"Such a vigorous and pure Yin Yang Energy!"

As Lin Dong entered the 'Celestial Dan Pool', he immediately felt the vigorous energy that filled the pool. It was the first time Lin Dong had encountered an energy this potent.

"No wonder this 'Celestial Dan Pool' can greatly decrease the time to reach the Yuan Dan Stage..." Lin Dong suddenly had a flash of realization. His efforts this time had not been in vain.

"I need to hurry and absorb the energy here..."

Lin Dong's gaze swept across his surroundings. In a distance, he saw Xia Zhilan and the other two floating in the pool. However, the three of them had long ago closed their eyes and entered a state of cultivation. Strong suction forces were constantly emitted from their bodies, which absorbed the vigorous Yin Yang energies into their bodies.

After seeing Xia Zhilan and the other two already racing against time to absorb the energy from the 'Celestial Dan Pool', Lin Dong no longer tarried and sat cross legged in the pool. He activated Qingyuan Art as the opened channels released a suction force, absorbing the pure and potent Yin Yang Energy.

It must be said that the energy of the 'Celestial Dan Pool' was at least several times more potent than the outside world. Lin Dong had only just started and he already felt gentle streams arise from within the pool before finally following his opened channels to be absorbed into his body.

Under this infusion, Lin Dong could clearly feel the Yuan Power Qi bundle within his Dantian strengthen increasingly at an impressive speed.

"As expected of the 'Celestial Dan Pool'..."

This sensation of feeling the Yuan Power within the Dantian increase little by little caused an uncontainable joy to surface on Lin Dong's face. Yet this happiness did not last for long as his brow slightly furrowed. He had found out that the speed at which he absorbed the energy in the Celestial Dan Pool was actually slower than Xia Zhilan and the other two.

"This god damned Qingyuan Art, it's too useless!"

After realizing this situation, Lin Dong could not help but feel a little angry. Only now did he discover how important a high tier Secret Art was. Even when he utilised 'Qingyuan Art' to its fullest, the speed at which it absorbed still could not match up to Xia Zhilan and the other two.

Under the awareness of his Mental Energy, he was able to find out that Xia Zhilan had a total of fifteen suction points while Liu Yi had twelve and even Xia Shi had ten. This meant that the Secret Arts they trained in could open at least ten channels. Compared to them, the seven channels of Lin Dong's Qingyuan Art was really pathetic.

"Next time I must obtain a better Secret Art!"

Lin Dong clenched his teeth as he settled on this idea. No matter how expensive it was, he must definitely obtain a worthy Secret Art!

However, those were matters for next time. Currently, Lin Dong could only enjoy this pitiful absorption rate...

Fiercely glancing at Xia Zhilan and the other two, Lin Dong felt a little disgruntled. He had taken the huge risk of offending the Blood Wolf Gang to help out, thus, he did not want to lose out on the benefits from this Celestial Dan Pool.

"Heh heh, little one, do you want to absorb the Yin Yang Energy here faster?" While Lin Dong helplessly gnashed his teeth, a familiar voice suddenly sounded out in his mind.

The sudden arrival of the voice caused Lin Dong to be taken aback but he quickly clenched his right fist. That voice was clearly from the mysterious small marten within the Stone Talisman.

"Don't make a fuss, if you want to converse with this grandfather marten, infuse your Mental Energy into the Stone Talisman."

Upon hearing these words, Lin Dong was stunned. Soon after, he sent a trace of Mental Energy into the Stone Talisman as he voiced out a thought: "You can help me?"

"Of course." The small marten's rude voice immediately replied.

"Why so nice?" Lin Dong was somewhat suspicious as he asked. Though this small marten had a mysterious origin, it was extremely cautious around him and had never taken the initiative to help him.

"Heh heh, grandfather marten is definitely not someone who wants to build good relations with others. I have a way to help you swiftly absorb the Yin Yang Energy here, yet, you must do me a favor later." The small marten let out an eccentric laugh.

"Didn't you say you do not have much power?" Lin Dong replied without batting an eyelid.

"I will merely give you a technique that can increase your absorption speed. The rest still depends on you."

"What do you want me to help you with?" Lin Dong's eyes turned and did not immediately agree.

"I can sense a little something deep beneath the pool, you will go and take a look later..." The small marten said.

"There was something? What is it?" Lin Dong was first stunned before he quickly inquired.

"I'm not too sure either, I can barely sense it. As for what it is, we will know later. Are you willing or not? If you tarry any further, the energy in this pool would probably be sucked away by the other three." The small marten urged him.

Lin Dong's expression slightly changed as he glanced at Lin Xia and the other two, who were greedily absorbing the energy in the Celestial Dan pool, before firmly nodding his head: "Alright, it's a deal!"

"Buzz!"

In the instance when Lin Dong nodded, information suddenly appeared in his head.

