Mortals: Take Mo Juren at the start

Rewind to half a month ago, when Mo Juren returned to his cave with Ye Xuechan and the other two women.

Knowing that they would be staying here for a long time, the three women were naturally a little shy, but fortunately they had been mentally prepared and did not show it.

There were many empty rooms in the cave. Mo Juren first introduced his clone to the other party, and then indicated that the other party could choose freely. He himself went to the secret room with his clone.

It has to be said that the people around him at this moment are really in a pitiful state. Zi Dian, Hua Qing Yao, and Tian Dao Lao Zu are all unconscious, and he naturally has to find a way to save them one by one.

Purple Lightning is easy to deal with; given enough time and resources, it should be able to recover on its own.

Hua Qingyao and the Heavenly Blade Ancestor didn't really have a good solution for the time being.

Hua Qingyao has been cursed with the "Seven Emotions Locking Heart Curse," and the only way to break free is to seek help from the "Mysterious Forbidden Hermit," but clearly, this is not an easy task.

He was an extremely eccentric individual who preferred to be alone, lived in seclusion, and was rarely seen. Moreover, after many years of inquiries, it was discovered that he had no close friends at all.

Let alone dealing with them, it's extremely difficult to even find them.

Consider Senior Qinghua; even someone as influential as him, who was associated with both humans and demons, had never crossed paths with this person. One can imagine how difficult it must have been.
Fortunately, this matter is not urgent at the moment. With the help of the Heavenly Blade Ancestor's Time Cocoon, there will be no problem within a hundred years.

In contrast, the situation of the Heavenly Blade Ancestor is simpler. He has only overdrawn his energy. As long as he finds enough Netherworld Origin to absorb, he can recover.

Of course, the Netherworld Origin is only a temporary solution; to truly restore the body to its original state, it is necessary to refine a sufficient amount of 'Mysterious Yin Liquid'.

However, this thing is rare and hard to come by; it's not something you can easily find.

"How have things been lately?" Mo Juren asked, his gaze sweeping over Hua Qingyao and Zidian, who were still unconscious.

"There hasn't been much improvement." The clone shook his head slightly. Upon hearing this, Mo Juren was also somewhat surprised.

“It’s understandable that Hua Qingyao isn’t improving, but is Zidian not working either? I specifically instructed Zeng Lu to send over a large amount of lightning-attribute resources before I left, so how could it not have any effect?”

"The resources did indeed arrive, and they were all absorbed by the Purple Lightning. But strangely, the injuries within its body haven't changed much; in fact, it's even awakened." The clone shook its head slightly, clearly puzzled, which caused Mo Juren to frown deeply.

"It can absorb lightning energy, but it can't heal its injuries? What's going on?"

“I do have some ideas. Why not send it back to the Heavenly Fiend Valley secret realm? Perhaps there will be a turning point.” At this moment, the clone suddenly said again.

"The Heavenly Fiend Valley Secret Realm!" Mo Juren's heart skipped a beat, then his face showed a look of realization.

“That makes sense. Purple Lightning was born from devouring a large amount of Purple Extreme Divine Lightning essence. That is its root. Taking it there again to absorb enough divine lightning essence will definitely have a different effect.”

He paused, then continued,

"It's settled then. I'll take it there once I finish this seclusion."

"You're planning to go into seclusion?" The clone's expression shifted.

"After running around for so long, it's time to go into seclusion and cultivate properly. I'll try to reach the mid-stage perfection, and with that mid-grade breakthrough pill, I should be able to advance to the next level."

"I see. But you've only just broken through to the middle stage a few years ago. Reaching perfection won't be easy; it'll probably take at least a hundred or two hundred years."

“Normal cultivation is naturally not feasible, but before this seclusion, I prepared a large number of pills that can enhance spiritual cultivation. With this assistance, I should be able to significantly shorten the time.”

"That's true..."

After explaining everything, the clone left the secret room, while Mo Juren found a spot, sat down cross-legged, and began to cultivate with his eyes closed.

……

Time flies, and more than fifty years have passed in the blink of an eye.

For over fifty years, Mo Juren paid no attention to the rights and wrongs outside, leaving them all to his clones to handle. He himself remained in seclusion in a secret room, taking medicine and never leaving.

During this period, Zeng Lu would send pills almost every year, ensuring that his needs were never interrupted, and his cultivation naturally progressed by leaps and bounds.

On this day, Mo Juren finally opened his eyes, but his cold and stern face showed no joy, only helplessness.

"It failed again, really..." Mo Juren sighed, not knowing what to say.

