Meng Lin gazed upon the earring as it began to transform. Its intricate engravings now shimmered with a vibrant golden hue, and the symbols on its surface seemed to dance with newfound vitality.

Meng Lin could sense the immense power emanating from the earring. It was as if a door had been opened, granting her access to a higher realm of power.

She didn’t waste time to utilize the earring’s ability as an abundance of qi and ancient aura powered out of the earring to fill the cave with light.

Burst!

There was so much qi that Meng Lin’s eyes widened as she realized that she wouldn’t be able to control it, and she noticed that the commotion would to be too big, big enough to attract others.

Quake!!!

Above the surface, where a few dozen cultivators were working differently to dig into the ground, they suddenly felt a powerful surge of energy.

The ground beneath them trembled, and the air crackled with electricity. Startled, they looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what was happening.

A few hundred meters away from where Meng Lin was located was a woman with a silver white hair in a white robe, exuding a frosty aura around, her gaze shifted to look in the direction of Meng Lin and she began to think.

It was Xue Lian of the divine Soul Sect, next to her stood Li Wei, the young man with Luans soul.

Li Wei looked towards Xue Lian with an air of familiarity as he asked, "Xue Lian, what did you sense”

Xue Lian's eyes narrowed as she continued to analyze the situation, she opened her mouth to speak.

“I don’t know, just now I felt an abrupt surge of ancient qi but it was suddenly gone the next moment, I wonder what caused that” Li Wei furrowed his brows in deep thought, trying to make sense of Xue Lian's words.

“This whole landmass is entirely strange, three layers of rock formations joint togather, the deeper you go the harder it becomes to dig yet the more opportunities you have of gaining a high tier item, maybe someone discovered another top grade treasure” Lu Wei said , his eyes sparkling with excitement. Xue Lian nodded in agreement, her mind racing with possibilities.

“In any case, there are likely to be other Gold Core cultivators that will go to that location and likely more than 5, things could get ugly” Xue Lian said, understanding the potential danger Li Wei could face if they ventured into that location.

****

At exactly the same time back in the cave, Meng Lin quickly realized that she needed to contain the energy before it got out of control.

She concentrated her qi and began practicing the third layer of her Black tortoise Essence Art, she opened her mouth and like a glutton began to suck the surrounding qi into her stomach, absorbing the excess energy that was threatening to overflow.

As she absorbed the energy, Meng Lin could feel that it was not going to be enough so she began to cultivate the first layer of the Black Tortoise Essence Art, her body glowed and qi began to move into her pores.

However she began to realize another problem, there was too much qi and she was absorbing too much into her body.

She could feel her body becoming overloaded, her skin tingling and her muscles tense.

Her body started to tremble under the immense pressure, and she felt a surge of energy building up inside her, threatening to burst forth uncontrollably.

Cracks began to appear on her skin and blood began to quickly flow out from her pores. The intense pressure was causing her body to reach its limits, and she knew she had to find a way to release the excess energy before it consumed her.

With a burst of unwillingness, Meng Lin focused her thoughts and directed her qi towards her hands. She extended her palms and released all the energy within her dantian to create a powerful wave of energy in the form of a force field around the cave to contain the overflowing qi.

The force field shimmered with a golden glow, matching the brilliance of the earring. It acted as a barrier, preventing the energy from escaping and causing further chaos.

As the energy flowed inside the force field, Meng Lin felt a sense of relief. The pressure on her body eased, and she regained control of her trembling muscles.

But she knew that this was only a temporary solution. She couldn't keep the force field up indefinitely, and she needed to find a more sustainable way to manage the excess energy.

Drawing upon her knowledge and experience, Meng Lin began to think about a way into this situation, considering the various possibilities that could provide a long-term solution.

“System”

[Meng Lin]

[special physique: Brute Qi physique]

[Foundation Establishment Stage(peak)]

[Experience points: 78%]

System coin: 570

Taoist Gacha wheel: unavailable

Spiritual Roots: [Water>Fire>Gold>Wood>Earth]

Variant Elemental Qi : [Mud] [ Erosion]

Main Cultivation Method: [Black Tortoise Essence Art, 4th Layer]

Side Cultivation Methods: : [Basic Qi Gathering] [Formless Cultivation method]

Techniques: [Celestial Moonlit Sword Art] [Focused Qi control] [Waterfall slash] [Refine Yin Qi] [Surge] [Thunderbolt Flash]

Ancient Spirit Seals: ~Black Tortoises~, Gong Fu - Golden Lizard.

[Market] [Blacksmith] [Alchemy]

Looking at her system menu, Meng Lin’s eyes were drawn to the spirit seals, wondering if she could just give all the qi to the seal

It was because they just needed an ample supply of qi to be active and the more that is given, the stronger they get however Meng Lin shook her head soon after, she didn’t want to entertain the idea.

She realized that the here was nothing that she could really do except cultivate in this field of ancient aura and qi, she believed that it was more than enough to breakthrough to the Gold Core Realm.

However Meng Lin knew that she couldn’t stay submerged inside this raw energy, otherwise it might start affecting her body in different ways.

She sat crossed legged and began absorbing qi into her pores again, this time she was careful to circulate it around her body and then store it inside her dantian.

As Meng Lin continued to absorb the qi and store it in her dantian, she focused on maintaining a balance within her body.

She knew that she needed to find a way to regulate the flow of energy and prevent herself from becoming overwhelmed again and she needed to find other places to put the energy when her dantian becomes full.

It was then that Meng Lin began to visualize the excess energy flowing through her body, but instead of absorbing it all into the dantian, she channeled it into specific meridians and pathways.

By doing so, she could distribute the energy evenly throughout her body, preventing any one area from becoming overloaded.

As she continued to absorb and circulate the qi, Meng Lin noticed that her body started to adapt and accommodate the influx of energy. She could feel her muscles strengthening, her skin becoming more resilient, and her senses becoming sharper.

With each breath, Meng Lin could sense the energy becoming more harmonious within her. She could feel a connection between her body, mind, and spirit, as if they were working in perfect synchronization.

As the excess energy slowly dissipated and merged with her own cultivation, Meng Lin felt a surge of power coursing through her veins.

She knew that she had successfully integrated the energy into her own cultivation, enhancing her strength and abilities, it was then that Meng Lin felt something, something akin to a wall blocking her qi from rising.

She had reached the bottleneck of the foundation Establishment Realm. It caused Meng Lin to smile as there was only this one wall blocking her from the Gold Core Realm.

As she was about to continue she felt a chill running through her body and several massive auras reached inside her spiritual consciousness.

Crack!

Burst!!!

The shimmering golden forcefield was broken and a burst of qi found their way outside the cave through the crack in the forcefield.

Meng Lin opened her eyes to see a shocking scene in front of her, she could see sunlight, she was surprised about that since she was so far into the ground and she wondered how it was possible.

However it all became clear after she saw the figures that were standing around her cave, they were curiously gazing with longing at the qi that was coming out of the forcefield.

It was eight beings that released aura vastly more powerful than her own, and there was a shocking one that released even more aura than the others.