Imperial Cultivation Chapter 1474 - 1470: Exploration

Chu Zhiyuan looked at her and smiled.

Zhou Qingyu exuded a delicate and charming gentleness, but deep down she had a fierce determination.

A determination that wouldn’t retreat in the face of difficulties but instead would face them head-on.

At this moment, Zhou Qingyu showcased this determination.

He supported her optimism.

Zhou Qingyu drew her sword from her waist and, at the pinnacle of her ascent, thrust her sword vertically towards a protrusion on the stone wall, making her body leap upwards again.

At the same time, she tossed the longsword into the air, far above her head.

As she straightened her ascent, she took a small stone from her sleeve and threw it at the longsword.

The longsword spun in the air, lifting higher once more, while the small stone shattered with a "pop".

Her body continued to rise; she reached out, caught the spinning longsword, and once more thrust it into a protruding rock on the stone wall.

Her body flew up, and the longsword flew out of her hand.

With a mischievous smile, she immediately pulled out another small stone and threw it.

The longsword in the air was struck by this small stone and flew away, causing the small stone to explode.

She was all smiles.

She found this method ingenious; it effectively isolates the penetration of strange energy.

The strange energy emanating from the sword was nothing like the abundance from the stone wall earlier.

It was just a tiny thread, tolerable.

Following this method, she shot out stone after stone. After shooting the tenth stone, she finally fell from several hundred meters above.

She leaned forward as she fell, showing a look of annoyance.

She blamed herself for not preparing enough small stones, only having ten was too few.

These small stones were meant for her hidden weapon practice, to train her hand skills.

She knew her master was most skilled at the flying knife.

Shen Hanyue expressed admiration for Chu Zhiyuan’s flying knife more than once, excitedly describing scenes where the flying knives were unstoppable and unavoidable.

She felt that as a disciple, she shouldn’t bring shame to her master’s reputation, planning to practice the flying knife in the future.

And the flying knife required precision in technique; the first step was to train accuracy.

She had never practiced any hidden weapons, thus she started by throwing small stones.

Every day, she would throw small stones several times, training the precision of her hand.

She had just fallen a dozen meters when she saw a giant stone shoot upwards, aiming towards her.

This giant stone was grayish-yellow, about two meters long, two meters wide, and one meter thick, cutting through the air like a meteor, aimed precisely at her.

It was coming for her.

She wanted to dodge, but her Qi was disordered, preventing her from activating True Qi to change direction; she could only watch powerlessly.

Unwilling, she swung her right fist with all her might and smashed it forward.

Even if it broke her hand and caused bleeding, she wouldn’t allow herself to sit and wait for death.

Simultaneously, she found this stone somewhat peculiar.

She had a feeling that this stone was out of place with its surroundings.

It seemed not to belong to this place, not to this world.

"Boom!"

Her fair little fist landed on the giant stone, which emitted a dull sound and shattered into small stone fragments scattering in all directions.

"Ah!?"

She felt an unstoppable power surge from her fist into her body.

Like a massive wave spilling over, she faced this mighty force without any ability to resist.

Her downward momentum stopped immediately; not only that, she flew backward and continued upwards into the sky.

At the same time, there was a dense spray of small stones surrounding her.

She couldn’t bother with anything else; upon seeing these small stones, she unhesitatingly reached out and grabbed them.

She quickly stuffed them into her embrace after catching them, then reached out for more, her hands working simultaneously.

These small stones flew into the air nearly at the same pace as she did.

She managed to grab around thirty stones, pocketing all the surrounding stones, clearing the area.

Meanwhile, in mid-air, she encountered her longsword and grabbed it.

Then she followed her original method, stabbing again and again, throwing the sword over and over.

Eventually climbing to the top of the stone wall over 300 meters high, she landed on a giant rock.

Suddenly, the view before her brightened, opening up her vision.

She saw the valley below at a glance, seeing the jagged rocks forming a stone forest.

She shook her head, finding it somewhat ugly, not worth seeing, and instead gazed further afield.

Opposite the valley was a dense forest; the forest stretched far to the horizon.

Within the forest, a wide river, appearing as a golden stream, flowed into the woods.

On this golden river, strange fish leaped out of the water, flashing golden in the sunlight, like they were cast from gold.

She was instantly overcome with a strong desire to rush to the riverbank and catch those golden fish.

She shook her head with a sigh, knowing these fish were living creatures, naturally not gold cast, no need for such longing.

Her expression slightly changed.

Feeling her body starting to stiffen, her blood slowing down.

True Qi within her became sluggish as if trapped in a quagmire.

She looked at the stone beneath her in surprise.

Quickly leaping to another giant stone, but the result was the same.

Unable to help but shout: "Master, something’s wrong!"

"What’s wrong?" Chu Zhiyuan appeared on the stone she originally stood on.

"These stones are very strange." She said hurriedly: "Be careful, Master."

She couldn’t perform Qinggong herself, no matter, with the master at hand. But if the master also couldn’t perform Qinggong, then they might be doomed.

Chu Zhiyuan bent down, placing his left palm on the giant stone.

The next moment, the giant stone vanished.

He floated in mid-air, as though still standing on the stone, only the stone had become invisible.

Zhou Qingyu’s eyes opened wide.

Chu Zhiyuan landed beside her, continued bending down, placing his left palm on another giant stone, which promptly disappeared.

Zhou Qingyu’s body was already half-stiff, unable to perform Qinggong, about to fall when Chu Zhiyuan caught her shoulder.

She was hovering in mid-air again, supported by an invisible force.

The True Yuan within her instantly revived, lively and flexible, responsive to her command.

The previous strange energy seemed never to exist, disappearing completely.

She turned her head curiously to Chu Zhiyuan.

Such peculiar abnormal energy was instantly dissipated by Chu Zhiyuan.

Even more astonishingly were two stones disappearing into thin air, how could it happen like that?

She was very curious about how it was achieved.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "How do you feel?"

"Master, this place is too strange." Zhou Qingyu said, "Where did they go?"

Chu Zhiyuan said, "They were moved... what’s strange about this place?"

Zhou Qingyu pouted, curiously asked, "What’s with these stones? The energy they emit feels like poison."

Knowing asking more would be fruitless, she sensibly stopped her questions, shifting her curiosity elsewhere.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded: "Indeed, it can be considered poison."

The abnormal energy these stones emitted not only disrupted True Qi but also solidified blood energy.

And the snakes in the valley, their venom also had the same power, disturbing True Yuan, freezing blood energy, causing one’s body to stiffen into statues, passing silently.

Clearly, it wasn’t that these snake venom caused the surrounding stone walls to become like this.

Rather, it’s these snakes that were transformed by the stone wall.

Since the stone wall’s energy can solidify blood energy, why can these snakes still survive?

There’s a mystique in it, worthy of exploration.

"Master, are you afraid?" Zhou Qingyu asked.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled.

Zhou Qingyu said: "Is it because your cultivation is higher?"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head: "No matter the cultivation level, it’s the same here."

"Even Spirit Venerables wouldn’t do?" Zhou Qingyu inquired.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head again.

"Then why aren’t you afraid, Master?" Zhou Qingyu was curious.

Chu Zhiyuan replied, "It’s related to the cultivation technique I practice, let’s go, have a look at the valley."

Zhou Qingyu laughed: "Master, is there any encounter in the valley?"

"Yes." Chu Zhiyuan smiled.