SWDnovel Chapter 70 Overnight Stay
Chapter 70 Overnight Stay
The cave is not large, but it is dry.
The cave walls are recessed inward, forming a natural semi-circular space that can barely accommodate more than twenty people.
The entrance to the cave is narrow, allowing only two people to pass side by side, which makes it convenient for defense.
The only drawback is the poor ventilation; the cave is filled with a lingering damp, fishy smell, mixed with the stench of animal dung that had just been cleaned out, making one feel nauseous.
But no one complained; finding a cave to shelter from the wind and rain to spend the night in the Shifang Mountains was already considered good luck.
It's much better than sleeping in the wilderness and having your head snatched away by a monster in the middle of the night.
Chen Bai followed the group of independent cultivators into the cave and chose a corner to sit down.
The cold rocks of the cave wall pressed against my back, sending a chill into my bones.
He took out a worn gray robe from his pouch, casually draped it over his shoulders, and then put the pouch behind his head, as if preparing to rest.
The sky outside the cave had completely darkened.
However, the group did not light a campfire. In this perilous Shifang Mountain Range, even the outer areas were fraught with danger. Lighting a fire at night would be like having a bright lamp and a staff, shouting "Catch the thief!" in a thief's den, alerting the surrounding monsters to the presence of humans.
Xue Zhen directed several outer disciples to hang up a few fluorescent stones inside the cave, and ordered someone to affix a talisman to each side of the cave entrance to conceal their aura.
It was illuminated by the faint glow emitted by the fluorite.
Xue Zhen turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces, his tone indifferent, "Two of you will stand guard with my Lingjian Sect disciples tonight. You will be on guard in two shifts, each shift lasting half an hour."
Upon hearing this, the rogue cultivators immediately began whispering among themselves.
Chen Bai sat in the corner, watching all of this, but said nothing.
He knew in his heart that although Xue Zhen's arrangement was troublesome, it was not without reason.
There is a lack of trust between independent cultivators and outer disciples. If one side is left to keep watch alone at night, the other side will inevitably be unable to sleep peacefully.
If each side contributes half, it may not necessarily prevent external enemies, but at least it can prevent each other from plotting against one another.
It seems that only by arranging things this way can everyone find peace.
The four independent cultivators on night watch had already taken their positions.
One person guarded the cave entrance, two people patrolled back and forth ten feet outside the cave, and a third person stood guard from a high place.
Duan Heisi and Miao Wuniang were among them. The former was cursing and squatting at the cave entrance, while the latter sat quietly cross-legged on a large rock high up, gazing calmly into the darkness in the distance.
Wu Liang couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did. He pulled out a palm-sized gourd from somewhere, took a swig, and smacked his lips, saying, "This godforsaken place, not even a cricket chirps at night."
No one responded to him.
Chen Bai closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, but he didn't actually fall asleep. Instead, he turned his gaze back to his sea of consciousness, where the Guiyuan Creation Cauldron was quietly floating.
Several orbs of light were arranged neatly and slowly rotated around the cauldron; these were the spoils extracted from the remains of the Ink-Scaled Water Anaconda.
He didn't touch those orbs of light for the time being.
There are too many people and too much information right now; it's not the time for refinement or enlightenment.
Chen Bai withdrew his consciousness from his sea of consciousness, and his right hand imperceptibly reached into his robes, pulling out a thumb-sized, blood-red demonic essence. The essence was covered with cracks, and only a small portion of pure spiritual energy remained inside. If nothing unexpected happened, it would turn into ashes after this meditation session.
Chen Bai held the small condensed demonic essence in his palm, his five fingers closed, the edge just fitting between his fingers, so that from the outside, there was no sign of anything unusual.
He adjusted his breathing and began to practice the fetal breathing technique.
The cultivation of the fetal breathing realm emphasizes "regulating the breath and calming the qi, calming the qi and concentrating the spirit".
In the lower-middle levels of embryonic breathing techniques, one uses spiritual awareness to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which is then channeled through the meridians into the dantian. The dantian then acts as a furnace to refine this spiritual energy into one's own embryonic breathing true qi. The entire process is slow and clumsy, like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket; it's considered good if five or six out of ten parts of the spiritual energy can be retained.
However, this "Fetal Breathing Scripture" was passed down by an unknown person, and it was a superior cultivation method that could only be practiced by the true disciples of immortal sects and direct descendants of immortal clans. In addition, Chen Bai's own "Dao Wisdom" was already far beyond his own realm, so when he went back to comprehend these basic but rudimentary cultivation principles, he could cultivate them with ease.
With such a high-level perspective as guidance, the speed of cultivation is naturally bound to be fast.
The true qi of embryonic breathing slowly increases in the dantian...
"In a few more days, I will be able to break through to the mid-stage of the embryonic breathing realm naturally." Chen Baifu's spiritual senses were suddenly awakened, and a premonition arose naturally.
This feeling is very subtle, like all rivers flowing into the sea, with wisps of spiritual energy flowing into the dantian. Although it is slow, it is real and tangible.
Chen Bai could clearly feel that the true qi of the fetal breath in his dantian had filled most of the dantian as the spiritual energy was continuously refined, and it was about to move outward.
He was overjoyed, but the speed at which he absorbed the demon essence in his hand slowed down—there were many people and eyes in the cave, and if the fluctuation of his aura was too great, it would inevitably attract the attention of those who wanted to.
And so, an hour passed.
The luster of that small piece of demonic essence dimmed completely, and several fine cracks appeared on its surface. Then it shattered into a handful of dust in his hand.
Without making a sound, Chen Bai, concealed by his gray robe, let go and allowed the dust to fall.
Feeling the slightly more abundant and profound true qi in his dantian, he nodded slightly.
Just then, a cry of surprise came from outside the cave.
Something's coming!
It was the voice of the night watchman.
Everyone inside the cave was instantly awakened. Several half-asleep, rogue cultivators sprang to their feet almost instinctively, weapons already in their hands. The outer disciples reacted even faster; Xue Zhen was the first to rush out of the cave, his hand seals already formed, a layer of pale golden protective aura emanating from his body.
Chen Bai also stood up, walked quickly to the cave entrance, and looked out.
A patrolling outer disciple pointed to the bushes to the east, his voice trembling: "Just now... just now there was a noise over there, a huge dark shadow!"
Xue Zhen narrowed his eyes, looked in that direction for a while, and snorted coldly: "What's the panic!"
It's perfectly normal for demonic beasts to appear in the Ten Directions Mountains at night. As long as they're not coming for us, we don't need to pay them any attention. With so many of us, ordinary demonic beasts wouldn't dare approach.
The patrolling disciple was still somewhat shaken, but seeing that no demonic beasts were rushing over, he gradually relaxed and returned to his post.
This was just a minor incident.
Chen Bai withdrew his gaze and sat back down in the corner.
That night, similar disturbances occurred twice more. Once, a clumsy monster resembling a wild boar wandered near the cave, was startled, and fled in panic; the other time, a flock of unknown night birds suddenly took flight from the forest, the sound of their wings flapping in the night wind like the wailing of ghosts.
But in the end, it was a close call without any real danger.
When the sky began to lighten again, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
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