My Daily Cultivation Life with a Clumsy Female Disciple

Chapter 397

The ship departing from Whale Fall City had been sailing for two days when it arrived at Divine Essence Mountain, or as it could also be called, Divine Essence Island.

From a great distance, someone standing at the bow of the ship pointed at the towering mountain in the sea and shouted, "Divine Essence Mountain!!!" His excited tone and hopeful gaze made it seem as if the Divine Essence Condensation on the mountain was beckoning to him.

Soon after, people couldn't wait for the ship to dock and took flight, soaring directly from the deck towards Divine Essence Mountain. As one person flew up, countless others followed suit. The deck became like a bird colony, with people taking off one after another, darkening the sky as over a hundred individuals flew towards Divine Essence Mountain.

At this time, Qin Ran had already changed his appearance and facial features, relying on the unique properties of his water clone.

He stood on the deck and waited for a while, observing that the first batch of people who flew to the island didn't suffer any attacks or encounter any dangers. Only then did he use his movement technique to fly towards the island, blending in with the equally cautious group of cultivators.

Divine Essence Mountain truly was a mountain, not just some small mound peeking out of the sea, but a towering peak rising thousands of meters above sea level, stretching into the clouds.

The mountain's girth was also impressive. Looking from one side, one could see its outline extending to where the sea met the sky. The hundred-plus people who had flown from the ship seemed insignificant upon landing on the island. To find these people, one would have to pay close attention.

Clearly, this ship wasn't the first to arrive at Divine Essence Mountain. At the foot of the mountain and along the shore, over a dozen large ships were already docked.

Not all cultivators seeking opportunities on Divine Essence Mountain had arrived by ship; many had flown or swum there.

So, in addition to the hundred-plus people from this ship, there were already quite a few people on the island mountain.

Qin Ran took a discreet aerial survey and saw people at the base of the island, on the mountainside, and at the summit. He conservatively estimated that from the side he could see alone, there must be over a thousand people.

The fame of Divine Essence Mountain, the legacy of the Divine Essence Old Demon, and the allure of the Divine Essence Condensation were evident. Many people came even if they couldn't break the seal themselves... What if someone else broke it? They might be able to pick up some leftovers.

Qin Ran searched for a while before finding a secluded spot with no one around. After landing, he cautiously surveyed the surrounding area, then returned and created a bubble to envelop himself.

Inside his bubble, he took out a map from his Universe Bag.

This map was the one he had taken from Tie Ruonan. While on the ship, he had kept it sealed, fearing there might be some kind of spirit imprint on it, and hadn't dared to look at it. Only now did he open it for the first time.

Although he had no idea what the map was for, it was the map Tie Ruonan had brought with her to Divine Essence Island. It must have a significant connection to the island.

So rather than blindly starting to study the seal on Divine Essence Island like a headless fly, he might as well follow Tie Ruonan's map and see where it led. There might be some gains.

Qin Ran removed his spirit seal and inspected the map once more to ensure there were no problems before opening it.

When he looked at it, he saw an extremely simple map. It was like a child's doodle, with lines drawn crudely. One could barely make out that the wavy lines represented water, and the triangles in the water were mountains. As for what the red dot on the mountain signified, nobody could tell.

This map required bold guesswork to deduce that it depicted the Divine Essence Mountain before them, and a bit of brainpower to figure out that the destination was the red dot on the mountain.

But that was the extent of it.

To be honest, the drawing was quite abstract.

Even as Qin Ran compared it to the Divine Essence Mountain in front of him, he couldn't make out what exactly was drawn on it.

He frowned, staring at it for a good while, but still couldn't discern any hidden meaning in the map.

"I thought I had a starting point, but I can't even understand the map," Qin Ran chuckled self-deprecatingly, shaking his head as he sealed the map again and casually tossed it back into his Universe Bag.

It seemed he would have to start from scratch in studying the seal on Divine Essence Mountain after all.

But just as he put the map away, he suddenly realized something... It wasn't that he was underestimating Tie Ruonan, but if he couldn't understand this map, how could she?

Unless there was more to this map than met the eye!

Unless it was a map that only Tie Ruonan could understand!

As this thought struck him, his hair suddenly stood on end! If this map was designed for only Tie Ruonan to understand, then it must have markers that only she could detect, marks that only she could discover.

He quickly used his "Illusory as Flowers in the Mirror, Moon Reflected in the Water" technique. His form shimmered, and another figure leapt out from his body, diving straight out of the bubble and burrowing into the ground.

Meanwhile, Qin Ran's original form took out the map and continued to pretend to study it in place.

He hadn't been studying for long when a blade of light slashed towards him from afar. Perhaps due to its overwhelming power, the blade cut through the bubble and cleaved the Qin Ran inside in half, leaving him no chance to resist.

As the blade struck, it split open the rocky ground, creating a fissure. Close behind the blade of light, a sturdy woman flew in. She landed with a "thud," holding a battle blade in her hand, her tiger-like eyes as cold as ice as she stared at the bisected Qin Ran on the ground.

"You dare to trick your aunty?!"

She approached with her blade, using its tip to poke at the two halves of Qin Ran's corpse, confirming he was dead. Then she picked up the map from the ground.

She sensed it briefly, confirming it was her map, then opened it and raised her finger, squeezing out a drop of blood onto the map.

As her blood fell, the simple line drawing instantly transformed into a clear ink painting. The mountains and waters on the map became distinct, every blade of grass, every tree, every stone and bird as vivid as reality.

