I Grind to Martial Saint

However, these Demon Exterminators weren’t familiar with Han Yuan, so they didn’t come forward to greet him.

’The Observatory has six spots... Including me, that’s a total of four Demon Exterminators entering the Spiritual Land.’

’The other two must be reserved for the Abnormal People from the Celestial Phenomena Tribe.’

Han Yuan muttered to himself.

Martial Artists needed the abundant Spiritual Qi within the Spiritual Land to cleanse their bodies and refine their internal True Qi.

Meanwhile, Abnormal People needed to absorb large amounts of Spiritual Qi to strengthen their Divine Souls, so naturally, they also wanted to enter the Spiritual Land to cultivate.

His gaze swept across the area.

The qi and blood of the Abnormal People weren’t as strong as that of Martial Artists, so he quickly identified them.

But to Han Yuan’s surprise, the two Abnormal People from the Observatory were actually a pair of identical twins.

The two looked exactly alike, both dressed in long, cyan robes, like mirror images of each other. Even their auras were identical.

’Interesting.’

Han Yuan mused.

He had a feeling that these two Abnormal People were not to be taken lightly.

Just then, a figure in a gray robe hurried over, a scallion pancake still in his mouth.

”Thank goodness I’m not late, or I’d be screwed.”

Seeing that people were still there, Ding Zihu finally let out a sigh of relief.

If he hadn’t made it, he feared his master would have kicked him out of the sect when he got back.

The waiting crowd looked at Ding Zihu in astonishment.

But Ding Zihu paid no mind to their stares. He looked toward a corner in surprise and quickly walked over.

”Brother Han, you’re going to the Spiritual Land too?”

Ding Zihu asked in surprise.

”Yes... So when you told me you had business in Jianghe Province City, you meant entering the Spiritual Land?”

Han Yuan himself was quite surprised.

He hadn’t expected Ding Zihu to show up here.

”That’s right... The Sect Leader of the Void Divine Sect lost a bet to my master, so the spot was given to me.”

Ding Zihu said with a cheeky grin.

The Void Divine Sect was one of the five major sects in Jianghe Province, so they naturally had a spot for the Spiritual Land.

After hearing this, Han Yuan nodded. ”I see.”

While the two were chatting, a gray-robed elder walked out from the Observatory.

Upon seeing the elder, everyone present—man or woman, young or old—wore a solemn expression.

Only Han Yuan and Ding Zihu remained as they were.

”Brother Han, who’s this old geezer?” Ding Zihu asked in a low voice.

”I don’t know,” Han Yuan said, shaking his head.

”Brother Han, you’re messing with me again.”

”You’re a Demon Exterminator from the Observatory, how could you not know who this old man is?”

Ding Zihu, naturally, didn’t believe him in the slightest.

”Why would I lie to you?”

”I’m not a Demon Exterminator from the Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau, but from the Cangshui Celestial Observation Bureau.”

Han Yuan said flatly.

”The Cangshui Celestial Observation Bureau?”

”Isn’t that just a county?”

Ding Zihu exclaimed.

”That’s right, just a county,” Han Yuan nodded.

”Holy crap... For a small place like Cangshui County to produce someone like you, Brother Han.”

”I’ve really had my eyes opened.”

Ding Zihu said, stunned.

”Alright... Let’s hear what this old man has to say.” Han Yuan didn’t want to keep bantering with Ding Zihu.

The guy was too much of a chatterbox.

The gray-robed elder, as if he had overheard Han Yuan and Ding Zihu’s conversation, smiled faintly. ”I am Yu Chengze, Supervisor of the Celestial Phenomena Tribe at the Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau. I will be responsible for taking you to the Spiritual Land this time.”

”Everyone, get in the carriages.”

The gray-robed elder clapped his hands.

The next moment, two large carriages drove out from the Observatory and stopped in front of the group.

No one had any objections, and they all boarded the carriages.

The carriage compartments were very large; one could easily seat ten people without any problem.

After everyone had boarded the carriages,

Yu Chengze then ordered the drivers to set off.

Of course, he himself was also seated in one of the carriages.

There were no windows inside the carriage, only a hole in the roof for air circulation.

Even a fool would know this design was to keep the location of the Spiritual Land a secret.

Han Yuan sat in the farthest corner of the carriage, reading the Sword Manual for the Azure Heaven Annihilation Saber.

Over the past few days, he had more or less figured out this Sword Manual.

