39: A shattered plane, fragments of the continent!

After escaping from the black swamp, Su Ling and Yun Qingluan did not travel far.

Instead, they quickly dug a cave behind a waterfall about a hundred miles from the black swamp and set up a phantom concealment array to evade Wu Tiehun's pursuit.

"He didn't follow us; we're safe for now."

A quarter of an hour later, Yun Qingluan retracted her Divine Sense, a flash of relief crossing her eyes.

Although the yin gui fungus was not fully mature, they had finally gained something.

Next, as long as they found one of the other spirit items entrusted by their Revered Master, both she and Su Ling would have something to show for their efforts upon returning, and wouldn't have to return empty-handed.

However, the two decided to stay here for two days first.

With this yin gui fungus in hand, the urgency of their mission had decreased significantly.

"Senior Sister, I didn't get a chance to ask earlier."

After Yun Qingluan sat down on the crude stone bed, Su Ling hesitated for a moment before tentatively asking, "Hasn't Wu Tiehun cultivated the Soul Capturing Art?"

A Yao Beast's Divine Soul is naturally weak.

Even though the Wind Roaring Tiger was a Third-tier Demon Beast at the Early Core Formation Stage, it was still controlled by Yun Qingluan, who was at the Middle Foundation Establishment Stage, for three to four breaths.

According to Su Ling's judgment, if Yun Qingluan advanced to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, she could probably control the Peak Foundation Establishment Wu Tiehun for one or two breaths.

In his plan, Yun Qingluan was to cast the Soul Capturing Art, and after two breaths, follow up with that black mist skeleton Spell she had used earlier to threaten and delay him.

He hadn't expected Wu Tiehun to be controlled for a full three breaths, which raised many doubts in Su Ling's mind.

"No, among the Disciples at the Foundation Establishment Stage, only Senior Brother Li and I have mastered the secret technique of Soul Capturing."

Yun Qingluan explained.

"Only the two of you?"

Su Ling frowned deeply.

Among so many Personal Disciples, only two cultivated this technique.

What merit did he have to make Mo Jinghun value him so much?

He had taught him the subsidiary secret technique of the Sect's core Cultivation Technique so casually.

"Junior Brother Su, why... are you unwilling to Cultivate the Soul Capturing Art?"

This question had been buried in the bottom of Yun Qingluan's heart for over a month.

Without the mana cultivated from the Xuanming Soul Refining Treasure Record to support it, the power of the Soul Capturing Art would be greatly diminished.

She couldn't understand why their Revered Master would give the Soul Capturing secret technique to Su Ling in the first place.

Could it be that he truly valued Su Ling's Aptitude and wanted to take him as a Personal Disciple?

Now that Su Ling had brought it up, Yun Qingluan could no longer suppress her curiosity and asked.

Su Ling fell silent upon hearing this.

He didn't know whether he should reveal his inner thoughts to Yun Qingluan.

Soul Capturing, Soul Capturing—if he really cultivated it, would he end up capturing others' souls, or his own?

A struggle flashed in Yun Qingluan's eyes.

Finally, she looked at Su Ling and said solemnly, "Let me see the secret technique Jade Slip."

"Oh."

Su Ling did not hesitate.

He immediately took out the Jade Slip containing the Soul Capturing secret technique and used his mana to float it in front of Yun Qingluan.

Yun Qingluan's Divine Sense extended from her body and slowly probed into the Jade Slip.

A moment later, the complex emotion in her eyes dissipated.

"There is no problem with the cultivation method; you can rest assured and Cultivate it."

Yun Qingluan flicked her finger, sending the Jade Slip back to Su Ling.

"However, without the Soul Refining Treasure Record to complement it, the power you can exert will be at most eighty percent."

"Eighty percent is eighty percent; that's already very impressive."

Su Ling chuckled and tucked the Jade Slip away safely.

That was what he said, but deep down, Su Ling still had no intention of cultivating the Soul Capturing Art.

After spending so many days together, Yun Qingluan's words had some credibility, but who knew if Mo Jinghun might hold something back even from his own Personal Disciple?

