134: Chapter 134 The Nine Heavens World

"Don't come any closer, speak clearly." Liu Tingting pointed her sword forward, showing no fear at all.

Vice Minister Li turned his head and gestured for the two men accompanying him to dismount.

"Come, let me introduce you. These are the two geniuses who escaped from the Chiyan Sect and entered the Shenji Tower."

The two men looked Xia Shaoxin and Liu Tingting up and down; their auras were profound, no lower than the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

Their eyes were full of surprise, but there was no Killing Intent.

They cupped their hands in a salute together: "Greetings, Divine Beings."

Being addressed like that, Xia Shaoxin was stunned.

Vice Minister Li said: "Don't panic. The arrest warrant from the Chiyan Sect has been cancelled, and the Yue Kingdom is no longer hunting you down."

"Is that true?"

"You're actually doubting me?" Vice Minister Li looked a bit aggrieved. "If I wanted to capture you, you wouldn't have even had the chance to cause trouble at the Shenji Tower!"

Xia Shaoxin lowered his sword: "I don't understand what happened."

Vice Minister Li said: "Before exploring the Shenji Tower, Elder Luo Xi of the Shanyuan Sect in the Tang Kingdom wrote letters to many Sects, exposing an old case from fifty years ago in the Yue Kingdom. You know about this, right?"

Xia Shaoxin nodded; he had heard Elder Luo Xi speak of it himself in the capital.

"A month ago, the Pinshan Three Sects of the Tang Kingdom sent a Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Great Cultivator Dong Xian to summon the various Sects of the Yue Kingdom for a grand meeting. You haven't heard of this either?"

Xia Shaoxin shook his head.

For the past two months, they had been traveling, mingling with Mortals, taking back roads instead of main ones, and hadn't interacted with any Cultivators.

"The matter of Sect Leader Wu Yin of your Chiyan Sect faking his Foundation Establishment caused quite a stir. For the past few months, everyone has actually been watching from the sidelines."

"Everyone knew this was wrong, yet they harbored hopes. If they could really restart the Forbidden Ground, we would also have many Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and perhaps even a chance to achieve the Golden Core path."

Xia Shaoxin snorted coldly in his heart. If the Sects explored the Forbidden Ground, someone like him would be the one to suffer, inevitably being dragged along to participate in every exploration.

He was only at the Third Layer of Qi Refining; he had no use for the poisonous herbs of the Forbidden Ground.

The danger was borne by him, while the benefits went to others.

Even if the Elders gave him respect and privileges, he was nothing more than an Advanced Bug Catcher.

"Great Cultivator Dong Xian came in person, sternly rebuking the Chiyan Sect and the Yue Kingdom, and announced that if such an incident happened again, the primary culprits would be severely punished, even to the point of total annihilation."

The words "total annihilation" gave Xia Shaoxin a fright.

"Would they really wipe out a Sect?"

"What is there that they wouldn't dare to do? Throughout history, quite a few Schools have incited public anger and ended up being wiped out by a collective effort."

Xia Shaoxin found it hard to believe: "Vice Minister Li, we spent these two months outside living in fear. Is this matter really just over like that?"

Vice Minister Li chuckled: "Surprising, isn't it? I was a bit surprised too. In hundreds of years, you are the only ones to have come out of the Shenji Tower. I was worried that from then on, every Sect would reopen the Forbidden Ground."

Liu Tingting asked: "From now on, will no one dare to capture us anymore?"

Vice Minister Li said seriously: "Openly capturing you for this matter, they likely wouldn't dare. As for whether anyone still harbors hope and does it secretly, that is hard to say."

Liu Tingting clenched her fists tightly.

Vice Minister Li glanced at her and said meaningfully: "Strictly speaking, perhaps Fellow Daoist Xia is more valuable. Miss Liu's Formation Talent is rare in the Qi Refining Realm, but it is not irreplaceable."

Liu Tingting's face immediately darkened; she glanced at Xia Shaoxin and snorted.

Xia Shaoxin, however, did not think this was a good thing and shook his head bitterly.

Vice Minister Li patted Xia Shaoxin's shoulder and said sympathetically: "Aren't you going to the Tang Kingdom? I suggest you go to Pin Mountain and find Great Cultivator Dong Xian. Only at Pin Mountain will no one dare to covet you."