Next, with a little more time, he should be able to achieve a basic mastery of the technique.

Ding Zihu, meanwhile, sat next to Han Yuan.

The guy reeked of strong perfume and cosmetics; who knows where he was last night.

Moreover, not long after getting into the carriage, he leaned against the wall and fell fast asleep.

He even started snoring.

Han Yuan paid him no mind.

With his current level of concentration, he naturally wouldn’t be affected by such environmental factors and continued to read the Sword Manual on his own.

The others were also resting with their eyes closed.

The carriage was completely silent, save for Ding Zihu’s snores.

After about seven or eight hours, when the sky was pitch black,

the carriages slowly came to a stop.

When they got out of the carriages, they found themselves in a deep, wild forest.

The large carriages weren’t slow. Han Yuan calculated that in seven or eight hours, they could have covered over a hundred li.

Of course, that was assuming they hadn’t taken any detours.

Everyone present had a Cultivation base, so even after such a long and bumpy ride, they—including the few old men—were still full of energy.

Yu Chengze was the last to get off.

He seemed very familiar with this deep forest. After sending the two carriages away, he led Han Yuan and the others deeper inside.

After walking for more than half an hour, they passed through a grove and arrived in a clearing.

A stone stele stood in the clearing, inscribed with the words:

Jianghe Spirit Land.

”Everyone... after sunrise, the Jianghe Spirit Land will open.”

”You can cultivate inside for one month. After one month, I will open the Array again.”

”You must leave within that time... otherwise, you will be trapped inside the Spiritual Land.”

”Don’t think that staying in the Spiritual Land is a good thing... Because the Spiritual Qi is so potent, it often stirs up Spiritual Qi Storms. It can throw your internal Gang Essence into chaos, making you go berserk and perish from the backlash.”

”However, the coming month is a relatively calm period for the Spiritual Land, so you don’t need to worry.”

Yu Chengze explained the precautions for entering the Spiritual Land.

Han Yuan and Ding Zihu were both listening attentively.

For them, this was their first time entering a Spiritual Land, and there were many rules they didn’t understand.

After he finished speaking, Yu Chengze sat down cross-legged to meditate and wait for sunrise.

Seeing this, Han Yuan and the others dispersed to find places to rest and wait.

”Ding Zihu, those old men should have Gang Essence Realm Cultivation, so why are they entering a Lower-class Spiritual Land?”

Han Yuan asked softly.

Generally speaking, people enter Spiritual Lands to break through to a new realm or to cultivate promising juniors.

But none of that seemed to apply to those old men.

Because just one look told you those old fellows had exhausted their potential and were nearing the end of their lifespan.

Could they possibly be hoping to break through to the Innate Realm?!

”It’s simple... Those old guys are going in to extend their lives.”

”Once inside the Spiritual Land, they can use the abundant Spiritual Qi to wash over their bodies, rejuvenate some of their vitality, and even heal some old, hidden injuries.”

”In any case, staying in the Spiritual Land for a month can probably extend their lifespan by several years.”

Ding Zihu said in a low voice.

Han Yuan had only asked casually, not expecting Ding Zihu to actually explain the reason. After hearing it, he had a moment of realization.

”Brother Han, how come you seem to know nothing about Spiritual Lands?”

Ding Zihu asked in surprise.

”Yeah... I really don’t know anything at all.”

Han Yuan admitted freely.

He had been so preoccupied with studying the Azure Heaven Annihilation Saber these past few days that he hadn’t had time to ask about the Spiritual Land.

”Then let me fill you in.”

”After entering the Spiritual Land, there are certain spots where the Spiritual Qi is especially dense.”

”These spots are also known as Spiritual Qi eruption points.”

”But the number of these eruption points is very small, maybe only a few.”

”So when the twenty of us go in, there will definitely be some fighting.”

Ding Zihu explained the situation to Han Yuan.

”We still have to fight?”

”Those old guys are all Gang Essence Martial Artists... who can compete with them?”

Han Yuan narrowed his eyes.

”Not necessarily... No matter how strong a Gang Essence Martial Artist is, they’ll still die if they’re ambushed by a group.”

Ding Zihu said with a smile.

Han Yuan also smiled. ”Then if a fight breaks out inside and someone dies, what happens?”

”Once you enter the Spiritual Land, life and death are decided by fate; fortune is up to the heavens.”

Ding Zihu said lightly.