aircannonsinc Chapter 1099 The Abyss
Chapter 1099 The Abyss
A clear and bright voice carried on the cold wind. Chen Yuan maintained his bowing posture, his expression respectful, facing the silent You Baishan.
Chen Yuan waited patiently for a quarter of an hour. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand and use other means to find the cave of this senior Zhumingzi, a strange phenomenon suddenly occurred.
A subtle spatial fluctuation suddenly appeared above Youbai Mountain, rippling out like water in the void and transforming into a vortex.
A pair of large hands reached out from the vortex, grabbed the two sides of the vortex, and tore it apart fiercely!
The spatial vortex was suddenly torn apart, triggering spatial turbulence that transformed into streaks of gray-white lightning, cleaving spatial rifts in the sky.
The sky and earth changed color, leaden clouds gathered, and the surroundings suddenly darkened.
The owner of those large hands emerged from the spatial vortex. He had a giant-like, imposing body, dressed in a simple, dark yellow coarse linen robe with the sleeves cut off, revealing two arms as hard as mountain rocks. His short, proud hair was like thorns, and his face was full of irritation and dissatisfaction at being disturbed.
The burly man in hemp clothing looked up at the dim sky, snorted coldly, and waved his hand.
The spatial vortex slowly closed, the scattered spatial turbulence subsided, and the world returned to calm. The dark clouds dispersed, revealing a pale white sky.
The burly man in hemp clothing looked down at Chen Yuan with a hostile gaze and asked in a gruff voice, "Who are you?"
Chen Yuan frowned secretly, subtly observing the burly man in hemp clothing before him.
He couldn't see through this person's cultivation level, but Master Fu had said that his friend was a member of the orthodox Xuanmen sect and a Mahayana cultivator, so he shouldn't look like this.
"My name is Chen Yuan. I have come on the orders of Master Fu to request an audience with Senior Zhumingzi," Chen Yuan repeated.
"Which Master Fu is it?"
"Master Fu Huaixiao, the Sect Leader of the Tai Xuan Sect in the Xuanling Domain of the Star Ruins Continent."
The burly man in hemp clothing softened his expression somewhat: "Master is traveling and not in the manor. You may go back now and come again another day."
Chen Yuan frowned: "May I ask when Senior Zhumingzi will return?"
"How could I possibly know what the master is doing? It could take a thousand or ten thousand years, or as little as five or ten years, it's all commonplace," the burly man in hemp clothing said impatiently.
Chen Yuan's heart sank. The ferocious tiger demon core came from a mid-stage Fusion Realm demon saint. He didn't have the help of dragon essence, so refining it would be difficult. He also needed to break through to the Fusion Realm. He didn't know how long it would take.
If Zhumingzi doesn't return soon, he won't be able to advance to the Fusion stage before entering Tyrant Turtle Island. Not being able to accumulate more battle merits is a minor matter; if the Heavenly Pillar Demon Saint and the Cold Shadow Demon Saint find out his whereabouts...
He clasped his hands in a bow and said, "I have a letter from Master Fu that I must deliver to Senior Zhumingzi."
"Since you serve Senior Zhumingzi, you should know when he will return. Please do not hesitate to enlighten me so that I can report back to Master Fu."
"If this matter is ruined, I'm afraid we will both be punished."
The burly man in hemp clothing frowned, but since it concerned two Mahayana cultivators, he dared not be negligent. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Before the master left, he only asked me to guard the cave, without explaining the reason. I really do not know the master's itinerary."
"But according to custom, the master will return in at most a hundred years, or at least thirty or forty years."
“The master’s whereabouts have been uncertain these past few years. He can’t stay at home for more than a few years before he goes out to travel again. You might as well give the letter to me, and I will present it to the master.”
He told the truth without fear that Chen Yuan would discover the true nature of the cave. The methods left by the master were not something that a Nascent Soul cultivator could deal with, and with him personally guarding the cave, no petty person would dare to offend him.
