Long Chen's Qi absorption speed was much faster than the speed of Chu Miao and Dai Hu.
He rapidly kept absorbing the Qi from the pond, which resulted in the Natural Qi water level of the pond getting lowered slowly.
Even though the water was getting used up, he didn't mind as he was more focused on breaking through.
Long Chen was in the 3rd stage of the Earth Realm, but in less than an hour, he had achieved a breakthrough to the 4th stage of the Earth Realm, but it didn't stop there, and his breakthroughs continued.
He had broken through to the 5th stage of the Earth Realm by night.
Chu Miao was the 4th stage Earth Realm cultivator, but she has broken through to the 5th stage of Earth Realm. Dai Hu had also jumped a realm. He broke through from the 3rd stage of Earth Realm to the 4th stage of the Earth Realm.
Long Chen continued absorbing without a break, and he received another breakthrough by morning. He had broken through to the 6th stage of the Earth Realm. Long Chen wanted to continue absorbing, but that's when he realized that he couldn't absorb any more.
He opened his eyes and looked around only to find out that the deep blue Natural Qi water has returned to normal water. All its Qi was absorbed.
"Sigh, I hoped that I would be able to gain more, but it was good while it lasted," Long Chen muttered as he walked out of the water.
"If I'm not wrong, there should have been more Natural Qi in the water, but most of it should be depleted. There's a good chance that someone came here when it previously appeared," He let out softly.
"It was so great. I'm at the peak of the 5th stage Earth Realm. I feel more powerful," Chu Miao said with a bright smile on her face.
"It was a good reward. I hope we find some more Natural Qi Ponds," Dai Hu muttered.
"Let's leave. That's nothing else here," Long Chen muttered as he approached the top floor of the tower.
He opened the door and jumped outside, landing safely on the ground.
Chu Miao, on the other hand, tied the rope to the door and got down with its help. Dai Hu did the same as Chu Miao.
"Oh, Come on! You're cultivators! Have some courage," Long Chen scolded them. For him, it was embarrassing to see Earth Realm cultivators being this scared.
"We are cultivators, not god. It is the 3rd floor, it's not as easy," Chu Miao replied to Long Chen with a wry smile on her face.
"Whatever, let's continue. We haven't seen anyone yet, the others must've gone in different directions in the garden," Long Chen told them before he started moving North.
"I wonder if the others would have found something good as well or not," Dai Hu muttered as he followed Long Chen and Chu Miao.
****
On another portion of the Sect, the cultivators of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect had entered a building which they thought contained treasures, but it turned out to be a training hall that had a very powerful formation in it.
As soon as they entered, the formation activated, which brought them to an Illusory realm where they had to face opponents that grew increasingly stronger the longer the fight went. The place was something where the Divine Heaven Sect cultivators came to test their progress by fighting inside the formation. Although there was no reward for it, they did get a ranking based on their performance in the formation.
****
Mu Zheng had entered a forest with Su Zhen and two more of his disciples, which turned out to be really unfortunate for them as this was a place where Giant Demon Wasps lived.
As soon as Mu Zheng and the others got near their area, they were attacked.
Mu Zheng and the others tried fighting, but the numbers of Giant Demon Wasps were too high. In the end, they could do nothing but run. They wanted to leave the forest as far as possible.
"This sucks! We have been here to get treasures, and instead of getting treasures, we are getting beasts after us!" Su Zhen bellowed. She wanted to cry, but no tears came out of her eyes.
"I hope the others go through the same thing as well!" She added.
"The Divine Heaven Sect is rewarding, but it's dangerous as well. There must be many people there who should be in trouble right now," Mu Zheng replied to her.
"Yeah, it's also possible for the Demon of the Sect to already be dead," She responded.
"You're underestimating him. Getting the 1st Rank in the Strength Ranking is no way an easy feat. Even though I don't want to believe it, he must have been pretty powerful, but not anymore. I'm now much stronger than I had been thanks to you," Mu Zheng told Su Zhen.
"Aww, are you saying that my support makes you stronger? You're so nice, brother Zheng," she said cutely.
'Naive girl!' Mu Zheng thought as he glanced at her.
In between their conversation, Mu Zheng kept attacking the Giant Demon Wasps that managed to get near them.
*****
In another portion of the sect, Manxiang Li and his team were standing near a beautiful clear river.
"Brother Li, these should be the Mithril Crystals! These are pretty expensive in the outside world. Can we collect them?" a girl asked Manxiang Li as she pointed towards the small red crystals in the water.
"Go take it. These should be useful for the Sect. These are a treasure that can be used to buy treasures from other sects after all. We have 6 hours. Collect as many as you can before it's gone. We'll move ahead then," Manxiang Li said to her.
****
Long Chen continued moving ahead with the others before he saw another building. This time it wasn't a tower but a glass dome. The whole building was made from glass, but as the glass was reflective, he couldn't see inside.
Long Chen walked towards the building with Dai Hu and Chu Miao.
He pushed the door open and entered the place. As soon as they entered, everyone was surprised. Long Chen was the most excited at the moment as he was an Alchemist, and the thing that was in front of him was a heaven for Alchemists.
It was the herb garden of the Divine Heaven Sect that contained thousands of rare and mysterious spiritual herbs and medicinal plants.
"Amazing! All these herbs! Although I'm not an Alchemist, these herbs should be quite rare. We're so lucky to find it," Dai Hu let out softly.
"You're an Alchemist, right? You should collect them all," Chu Miao said to Long Chen.
"Oh right, I forgot that you're an Alchemist. Take the herbs. You can make the best use of it!" Dai Hu also said.
Long Chen nodded his head as he started walking towards the plants.
'Xun! Is there a way for me to take the garden? The Ancient Ring has so much space. Is there a way for me to place the herb garden there?' Long Chen asked Xun.
"No, you can't take the herb garden there. You would have been able to take the herb garden to your inner world, but you haven't formed that yet as well," Xun replied.
Long Chen couldn't help but sigh as he started picking the herbs and Plants as he put them manually in his storage ring.
It has already been 3 hours, and even after his fast speed, Long Chen was only able to collect half the herbs and Plants.
He was collecting more as he saw something moving. With a frown, Long Chen stood up as he walked ahead.