Li Ming's movements were subtle, nothing special at first glance.
If anyone asked him about it, he'd probably look confused and say he hadn't done anything.
If you didn't intentionally keep an eye on him, you might not even notice the tiny changes in his expression.
If you did notice, just by observing Li Ming, Lei Jun could infer the following,
though he warned everyone about the danger in the Upper Immortal Pond, he secretly signaled to his sister, Li Ying.
It was like he was hinting to Li Ying to ignore what he said in public—the real best choice was the Upper Immortal Pond.
As for why he hadn't privately warned his sister beforehand, considering the unpredictable nature of the Cloud Sea Immortal Pond, it wasn't fair to say he was just putting on a show; maybe, he had only just spotted something after looking up when they entered.
*It was up to others to fill in the blanks however they wanted.*
Anyway, Li Ming hadn't said anything else, he'd just properly warned everyone not to go near the Upper Immortal Pond.
But since Lei Jun had read the lot results, naturally he knew that the Upper Immortal Pond—associated with the moderately unlucky lot—wasn't a great place.
Still, Li Ming hadn't tried to dig a pit for those heading to the worst-lot Lower Immortal Pond.
That was really the most dangerous spot.
Lei Jun carried the Dragon Horse Scales and a Golden Barrier Talisman drawn by Yuan Mobai himself. Both worst lots showed signs of certain death and disaster.
*Did Li Ming still have some kind of bottom line?*
*Maybe not...*
Flexibility was the key, rigidity was taboo.
Even what was true a moment ago might not hold any more today.
Good and bad fortunes always shifted in unpredictable ways.
The experience Li Ming relied on might well have been outdated...
Lei Jun didn't say much for now.
After Li Ming finished his points, everyone split up.
Even the Middle Immortal Pond was made up of several smaller lakes joined together to form one big lake.
Everyone could occupy their own part, so though there was a difference between men and women, nobody cared about getting in the water at the same time.
Mists curled all around, so even though Lei Jun and the others had already improved their vision far beyond ordinary people, their view was still blocked and limited to what was nearby.
But unlike the few new transmission disciples who'd only just reached Foundation Establishment, Li Ming, the squad leader, had long since reached the Three-layered Heaven Dharma Platform Realm.
Master Feng Jian, personally taught by the Celestial Master, was only higher than him, never lower.
So after Lei Jun wandered around twice, he used the clouds for cover and pulled out his own Wind Riding Talisman.
Blending the power of Night Wind Stone with his life-bound Wind Riding Talisman, Lei Jun attached it to himself. Now he moved lightly, as if he'd melted away and vanished into the cloud mists.
Only then did he leave the Immortal Pond and shoot straight upward.
His goal was the clouds at the highest point, mentioned by the moderately good lot.
As Lei Jun rose higher, discomfort began to set in.
The surrounding mist, which seemed insubstantial, turned out to be hot as fire, constantly attacking his body.
Lei Jun didn't pull out the Dragon Horse Scales right away.
That treasure was strong defensively, but drained his mana quickly.
Lei Jun chose his Golden Barrier Talisman first; it wasn't his life-bound talisman art, but its defenses were solid enough, and no Banishing Gold Talisman attacks could be expected here.
With the Golden Barrier Talisman activated, Lei Jun was enveloped in a sheath of golden light, forming a light shield to block out the mist.
However, as he kept ascending, the shield was suddenly burned and dissolved by invisible heat, fast as wildfire.
*Lei Jun suddenly felt a little twitch deep inside and glanced off to the distant side.*
Over there, he caught sight of the corner of an apricot Daoist robe slipping between the clouds.
Lei Jun's life-bound Wind Riding Talisman powered by Night Wind Stone stayed hidden in the mists, so the other guy didn't notice him.
When they got even closer, Lei Jun saw the other person's face—Chen Yi.
*Did he also sense there was a Sixth-Rank Opportunity in the upper cloud sea?*
*Lei Jun was intrigued.*
He watched as Chen Yi was surrounded by gold light just like him, but his shine looked more solid and intense.
The Golden Barrier Talisman—most likely one of Chen Yi's life-bound talisman arts.
When Li Ming brought up Banishing Gold Talismans earlier, Chen Yi had kept a straight face.
But at this moment, to ascend through the cloud sea, he'd had to show his real skills.
Yet the mists crawling over his body got hotter and hotter, and though Chen Yi had a refined life-bound Golden Barrier Talisman, he was barely hanging on.
After burning through three life-bound Golden Barrier Talismans, Chen Yi still wasn't finding what he wanted.
Finally, after weighing things up, he hung on with a fourth Golden Barrier Talisman as he dropped back down, leaving the top-layer clouds behind.
Damn, the best spiritual objects must be right at the top, but my cultivation is still low and I lack a protective treasure, so I'll just have to wait for a chance to come back in the future... Chen Yi looked back at the top clouds, shaking his head again and again.