Chen Yuan certainly couldn't hand the letter directly to the burly man in hemp clothing. His purpose in coming here was to exchange for the Ferocious Tiger Demon Core. If he couldn't find the demon core, he would send out the letter and the stone box. If something went wrong and it affected his breakthrough to the Integration Realm, would he still be able to come and question Zhu Mingzi?
He clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to the burly man in hemp clothing: "Thank you for your guidance. However, before Master Fu left, he instructed me to personally deliver this letter to Senior Zhumingzi."
"Since Senior Zhumingzi is not in the residence, I will take my leave now and visit you again at another time."
Seeing that he had brought up Master Fu again, the burly man in hemp clothing was too lazy to say anything more. He simply nodded, turned around, stretched out his hands, and with a sudden tear, ripped open a spatial vortex and went inside.
The turbulent spatial currents transformed into streaks of gray-white lightning, cleaving open spatial rifts, causing the sky and earth to change color, and dark clouds to press down overhead.
But after the burly man in hemp clothing disappeared, the celestial changes abruptly ceased, and the dark clouds lingered over the summit of Youbai Mountain for a long time before reluctantly dissipating.
Chen Yuan frowned as he looked at You Baishan, who had calmed down again, and then turned and flew away.
His plans were completely disrupted by his failure to obtain the Ferocious Tiger Demon Core.
But since Zhumingzi was away traveling, he had no choice but to repair the Xuan Yin Armor first.
The nearest teleportation array is located in Shuanglu Market, a small market about 40,000 li away from Pingshuang City. It was built by Shuanglu Sect, a small sect, and connects to a medium-sized market 700,000 li away.
Within this medium-sized market town lies a teleportation array leading to the Abyss City, the heart of the entire Savage Spirit Domain and a colossal city no less impressive than Donghua City.
The Mahayana sect that governs the Savage Spirit Domain is called the Heavenly Savage Sect, and it is an anomaly among all Mahayana sects in the Spirit Realm.
This is the only sect in the spirit realm that primarily focuses on physical cultivation. The number of disciples in the sect is far fewer than in other sects. The cultivators in the sect are either purely physical cultivators or dual cultivators of both body and magic. There are only a very small number of magic cultivators such as alchemists, weapon refiners, and array masters.
However, the strength of the Tianman Sect is no less than that of other Mahayana sects, and even ranks firmly in the top. The sect leader, Tianman Shangren, is the undisputed number one body cultivator in the Spirit Realm.
Chen Yuan's first stop in the Savage Spirit Domain was Diyuan City, but when he stepped into this magnificent city again through the teleportation array, he was still shocked by the magnificent scene before him.
Diyuan City is a city built in the abyss. A thick ravine runs through the hard ice plain, about a thousand miles long and a thousand feet deep. Legend has it that it was forcibly split open by the Heavenly Barbarian Master with his Heaven-Rending Axe, a magical treasure that can pierce the heavens.
There are no magnificent buildings in Diyuan City. The rock walls on both sides, which are even more solid than spiritual materials, were carved open by the body cultivators of Tianman Sect using brute force. The extracted boulders were then used to build platforms, on which exquisite or magnificent buildings were constructed.
The stone platforms are layered and stacked, constantly moving towards the center, with the shop names painted in colorful, luminous patterns on the protruding banners.
Some ingenious shops have laid out exquisite arrays on jade slabs and bluestone, creating lifelike light and shadow images that change constantly and are particularly eye-catching.
The rock walls and the great formation blocked the biting cold wind, so low-level cultivators didn't have to worry about the icy chill. Unlike other markets in the Savage Spirit Domain, this place wasn't filled with bulky figures wearing thick furs.
Although Chen Yuan was just a passerby, he couldn't help but slow down his escape to admire the spectacular scenery on both sides.
He arrived at the entrance of the giant teleportation array, descended in a beam of light, and slowly walked inside.
The teleportation array of Diyuan City connects various spiritual domains in the Spirit Realm. It occupies a vast area and requires rare spatial spiritual materials to set up the array, so it was not built on a stone platform.
