Three hundred meters above the altar, a crescent arc of light appeared in the sky.
The arc of light was white, a hundred meters wide, and over fifteen hundred meters long. It appeared to be a huge spatial tear. However, it was concealed by some kind of unknown restriction. Despite the three powerful Nascent Soul cultivators present, none of them were able to sense its existence.
Could it be that this was the entrance to the Spirit Ether Garden?
Despite the vast abilities these Nascent Soul cultivators possessed, even Wei Wuya couldn’t gather the courage to enter the spatial tear that laid before them. As the incisiveness of a spatial tear wasn’t something that a cultivator could block, Wei Wuya was enraged.
The Confucian scholar glanced at those before him and said, “The Spirit Ether Garden was a pocket that laid between the Spirit Realm and our mortal realm. If we wish to go there, we will naturally need the assistance of this spatial tear. With a bit of warping, the spatial tear becomes the entrance of the Spirit Ether Garden. Be at ease, I won’t have you all rush through it. There is another method we can try for the time being. However, there is a bit of danger involved. Even I only have a seventy percent likelihood of making it through. As for the Core formation cultivators, their strength is lacking. If they go, it will only be sending them to their deaths.”
Wang Tiangsheng, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master, wore an unsightly expression, “A seventy percent chance of succeeding? You never mentioned this before.”
The scholar coldly smiled and said, “Would it have made a difference? Let alone seventy percent, you would’ve made an attempt even if there was only a twenty percent chance of success.”
A cold glint shined in Wang Tiangsheng’s eyes. He then raised his hand and produced a crimson command medallion.
“What are you doing?” The Confucian scholar loudly yelled as he flew back in panic.
Silently, Wang Tiangsheng waved the command medallion and it brightly glowed with crimson light. The Confucian scholar suddenly screamed and fell onto the ground. At the same moment, crimson talisman characters appeared on his limbs and wandered across his body without end.
“A Soulfright Curse?” Wang Tiangu couldn’t help but tremble in shock at the sight of this.
Even Wei Wuya wore a strange expression at the sight of this.
Wei Wuya stared at the Confucian scholar rolling on the ground and indifferently said, “This is the Soulfright Curse, one of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s secret curses? I’ve heard that this secret technique is more ruthless than other soul restriction techniques. Cultivators placed under this curse could have their soul scattered at a mere thought from their caster.”
Wang Tiangsheng turned to him with a beaming smile and chuckled, “Fellow Daoist Wei is truly experienced. That is indeed the curse. The soul remnant of Master Cang Kun’s doppelganger seems to believe that he is the genuine, rivalless Master Cang Kun. How dare he not recognize the mercy of others. It is only natural for me to discipline him.”
Wei Wuya nodded and said nothing further. Regardless of the memories the soul may possess, it couldn’t be allowed to run rampant.
The Confucian scholar was currently subjected to immense torment. Each time the crimson talisman characters flickered across his body, he trembled and rolled on the ground with his head held in his arms, his expression contorted in agony.
After the time it took to finish a meal, the Confucian scholar’s materialized form began to grow indistinct. It was only then that Wang Tiangsheng waved the command medallion once more and put the torture to an end.
With unquestionable authority, Wang Tiangsheng said, “You should’ve learned your lesson by now. Even if you have Master Cang Kun’s memories, you are nothing but a remnant soul now. Do anything foolish again, and I won’t let you off so easily. I do wish to enter the Spirit Ether Garden but I will not be led by the nose. Don’t worry, so long as you sincerely lead the way, I will do as we agreed.”
“I understand. I will now open the passage.” Green light flickered from the Confucian scholar and his form stabilized once more, his face wearing a calm expression.
Wang Tiangsheng was greatly surprised to see the Confucian scholar recovering so quickly his composure. Just as he narrowed his eyes and thought to say something else, the Confucian scholar began to glow with green light and slowly flew towards the spatial tear above.
Wang Tiangsheng interrupted himself before the words left his mouth. After all, opening the path to the Spirit Ether Garden was more important than disciplining the soul remnant.
Wei Wuya and the others kept silent as they coldly watched the Confucian scholar’s movements. It was unknown how he could open a passage for them through this fearsome spatial tear.
The scholar came to a stop sixty meters away from the spatial tear and raised his head towards it. With an odd expression on his face, he spat out a ball of green light that contained a pitch-black thumb-sized pearl that continuously swirled as it floated in the air.
