787: Yuanhe

The cold, sinister power lingered in the room for a while before slowly dissipating.

It was clear that the Yin Soul could not yet completely break through certain realm rules to descend directly.

It was merely using this method to test the waters.

"It must be those so-called realm rules restricting this Yin Soul, forcing it to come through the Spirit Communication Array for now. However, this restriction doesn't seem like it will last much longer before it's broken."

Lin Yang's expression was grave.

He immediately put these thoughts aside and continued to focus on his cultivation.

Overthinking was useless now; he had to seize every moment to improve himself, so he wouldn't be powerless when the Yin Soul eventually broke the restrictions and descended.

As his cultivation deepened, Lin Yang vaguely felt a bottleneck.

The step from the Nie Kong Realm to the Yuan He Realm had trapped far too many people.

Lin Yang believed his understanding of the Dao was already quite profound, yet he still sensed the bottleneck.

"To break through, I must either rely on the accumulation of time to slowly explore, or achieve an epiphany. My cultivation level alone can no longer increase; I've reached my current limit."

With this thought, Lin Yang stood up and stopped his cultivation.

He couldn't better approach and comprehend the Dao within this Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm.

However, the "Boundary" was still continuously absorbing energy, preventing him from leaving for the time being.

"Just when will you be finished absorbing?"

Lin Yang sighed softly.

He still didn't understand much about the mystery of the "Boundary".

He couldn't be sure if the "Boundary" was absorbing the power of the Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm itself, or some other power within it.

He was even less certain about what would happen to the Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm once the "Boundary" finished absorbing everything.

Just as he was thinking about this, he received a message from Xia Shuang via a communication jade slip.

"Big Brother Lin Yang, the Ancient Ruins have started expanding again. This time, they engulfed sixteen cities across several surrounding prefectures all at once. It looks like it will continue, and it might even cover all the surrounding prefectures. My master and the others are discussing moving away. It's estimated that Zheng Mu Prefecture won't be able to hold out much longer before it's swallowed by those Ancient Ruins."

Hearing about the expansion of the Ancient Ruins again, Lin Yang was no longer surprised. From the previous expansion, it was clear that this was only a matter of time.

He replied: "Stay safe and evacuate as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll let you know once we reach a new place." Xia Shuang hurriedly finished speaking and cut off the communication; clearly, the situation was urgent and she needed to evacuate immediately.

Lin Yang secretly wondered, with the Ancient Ruins expanding so rapidly, were those big shots really not going to try and stop it?

"Are they unable to stop it, or do they not want to?" Lin Yang muttered.

Inexplicably, he vaguely felt an aura of impending chaos.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Boundary, oh Boundary, if you're going to absorb, hurry up. I can't just keep wasting time here with you."

Both the Yin Soul and the abnormal changes in the Ancient Ruins were very unsettling.

If something big were to happen, cultivation would be the foundation.

The current absorption speed of the "Boundary" was truly underwhelming, and he was even considering giving up on letting the "Boundary" continue absorbing here for now.

He was debating whether to leave the Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm first and wait until he broke through to the Yuan He Realm.

And just as he finished lamenting, a surge of power suddenly welled up within his soul.

Following that, some insights into the Dao emerged.

"This is..." Lin Yang was slightly stunned.

He then realized that this power was being transmitted to him by the "Boundary"!

The "Boundary" was actually helping him comprehend the Dao and cultivate!

This... For a moment, Lin Yang couldn't believe it.

The "Boundary" could actually assist his cultivation?

"Boundary, do you not want to leave this Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm?" Lin Yang seemed to understand something.

By doing this, the "Boundary" seemed to want him to stay here.

"To make me stay, you're actually taking the initiative to help me cultivate?" Lin Yang was astonished.

He then calmed his thoughts and sat down cross-legged again.

Undoubtedly, judging from the "Boundary's" behavior, the power of this Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm was very important to it.

Since the "Boundary" could help him cultivate, he wouldn't stand on ceremony.

Immediately, Lin Yang began to absorb the power and the certain insights into the Dao transmitted by the "Boundary".

Unknowingly, he entered a state of deep cultivation.

Afterward, every so often, the "Boundary" would feed back some power to him.

With the help of this power, Lin Yang actually managed to force his way through that bottleneck.

On this day, a soft sound that only Lin Yang could hear resonated within his body.

Afterward, the bottleneck that had trapped him for many days vanished.

The aura around him also underwent some changes.

A wave of enlightenment surged into his heart.

Yuan He Realm, reached!

"I've broken through just like that?" Lin Yang opened his eyes, still feeling a bit dazed.

The process of this breakthrough was too smooth.

The power of the "Boundary" had actually helped him break through the bottleneck directly!

This was incredible!

"Boundary, what kind of existence are you exactly?" Lin Yang's eyes flickered.

