444: The Five Great Masters of the World

At this moment,

to the right of Two Realms Mountain,

deep within the desert on the border of Xiang Prefecture, Nancang Domain,

Zhou Tailai, who had fallen into that unknown place from here, awoke from his cultivation.

Before his eyes, colorful lights and shadows changed rapidly.

Before Zhou Tailai could react,

the world around him had already transformed.

"I'm out?"

"But, where is this..."

Standing still in the air,

looking at the unfamiliar mountains and forests below,

Zhou Tailai surveyed his surroundings.

He finally confirmed that he had indeed emerged from the place where he had been trapped.

However, he had not returned to the desert on the border of Xiang Prefecture.

Having already entered the Foundation Establishment Realm,

and from within those colorful lights and shadows,

after ten years, Zhou Tailai had comprehended a spell he named the "Willow Catkin Body" and submerged the surrounding area completely within his Divine Sense.

He could not find any corresponding location on the map he held in his hand.

Moreover... "The Spiritual Qi here is too thin..."

Zhou Tailai pondered, a guess forming in his mind.

With a thought,

he took out the map from his Storage Pouch, which he had obtained from Qin Xinming's Storage Pouch along with Qin Xinming's diary.

He flipped through it.

"Qianling Dynasty, Great Yu Dao, border of Fengji Province..."

A moment later,

Zhou Tailai pinpointed a location on the map in his hand.

"Indeed..."

Zhou Tailai sighed inwardly.

He had arrived in the world Qin Xinming had been in before his "Ascension."

"Can I go back?"

Zhou Tailai felt a bit helpless.

He had only intended to investigate.

to confirm the authenticity.

and then return to report to the Clan.

letting the Clan make the decision.

He hadn't expected

not only to be trapped in that unknown place for so long—

that place seemed to have no sense of time's passage—

so much so that Zhou Tailai still didn't know how much time had passed in the outside world.

If a hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye,

when he returned, things would probably be vastly different.

Not to mention that he had now arrived in the Qianling Dynasty.

He didn't know if he still had a chance to go back.

Zhou Tailai kept pondering,

and began to try various methods.

However, nothing happened.

Zhou Tailai descended from the air,

stopping on a mountaintop.

He opened the Storage Pouch at his waist,

and began to rummage through it.

Inside were many Magical Artifacts, Talismans, Spiritual Materials, etc., of varying grades.

However, during the time he was trapped there,

his Medicinal Pills and Spirit Stones were almost depleted.

"Ancestor Worship Altar..."

A moment later,

Zhou Tailai took out a Jade Slip, his eyes lighting up.

This contained the method for constructing the Ancestor Worship Altar.

His Old Ancestor possessed vast Divine Abilities.

If he could build this altar,

perhaps he could attract the Old Ancestor's attention.

In that case, he would have hope of returning.

Zhou Tailai's heart settled.

However, constructing this altar required quite a few Materials.

It also required Spirit Stones.

What he currently had was probably not enough... As Zhou Tailai pondered,

he suddenly frowned slightly.

He put away the Jade Slip in his hand,

and looked into the distance.

In the distant sky,

a mass of black Qi obscured the heavens,

and a subtly unsettling aura reverberated between heaven and earth.

"What is that?"

Zhou Tailai was somewhat puzzled,

but he vaguely felt he had seen a record of it somewhere.

Zhou Tailai's heart stirred.

He took out the self-aggrandizing biography of Qin Xinming.

He opened it.

A moment later,

"The Black Nightmare (Creature/Phantom) from the Black Forest Forbidden Zone..."

Qin Xinming's diary recorded:

The Qianling Dynasty had unified the world for over two hundred years.

It was divided into nine Paths and nearly a hundred Provinces.

The Dynasty's lands

were not entirely peaceful.

As the Dynasty approached its end,

there were not only man-made disasters,

but also numerous forbidden zones and dangerous lands.

These were places that even Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters feared.

Among them, the Black Forest Forbidden Zone was the most famous.

Putting away Qin Xinming's diary,

Zhou Tailai had an idea.