*A wave of emptiness and regret suddenly washed over him, as if something crucial had slipped through his fingers.*
At least there were treasures in the Upper and Lower Immortal Ponds too. Today wasn't all for nothing... Chen Yi let out a slow breath, continuing his descent.
*Better check out the Upper Immortal Pond first. Li Ming had warned everyone about danger up front, but underneath, he was signaling to his sister, so there must be an opportunity there.*
*That crazy bitch Tang may be arrogant and intolerable, but the Li Family were just as bad, always playing dirty. Using me and Tang Xiaotang for Li Zhengxuan's reputation boost, and still hoping I'd be grateful to the Li Family? Fat chance.*
Chen Yi checked both ways, saw nobody nearby, and dropped into the Upper Immortal Pond.
While Chen Yi was feeling his Golden Barrier Talisman buckle under the blazing cloud mists, Lei Jun was also under heavy pressure.
Since Yuan Mobai's Golden Barrier Talisman was a consumable, Lei Jun decided to reveal the Dragon Horse Scales first.
Channeling his mana into it, the Dragon Horse Scales began to gleam, and a massive light shield took shape around him.
Lei Jun focused, and the shield, which had originally protected just one side, promptly expanded into a protective sphere all around.
The burning sensation vanished at once.
But Lei Jun could also feel his mana draining fast.
He steadied himself, carefully searching around.
After climbing even higher, Lei Jun suddenly felt the mist slow and thicken, turning sluggish.
*It was like crossing from air into water.*
*Feeling a flash of inspiration, Lei Jun decided to retract the Dragon Horse Scales' protection for now.*
Now, the burning mist gathered close again—along with a patch of refreshing coolness.
*...The Sixth-Rank Opportunity mentioned by the moderately good lot.*
Lei Jun immediately took out a Soul Containing Talisman from the Celestial Master Mansion's True Inheritance.
The Soul Containing Talisman flickered with light, pulling in spiritual energy, and could even temporarily hold and seal spiritual objects.
At once, streams of coolness were drawn in and gathered around.
The surface of the yellow talisman paper seemed to frost over with mist.
But as the mist condensed, the patch of coolness vanished and Lei Jun's surroundings were hit by heat again.
He quickly stowed the talisman paper and brought back out the Dragon Horse Scales, dropping fast out of the cloud sea under its protection.
As he fell from above, Lei Jun hurried to put away the Dragon Horse Scales, feeling like his mana was almost sucked dry.
Luckily, he was ready—he swallowed all three Spirit Qi Pills and the small bottle of Pei Yuan Jiang he'd brought along.
Then Lei Jun drifted safely down into one of the Middle Immortal Pond's little lakes.
Immersed in the pond, inside and out, Lei Jun soon felt both his mana and his essence, energy, and spirit begin to rapidly recover.
He quietly practiced breathing skills, inspecting his own body. The pond's spiritual power seemed to transform inside him, flowing like liquid Cloud Sea Immortal Pond water, nourishing and cultivating his Taoist foundation.
The foundation was strengthened further by soaking in the water of the Immortal Pond.
"No wonder they call it the Cloud Sea Immortal Pond."
Lei Jun nodded in approval—Master Yuan Mobai hadn't exaggerated. Even disregarding the frost-mist gathered from the clouds above, just bathing and being cleansed in the Immortal Pond water cleared the way ahead, paving his next steps to reach the mid-level of Foundation Establishment.
*Huh?*
*Lei Jun felt a sudden jolt in his heart once more.*
After constantly refining Night Wind Stone's spiritual power, not only did his own movement become light and subtle, Lei Jun's ability to detect even the slightest changes had become razor-sharp—beyond the limits of his current realm.
He vaguely sensed that someone was lingering far off, watching in secret.
The figure was Li Ming.
The Immortal Pond was vast and shrouded in clouds, so searching for someone wasn't easy.
He looked at the Upper Immortal Pond first, found no sign of Chen Yi or the others.
Back in the Middle Immortal Pond, he picked up Shangguan Hong first.
And now, seeing that Lei Jun was also in the Middle Immortal Pond, Li Ming couldn't help but feel even more disappointed.
*He really was damn trouble...Lei Jun kept his face blank as usual.*
*So...*
He stayed a bit longer, then acted like he'd just noticed something and stood up from the water.
Li Ming initially wondered if he'd been spotted, but realized Lei Jun was walking the other way.
Lei Jun reached the edge of the Middle Immortal Pond and looked downward,
"Brother Chen? Brother Chen, is that you?"
Lei Jun stood on the lake's edge, gazing down toward where the Lower Immortal Pond lay, all was covered in dense mist.
He turned and returned to the Middle Immortal Pond waters, hesitating and muttering to himself, "Mistook it?"
After that he simply stayed quietly in the Middle Immortal Pond, practicing breathing skills and settling his qi.
Far off, Li Ming now snuck over to the Middle Immortal Pond's edge, peering downward with a frown and deep in thought.