Unfortunately, he could not communicate with the "Boundary".

The power that the "Boundary" fed back to him also stopped after he broke through.

Lin Yang could only suppress his various thoughts and begin to consolidate his foundation.

Unknowingly, another ten thousand years passed.

Lin Yang had completely stabilized his cultivation at the early stage of the Yuan He Realm.

Then, he took out his communication jade slip to check the messages he had received while in closed-door cultivation to stabilize his cultivation.

Nothing particularly special had happened.

It was just that Xia Shuang had frequently sent him messages about the situation, mostly related to those Ancient Ruins.

Ten thousand years had passed, and the Ancient Ruins near Baichi City had already engulfed four prefectures.

The speed of the expansion was astonishingly fast, and it was getting faster and faster, with no signs of stopping.

The other neighboring prefectures were never at peace, all fearing being swallowed by the Ancient Ruins.

There were even rumors circulating that the Ancient Ruins might eventually swallow all the prefectures.

Although this sounded a bit exaggerated.

After all, it had only covered four prefectures so far.

Not many people took it to heart.

But it still caused some concern in people's hearts.

Because the time it took for the Ancient Ruins to engulf a prefecture had shortened from over a hundred thousand years at the beginning to a mere thousand years.

This speed was terrifying, and rumors were now flying everywhere over there.

After reading these messages, Lin Yang replied to Xia Shuang. Once connected, he asked directly: "Xia Shuang, aren't there any big shots over there trying to deal with it?"

"Big Brother Lin Yang, I'm not clear on the specifics. They say some big shots are trying to suppress it and are also dealing with some rumors, but the effect is minimal. Anyway, it's very chaotic here now. Some people have even started placing bets on the speed at which the Ancient Ruins will swallow cities in its next expansion, betting that after no more than five times, the Ancient Ruins might continue to expand at a rate of swallowing a prefecture every hundred years."

Xia Shuang said softly.

"Then you must stay safe. It's a pity I'm too far away from you now and can't really help you with anything. If anything happens, tell your master in time." Lin Yang could only offer this comfort.

Xia Shuang said: "Big Brother Lin Yang, don't worry. Now, because of the Ancient Ruins, we don't have to pay to use the Teleportation Array to evacuate. However, we can't teleport too far at once; we can only use the free teleportation to evacuate when we see the Ancient Ruins are about to expand over, so as to save on teleportation costs as much as possible."

"As for other aspects, there's nothing else. My master is very good to me and takes great care of me."

"That's good." Lin Yang didn't say anything more.

Being too far away, he really couldn't help with anything right now.

The matter of the Ancient Ruins soon spread to Xiwu City as well.

Zhao Hu also spoke to him about it.

However, Zhao Hu didn't think the Ancient Ruins would eventually expand to too many prefectures, nor was he worried about anything; he just viewed it with the mentality of watching a spectacle.

This was also the unanimous attitude of the people in Xiwu City.

Separated by nearly a thousand prefectures, no matter how much havoc the Ancient Ruins wreaked, it was impossible for it to affect this place.

Regarding the rapid expansion of the Ancient Ruins, the people in Xiwu City just treated it as conversation fodder.

Because the expansion of the Ancient Ruins was somewhat predictable, allowing for early evacuation, the only loss was territory.

Except for the very first time where too many people died in Baichi City, and one or two subsequent expansions that were quite tragic, everyone had evacuated in advance afterward, so the casualties were still controllable.

Compared to the expansion of the Ancient Ruins, the last invasion of the Ancient Ruins was what made the people in Xiwu City more afraid.

The distance was too great, and people couldn't empathize.

However, not everyone thought this way; there were still people who felt it was abnormal.

For example, Yu Qing.

Yu Qing sent a message to Lin Yang, saying directly: "Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, you've heard about the Ancient Ruins in the inner prefectures, right? I always feel like something big is going to happen."

Lin Yang said: "I just heard. What kind of big event do you feel will happen?"

"I can't put my finger on it, but it feels ominous. First, the Ancient Ruins had an abnormal invasion of cities, and now those Ancient Ruins are abnormally invading multiple prefectures. It's all too strange," Yu Qing said slowly.

"Then, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, what are your plans?" Lin Yang asked.

Yu Qing was silent for a moment and said: "I can only wait and see for now. Those Ancient Ruins are too far away from here; even if there is something strange, it won't affect this place in the short term. It's still most important to find ways to earn more money and then improve my strength."

Speaking of this, she extended an invitation to Lin Yang: "Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, would you like to go to Bi Xia City with me to trade? I've found some connections. While both cities haven't fully recovered their vitality yet, if we do this a few more times, we'll have plenty of cultivation resources."

"This... I'd better pass for now. I have some things to attend to and can't get away. Let's talk about it when there's an opportunity in the future." Lin Yang sighed.

