176: Venture deep into the wilderness to search for your people!
Zhao Wuji's heart pounded wildly.
He never expected that this matter would actually alarm these two stars of calamity from the Tianyu Holy Land Law Enforcement Hall.
The Black and White Fiends!
These were existences with fearsome reputations.
It was said that these two Cultivated an extremely sinister combined attack Cultivation Technique; when the two joined forces, even experts at the Late Void Refining Stage had to avoid their edge.
Even more terrifying was their style of doing things; their methods were cruel, and wherever they passed, not a blade of grass would often remain.
“Zhao Wuji?”
The tall, thin old man in white, the White Fiend, slowly turned his head.
He looked at Zhao Wuji, his voice sharp and ear-piercing: “You've been living quite comfortably as this City Lord. For such a major incident to occur, you actually had to trouble us two brothers to make a personal trip.”
Zhao Wuji trembled all over and hastily bowed his waist even lower: “Forgive me, Elders! It is truly because that thief's methods were too brilliant, I... I also failed to stop them.”
“Useless.”
The Black Fiend beside him snorted coldly, the bone beads in his hand clacking as they turned: “If you could have stopped them, what would we need the Law Enforcement Hall for?”
“Enough nonsense. That Lin Family, they disappeared right down here?”
The Black Fiend pointed at the massive deep pit in front of them.
“Yes, it is exactly this place.”
Zhao Wuji nodded and answered cautiously: “The commotion that night was immense. By the time this subordinate arrived, the Lin Family had already...”
“Fine, stop explaining.”
The White Fiend interrupted him impatiently, his gaze sweeping over the scorched earth below, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: “Tsk tsk, interesting.”
“Directly draining the earth veins to detonate the spatial nodes? A ruthless enough move, not even a speck of residue remains.”
“Old White, don't waste time.”
The Black Fiend turned the beads in his hand and said in a heavy voice: “That miser Liu Jing is still waiting for our reply. If we don't handle this well, our offerings for this year will shrink.”
“True.”
The White Fiend nodded, his mourning stick lightly tapping the void: “Then let's see exactly which god or immortal dares to stir up trouble on the head of the Tianyu Holy Land.”
As his voice fell, the mourning stick in the White Fiend's hand suddenly erupted with a burst of shrill ghostly wails.
A stream of grayish-white mist surged from the tip of the stick, quickly enveloping the space above the deep pit.
At the same time, the Black Fiend did not stay idle; he tossed the two bone beads in his hand into the air.
His hands quickly formed seals.
“Yin and Yang reversal, time traceback! Open!”
With a low shout from the two, the space above the originally empty pit suddenly began to distort violently.
It was like a stone being thrown into a calm lake.
Layer upon layer of ripples arose.
Immediately after, blurry scenes began to manifest within the mist.
The images flowed backward.
The original deep pit began to fill up, ruins reassembled into buildings, and the dust filling the sky swirled back to the ground.
Time seemed to lose its meaning at this moment.
It was retreating backward at an astonishing speed.
Zhao Wuji stood to the side, not daring to even breathe loudly, staring at the light screen without blinking.
He also wanted to know exactly who the mysterious person was that wiped out the Lin Family.
The image finally froze on that night one month ago.
Above the Lin Family, lightning flashed.
Then, that old man wearing a tattered Daoist robe and a mask appeared in everyone's sight.
Although it was only an image, separated by the light screen,
Zhao Wuji could still feel the Aura emanating from that old man.
What happened next made the three Void Refining stage experts present fall silent.
“This...”
Zhao Wuji couldn't help but swallow, feeling his throat go dry.
Even though he had seen the scene with his own eyes a month ago, seeing this traceback image again now,
He still felt a surge of fear.
That Universe in the Palm Divine Ability, that application of the Law of space, was simply superb.
The expressions of the Black and White Fiends also became grave.
The original casual contempt vanished.
It was replaced by a look of wariness.
“Old Black, did you see clearly?”
The White Fiend frowned: “That hand... that's the prototype of the Heaven and Earth Manifestation, isn't it?”
“Mm.”
The Black Fiend nodded, his face so dark it seemed ready to drip: “And that sword of his... although it only showed a corner, that Evil Qi is definitely no ordinary item. This person... is not to be trifled with.”
