Leo knew that the Golden Core was nurturing a Spirit Core, and once his cultivation broke through to the Spirit God realm, the Spirit Core would emerge from the Golden Core.
With a Spirit Core, even if the physical body died or was destroyed, it would not mean true death for a Cultivator. As long as the Spirit Core found a host body, the Cultivator could seize it and be reborn.
After consuming the Jade Spirit Crystalfruit in the cave, Seraphina had also broken through to a higher-level Spirit Saint. However, she could clearly sense that Leo’s aura was even stronger than hers at that time. Seraphina was certain that Leo would reach the Spirit God realm before her.
“Sophia, wait for me, I will come to find you soon,” Leo murmured in his sleep.
“Sophia?” Seraphina’s beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly. The name sounded like a woman’s name. Was he so eager to improve his cultivation because of a woman?
Seraphina’s body trembled slightly, her eyes showing unusual fluctuations, and her expression became somewhat complicated.
In the Ice Valley, when Leo opened his eyes, it was already close to noon. He stood up, stretched lazily, and stepped down from the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.
“Finally broke through to a higher-level Spirit Saint.” Feeling the abundant spiritual power in his dantian, Leo’s eyes sparkled with excitement. He even had an intuition that he could now mobilize a small amount of the world’s spiritual power. It was known that only Spirit God realm experts could control the world’s spiritual power.
After finishing his stretches, Leo walked over to Seraphina and smiled at her. “Thank you for your hard work.”
Seraphina did not respond, appearing distracted and lost in thought. Noticing her unusual expression, Leo asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Seraphina shook her head lightly, coming back to her senses.
Leo didn’t mind and shifted his gaze to the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus. The large lotus quietly bloomed on the ice pond, emitting a radiant glow with white spiritual fish shadows swimming within. The lotus not only exuded strong vitality but also seemed full of spirituality.
Without a doubt, the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus had grown much stronger. With a gesture from Leo’s right hand, the lotus quickly shrank into a palm-sized ice lotus and floated above his hand. The surrounding light shone brilliantly, with fish shadows swimming gracefully.
After admiring it for a moment, Leo willed the lotus to transform into a stream of icy white light and enter his dantian. Looking up at the sky, Leo remarked, “I didn’t realize so much time had passed. I wonder what happened to the Pill Sovereign’s palace?”
“Right, the Frost Spirit Beast!” Leo quickly looked in the direction of the Frost Spirit Beast.
“It died last night after you started cultivating,” Seraphina said softly.
The two approached the Frost Spirit Beast’s body, which had been completely frozen by ice and no longer showed any signs of life.
“Rest in peace,” Leo said sadly, forming a hand seal and sending spiritual power into the ground. The earth trembled and split open, burying the Frost Spirit Beast’s body. Leo did not take its Inner Core Elixir, allowing it to rest in peace.
After burying the Frost Spirit Beast, Leo turned his attention to its egg and summoned it into his Spirit Pouch. Then he looked at the two Ice Soul Yin-Yang Trees. He wouldn’t miss out on their Spirit Fruits. Using his spiritual power, he plucked all the Ice Soul Fruits and stored them in his Storage Sack.
“Seraphina, let’s go. Hopefully, no one has obtained the Pill Sovereign’s inheritance yet,” Leo said to Seraphina.
Seraphina nodded lightly, and the two figures flashed out of the Ice Valley, heading towards the center of the island. They did not stop along the way and left the mountains within ten minutes.
Ahead lay a lush meadow. In the distance, a grand palace appeared-the residence of the Ancient Tyrant Pill Sovereign.
As Leo and Seraphina prepared to head towards the palace, some late-arriving Cultivators flew past them in streaks of light. The two exchanged glances and flew towards the palace.
In front of the palace were numerous pavilions and towers standing far apart from each other. Some were hidden among green bamboo; others faced lakes and mountains; some were surrounded by red leaves; others were set in beautiful snowy landscapes. The scenery represented all four seasons, resembling a paradise.
Around these pavilions and towers were spirit flowers and exotic grasses everywhere. Amongst the bamboo, lakes, red leaves, and snow scenes, sounds of Cultivators fighting could be heard from near and far.
Leo and Seraphina flashed into a green bamboo forest ahead. The ground in the bamboo forest bore deep pits and traces of battles, along with some Cultivator corpses.
Leo quickly recognized the bamboo species as Jade Spirit Bamboo-a third-grade spiritual bamboo known for its toughness, suitable for making lower-grade spiritual weapons, especially musical instruments with greater power.
Besides Jade Spirit Bamboo, there were many second- and third-grade spirit grasses scattered like wild grass, untouched by anyone. Leo and Seraphina continued deeper into the bamboo forest.
Along the way, they passed three or four bamboo houses with remnants of formation fluctuations around them. The houses had been ransacked. After a few minutes in the bamboo forest, they sensed a massive spiritual power fluctuation ahead.
Leo and Seraphina exchanged glances and quickly approached. Ahead was an open area with a large bamboo house by a clear stream. In front of the house stood several figures from two different groups.
One group consisted of eight people wearing blue-and-white outfits with long swords on their backs. The other group had seven people in light green robes with strong physiques exuding powerful physical strength.
“Leo, it’s people from Broken Blade Gate and Shatter Mountain Sect,” Seraphina recognized them and informed Leo.