Chapter 119: Things Found Everywhere

Gu Yi’s assessment was correct. Although the number of practitioners in the world who reach the Integration stage is extremely rare, the two spirits surrounding the Eighteenth Master in this Great Rain Palace were indeed at the Integration stage.

It was the first time even Gu Yi had seen spirits reach such a level.

Yan Gou was the mischievous one; he didn't always want to fight Gu Yi, preferring to play games instead—like hide-and-seek. When he was happy, he was exceptionally so, and being agile, he would flit and flutter around one's body.

Long-Legged Cat, on the other hand, was rather proud. He kept to himself and preferred solitude unless one provoked him into a fight.

But Gu Yi could not defeat them.

He certainly hadn't fought with the same desperate intensity as he had against Mo Chi, but in truth, that changed nothing.

"Young man Gu Yi, stop holding back your strength. Use all your skills so that I can know what to teach you."

Not far away, the Eighteenth Master sat steadily, stroking his beard, occasionally letting out a hearty laugh. He knew Gu Yi had his reservations. "Didn't that girl Shu Le say you could also borrow the power of heaven and earth? We have actually studied this, but 'being able to borrow' and 'refinement' are two different concepts. Long-Legged Cat is right; you must show us, so we know how to instruct you."

Practitioners fight using spiritual energy. The coarseness or refinement, the coldness or heat, and the quantity of this energy directly affect combat capability. Quantity is easy to understand: the human body is like a vessel for spiritual energy, and every practitioner has a different, finite limit to what they can "store."

In other words, even if two people are both at the Returning to Simplicity stage, if your opponent can utilize more spiritual energy than you, you will undoubtedly be defeated.

During the previous battle with Mo Chi, both Shu Le and Shu Yu had experienced a depletion of spiritual energy. Especially Shu Yu—her injuries were not particularly severe before meeting Zhang Weiyu, yet her combat ability had significantly declined simply because she had no energy left to use. The difference between the Shu Yu who faced Mo Chi and the Shu Yu who pierced Qing Feng with a single sword by the Ancient Green River was stark.

It follows that those who are refined in controlling spiritual energy naturally use it more "efficiently," achieving their desired results with the least amount of energy. Because the physical body is ultimately limited, energy is consumed rapidly in high-intensity combat, and once it is exhausted, physical collapse follows.

In such circumstances, Gu Yi’s ability to summon spiritual energy from everything in nature between heaven and earth could indeed be considered an enhancement to his combat capability. This was what the Eighteenth Master was referring to.

Long-Legged Cat stood with his arms crossed, watching Gu Yi. He wouldn't truly harm him—that would be of no benefit—but a combative soul always carries some unpleasant traits, such as the arrogance currently plastered across his face. A strange ring of silver spiritual energy swirled around his body.

Gu Yi knew that wasn't his own; Long-Legged Cat’s natural energy was yellow. The Eighteenth Master, that kind soul, had taught them many things. However, unlike Gu Yi, they mostly used spiritual energy derived from one or two specific sources. For instance, Long-Legged Cat’s energy came from the lake water. Its momentum was not as vast as Gu Yi’s, but because it was not mixed, it was more refined.

That must be what the Eighteenth Master taught. Gu Yi was interested because his own use of heaven and earth energy suffered from the flaw of being "broad but not deep," making its power weak and easily countered or transformed by opponents like Mo Chi.

"Long-Legged Cat, what is the 'Dao' you have integrated?" Gu Yi shouted at him.

Long-Legged Cat maintained his pose. "I am a spirit; the Dao I integrated is naturally the Spirit Dao."

Spirit Dao? Gu Yi was stunned. He had heard of the Dao of Heaven, Earth, and Man, but the Spirit Dao?

"Does the Spirit Dao really exist in this world?"

"Every path is different. You boy, is that so strange? Hurry up and strike; let me see the strength of your Returning to Simplicity stage. The Eighteenth and the others are waiting to see too."

"Alright then."

Gu Yi closed his eyes. In the Great Rain Palace, he felt a sense of returning to Small Garden Mountain; there, too, he had received guidance, though the instructors were different. What remained the same was that his cultivation level was relatively low compared to them. Therefore, there was no need to hide his talent or strength. The more talent he displayed, the more the Eighteenth Master would protect him.