As the Law Enforcement Hall fiends who specialized in handling dirty and difficult work, their eyes were naturally sharp.
Although that black-robed old man appeared to be only at the Early Void Refining Stage,
His combat power was likely not inferior even to an average Late Void Refining Stage cultivator.
Especially those endless methods and that ruthless Heart-Nature.
That was what was most headache-inducing.
“Troublesome.”
The Black Fiend sighed and withdrew the bone beads from the air: “I originally thought it was just a small character who didn't know the heights of the heavens, but it turns out to be a tough bone to crack.”
“Even a tough bone must be gnawed.”
The White Fiend smiled coldly; though he said it was troublesome, the Battle Intent in his eyes did not fade: “Since we took their money, we have to eliminate their disaster.”
“Besides, the things in that Lin Family treasury, plus that mineral vein, and that tai xu realm stone... this is a massive fortune.”
“If we can kill him, we two brothers won't have to look at people's faces in the Holy Land for the rest of our lives.”
At this point, a glint of greed flashed in both of their eyes simultaneously.
Men die for wealth, birds die for food.
Cultivating to their level, what they sought was nothing more than resources to go a step further.
And this mysterious person before them,
Was simply a mobile super treasury.
“Did you see clearly where he ran?”
The Black Fiend asked.
The White Fiend waved his hand, and the image on the light screen changed again.
That was the final scene.
The black-robed old man stood atop a shuttle, with a large black dog lying at his feet.
He took one last look in the direction of Zhenyuan City, then steered the shuttle.
Turning into a streak of light, he vanished into the horizon.
That direction... “North.”
Zhao Wuji reminded in a small voice from the side: “That is the direction leading deep into the Beiming Wilderness.”
“Beiming Wilderness?”
Upon hearing these two words, the Black and White Fiends frowned simultaneously.
That was not a good place.
The so-called Beiming Wilderness was a place beyond the jurisdiction of the Tianyu Holy Land, even a lawless land.
The Spiritual Qi there was thin and mixed, and it was shrouded year-round in poisonous miasmas and Evil Qi.
More importantly, Yao Beasts ran rampant there, and the deeper one went, the more unstable the space became.
There were even some forbidden lands left over from ancient times.
For Holy Land Elders like them, who were used to Cultivating in places with abundant Spiritual Qi,
Going to the Beiming Wilderness was like a wealthy man visiting the slums.
Their whole bodies felt a sense of unease.
“This old thing, with so many good places to go, why did he run to that godforsaken place?”
The Black Fiend couldn't help but curse: “Could he be a barbarian from over there?”
“Hmph, whether he's a barbarian or a madman.”
The White Fiend put away his mourning stick, the Yin Qi on his body receding slightly: “Since we've taken the mission, we must make the trip even if it's through mountains of daggers and seas of flames.”
He turned to look at Zhao Wuji: “City Lord Zhao, how much intelligence do you have regarding that area?”
Zhao Wuji hastily cupped his hands: “Replying to Elder White, the Beiming Wilderness is vast and sparsely populated; we do not dare to venture there lightly, so naturally we have not gone!”
“However...”
Zhao Wuji hesitated for a moment before saying: “Recently, it seems to be quite unsettled there. According to scout reports, there are large-scale beast tide movements deep in the wilderness, and even some Yao Kings of certain regions have appeared.”
“Beast tide?”
The Black Fiend curled his lip in disdain: “Just a bunch of uncivilized brutes, could they really turn the world upside down?”
In their eyes, a beast tide in such a frontier land was at most led by a few fifth-rank Yao Beasts.
They could slap a large swath of them to death at will; they didn't constitute a threat at all.
“Fine, enough nonsense.”
The White Fiend interrupted Zhao Wuji, who wanted to say more, and his figure flickered.
He transformed back into a white streak of light and took to the sky.
“Since the direction is confirmed, then we pursue.”
“Although that shuttle's speed isn't slow, carrying so many things, it definitely can't run fast.”
“Zhao Wuji, you stay here and keep watch. If that person pulls a feint and returns, remember to send word immediately.”
