At the beginning, I cleaned the Sutra Library and completed the incomplete skills.

After a period of research.

Li Lan could now be said to have a general understanding of the habits of these purple vines.

At first glance.

They didn't seem to be the product of some kind of术法 (shùfǎ -术: skill, method, technique; 法: law, rule, way) .

Rather, they were deliberately planted here to defend against external enemies.

Whenever cultivators with high cultivation realms set foot here, they would not hesitate to strangle them.

But things like Spirit Bean Soldiers,

puppets with even less magic power than the surrounding spiritual plants,

would not be attacked by them.

As for what kind of species these purple vines were, why they possessed such terrifying strength like a Foundation Establishment cultivator,

who planted them, and what their purpose was,

Li Lan didn't know for the time being.

The answers to these questions,

perhaps only the elder-level figures of the Guangji Temple who once lived here would know.

It seemed that.

This seemingly abandoned spiritual vein, Immortal Trace Valley, should still have many secrets buried within.

However.

Li Lan's curiosity wasn't strong.

He had no interest in why the Guangji Temple wanted to hide the truth, or what the secrets of this Immortal Trace Valley were.

What Li Lan was most concerned about at the moment was whether he could break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining with the help of this place.

The mysterious Foundation Establishment expert he sensed back then was just a plant and not a living person.

This news was both a blessing and a curse for Li Lan at the moment.

What made him happy was that,

this Foundation Establishment plant was obviously much easier to deal with than a living cultivator.

He wouldn't have to be on tenterhooks anymore, constantly guarding against it.

But what worried Li Lan was that.

the xenophobia of this Foundation Establishment plant was also far beyond that of ordinary cultivators.

If his main body rashly stepped into this somewhat central area, he was afraid that he would suffer the same fate as this skeletal cultivator.

The most troublesome point was that.

the spiritual energy concentration in area Ding on the periphery of Immortal Trace Valley was no longer sufficient to support Li Lan's breakthrough.

If he wanted to step into the mid-stage of Qi Refining as soon as possible, he had to go deep into this Immortal Trace Valley.

Li Lan was somewhat stumped for a moment.

How could he achieve his goal without provoking these vines?

He was thinking rapidly in his mind.

His hands didn't stop.

He directed the Spirit Bean Soldier to pick off the storage bag from the skeletal cultivator's waist.

Although the other party had died here long ago.

With the purple vines lying across here, his storage bag had never been picked up.

Opening it, he saw that.

the various items inside were still intact.

However, there were no spirit stones or pills, etc.

Each jade bottle that stored pills had been opened.

A few withered vines and rotten leaves remained on some of the bottle mouths.

Obviously.

Spirit stones, pills, etc.,

these kinds of things with strong spiritual energy had all been absorbed by the purple vines.

Li Lan didn't know if these vines had developed intelligence after reaching the Foundation Establishment realm.

But from the known information,

they still seemed to be acting on instinct.

After carefully cleaning up the scene again.

Seeing that there was nothing good left.

Li Lan drove this Spirit Bean Soldier back the way it came with a few cultivation methods and术法 (shùfǎ -术: skill, method, technique; 法: law, rule, way) .

After taking back this pathfinding scout.

Having glimpsed some of the secrets of Immortal Trace Valley, he became much bolder.

In addition to the four Spirit Bean Soldiers still on sentry in the dark, ensuring his own safety.

Li Lan sent out all seventeen of the remaining Spirit Bean Soldiers that he could control, like spreading a net.

One continued to be sent to the central area of Immortal Trace Valley to explore as deeply as possible.

The cautious Li Lan wanted to find out.

Besides these purple vines,

were there any other things that could threaten his safety?

One was responsible for picking spiritual herbs and plants.

Li Lan had discovered when he first arrived here.

the closer to the depths of Immortal Trace Valley, the older the spiritual plants.

At first, he didn't know the reason.

and he had always been wandering around the periphery for so many years, never crossing the line.

