After being reborn, I took my childhood sweetheart to cultivate immortality.

Xu Qingman looked at Yu Jinchen, who looked unwell, with a puzzled expression. What was wrong? Why did his expression change after answering a phone call?

Yu Jinchen sighed deeply, and said with a wry smile, "Manman, let's go home first. I have something very important to tell you."

"Oh, okay, let's go." Xu Qingman didn't ask any further questions. This was definitely not something that could be discussed outside. She would find out when they got back.

Back home, Yu Jinchen pulled her into the bedroom before speaking with a serious expression, "Fellow Daoist Lei called me just now, and he said..."

Xu Qingman was also shocked after hearing this; no wonder he looked so serious just now.

The Antarctic glaciers have inexplicably melted more than halfway and are still melting rapidly. Moreover, the spiritual energy there has suddenly become much denser than before; it's unclear whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Some cultivators who now know about this say it's a sign of spiritual energy revival, while others suspect it might be the appearance of a spacetime rift.

If it's the former, then that would be great news for us. After all, since a thousand years ago, the spiritual energy on this planet has been dwindling, to the point that no one has ascended to immortality for hundreds of years.

It's important to know that a thousand years ago, each sect had several Nascent Soul and Out-of-Body stage cultivators. Some major sects even had powerful figures at the Tribulation Transcending and Mahayana stages in charge.

But now, a sect with a few more Core Formation cultivators can dominate a region.

It is said that there are no more than a hundred cultivators with the Nascent Soul stage nowadays. As for those above that level, it is even more unknown. Even if there were a few, no one has seen them for over a hundred years.

Now that such a major anomaly has occurred in Antarctica, some cultivators have begun to call upon their friends and relatives to investigate the matter.

If spiritual energy were to truly revive, Antarctica would definitely be a better place than other areas, and everyone would want to go there to claim a better piece of land.

If a spatial rift were to appear, sending more high-level cultivators would increase the chances of stopping the danger.

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. If there is a major crisis, no one can escape it, so it's better to join in voluntarily.

After figuring out the details, Xu Qingman asked, "So, does that mean most of our country's high-level cultivators go to Antarctica?"

"Yes, that's right. We'll meet at Thundercloud Island next Monday. In the next few days, let's make some preparations. Try to prepare as many protective items as possible, such as pills and talismans."

After thinking for a moment, Yu Jinchen asked again, "Manman, do you want to go home in the next few days?"

Xu Qingman understood what he meant. If there were any major crisis, she would never allow herself or anyone she cared about to get into trouble. Going back now would only cause her parents unnecessary worry.

Xu Qingman shook her head. "No need to go back. I'll ask the professor for leave first. We still have a lot to do."

It wasn't until she asked for leave that Xu Qingman realized, due to the anomalies in Antarctica, that the country had actually publicly acknowledged the existence of cultivators.

So when she asked for leave, her homeroom teacher, Professor Shen, asked if she was also cultivating immortality and if she was taking leave to go to Antarctica. After she admitted it, he even asked her to take some photos for him.

For the next few days, Xu Qingman and Yu Jinchen spent most of their time in the virtual space.

Every day he's either cultivating or busy preparing elixirs.

Therefore, the two had a clear division of labor. Xu Qingman prepared the array formations that she was more proficient in. Whenever she was not repairing, she would study various array formations and even carved many sets of portable array plates so that Yu Jinchen could use them anytime and anywhere.

Yu Jinchen, on the other hand, refined a lot of pills, especially blood-replenishing pills, spirit-replenishing pills, and rejuvenation pills, and he prepared them in abundance.

As for weapon crafting and talisman making, neither of them were very proficient yet. There was no need to waste time on them; they could simply exchange them with other cultivators using pills.

This was the first time the two of them had cultivated continuously for such a long time since they first started.

Both of them improved their cultivation. Xu Qingman not only raised her cultivation to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, but she also refined her previous skill, Myriad Leaves Transforming into Myriad Blades, to the third level.

During this time, the two often practiced together, which greatly improved their swordsmanship and Taoist skills.

Yu Jinchen, as expected of someone with a single spiritual root, has gained even more than Xu Qingman. His cultivation has reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm, and he is only one step away from reaching the peak of the late stage.

The day before their departure, the two even went to several familiar cultivators to exchange some talismans and protective magic items.

Although these two-person spaces also exist, they are all of a higher grade. You can't just throw out high-level talismans and magic weapons every time you use them.

Moreover, these things are becoming increasingly scarce with each use, so why not take this opportunity to replenish our inventory?

On the day of their departure, as soon as Xu Qingman and her companion arrived at Thundercloud Island, they saw Meng Yuanzhou, the leader of the special affairs team, sitting behind a desk, while a young cultivator next to him was using a megaphone to shout: "Fellow Daoists, those who are going to Antarctica, please come and register first."

This trip to Antarctica was led by Meng Yuanzhou. Each cultivator received a communication talisman upon registration, to be used to contact them for help if they encountered danger there.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Yu, Fellow Daoist Xu, hello both of you." Xu Qingman and her companion had just finished registering when Elder Lei Zhensheng of the Cloud Mist Sect led them to greet them.

He introduced the two people who were with him next. The older one was his junior brother, Meng Nanchuan, who, like him, was at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. The younger one was his disciple, Jiang Yu'an, who was at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.

After exchanging greetings, Lei Zhensheng told them that there would be four more cultivators, two men and two women, joining them in a team. All four were independent cultivators, and their cultivation levels were all at the early Golden Core stage.

Not long after, Jiang Yu'an led four people over. Xu Qingman and the other two recognized one of them; she was Lin Qingshuang, the female cultivator who sold the robes at the last auction.

After exchanging greetings, the group discussed the matter and decided that Lei Zhensheng would temporarily be the team leader. Originally, everyone thought Yu Jinchen had the highest cultivation level and wanted him to be the leader, but Yu Jinchen himself was reluctant.

"Fellow Daoists, we are tentatively scheduled to depart in ten minutes. If there are any who have not yet arrived, they will have to catch up on their own."

Around 2 p.m., Meng Yuanzhou's assistant, Lu Zhiyuan, started shouting through a megaphone again.

Afterwards, he had everyone board their department's flying boat one by one. Most of the cultivators present also had their own flying magical artifacts, but they were still far inferior to the flying boat of the special affairs team.

Once everyone was on board the flying boat, Meng Yuanzhou gave the order, and the flying boat sped forward at breakneck speed.

The airship was enormous, resembling a giant ship in appearance. Inside, it was divided into rooms, and Xu Qingman's team was assigned to one of them.

It is said that this flying boat is a magical artifact, and a Xuan-rank one at that. Its flight speed and defensive capabilities are far superior to ordinary magical treasures.

Lei Zhensheng and his fellow disciples told everyone this, and Xu Qingman also learned about the levels of magical artifacts from him.

Magical artifacts are divided into four grades: Mortal, Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Heaven. Therefore, the Profound grade is indeed very high. However, to make the flying boat fly, one needs to use top-grade spirit stones to power it, which most people are unwilling to do.