388: sea ​​of ​​bitterness

When the Guard was about to leave, Ye Hei spoke up to remind him: "Do you want to check again carefully? See if there are any traces of Jian Wanzhong?"

The three Guards were stunned.

They had never considered checking for traces of Jian Wanzhong, only assuming that Guard Qing had been attacked by an unknown enemy.

Although still surprised after being reminded by Ye Hei, they still checked carefully.

"There really are traces left by the Young Master..." "It's a protective spell..." "What's going on? Didn't the Young Master and the Family Head..."

As they spoke, the Guard's expression turned ugly.

"The two of you, leave here first." Guard Mo pondered for a moment and said, "Many things might happen next, and we don't have the time to look after you anymore."

After speaking, Guard Mo handed a Magic Treasure to Ye Hei. It was shaped like an amulet and could be used to form a barrier to resist attacks.

Subsequently, he left a map and disappeared with the other two.

Only Ye Hei and This Time Bu Ge remained standing there, both a little confused.

"The internal struggles of large Families are truly intense..." This Time Bu Ge looked thoughtful.

After confirming that the Guards had truly not returned, he looked towards Ye Hei: "What happened just now?"

Ye Hei was startled: "What?"

"The xuanhuang primordial qi. How could it have been taken by you?"

After This Time Bu Ge finished speaking, he thought of something else, pondered for a while, and continued:

"The three Fifth-Rank experts just now didn't notice it, only I did. It must be that the player privilege took effect, allowing me to bypass some kind of interference method so I wasn't completely blind.

"In other words, your act of taking the xuanhuang primordial qi was not simple... A Mortal like you shouldn't be able to do this, so there is only one possibility: you possess an extraordinary treasure, or a great expert is currently looking after you."

This Time Bu Ge did not have a Physical Body; he was just a golden body statue. He looked smaller than Ye Hei, but he radiated golden light, and the metallic luster made him feel very oppressive.

Ye Hei did not speak, but merely watched the other party quietly.

This Time Bu Ge saw his hesitation.

An ordinary person who truly underwent Transmigration, once they encountered an Opportunity, regardless of their Heart-Nature, would definitely want to hide it and use it as a trump card.

They only have one life, and their perspective on problems is completely different from that of players.

"Ye Hei, I told you before that we players are considering whether we should fully cultivate you."

This Time Bu Ge carefully chose his words, trying not to make Ye Hei react defensively:

"I established an organization called the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion, where everyone shares information and collectively researches the history, rumors, and most importantly, the Dao Lineage Legacy of the Xuanhuan World.

"Currently, we are searching for records concerning the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body.

"While direct resource supply is not guaranteed, as long as we find cultivation methods related to the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body, we will hand them directly to you.

"You can trust us players."

Ye Hei pondered for a moment and said with a wry smile:

"If it were a bit earlier, I could have taken that thing out, but now it has already sunk into my Sea of Consciousness."

This Time Bu Ge frowned: "Sea of Consciousness? But aren't you a Mortal? Wait... Even those in the Immortal Foundation Dao Lineage who have completed Foundation Establishment don't have a tangible Sea of Consciousness. The cultivation method Jian Wanzhong gave you shouldn't allow you to gain a Sea of Consciousness prematurely... "Could it be that the thing you mentioned has opened up another path of cultivation for you?"

Ye Hei was startled upon hearing this; he hadn't thought of this issue before.

This Time Bu Ge continued:

"I asked Jian Wanzhong before. The Burial Emperor Star has many cultivation methods, and the various Ancient Clans each have different ones.

"However, there is one Dao Lineage that is the most widely spread, and that is the Secret Realm Dao Lineage, which requires passing through the Sea of Wheels to the Dao Palace, then tempering the Four Extremities and leaping to transform into a Dragon.

"The Sea of Wheels Great Realm is divided into four minor Realms: Bitter Sea, Life Spring, Divine Bridge, and Other Shore. The span is between Ninth-Rank and Seventh-Rank, though they do not correspond completely.