Now he finally understood.

This was mostly due to the purple vines.

The spiritual plants on the periphery of Immortal Trace Valley didn't have this Foundation Establishment expert guarding them.

and they would probably be picked clean by various rogue cultivators and sect disciples not long after they matured.

It was difficult for them to have the opportunity to grow to a certain age.

In this somewhat central area, once someone stepped in, they would be immediately attacked by the purple vines.

Cultivators whose realm was lower than Foundation Establishment, let alone picking spiritual plants, would probably find it difficult to survive.

Over time.

the age of the spiritual plants here would naturally not be too short.

Now that he had accidentally discovered that the Spirit Bean Soldiers with low magic power would not arouse the purple vines' hostility.

Li Lan certainly couldn't miss this great opportunity.

No matter how old the spiritual plants were, as long as they had matured, as long as he encountered them.

he didn't let any of them go, taking them all into his possession.

In order to improve the efficiency of picking spiritual plants.

Li Lan even gave the Spirit Bean Soldier.

the Treasure Seeking Jade Disc he had seized from Su Hongying,

which had the ability to detect the concentration of spiritual energy.

As for the remaining fifteen Bean Soldiers,

Li Lan directed them to advance into the depths of Immortal Trace Valley in a fan-shaped, carpet-like manner.

How large was the scope of this spiritual vein's central area.

It couldn't be that these purple vines existed on every inch of land, right?

As long as he could find a place where the purple vines' reach couldn't extend, Li Lan's breakthrough to the fifth level of Qi Refining would be almost certain.

Due to the limitations of the fourth level of Qi Refining's divine sense.

the maximum number of Spirit Bean Soldiers that Li Lan could currently control at the same time was twenty-one.

Now that they were all scattered, it was also a considerable test of his divine sense strength.

Fortunately.

controlling the Spirit Bean Soldiers was different from controlling the magic power vortexes in the dantian.

The latter required precise control at all times, and each breath consumed a great deal of divine sense.

While the former didn't require such meticulousness, and was relatively more worry-free.

Whenever he couldn't hold on any longer.

Li Lan would take back all the Spirit Bean Soldiers.

After waiting for his divine sense to recover, he would release them again.

Repeating this cycle.

for seven days.

Li Lan was surprised to find that his divine sense strength had actually increased as a result.

Although the degree of increase wasn't much, only about one in ten million.

But in any case, this was good news.

It also pointed him to a new path.

It turned out that the divine sense of a cultivator was similar to the principle of human muscle growth.

First give a certain load, consume it to the limit,

and then when it recovers, it will gain a small increase.

Although the degree of each increase is small,

if you can persist in this way for a long time, the increase in divine sense will be considerable.

This seems very easy and simple.

But it is a long process that tests patience.

Many cultivators may not have the perseverance and willpower to tirelessly torture and exercise their spirit.

Most of them often give up after not being able to persist for long.

After all, compared to the improvement of magic power, alchemy, and weapon refining,

the investment and return in exercising divine sense is obviously not proportional.

Even if you cultivate divine sense to a certain extent, the help it can provide in fighting between cultivators is limited.

Therefore.

most cultivators are even more unwilling to waste time to specially hone their divine sense.

These people who aim high and accomplish little often begin to regret it after their cultivation realm reaches a certain level.

But by that time, it is already too late.

Li Lan, like many low-level cultivators,

is also not very clear about what direct help divine sense can provide to cultivators.

But he is clear about one thing.

The amount of divine sense directly determines,

the length of time a cultivator can simultaneously control the five magic power vortexes in the dantian.

For every minute the length of time controlling the magic power vortexes is extended, the greater the chance that Li Lan can break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

If he can hone his divine sense to a certain extent.

then even without relying on the dense spiritual energy in area Bing, he might be able to successfully break through.

With this one benefit alone,

it is enough for Li Lan to strengthen his determination to continue honing his divine sense.