612: Chapter 612 Extreme South

Central flower garden of the Liu Manor.

As Liu Xuan set up the Formation, a speck of green light descended from mid-air and merged into the soil.

Countless spiritual flowers throughout the garden immediately swayed gently. Some lower-grade spiritual flowers grew a noticeable amount, while the branches and leaves of those with demanding growth conditions unfurled, as if receiving sweet rain after a long drought.

"What Formation is this?!"

Peach Blossom's small mouth parted slightly, her pretty face filled with disbelief. Some of the spiritual flowers in the garden had extremely harsh growth requirements that she could only barely sustain using her demon power, which contained the Law of Life. How could a mere Formation have such an effect?

Reaching out to gently stroke a spiritual flower, her Divine Sense delved into its interior and then spread throughout the ground of the entire garden.

Aside from sensing a hint of vitality, she could not perceive any profound mysteries. When she concentrated her Divine Sense on the spot where the green light had just shone, a faint vitality emerged from the Void Realm and then diffused throughout the garden.

When Peach Blossom tried to delve deeper into the Void Realm to find the source of the vitality, she found no way to proceed. This vitality seemed to be born out of thin air, with no source at all!

"Husband!"

"How did you do this?!"

After studying it for a while without success, Peach Blossom approached Liu Xuan with a face full of curiosity and acted coquettishly.

When Peach Blossom ascended to Soul Transformation, she automatically mastered a portion of the Great Dao of Life and a portion of the Great Dao of Space. Her Divine Sense could see through the essence of the Void Realm, and she could seal off a space with a single thought.

Yet, Liu Xuan's seemingly ordinary Formation actually prevented her from seeing through the source of the vitality. This was truly strange!

Furthermore, this seemingly ordinary vitality was also off. How could normal vitality have such an effect? Its impact was even more exaggerated than her demon power, which contained the Law of Life!

"You want to know?" Liu Xuan resisted Peach Blossom's kitten-like acting and shook his head with a smile. "Heaven's secrets must not be revealed!"

What he had just set up wasn't actually some high-level Formation, but merely a simple spatial Formation.

The special part was that he used this spatial Formation to connect to the Grotto-Heaven Small World within his body, drawing out a sliver of the vitality of withering and flourishing.

Although there was only a sliver of the vitality of withering and flourishing, its essence was a product of a Rank Six Immortal Artifact, so Peach Blossom naturally couldn't see through it.

The Grotto-Heaven Small World inside Liu Xuan was even more mysterious. It existed within him yet was hidden in the Void Realm, like a Small World parasitic to the Cultivation World. Although Peach Blossom had comprehended a portion of the Great Dao of Space, she still couldn't understand its mysteries.

It wouldn't benefit Peach Blossom to know about the existence of the wither-thrive life-death cauldron, so Liu Xuan didn't plan to explain it to her for now.

"You ascended to Soul Transformation through the Great Daos of Life and Space. As long as you meditate diligently, you will naturally understand in the future."

"Fine!" Peach Blossom didn't press further. Since even acting coquettishly didn't work, it meant Liu Xuan truly didn't want to say. To keep asking would be inconsiderate.

Accompanied by Peach Blossom, Liu Xuan strolled through the garden. While admiring the various spiritual flowers, he asked, "Wife, how much do you know about the overall situation of the Southern Border?"

Following at Liu Xuan's side, Peach Blossom asked in a crisp voice, "What aspect are you referring to, Husband?"

"The Golden Toad of the Far South and the Tai Sui in the depths of the Southwest. Lady Yaoguang said these two are the strongest of the Yao Race in the Southern Border. Why can't I find much information about them?"

Since learning about the Spiritual Qi fluctuations in the Southern Border, Liu Xuan had begun to look at the entire Southern Border. He was very interested in the two strongest Late Stage Soul Transformation Yao Beasts in the Southern Border that Lady Yaoguang had mentioned.

