Jiu Shen and Xia Xinyue were already at the seventh level of the mysterious cave, and the traps were also becoming stronger and deadlier as they moved deeper, but Jiu Shen’s expression was still calm. He could have been at the tenth level of this cave by now if he was just moving alone, but with Xia Xinyue following him, he naturally had to protect her from danger, making this exploration a bit longer.
At the moment, the pair was now resting in front of a bonfire that was set up by the sensible Xia Xinyue. Of course, she had to use a fire element treasure to build this bonfire because she was not proficient in fire elemental spells. After all, her Ice Cloud Sword Sect only focused on Water and Ice elemental spells and cultivation techniques.
Jiu Shen could actually make a much better bonfire with his power, but he didn’t want to dampen Xia Xinyue’s mood, so he just allowed her to do as she pleased. Furthermore, the coldness inside the mysterious cave was of no effect to him with his present cultivation level, so he didn’t really care much about the coldness.
“Lord Sect Master, the traps here are getting more and more dangerous. Just what kind of expert was able to build this entire place?” Xia Xinyue’s complexion turned pale as she thought of the dangers that they had faced in the lower levels. She knew that she would have already died many times if not for Jiu Shen’s protection, and she felt useless during the entire journey since Jiu Shen did everything on his own without even needing her help.
Jiu Shen who had his eyes shut tight a few moments ago raised his head to look at Xia Xinyue. Looking at her terrified appearance, his gaze softened as he replied in an indifferent voice. “The owner of this cave is a bit special. Although he is just an Origin God Realm cultivator, his attainment in array formation making isn’t that low. Just that, the power of the array formations inside this cave has already weakened after thousands of years of inactivity…” Since Xia Xinyue was already one of his people, Jiu Shen decided to tell her the truth. Besides, he also wanted to broaden her horizons by telling her this.
Xia Xinyue’s gorgeous eyebrows knitted in confusion. Origin God Realm? What is that?
“Lord Sect Master, what is this Origin God Realm that you speak of?” She asked as she eagerly looked at Jiu Shen’s face. She didn’t know what the Origin God Realm was, but she could tell that it was definitely a higher level of cultivation, so she was wanted to know everything about it.
Jiu Shen reclined on the chair that he brought out from his space earring and placed one of his legs on top of the other before speaking in a lazy tone. “With what I’ve seen so far, the cultivation levels of the cultivators in the Profound Dragon Continent are divided into nine levels:
1st-rank Warrior
2nd-rank Elite Warrior
3rd-rank Crusader
4th-rank Knight Crusader
5th-rank Spirit
6th-rank King
7th-rank Emperor
8th-rank Divine
And 9th-rank Saint
However, do you know what is after that?” Jiu Shen’s fixed his nonchalant gaze on Xia Xinyue’s face.
Xia Xinyue was stunned when she heard Jiu Shen’s question, but she still replied albeit with a perplexed look. “After the 9th-rank Saint isn’t it the 10th-rank God?”
“10th-rank God? You’re not entirely wrong, but you’re not correct either.” Jiu Shen shook his head lightly.
He then continued. “After the 9th-rank Saint, a cultivator will face their lightning tribulation. Everyone’s lightning tribulation differs depending on their strength, and after one survives this, they will be promoted to the Nascent God Realm, gaining tens of thousands of years of additional lifespan.”
Xia Xinyue’s beautiful eyes widened and her jaw almost dropped to the ground, making this pretty lady look silly. “Lord Sect Master, you mentioned that the owner of this cave was an Origin God Realm expert, could it be the next realm after the Nascent God Realm?” She asked with shining eyes. This was quite shocking to her since she thought that the 10th-rank God realm was the final phase of cultivation.
Jiu Shen nodded his head calmly. “Indeed. After the Nascent God Realm is the Origin God Realm… I’m just curious how Nuar was able to give birth to such an expert with its thin amount of true essence? Perhaps this planet was once a place with an abundant amount of true essence and cultivation resources. Just that, how did it devolve into this after merely a few tens of thousands of years?” Jiu Shen muttered to himself with a pondering expression, but his voice was still loud enough for Xia Xinyue to hear.
