Chapter 10 – The Only Way Out
The page showed a map filled with details and explanations.
“What? There is actually a door within the underground Great Hall of the Black-Wind Deity Palace that leads all the way out to a Major World?” Xue Ying was shocked. There were detailed explanations on the map that described a hidden door below the underground Great Hall that led all the way out to a Big Transcendent World. Having read through the thousand-year account of the Sea Deity Palace Elder ‘Lei Zhen’, Xue Ying understood more about the world he lived in.
The mortal world he lived in was actually an extremely stable material world!
A material world that was huge and beautiful.
At the various locations within a material world, there were folds and slits in spaces… creating several imperfect Transcendent worlds. These Transcendent worlds were categorised as Major Worlds and Minor Worlds. It was precisely due to such a world’s imperfections that led to the formation of some of the unique treasures produced within these worlds! Even the core of an entire world might be formed into a treasure. The many precious items a Transcendent needed more or less originated from these worlds.
Within a mortal world, not even an Origin Stone could be mined! What was an Origin Stone? It was actually a mineral where the most primal World energy generated from the birth of a world gathered within. In the heavily-regulated and beautiful mortal worlds, most of the World energy was used up in making it perfect, resulting in Transcendents being unable to find any strange minerals from them.
But those Major and Minor Worlds had very simple rules. The mysterious power was used instead of perfecting the world to form real, countless and precious ‘Transcendent treasures’. Such items created a fanaticism amongst the Transcendents!
Thus, even though these worlds looked simple and crude, they were still termed as ‘Transcendent World’ precisely due to the fact that they contained many Transcendent treasures!
“How rare is a Major World actually?” Xue Ying was startled, “And this place is actually connected to one of them?”
According to Elder Lei Zhen, there were eight Big Transcendent Worlds which humans had discovered! Counting this additional Major World that was directly connected to the Black-Wind Deity Palace, there would be nine such Worlds!
“Every single Major World that is yet to be opened are considered a treasure trove.” Once again, Xue Ying felt amazed.
No wonder Ancestor Black Wind decided to craft a Cavern palace here.
BMajorWorld…
They were rare and precious. Once many people knew about it, only the most powerful of Demigods would be able to seize all that world’s treasures! Demigods would surely enter and plunder large amounts of a world’s Transcendent resources.
“Major Worlds are really too rare and precious.” Within the explanations, Elder Lei Zhen repeatedly reinforced, “One must never expose the existence of such a world even if he is a good friend. After all, he might plot behind your back.”
Actually, before Elder Lei Zhen entered his closed-door cultivation to the death…
He still held onto the hope of becoming a Demigod! Having lived for over 1,500 years, he did not have much attachment for the mortal world, thus, he did not reveal any single secret that he had obtained relating to the Black-Wind Deity Palace.
……
Xue Ying closed the book. His expression showed deep contemplation.
“Major Worlds are so precious that Demigods would become fanatical about them.” Xue Ying thought silently, “However, there is a high chance that this Elder Black Wind had already seized the treasures within. Furthermore, seeing that I’m just a mortal, I’m still quite a distance away from being able to enter it.”
After that, Xue Ying began skimming through the remaining books before waving his hand to collect all the various materials, leaving behind only two strange-looking talismans. These were actually the talismans used in controlling the two Transcendent refiner organisms. Penetrating them with his Qi allowed him to easily refine them.
Beside him, the golden ape and roc both said immediately, “Greetings, master.”
“Wait until I leave this Black-Wind Deity Palace. I’ll definitely bring you guys along,” Xue Ying said.
“Master, we’ve long desired to get out of this place.” The golden ape was really excited.
The golden roc was also, filled with expectations.
Xue Ying smiled, “The two of you call each other Monkey and Little Bird, thus I’ll call you those names as well.”
“Master, whatever you want to call us, we’ll be called that.” The two Transcendent refiner organisms were extremely obedient. That was the virtue of refiner organisms – absolute loyalty.
“Oh yes, the Stone of Oceanic World is within this pool?” Xue Ying pointed towards the octagonal-shaped pool.
“Mn.” The golden roc said, “The late master was worried that there might be experts from the Sorcerer’s Palace finding out about this place, thus, he decided to form arrays around the pool. If I break apart this token, the arrays will explode with a power equal to that of our late master’s combined powers. Perhaps the explosion might kill the enemy, but more importantly, the Stone of Oceanic World would definitely be smashed into powder. Also, within the Black-Wind Deity Palace, there are more dangerous places designed to thwart the experts of Sorcerer’s Palace should they would also attack those locations.