The Tianman Sect carved a vast cave in one of the rock walls, specifically for building a teleportation array. They also constructed more than a dozen passages from here, leading to various parts of Diyuan City.
This colossal teleportation array was jointly constructed by the Tianman Sect and the Fatian Pavilion, as were the teleportation arrays in Donghua City and other major cities. Only in this way could the entire Spirit Realm's colossal teleportation array be integrated into one, eliminating the need for separate construction between the two Spirit Domains and greatly saving on the consumption of spiritual materials.
Even so, this is still the most magnificent formation in the history of the Spirit Realm, a miracle that ordinary cultivators would not even dare to dream of, and it can only be built by relying on the power of the Taixu Juntian Axe.
The cost of using a teleportation array varies depending on the distance traveled and the level of cultivation. The lowest cost is one top-grade spirit stone, which excludes the vast majority of low-level cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage.
With Chen Yuan's cultivation at the peak of the Void Refinement stage, even traveling to a nearby spiritual realm would require ten top-grade spirit stones.
He approached the counter in front of the teleportation array, his aura subtly emanating outwards. Amidst the awe-inspiring gazes of the Core Formation cultivators behind the counter, he spoke calmly: "How many spirit stones are needed to teleport to the Qingling Domain?"
The Core Formation cultivator held a white jade token engraved with intricate spiritual patterns. After sensing Chen Yuan's aura, the white jade token slowly turned red, which was the mark of a Void Refinement cultivator.
This is a magical artifact specifically used by the City of the Abyss to test the cultivation level of cultivators; high-level cultivators certainly wouldn't be on duty guarding the teleportation array.
Because low-level cultivators are limited by their cultivation level and cannot accurately discern the cultivation level of high-level cultivators, the Tianman Sect created this kind of magic weapon.
Every major city has its own methods for testing cultivation levels. Earth Abyss City uses white jade tokens, East China City uses array plates, and other major cities use spirit beasts, strange insects, and demonic plants... the list goes on and on.
"The Pure Spirit Domain... requires fifty top-grade spirit stones," the Core Formation cultivator replied respectfully.
Chen Yuan flicked his sleeve, and fifty top-grade spirit stones appeared out of thin air on the table. The swirling spiritual energy attracted the attention of the surrounding cultivators, but they quickly looked away, not daring to look any longer.
The person who can casually produce so many spirit stones must be a high-level cultivator they cannot afford to offend.
The Core Formation cultivator glanced at the spirit stones, counted them, and put them into a special storage ring. He then took out a red talisman, bowed slightly, and handed it over with both hands.
"Please keep this talisman safe, senior."
Chen Yuan took the red talisman and turned to walk towards the teleportation array.
With his powerful physique comparable to a demon saint, he naturally didn't need to worry about the spatial compression force during teleportation.
However, without this talisman jointly crafted by the Tianman Sect and the Fatian Pavilion, he would have been directly killed by the wisp of Taixu Juntian Axe power contained within the formation.
……
After a slight spatial compression, Chen Yuan traversed thousands of mountains and rivers and arrived at Mingxi City in the Qingling Domain in the central part of the Daoyun Continent.
Unlike the icy and snowy Savage Spirit Realm, the Pure Spirit Realm is picturesque with clear waters and lush mountains, where magnificent buildings stand amidst the peaks, and its spiritual energy is even richer than that of Donghua City.
The Qingling Domain has existed for a longer time than the Manling Domain and the Xuanling Domain, having been established 600,000 years ago.
Mahayana sects are high and mighty, but they are completely dependent on Mahayana cultivators. As long as Mahayana cultivators exist, the sect exists; when Mahayana cultivators die, the sect dies.
The Qingxiao Sect, which originally established the Qingling Domain, still exists, but its Mahayana cultivators died 130,000 years ago, and the sect has been downgraded to a medium-sized sect.