Jiu Shen’s words made Xia Xinyue tremble in shock. How can Jiu Shen speak these words so casually? And how come he knows so much about this as if it was the back of his hands? Could he be…
Xia Xinyue’s scalp tingled and her thoughts were now in disarray after hearing all of this. The way she looked at Jiu Shen also changed and there was even more respect and veneration in her violently flickering eyes.
“Lord Sect Master, we have a few books that recorded the presence of 10th-rank God realm experts during the great war between the Demon Race and the Alliance fifty thousand years ago. However, the details about these experts are only so few.” Xia Xinyue shook her head regretfully. She had read those books before, but it didn’t mention anything about what Jiu Shen had just told her earlier.
According to Jiu Shen, the experts at that level had more than several ten thousand years of lifespan, but why did they suddenly disappear without a trace in the Profound Dragon Continent? Some of them should still be alive, but she had heard none at their level throughout all these years. The strongest that she knew were only the Alliance Leaders of the Alliance, but they were only at the peak stage of the 9th-rank Saint. She could sense that this matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed to be, and there might be a hidden conspiracy about this.
“Lord Sect Master, what do you think about it? As far as I can remember, the strongest in the Profound Dragon Continent is only at the peak stage of the 9th-rank Saint.” Xia Xinyue glanced at Jiu Shen who was still absorbed in his own thoughts. At this moment, the image of Jiu Shen suddenly changed in her heart. How could a normal person know about all this?
Jiu Shen shook his head and sighed in his heart. He wasn’t an inhabitant of Nuar, so he truly had no idea about what might have happened many years ago to this place.
“There’s no use in asking me about this since I also don’t know, but we might be able to get a few clues from this cave.” Jiu Shen replied calmly. Now, he was even more curious concerning the history of Nuar.
Xia Xinyue’s eyes shone when she heard that. Right! The owner of the cave was an expert at the Origin God Realm, so he might have written a few things about events of their time, but it was still not certain whether they can get any clues regarding the era of those experts.
“Let’s go. We’ve rested enough. It’s time to go to the eighth level.” Jiu Shen stood up from his seat and put the chair inside his space earring as he said those words.
Xia Xinyue nodded her head with a solemn look.
* * *
The Immortal’s Wine Store.
Xue Yangkai and Xue Yangkun followed Xiao Hua to the second floor of the store with cautious looks. They didn’t dare put down their guards since the possibility of them being ambushed at this point wasn’t low.
Suddenly, the pupils of the two old men contracted when they saw the figure of Ren Shuang standing upright outside the entrance of the second floor. They could not see through the latter no matter how hard they looked, and this alone made the both of them greatly alarmed.
’An expert?!’
Xue Yangkai and Xue Yangkun were both experts at the early stage of the 9th-rank Saint, so they were surprised that they couldn’t read the strength of the man standing outside the second floor.
“Guests, please follow me inside.” Xiao Hua smiled at the two old men as she opened the entrance of the second floor. And the moment she opened the door, Xue Yangkai and Xue Yangkun immediately felt an abundant amount of true essence hitting their bodies. The faces of the two old men brightened as they stepped inside the second floor. They even momentarily forgot about Ren Shuang after feeling the dense amount of true essence inside.
They didn’t know that right after they entered, Ren Shuang who had his eyes shut tight the entire time suddenly revealed a cold grin, but it soon reverted to his usual calmness.
“What a good place for cultivation!”
“Little lass, you didn’t deceive us indeed! Hahaha!”
Xue Yangkai and Xue Yangkun exclaimed as they glanced around.
Xiao Hua smiled proudly as she replied. “I told you guys that this place won’t disappoint you. Now you know why I’m confident. Hehe.”
Xue Yangkai and Xue Yangkun glanced at each other and smiled amiably.