*Hum.*

This was not a life-or-death struggle, so Long-Legged Cat gave him enough time. As time passed, white light began to flash on Gu Yi’s body, accompanied by a humming sound.

"Yan Lang, don't move anymore. Look at how brilliant his light is." The Eighteenth Master remained cheerful; he had been in a good mood these past few days, perhaps because he was finally less bored.

"Hmm?" Long-Legged Cat furrowed his brows, one high and one low, then his mouth slowly opened. "It’s already brighter than an average person’s. Can it get even brighter?"

*Hum, hum, hum.*

The white light rings on Gu Yi’s body spread continuously, and the surrounding land was cast in a vast, white glow. This process was merely him sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; it did not release any power. When one resonates with nature, light naturally emerges. The difference lies in how bright that light can be.

Gu Yi did not constrain himself as he had before. He immersed himself in nature. At first, he could hear the slight lapping of the water, the chirping of cicadas in the sky, and the swaying of leaves in the wind. Later, he began to hear the beating hearts of the Eighteenth Master and the other two, their breathing, and the panting of animals running in the woods. Still later, he sensed the many fish in the lake and the small creatures beneath the soil of the forest. Then, he knew when a fish flicked its tail, he knew when a leaf was about to fall from a tree, and he knew when an earthworm was burrowing deep within the dirt...

When he opened his eyes, the world was filled with light; everything was within his sight—or more accurately, within his perception.

Long-Legged Cat no longer had his arms crossed. He leaned back, his hands making strange, unconscious motions. He pointed at Gu Yi, looking both stunned and flustered. "You! You! That’s enough! Stop it, the Palace Master will see soon!"

On the nearby ground, Yan Gou’s mouth was open wide enough to fit a foot, and the seriousness of the Eighteenth Master’s aura made him look more dashing than ever!

Gu Yi felt slightly strange about Long-Legged Cat’s words. "Didn't you want to see? I haven't finished yet!"

Long-Legged Cat nearly choked on his own breath. You truly are something. "It’s enough! It’s enough! If the Palace Master sees this, she will surely take you away!"

As the old saying goes, if you don't listen to the elders, you suffer the consequences. To avoid such a foolish end, Gu Yi obeyed. The light on his body suddenly contracted, and for a moment, the earth grew dark, as if a sun had vanished.

"Gu Yi of Luyang Academy," the Eighteenth Master murmured the name, then instantly looked despondent. "Sigh, with such brilliant talent, how did you end up in the Great Rain Palace? The Xu Kingdom has lost another top-tier master."

Gu Yi asked Long-Legged Cat, "Why would the Palace Master want to capture me?"

Long-Legged Cat looked as if he were breaking into a sweat, but he simply replied, "I don't know, I was just talking nonsense. I just feel like everyone wants something precious."

Gu Yi: "..."

He looked so fierce, yet he was such a cowardly cat.

"Do we still need to fight?"

The Eighteenth Master's voice came through: "Fight!"

Gu Yi had already readjusted himself.

*Bang!*

As he raised his arms, the familiar scene unfolded. In an instant, the spiritual energy of the grass, rocks, and trees poured out and gathered, swirling slowly around Gu Yi’s body.

"Ah?! What the hell is this?!" Long-Legged Cat stared at the colorful energy suddenly manifesting, his expression crumbling. He seemed genuinely frightened. "Are you the spirit here?!" he shouted at Gu Yi.

Gu Yi: "How am I a spirit? Besides, you are a spirit yourself—are you implying that being a spirit is a bad thing?"

"No, I mean, is this something a human is even capable of?!" Long-Legged Cat didn't care if he had just insulted himself.

The Eighteenth Master, after his own pupils constricted, revealed a smile, tinged with excitement. "Yan Lang..."

"Yeah..." Yan Lang kept his gaze locked on Gu Yi. "I know. Very young, high talent, Returning to Simplicity stage... To find the answers to the mysteries of the mortal world beyond the Saint of Arts, relying on yourself won't be enough to break through to the Mortal Realm."

"Eighteenth," Long-Legged Cat suddenly flew down, "what do I do now?"

