133: Chapter 133 Without money, you can't move an inch! Entering the Divine Illusion!

Yuchuan Realm, Nine Streams City.

When Su Feng's group arrived before this towering giant city, Su Yan couldn't help but gasp.

The pitch-black city walls towered into the clouds, looking like an ancient giant beast crouching on the wilderness.

What made one's scalp tingle the most was that directly above the high-standing city gate, a skeleton emitting a faint fluorescence was actually nailed down firmly with two huge bronze spikes!

Even though only withered bones remained, the pressure emanating from the skeleton still made it difficult for Su Yan and Su Yuan, who had yet to break through, to breathe.

"That is... an Immortal's remains."

The voice of the Nine Nether Pill Venerable echoed in the minds of Su Feng and the others, carrying a hint of mockery.

"It's used to intimidate the various sorts of people in this city, telling them that if they cause trouble in Nine Streams City, even an Immortal must die."

At the city gate.

"One low-grade divine crystal per person to enter the city! Time limit is thirty days!"

A gate guard yawned lazily, his contemptuous gaze sweeping over Su Feng and the others as he shouted in an unquestionable tone.

Liang Kun, standing to the side, said nothing and skillfully took out several crystals emitting a pure aura and handed them over.

Su Feng's expression was calm, but in his heart, he now had an idea of the prices in this Upper Realm.

Before his Ascension, he had learned from the Nine Nether Pill Venerable that for transactions above the Guixu Realm, Spirit Stones were no longer the mainstream currency; only "divine crystals" containing the power of the world's Laws were hard currency.

Before this Ascension, Su Feng had almost completely scoured all the Secret Realms in the Tianyuan Continent that could produce divine crystals, yet he had only managed to scrape together two thousand low-grade divine crystals.

According to the Nine Nether Pill Venerable, these two thousand divine crystals might seem like a lot, but in Nine Streams City, they weren't even enough to buy a "low-grade spirit niche" the size of a single bed!

The reason was simple: if Cultivators above the Guixu Realm wanted to continue improving, refining the Immortal Qi in the air alone was extremely slow; they had to consume divine crystals to forcibly break through bottlenecks.

Divine crystals are the lifeblood of Upper Realm Cultivators!

Passing through the city gate, the scene before them instantly overturned everyone's perceptions.

The streets here were incredibly wide, even the bluestone slabs paving the ground emitted a faint Formation spiritual light, and floating jade pavilions loomed in the sky, fully displaying an Immortal's grandeur.

However, beneath this glamorous surface, the sides of the streets were permeated with a nauseating aura of decay interwoven with madness.

"Selling myself! Selling myself! Third level of the Guixu Realm, proficient in earth-type Spells, only one hundred low-grade divine crystals! Room and board included, I'll sign a one-year Revered Master-servant contract with you! I'll work like an ox or a horse without a single complaint!"

"Freshly available female Cultivator furnace! Just broke through to the Guixu Realm less than a hundred years ago! Her yin essence is still intact, and her Physique is top-tier! Ten low-grade divine crystals for a night, fifty to take her away!"

"Seeking a team to hunt void beasts outside the city! Need a meat shield at the fifth level of the Guixu Realm or above, loot split 30/70, come if you're willing to risk your life!"

Countless Cultivators were crouched densely along both sides of the street.

These Old Ancestor-level figures, who in the Lower Realm were enough to establish sects and be revered by tens of thousands, were now like small vendors in a slum, shamelessly and desperately promoting themselves.

"This... this..."

Su Yan watched, dumbfounded, his Dao Heart suffering a massive shock.

He pointed at the brawny man in the third level of the Guixu Realm who was holding a sign to sell himself, his tongue tying in knots:

"Is this freaking Guixu Realm?! In our Tianyuan Continent, half-step Guixu is at the very top of the food chain! Here... how are they worse than dogs?!"

"This is the Upper Realm."

The Nine Nether Pill Venerable sighed, his voice tinged with deep cruelty and helplessness:

"Thirty Grand Unity Golden Immortals established the Laws, and six thousand Heavenly Immortals carved up ninety-nine percent of the resources. Excluding those nearly one million Immortals, the remaining billions of low-level Cultivators, if they want to climb up, can only use any means necessary to compete, snatch, and risk their lives!"

"Of course, if one has Heaven-Defying talent, they can also choose to seek refuge with a Heavenly Immortal and become a dog for a major power. But in the Upper Realm, even being a dog has its requirements."

Compared to Su Yan's shock, Su Yuan had an indifferent look, and his eyes even sparkled with excitement.

"Heh, interesting."

Su Yuan looked as if he had returned to his happy home.

"In the Lower Realm's Shadow Pavilion, those assassins would kill their own fathers just to snatch a Medicinal Pill. This Upper Realm is just an amplification of that jungle Law. If you don't crush others, are you supposed to wait to be crushed yourself?"