More than fifty years later, thanks to an ample supply of elixirs, he directly elevated his cultivation to the perfect level.

Originally, he thought that with the help of a mid-grade breakthrough pill, he should have no problem breaking through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

However, the reality was completely different from what he had imagined. After spending a full fifty years to advance his cultivation to the mid-stage perfection, he took this pill to break through the bottleneck.

Unexpectedly, they failed without even splashing a drop of water.

He tried a second time, a third time, until he had completely exhausted the remaining medicinal power of the Breakthrough Pill, but the result was no different, and he still could not see any signs of a breakthrough.

After some thought, he roughly understood the reason.

As his cultivation level increased, the level of his bloodline began to lag behind.

Currently, the highest-level attributes—water, wood, and metal—are only at level eleven, corresponding to the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. The other attributes are all around level eight or nine, far behind.

It should be noted that he cultivates all five elements simultaneously: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. This is inherently very difficult and requires a higher level of cultivation aptitude. If his bloodline level is insufficient, not only will he be unable to break through bottlenecks, but his cultivation speed will also be significantly slowed down.

Since he began his seclusion, he had actually felt that his cultivation speed was gradually slowing down as time went by, but it wasn't that obvious.

When he broke through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm last time, there were actually some signs. However, with years of accumulation and a significant improvement in his own aptitude, he ultimately succeeded.

The difficulty of breaking through to the later stages of the Nascent Soul realm has increased dramatically, especially with the emergence of bottlenecks that are incredibly entrenched.

The mid-grade breakthrough pill is a renowned top-tier precious medicine, with extremely significant effects on Nascent Soul stage cultivators breaking through bottlenecks. It generally won't cause problems for others.

However, his situation was completely different. The total amount of mana in his body was several times higher than that of cultivators at the same level, making it extremely difficult for him to break through. Therefore, his need for elixirs was naturally different.

This mid-grade breakthrough pill isn't bad; on the contrary, its effect is quite good. It's just that it's too unconventional, and having only one pill is completely insufficient.

I was a bit careless. After all, this pill is famous, and one is enough for an ordinary person. I thought I had about the same, but things went wrong.

Thinking of this, Mo Juren couldn't help but sigh again.

Over fifty years has not been without its gains; at least his cultivation has advanced to the peak of the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, a speed that can only be described as incredible among cultivators of the same level. However, apart from that, there has been no further progress, which is truly frustrating.

There was one piece of good news over the years: Zidian, after continuously absorbing lightning-attribute resources, finally woke up and his injuries recovered to some extent, though not significantly.

According to the other party, the lightning attribute essence contained in those resources was not only complex but also lacked refinement, and the quantity was far from sufficient.

Only by returning to the Heavenly Fiend Valley Secret Realm, which was originally the place of his transformation and possesses an almost inexhaustible supply of Purple Extreme Divine Lightning, could his injuries be fully restored.

This coincided with what Mo Juren had thought before, and since it wouldn't take long anyway, he agreed without any hesitation.

These are all minor matters. The most important thing right now is cultivation. How can I break through the bottleneck in my body and successfully advance to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm?

After some thought, he decided to approach the issue from two angles.

First, one must improve one's cultivation aptitude, which means continuing to refine and fuse with higher-level bloodlines; second, one must find elixirs, such as mid-grade breakthrough pills, the more the better.

There's no need to worry about the former, since it's what he's been doing all along, and over the past fifty years, Tianhua Tower has helped him collect a large amount of resources.

After taking stock, the level 13 fire and earth attributes are almost complete, with only a very small number remaining. Because they are so rare, they have been impossible to find.

I've also collected quite a few materials needed for refining other attribute bloodlines, but I'm still some distance from having gathered them all.

The thirteenth level bloodline corresponds to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, which happens to be his weakness. Previously, his fire and earth attributes had been stagnant at the eighth level. If he could directly advance to the thirteenth level, then all five elements would reach the Nascent Soul realm.

This has a huge effect on improving one's aptitude. Moreover, since one cultivates the "Five Elements Dao Proving Chapter," which involves cultivating all five elements simultaneously and emphasizes the balance of the five elements, the benefits are self-evident.

In addition, there is the purchase of pills. However, pills that can help one break through the bottleneck of the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm are quite precious and difficult to buy on the market. They only appear at major auctions.

However, judging by the time, the once-in-a-decade grand auction in Tianyuan City seems to have just ended, so we can't count on it for the time being!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown. Could it be that he would have to wait another ten years? It wasn't that he couldn't wait, but the key was that even if he waited for ten years, he might not be able to buy what he needed.

