It took Wu Guang three hours to unseal the water essence. As for the absorption, he spent only a few moments to finish.

After quickly eating a meal and confirming that there was nothing for him to do, he returned to his room and activated the concealing runes. There was no actual need to do so, but he wanted to try and use his mind power to assimilate the essence more effectively, and so it was best to take all the possible precautions.

Stabilizing one's cultivation was different from using the essence's energy to achieve a breakthrough, as one would need to infuse the energy into the entire body. Normally this was achieved by exchanging the qi in circulation with the one originating from the essence, but a spell would act differently. By using a spell, one could take out the already processed energy from inside the dantian and use it externally, greatly improving the infusion to the parts that were not part of the cultivation system.

The spell that Wu Guang used was one that he had experienced several times as Bai Qi, so without any trouble, he managed to complete the process in less than two hours.

The effects were not noticeable by an external observer, but inwardly, Wu Guang knew that he had succeeded. Not only his skin was now comparable to a low-quality spirit weapon in strength, but even his pores and acupoints were benefited. As for the internal effect, he had absolute confidence that his base was solid enough to resist several increases in cultivation without issue.

The cultivation base was a term that even common Soul realm cultivators did not understand, as it referred to something intangible and impossible to check without mind power. After all, it was mainly the strength of one's body in resisting the changes that cultivation advancements brought. As for why it was like this, well, it was easy to explain. All common cultivators on this plane achieved their Soul realm cultivation slowly, by following a path of constant training for dozens of years and so never met any adverse effects. As for geniuses like the Elite disciples, they were constantly monitored by their masters. So even if neither of them fully understood, they would still actively check their conditions before attempting or recommending a breakthrough.

He had a few hours left before dinner and so he did not leave the room yet. Wu Guang knew that there could be unexpected dangers as he started strolling around and looking for indications of the Inverted Tower prisoner smuggling. And so, he had decided to find a few spells in his memory that could be used to escape such danger and that would not be traceable. Normally he would have no trouble choosing spells as he had trained and used a lot of them, but regretfully, not only his favorites were extremely visible... But also carried his mind power imprint. Such imprint could not be attributed to him without a Sage realm cultivator examining and tracing its origin, but it was still a risk.

Still, after scrolling through every single spell he could remember Wu Guang did find two that would be useful in such a situation.

The first one of them was called 'Lighting Attraction Seal'. As the name implied, the spell was a type of trap that called lighting to hit its location. Its main use was as a concealed step or touch-activated trap, but with a few slight changes, it could be used in other ways. In short, he could simply need to prepare the spell beforehand and conceal it in any random object. And then by throwing the object at his target activate it. After a brief thought, Wu Guang decided to use his throwing daggers for such. Especially as they were not useful to him now and he could easily carry them on himself.

As for the second spell, it was an illusionary one. It was called 'Petals in the Wind' and could create any amount of low-quality illusions that would flow along. The illusions could be seen through by anyone with the most basic grasp over mind power. Still, for anyone below the Sage realm, they would be impossible to break. As for the contents, they would vary depending on the opponent and surroundings but in any case, would serve as a perfect distraction for Wu Guang to escape.

The main advantage of both spells was that the first one would be concealed while the second one was invisible for anyone except the target. Plus neither traps nor illusions could be tracked to the caster without breaking them. So unless Wu Guang met a Sage realm cultivator and used them on the latter, these spells could only be attributed to some kind of treasure.

After deciding on his new protection measures, Wu Guang quickly took out the throwing daggers that he always carried on himself. And spending the remaining time until dinner, imbued them all with 'Lighting Attraction Seal'.

During dinner, Wu Guang found out that the three of his team members had visited several shops together and even found some good finds. Neither of them was interesting for Wu Guang, but he still examined some and congratulated them on a pair of rare ones. The main surprise came from the fact that Wei had obtained five tickets to the Wei Auction house. And not to a simple auction, but to the most famous one which would be celebrated at the end of the Autumn Riches week.

Not only Wu Guang was interested, but even Elder Yanshi and the disguised Elite disciples showed a reaction. Wei did not need a ticket as he could enter directly and so he offered three to the team and two to Elder Di. As for how he had obtained them and why he did not need one, he explained right away. It turned out that he possed a few special materials from his old days as a bandit. Such materials were not useful for him or the Sect, so he asked the auction house to sell them for him. And as these were used for rune-ship construction, they were very sought out in the Coastal Hill City.

The next morning, Wu Guang announced his intention to stroll on the beaches near the city and departed alongside Yuan Taotu. Neither Kuang Jing nor Wei knew of the real reason for such stroll and were not interested, so they remained in the city. Elder Di would follow them for protection while Elder Yanshi would accompany Lan Yanzhi. Speaking of the latter, she had managed to find the name of the caretaker and his brother, confirming the relationship with the Wei Family. Even if they would not act for the moment, it was decided for her and Elder Yanshi to continue looking into the matter for the following days. Any extra information they could find would be useful for Wu Guang. After all, leaving the deed aside, taking possession would mean for him to arrive and enter the manor. So knowing who he could encounter in there was imperative.

***

The district laws did not prohibit cultivators to use their speed but it was impossible to use with the enormous crowds present. And so it took Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu almost two hours to leave the city via a side gate that led towards the 'Inverted Tower'.

The tower itself was a restricted area and could only be reached by sea, but the cape and beach that one reached from this gate were considered scenic spots and were always accessible.

Visitors came here all year as it overlooked the port and so Wu Guang was sure that they would not find any clues around. Still, they examined the area in its entirety to make sure.

After spending some time doing so as well making sure that they were not followed the pair started moving at full speed. Their objective was the zone behind the cliffs, one that was considered practically unreachable via ground. Still, that could hold only for mortals, as scaling the outcropping that gave birth to these cliffs was possible even for a Body Realm cultivator. In fact, some cultivators came and trained here. At least this was what Wu Guang concluded after seeing a few holes in the rock that could be used for securing one's steps.

Reaching the top took Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu not more than a quarter of an hour, but the real hurdle would be to descend to the other side. They did manage to do it, but even so, Yuan Taotu finished with a few light bruises from the sharp rocks. As for Wu Guang, his skin right now could easily resist rune weapons, so how could such rocks hurt him?

After descending the pair arrived at a beach similar to which they had left. Still, the atmosphere was different. This change was neither in the surroundings or the sea, as basically both beaches were part of the same cape, divided by some cliffs. No, this change came from the beach itself, as it was littered with trash, flotsam, and even some bones.

One could think that such change was strange, as there was hardly more than a few dozens of feet of rock separating it from the clear and calm beach on the other side, but if one looked towards the now open sea, one would see the reason for it.

After all, no matter the weather one would see the 'Inverted Tower' overseas floor. As Elder Mo had explained beforehand, this visible part was where the guards, overseers, and administration resided. Adding that it was the only access to the tower itself, it was even sometimes called the Tower's Base Island.

Today was only the first day of three allocated to search the surroundings and so Wu Guang decided to center on different areas during them. Today, they would examine the beach and cliffs from this side. He had no expectations for clues as it was still a place that could be reached fairly easily, but he did expect to be noticed. Especially as the spot was something reachable if someone had a secret to hide, how could this someone not monitor this area?