The Eighteenth Master replied bluntly, "Fight him."

Long-Legged Cat felt troubled. "What if I break him?"

"If you break him, I will castrate you! Go!"

Long-Legged Cat suddenly felt in a bad mood; he usually loved to fight. "Young man Gu Yi, you are the third person I don't want to fight."

"Oh? And who were the first two?"

"The first is him," Long-Legged Cat pointed at the Eighteenth Master. "The second is Gu Baici."

"They are both stronger than you, yet I am weaker than you. Why don't you want to fight me?"

"Because it’s not satisfying."

"Hurry up! Long-Legged Cat!" The Eighteenth Master on the ground suddenly became like a demon, pointing at Long-Legged Cat and cursing, "Do you want to try wasting more time?"

Gu Yi: I vaguely remember the Eighteenth Master saying that time here doesn't matter...

"Here I come. Try not to get hurt."

Despite his words, his claws extended, hissing with spiritual energy, and he charged with incredible speed.

Gu Yi wanted to try that technique—his Glinting Thousand Needle Art. With a flick of his fingers, a beam of needle-light appeared; with a soft, gentle grasp, sharp, thin needles flew toward Long-Legged Cat as he waved his hands.

*Clang, clang, clang!*

The sound of claws colliding with needle-light was crisp. Long-Legged Cat reacted quickly, his evasion skills strong. He dodged and parried within the needle-light, not getting touched once.

The Eighteenth Master was slightly surprised. "Why aren't you using the spiritual energy you gathered?"

"See anything?" Yan Lang asked.

The Eighteenth Master shook his head. It was strange, but it had only just begun.

Gu Yi couldn't stop Long-Legged Cat from closing the distance; the guy was too fast. Gu Yi was forced to retreat, while a longer, sharper needle materialized in his right hand.

*Clang!*

Gu Yi used it to block Long-Legged Cat’s claw strikes repeatedly. Although it looked like simple offense and defense, it was only because everyone present was an expert. If it were an ordinary practitioner at the Spirit Guarding stage, they wouldn't just struggle with the pressure of such high-level energy; even the simplest thrust or parry would be too fast for them to handle.

Gu Yi found himself struggling against Long-Legged Cat’s onslaught. The cat was always a fraction faster, finding gaps in the defense, and Gu Yi would be injured if he were the least bit careless. The Eighteenth Master’s intention was clear: fight, but don't cause injury.

However, caught up in the heat of battle, Long-Legged Cat grew increasingly engrossed, cheering and shouting as he enjoyed the thrill.

*Whoosh!*

Three claw marks, enhanced by spiritual energy, appeared sharper than before. Gu Yi’s intent shifted, and he waved his hand, summoning the floating spiritual energy to block. But he wasn't careful enough, and the energy was sliced right through.

*Holy crap!*

Gu Yi was shocked and scrambled to dodge. The Eighteenth Master, who had been watching, flinched, his fingers already pressed together. Fortunately, there was plenty of spiritual energy surrounding Gu Yi; in that split second, the energy pulled him away just in the nick of time.

"Again! Again!" Long-Legged Cat was becoming more and more excited.

But the next moment, he was suddenly struck by a surge of energy from the sky. "Ah!"

Gu Yi was bewildered. He looked closely and saw that it was the Eighteenth Master who had struck. He was usually gentle and refined, but now his face was dark as he scolded Long-Legged Cat, "What were you thinking? Treating my words like wind in your ears."

So... he could actually be violent too.

Afterward, Gu Yi retracted his power and landed slowly. "It’s fine. Injuries are sometimes unavoidable in battle. Don't blame Long-Legged Cat because of me."

Long-Legged Cat nodded with lingering fear. He had been a bit carried away. *Young man Gu Yi really understands me and speaks up for me.*

After landing, Gu Yi walked closer. "I won't hold a grudge against him. Besides, when I'm strong enough to beat him in the future, I’ll just pay it back then."

Yan Gou acted like an idiot. "Yes, Eighteenth, I think young man Gu Yi makes sense."

"Idiot." The Eighteenth Master labeled Yan Gou with that word, then let Long-Legged Cat up. "Alright, come over here."

There was a question he had to ask Gu Yi first.

