Chapter 499: The Astral Power

"Daoist Friend, can you tell me what's happening down there?" Wang Sheng asked the gray-haired Daoist in the wooden cage beside his.

"

Mm?

"

The prisoner glanced at Wang Sheng and snorted coldly. He then shut his eyes and absorbed the primal qi in his Immortal Stone, fully focused on clearing the fiend-blood energy in his body.

Wang Sheng didn't feel awkward. Turning to the other side, he saw the immortal shift slightly, turning his back toward Wang Sheng.

How are you all supposed to rebel against the Celestial Wind Sect if you're still unwilling to communicate despite already being imprisoned and enslaved? You know what? Fine. If you all want to act this cold, then so be it.

Wang Sheng didn't feel discouraged. He continued observing the situation, waiting for the moment these people would finally notice him.

Several days passed with no one caring about him, yet through constant observation, he collected quite a bit of information.

First, the cultivators treated as "miners" were not limited to these twenty-odd people. He saw another group roughly the same size as the first. They were sitting on a large wooden platform, dragged up from another tunnel by two True Immortals.

They all belonged to the Di Division. By rough estimate, there were likely four groups: Tian, Di, Xuan, and Huang[1]. If so, then the sect had about a hundred miners in total rotating through different tunnels.

On his ninth day of imprisonment, before he could confirm whether the other two groups existed, the Celestial Wind Sect's overseer finally remembered him.

"Right. Take this one to the cliff and put him on wall duty."

Two celestial soldiers pulled him from the wooden cage and brought him to the edge of the land. They then threw him into a large cage where over ten people sat in meditation.

"Stay here and behave," a soldier scolded under his breath. He shut the cage door and left with his companion.

The realms of the cultivators with Wang Sheng ranged from the Rebirth Realm to mid-stage Ascended Immortal Realm, instantly making him the "senior expert" among them. He found a corner to sit, observing the cultivators.

Some ignored everything, while a few assessed him briefly. Like the miners he saw earlier, their eyes barely had any spirit in them. Even when their gazes met his, they showed no reaction at all.

About a third were female, but their captors couldn't care less about gender. In this place, they were no more than laborers under the Celestial Wind Sect's control.

Wang Sheng had only two things he could do now: observe in secret and consider ways to cultivate. Unless he grew stronger, he'd inevitably die here.

How do I become more powerful?

Wang Sheng had spent the past few days trying to come up with an answer to that question. He essentially had to figure out how to obtain more Immortal Stones or absorb purer primal qi.

His immortal power reserves were still fairly full since he hadn't spent much of them when he was captured. After all, he hadn't even been given the time to resist.

Six days later, Wang Sheng still hadn't found a way to acquire pure primal qi to cultivate. He finally received a task, though.

Several celestial soldiers approached the cage. One of them shouted viciously, "Come out, all of you!"

Wang Sheng rose slowly. He and his fourteen cellmates walked out one by one, forming a line outside. Those with higher cultivation, like Wang Sheng, stood near the front, while those who hadn't ascended stood at the back.

Everyone cooperated so well that the soldiers barely had to speak. They all knew exactly where to go.

Since his arrival, Wang Sheng hadn't seen any signs of resistance. All the laborers behaved like walking corpses as the fiend-blood energy in the mines slowly consumed them.

They were brought to a cliff. On it was a row of stone pillars, each one tied with two celestial ropes.

"Fasten the hooks to the person beside you," a soldier instructed.

Before Wang Sheng understood what he meant, another soldier had already thrown a belt at his feet. "Put it on yourself."

Oh, I have a work uniform now.

Instead of rebelling, he picked up the belt and fastened it over his Daoist robe.

The other cultivators were already helping each other tie the ends of the celestial ropes to their belts. With his immortal power sealed and his hands bound, Wang Sheng struggled. Fortunately, a female Ascended Immortal silently tied the rope for him.

"Thank you."

The female immortal seemed surprised that he had thanked her. She nodded slightly, then stepped aside with her head lowered.

The soldiers took out fifteen hammers and fifteen chisels, then threw them before the cultivators, one set for each. With the prisoners' cultivation sealed, they had to rely on tools to work the cliff.

Yaoyun telepathically commented, "

A skilled smith made those hammers and chisel sets.

"

Wang Sheng could only take it as a small moment of humor in bitter circumstances.

Soon, the fifteen leaped off the cliff and hung suspended along its face. The soldiers stepped onto clouds and descended, adjusting the ropes and assigning positions.

One of them flew beside Wang Sheng and calmly instructed, "You have three months to carve out a section three

zhang

wide and three

chi

deep. Once you're done, you may go up and rest for one month. If you fail, you will hang here until you die."

Instead of replying, Wang Sheng reached out and touched the dark-red cliff. Sensing the filthy energy within it, he frowned slightly. He then sighed a little, picked up his tools, and slowly chiseled away.

The soldier coldly added, "At least you know your place."

He then rode away. Soon, the other celestial soldiers stepped back onto drifting clouds, monitoring the operation. They joked using voice transmission, paying Wang Sheng no extra attention.

Looking above and below him, he found many other prisoners hanging from the cliff face and carving away at the rock. Beyond the grand array in the distance, he could see a faint beam of starlight.

Wang Sheng once again pondered the same impossible questions that had been in his mind.

