I Grind to Martial Saint

”Let’s go take a look.”

Han Yuan nodded.

As they walked, they entered a forest.

It was already autumn.

According to the normal cycle of the seasons, the trees in this forest should have been withering.

But it was the exact opposite.

The forest was exceptionally lush and green, as if it were spring.

Wildflowers of all kinds were in full bloom, brimming with life.

It was also Old Yan’s first time on White Stone Island, so he was unfamiliar with the area.

They had to circle the woods a few times before finding the so-called White Stone Forest.

It was a good thing the White Stone Forest was large enough that they could stumble upon it just by wandering around.

Dense, mottled white stone pillars stood erect from the ground.

Most had been weathered by wind and rain, leaving them damaged and incomplete.

The ground was covered in a dense, chaotic jumble of white stone fragments.

”From the looks of it, this forest must have once been a complex of buildings.”

”But after being exposed to the elements, they’ve fallen into this state of decay, leaving only these pillars behind.”

Old Yan said in surprise.

He had only heard of this forest’s existence before and had assumed it was some kind of ancient ruin.

But now, it seemed even more mysterious than he had imagined.

Han Yuan walked directly into the so-called White Stone Forest.

He thought Old Yan was right.

These pillars themselves must have been parts of individual buildings.

But as the buildings collapsed over time, only the pillars remained.

He also discovered some faded patterns on the surfaces of the pillars.

”These patterns...”

Han Yuan murmured in surprise and doubt.

”What is it?”

Old Yan asked from behind him.

”It’s nothing.”

Han Yuan didn’t elaborate.

He just felt the patterns resembled the style of the Chaotic Ancient Era.

The last time he parted ways with Ding Zihu, the man had given him a book on the language and script of the Chaotic Ancient Era.

That book had also mentioned some mysterious symbols.

But the style was only similar, and Han Yuan couldn’t be certain if the White Stone Forest was truly a ruin from the Chaotic Ancient Era.

He needed more evidence.

However, this discovery naturally made Han Yuan even more interested in the White Stone Forest.

He started moving the stone fragments on the ground with his bare hands, trying to see if he could find anything with lingering information.

”Director Han, what are you doing?”

Seeing Han Yuan like this, Old Yan was even more confused.

”Don’t worry about me. Hurry up and confirm whether this is the central area of the Spiritual Land.”

Han Yuan said without looking up.

”Alright.” Old Yan nodded.

He began casting detection spells in the area.

Meanwhile, Han Yuan continued to dig through the rubble on the ground.

「An hour later.」

Han Yuan dug something up.

”Is this... a cat?”

Han Yuan frowned slightly as he looked at the statue in his hand.

The statue looked like a tabby cat, curled up with its limbs tucked in, fast asleep.

Moreover, this tabby cat was chubby and rather cute.

’The buildings here are so damaged, yet this one cat statue has remained perfectly intact.’

’There must be something fishy about it.’

Han Yuan began to observe it carefully.

But the cat statue showed no special qualities, which only made Han Yuan more suspicious.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to call Old Yan over.

”Director Han, how did you dig up something like this?”

Old Yan was also astonished when he saw the cat statue.

”I don’t know, I just dug it up.”

”Take a look and see if there’s anything unusual about it.”

Han Yuan handed the tabby cat statue to Old Yan.

Old Yan took it seriously, even using a small Magic Technique to test the cat statue’s reaction.

The result was the same: no reaction whatsoever.

”I feel... it’s probably just an ordinary statue... The craftsmanship is certainly lifelike.”

”But that’s all there is to it.”

Old Yan gave his assessment.

”No way... How could an ordinary statue survive for so many years... without a single mark on it?”

”Forget it. I’ll put it away for now and take a look later.”

Han Yuan knew he couldn’t rush it.

”I’ll go back to my survey then,” Old Yan said casually.

”Go ahead.”

Han Yuan nodded and continued digging with his bare hands in the ruins of the White Stone Forest.

But unfortunately, though he searched the entire White Stone Forest, he didn’t find anything else of value.

However, Old Yan returned with good news.