As he was speaking, he suddenly pointed not far ahead and asked.

"Eh? Brother, look quickly! What race is that? And that one with a human body and a lion's face, why does he have a pair of wings on his back?"

Not far away, a terrifying giant over five meters tall with muscles like coiled dragons walked past, the ground trembling slightly with every step.

"Those with wings are the Yao Race from the Ancient God Mountain, and the five-meter-tall one is from the Barbarian Race."

The Nine Nether Pill Venerable explained patiently: "Yuchuan Realm is home to ten thousand races. Although this realm is dominated by our Human Race, we often see races from other domains."

"There are other realms?" Su Yuan was stunned.

"The Three Thousand Upper Realms are vast and boundless. Naturally, there are."

While speaking, the Nine Nether Pill Venerable stopped in front of a dilapidated small house named the [Grass and Wood Pavilion].

"Young Lord, this is the destination I wanted to bring you to."

Su Feng nodded and glanced at Liang Kun beside him.

With a thought, he directly took Liang Kun into the yin-yang life and death diagram.

This person knows many secrets of the Blood Fiend Ancestor and the Jade Flute Immortal; keeping him around is still useful.

As Su Feng's trio stepped into the Grass and Wood Pavilion, the scene before them suddenly opened up.

Although it only looked like the size of a single storefront from the outside, it was a completely different world inside.

The internal space was actually as vast as a huge plaza, with countless dark doors standing densely all around.

By this time, the Nine Nether Pill Venerable had hidden his form back inside Su Yan's ring, switching to Divine Sense transmission.

Following his Revered Master's instructions, Su Yan walked to the counter and said to a shopkeeper inside who hadn't even lifted an eyelid:

"Accessing the Venerable Great Illusionary Realm."

"Three hundred low-grade divine crystals, time limit is three days."

The shopkeeper's eyelids lifted slightly, his cold gaze sweeping over the three of them.

In this place, if you don't have money, you don't even deserve to breathe.

Su Yan readily handed over three hundred divine crystals.

With a "click," a door not far away slowly opened, revealing a deep, black-hole-like entrance inside.

The three of them stepped in one by one.

They only felt their Divine Sense suddenly daze, as if their Souls were being pulled from their bodies.

When their vision cleared again, the three of them were so shocked they were speechless.

Appearing before them was a sky-reaching ancient tree that defied description!

How large was this tree? Even with Su Feng's current tenth-level Guixu Realm Divine Sense to investigate, he couldn't see the top of the canopy at all.

On each of its branches rested a galaxy, and every single leaf seemed to contain a world!

"Fortunately, the Divine Sense mark I left back then still exists."

The remnant Soul phantom of the Nine Nether Pill Venerable appeared before the three of them, looking up at this divine tree with a face full of awe.

"Revered Master, where is this?" Su Yan asked hurriedly.

"This place is a virtual Divine Sense land established by a Saint in the Major Thousand Worlds with supreme magic power—the [Venerable Great Illusionary Realm]!"

Feverish excitement flickered in the Nine Nether Pill Venerable's eyes:

"Anyone can enter this illusionary realm with their Divine Sense through the branches of the grand void divine tree. Here, you can not only exchange what you have for what you need with countless Cultivators of the Three Thousand Upper Realms, but also trade Cultivation Techniques and information."

"More importantly, you can enter challenges set up by Grand Unity Golden Immortals from various realms!"

Su Yan's eyes lit up, and he immediately grasped his Revered Master's meaning: "Revered Master, you mean we can compete on the rankings here to win money?!"

"Exactly."

The Nine Nether Pill Venerable stroked his beard and smiled: "The talent of you three is top-tier even in the Upper Realm. If you can break some extremely difficult ancient records, you can obtain divine crystal rewards personally bestowed by the Divine Venerable! That would be a huge sum of money!"

Hearing this, Su Feng immediately became interested.

With his current massive Divine Sense power, it only took a few breaths of time for him to resonate with this grand void divine tree and obtain a large amount of information.

He raised his hand, his Divine Sense solidifying as he casually opened a golden-glowing [Potential Verification Ranking] in the void.

"Let's see how hard these Upper Realm records are to break."

Su Feng smiled faintly and selected [Verification of Bone Age and Realm].

"Buzz—!!!"

The moment Su Feng confirmed his click, the entire Venerable Great Illusionary Realm shook violently!

Immediately after, a majestic heavenly voice like a great Dao bell rang out without warning across every branch of the grand void divine tree.

[World-Shocking Announcement: Yuchuan Realm, Kunhe Area Five! Su Feng, bone age thirty-two years, broke through to the seventh level of the Guixu Realm! Broke the fastest record in the Three Thousand Upper Realms that had been sealed for ninety thousand years! Obtained Divine Venerable reward—20,000 low-grade divine crystals!]