently interrupted and sent tumbling.

To his relief, though his Cultivation had been forcibly halted, he hadn’t suffered any backlash or injury.

But when he saw the phenomenon Liu Ruyan was causing in the Spirit Pool, he was completely dumbfounded.

’Is she even human? Does she have to be so insane?!’

’Are there any normal people around Master Mo at all?’

He suddenly realized that, by comparison, he—a possessor of the Taotie Bloodline—seemed like the normal one.