Ding Yan found a quiet place to begin cultivating her qi. She recalled the thrilling moment just now, her lips slightly upturned. The people chasing her thought they could easily get their hands on her, but underestimated her strength and wisdom.
At this moment, she sensed a faint and unique spiritual energy fluctuation. Following this fluctuation, she found a spirit plant. This spirit plant grew in the corner of the city, surrounded by a faint glow. Ding Yan secretly rejoiced in her heart, as this was a rare cultivation treasure.
Just as she was about to pick it up, a black cat suddenly burst out and blocked the spirit plant. The black cat's eyes exuded intelligence, as if warning her not to approach. Ding Yan tried to communicate with the black cat, but found that the black cat had seemingly cultivated some kind of mysterious martial arts, capable of resisting her mind invasion.
Ding Yan was unwilling to give up the spirit plant, so she confronted the black cat. After a moment, the black cat suddenly turned around, picked up the spirit plant in its mouth, and ran off. Ding Yan chased after it eagerly, determined to retrieve the spirit plant, and a chase ensued. Ding Yan also knew that this might be a test of fate to further her growth.
The black cat was running as hard as it could. Ding Yan was chasing after it bravely, and a fierce chase between a human and an animal ensued.
Finally, the black cat ran to its own cave, and Ding Yan stood at the mouth of the cave. The black cat inside the cave challenged her, taunting her with "Come in, you human. Have the courage to fight me. Come on in and see if you can defeat me."
Ding Yan was so angry that her teeth were itching. "You cursed black cat, don't let me catch you! If I do catch you, I'll beat you up good! You have the courage to come out of the cave, and if you dare to come out, if I don't beat you up, it means I'm not skilled!"
The black cat certainly wouldn't fall for Ding Yan's trick. The black cat gave Ding Yan a mischievous look and said, "Do you think I'm stupid? I may be a spirit creature for thousands of years, but I have at least as much intelligence as you. How could I have flown up to Tianchi if it weren't for my cultivation and skills? Let me tell you something, my intelligence is not much worse than yours. Don't think you are much cleverer than me!"
Ding Yan snorted coldly, "Do you think hiding in the cave will keep you safe? Watch me force you out." After speaking, she made hand seals with both hands and chanted incantations. As she did so, spiritual power began to gather outside the cave, forming runes that shot into the cave one after another. The black cat had not expected Ding Yan to have this ability and quickly dodged. However, as more runes appeared, it found it increasingly difficult to defend itself within the cave.
Suddenly, the black cat's eyes lit up, and it emitted a burst of spiritual energy towards a corner of the cave wall. The wall there slowly opened to reveal a hidden passage. The black cat quickly snatched the spirit herb and darted into the passage. Ding Yan felt an unusual fluctuation in the spiritual energy and rushed into the cave to find that the black cat had vanished. She searched around and quickly discovered the entrance to the hidden passage.
Ding Yan didn't hesitate to follow the hidden passage. The interior of the passage was dark and damp, permeated with an ancient aroma. As she walked, the area suddenly opened up in front of her, revealing an ancient formation. The black cat stood in the center of the formation, challenging Ding Yan with its eyes.
As Ding Yan was about to step into the formation, she keenly sensed danger. She stopped and began to study the formation's flaws. The black cat, seeing this, felt a sense of unease. It had originally thought that Ding Yan would rush in recklessly, but now it seemed that this human woman was no ordinary individual.
Ding Yan walked around the formation, carefully observing the patterns of the formation's designs and the flow of spiritual energy. The black cat in the formation grew more agitated, growling repeatedly in an attempt to disturb Ding Yan.
Suddenly, Ding Yan's eyes shone brightly. She noticed that the spiritual energy flow at a crucial node in the formation was slightly sluggish. She subtly gathered spiritual energy at her fingertip and waited for the right moment to shoot out a burst of light. A slight explosion echoed as the formation developed a small crack.
The black cat was frightened and shocked, wanting to repair the formation but too late. Ding Yan took the opportunity to rush into the formation and pounce towards the black cat. Seeing the situation was dire, the black cat dropped the spirit herb and turned to flee.
After picking up the spirit herb, Ding Yan didn't stop. She continued to chase the black cat. The black cat ran into a dead end and saw no way out. It stood up straight, its hair standing on end, preparing for a desperate fight.
But Ding Yan stopped and said, "Today's incident didn't have to end this way. If you had shared this spirit herb with me earlier, I would have returned the favor in kind." The black cat widened its eyes, seemingly pondering the truthfulness of her words. In the end, the black cat laid down its hostility, and Ding Yan gave some of the spirit herb to the black cat as a gesture of goodwill. Afterwards, she took the remaining spirit herb and left to find a quiet place for cultivation.
Ding Yan took out all the spirit medicine. As she absorbed the spirit medicine, she also cultivated to enhance her power. To her surprise, this time her gains were so immense. Just as she was about to break through, suddenly the sky turned dark and gloomy, followed by heavy rain and thunderclaps with lightning crashing down as if the sky had been torn apart!
Ding Yan looked up at the sky, perplexed. "What's going on? Who has provoked the sky? What kind of divine will has been violated to cause such a phenomenon?"
Ding Yan decided to stop her breakthrough first and go out to explore. She flew up into the air and headed towards the direction where the anomaly was most intense. Along the way, she saw many other cultivators also leaving, their faces all showing a look of confusion.
