Exploring the Demon Mist Mountains: The Lake of Spiritual Liquid
The map Guan Zilan had given him was indeed quite rough—clearly hand-drawn by someone without much cartographic skill. Later, she scrounged up more relevant ancient texts for him.
After a full month of piecing together scraps from here and there, meticulously sorting through it all, Qin Changqing finally had a rough grasp of the situation.
This cultivation world was enormous, spanning tens of thousands of miles at the drop of a hat. Even a single nation like Jing Country was a vast expanse that mortals could spend their entire lives traversing without success.
So even though cultivators could soar through the skies or burrow through the earth, few ever crossed national borders to explore distant lands. It wasn't just the energy drain—there was always the risk of courting death from unknown threats.
The land where Jing Country lay was known as the East Domain, and it was just one of the seven nations there. Of course, those seven only covered a fraction of the East Domain's territory. Beyond lay even vaster unknowns, including some reclusive immortal sects that rarely emerged.
Outside the East Domain stretched the Demon Domain of myriad races, the Northern Domain's immortal isles, the Central Domain's three thousand continents, and other profoundly mysterious realms.
But the descriptions of those places were vague at best—the ancient records' authors clearly hadn't delved deep themselves.
Cultivators had fiercely territorial instincts, and some regions were outright hostile to outsiders. That was one reason certain areas were sparsely documented.
"Looks like some spots I'll have to explore myself..." Qin Changqing closed the ancient scroll, etching the East Domain's terrain map deep into his mind.
With his system's stealth and teleport abilities, he wasn't worried about unknown dangers. Worst case, he could just bail.
For now, at least, neither secret realms, formations, nor bizarre terrain could block the teleport function. And once stealth was active, even a Soul Transformation Lord couldn't detect him.
Three months later.
On the westernmost edge of the East Domain loomed a mountain range perpetually shrouded in haze, stretching for tens of thousands of miles. These mists seemed innately able to weaken divine sense probes, and the place teemed with demonic beasts—including some great demons rivaling Nascent Soul cultivators. The surrounding immortals called it the Demon Mist Mountains.
Few humans ventured there, and beasts roamed freely—which meant heavenly treasures often went unpicked. Despite the dangers, plenty of daring cultivators still came to test their luck.
A flash of white light, and Qin Changqing materialized atop an ancient tree.
"This should be pretty close to the Demon Mist Mountains' core..."
He scanned his surroundings, pulling out a jade slip to chart the local terrain.
Over the past stretch, he'd been wandering these mountains for ages. The natural mists drastically dulled cultivators' divine sense, making the range feel like it was guarded by a massive natural formation. Add in the rampant beasts, and it was the perfect spot—if he could find a safe base, it'd be ideal.
Hiss... hiss...
Suddenly, the ancient tree beneath his feet twitched faintly. Then, from the top, came a series of eerie crack-crack sounds.
Qin Changqing jolted in surprise, leaping away in a flash. When he looked back, he sucked in a sharp breath.
What he'd taken for an ancient tree was actually a colossal brown serpent. It must have been dormant, camouflaging its body as a tree trunk.
That hissing? The demon python flicking its tongue.
Qin Changqing wasn't new to such freakish encounters, but his heart still raced. This thing was at least Golden Core stage. Without the system's stealth, he'd have been devoured—bones and all.
The python slithered in circles for a bit before lumbering off into the distance, likely hunting.
Qin Changqing shook his head and pressed on, jade slip in hand, flitting through the area. He mapped terrain while scouting prime spots.
With divine sense suppressed, he had to do it the hard way: manual scouting and logging. If he set up a base here, an accurate map would be crucial.
Beyond that, he marked beast hotspots and graded traversed zones by danger level.
After all, the kids lacked his stealth.
Like this, whenever he had downtime, Qin Changqing teleported into the Demon Mist Mountains to explore. Sure, each jump cost decades of lifespan, but he barely batted an eye at that anymore.
Another month slipped by.
Qin Changqing reappeared, picking up from his last exit point and delving deeper.
"Something's getting weirder and weirder..."
He sensed the shift: beast tracks grew scarcer, and the rare ones that appeared were tough-skinned powerhouses—Nascent Soul equivalents at minimum. Vegetation thinned out too.
And now, a thickening green mist permeated the air.
Qin Changqing hadn't clocked it at first. Then a cornered beast, in blind panic, charged into the green fog. Moments later, it shrieked in agony as the mist corroded its body at terrifying speed. That's when it hit him.
"Poisonous miasma?!"
His face darkened. That beast was Golden Core at least, yet it couldn't withstand the miasma. Even Nascent Soul great demons would struggle.
Without the system's stealth shielding him from all external forces, he'd have croaked long ago—reduced not even to bones. From the looks of that poor bastard, his mere Foundation Establishment self wouldn't leave a speck.
Ahead, the rugged mountains twisted into twin arches, interlocking like a massive gate. Bizarre vines draped everywhere, forming a natural barrier.
Curiosity piqued, Qin Changqing wondered what freakish force had shaped this. He soared up and teleported straight through the arch!
Inside the miasma, it felt like passing from a narrow crevice into sudden vastness...
The view opened wide: a sprawling valley. The poisonous fog vanished the moment he crossed the arch.
At the valley's heart lay a lake, its emerald waters rippling gently, wreathed in dreamlike spiritual mist.
Around it grew dense clusters of spirit herbs and plants.
A quick scan: all ancient, years beyond count, towering several times normal size, glowing with exotic lights.
They blanketed the valley—too many to tally at a glance.
"This is... spiritual liquid!"
Qin Changqing's eyes bulged, disbelief etched on his face.
Spiritual liquid formed when ambient spiritual energy condensed to liquefaction—a priceless rarity, scarce even in the top ten sects.
And here, before him? An entire lake of it!
He rubbed his eyes, half-convinced it was a hallucination.
Only after scooping up a puddle for close inspection did certainty settle in. No illusion—this was real spiritual liquid!
No, with this scale, it deserved to be called a spiritual lake.