"But regardless of which Ranks they correspond to, as long as one cultivates the Secret Realm Dao Lineage, the first step is to open the Bitter Sea, which is collectively referred to as... the Sea of Consciousness."

Ye Hei's eyes lit up: "Do you mean that I am no longer a Mortal, but a Cultivator in the Bitter Sea Realm of the Secret Realm Dao Lineage?"

This Time Bu Ge nodded, exchanged some information with the research-oriented players of the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion, formed a conjecture, and asked:

"I won't press you on what 'that thing' is. Since it's already in your Sea of Consciousness, its original form is no longer important.

"In short, it is very likely the carrier of a certain Legacy within the Secret Realm Dao Lineage. You coincidentally obtained it, and then coincidentally obtained the xuanhuang primordial qi. Under the cleansing of this power, it helped you directly open the Bitter Sea and successfully step onto the path of cultivation."

Speaking of this, This Time Bu Ge stopped again and stared intently at Ye Hei.

"What is it?" Ye Hei felt that This Time Bu Ge's gaze was somewhat unnerving.

"Although the xuanhuang primordial qi on Guard Qing was not the entirety of it, even a wisp of it is a rare, top-tier supreme treasure in the world, enough to allow a Mortal to directly break through restraints, consecutively ascend the four minor Realms of the Sea of Wheels, reach the Dao Palace, or even higher."

Ye Hei also understood, but still held a sliver of hope: "But the xuanhuang primordial qi is a treasure used for Artifact Refining, so it shouldn't directly aid cultivation, right?"

This Time Bu Ge shook his head: "Normally, no, but the other treasure you obtained should have helped you refine the xuanhuang primordial qi and raise your cultivation.

"Furthermore, I suspect that for your treasure to be able to absorb the xuanhuang primordial qi, it's highly likely that Jian Wanzhong performed a basic refinement beforehand, allowing the xuanhuang primordial qi to be better controlled by a Cultivator.

"Therefore, after absorbing the xuanhuang primordial qi, your cultivation should have explosively increased... yet you have only opened the Bitter Sea... Wait, sense it. Have you reached Life Spring?"

The distinction between the Realms of the Secret Realm Dao Lineage is very clear.

The four minor Realms of the Sea of Wheels Great Realm begin with opening the Bitter Sea within the body, then the Life Spring gushes forth, followed by erecting the Divine Bridge, and then communicating with the Other Shore.

Every Realm has a clear division, similar to Immortal Foundation and Golden Core, making them easy to distinguish.

"...No." Ye Hei's face darkened.

"I see. Top-tier supreme treasures like the xuanhuang primordial qi, plus the other top-tier supreme treasure you obtained—both together only helped you ascend from a Mortal to the Bitter Sea. In terms of rank, I think the Bitter Sea should be lower than Ninth-Rank. The three subsequent Realms correspond to the Ninth, Eighth, and Seventh Ranks.

"The Bitter Sea is only considered the very beginning of your journey into cultivation."

Listening to This Time Bu Ge's words, Ye Hei's eyes, which had just lit up with excitement from starting cultivation, dimmed again.

"Top-tier supreme treasures only barely allowed me to enter the door... Is this what a useless physique means?"

He could already imagine how many resources it would take if he wanted to continue advancing.

This Time Bu Ge sighed, looking at Ye Hei with pity.

The Ancient Desolate Sacred Body was once glorious, but now it is nothing more than a useless physique.

It was understandable that the players, after discussion, were unwilling to spend a large amount of money cultivating Ye Hei.

This Time Bu Ge asked again: "Since you have entered the Bitter Sea, have you obtained a cultivation method?"

Ye Hei pondered for a moment, sensing his Bitter Sea as much as possible.

Because the way he achieved the Bitter Sea was unique and not through normal cultivation, Ye Hei was not yet skilled enough to perform internal visualization of his body; he could only barely sense it.

"I sensed it... That piece of green copper seems to... have writing? No, the problem isn't the green copper itself, it's the light it emits..."

After sensing carefully, Ye Hei frowned: "It's a bit blurry, and the characters are ones I cannot understand."