As she flew closer to the source, Ding Yan saw a huge light cocoon suspended in the air. Surrounding the cocoon, there were lightning flashes and thunderclaps, resembling a thunder tribulation. At this moment, an elderly man beside her exclaimed in awe, "Could it be that someone is ascending to a higher realm here?" Ding Yan was startled in her heart. Ascension? That was an extremely rare event.
Suddenly, the light cocoon stirred to life. The light flickered, and a familiar figure appeared within it—it was the black cat! The black cat exuded powerful spiritual energy fluctuations. It looked at Ding Yan and spoke in a human voice, "Thanks to the spirit herbs you provided earlier, I was able to break free from my shackles and ascend today. This celestial anomaly was caused by me."
Ding Yan was enlightened, "Ah, so that's it." The black cat continued, "This ascension counts as your share of good fortune." With that said, the black cat transformed into a ray of light and shot towards the horizon. As the black cat departed, the celestial anomaly slowly dissipated, and the crowd gradually dispersed. Ding Yan was filled with reflection, feeling that this wonderful journey of cultivation was truly full of surprises.
Ding Yan was about to return to her residence to continue her cultivation when she suddenly felt a stir in her spiritual energy. She looked down and found that a faint glow had begun to appear on her body, the result of a trace of special spiritual energy she had picked up while dealing with the black cat earlier. Under the influence of the black cat's ascension, it seemed as though this trace of spiritual energy would undergo metamorphosis.
Ding Yan quickly found an empty valley and sat down cross-legged, guiding the flowing spiritual energy. As the energy circulated, some unfamiliar magic formations appeared in her consciousness. Ding Yan copied them as best as she could, and the surrounding spiritual energy surged into her body.
After everything settled down, Ding Yan found that her cultivation had improved significantly and she had also mastered a defensive spell she had never seen before. She was overjoyed and thought to herself, "This is truly an unexpected opportunity."
Ding Yan stood up and looked towards the direction where the black cat had flown away, muttering to herself, "I wonder what shape we will be in when we meet again." Then, her figure flashed, and she disappeared into the valley, ready to embrace the next segment of her cultivation journey filled with unknowns.
As Ding Yan moved through the mountains and forests, she suddenly heard a melodious flute sound. Curiosity piqued, she headed in the direction of the sound. What she saw was a white-clad man sitting by a stream, playing the flute. There were strange spiritual energy fluctuations surrounding him, which made Ding Yan wary.
The man, sensing something, stopped playing and turned around. He looked at Ding Yan with a slight smile and said, "Don't be afraid, young lady. I am merely a practitioner of cultivation." Ding Yan sized him up and found no malevolent aura emanating from him.
The man introduced himself as Su Ye, proficient in musical spells. After a few conversations, Ding Yan learned that there was a rare spiritual fruit about to ripen here, which many cultivators were coveting. Su Ye invited Ding Yan to explore it together, and after thinking for a moment, she agreed. Upon reaching the destination, several cultivators were already waiting in secret. As the spiritual fruit matured, the crowd began to scramble for it.
Ding Yan deployed the new defensive spell she had learned to counterattacks, and she coordinated well with Su Ye. After a fierce competition, Ding Yan successfully obtained the spiritual fruit. She looked at Su Ye with gratitude, and he said he hoped they could go on another adventure together in the future. Ding Yan consumed the spiritual fruit, which made her spiritual energy more abundant, and then bid farewell to Su Ye and set off on her new journey alone.
Meanwhile, Mu Wenjie also felt it. The celestial anomaly he had just experienced, he didn't know who had caused it. He could only silently wonder if it was one of his Dao partners who had triggered the anomaly, which would mean that their power had further advanced. If they could all advance further, then they would be completely self-sufficient in the fourth heaven and wouldn't need him to worry about them anymore.
Huang Ling'er and Jiang Yu, too, sensed the celestial anomaly, hoping that it was caused by one of their companions. If this celestial anomaly were triggered by one of their companions, then it would mean that this companion's strength had reached a new level. If everyone's strength could trigger such an anomaly, then their power would be immeasurable. Moreover, they would also be able to help Mo Wenjie have no worries at all in the Fourth Heaven!
Ding Yan, while traveling alone, suddenly felt a powerful suction. She struggled but to no avail, being pulled into a mysterious space. The area was shrouded in thick fog, and in the distance, an ancient palace appeared and disappeared. Ding Yan cautiously made her way towards the palace. Along the way, she encountered various traps and restrictions. Using the experience she had accumulated earlier, she managed to solve them one by one.
Upon entering the palace, Ding Yan found a variety of magic treasures and secret manuals. As she excitedly looked through them, she heard a sinister laughter behind her. She turned around to see an evil cultivator, who coldly said, "These things are not for you, little girl." Ding Yan wasn't afraid at all and began to fight him.
During the fight, Ding Yan noticed that the evil cultivator was strong but seemed to have sustained serious injuries. She seized the opportunity and delivered a full-force attack. The evil cultivator couldn't withstand it and fled away in shame. Ding Yan let out a sigh of relief, choosing a few magic treasures suitable for her and a profound secret manual.
When she left the mysterious space with her spoils, she found that a great deal of time had passed in the outside world. Mo Wenjie and others had been searching for her. Seeing her return safely and with enhanced strength, they were all very happy. Huang Ling'er said with a smile, "Ding Yan sister, you always bring us surprises." Ding Yan laughed in response, "The path of cultivation is full of opportunities; it's all about daring to explore." From then on, Ding Yan continued to adventure with her companions in the cultivation world, writing their own legends.