Is there a way to escape? If there isn't, how do I cultivate here?

Instinctively chiselling at the cliff, he fell deep into thought. However, he still failed to come up with a good plan.

After some time, Yaoyun warned, "

You are chiseling too fast.

"

"

Mm?

"

Wang Sheng finally noticed that he had unknowingly carved out a whole chunk of the cliff wall. His cellmates hadn't even done a tenth of his progress.

"

Don't let them notice that you still have strength to spare.

"

"

Understood.

"

Wang Sheng switched to soft and weak movements, slowing his striking rhythm. He then continued thinking.

The Celestial Wind Sect forced captives with shallow cultivation to chisel outside. Meanwhile, those with deep cultivation were sent to the mines.

If Wang Sheng could rally all miners into forming a resistance, he'd have quite a powerful force. However, cultivators were hard to fool, and their captors had a Heavenly Immortal and over ten True Immortals garrisoned here. They could wipe out all miners in one strike. Hence, they didn't fear rebellions.

If chaos broke out, Wang Sheng probably wouldn't even get a chance to flee. On the contrary, he'd likely be captured quickly. Afterward, the Celestial Wind Sect could simply send people to kidnap another batch of unaffiliated practitioners and resume their regular operations.

The only way to survive was for him to grow stronger and wait for an opportunity.

As Wang Sheng struggled to find a way to cultivate, Yaoyun decisively offered a temporary solution.

"

I'll control your body to chisel for you. Return your Primordial Spirit to the Heavenly Abode. Though you can't cultivate, you can still comprehend your own Dao. It's our only shot. Focus on raising your comprehension and refining your Daoist realm. When an opportunity arises, you'll break through faster."

Wang Sheng worriedly asked, "

Won't the enemy notice?

"

"Don't worry. Y

our aura and mine are nearly identical.

"

Wasting no time, he withdrew his consciousness into his Primordial Spirit. Although it was suppressed, it didn't hinder him from comprehending his Dao of the Sword. Following a cool sensation rising from his chest, he felt Yaoyun taking over his body and tapping rhythmically on the cliff wall. It was a strange feeling—like he switched to a third-person perspective.

Once again, Yaoyun had come to his rescue.

With his Primordial Spirit seated in the Heavenly Abode, he pushed external matters aside and devoted himself entirely to his Dao of the Sword. His four great sword intents gradually projected four swords around his Primordial Spirit.

His Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent, in particular, condensed into a sword of starlight and immediately tried to strike the shackles on Wang Sheng's ankles, but he immediately stopped it. Had the attack hit, the overseers would have been alarmed, possibly causing unpleasant consequences.

He grasped the starlight longsword and snapped his fingers, drawing in the other three sword intents. Afterward, he focused on practicing the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art.

He had only just begun when he had a strange sensation. When his Primordial Spirit wielded the sword intent and practiced the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art's techniques in the Heavenly Abode, the sword intent underwent changes that made Wang Sheng perk up in spirit.

Above the qi sea, where he had gathered his immortal power, hundreds of stars flickered, and traces of starlight drifted down like the first snow, falling slowly into the qi sea. The immortal power swirling below expanded slightly.

Is this astral power?

"

Yaoyun, did you see that?

"

With a hint of confusion, Yaoyun replied, "

Mm?

"

Wang Sheng immediately practiced the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art again. Soon, the stars flickered once more, and threads of astral power formed glowing specks that fell into the qi sea.

The immortal power in the qi sea increased by one ladleful. Though it barely amounted to much, it was extremely pure and didn't attract any attention.

Yaoyun joyously remarked, "

Ah, I forgot the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art had that ability. Now that we're outside the Realm of Exiled Immortals, you can use that sword art to freely draw on the power of the heavens and stars.

It's slower than absorbing primal qi to cultivate, but it opens a path. You should find a way to make your Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent continuously draw astral power on its own.

"

"

Alright.

"

This unexpected discovery lifted his spirits. He quickly focused on practicing the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art and comprehending the starlight that he had just come across.

***

About a month and a half later, Wang Sheng finally succeeded. Even without actively unleashing his Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent, he could now absorb astral power nonstop. Moreover, the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent seemingly underwent rebirth, giving him even more enlightenment.

After crunching the numbers with Yaoyun, the two concluded that on astral power alone, he would break through to the mid-stage Ascended Immortal Realm in eighty or ninety years. Although it was much slower than his usual cultivation speed, it was still astonishingly fast compared to other immortals.

Besides, he was still a prisoner of the Celestial Wind Sect. Having a pair of straw sandals was already a blessing. He couldn't possibly ask for a bicycle, too, could he?

Having found a way to cultivate, Wang Sheng's mind raced.

Celestial Wind Sect, my grudge is now set in stone.

1. In traditional cosmology, 天(Tian) refers to Heaven or the sky, 地(Di) refers to Earth. 玄(Xuan) and 黄(Huang) describe primordial colors associated with the universe. 玄(Xuan) is a deep, mysterious dark color, often linked to the heavens and the Dao. 黄(Huang) is yellow, associated with earth, centrality, and the fertile soil of the world. The phrase comes from the opening line of the Thousand Character Classic, 天地玄黄，宇宙洪荒, which describes the universe in its earliest, primordial state. Together, the words convey the idea that Heaven and Earth came into being first, with their fundamental, mysterious qualities already established. ☜