351: Chapter 346 Are these bite marks?

Su Lin swallowed the meat in his mouth, not in a hurry to answer Chu Weiwei's question.

He looked up at the multicolored nebula slowly flowing overhead, running through their current situation in his mind.

According to the information spat out by the Imperial Venerable—whom he had slapped into an empty shell—before dying, this place was called Heaven Beyond Heaven. It was a higher dimension above the Taihuang Immortal Domain. But as for how high it specifically was, or where that guy who controlled everything was hiding, he was completely in the dark.

It was like having just cleared the novice village, only to kick open the gate and find an endless mist outside. There wasn't even a guide NPC.

"Don't rush to do anything yet." Su Lin handed the meat skewers to Ye You, who was waiting eagerly. "We know nothing about this place. Running around blindly is no different from being a headless fly."

"Then how long do we have to wait?" Su Hongling protested, her mouth stuffed full, speaking indistinctly. "We can't just spend our days guarding this broken rock, can we?"

"Why not?" Gu Qiuyue set her Golden Abacus on her lap, her golden eyes rolling around. "Second Senior Sister, don't fail to appreciate the good fortune you have. I just calculated it carefully. The concentration of Spiritual Qi in this nebula is thousands of times that of the Lower Realm, even more exaggerated than the Wangchuan Nether Realm where we used to Cultivate in seclusion."

She reached out and grabbed a handful of air; the immortal spiritual qi within it was so dense it could almost be wrung out like water.

"Cultivating in a place like this, you improve by leaps and bounds every day. Instead of rushing out to court death, we might as well squat here and solidify our Foundation completely first."

This point was well-taken.

Su Lin nodded slightly. Although they had all stepped into the Golden Immortal Realm, this Realm probably didn't even count as a threshold in Heaven Beyond Heaven. That Imperial Venerable was, after all, an existence who had ruled the Taihuang Immortal Domain for ten thousand years, yet he couldn't even withstand a single move from him. But the phrase "higher place" that the Imperial Venerable uttered before dying carried a chill-inducing dread.

An existence that could make a Golden Immortal feel despair was definitely not someone they could easily provoke right now.

"Sixth Junior Sister makes sense." Cold Moon sat upright, her purple-gold Phoenix robe spotless. "I also felt it. Having stayed here for only half a day, the Imperial Dao Dragon Qi within my body already shows signs of solidifying. Such a cultivation Holy Land is rare to encounter."

Mu Qingxue swallowed a small piece of meat quietly, a flash of agreement passing through her light blue eyes.

"The Laws here are complete, far superior to the incomplete world of the Taihuang Immortal Domain. Comprehending the Dao here will yield twice the result with half the effort."

"Then it's settled." Su Lin slapped his thigh. "We will temporarily use this small island as a base, cultivating while gathering information."

"Gathering information?" Luo Ximei twirled her folding fan, her white-gold heterochromatic eyes filled with playfulness. "Revered Master, in this vast sea of stars, there isn't even a ghost to be seen. Where are we supposed to go to gather information?"

Su Lin was choked by this question.

It was true.

This place was excessively quiet. Apart from the giant beast that had bumped into them to deliver itself as food, they hadn't seen a second living thing so far. If this were in the Taihuang Immortal Domain, he could easily get information from any town. But here, he couldn't exactly ask those glowing plants who the controller of Heaven Beyond Heaven was.

"There will always be a way." Su Lin tried to make his tone sound profound. "If a prey of this level can wander in the sea of stars, it means there must be its habitat nearby, or rather, traces of some civilization. We'll look slowly."

He said this without much confidence, but fortunately, his disciples didn't dig deeper.

To them, as long as Revered Master was by their side, it didn't matter where they went. If the sky fell, Revered Master would hold it up; they only needed to Cultivate, eat, and sleep.

This feeling of being unconditionally trusted left Su Lin feeling both amused and helpless.

These girls really treated him as an omnipotent safe haven. But the problem was, he was still fumbling in the fog himself.

"Don't just sit there now that you're full." Su Lin stood up and patted the grass clippings off his robes. "Let's clean up this small island first. We can't just live in the open air like this."

"Clean up?" Su Hongling licked the oil stains off her fingers. "How?"

"Build a house." Chu Weiwei raised her hand, her sausage-like swollen lips having subsided by more than half, and she could speak clearly now. "With so many of us, we need a place to shelter from the wind and rain. Revered Master also needs a quiet room for seclusion."

"Leave the rough work of building houses to me." Su Hongling was immediately energized. She feared idleness the most; she felt uncomfortable the moment she was free. "You guys just say what kind you want, and I guarantee I'll build it sturdy."

