As the giant python was subdued and swallowed the pill, recovering from its injuries, Zhou Lianying, who had been hiding in the distance, also ran over relieved.
She had not expected that the young Taoist priest in front of her could actually subdue a demonic beast that was a realm higher than himself, something that rarely happened among ordinary cultivators.
After all, even ordinary demonic beasts possessed combat power exceeding cultivators of the same realm, let alone those with special bloodlines, for whom fighting across realms was as easy as eating and drinking.
And what Ji Yuan had now subdued was a demonic beast a whole small realm higher than himself, so the difficulty was self-evident.
"You actually did it!"
Zhou Lianying thought about it but found herself at a loss for words.
When she had first heard him say that the giant python should submit, even she had thought it impossible. Defeating was easy, killing was difficult, but making it submit willingly was even harder.
Yet he had done it, causing the giant python to open its Sea of Consciousness without resistance, allowing a mark and restriction to be planted within it.
"There's nothing to be surprised about."
Ji Yuan, however, felt nothing and remained relatively calm.
Glancing at the person beside him, he then sat cross-legged on the ground, took a few pills, and began to recover his spiritual energy.
The previous battle, though not long, had consumed nearly half of his spiritual energy, requiring some time to recover.
At the same time, he realized that as the number of his battles and skirmishes increased, his control over his own spiritual energy became increasingly meticulous. With the same methods and equal spiritual energy, the power unleashed by his magical artifacts was even stronger.
Moreover, methods he had previously been unable to comprehend, with the increasingly fine control of his spiritual energy and greater familiarity with magical artifacts, he had naturally gained much understanding.
This was also why Ji Yuan could display different methods each time he fought.
With repeated battles and skirmishes, even if his realm and cultivation did not improve, his combat power was constantly increasing.
Not to mention that each battle inspired many insights, coupled with some fortunate encounters, he was now at any moment capable of breaking through to the mid-stage of the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
Even upon breaking through, he would not need much time to stabilize his realm and would still have the capacity to attempt the late-stage of the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
The reason he had not yet broken through was simply that Ji Yuan wanted to accumulate more.
The chapter corresponding to the Enlightenment Realm of the Nine Yuan Heavy Water Scripture had already steadily entered the realm of completion, and although the Profound Sky Sword Art was still at minor completion, it was only a matter of time before it reached great completion.
Only when the chapters corresponding to the Enlightenment Realm of the two cultivation techniques he practiced both reached completion, and the chapters of the Spirit Manifestation Realm also reached minor completion, would he consider breaking through.
After experiencing the Nine Refinements Nine Yuan Heavy Water Secret Technique, he even wanted to push this secret technique to the great completion of its introductory chapter before considering breaking through.
In this way, his spiritual energy, whether in purity or density, would far surpass cultivators from prestigious sects and be immeasurably stronger than ordinary cultivators.
Two hours later, with the help of pills and the spiritual energy within the Profound Sky Spirit Devouring Pagoda, Ji Yuan finally replenished his depleted spiritual energy and then opened his eyes, rising from the ground.
Only then did he retract the Profound Sky Spirit Devouring Pagoda from above his head into his Dantian, gently nurturing its spirituality with his abundant spiritual energy.
As he stood up, the giant python, which had been healing beside him, also opened its eyes and looked at him somewhat unnaturally.
When Ji Yuan planted the mark and restriction on its soul, a subtle connection was formed between them. With a mere thought, they could make each other feel their intentions.
However, this connection also had a distance limit. Currently, if the distance between them exceeded about ten miles, they would lose the ability to communicate with their thoughts and could only sense a general direction.
"Do you know what that space at the bottom of the pool is, and what spiritual treasures are stored there?"
After a moment of contemplation, Ji Yuan directly inquired.
After a long while, a faint thought was transmitted, appearing directly in his mind.
He frowned and sensed for a long time before understanding the meaning of this thought: "I don't know."
Sighing softly, Ji Yuan leaped onto the giant python's head, gently stepping on it, and then said, "Go, take me down to see."
Under Zhou Lianying's complicated gaze, the giant python swayed its body and, carrying him, slowly headed towards the distant pool!
As he was about to enter the pool, he formed a hand seal, and as his spiritual energy surged, a thin layer of water light appeared, flowing around his body.
With this halo, the surrounding water could not get close to him, and he even continuously drew in air, allowing him to breathe underwater.
Ji Yuan stood on the giant python's head. As it continued to dive deeper into the pool, the light around them grew dimmer, and a complex emotion arose within him.
He uncontrollably felt a sense of loneliness. In the silent environment, a faint fear inevitably emerged, deepening with time.
Not to mention that as they continued to descend, a great pressure also came, forcing Ji Yuan to use the spiritual energy within him to resist the underwater oppression from all directions.
However, he soon noticed the giant python beneath his feet. At the extremely deep bottom of the pool, it seemed to feel no pressure at all. Its massive body merely moved, and the ubiquitous pressure was dispelled.