Qi Gathering Mental Vortex, Secret Spirit Skill...

What appeared in Lin Dong's mind was a Secret Spirit Skill, yet, he did not know what tier it was. Lin Dong mulled for a while when astonishment suddenly flashed across his eyes as he mumbled: "To think that Mental Energy could actually be used this way, it's really an eye-opener..."

This so-called Qi Gathering Mental Vortex did not have any offensive powers but instead seemed to be purely supportive in nature. Its effect was to condense a Mental Energy whirlpool through a special method and this Mental Energy whirlpool had the power of absorption though Lin Dong did not how much better it was compared to his 'Qingyuan Art'.

To condense a 'Qi Gathering Mental Vortex' was not difficult. However, he needed to make sure to the swirls matched-up to some particular acupuncture points. If he messed this up, it would disrupt the flow of Yuan Power in his body. Fortunately, the information from the small marten was extremely complete, thus Lin Dong did not end up injuring himself. He lightly inhaled as waves of strong Mental Energy gushed out from his Niwan Palace.

The Mental Energy gathered at a point to the upper right of his Dantian and under the control of Lin Dong, it condensed into a vortex.

Even with the detailed instructions, Lin Dong still failed the first two times. On his third try, he finally managed to successfully form a complete 'Qi Gathering Mental Vortex'.

"Buzz!"

In the instance when the 'Qi Gathering Mental Vortex was successfully formed, a humming noise immediately sounded out. As the vortex swirled, it emitted an extremely powerful suction force!

"Splash!"

When this suction force suddenly exploded out, the pool water around Lin Dong promptly whistled as streams of vigorous Yin and Yang Energy, that could be seen by the naked eye, swiftly bubbled out from the pool water before pouring into the Mental Energy whirlpool above Lin Dong's Dantian like an unending stream.

In that same instance, the entire pool started to churn as a whirlpool formed around Lin Dong's body while he sat at the centre, swallowing the vigorous and pure energy.

"That guy!"

This abrupt change caused Xia Zhilan and the other two to be startled. When they saw Lin Dong practically plundering the energy in the Celestial Dan Pool, they were shocked. Xia Zhilan could not help but curse as the trio quickly increased the output of their Secret Art to the limit. According to this trend, if they did not hurry up and absorb, all the energy in the entire Celestial Dan Pool would be sucked clean by Lin Dong.

Yet, the trio's efforts were clearly no longer a threat to Lin Dong after he had utilised this 'cheating method'. Lin Dong ignored them as he urged on the Mental Energy whirlpool and greedily absorbed the energy in the Celestial Dan Pool.

Under this whale-like absorption, the Yuan Power Qi bundle in Lin Dong's Dantian strengthened at an almost insane rate.

And while the Yuan Energy within the Dantian swiftly strengthened, an extremely abundant energy also spread throughout Lin Dong's body...

"Heavenly Yuan Late Stage!"

When he sensed this sudden change within his body, delight bubbled in Lin Dong's heart. With the aid of the energy in the Celestial Dan Pool, he had finally successfully advanced to Heavenly Yuan Late Stage!

"Heh heh..."

Though he had successfully reached Heavenly Yuan Late Stage, Lin Dong did not plan to stop. Condensing a Yuan Dan was no easy matter and since there was such a good opportunity today, he naturally needed to make use of it and absorb even more of the pure Yin Yang Energy. This would greatly help him in shortening the time to condense a Yuan Dan and even upgrade the quality of the Yuan Dan formed!

This seemingly insatiable absorption continued for half an hour until Lin Dong felt that the Yuan Power Qi bundle in his Dantian was unable to strengthen any further. Only then did he grudgingly stop. With a flick of his mind, the Mental Energy whirlpool above his Dantian scattered. Although this 'Qi Gathering Mental Vortex' did not have any attacking capabilities, the amount in which it improved the cultivation of Yuan Power was not small.

"Brat, you've absorbed enough. Time to go down and take a look..." When Lin Dong stopped, the small marten's voice once again rang out.

"Don't worry, since I've made a promise, I will not go back on it."

Lin Dong smiled as he replied before tilting his head down to look at the deep area of the 'Celestial Dan Pool'. Truthfully, he was also rather interested in the thing below that had managed to attract the interest of the mysterious small marten.

"There should still be some time before Xia Zhilan and the other two finish. I might as well take this chance to take a look..."

Lin Dong glanced at Xia Zhilan and the other two who were still concentrating on absorbing energy. After muttering to himself for a while, he no longer hesitated as his body swiftly swam like a fish towards the pitch-black darkness of the pool bottom while clad in Yuan Power.

TL: In this chapter, the 'Qi' in the new skill likely refers to absorbing 'Yin and Yang Energy' which can also be translated as 'Yin and Yang Qi' from the original chinese though not sure if Qi is a legitimate translation >.