Leaving these words behind, the White Fiend sped off toward the north without looking back.
The Black Fiend glanced at Zhao Wuji, the mask on that fat face seeming to reveal a weird smile: “City Lord Zhao, I hope that next time we meet, you can have some good news prepared for us.”
“Otherwise... the position of City Lord of Zhenyuan City might have to change hands.”
After speaking, he also transformed into a black light, following closely after the White Fiend.
The two streaks of light, one after the other, vanished into the northern horizon in the blink of an eye.
Only when the Aura of the two had completely disappeared did Zhao Wuji feel the large stone pressing on his heart loosen slightly.
He straightened his back, finding that it had long been soaked with cold sweat.
“These lords from the Holy Land are truly each harder to serve than the last.”
Zhao Wuji let out a long breath, a hint of gloom flashing in his eyes.
He looked in the direction the two had left, and for some reason,
A trace of inexplicable unease arose in his heart.
That person... that ruthless person who could wipe out the Lin Family with one hand, would he really be so easily caught?
Although the Black and White Fiends were also experts at the Middle Stage of Void Refining and had weird methods,
Zhao Wuji always felt that this time, their trip to the Beiming Wilderness
Might not necessarily end well for them.
“Forget it, it's a fight between immortals; I'd better honestly guard my own little plot of land.”
Zhao Wuji shook his head and turned to disappear from the spot... On the edge of the Beiming Wilderness.
The sky was still a murky gray, like a dirty rag that could never be wiped clean.
The air was filled with a mixture of the smell of rotting leaves and stale blood.
It made one want to vomit upon smelling it.
“Bad Luck! Truly bad Luck!”
High in the sky, the Black Fiend cursed as he flew.
His originally spotless black robe was now actually tainted with a few traces of faint dust.
That was formed by the condensation of the Evil Qi in the air.
“Staying in this kind of ghostly place for long will even affect one's cultivation.”
The Black Fiend waved his sleeve in disgust, striking out a spiritual power barrier.
Isolating that foul air outside.
The White Fiend flying in front appeared much calmer, but his tightly furrowed brows also exposed his terrible mood at the moment.
“Stop complaining.”
The White Fiend's voice was cold: “Catch the person early and return to report early. I don't want to stay in this place for a moment longer.”
The two of them had already been flying at full speed for a full day and night.
According to their speed,
They should have already entered deep into the heart of the wilderness by now.
“Old White, do you think that fellow might be playing us?”
Hei Sha suddenly said, "Could it be that he didn't run this way at all, but just put on a show and then changed course halfway to go somewhere else?"
"Impossible."
White Fiend shook his head with great certainty. "The scenes seen through the Retrospection Technique cannot be faked. Moreover..."
He reached into his robe and pulled out a compass-like Magic Treasure. The needle on the compass was trembling slightly.
Although the amplitude was small, it pointed firmly to the north.
"He is using spatial power."
A sharp light flashed in White Fiend's eyes. "As long as he uses spatial power to travel, he will leave traces. My Tracking Compass can capture them."
"That old thing has a tai xu realm stone in his hand, and he even collected a void mineral vein."
"No matter how he tries to conceal the spatial fluctuations along the way, in my eyes, they are as conspicuous as a lantern in the night."
Hearing this, Hei Sha's spirits were immediately lifted.
"Good! As long as we can lock onto his position, it'll be easy to handle."
Hei Sha licked his lips, a smile appearing in his eyes. "Once we catch him, I must first slice the meat off his body piece by piece, interrogate him for the Cultivation method of that spatial Divine Ability, and then extract his soul and refine his spirit!"
As the two were speaking, the scenery ahead suddenly changed.
The originally rolling black mountain range was now shrouded in a faint layer of red mist.
From the jungle below, heart-pounding roars of beasts could be heard from time to time.
"Hmm? That is..."
White Fiend stopped his escape light and looked down with a sharp gaze.
In that dense primeval forest, countless Yao Beasts were running frantically.
Their eyes were crimson, saliva dripping from their mouths, and they completely ignored the obstacles of the terrain, converging into waves of beast tides surging in the same direction.
That direction happened to be the same direction they were tracking.
"So many Yao Beasts?"