Honestly speaking, he also wanted to go trading with Yu Qing to earn some money.

But the "Boundary" needed to absorb the power of this Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm, and it had even helped him break through because of that.

He couldn't just walk away.

Furthermore, he wasn't exactly short of money right now.

He had helped the Zhao family secure quite a few resource territories, and the portion he was entitled to alone could bring him significant wealth.

Coupled with the fact that he had now broken through to the Yuan He Realm, the Zhao family's position in Xiwu City would be even more stable.

So he had to politely decline Yu Qing's invitation.

Upon hearing this, Yu Qing didn't say much more, only saying: "Then Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, you go ahead and get busy. This time, I plan to venture deep into the Gu Xu Clan's territory to scout the path. In case some unforeseen event really happens in the future, it would be good to have a place to escape to."

"You're going deep into the Gu Xu Clan's cities? You must be careful then," Lin Yang said immediately.

Although there were no conflicts between the Gu Xu Clan and the human race right now, they were, after all, different races.

They got along quite well in the border regions, but if one were to truly venture deep into their hinterlands, there would still be certain dangers.

"Haha, I will be careful." Yu Qing smiled and then ended the communication.

Lin Yang put away the communication jade slip and continued to cultivate.

After the breakthrough, he could use various cultivation resources to improve his cultivation again.

However, Lin Yang soon discovered that after reaching the Yuan He Realm, the consumption of cultivation resources to improve his cultivation was more than ten times that of the Nie Kong Realm.

"Is it really this outrageous..." Lin Yang was speechless.

He also understood a bit why improvement would be slower after reaching the Yuan He Realm.

It wasn't just about needing to consider a deeper mastery of the Dao.

Even the demand for resource consumption had to be massive.

He had only just broken through and stabilized his cultivation at the early stage of the Yuan He Realm, yet the consumption was already so immense.

One could imagine what it would be like in the middle and late stages.

The consumption of resources would likely be a hundred or a thousand times that of the Nie Kong Realm.

"No wonder the big families here in Xiwu City basically only have one Yuan He Realm expert, and most are in the early or middle stages. If they could just have one more Yuan He Realm expert, the whole family could immediately rise to a higher level. Raising a Yuan He Realm cultivator is indeed not easy; only super families like the Five Great Families are exceptions."

Lin Yang couldn't help but sigh.

Breaking through to the Yuan He Realm was a watershed moment, and the improvement after the breakthrough was much the same.

Just a moment ago, he still felt that he wasn't particularly short of money.

But now he immediately changed his mind.

With such terrifying resource consumption, the share he obtained from the Zhao family was simply not enough.

Even if the Zhao family supported him with all their might, it would probably be a bit difficult.

Because the Zhao family also had Zhao Yuan who needed to be supported.

Unless he went to fight for more resource territories!

Lin Yang remained silent.

Sometimes, a person might have no desire to compete, but reality doesn't allow it.

Just like now, if he didn't fight, he wouldn't have enough resources to support his own cultivation.

He had to fight!

"The matter of fighting for resource territories cannot be rushed. To fight upward, one would have to fight the Five Great Families, which is obviously unrealistic. And if one were to snatch resource territories from other first-rate or even second-rate families, one would have to plan it out."

Lin Yang pondered for a moment and finally put the matter aside for the time being.

For one, the resources currently in his hands were barely enough for a while.

Secondly, Zhao Yuan was still at his old strength, and although he himself had broken through, he didn't yet have the qualifications to challenge the Five Great Families.

As for attacking other first-rate families, there had to be a suitable opportunity; otherwise, it might cause other first-rate families to unite against him.

That would be more trouble than it was worth.

Even with him and Zhao Yuan combined, it would be difficult to handle.

This matter still needed to wait.

It would be much easier to handle once he improved to the middle stage of the Yuan He Realm.

By then, he would have combat power comparable to the late or even peak stage of the Yuan He Realm.

In this Xiwu City, not to mention walking sideways, snatching a few resource territories would be no problem at all.

After making some plans, Lin Yang patiently continued to cultivate.

Then, he didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the "Boundary's" absorption speed seemed to have increased a little bit.

Furthermore, the "Boundary" would also feed back some power to him from time to time.

Although the power fed back to him in a single instance wasn't much, not as much as when he broke through to the Yuan He Realm before, there was indeed feedback, and the frequency of the feedback was higher than before.

This made Lin Yang's eyes light up.

Although the amount was small, it was better for its high frequency.

Over the long term, accumulating little by little, it would definitely save a large amount of cultivation resources!

"Boundary, oh Boundary, you're really great!" Lin Yang couldn't help but praise it.

"Lin Yang..." Suddenly, a voice resounded directly in his mind.

(End of chapter)