The Azure Profound Sect was just a Human Race Sect on the edge of the Southern Border. Further in, it was all Yao Race territory.

There were two known Late Stage Soul Transformation Yao Saints, the Golden Toad and Tai Sui mentioned by Lady Yaoguang.

However, Liu Xuan had utilized his entire intelligence network, even asking those of the Yao Race in the Endless Demon Court. Everyone only knew of the existence of these two Yao Saints but had little specific information.

"I don't know much either!" Peach Blossom said after a moment's thought. "The Great Sage Jinchan stays in the Far South year-round. I haven't heard of him coming out since I can remember."

"It's said he achieved the Dao through poison. Any Yao or human who approaches the Far South will be poisoned to death instantly."

"Over time, the Far South became a Forbidden Ground of the Southern Border. No one knows what the situation is like inside."

Peach Blossom paused, looked toward the southwest, and continued, "The Great Sage Taisui isn't as reclusive, but he also sleeps for years on end, only accepting offerings from the various Yao of the Southern Border every hundred years."

Speaking of the Great Sage Taisui, a hint of envy appeared on Peach Blossom's face. "As far as I know, the Great Sage Taisui is likely the longest-living member of the Yao Race in the entire Cultivation World. He has been recorded in history for no less than twenty thousand years!"

"Twenty thousand years?" Liu Xuan said in surprise. "Isn't ten thousand years the common limit for both Divine Transformation Cultivators and the Yao Race? How can he live so long?"

Lifespan is a mysterious thing. The Lifespans of ordinary creatures are uncertain, some long and some short. But once they begin cultivation, their Lifespan is locked by their cultivation Realm.

A thousand years for a Golden Core, three thousand for a Nascent Soul, and ten thousand for Soul Transformation. Regardless of your origin, human or Yao, once the limit is reached, the Divine Soul will collapse.

Methods to extend life do exist, but the cost is usually immense and the effect small. It's already not easy to live peacefully until the limit; significantly extending one's life is not impossible, but it is extremely difficult.

The higher the cultivation Realm, the harder it is to extend life. In history, Soul Transformations who could live to thirteen thousand years are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

For this Great Sage Taisui to have lived for over twenty thousand years, he is likely unique even in the long river of history.

"It's probably a special Bloodline," Peach Blossom speculated. "Historically, those who can live past the ten-thousand-year limit are basically Great Saints of the Yao Race. Human Race Dao Lords often have their lives shortened for various reasons, with most falling after eight or nine thousand years."

After some chatting, Liu Xuan found that Peach Blossom didn't know much either. Much of her information overlapped with the intelligence he had gathered, making it useless.

"The Far South!"

After thinking for a while, Liu Xuan asked, "I've heard that further south of the Far South is a spirit-severing Forbidden Land where even a Nascent Soul True Lord cannot stay for long. So, where is the boundary of the Southern Border? And what lies beyond that boundary?"

"This..."

Peach Blossom was stumped by Liu Xuan's question. She might never go to such a place, so she naturally saw no need to think much about it.

She slowly shook her head, a hint of doubt appearing on her face. "I don't know, and I've never thought about it."

Peach Blossom was naturally very curious. With Liu Xuan pointing it out, she also wanted to know where the boundary of the Southern Border was and what lay beyond it.

But curiosity was just curiosity. She wouldn't give up her cultivation to go and check it out personally just to satisfy it.

Liu Xuan guessed she wouldn't know and continued, "The Black Sea region in the depths of the East Sea is a spirit-severing land, the Paradise in the depths of the Western Desert is a spirit-severing land, and the Extreme Cold Glacier in the depths of the Northern Plains is also a spirit-severing land. Do you think it's possible that this Cultivation World... is round, that it's a sphere?"

"The Cultivation World is a sphere?"

Peach Blossom was stunned. At first, she thought it was absurd, but on second thought, it seemed to make some sense.