The Qingling Domain will be managed by the Fatian Pavilion until the next Mahayana sect appears, at which point the name will be changed.
This is the norm for most sects in the Spirit Realm. Only a very few sects can produce two Mahayana cultivators in a row, with a lineage lasting over a million years. These are all top-tier sects in the Spirit Realm, known as "eternally indestructible".
Looking across the entire Spirit Realm, there are only seven such sects.
Among them, Tianrui Palace, the only Mahayana lineage that has continued for three generations, is undoubtedly the number one sect in the Spirit Realm, and the Tianling Domain it governs is the most prosperous region in the Spirit Realm.
Those spirit realms without Mahayana sects are much more chaotic than other spirit realms.
Although the Fatian Pavilion manages these spiritual domains on behalf of the sects, the Fatian Pavilion itself was jointly established by various sects. The cultivators within it come from diverse backgrounds and are only willing to reap benefits from these spiritual domains. They have neither the will nor the ability to restrain the sect cultivators within the domains.
Without the suppression of Mahayana sects, medium-sized sects fought among themselves, and cultivators from other spirit domains gathered here. Mingxi City was a mixed bag, with dilapidated buildings.
The streaks of light flashed across the sky, and most of the cultivators wore veils and masks to conceal their faces, their eyes revealing a strong sense of vigilance.
Chen Yuan, following local customs, put on a gold-threaded openwork mask and flew towards the medium-sized teleportation arrays leading to various markets in the Qingling Domain.
He did not disperse his divine sense. No matter how dire the Qingling Domain was, it was still a major spiritual domain. In Mingxi City, although it was nominally dominated by the Fatian Pavilion, it was actually jointly managed by twelve medium-sized sects, and there was always more than one Nascent Soul cultivator guarding it.
Chen Yuan didn't want to cause trouble, but with his keen spiritual sense, he still felt more than a dozen malicious gazes sweep over him, as if assessing how many treasures were in his mustard seed ring, what his cultivation level was, and whether it was worth taking action against him.
Chen Yuan ignored it completely, remaining calm and composed, his speed neither increasing nor decreasing, and flew steadily forward.
Those who were looking at him seemed to realize that the white-robed cultivator in front of them was not someone to be trifled with, and they all withdrew their gazes and stopped following behind Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan arrived at the main hall where the teleportation array was located, revealed his cultivation level, and the Core Formation cultivators behind the counter immediately became extremely respectful.
But when Chen Yuan revealed his destination, the Core Formation cultivator looked troubled: "Please forgive me, senior, the teleportation array in Qinglu City, Danzhou, was damaged fifty-seven years ago and has not yet been repaired..."
A hint of surprise flashed in Chen Yuan's eyes. How could a teleportation array controlled by a medium-sized sect be damaged?
He had no choice but to change his mind: "Then let's go to Yanzhou Huilecheng."
The Core Formation cultivator breathed a sigh of relief: "The teleportation array back to Le City is intact, and it only requires one top-grade spirit stone."
Chen Yuan took out the spirit stones, turned around and followed the crowd into the main hall where the teleportation array was located.
The medium-sized teleportation arrays connecting various parts of the Spirit Realm are built independently by the major sects. The Heaven-Slaying Pavilion will not participate in them, so there is no need for talismans to protect it.
However, this also requires each sect to maintain itself. The Qingling Domain is leaderless, and medium-sized sects are constantly fighting each other. Even the teleportation array can be damaged, which shows the chaos and decline of the cultivation world.
Huile City in Yanzhou is controlled by a medium-sized sect, and the damage to its teleportation array is more severe than that in Mingxi City.
There are only seven small sects in Yanzhou, which have built seven markets, and only three teleportation arrays are available.
Chen Yuan could only be teleported to the westernmost market town, and then fly northwest on his own.
The Danzhou he was heading to was located in the northwest corner of the Qingling Domain, the most spiritually barren state in the entire domain. It was millions of miles away from the market town where Chen Yuan was, and even at his current speed, it would take him several days to fly there. (End of Chapter)