"Forget about your craftsmanship." Luo Ximei curled her lip in disdain. "If we let you build a house, you'd probably end up building a doghouse."

"Who are you saying has doghouse craftsmanship?"

Seeing that the two were about to start bickering again, Su Lin quickly interrupted.

"Stop arguing. Let Yan Rusi lead the construction."

Yan Rusi, who had been huddled in the corner gnawing on meat, suddenly raised her head, flattered.

"Senior, this... you want Rusi to arrange it?"

"Didn't you stay in the Hehuan Sect?" Su Lin glanced at her. "That kind of place pays the most attention to pomp and layout. You are more of an expert at this kind of work than them."

Yan Rusi felt a warmth in her heart.

She had originally thought that following this group, she would at most be an errand runner. She didn't expect this Senior to actually be willing to entrust things to her. This feeling of being recognized made her heart, which had been hanging, finally settle down a bit.

"Yes. Rusi will definitely do her best." She hurriedly stood up and responded respectfully.

Over the next few days, this originally barren floating island began to change its appearance at a visible speed.

Yan Rusi indeed had some skills. She used the skeleton of the giant beast as the main frame, using Su Hongling's brute force to smash huge bones into the rock layer to fix them. She also directed everyone to collect the tough fluorescent vines on the island to weave into roofs and walls.

Gu Qiuyue took out the top-tier Materials she had scavenged from Tianhai City and the Ascension Temple from her Storage Pouch one by one.

She laid the jade bricks inlaid with Dust-Repelling Beads on the floor of Su Lin's seclusion room, her heart aching.

"Revered Master, these are all good things." Gu Qiuyue muttered while laying them, feeling the pain. "Outside, a single piece could be exchanged for several Spiritual Veins. I'm only willing to use them for you."

"I know you are generous." Su Lin looked helplessly at her miserly appearance.

This girl talked about being reluctant, but her hands didn't hesitate at all, piling all the best Materials over to his side.

Mu Qingxue used the Law of Extreme Cold to carve out a clear spring at the edge of the island.

The spring water was clear and sweet, containing abundant Spiritual Qi. She even thoughtfully laid out a small Spirit-Gathering Array around the spring eye, turning this spring into a natural spiritual spring.

Mu Qingxue withdrew her hand, a rare touch of softness in her light blue eyes. "If Revered Master is tired, you can come here to soak; it is beneficial for cultivation."

Chu Weiwei wasn't idle either.

She took her signature small shovel and studied all the strange flowers and plants on the island.

Although her first taste test poisoned her into having sausage lips, she quickly figured out the medicinal properties of these plants.

"Revered Master, look." She held up a small flower emitting a faint golden light like a treasure. "This is called Spirit-Condensing Grass. Although it has a little toxicity, as long as it is processed slightly, soaking it in water can greatly stabilize the Divine Soul. Weiwei will brew a pot for you, guaranteed to make your seclusion yield twice the result with half the effort."

"Are you sure that thing is processed cleanly?" Su Lin looked at the flower suspiciously. "Don't poison me into looking like you again."

"Revered Master, how can you not trust Weiwei?" Chu Weiwei pouted aggrievedly. "How could Weiwei bear to poison Revered Master? Besides, even if it's poisonous, we are connected by the life-sharing gu; wouldn't poisoning you be the same as poisoning myself?"

This sounded somewhat reasonable.

Su Lin thought about it; this girl was a grasshopper on the same rope as him, so she wouldn't play tricks on food.

The work Su Hongling was responsible for was the most simple and crude.

Wherever strength was needed, she was there. Moving boulders, chopping wood, fixing Foundations—she alone was worth ten strong men. She worked until she was covered in sweat but didn't complain of fatigue; instead, she enjoyed it.

"This is what you call living." She wiped her sweat, looking at the budding courtyard with a face full of accomplishment. "It's much more interesting than sitting in meditation with eyes closed."

Ye You squatted by the newly planted grass, her vertical pupils staring unblinkingly at several glowing insects crawling out of the soil.

She reached out her finger, poked them cautiously, and then grabbed one and put it in her mouth.

Crunch.

"Edible." She commented expressionlessly, then began to focus on catching insects in the grass.

Su Lin looked at this bustling scene, and the bit of anxiety in his heart inexplicably subsided.

Forget about Heaven Beyond Heaven and the mastermind.

Life still had to go on, day by day.

These girls had followed him from the Lower Realm all the way here, living in fear for so long; it was time to let them have a good rest.