He flew towards the place where the black Qi obscured the sky...

"Kill!"

On the border of Fengji Province,

black Qi enveloped an area.

Within it,

figures intersected,

and shouts of battle shook the heavens.

They fought and clashed with the black phantoms within the black Qi.

When Zhou Tailai, wearing a scholarly cap and holding a feather fan, arrived,

he saw rays of light, seemingly magical power yet distinct, emanating from two rather young figures, one male and one female, engaged in the fierce battle.

With a single swing, they shattered several phantoms into dust,

which then transformed back into black Qi and merged into the vast black Qi in the sky.

The other figures, however, were dressed in standard robes,

resisting with difficulty.

"Their strength is roughly at the Qi Refining Early Stage..."

Zhou Tailai's gaze swept over them,

seeing through the strength of the strongest male and female.

The light emanating from their bodies should be the Innate True Essence mentioned in Qin Xinming's diary.

The others, in his view, seemed more like martial artists,

not Cultivators.

They should be in the Acquired Realm.

Qin Xinming's diary recorded that in the Qianling Dynasty,

there were the Five Acquired Gates, Six Innate Realms, and Three Grandmaster Stages.

Beyond that was the Great Grandmaster, who had opened the Heaven and Earth Divine Bridge within the human body, also known as an Earthly Immortal.

These were peerless experts.

After observing for a moment,

Zhou Tailai verified each record in Qin Xinming's diary.

This put his mind at ease considerably.

At least, with his current strength,

in this world,

he thought there would be no existence capable of threatening him.

Even the peerless Great Grandmasters were no exception.

This was the inherent confidence of a Members of the Zhou Family.

"It's time to act..."

Having collected all the information he needed,

Zhou Tailai moved slightly.

His hand formed a seal.

The Black Nightmare (Creature/Phantom) phantoms were endless.

If he waited any longer, these people would die here.

"sea swallowing gourd, collect!"

Zhou Tailai murmured inwardly.

A small, gray eight-treasure gourd leaped out from the Storage Pouch at his waist.

As Zhou Tailai pointed his finger,

the small gray eight-treasure gourd suddenly transformed,

growing to dozens of feet in size.

Although this sea swallowing gourd was only a High Grade Magical Artifact of the first rank,

it should be sufficient to deal with these black Qi, which were only at the Qi Refining Early Stage,

even if the black Qi was special.

Buzz!

The sea swallowing gourd vibrated.

Its mouth opened wide.

A powerful suction force headed towards the vast black Qi.

Boom!

The black Qi formed a vortex.

Unable to resist the powerful suction, it directly entered the precious gourd.

"Good opportunity!"

At this moment,

the figures enveloped by the black Qi saw this change.

Their previously despairing mood instantly turned for the better.

For a time,

they all fought with renewed vigor.

In just a moment,

as the black Qi permeating the air became scarcer,

the Black Nightmare (Creature/Phantom) that had been repeatedly dispersed by the crowd lost its source of regeneration.

It swept upwards.

Buzz~

The dozens of feet large sea swallowing gourd shook,

sucking the last wisp of black Qi into the gourd.

The sea swallowing gourd shrunk,

gently landing in the palm of the young man in gray robes.

At this moment,

below, figures looked up.

They saw a young Cultivator, wearing a scholarly cap, with his left hand behind his back, his right hand holding a gourd, and eyes like stars, slowly descending from the air.

"Hiss!"

"Great Grandmaster!"

The sound of gasps simultaneously rang out.

Floating in the air

was the most significant mark of a Great Grandmaster.

Southern Heaven Swordsman, Saibei Shen Quan (Northern Frontier Divine Fist), Flying Flower Sword, Cold River Drinker, Peerless Imperial Lord... The Five Absolutes of the world don't seem to include him... The two young men and women in the Innate Realm exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion and shock.

This gray-robed Great Grandmaster did not seem to be one of the five Earthly Immortals renowned throughout the Qianling Dynasty.

"We thank Great Grandmaster for saving our lives!"