Gradually, he grasped some patterns, and from the giant python, he felt a fluctuation of water-elemental power. Upon careful observation, he immediately felt a great deal of enlightenment in his heart.
Ji Yuan unconsciously acted according to the insights in his heart, adjusting the spiritual energy he released.
Just at the beginning, he felt the pressure around him decrease significantly. As he continued to try, he felt a feeling of being in his element.
In just a few dozen breaths, the pressure at the bottom of the water had significantly reduced, with most of it being dispelled by him. With the spiritual energy to resist, he could barely feel any pressure.
Now, even if Ji Yuan were to fight the giant python at the bottom of the water, it would probably not be a big problem.
During this time, the giant python had passed through the relatively narrow bottom of the pool and entered a spacious area filled with brilliant spiritual light.
There were countless spirit fish swimming around. As if sensing the appearance of the giant python, they were about to scatter.
However, the giant python merely opened its mouth and sucked, swallowing more than twenty spirit fish in one gulp. A surge of spiritual energy flowed within its body, and its injuries actually began to heal faster.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan had an idea. Gazing at the giant python's injuries, which were now covered in spiritual energy, he guessed that the spirit fish here had the effect of aiding in the healing of wounds.
After eating some spirit fish, the giant python, quite satisfied, continued to dive, heading towards the ball of spiritual light at the bottom of the water.
Before long, the two arrived near this ball of spiritual light. With a slight opening of his spiritual eyes, he could see through the spiritual light what it contained.
It was a stone block about the size of an adult's fist, with an irregular surface, covered in five colors, and gathering the power of the five elements.
However, among the five elemental spiritual energies of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, the water-elemental power was the most concentrated and strongest.
"Five Elements Essence... and a Water Essence!"
Ji Yuan could not help but be moved by this.
This was condensed from the essence of the five elements, containing extremely pure five-elemental energy throughout its body. A piece the size of a fingernail could fetch a sky-high price in the outside world.
If integrated into a magical artifact, it could even increase its power by severalfold. The larger the volume, the greater the improvement.
A fist-sized piece of Five Elements Essence could increase the power of a magical artifact by several times its original value!
And this was only one of the effects of the Five Elements Essence.
Glancing at the giant python below, Ji Yuan finally understood why this python was so close to the water element. It turned out it had grown up next to the Water Five Elements Essence.
Being influenced by this object for a long time, it naturally became extremely close to the water element, and it was normal for its physique to change.
An hour and a half later, the surface of the pool suddenly churned with spray. Ji Yuan, radiating spiritual energy, was carried ashore by the giant python and then leaped onto the ground.
Although the underwater environment no longer had much of an impact on him, the feeling of standing on solid ground was something no one would dislike.
Zhou Lianying walked over. She did not ask if he had succeeded, because since earlier, there had been no spiritual light flashing from the pool.
Moreover, Ji Yuan's face was now adorned with a faint smile, indicating that the trip had been quite fruitful.
This was indeed the case. A single fist-sized Water Five Elements Essence was already worth a fortune. Furthermore, before leaving, he had specifically instructed the giant python to catch seventy to eighty spirit fish from the depths of the pool.
These spirit fish were naturally alive, and their value was higher than when they were dead. Thus, he stored them in the space within his White Jade Flying Sword.
Unlike the space within the Emerald Ring, it was not only astonishingly large but could also hold living creatures. As long as there was a supply of spiritual energy, they would not die.
"Let's go, it's time to reach the summit."
He glanced at the girl beside him and then continued to climb the mountain with her.
However, before leaving, Ji Yuan sent a thought to the giant python. Then, the massive body of the python began to shrink rapidly, eventually becoming only a few feet long and burrowing into the spirit beast pouch at his waist.
The Treasure Seeking Rat that was originally in the bag was released by him to leave on its own.
Compared to the outside world, although this place was covered by a mountain protection formation, and one could not enter or exit without a jade token, it lacked many dangers. The Treasure Seeking Rat would be extremely safe here, with no fear of being caught by others or preyed upon by other fierce beasts.
For the remaining half of the mountain path, although there were a few places where spiritual light flashed, most of them yielded only small items.
These items were indeed of the artifact grade, containing one to three layers of acquired restrictions, but they did not possess the ability to protect oneself with cultivation methods. Instead, they were mostly effective in calming the mind and dispelling distracting thoughts.
Among them, a folding fan was something Ji Yuan rather liked. With a gentle wave, it could summon a gentle breeze, scattering all the dust from his body and leaving behind a faint, elegant fragrance.
The few small items, while lacking formidable power, possessed various subtle uses. Although they were ineffective in combat and skirmishes, they could provide considerable assistance in daily cultivation.
Over time, this accumulated into a not-insignificant revenue, and for cultivators, besides pursuing great opportunities, the most important thing was this steady stream of cultivation resources.
After about half an hour, Ji Yuan finally brought Zhou Lianying to the summit of the mountain and, as expected, met the group of people who had been waiting for a long time.