Xia Shaoxin's heart surged: "Will the Pinshan Three Sects accept me?"

"I don't know. Since he came to announce the ban on exploring the Forbidden Ground, it is most appropriate for him to protect you. I think placing you in the Outer Sect wouldn't have any negative impact."

Xia Shaoxin was shocked. Me, at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, can only stay in the Outer Sect?

Vice Minister Li laughed: "I've heard that for those three Sects at Pin Mountain, the Inner Sect Disciples are basically all at the Qi Refining Upper Stage."

"Ah!"

Xia Shaoxin's eyes widened, and he didn't dare to make a sound.

No wonder the Tang Kingdom could crush other Sects. With this kind of strength, they could indeed wipe out any Sect they pleased.

Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly asked: "What about... Senior Elder Luo Xi?"

"He is dead." Vice Minister Li said expressionlessly. "Yang Qincheng, who killed him, is out of luck. Sigh, to offend the Shanyuan Sect for no reason—who knows if there will be trouble in the future."

Xia Shaoxin asked with some sadness: "Then where was his body buried?"

"Great Cultivator Dong Xian brought people from the Shanyuan Sect and took Elder Luo Xi's body away."

Hearing that Elder Luo Xi at least had some resolution, Xia Shaoxin breathed a sigh of relief.

With this matter concluded, the tense atmosphere immediately vanished, and Xia Shaoxin and the three men led by Vice Minister Li toasted each other.

After three rounds of drinks, Vice Minister Li looked at Xia Shaoxin with narrowed eyes: "You might have questions about why Foundation Establishment Sects strictly forbid other Sects from exploring the Forbidden Ground?"

Xia Shaoxin shook his head like a rattle-drum: "I haven't thought about it. I'm not qualified to think about such questions."

Liu Tingting, however, asked curiously: "Why?"

Vice Minister Li's eyes suddenly became profound: "This relates to the rules of our entire world."

It sounded vague and inexplicable.

"Our world was originally capable of Immortal Ascension, but nowadays, even Foundation Establishment is difficult, all thanks to the Forbidden Grounds scattered everywhere!"

Xia Shaoxin was shocked; this was the first time he had heard such a claim.

"Actually, regarding the operating rules of the world, I don't know much either. Thanks to Great Cultivator Dong Xian coming and answering our questions at the meeting, I finally understand."

Xia Shaoxin hurriedly poured wine, asking him to explain in detail.

"Do you know what our world is called?" Vice Minister Li asked.

Xia Shaoxin shook his head. Since childhood, he only knew he was in the Yue Kingdom; he had never studied geography and didn't know what world lay beyond the Yue Kingdom.

Vice Minister Li began to speak, saying a whole lot of things he had never heard of before:

"At the beginning of the Grandmist, all worlds were the same, and the rules were no different."

"However, as the clear qi rose and the turbid qi descended, it gradually layered, forming the Upper Clear Realm, Middle Clear Realm, and Lower Clear Realm, with each world further divided into three layers."

"The world you and I are in is the second to last layer of the Lower Clear Realm, called the Gou Realm."

"As the name implies, the Gou Realm is a place where the turbid qi is extremely heavy. Cultivation is extremely difficult, each generation is worse than the last, and this trend is irreversible."

"The Gou Realm has countless Small Worlds. It is said that the Upper Clear Realm calls our small Universe the Yellow Earth Continent."

"Below the Gou Realm lies the Demon Realm. The rules there are completely different from ours, and its creatures are called demons."

"The Gou Realm and the Demon Realm are connected by various small passages. Senior Great Cultivators set up powerful Formations to block the erosion of the Demon Realm; these are what we call Forbidden Grounds."

"What we call poisonous gas or toxic miasma actually comes from the turbid qi of the Demon Realm; it is just a matter of different concentrations."

Xia Shaoxin listened, not daring to breathe.

It turned out that Elder Luo Xi's speculation really had some truth to it.

"Why has no one ever mentioned these things?" Liu Tingting asked, confused.

Vice Minister Li's face was bitter: "Because the Upper Realm demands it be deliberately concealed, forbidding too many people from the Gou Realm from achieving Immortal Ascension and polluting their world."