”I can basically confirm that these white stone ruins are the epicenter for the emergence of the Spiritual Land.”

Old Yan said excitedly.

He felt that this time, he might truly have a chance to break through his bottleneck and advance from the Three Soul Realm to the Seven Spirits Realm.

”That’s good... How much longer until it emerges?”

This was Han Yuan’s main concern at the moment.

”Based on the current situation, I estimate it will be a little over half a month.”

Old Yan estimated.

”A little over half a month... That’s perfect.”

Han Yuan nodded.

”Director Han, I’m afraid the emergence of this Spiritual Land will attract some old timers.”

Old Yan reminded him.

After all, the emergence of a Spiritual Land would cause a huge commotion that would be impossible to hide.

There were, after all, some Gang Essence Realm Loose Cultivators in Jianghe Province.

They didn’t belong to any faction, so they couldn’t get a piece of the pie from the Jianghe Spirit Land.

But now that a new Spiritual Land had suddenly appeared, it would naturally tempt these old folks. They would definitely come.

”I’ll kill them as they come.”

”I’ll kill them until they don’t dare to show their faces again.”

Han Yuan said coolly.

”Of course! The Director will surely beat them so badly they’ll piss their pants and run!” Old Yan also knew that his chance to break through in the newly emerged Spiritual Land depended entirely on whether Han Yuan could fend off those people.

In the following days, Han Yuan explored White Stone Island.

The island wasn’t particularly large, nor was it small, but aside from the tabby cat statue, he made no other special discoveries.

Meanwhile, Old Yan began to set up a containment Array in advance.

After the Spiritual Land emerged, a massive amount of Spiritual Qi would erupt.

Once this massive wave of Spiritual Qi dissipated, an Array would be needed to enclose the area, isolating the Spiritual Land from the mortal world.

This would allow it to begin accumulating Spiritual Qi again, in preparation for the next time it opened.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The strange phenomena on the desolate island grew more and more pronounced.

That evening, the sunset clouds shimmered with a five-colored glow, brilliant and magnificent.

Even people in Cangshui County Town could see parts of this spectacle.

”Why is the sky over there so colorful?”

”Yeah... it’s so strange. I’ve lived most of my life and never seen a sky like that.”

”A phenomenon like this... I’m afraid it’s no ordinary event.”

The common folk climbed to high places to gaze at the distant sunset, admiring the rare sight.

At that moment, within the Canghai Celestial Observation Bureau, Zhai Mu also stood in a tower, gazing at the distant, colorful, and brilliant sunset.

He shook his head and gave a bitter smile. ”Another bloodbath is coming...”

As Han Yuan’s trusted confidant, he naturally knew a few things.

’This five-colored glow probably means the Spiritual Land is about to open.’

Of course, to downplay the incident, he had already ordered people to spread rumors in the city, claiming it was just a strange atmospheric phenomenon and nothing to worry about.

But ultimately, too many people had seen it, and news was spreading like wildfire.

...

At this moment, Han Yuan was probably the person with the closest view of the five-colored sunset.

This was because the five-colored sunset was, in fact, directly above White Stone Island.

The light of the sunset now painted his face in a kaleidoscope of colors.

”Director Han... this is the sign...”

”It seems the Spiritual Land will emerge within the next few days.”

Old Yan took a swig from his wine gourd and laughed heartily.

Just then, a small boat suddenly appeared in the distance.

”People are here already, so soon after the phenomenon appeared?”

Old Yan’s expression was one of shock.

But he quickly recovered and prepared to make a move.

”He’s one of us.”

Han Yuan said suddenly.

”One of us?”

Old Yan was taken aback.

He widened his old eyes and peered into the distance.

Aboard the small boat, a figure wearing a white Daoist Robe with a longsword strapped to his back stood at the prow.

”So it’s that kid...”

”Director Han, did you summon him?”

Old Yan understood.

”Of course.”

”I originally thought he would be a few days late.”

”I didn’t expect him to arrive so quickly.”

”This way, the timing is perfect.”

Han Yuan smiled.