The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3083 Nothing Happened Overnight

Recently, although all martial artists have had rest, they have been trying to minimize their rest time and maximize their training time.

This valley is fraught with dangers, and since they had previously obtained honey, a valuable substance that could accelerate and enhance cultivation, everyone naturally prioritized cultivation and improving their own strength. Only when absolutely necessary would they close their eyes and take a nap.

So Chen Mo was on guard duty alone while the other four went to rest. The four of them didn't immediately go to sleep; instead, they seized the time to cultivate. After all, they had obtained so many bottles of honey, and they needed to consume them as quickly as possible to accelerate their cultivation and improve their strength.

"Amo, I want to stay with you!" Ouyang Ruoxi heard that Chen Mo was on duty alone, so she wanted to share the burden with him and keep him company during the night.

However, Chen Mo shook his head and refused: "No need, I can stay here and guard it by myself. You should focus on your cultivation. As long as your strength improves, you can help me in the future."

No matter the circumstances, strength is the best guarantee. When faced with danger, if you are strong enough, then danger is not danger, but opportunity.

Furthermore, it's not just Ouyang Ruoxi; Ouyang Nan and Ouyang Nana are the same. As long as their strength improves, they can indirectly help Chen Mo. Even if they can't help Chen Mo, they won't be a burden to him.

Therefore, Chen Mo should be the only one on night duty, while the others should focus on cultivation and improving their strength.

Hearing Chen Mo's words, the others, including Qian Zhenghao, echoed his sentiments, expressing their determination to improve their strength. Fortunately, everyone had honey on hand; using this item for cultivation could accelerate the process.

"Alright, you all go and cultivate. I'll stay here and guard the place," Chen Mo said to the others.

Ouyang Nan and the others nodded in agreement, then went inside the tent to begin their cultivation.

Chen Mo grabbed Ouyang Ruoxi and gestured for her to wait.

"Amo, will you let me keep you company on duty?" Ouyang Ruoxi was overjoyed when she saw Chen Mo pulling her along. The thought of being able to keep watch with her beloved filled her with happiness.

Seeing Ouyang Ruoxi's expression, Chen Mo couldn't help but smile. Even through the disguised skin, he could clearly see that she was so happy.

Chen Mo flicked her forehead and said, "What are you thinking? You should just go and cultivate properly. But, here, take this." With that, he used his pocket as cover to take out a white, curd-like object from his Qiankun bag and handed it to Ouyang Ruoxi.

"What is this?" Ouyang Ruoxi asked with some confusion after taking it.

"Shh!" Chen Mo put his index finger to his lips and whispered, "This is good stuff, it should be more effective than honey. When you cultivate later, don't drink honey, use this instead. But it's best to take it in three or four portions and see how it goes. Tell me tomorrow during the day, and if it works well, I'll give some more to you, your aunt, and Nana."

What he gave Ouyang Ruoxi was dried stalactite that he had collected in the cave hall, which was scraped off the stone pillars.

This stuff is actually even more effective than stalactite emulsion, which is why he had Ouyang Ruoxi take it in several doses to see its effects.

After all, he hadn't tried it since he returned, and since Ouyang Ruoxi was a martial artist herself, she naturally didn't know the specific effects. That's why he gave her some so she could try it out first.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

"Ah."

As Chen Mo watched Ouyang Ruoxi enter the tent, he also left a bit of true essence on her. In case the effect of the stalactite was too strong and there was too much energy that could not be absorbed, he could intervene in time to guide out the excess energy.

Standing guard outside the tent, his divine sense had a range of three and a half meters, so he could clearly perceive Ruoxi's situation and also clearly perceive the feedback from his own true essence.

After entering the tent, Ouyang Ruoxi picked up the dried stalactite, bit off a piece, and began cultivating.

Chen Mo sensed from outside that during his cultivation, his aura was stable and his strength had significantly improved. The effects of dried stalactite far surpassed those of honey.

Especially in terms of energy content, honey is much inferior.

After consuming the dried stalactite, Ouyang Ruoxi's internal energy had reached the mid-stage of the ninth level of the Acquired Realm. It could be said that just that small piece of dried stalactite had the effect equivalent to several years of cultivation.

Chen Mo sensed that Ouyang Ruoxi's aura had progressed from the initial stage to the middle stage and was gradually stabilizing, so he stopped paying attention. He also took out a piece of dried stalactite from his Qiankun bag and swallowed it directly, wanting to experience its effects.

Sure enough, the effect was quite good; even that small piece increased his true essence by a little.