Hei Sha also stopped, somewhat surprised. "This scale... there must be hundreds of thousands of them, right? And they look like they've been provoked by something."
"Why bother with those brutes?"
White Fiend only gave a casual glance and stopped paying attention. "Just a bunch of low-level Yao Beasts. Even if there were twice as many, they couldn't stop a single finger of ours."
In the eyes of a Void Refining Stage powerhouse, numbers had long lost their meaning.
Unless a yao king of the same level appeared, this kind of beast tide was to them...
...nothing more than a group of slightly noisy ants.
"Let's go, pass through it."
White Fiend snorted coldly, not wanting to waste time taking a detour.
A terrifying Aura of the Void Refining Stage erupted from his body.
He pressed down directly toward the beast tide below.
Boom!
An invisible wave of air hit the ground like a heavy hammer.
The group of Yao Beasts running below instantly exploded into chaos.
Thousands of Yao Beasts had blood blasted from their seven orifices by this pressure, falling directly to the ground, unable to move.
The other Yao Beasts were scared out of their wits, and the originally orderly ranks were instantly thrown into a mess.
"Hahahaha! A bunch of ants!"
Seeing this scene, Hei Sha let out a burst of wild laughter.
He seemed to enjoy this feeling of being the Dominator of life and death, and even casually struck out several black palm prints.
He crushed several large fourth-rank Yao Beasts below into meat paste.
The two of them rampaged all the way like this.
They completely disregarded this so-called dangerous wilderness.
In their view, although the environment for this mission was a bit poor and the road was a bit long...
...it was essentially just a relaxed hunt.
That prey might have some skill, but that was all... Meanwhile, at the central plaza of Tianxuan City, the massive altar had already been completed.
The ground, which had been vibrating slightly, had completely calmed down.
The silver pillar of light that reached from heaven to earth restrained its brilliance, transforming into a floating gate of light.
Chen Xu sat cross-legged in the void directly beneath the gate of light.
His green robes flapped loudly in the spatial turbulence overflowing from the surroundings.
He slowly let out a breath.
And as he exhaled, it seemed as if the fatigue accumulated from refining the Formation over the past few days was also expelled.
"Revered Master, the Formation has stabilized, and the spiritual power transmission at each node is normal."
Xu Linger's voice came from the edge of the altar.
The young girl was covered in sweat, her eyes full of excitement.
Chen Xu nodded slightly and then turned his gaze toward the perimeter of the plaza.
The Chen Family members were all there.
From Chen Daoxuan to Murong Zhuyun, then to Bu Yifan, Ba Dao, and Liu Ruyan, hundreds of pairs of eyes were staring at him.
Their eyes were also full of anticipation.
"Everyone, retreat three miles."
Seeing this, Chen Xu spoke softly. "The commotion that follows might be a bit large; don't let it injure you."
Hearing this, Chen Daoxuan immediately turned around to command the clansmen to retreat.
Although everyone was incredibly nervous...
...the words of the Family Head were like an imperial decree. In less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, within a three-mile radius centered on the plaza...
...there was no one else besides Chen Xu.
Confirming the area was cleared, Chen Xu flipped his palm, and a compass appeared in his hand.
Within this compass were recorded the series of spatial node data deeply engraved in Chen Xu's mind.
Lower Realm, Central Region, the former site of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
That was the birthplace of the Chen Immortal Family and his final point in that world.
It was also the current location of the Chen Family's main base.
Although he was now in the Spirit Realm, seemingly infinitely glorious as a Void Refining Stage powerhouse, in that place called the 'Lower Realm,' there were still countless Chen Family disciples waiting expectantly.
His roots were there, as was the branch of the Heaven-Reaching Tower he had personally established.
And even more so, the Family Luck bound by the System.
If he didn't connect these two realms, no matter how many resources he fought for in the Spirit Realm...
...there would be no way to continuously send them back to nourish the Family.
"Old friend, whether we succeed or not depends on this one final push."
Chen Xu murmured in a low voice, and then his gaze suddenly became sharp.
He no longer hesitated, and his majestic Divine Sense surged into the compass like a tide.
Hum—
The compass vibrated violently, and the needle on it began to spin frantically.