The landscape depicted was none other than the Divine Essence Mountain before them. On this map, there was also a red dot, but this one was clear and precise, marking a platform indentation halfway up the mountain, corresponding exactly to the Divine Essence Mountain in front of them.

This was indeed her map, and the sturdy woman, Tie Ruonan, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If she had lost this map, dying ten thousand times wouldn't have been enough.

At this moment, several cultivators flew in behind her. Sensing their approach, she quickly reverted the map in her hand to its crude line drawing state and rolled it up.

As the group landed, a man in a blood-red robe glanced at the corpse on the ground, then narrowed his eyes at Tie Ruonan and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is it him?"

Tie Ruonan replied, "It's him. I've already killed him."

As she spoke, she swung her blade again. The blade light whirled, and the two halves of the corpse on the ground instantly became countless pieces.

She had fulfilled her promise to cut this map thief into ten thousand pieces.

"I hope you haven't leaked anything," the Man in Red Robe said with a cold smile.

"That's none of your business!" Tie Ruonan turned and flew up towards the mountain.

The Man in Red Robe gave a sinister laugh but said nothing more. He took flight, following Tie Ruonan along with the others.

After Tie Ruonan and her group had flown far away, the fragments of the corpse on the ground slowly turned to water, flowing outwards and soaking into the ground.

Soon, apart from the damp ground, there was no other trace.

Then, from this wet ground, a figure slowly emerged.

He looked up in the direction Tie Ruonan had flown and chuckled lightly, "Throwing a stone... to find the way."

He closed his eyes, his spirit crystal clear.

Night fell on Divine Essence Mountain, at a certain spot halfway up the mountainside. This area was covered with flowers, grass, and trees, with birds and insects making their sounds. It looked no different from any other place. When the wind blew, the flora swayed, and the insect and bird calls briefly paused.

Tie Ruonan led the Man in Red Robe and the others, flying in from afar and landing beneath an ancient pine tree. After landing, they continued forward, but as they walked, their forms disappeared into the open space ahead. It was as if they had entered another dimension, or as if their forms had faded away.

"The spirit imprint has vanished?" Qin Ran frowned, quickening his pace to approach the spot where Tie Ruonan had disappeared.

He crouched on the branch of a large tree, watching the open space from afar.

"Was I discovered?" he wondered. "Impossible. Why would Tie Ruonan show that map to others? And none of them are spirit cultivators."

"A formation?" He looked at the open space, faintly sensing the aura of formation runes. "A trapping formation? An illusion formation? A killing formation? Or simply a concealment formation?"

Being too far away, he couldn't determine what kind of formation it was.

"Wait, wait..." Qin Ran rubbed his brow and reorganized his thoughts. "The lord of Dragon Whale Island has a map pointing to a location on Divine Essence Mountain, and this place is deliberately concealed by an array formation."

"So what could be inside this formation?"

A lord setting up an array formation at such a distant place certainly wasn't for leisure and entertainment.

What was it for then? It was easy to guess.

What did Divine Essence Mountain have? The legacy of the Divine Essence Old Demon, the Divine Essence Condensation.

"Ah!" Realizing this, Qin Ran couldn't help but slap his forehead. "I'm such an idiot! I knew the Divine Essence Old Demon's seal was difficult to break, and gathering seven celestial pills was practically impossible. But I never thought deeply about how tempting the contents would be to cultivators."

"I actually forgot that when the temptation is great enough, oppressors will stop at nothing."

Would these island lords just leave this treasure mountain here, able to see but not use?

Obviously not!

Unable to gather seven celestial pills?

Okay, so we won't gather them. There are countless unorthodox methods. There must be one that can break the seal of Divine Essence Mountain!

"This is clearly the Dragon Whale Island lord's arrangement for Divine Essence Mountain," he realized. "If the Dragon Whale Island lord can make arrangements, then other powers in the Tianlan Sea Region must be able to as well. In fact, none of the powers have given up on the Divine Essence Old Demon's legacy."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. Hadn't he just stepped into the arena where these great powers were vying for control?

Moreover, this time, he had a feeling that he was the one who triggered this Divine Essence Mountain incident. He was the butterfly that flapped its wings.

He had intentionally sought the Divine Essence Condensation and had to ask Mr. Zhai for information, so he knew that old schemer Mr. Zhai would cause trouble behind the scenes. But now it seemed that as soon as Mr. Zhai made his move, the Dragon Whale Island lord sensed something amiss and immediately seized the opportunity, pushing this incident to ferment, and then other islands... other powers joined in the fray.

Thus, it triggered this Divine Essence Mountain incident.

"There's one more thing..." Qin Ran pondered, "They've been seeking the Divine Essence Old Demon's legacy and have had arrangements on Divine Essence Mountain all along. But why let so many people come to Divine Essence Mountain? This obviously affects their arrangements. Unless..."

He thought of a possibility, "Some of them need these rogue cultivators for their arrangements. But what can rogue cultivators do? How can they be of help?"

Just then, from the forest nearby, Tie Ruonan emerged from thin air onto the clearing, holding her battle blade. Her eyes were bloodshot, exuding a murderous aura. Behind her were more than a dozen pitch-black cultivators, also holding blades and emanating killing intent.

Qin Ran's heart tightened. He looked up; the sky was about to darken.

He suddenly recalled a piece of information he had subconsciously overlooked: each Divine Essence Mountain incident was accompanied by slaughter, with many people dying. He had assumed that since it was a place of legacy with dangers, and cultivators gathered to fight for treasures, deaths were normal.

But now it seemed...

Something wasn't right. At least Divine Essence Mountain didn't have the typical dangers of a legacy site.