With the pearl released, the Confucian scholar’s complexion turned deathly pale and his figure became dim. It appeared that the pearl carried a majority of his soul power.
In spite of his weakness, the Confucian scholar forced himself to point at the pearl and shout, “Go!” The pitch-black pearl immediately shined with light and shot into the air.
When Wang Tiangsheng saw this, he wore an expression of amazement. ‘Just what will this achieve?’
As the other cultivators watched this with shock, the pearl arrived ten meters away from the tear and was being dragged inside. In a flash of white light, the spatial tear’s surroundings distorted and the pearl disappeared without a trace.
For a time, the spatial tear appeared completely ordinary and without change, but suddenly, the Confucian scholar’s figure blurred downward as he wore a sullen expression, increasing the distance between himself and the spatial tear.
Wei Wuya and the others were stunned. Before they realized what he was doing, the spatial tear suddenly released a muffled rumble. Then the center of the tear began to flicker with green light, quickly expanding into a three-meter-wide ball of blinding dark green radiance. A sharp hiss then sounded out from within the ball of light.
With an emotionless face, the Confucian scholar dropped down to the altar and said, “Prepare your abilities. You will need to focus the entirety of your spiritual power into the green light in order to open the passage to the Spirit Ether Garden.”
When Wei Wuya and Wang Tiangu saw this strange scene, they couldn’t help but glance at each other with a trace of bewilderment.
Wang Tiansheng pondered for a moment before coming to a staunch decision, “Let’s just try it first and see if there is any effect.”
Wei Wuya frowned. He took another glance at the dark green light but didn’t say a word. Wang Tiangu also raised no objections.
The three Nascent Soul cultivators stood apart and formed hand incantations. They then raised their hands to the sky and shot several various colored beams of light from their hands into the dark green ball of light at the center of the spatial tear, this makes their profound cultivation obvious at a glance. The green beam of light Wei Wuya released from his hands was bowl-thick while the other two Nascent Soul cultivators were somewhat smaller.
The three beams of light poured an immense amount of spiritual power into the ball of dark green light and the sharp hiss it released grew louder. A moment later, the dark green light gradually turned jet-black and began to form a pitch-black hole that was only a foot in diameter. It was a complete mystery as to where it led.
When Wang Tiangsheng and the others saw this, they rejoiced. This strange scene clearly displayed that the Confucian scholar hadn’t deceived them. The three promptly circulated the spiritual power in their body and the beams of light they released grew thicker, causing the dark green light in the spatial tear to grow thicker.
In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the hole reached to a meter in length and seemed barely enough for one person to go through. When the scholar saw this, he calmly said, “You should now be able to enter. However, the entrance is still unstable and I do not have a second Realm Tear Pearl to open the passage. If you do not wish to be trapped on the other side, you had best continue to pour spiritual power into it so that the passage stabilizes.”
With that said, Wei Wuya and the others felt a bit of shock. When they saw the black hole wavering, they didn’t dare to stop and continued to pour in their spiritual power.
It was clear to see that this stabilized the black passage, but it had consumed a great deal of spiritual power. But a moment later, the black passage has lost stability once more.
This bewildered Wang Tiangsheng. As a result, he commanded his three Core Formation disciples, “You three, come and help. Although your cultivation is inferior, you will do enough together!”
“Yes, Sect Master!” When the three disciples heard this, they didn’t dare to delay. They hastily gathered their spiritual power and shot beams of light towards the black light.
The Confucian scholar simply stood in place as he watched this all occurred.
As time slowly passed, Wei Wuya and the others had poured nearly half of their spiritual power into the spatial tear and finally stabilized it so that it will no longer flickered. When the cultivators saw this, they released a long sigh of relief and ceased channelling their spiritual power into it.
Wang Tiangsheng narrowed his eyes when he saw this and asked, “This is truly the passage into the Spirit Ether Garden?”
The Confucian scholar didn’t reply. Instead, Wei Wuya answered, “It should be genuine. I’ve already sensed the other side of the passage and there is a vast area.” His expression stirred as he spoke and licked his lips.
The others lacked the spiritual sense to see inside of it, but when they heard this, they rejoiced.
“Since Brother Wei has said this, it seems to be true. However, it is best to be careful. Let’s test it first.” Wang Tiangu forcefully suppressed his giddy excitement and waved his sleeve. A black mist with the silhouette of a small ghost was sent forward into the passage.