Although his own strength is still at the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment stage, every bit of growth in his true essence requires accumulation. And if he were to cultivate on his own, without taking any spiritual liquids or pills, relying solely on natural cultivation, it would definitely take him several years to increase by even a fraction of that amount.

After all, this planet is a spiritual desert, with extremely thin spiritual energy, and in many places, there is no spiritual energy at all. Therefore, it is really very unfriendly to cultivators.

In fact, if Chen Mo were to form his core in the future, without external factors and relying solely on natural cultivation, it would be virtually impossible. Fortunately, he possesses not only the Qiankun Pearl but also various other elixirs, so forming his core is not a problem. As for the Nascent Soul realm beyond Core Formation, that's just wishful thinking. Achieving the Nascent Soul realm is extremely difficult even in the cultivation world; to think he could form it in a spiritual desert? Ha!
That time, he took out a piece of dried stalactite, put it in his mouth and swallowed it, then circulated his true energy again to digest it.

The substance is excellent; it not only rapidly enhances one's strength but also has no negative effects. It's safe to say that dried stalactites are extremely beneficial to his cultivation. However, it's a pity that the quantity is limited, preventing long-term consumption.

The remaining stalactite and dried stalactite are best used for alchemy to maximize their effects.

He didn't even plan to give Ouyang Ruoxi and the others much; it would be better to give them the pills later after they were refined. This was the best option, allowing them to achieve the maximum increase in strength with the least amount.

After eating two pieces of dried stalactite, Chen Mo stopped taking them and suppressed the urge to continue.

He scanned the area with his divine sense and found that the others were all diligently cultivating, so he stopped observing them. Instead, he looked up towards the lake.

After all, this lake put considerable pressure on him. The unknown is always the most terrifying. If you already know or understand what's inside, then there's no need to worry.

For Chen Mo now, the unknown presence in the lake is what worries him the most.

Fortunately, after a night, apart from the lake level continuing to drop by nearly ten meters, nothing else happened, which finally allowed Chen Mo to breathe a sigh of relief.

But the worry in my heart still remained.

Just as dawn was breaking, Chen Mo noticed that his vision was starting to blur.

Fog began to rise over the lake and gradually thickened.

……

The other side.

As the sky was about to change, Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing met up and then stepped closer to the building.

"Manager Qian, everything was alright here last night, right?" After the suspension bridge was restored to its original state last night, seeing that nothing had happened, he returned 300 meters to rest. After all, he would have to work hard to rebuild the suspension bridge the next day, so taking the time to rest was the best choice.

Naturally, the task of keeping watch at night and observing the surrounding area, as well as the situation on the opposite bank, was handed over to the personnel on duty on the shore.

Qian Ying, wanting to find out if anything had happened the previous night, directly asked Qian Wantong.

"Elder, this..."

"What's wrong? If you have something to say, just say so. Why are you beating around the bush?"

"Yes, Elder. Everything else was normal last night, but the lake water changed."

"What change?" Qian Ying asked immediately upon hearing this, and took a few steps forward to the lakeside to see what had happened. But after walking a few steps, he didn't need Qian Wantong to tell him; he had already seen that the lake level had dropped by about ten meters.

"You mean to talk about the lake's water level dropping?" Qian Ying asked.

“Yes, Elder. Last night, for some unknown reason, the lake level dropped silently by about ten meters. No one noticed it at first, but a guard on duty discovered the anomaly when he needed to relieve himself,” Qian Wantong replied.

In the pitch-black night, with nothing to see and no daytime visibility, I could only rely on a little light to observe my surroundings. I was so focused on whether there was any danger that I didn't realize the lake water had quietly disappeared by about ten meters.

Therefore, when he went to the bathroom, he was shocked to find that the lake level had dropped by about ten meters, and he almost fell into the lake. He then quickly reported this to Manager Qian, but it was almost dawn.

So after receiving the information, Qian Wantong came to the lakeside to observe, but before he could decide whether or not to report the matter to Qian Ying, Qian Ying had already arrived.

Qian Ying frowned upon hearing Qian Wantong's report. He hadn't expected the lake level to drop so much in the dead of night. But no one could figure out what had happened.

The two old men looked at each other, and after discussing it for a while, they still couldn't come to a conclusion.

Perhaps this lake operates on the principle that the water level gradually drops during certain periods, but then recovers at other times. It's similar to ocean tides.

The entire valley has many unique features, like the hilly nursery we passed earlier, which is covered in snow and ice all day long—a truly special scene. Perhaps this lake area is also a unique scene.

In the end, the two old men, having come to no conclusion, pretended nothing had happened and prepared to wait for dawn.