A plan was devised for everyone to utilize their magical treasures to investigate the restrictions, earning merits for each discovery, provided they exercised caution. Each Northern Region cultivator was equipped with sets of magical treasures, divided into protective ones and those for investigating restrictions. The primary role of the independent cultivators from the Northern Region was to act as pathfinders, as their use of resources was limited.
To some extent, they took on the role of cannon fodder, though they volunteered for it. The immortal sects provided protective magical treasures to these independent cultivators. The ancient restrictions were numerous, terrifying, and vastly different from modern ones. They were difficult to detect and even more perilous, invisible to the naked eye. Some Nascent Soul cultivators had inadvertently triggered them during the initial battle upon entering, but fortunately, others had come together to block these ancient restrictions.
A magical treasure emitted a red light. “There’s one here!” a cultivator exclaimed. A formation master from the Falling Cloud Sect approached cautiously, warning not to touch the blurry boundary of the restriction.
“Li Su, that restriction over there is extremely dangerous. Be careful,” someone cautioned Li Su. On the other side, the sect leader noticed the restrictions Li Su was examining and offered a reminder. The sea beasts had cunningly led them to these dangerous restrictions, realizing they couldn’t defeat the cultivators in direct combat.
“Senior Li, do you possess knowledge of restrictions as well?” Bi Luo approached Li Su, who responded with a thoughtful “Hmm.” He began performing hand seals, making the previously invisible restrictions visible, appearing as transparent barriers.
Seeing Li Su’s ability to render the restrictions visible, Bi Luo and the sect leader were astonished. Li Su continued his techniques, and under his command, the previously invisible restrictions rapidly dissipated.
“Gone?” Bi Luo inquired.
“Gone,” confirmed Li Su. He proceeded to dismantle the restriction placed at the entrance.
“Senior Li, I didn’t expect your knowledge of formations to be this impressive!” Bi Luo praised genuinely.
The sect leader thought, his proficiency in formations has become even more formidable. By this time, Li Su had moved forward.
“These restrictions are quite formidable, and we can’t decipher them. Let’s first determine their range and wait for the Sect Master and Senior Wu to arrive,” a few disciples from the Falling Cloud Sect discussed upon discovering a new restriction. The Northern Region cultivators had dispersed in various directions to investigate, following the strategy devised by the Nascent Soul cultivator Jin, which involved advancing gradually, peak by peak, while understanding the ancient restrictions.
Once the codes were deciphered, it fell upon the disciples of the Falling Cloud Sect to outline the rough boundaries. They would then bypass what they could forcefully break through the impassable ones or find a way to decode them. As Falling Cloud Sect disciples discussed their options, Li Su demonstrated various techniques. Suddenly, the ancient restriction they were investigating was dismantled by Li Su.
“Gone?” The Falling Cloud Sect disciples were puzzled, but when they turned around, they saw Li Su. “It’s Senior Li!” Several were astonished, as they didn’t expect Li Su to dismantle the restriction so easily.
“Senior Jin, this restriction is quite tricky. We can only slowly outline its boundaries. If those sea beasts can go around it, we should also be able to. It’s just that we don’t know how many casualties we’ll face,” the leader of the Falling Cloud Sect voiced his concerns regarding a specific restriction blocking their path.
This restriction was critical as it was the only way to reach the towering mountains. The Falling Cloud Sect leader lacked confidence in breaking it. Despite their expertise in formations, their most skilled formation master, besides himself, had studied formations for over a thousand years. That was the late Foundation Establishment stage formation master who had sadly died underground.
Since breaking the restriction was not an option, they had no choice but to explore its boundaries. Given its difficulty, those exploring it might face significant danger.
“I’ll give it a try,” someone volunteered.
The Falling Cloud Sect leader saw that Li Su had spoken. “Do you also know this area of restrictions, Senior Li?” he inquired.
Li Su replied with a humble “Hmm” before swiftly taking action. The ancient restrictions in this place were indeed formidable, but Li Su found that the challenge lay in their age rather than complexity. His 3,000 years of experience in formations played a significant role.
As Li Su acted, the restriction quickly became visible, and he managed to do so without triggering its defensive mechanism, a remarkable feat.
“Is it so easy to reveal the restriction?” The Falling Cloud Sect’s sect leader was surprised. After making the restriction visible, Li Su continued to work on it.
The true challenge with restrictions lay in cultivators creating many using pure, true essence. The more powerful the cultivator, the more formidable the restriction they could create. However, deciphering them was an immensely challenging task.
Other Nascent Soul cultivators in the vicinity observed Li Su’s progress. After about fifteen minutes, Li Su let out a light shout, and with that, the restriction crumbled. A surge of black seawater rushed in from above, catching the sea beasts inside off guard. Many Nascent Soul cultivators acted swiftly, resulting in heavy casualties among the sea beasts.
The Northern Region cultivators advanced once again. The Falling Cloud Sect leader couldn’t help but express his admiration for Li Su’s accomplishment.
“I was lucky. I happened to have some knowledge of ancient restrictions, and over the years, the power of these restrictions has considerably weakened,” Li Su modestly replied.
“Haha, Senior Li, you’re being too modest. It seems like you’re a rare talent in our Northern Region, not just for a thousand years, but perhaps tens of thousands of years,” the others praised him.
Li Su broke the other restrictions inside and eventually took control of the mountain peak, revealing it as an herbal garden. Protected by specialized formations, this herbal garden covered several mountain peaks. It contained numerous valuable, low-grade herbs but held significant value due to their long growth period.
As the cultivators gathered the herbs, the Falling Cloud Sect leader proposed, “As Senior Li was the one to open the herbal garden, he should receive a 15% share of the herbs, with priority in selecting them, separate from the allocation to the Flying Immortal Sect. Does anyone have any objections?”
Li Su’s outstanding performance earned him 15% of the herbs and priority in selection, all without affecting the Flying Immortal Sect’s share. The Nascent Soul cultivators agreed to this arrangement as they recognized Li Su’s pivotal role in accessing the herbal garden.
After making his selections, primarily focusing on herbs for longevity pills and secondary herbs for higher-level abilities, Li Su’s choices were collected, and the distribution was carried out, with the Flying Immortal Sect receiving a substantial share thanks to Li Su’s remarkable performance.
As they conquered another mountain peak, many Nascent Soul cultivators expressed admiration for Li Su. His proficiency in dealing with the restrictions made him stand out.
For Li Su, these restrictions were like child’s play. While some could be forcibly broken, doing so would destroy what was inside, causing hesitation among the cultivators.
Inside this mountain peak, they discovered valuable items such as the sect’s cultivation techniques and notes. Seeing Li Su’s exceptional performance, the Nascent Soul cultivators from the Northern Region were full of admiration, and he had become the favored figure among them.