Chapter Ten: The Tides of the Spirit Sea

Only Me Sect.

The moonlight poured down, cold and desolate. Wang Ran stood at the fork in the path amidst the fiery red bamboo forest, gazing at the unconscious inner disciple at his feet with an odd expression.

This man was obviously a pampered son of a wealthy family. Apart from the inner disciple's robe, he wore many other expensive ornaments, clearly someone of means. Yet, in the dead of night, he was here alone, skulking about. Upon seeing Wang Ran and his companions, his first reaction had been panic and bewilderment—truly peculiar.

Wang Ran's eyes fell upon a yellow talisman protruding from the man's arms. He picked it up and examined it closely. A strange, obscure pattern was inscribed upon it.

“A spirit talisman…”

Wang Ran stroked his chin. He was somewhat familiar with such talismans—they were tools to aid cultivators, much like spiritual artifacts or elixirs, but unlike artifacts, these talismans were single-use.

The effects of spirit talismans were myriad, and their prices ranged from the trivial to the extravagant. For instance, Wang Ran knew of a Fleetfoot Talisman, which could double one's speed for a short time and cost around two spirit jades—a cheap one, given its simple effect. There was also the Explosive Talisman, which could unleash a devastating force equivalent to a full-powered blow from a Golden Core cultivator, costing no less than ten spirit jades—an item that Foundation Establishment cultivators coveted.

Beyond those that enhanced combat prowess or destructive power, there were support talismans—some could conceal one’s presence, others could temporarily accelerate cultivation, and so on.

Wang Ran examined the talisman in his hand. At the center of the obscure pattern was a motif resembling an eye. Clearly, the talisman’s effect lay in the realm of vision. He held it before his eyes, fiddling with it, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

Perhaps he hadn’t yet discerned its secrets or triggered its activation. Though not well-versed in talismans, Wang Ran had spent many years in the Only Me Sect and picked up some basic knowledge.

His thoughts turned to the fork in the path, leading into a bamboo forest aglow with red. The narrow trail could barely accommodate a single person, and the area was strewn with jagged boulders. Had he not seen the inner disciple sneaking about here, Wang Ran might have overlooked this path entirely.

He had a hunch that the answer lay within.

With a leap, Wang Ran stepped into the bamboo forest.

The moment he entered, his vision was flooded with red—the fiery bamboo was everywhere. The night wind rustled the leaves, filling the air with a whispering sound.

The path beneath his feet grew ever narrower until, at last, it vanished altogether.

Glancing around, Wang Ran saw that the bamboo forest was identical in all directions, with no signposts or markers to guide him. Above, the moon hung in a sky scattered with stars—it was already past midnight.

Wang Ran pondered for a moment, picked up a small stone, and scratched a mark onto a bamboo stalk as a sign. Choosing a direction, he sped away.

The forest seemed endless. After a quarter of an hour, Wang Ran had found nothing but more bamboo—an ocean of red stalks as far as the eye could see.

Strangely, it was growing hotter. The oppressive heat flushed his skin and drew beads of sweat from his brow.

He had no choice but to channel his Diamond Glass Body to resist the stifling heat.

Reaching a certain spot, Wang Ran’s eyes swept the surroundings—then his pupils narrowed sharply. There, on a bamboo stalk before him, was the very mark he had carved at the start!

In other words, he had returned to where he began. He was certain he had chosen a straight path without turning—how could he have come back to his starting point?

“There’s something strange about this place!”

Wang Ran’s brows drew together. Fixing the marked bamboo in his memory, he pivoted and darted in the opposite direction at full speed.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

Suddenly, Wang Ran halted mid-stride. The mark was before him again—he had once more circled back, as if caught in a ghostly maze.

There was no mistake: he was trapped within a formation.

He glanced at the mark again, but this time, his gaze froze, and a chill crept over his forehead.

The mark itself was unchanged—but blood was seeping from the grooves!

Wang Ran tensed, every muscle taut. He scanned the silent bamboo sea, senses on high alert.

Yet his heart drummed violently in his chest; something was terribly wrong here.

His mind raced, unease mounting to a fever pitch.

Suddenly, inspiration struck. He looked up at the sky—and sucked in a sharp breath.

The heavens above had turned a ghastly red, thick and viscous as if shrouded in blood. Not a trace of moonlight remained!

Wang Ran’s thoughts whirled. There was undoubtedly something amiss here. If the place were so perilous, why would that inner disciple come?

He drew out the talisman, his eyes glinting, and without hesitation pressed it to his forehead.

A golden flash shimmered on the talisman, then slowly faded. But Wang Ran’s eyes grew bright.

Within his pupils, the talisman’s pattern took shape. As it formed fully, the world before him changed in an instant!

When his vision cleared, Wang Ran felt his scalp prickle with dread.

Fire.

Endless fire.

Everywhere his gaze landed, flames raged—there was no bamboo forest, only a sea of fire.

He stood at its very heart.

Each bamboo stalk was nothing but blazing flame.

Wang Ran removed the talisman, and the scene reverted to the bamboo forest. But when he put the talisman back on, it became a sea of fire once more.

Now he understood: this was truly an inferno, and the bamboo forest was nothing but an illusion.

No wonder the temperature had kept rising. Trapped here long enough, even a Golden Core cultivator would be burned alive.

With the talisman affixed, Wang Ran could now distinguish where the fire raged and where it did not. Following a path devoid of flames, he quickly made his way toward the forest’s heart.

Though he had been moving all along, he realized now that he had only been circling within the formation. This was the true path out.

Soon, the world opened up before him—the sea of fire parted, revealing a vast pit at his feet.

What lay within astounded Wang Ran most of all.

Countless motes of light floated within, rising and falling like ocean waves.

These, incredibly, were pure spiritual energy!

Cultivators refined themselves by constantly absorbing spiritual energy, which was present everywhere in the world, though usually so thin as to be invisible.

But here, the energy was so dense it formed visible points of light!

From afar, it was a magnificent sight, like a swarm of fireflies drifting in the air.

Wang Ran’s brow furrowed. He was not surprised that the Only Me Sect harbored such a sea of spiritual energy.

What truly puzzled him was the identity of that inner disciple—how had he known of this spiritual wellspring, and managed to obtain a talisman to break the formation? Clearly, there was more to him than met the eye.

But this thought was fleeting. Faced with such a trove of spiritual energy, Wang Ran could hardly resist the urge to cultivate.

Yet, just as he stepped into the surging spiritual tide, a sudden system prompt echoed in his mind, leaving him utterly stunned.