CHAPTER 97: CHAPTER 97: HOLY LAMP MOUNTAIN

Xiu Yingmei has been feeling troubled these past few days. She finds herself thinking of Chen Guan from time to time, especially recalling the times they drifted together on the river.

"It must be because my recent cultivation hasn’t been smooth, making me want to find some fun to relax, which is why I keep thinking of that guy," Xiu Yingmei decided this must be the reason.

Recently, she has been trying hard to re-enter that mystical state, but despite many attempts and various methods, she couldn’t replicate that day when she reached an astonishing state, feeling like a deity descending to earth.

"Is it possible that only in moments between life and death can my potential be triggered, allowing me to enter that state?" Xiu Yingmei was quite troubled by this. Although she could find solutions to other issues, she obviously couldn’t just put herself in danger without reason.

After all, such things can’t be faked, and she couldn’t deceive herself.

While Xiu Yingmei was troubled, Qin Ziyu was facing the same dilemma; since the last time he entered the Ultimate of the Infinite state, he hadn’t been able to reach it again.

Qin Ziyu had tried many methods, but the result was the same: he couldn’t enter it again.

This isn’t to say their talent isn’t good enough, but sometimes external force is necessary because humans often find it most difficult to see themselves clearly.

In the Golden City Mountain Secret Realm, Chen Guan was wearing a hat and sunglasses, his face covered tightly by a large mask.

After paying the entrance fee to enter the Secret Realm, he paid again at the entrance of Holy Lamp Mountain. These two fees together cost Chen Guan over eight hundred yuan, significantly higher than the fee for entering Pingdu Mountain Secret Realm.

For ordinary people, over eight hundred yuan is already a substantial sum, as many work hard for a month and may not earn that much.

Hunting Secret Spirits can indeed be lucrative, but it’s also quite risky, and only a small portion of people are willing to take such risks; most prefer ordinary jobs to support their families and cultivation.

Everyone knows that maritime work can earn more, but how many are willing to endure the hardship and risks of being a sailor?

Moreover, the risks of being a sailor are far lower than going after Secret Spirits, which isn’t the choice for most.

The entrance fee to Golden City Mountain Secret Realm is expensive firstly because the Secret Spirits level in this realm is relatively high, and most areas are undeveloped, with many valuable Secret Spirits.

Secondly, Holy Lamp Mountain is widely known as Pure Yang Land. Many cultivators practicing Yang Secret Techniques choose to come to Holy Lamp Mountain for cultivation, hoping to achieve breakthroughs using the Pure Yang Land’s power.

More than half of the eight hundred yuan was the entrance fee for Holy Lamp Mountain.

Due to its status as Pure Yang Land, Holy Lamp Mountain is filled with hundreds of unique flowers and fruits, including many Heavenly and Earthly Treasures. However, their uses are unknown, so the forces behind Holy Lamp Mountain have designated them as prohibited areas. People can only freely roam a mountain path and nearby areas but are strictly forbidden from entering the forbidden zones.

Of course, it’s difficult for humans to trespass into these locked-down zones, as important entrances are guarded by specialists with pets.

Chen Guan rented a small cave for three hundred yuan a month, yet another significant expense.

Fortunately, he earned some money from Yang Sanye; otherwise, he wouldn’t afford such spending.

In front of the cave is a small platform surrounded on three sides by cliffs, with steps on one side leading to the main staircase.

Standing on the platform, one can see the mountains stretching endlessly outside, filled with mysterious Immortal Mountain Secret Realms, with many areas humans haven’t developed, holding unknown numbers of terrifying Secret Spirits and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

Chen Guan summoned Warring States and Yan Zhi to guard outside the cave while he went inside to hatch the Secret Spirit Egg.

Hatching a Secret Spirit Egg is like a hen incubating chicks; it requires suitable temperatures and prolonged incubation to allow the spirit inside to break free from the eggshell.

Whether coincidental or not, the temperature needed for hatching Secret Spirit Eggs falls within the human cultivator’s body temperature range. So even without equipment, simply storing the egg close to the body with appropriate insulation means can incubate the egg.

Naturally, using machines for incubation is possible, but to have the spirit inside directly recognize a master, personal incubation is necessary.

Chen Guan spent all day in the cave like a mother hen.

He wasn’t in a hurry, hatching the Secret Spirit Egg while cultivating the Secret Technique of One, hoping to raise his level even further.

Woof! Woof!

On the morning of his second day, Chen Guan heard Warring States barking, wrapped in a quilt-like wide, large, and thick down jacket. He went out of the cave and saw Warring States barking at a natural cave opening on the mountain wall, several dozen meters on the left.

With cliffs above and below and no road to reach it, it was likely an undeveloped wild cave.

Chen Guan focused his eyes and saw a Secret Spirit inside the wild cave on the mountainside cautiously observing Warring States.

"Is that a raccoon, little raccoon, or a small panda?" Chen Guan examined it, but due to the distance, he could only discern a small animal with a red back, black legs, and a fluffy long tail. It looked plump, resembling neither a cat nor a dog.

Of this appearance type Secret Spirit, Chen Guan knew several: Meiga raccoon, Fireclaw little raccoon, and Black-Red Panda.

These three Secret Spirits look similar but aren’t entirely the same, with differing ranks.

Meiga raccoons are ordinary levels one or two Secret Spirits, occasionally of rare quality. Fireclaw little raccoons are slightly higher level, about three or four, generally of ordinary quality, with more being rare, and occasionally a Fireclaw little raccoon of uncommon quality appears.

Black-Red Pandas are relatively rare, at least of rare quality, uncommon ones not being infrequent, usually around level six.

At a glance, these three Secret Spirits look similar, but Chen Guan hasn’t studied them thoroughly, so he could only roughly guess that the presence here might likely be a Black-Red Panda.

Black-Red Pandas are inherently suspicious, timid, cautious, skilled in hiding, making it hard to spot them, let alone capture them.

Despite this, many cultivators covet Black-Red Panda pets because they possess a unique ability: Spirit Medium. When a Secret Spirit is slain, if a Black-Red Panda is present, using the Spirit Medium Secret Skill, the chance of the Secret Spirit becoming a pet dramatically increases, with high odds of it becoming one.

When major forces attempt to slay World-Defying Secret Spirits, they like to bring along a Black-Red Panda, using the Spirit Medium Technique after slaying the secret spirit to increase the likelihood of transforming it into a pet.