Xue Ying nodded.
The Sorcerer’s Palace was an organisation formed by the Transcendents of the beast’s race.
Humans and beasts had the utmost hatred for each other. Even when leaving behind the treasures which had been hard-earned by himself, he would never ever leave such precious items behind for someone from the other race!
“Hu.” Xue Ying knelt down. He cupped both his hands, bringing up the spiritual liquid from the pools for a drink.
A burst of coolness circulated through his entire body.
Within every part of his body, regardless of whether it was the muscles, the bones or the visceras, the Dantian Qi Sea or his Soul of Consciousness, they all received some nourishment. Furthermore, the moment the energy from this spiritual liquid was absorbed, Xue Ying’s hunger entirely dissipated.
“Drinking actually satiated my hunger.” Xue Ying laughed.
“Food is considered to be energy as well.” The golden ape laughed, amused, “The spiritual liquid transmuted by the stone of Oceanic World is naturally more nourishing to the body than the mundane food found elsewhere. The late master drank from this spiritual liquid every single day. The nourishment from this pool is part of the reason he was able to become a peak Saint expert… this spiritual liquid.”
Xue Ying raised out his hands, scooping up the strange-looking jade stone from within the pool.
This jade stone was entirely oceanic-blue in colour. There was a mild oceanic-blue stream circulating on its surface. This jade stone was able to capture the essence from heaven and earth and was actually the core of a Minor World. Looking at it would bring forth a temptation to bite it. This desire… actually stemmed from the instinct of life.
“Looking at it made me feel like eating it.” Xue Ying felt amazed.
“Do not eat it directly. Eating it would be too wasteful,” The golden ape reminded, “Placing it within the water will let it dissolve slowly, turning ordinary water into spiritual liquid. The late master depended on it for the transmutation of spiritual liquid for close to a 1,000 years, and only half of the stone was used.”
“It requires water?” Xue Ying frowned, “I do not have any water though!”
“Actually, the spiritual liquid from this pool is able to let master drink for 30-50 years.” The golden ape said, “When you are able to get out of this place, master will certainly be able to prepare more water.”
Xue Ying nodded, before waving his hand to coerce the energy from the world with a ‘hu’. The spiritual liquid was all brought into the storage treasure. Actually, the space within it was independent, with no air and gravity. Once any material was brought within, it would not move any longer. Thus, the spiritual liquid brought within was suspended in mid-air within the storage treasure.
Following that, Xue Ying walked towards the crack at the distant wall. This entire underground Great Hall had walls with enormous cracks within.
“According to the annotations on ancestor Lei Zhen’s map, he came in from this particular crack.” Xue Ying looked towards that crack in front of him. It inclined downwards.
Xue Ying followed along the crack.
His body was bathed in flames, brightening up the pitch-black area within the crack. The further he travelled, the narrower the crack became. After walking for five kilometers or so, the crack became so narrow that he was unable to continue.
“Mn?” Xue Ying frowned, “It seems Ancestor Lei Zhen really did turn himself into water before he was able to go pass this particular crack that leads all the way to the Black-Wind Deity Palace. Currently, as a mortal, I have no way of passing through it.”
If there was no path, would he have to dig out another road himself?
Obviously, such an idea would not work.
“Following the account of Ancestor Lei Zhen, the surrounding area of this Black-Wind Deity Palace is actually a gigantic array! Including the huge mountains along the sides, the ground and various other areas, they are actually all surrounded by arrays! Even within the valleys, the entire place is filled with arrays. Outside these arrays, large amounts of protectors can be seen patrolling, and these protectors have really sensitive senses.
“The moment one dares to destroy the surface, digging out the mountain rocks to form a path within the arrays, one will immediately be discovered.”
“One can only follow the present path! I can’t destroy the slightest of things.”
Xue Ying felt frustrated.
Transcendents did not even succeed in escaping with their tricks, so how could he have any hope of doing so.
“This crack is really too narrow, and it spans for 500 kilometers…” Xue Ying shook his head lightly, “Only when I become a Transcendent can I go through this.”
……
Helplessly, Xue Ying could only go back to that broken, large Great Hall. Currently, as a mortal, even if he had other maps of small areas within the Black-Wind Deity Palace, he would still be unable to enter them.
Looking at the empty Great Hall…
The only way of going out would be to cultivate all the way to being a Transcendent!
“Monkey, Little Bird.” Xue Ying looked at the golden ape and golden roc, smiling, “It seems I, Dong Bo Xue Ying, will only have you two as my comrades for a long long time.”
