Li Meng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

“This… this Spiritual Power consumption is absolutely terrifying!”

In just that brief moment, less than ten breaths of time, his mana had been completely drained.

It was worth remembering that, despite his cultivation level, his mana reserves were comparable to a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

With a flick of his sleeve, Li Meng produced a meditation cushion and placed it on the ground. He sat cross-legged upon it, then retrieved a jade bottle. He consumed three flawless Grade-2 Spirit Restoration Pills and began meditating to recover his mana.

Two hours later, Li Meng opened his eyes.

“Hah!”

He exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. Another flick of his sleeve sent a golden talisman flying from within his robes into his waiting hand.

Holding the “Golden Light Mantra Talisman,” Li Meng fell into deep thought.

The Golden Light Mantra Talisman was undoubtedly a treasure—offensive and defensive capabilities combined, with myriad applications. The saying ‘master one method and ten thousand become clear’ probably referred to something like this.

‘Words become law’ was truly no empty boast. The giant golden hand from earlier was merely one form of attack he had imagined into existence.

Li Meng rose to his feet. Riding the wind, he soared straight into the sky, coming to a hovering stop a hundred meters above the ground. With hands forming seals, he uttered a soft command.

“Go!”

Five golden talismans shot out from the Sword Nurturing Gourd at his waist, flying towards five different directions before transforming into streaks of golden light that plunged into the earth at the mountain peak’s summit.

“Array, rise!”

Another soft command from Li Meng. Five-colored spiritual light erupted from his body.

In the next moment, a wondrous sight manifested atop the peak. Pillars of light surged upwards from five points on the summit, piercing through the Cloud Mist Array and shooting straight into the clouds. Five towering pillars of spiritual energy now connected Moon Gaze Peak to the heavens.

A brilliant Five-Element Formation swiftly took shape in the air above Moon Gaze Peak. The heaven and earth spiritual energy within a radius of several hundred li madly converged towards it like a whirlpool.

This spectacle naturally attracted much attention. Divine Senses from Golden Core and even Nascent Soul cultivators swept over from various directions, probing the disturbance.

Inside the barrier of Moon Gaze Peak, Li Meng hovered in the air, hands still forming seals.

“Array, complete!”

With another soft exclamation, he extended his right hand, palm facing downwards, and pressed it down.

The moment his palm descended, the Five-Element Formation above the peak began to plummet downwards with incredible speed. It instantly vanished into the clouds and mist, reappearing in the blink of an eye right above Li Meng’s head. It passed through his body without hindrance and slammed into the earth of the mountain peak.

A ring of five-element spiritual power erupted from within Moon Gaze Peak, sweeping outwards in all directions and forming a small-scale Spiritual Tide.

The spectacle above quickly faded, and peace returned to the mountain as before. While it seemed unchanged on the surface, profound transformations had occurred within. The spiritual essence of Moon Gaze Peak was now far richer than before, with heaven and earth spiritual energy continuously converging towards it in an unending stream.

Back inside Moon Gaze Peak, Li Meng landed lightly on the ground. Stroking his beard, he swept a satisfied gaze over the five Formation Cores of the Spirit Gathering Array.

While a Spirit Gathering Array wasn’t some world-shaking, awe-inspiring formation, one constructed using Grade-3 Divine Sky Array Talismans was likely unmatched across the entire Tianlan Continent. Its effects were naturally astonishing. It wouldn’t be many years before Moon Gaze Peak became the place with the densest spiritual energy within the sect.

Though doing this might offend some people… well, any resulting trouble could be left for his Master to handle. If his Master couldn’t manage it, then her Master would have to deal with it.

“Time to start planting vegetables.”

Planting vegetables? Li Meng chuckled wryly to himself. How had those two words slipped out so naturally? Spirit herbs were certainly not mere ‘vegetables.’