"Do you know that you are very talented?"

Gu Yi thought to himself, *What is this?* "Of course I know."

"And do you know how formidable those talents are?"

"I know that too; they are just stronger than all of yours."

Long-Legged Cat and Yan Gou turned their heads in perfect unison to look at him, then turned back in perfect unison. It was as if they were saying: *What did you just say? Oh, it’s him, never mind.*

The Eighteenth Master also laughed, returning to the kind and amiable senior. "They are indeed stronger than ours, so this talent of yours must not be wasted easily. Even if you can never leave the Great Rain Palace, the path of seeking immortality is mysterious and profound, hiding too many wonders. Whether you are in adversity or prosperity, you should explore. What do you think?"

Gu Yi listened attentively.

"Watching you mobilize so much spiritual energy just now was truly astonishing. However, despite the impressive momentum, why didn't you integrate that energy into your own techniques during the fight, instead letting it scatter and drift, only using it as occasional assistance?"

"Furthermore, the boundaries between those energies are clear. Why keep them piled up in a heap? Such impure spiritual energy is of little use."

Gu Yi told the truth. "They are inherently different energies; how can they be fused? And how can they be fused into me?"

These were two questions. The first was that when Gu Yi used his techniques, they could only be his own energy, which made them more powerful. The second was that these energies from different sources could not fuse; to put it vividly, they were a rabble—scattered at the first strike.

The Eighteenth Master had seen the crux of the problem within a few moves. But solving it was troublesome and would take time.

The Eighteenth Master spoke slowly. "Practitioners are often limited by the amount of their own spiritual energy. Most people intentionally or unintentionally hope to have more, yet the physical body always has a limit. I have been trapped in the Great Rain Palace for twenty years, and I finally realized I could borrow the spiritual energy of this heaven and earth."

"But this is no easy task. The things from which you can borrow energy require a high degree of resonance with your own body. Such things are hard to come by, so the three of us could only find one thing each to borrow energy from."

Gu Yi knew the Eighteenth Master; he had seen him draw energy from peach blossoms before, and he had seen Long-Legged Cat... "Are you water?"

Long-Legged Cat denied it. "No, it’s fish."

The Eighteenth Master continued, "We have no way to obtain spiritual energy from other things. That is why Long-Legged Cat was so shocked by your previous actions. Speaking of which, where did you learn this?"

Gu Yi felt he could say it, or rather, when you are in front of a Saint of Arts and two Integration-stage masters, what kind of lie could you successfully tell?

"This method comes from the Two Peaks, but I am not a person of the Two Peaks."

Actually, he was still truly shocked by the Eighteenth Master himself. In the outside world, in the Xu Kingdom, no one knew how to do this. This "method" had basically been erased from the history of cultivation. Only in some special places did memories of the Two Peaks remain. Over the years, it had essentially ceased to exist.

And what was the Eighteenth Master doing? No one told him he could do this, but he had discovered it, and he had successfully taken the first step! This was creation from nothing!

"The Two Peaks..." The Eighteenth Master looked slightly worried. "It’s been a long time since I heard that name. After disappearing for so many years, are they active again?"

Gu Yi said, "The one called Qing Feng, whom Shu Yu made me kill, was a person of the Two Peaks."

"Is that so?" The Eighteenth Master showed some interest. "But let’s set that aside for now. The method of the Two Peaks is indeed formidable; no wonder it once had a glorious past. Now that you have learned it, use it wisely. What I can teach you is how to fuse the borrowed spiritual energy with your own."

"Before you learn this, there is no need for you to mobilize such a massive amount of spiritual energy at once. The method of the Two Peaks is not necessarily entirely correct, don't you think?"

The Eighteenth Master had studied the Two Peaks; to say such a thing showed how confident he was. Gu Yi thought about it carefully. The energies were indeed from different sources and chaotic; the Eighteenth Master was right.

"Then how do we find a thing whose spiritual energy can fuse with our own?"

"I don't know the answer to that."

Long-Legged Cat and Yan Gou spoke in unison: "You have to find that yourself. What do you want to find?"

Gu Yi blurted out, "I want to find something that is everywhere, so I won't be unable to find it during a fight."

*Something that is everywhere? What could that be?*