Between the valleys, within a lush green forest, the little master Ling stood amongst the crowd, basking in his status as a revered leader among the group. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gu Ruoyun walking out of the crowd.

　　A cocky smile bloomed on his delicate face. “Just you wait and see, Gu Ruoyun! When the time of our duel arrives, I’ll make you kneel before me and call me grandfather!”

　　…

　　Spiritual energy was abundant in the Heavenly Spirit Formation, far more than whatever was available in the world outside. If Gu Ruoyun were to cultivate here and utilize the help of the Qi Gathering Pill, she would definitely break through to level four in the Qi Collection ranks in less than a month.

　　As such, after entering the Heavenly Spirit Formation, she first convinced Luo Yin to go to another area for practice and found a cave for herself to cultivate in.

　　At this moment, Gu Ruoyun sat cross-legged in the cave, allowing faint wisps of spiritual energy to slowly engulf her body. They were absorbed into her open pores as it seeped into her spiritual ocean.

　　Gu Ruoyun felt an unspeakable sense of comfort as she watched the spiritual energy slowly pouring into her spiritual ocean.

　　Time passed as minutes and seconds rolled on. In that period of time, she remained hidden in the cave, cultivating. Most people who had not seen her for a long time had assumed that she had died in the claws of some demonic beast.

　　Just as everyone began to believe that she was already dead, a wave of faintly discernible spiritual energy washed over a cave not too far off from the door to the Heavenly Spirit Formation. While it’s fluctuations were not great, anyone who was near the cave could feel it clearly.

　　“I’ve finally broken through to level four in the Qi Collection ranks.”

　　Gu Ruoyun opened her eyes and murmured, “I wonder how much time has passed.”

　　As she spoke, a demonic voice spoke calmly from within her soul, “It’s been almost twenty days.”

　　“Twenty days?” Gu Ruoyun shook, “I thought it’s been a month, I didn’t think that it’s only been twenty days. This is all thanks to the Qi Gathering Pill. Without it, I probably wouldn’t even be able to breakthrough. Even a month would not be enough.”

　　After all, back in the East Peak Mainland, she needed a month and a half to break through. And even then, she was considered an absolute genius.

　　Gu Ruoyun’s throat tightened at the thought. She had a feeling that her achievements in this life would be on par with her achievements from her past life at the very least.

　　“Mm?”

　　Suddenly, Gu Ruoyun felt a peculiar fluctuation of energy from deep within the cave. A hint of astonishment flashed across her face, “What a powerful spiritual energy! That… That’s a spiritual weapon? But I didn’t even sense its aura when I came in here. Could it be that I accidentally touched something while I was cultivating?”

　　In that moment, her heart nearly leaped from her chest.

　　“That’s a spiritual weapon, it’s not like any other weapon!” She thought to herself. After all, spiritual weapons carry spiritual energy. And if one were to obtain a high-class spiritual weapon, it would even contain a sword spirit that can materialize in battles. In a duel, if two opponents have the same level of strength, but one wielded an average weapon and the other a spiritual weapon, the latter will certainly win in the end.

　　Most importantly, spiritual weapons do not simply crop up everywhere like cabbages. You might even say that they were a rare find. Even Gu Ruoyun herself wasn’t able to obtain one in her past life.

　　She certainly didn’t expect to find such a treasure in just a few days. Most people would kill to have this.

　　“That is indeed the fluctuations from a spiritual weapon. Go take a look, little girl. Perhaps you’ll find an unexpected reward.”

　　“Alright.”

　　Gu Ruoyun nodded. But what she couldn’t understand was this — how could the members of the Weapon Refining Sect not know of the presence of this spiritual weapon? Otherwise, why did they not claim it as their own?

　　“No!” She thought.

　　“The Weapon Refining Sect prioritized refining weapons. They could not possibly miss out on a spiritual weapon,” she reasoned, “So why has this spiritual weapon been left here for such a long time, and why hasn’t anyone taken it away?”