Therefore, this can only be considered as a backup option; we must think of other solutions.

Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration. His ultimate goal was a pill to break through his bottleneck, so why wait for the auction? Wouldn't it be easier to find a pill refiner directly?
If he remembered correctly, there were many forces in the three realms of the human race that were famous for their alchemy, including families and sects.

For example, Min Xin'er, whom he had previously communicated with, was from a family that was famous in the cultivation world for cultivating spiritual herbs, but whose alchemy skills were also not to be underestimated.

It's not just the three realms of the human race; the demon race is equally remarkable in this regard, with countless geniuses in various fields, especially some of the major races.

Like the mysterious talisman that Silver Moon sent before, it clearly followed the path of the demon race, which is very different from that of the human race, but its level is in no way inferior.

Once he realized this, his mind immediately clicked.

It's just a pill; as long as you're willing to pay a high enough price, you can definitely buy it.

In fact, it's not just pills; formations, talismans, magic weapons, and everything else are all in the same situation.

Of course, this method also has its limits. If the required item is too high-level or too rare, it will not be so easy to buy.

Furthermore, not everything can be bought. For example, some ancient items and rare spiritual materials are things that can only be encountered by chance and may not be obtained even if you spend a lot of money.

However, that's all for the future. At least for now, with his cultivation at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, buying some pills that can help him break through his bottleneck shouldn't be a problem.

Thinking of this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he was pondering this, a sudden burst of hurried footsteps came from outside, instantly interrupting his thoughts.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the door to the secret chamber opened, and the clone rushed in, saying anxiously:

"Something has happened to Su Zier!"

"Su Zier? Wasn't she supposed to go to the far north glacier to inquire about Xuanjin Sanren? How could something have happened to her?" Mo Juren asked in surprise.

Su Zier had already returned from the wilderness twenty years ago.

After some deliberation, Mo Juren finally revealed Hua Qingyao's situation to her. Upon learning of this, she immediately expressed her intention to personally travel to the far north glacier to search for and inquire about Xuan Jin Sanren.

Mo Juren naturally had no objection to this, but he solemnly warned the other party that the environment in the far north was extremely complex and the level of danger was higher than that in the Central Plains region, and that they should be careful after going there.

Unexpectedly, problems still arose.

"I don't know the specifics, but I received a message from it through the 'Wuji Talisman'. It contained only five words: Ice Soul Valley, save me."

The so-called Wuji Talisman is a special talisman similar to the Wanli Talisman, but of a higher level, capable of transmitting information over extremely long distances.

This thing is rare even in the spirit world; it's hard to find in ordinary markets.

"Ice Soul Valley? What kind of place is that?" Mo Juren was taken aback. He had studied the map of the Arctic region in detail, and it seemed that there was no Ice Soul Valley there!

"At first I wasn't quite sure either, but after Zeng Lu helped me find out, I learned that Ice Soul Valley was actually related to the infamous 'Forbidden Land of No Life' in the far north region. It was a mysterious valley located deep within the forbidden land."

"The Forbidden Land of No Life?" Mo Juren's heart stirred, and he continued.
"But that forbidden land of no life, which is said to be cursed by the gods, and where anyone who enters will surely die?"

"That's it." The clone nodded.

"There are no fewer than dozens of forbidden areas on the Fengyuan Continent, and the 'Forbidden Land of No Life' is dangerous enough to rank in the top five. It is filled with unpredictable curse power. It is said that even a Mahayana stage expert risks perishing if he enters it. I wonder how Su Zier ended up there?"

"Perhaps she didn't want to go in herself." Mo Juren shook his head slightly, but something was vaguely on his mind.

"She didn't want to go in on her own? Or was she brought in by someone else?"

"That's not a bad idea. Don't forget her purpose in going there is to find and gather information about Xuanjin Sanren, who is famous throughout the world for his incantations..."

"Mysterious Forbidden Hermit, I understand..." Upon hearing this analysis, the clone's expression immediately showed realization, while Mo Juren shook his head slightly.
"These are just my guesses; we'll have to verify them ourselves to know for sure."

"Verification? Do you intend to go there yourself?" The clone's expression changed. That was the Forbidden Land of No Return, a place even Mahayana stage experts dared not enter rashly, and the level of danger was unimaginable.

"There's no need to make a fuss. That so-called curse power has no effect on me."

"That won't work either. Even if the curse doesn't work, there's still Xuanjin Sanren. Who knows if he's friend or foe? What if he attacks you? Wouldn't that mean utter destruction?" (End of Chapter)