At worst, they would just settle down in this sea of stars and plan slowly.

Anyway, with their current strength and the Spiritual Qi of this place, if they really hid, that so-called controller wouldn't be able to find them for a while.

"Old Man, the house is almost finished." Su Hongling ran over carrying the last bone beam. "What are we eating tonight? Still eating that big whale?"

"Yes." Su Lin nodded. "That huge one, enough for us to eat for half a month."

"Great." Su Hongling cheered. "Then I'll go process the rest of the meat. Revered Master, are you cooking yourself tonight?"

"Depends on my mood."

Su Lin looked at the brilliant nebula in the distance, a smile unconsciously curling the corners of his mouth.

Finding the controller was not something to rush.

It was better to live the present life steadily first.

After the Foundation was solidified and their strength reached a higher level, it wouldn't be too late to go and meet that guy hiding in the dark.

At that time, whether it was a dragon or a worm, it would naturally be revealed.

Night fell.

Although Heaven Beyond Heaven didn't have real day and night, the light of the multicolored nebula would brighten and dim according to some mysterious rhythm. When the nebula's halo became soft and dim, it was night here.

In the newly completed courtyard, a bonfire was lit.

Su Lin once again took charge of the ladle himself, cooking the giant beast meat into several different dishes.

Braised, stewed, grilled.

The aroma permeated the small island, drawing the disciples to circle around the bonfire.

"Dinner time."

Following Su Lin's order, the several Golden Immortal powerhouses who were usually high and mighty instantly transformed into hungry wolves snatching food.

Su Hongling grabbed a whole grilled hind leg directly, eating until her mouth was full of oil.

Ye You snatched the largest piece of stewed meat and squatted in the corner, tasting it in small bites.

Even the usually dignified Cold Moon and the cold Mu Qingxue couldn't help but use their chopsticks several more times.

Su Lin sat in the main seat, looking at this group of disciples eating contentedly, picked up the pot of Spirit-Condensing Grass tea Chu Weiwei had brewed for him, and took a gentle sip.

The tea was fragrant, and his Divine Soul was invigorated.

This girl's skills were getting more and more reliable.

"Revered Master." Chu Weiwei leaned over to him, her small face flushed red by the bonfire. "After dinner, let Weiwei massage your shoulders, okay? You must be exhausted from building the house these past few days."

"No need." Su Lin waved his hand. "Revered Master didn't exert any effort; you are the ones who are tired."

"That's not the same." Chu Weiwei stubbornly leaned over. "Anyway, Weiwei just wants to massage Revered Master."

Su Lin couldn't be bothered to argue with her and let her be.

However, this tranquility did not last long.

"Hum."

A subtle sound of wings flapping broke the peace in the courtyard.

Su Lin's hand holding the teacup paused slightly.

This sound was not loud, but under his Divine Sense perception, which had reached Golden Immortal Perfection, it felt abrupt.

Before he could think about it, the humming sound disappeared.

Immediately after, at the other end of the bonfire, came a sound of Su Hongling's extremely confused muttering.

"Huh? What is this?"

Su Lin turned his head.

He saw Su Hongling pinching her own arm, looking puzzled.

On her forearm, which appeared exceptionally toned from years of wielding a great sword, a small, bright red bump had appeared at some point.

The bump was round and looked exactly like a bump from a mosquito bite in the mortal world.

Su Hongling scratched the bump, and the more she scratched, the itchier it felt. She grabbed her other arm and found that there were two more on it.

"Old Man." Su Hongling held up her arm, approaching with a strange expression. "Look at this. Why do I feel itchy?"

The courtyard went quiet instantly.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the red, swollen bumps on Su Hongling's arm.

Chu Weiwei was the first to react. Her purple eyes, most sensitive to all kinds of toxins and abnormalities, widened suddenly, and she leaned forward to examine them carefully.

"Is this... a bite mark?"

She extended her finger and poked the swollen bump gently; it was warm to the touch, definitely swollen from blood accumulation.

"Mosquito bite." Chu Weiwei gave a conclusion that everyone found absurd. "Second Senior Sister, you've been bitten by a mosquito."

"Pfft."

Luo Ximei, who had been drinking water quietly, couldn't hold it in and sprayed it out.

She twirled her folding fan, her white-gold heterochromatic eyes full of amusement, wanting to see the chaos.

"A mosquito? Hahahaha, stop joking. Her flesh is so tough that even a Death Soldier at the Late Stage of Earth Immortal can only spark when hitting it with an immortal weapon. A mosquito can bite you and leave a bump?"