Finally, it pointed dead-on at the gate of light above the altar.
A string of light spots drifted out from the compass, transforming into a golden stream of light.
It plunged straight into the very center of the gate of light.
That was the coordinate guidance beacon for the Lower Realm.
"Tai xu as the guide, star crystals to pave the way! Open for me!"
Chen Xu gave a loud shout, his hands flying as he began to form seals.
With every hand seal he struck out...
...it would trigger a violent riot in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Rumble—!!!
The sky, which had just calmed down, changed colors once again.
This time, the commotion was even more terrifying than when the Heavenly Tribulation descended earlier.
That gate of light, which was originally only about ten feet wide, seemed to have been injected with adrenaline after receiving the coordinate beacon.
Its volume instantly expanded tenfold!
The originally faint blue vortex center now turned into an abyss as black as ink.
A heart-shaking suction force erupted from within.
It was as if it wanted to suck the entire Tianxuan City inside.
"Steady!"
Chen Xu shouted low, and the Immortal Jade already buried around the altar instantly burned.
It turned into a rolling torrent of spiritual power injected into the grand Formation.
It forcibly stabilized the fury of the light gate.
At the same time, an invisible fluctuation that only Chen Xu could see, like a tentacle, passed through the gate of light and pierced through the thick planar barrier of the Spirit Realm.
It plunged headlong into the vast and endless void turbulence.
That was the search signal.
Outside the plane, it was not empty, but filled with violent void storms.
There was no distinction of up, down, left, or right here, and no concept of the passage of time.
Chen Xu's Divine Sense was attached to that golden light.
He felt like a small boat tossing in the stormy waves.
To find a specific Lower Realm plane in such an environment...
...the difficulty was no less than picking up a specific grain of sand from the ocean.
Even with coordinates, and even with a cheat like the tai xu realm stone...
...this was an extremely taxing task for the mind and spirit.
At the perimeter of the plaza, everyone held their breath.
They couldn't see the dangers in the void; they could only see that the pillar of light piercing the clouds was constantly changing color.
One moment it was a blinding white.
The next, it was a deep dark red. Every time the color changed...
...it would be accompanied by a burst of tooth-aching spatial tearing sounds.
"Father..."
Chen Daoxuan's heart was the most nervous.
Although he didn't understand Formations, he knew that the most critical moment had arrived.
As long as this gate opened, the Chen Family would truly soar to the heavens, from then on spanning two realms with shared resources.
It would be enough to establish an eternal and indestructible foundation.
But if it failed... the massive resources invested were secondary, but if his father's efforts were in vain...
...the blow to the Family's morale would be devastating.
Ba Dao stood to the side, holding his newly acquired demonic blade, his brow furrowed deeply into a 'river' shape.
He could feel that the Family Head's Aura was being consumed at an alarming rate.
Time passed bit by bit.
One breath, two breaths, ten breaths... half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed.
That pillar of light probing into the void was still swaying aimlessly.
Like a lost person waving their arms around in the dark.
Always failing to find that correct handhold.
Chen Xu's originally ruddy complexion began to turn pale. Sweat slid down his temples.
Before it could hit the ground, it was evaporated into mist by the surrounding high temperatures.
The void was simply too large and too chaotic.
Although those coordinates were accurate, the spatial turbulence was changing at all times.
One second it might be right in front of him.
The next, it was swept hundreds of millions of miles away by a storm.
"Damn it! Stay still for me!"
Chen Xu gritted his teeth, and the Divine Soul figure within his Sea of Consciousness suddenly opened its eyes, erupting with blinding golden light.
He did not hesitate to burn a sliver of his Origin Soul Power.
He forcibly enhanced the penetration of the golden light.
The search range instantly doubled!
His Divine Sense swept across patches of barren dead stars and across collapsing Small Worlds!
But Chen Xu had no time to worry about those.
He was like a desperate gambler.
Searching with bloodshot eyes among countless points of light for that familiar Aura.
The time it takes for an incense stick to burn passed, and the atmosphere in the plaza had changed from initial anticipation to current unease.
That suffocating silence spread like a plague.
Many clansmen were already finding it hard to remain standing.