NOVEL WEB Chapter 421: Opportunity
```
"Hmph," Li Zhixuan made no move to rise and see her off, simply watching Li Zhiyue's retreating figure and couldn't help but let out a cold chuckle, following which she waved her hand and closed the courtyard door.
Li Zhixuan was all alone, with all her spiritual objects stored in her storage ring, she had no need to pack. After cultivating for a night, she left the Immortal City the following morning.
As for Li Zhiyue, after returning home, although she felt a tinge of shame surging in her heart, as soon as she thought about how all her actions were for the sake of avenging Li Shiting, her mind settled down again.
Even though she knew that Li Zhixuan would leave the next day, she had no intention of saying farewell and deluded herself into 'forgetting' the day's events, thus returning to her usual way of doing things.
——
The Nine Incineration States, located to the west of Cang Hai Province, were famous for the nine massive volcanoes within their borders. Due to the frequent volcanic eruptions, even though the spiritual energy was quite dense, no power had chosen to reside there permanently. After all, the power of a volcanic eruption was immense, and even a Nascent Soul True Lord would not dare to face the rolling magma directly.
However, this did not mean that the cultivation world of the Nine Incineration States was in decline; on the contrary, it was thriving. That's because each volcanic eruption would bring up a lot of spiritual objects from deep within the earth, including third-rank and even fourth-rank spiritual objects.
Perhaps due to the abundance of volcanoes, the fire spiritual energy was extremely rich in the Nine Incineration States, which was very popular among cultivators with a Fire Spirit Root. If one could control the volcanic eruptions, this place would undoubtedly be a holy land for cultivators with a Fire Spirit Root.
And the destination for Li Chengsheng's travels was the Nine Incineration States!
Boom—
Shortly after Li Chengsheng entered the Nine Incineration States, he witnessed a volcanic eruption. The earth trembled and roared as if singing an ode, and the massive mountain spouted sky-high molten lava, flowing in all directions, leaving no grass where it passed, and the scorching breath made it impossible for people to approach. Most of the spectating cultivators had to retreat further back.
As a cultivator with a Yang Spirit Root, Li Chengsheng actually enjoyed this warm temperature. Of course, to avoid suspicion, he only indulged for a short while before retreating back into the crowd.
'It seems that the opportunity foretold in my divination must be here, right?' Otherwise, how could he explain the eruption occurring so coincidentally, just as he entered the Nine Incineration States.
Li Chengsheng was not in a hurry, though. The volcanic eruption had not yet ended, and being anxious was useless.
This volcanic eruption lasted for a full five days before it subsided. Although the vicinity was still extremely hot, all the cultivators bravely rushed in, attempting to find precious spiritual objects, and hoping to never worry about food and drink for the rest of their lives.
Because the longer the volcano ejected, the higher the probability of bringing out precious spiritual objects, which is why these cultivators were so frantic.
It wasn't until the volcano had completely calmed down that Li Chengsheng cautiously started his treasure hunting journey. However, having entered the scene too late, he could hardly see any sign of spiritual objects on the ground.
Since he did not know the exact location, he had to resort to the tedious method of checking little by little.
During this time, Li Chengsheng also encountered other cultivators a few times, but perhaps because everyone was busy searching for spiritual objects, everyone was still in a peaceful state.
Unfortunately, as things developed, there were still numerous battles. Everyone was seeking spiritual objects to earn money, and naturally, they all wanted to gain more resources, so targeting cultivators became a very good strategy.
Li Chengsheng had also been targeted by Foundation Establishment cultivators, but luckily, the other party was not very strong. After a fierce battle, the attacker ultimately fled in panic. It wasn't that Li Chengsheng didn't want to eradicate the problem at its root; he simply couldn't.
Soon, Li Chengsheng's luck ran out. This time, he encountered a Foundation Establishment gang, comprised of five members! He was no match for them at the moment and could only flee with his head down, while using some second-rank talismans to hinder them.
It's true that he had third-rank talismans, but using them on these people seemed like a waste. Li Chengsheng would rather exhaust himself a bit than wastefully squander good items.
```
Perhaps misfortune leans on fortune for support. After Li Chengsheng managed to shake off his pursuers, he discovered a gigantic egg lying in the magma!
From the aura it emitted, it seemed to be the egg of a fourth-order Spirit Beast. Exactly what kind it was, Li Chengsheng couldn't determine just yet, but, thinking about it, this must be the opportunity he had divined.
Despite some twists and turns, he successfully retrieved the Spirit Beast Egg. This was no ordinary egg but one of a fourth-order Spirit Beast, and since it could survive in the scorching magma, it was very likely a Fire-attribute Spirit Beast. Although it wasn't as perfectly matched as a Yang-attribute Spirit Beast would be, it was still excellent, especially considering its high grade.
Li Chengsheng, with the Spirit Beast Egg in tow, carefully retreated and then promptly left the Nine Incineration States to wait for the egg to hatch back at his family home.
Just as two flowers bloom, each branch shows its own beauty.
Meanwhile, Li Zhirui was sitting cross-legged in a quiet room, cultivating in meditation. As he practiced his cultivation technique, specks of green light and blue light appeared, converging toward him, entering his body through his mouth and nose, and gradually refining into purified Mana.
However, the increase and refinement of Mana was just incidental; Li Zhirui's main purpose for secluding himself was to deduce how to successfully transform the Golden Core into a Nascent Soul.
It might only seem to take four words to encapsulate the process, but in practice, it was extremely difficult—one wrong move could result in both the Golden Core and the cultivator perishing!
Fortunately, the family legacy, although incomplete, had given him a direction, letting him know that the essence of the Nascent Soul was to advance the Golden Core Essence, which could be termed Tao Nature.
Then, with 'Tao Nature' as the foundation and the Spiritual Soul as the mainstay, he would 'nurture' the Nascent Soul from within the Golden Core.
So, what Li Zhirui was primarily doing now was pushing for the Golden Core Essence to ascend to Tao Nature.
He actually had a shortcut at his disposal, which was to consume the Nascent Soul Pill. Under the pill's effect, it would be easy for the Tao Nature to take shape.
However, this was meant for Jiang Fengwu's breakthrough to Nascent Soul, and he would not abuse it. Moreover, Li Zhirui could achieve it on his own power, so there was no need.
——
While Li Zhirui was in seclusion, someone closely related to him was also undergoing a breakthrough in seclusion.
This person was Li Chengshuo!
She didn't settle for less by taking a Foundation Establishment Pill to aid her breakthrough. Instead, she gained insight from a Formation, and her already fully matured cultivation began to stir, showing signs of a breakthrough.
Perhaps it was a case of accumulation leading to a sudden breakthrough. Li Chengshuo, after only a month in seclusion, managed to break through the bottleneck and became a Foundation Establishment Cultivator!
After spending another month or two consolidating her cultivation, she left her seclusion.
The first thing Li Chengshuo did after coming out of seclusion was to find Jiang Fengwu and hold him to his promise—she too wanted to go out and gain experience!
Jiang Fengwu was naturally worried. After all, the young girl had just broken through and her strength was only average. However, he couldn't go back on his word from before, and could only agree.
Thus, a few days later, Li Chengshuo, armed with some third-order Spirit Talismans, left Wanxian Island in high spirits.