Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Seizing the opportunity, Luo Yan released the Green Duckweed Sword close to the ground, dashing into the inner chamber ahead.

A multitude of spell radiance burst from within the inner chamber, clearly indicating that fragments of the Kunlun Mirror’s main body were hiding there, not without preparation, ready to meet their end.

However, upon encountering the Green Duckweed Sword, it was as if waves crashed against a hard reef, quickly dissolving into foam and dissipating.

Shi Liuli hastily ducked behind Luo Yan to avoid being splattered by the flying debris, but failed to notice a streak of black light that silently returned from ahead and slipped into Luo Yan’s right sleeve.

The second fragment, obtained!

“Not bad,” the Kunlun Mirror remarked. “This fragment is full of spiritual power. I feel my strength has returned… at least a part of it.”

“No need to thank me, Ah Jing,” Luo Yan said indifferently. “Considering the many years you’ve served me, this is just a small token of my appreciation.”

“I didn’t thank you,” the Kunlun Mirror said speechlessly. “I was just… never mind.”

As the dust settled around them, Shi Liuli cautiously peeked into the inner chamber and asked, “Little junior brother, do you think that’s the Dynasty Yuan spiritual vein you mentioned?”

“Oh?” Luo Yan followed her gaze and discovered a vent in the style of an earth dragon beneath the floor of the central chamber.

Faint spiritual energy rose from below, like simmering steam, forming wisps of white smoke in the air.

So that was it—the Kunlun Mirror’s main body fragments rested here to draw upon the Dynasty Yuan spiritual energy, didn’t they?

Luo Yan immediately had an epiphany, while Miss Shi couldn’t wait to sit cross-legged on the spot, close her eyes, and hold her breath, beginning to breathe in and absorb the surrounding spiritual energy.

Another loud bang came from outside, it seemed the ghost dragon had not yet given up, still persistently ramming the palace gates.

Before it could break in… With that thought, Luo Yan also sat down on the spot, positioned himself with Five Hearts Facing the Sky, and silently began to practice the “Nine Heavens Clear Entrance True Mantra.”

His True Yuan circulated vigorously, and with each complete circulation, all the pores in his body opened, drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy as well.

The Dynasty Yuan spiritual energy at the end of this dragon vein was indeed profound. It initially entered his body in faint threads so delicate they seemed on the verge of collapse, yet in reality, they were incredibly tenacious and constantly regenerating.

Everywhere it passed, whether through the meridians or flesh and bones, all hidden ailments were being healed and restored.

Following the circulation route of the Grand Circulation, the Dynasty Yuan spiritual energy finally followed the Daoist True Yuan back to the Purple Mansion, settling into the Qi Sea.

Luo Yan saw a faint tremor in his own Purple Mansion, followed by an expansion of his Qi Sea, which soaked all the inner walls of the Purple Mansion and gradually transformed them into a jade-like pure and glistening interior wall of the Dantian.

Jade Mansion achieved!

Up to this point, he had accumulated ten years of Cultivation Level at the Refining Mansion stage (autumn, Ling, and Luo lines combined), plus an equivalent of sixty years of cultivation from the Mercurial Elixir Liquid, thirty years from the Cloud Sea Empty Cocoon, seventy years of Sense the Way in the Kunlun Heaven’s Gate Hall, and now fifty years of nourishment from the Dynasty Yuan spiritual energy, totaling two hundred and twenty years of Refining Mansion Cultivation. He had broken through the threshold of a Third Grade Golden Core and officially established his Jade Mansion!

Not only that, but he also had a lifespan of one hundred and twenty years left. Leaving aside ten years as a precaution (after all, it wasn’t practical to wait until the end of his lifespan to form the core, as the risk was too great), that meant he could cultivate for another one hundred and ten years, totaling three hundred and thirty years of Refining Mansion Cultivation.

He was only seventy years shy of reaching the threshold for a Second Grade Golden Core! Worthy of me!

Luo Yan completed the last cycle of the Grand Circulation, and the Dynasty Yuan spiritual energy inside him began to slowly disperse.

“Too much of anything is not good, and moderation is better,” his body had already absorbed enough Dynasty Yuan spiritual energy, and to force more into it would now be harmful.

Shi Liuli also opened her eyes, her pretty face brimming with ecstasy.

