Lin Wu could tell that the Qi skill was probably cast by a very strong cultivator. It was made in such a way that once it was cast it would become self-sustaining by absorbing the ambient spirit Qi from the spirit Qi spring.

Casting a Qi skill like this was no small task, as not all Qi skills would become self-sustaining like this.

'It must have been some high grade Qi skill.' Lin Wu thought.

But the barrier was not the only thing that was here of course. The formations that connected to it were also here. Though they did not directly interfere with it and only took the spirit Qi that emanated from it.

Lin Wu stayed here for a while thinking before coming up with an idea.

"System check the formations and analyze their functioning in detail. See what can be done to access this spirit Qi spring." Lin Wu ordered.

~Ding~

——

TASK ASSIGNED: Formation array analysis

ESTIMATED TIME OF COMPLETION: 11 hours 48 minutes 17 seconds

——

"This will be really cutting it close… hopefully, it is done before Wang Xiong's duel starts. Though I don't think I'll be able to do anything before the duel, anyway." Lin Wu muttered to himself.

Trying to think of something else, Lin Wu spread his spirit Qi to surround the spirit Qi spring. The spring itself was not that being less than a hundred meters in diameter. The barrier surrounding it was in the form of a sphere as well and selectively allowed spirit Qi to leave and enter it.

The spirit Qi would enter from the bottom, as the spring absorbed spirit Qi from the earth and would then release it from the top, letting the Qi gathering formation to supply it to the main reservoir.

The area around the spring was mostly made of rocks and soil, with the spring itself located in a wide cave. This cave was obviously made by a person and was not natural.

"I should be able to get close enough to see it directly at least." Lin Wu said to himself.

He shrunk his body and dug a small opening near the cave of the spirit Qi spring. He popped his head out and looked around. Thankfully, the area was mostly dark and no one would spot him even if he was here.

"Huh… not a single person here?" Lin Wu spoke upon seeing the empty area.

It was then that he realized the sect could not afford to let anyone stay here. It would be a big problem for them if the person became greedy and tried to do anything to the spring. Besides, with the barrier protecting the spring, they didn't think they would need actual people to guard it.

Now aware of this, Lin Wu simply came to the front without caring to hide. Since no one was here, he had no reason for that anymore.

"Let's get a bit of light here…" Lin Wu said before making his body glow.

~shua~

Even if the barrier stopped his spirit sense and blocked him from entering it, the light from his body was still able to pass through it with ease.

"WHOA!!" Lin Wu exclaimed upon seeing the spirit Qi spring.

The spring itself was transparent like water, but under the illumination of his emerald green light, it looked dazzling. The reflection cast by the walls of the cave made a unique scene, making it seem as if there was no end to the cave.

The spring was nothing but spirit Qi wisps that had been fully converted into a liquid form. But unlike the spirit Qi in a cultivator's Dantian which would quickly vaporize into wisps upon being exposed to open air, this liquid spirit Qi was very stable.

But this was not all that Lin Wu saw there. At the very depths of the spirit Qi spring, he also spotted a translucent crystal. For others, it would have been hard to see it as it would easily blend in with the spirit Qi spring, but for Lin Wu it who had radiation perception it was easy.

While the crystal itself did not release any radiation, it did release spirit Qi from it, which caused the ambient radiation in the cave to move.

"That should be the source crystal of the spirit Qi spring," Lin Wu guessed.

As source crystal was basically the root of the spirit Qi spring. It was what made a spirit Qi spring to form after a long period of condensation. A source crystal for spirit Qi spring would easily take hundreds of years to form and after that, it would take even longer to condense a spirit Qi spring.

It were these very source crystals that a sect would gather and plant in their sects to create their own spirit Qi springs.

This was essential to the growth of a sect. A sect would start by finding a spirit stone mine and building around it. Then the people of the sect would slowly gather more and more spirit Qi spring source crystals and transplant them into their sects.

Then after a few decades, it would turn into a spirit Qi spring. And if more time passed, say centuries or even millenniums, they would finally turn into a spirit stone mine.

Lin Wu was here with the same aim as well. He wanted the source crystal of the spirit Qi spring. But getting it would not be so easy, as if he tried to do anything it was likely the sect would be alerted.

So for this, he would have to make a proper plan such that he gets the source crystal and does not alert the sect either.

While he was waiting, he saw that there was a layer of small stones and rocks surrounding the barrier. These stones were spread around in a circular manner around the barrier and were all loose stones.

"How did these get here? Or did someone place them here?" Lin Wu wondered.

But then incidentally he saw something that answered this question for him.

'No wonder…'