However, the situation with that arrow that killed the Wind Roaring Tiger gave Su Ling some ideas.

The Ghost Soul Arrow could absorb the Power of Lost Souls from the surroundings.

At that time, it had swallowed many of the beast souls from Yun Qingluan's beast soul banner, which was why the arrow's power was so great.

This mutation gave Su Ling many inspirations.

The Soul Capturing secret technique and the Ghost Soul Arrow had much in common.

Perhaps he could extract some of the subtleties and modify the Ghost Soul Arrow...

Having made up his mind, Su Ling immediately asked Yun Qingluan for advice on the essence of the Soul Capturing Art.

Yun Qingluan did not hold back and imparted all her insights to him.

After enduring hardships and using the speed of the Nether Sparrow hairpin, the two evaded many pursuits by Third-tier Demon Beasts.

Finally, a month and a half later, they arrived at the edge of the Yuanze Mountain Range.

As the clouds gradually thinned, Su Ling saw a scene that left him dumbfounded.

The starry night sky shone, and an incredibly huge, broken planet appeared before his eyes.

The mountains, basins, plains, and other terrains on the planet were clearly visible.

The scene was like something from a science fiction blockbuster in his previous life when the moon was about to crash.

The difference was that the planet, which was quite close, looked as if it had been smashed in half by a punch from some giant god.

Countless huge fragments were still floating at the gap of the planet under the influence of gravity.

A thousand miles away, a red high wall that was ten thousand zhang tall was vaguely visible.

Its length was endless, impossible to estimate.

"What is... going on?!"

Su Ling looked at this scene in disbelief, muttering to himself.

"As you can see, the Cuiye Secret Realm is actually a broken Plane."

Yun Qingluan walked slowly to Su Ling's side, her eyes filled with awe.

"The Yuanze Mountain Range, the Blazing Hell Abyss, the Endless Desert... they are all just continental fragments."

"A Plane? Continental fragments?"

"Just like that big star, which is also a Plane, or one could call it a planet."

Yun Qingluan pointed to the broken star in the sky and sighed, "However, its star core has been destroyed, leaving only silence. The Cuiye Secret Realm's star core still remains, so it can still nurture life."

"Then, where is the Xuanming Sect?"

"I don't know. The distance from here is probably not enough to be described in billions of miles."

Yun Qingluan shook her head.

"There is great terror between Planes. If one does not use a teleportation array, even those in the Soul Transformation stage cannot cross them."

Su Ling asked, "Senior Sister, how do you know all this?"

"This is... what Revered Master told me."

Yun Qingluan paused, a flash of apology crossing her eyes as she explained.

"I see."

Su Ling realized and chuckled.

"It's good to have a background. If Elder Mo is really willing to take me as a Personal Disciple after we get out, that would be great."

"Revered Master always keeps his word; you will definitely be able to."

Yun Qingluan smiled faintly, which was as bright as a melting iceberg.

"Haha, I'll take your word for it, Senior Sister!"

Su Ling laughed heartily, pointed forward, and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go, to the Blazing Hell Abyss!"

"Okay."

The Nether Sparrow Divine Soul spread its wings, carrying the two as they flew away.

The saying goes that looking at a mountain while running kills a horse.

Su Ling originally thought that with the Nether Sparrow's speed, a thousand-mile distance would only take an hour or two.

Reality slapped him hard in the face.

After flying less than two hundred miles, a terrifying abyss appeared in Su Ling's eyes.

Only then did he realize what Yun Qingluan meant by continental fragments.

It turned out that the red high wall, which was ten thousand zhang tall, was not a wall at all.

It was clearly the edge of a fragment of the Blazing Hell Abyss.

Imagine an ant standing on the edge of a dam, looking down.

The distance between the two continental fragments was at least a thousand miles.

Several hundred miles below, rolling, monstrous waves were vaguely visible.

According to Yun Qingluan, that was a part of the Canglan Sea.

When Su Ling looked at the map before, he noticed irregular thick lines between various regions.

He had originally thought they were boundary lines between areas.

Now he realized that they were not boundary lines at all, but super straits formed by the Canglan Sea pouring into the cracks between the continental fragments.