Truly worthy of being my Shi Liuli! The very day Marrow Cleansing was completed, she gained fifty years of Refining Mansion cultivation. Who else in this world could achieve such a feat?

Before she could express her promotion sentiments for reaching Great Perfection in the Marrow Cleansing Rank, she only heard Luo Yan say in a deep voice,

“That’s strange, why has the Ghost Dragon stopped its assault?”

“Ghost Dragon?” Shi Liuli blinked, “Could it be that it gave up and left after realizing it couldn’t get in?”

“There’s that possibility,” said Luo Yan seriously, “but we can’t let our guard down until we have confirmation.”

“Of course!” Shi Liuli, in high spirits, didn’t bother herself about what the Ghost Dragon was up to. She just started counting on her fingers, “I’m twenty-three this year, with one hundred sixty-seven years left to cultivate; adding the fifty years gained from the Dynasty Yuan Spiritual Energy, doesn’t that mean a Third Grade Golden Core is already in my grasp?”

“Indeed,” Luo Yan said, keeping a vigilant eye on the surroundings, “that Ghost Dragon should be incapable of Transformation. Where could it have gone?”

“Even if we’re talking about a Second Grade Golden Core, I’m only one hundred eighty-three years short. Encountering extraordinary opportunities like the Five Qi Dynasty Yuan Cave four more times would suffice!” Shi Liuli laughed, her eyes nearly crescent-shaped with joy, as she began to plan excitedly, “Even considering Yuqing View’s history to date, there are scarcely a handful who have achieved a Second Grade Golden Core. And they have all at least reached the Golden Immortal rank!”

“If that Ghost Dragon is lurking just outside the palace, how am I to escort Miss Shi out of here?” Luo Yan also felt a headache coming on, “For now, let’s explore this palace a bit more.”

With one delighted and one concerned, the two left the inner chamber and continued upwards.

The second floor was the Dragon Clan’s repository of scriptures. Since this place was underwater, naturally, there was no writing on paper scrolls; all were uniformly made of jade slips, without any signs of decay.

Luo Yan picked up a jade slip and immersed his Divine Sense within, only to discover that it was written in the Dragon Clan’s script…

In ancient times, the Human Race and the Demon Race were at odds, and their languages and scripts were mutually unintelligible. Even though he possessed the ability to learn swiftly and had studied some ancient scripts at Yuqing View, he could still only translate and guess roughly thirty to forty percent — from the recorded content, it seemed to be a history book.

The history book stated that this place was called “Eastern Pole Palace”. Its location in the Eastern Pole Sea was where the great Goddess Nüwa had erected the eastern Heaven Pillar in the old days.

In ancient times, when the heavens crumbled and the earth split, the Goddess Nüwa forged the Heaven-Mending Stone and sealed the breach in the heavens. She also slew the cosmic tortoise, severing its four limbs, and placed them at the extreme points to the east, south, west, and north, thus propping up the previously tilted heavenly dome once again.

The Dragon Clan established the Eastern Pole Palace here, but the reason was… with the succeeding words too complex, Luo Yan simply couldn’t translate them, only left scratching his head.

He turned his head painfully and saw Miss Shi engrossed in reading a jade slip.

“Senior Sister, you understand the ancient language of the Dragon Clan?” Luo Yan asked in surprise.

“I studied it previously at the View,” Shi Liuli said matter-of-factly.

“Great Senior Sister!” Luo Yan exclaimed joyfully, “Then you should be able to help me translate all these jade slips!”

“What do you want to translate?” Shi Liuli puffed out her chest proudly, thinking to herself that her little junior brother needed her help once again.

Ah, what’s to be done with him? After all, I am his senior sister.

Luo Yan handed over the jade slip he was holding, and upon inspection, Shi Liuli exclaimed in surprise,

“This appears to be a history book.”

“It should concern the history of this palace,” Luo Yan asked patiently, “What does it say inside?”

After carefully reading through, Shi Liuli furrowed her brows and said,

“It says here that the ancient Dragon Clan established the Eastern Pole Palace in these seas to prepare for a possible apocalyptic catastrophe in the future.”

“An apocalyptic catastrophe?” Luo Yan’s eyebrows lifted, calmly suppressing his urgency, “Senior Sister, please elaborate.”

“It’s written rather cryptically here.” Shi Liuli stroked her chin, lost in thought, “Hmm, the convergence of the Heavenly Spheres, tearing… tearing the vault of the heavens?”