With a wave of his sleeve, a large quantity of spirit herbs came pouring out of his Sword Nurturing Gourd with a rustling sound. One by one, they took root in the soil under his precise control. In no time at all, the ground around Li Meng was transformed into organized plots of spirit herb fields.

Li Meng formed a single-handed seal.

“Rain Summoning Art!”

A small dark cloud rapidly formed above the spirit fields and began to release a light drizzle. Raindrops infused with rich spiritual power pattered down onto the spirit herbs. Bathed in this rain, the herbs seemed to come alive with renewed vitality, emitting faint spiritual glows.

“Mission accomplished!”

With another flick of his sleeve, Li Meng turned and walked away with an air of leisurely satisfaction.

While he wouldn’t have immediate use for these newly planted spirit herbs—their age was still too low and would require a long period of accelerated growth—keeping them was certainly useful in the long run. While cultivators often felt pressed for time, paradoxically, time was also what they had in greatest abundance upon reaching certain heights.

Returning to the courtyard before his pavilion, Li Meng relaxed comfortably into his reclining chair. A wave of his sleeve summoned a tea set onto the table nearby. As if possessing intelligence of its own, the teapot lifted itself up and poured tea into a cup. The cup then floated slowly towards Li Meng.

Of course, the tea set hadn’t developed sentience; Li Meng was simply controlling it with the Object Manipulation Art.

There was no rush to start opening up new cave dwellings; he would rest for a few days first.

Taking a sip of tea, Li Meng closed his eyes contentedly, savoring the mellow fragrance.

He opened his system interface and glanced over his relationship list.

Junior Sister Chen Lan was currently in seclusion attempting her Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Her Luck had risen to 4000 points; achieving Foundation Establishment shouldn’t be an issue.

Junior Sister Qu Rou’s Luck had always been high and had now skyrocketed to 5000 points. With fortune like that, failure in her breakthrough was virtually impossible.

Junior Sister Yuan Baobao’s cultivation had already broken through to Qi Condensation Layer 9, just one step away from Peak Qi Condensation. Her Luck had also risen to 2000 points.

Junior Sisters Shui’er and Zi’er hadn’t neglected their cultivation these past two years either.

Junior Sister Shui’er had broken through to Peak Qi Condensation.

Junior Sister Zi’er had reached Qi Condensation Layer 9.

However, both sisters’ Luck values were significantly lower than two years ago.

Junior Sister Shui’er’s Luck was only 2500.

Junior Sister Zi’er’s Luck was only 2000.

“Strange,” Li Meng thought with a flicker of confusion in his eyes. “With their Human Emperor’s Luck blessing, why would Junior Sisters Shui’er and Zi’er have such low Luck? This shouldn’t be happening.”

“Could something have happened within the Zhao royal family?” His expression turned thoughtful.

Could it be that two years ago Junior Sister Shui’er failed to save her mother in time? But how could the life or death of a consort affect the national fortune of an entire state?

Li Meng didn’t dwell on it too much. Mortal dynasties were inherently unstable; who knew how many times the Zhao royal line had changed over a thousand years? The rise and fall of mortal kingdoms held little importance for those dwelling on immortal mountains.

He continued scanning through other Junior Sisters—though many should technically be addressed as grand-nieces-in-the-Dao by now. Still, if they met face-to-face, he’d probably still call them ‘Junior Sister.’

“Huh? Why is Junior Sister Hua’s Luck so low?”

Among all female connections on his list, Junior Sister Hua Biying had by far the lowest Luck—less than 150 points.

Her cultivation had already been at Peak Qi Condensation two years ago.

“It can’t be… she failed her Foundation Establishment even with a Superior-Grade Foundation Pill?”

If Junior Sister Hua was indeed in seclusion attempting her breakthrough…

Then there could only be one outcome: failure.

Li Meng stood up abruptly.

Riding the wind and then mounting his flying sword, he shot out from Moon Gaze Peak.

He needed to check if Junior Sister Hua was truly attempting her Foundation Establishment breakthrough in seclusion.