“What is this tortoise shell used for?”
“It can be used for Divination, or as a defensive treasure”
“How many spirit stones”
“100,000; no strings attached”
“That’s too expensive. The utmost this tortoise-shell could do is Divination, everyone here has a reputation to protect, who’s going to use a shell for defensive purposes?”
“95,000; I can’t go any lower”
“I’ll give you 93,000 at most; take it or leave it”
“Deal”
The two cultivators finished their transaction, both pleased with their gains.
Gu Qing Shan watched this wonder.
He had only just arrived not too long ago.
The entire place was full of people, haggling and trading items with one another.
It was very lively.
——–is the {Mahesvara King} realm Tribulation a marketplace?
As Gu Qing Shan’s gaze passed through the open market, his expression became stern.
Everyone within this marketplace in the middle of nowhere was at the peak of {Yama King} realm, all of them giving off the same spirit energy fluctuation.
In other words, every cultivator in this location came here to face their {Yama King} realm Tribulation.
{Yama King} realm can be considered as a high cultivation no matter the location.
No wonder that person just now said ‘everyone here has a reputation to protect’ when haggling.
Gu Qing Shan slowly took a stroll across the marketplace.
No one took any notice of him.
Occasionally, a female cultivator would take a glance at him, but that was the extent of it.
After all, he had become a lot more handsome due to the Super Dimensional equipment’s genetic cosmetic surgery.
In the Super Dimensional equipment’s own words, his current facial appearance leaned more towards the softer side, which easily drew the attention of women.
—–this was a completely different style from Gu Qing Shan’s original one.
Even his voice had been slightly altered.
At the time, Gu Qing Shan only agreed to undergo cosmetic alteration because he was afraid that an enemy might discover his true identity.
As Gu Qing Shan strolled through the marketplace, a thought abruptly flashed in his mind.
—–none of these cultivators came from the 900 million World Layers.
Strictly speaking, the space vortex was actually the ‘border space between parallel worlds’, while these people came from natural occurring worlds, from comparatively real Realities.
Gu Qing Shan stopped.
He had just realized a certain truth.
——cultivators are able to come into contact with people from parallel worlds.
Due to the existence of Heaven’s Tribulation, they can bypass the limits of Space and Time, thus coming into contact with one another.
Like the previous {Yama King} realm Tribulation.
And like this {Mahesvara King} realm Tribulation
Then, what exactly is this Heaven’s Tribulation about?
—–wasn’t it supposed to be a joint Tribulation with the Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation?
Gu Qing Shan’s expression didn’t change as he simply walked aimlessly around the marketplace, occasionally taking a glance at the various shops.
Talismans, equipment, pill furnaces and pills, immortal fruits and herbs, cooking ingredients, cultivation scriptures, etc. all sorts of things were up to sale here, a sort of visual shock.
There were so many cultivators that there was a traffic jam here.
Sometimes, it was practically impossible to stay away from each other, so to avoid being wrongly accused, everyone had put up a layer of spirit energy shield, whenever it came into contact with another person’s spirit energy shield, both parties would know to move a bit further away.
This was a surprisingly peaceful scene.
Gu Qing Shan nodded, this was understandable, as everyone here was at the exact same cultivation realm while also being complete strangers, if they truly fought, there would be no telling who would actually come out on top.
Gu Qing Shan stopped in front of a kiosk.
“Fellow Dao seeker, what kind of information do you need?” the cultivator asked.
“Heaven’s Tribulation” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The cultivator smiled and replied: “At our current level, we all naturally understand that the information of each Heaven’s Tribulation is top-secret, it cannot be revealed arbitrarily”
Gu Qing Shan doesn’t understand a single thing.
“How are you selling it?” he asked while turning his gaze towards another kiosk with an unconvinced expression.
The cultivator immediately stopped putting on airs, held up a jade tag in between two fingers and replied: “Information regarding the current {Mahesvara King} realm Tribulation; 10,000 spirit stones”
“10,000!?” Gu Qing Shan appeared surprised and asked: “What is this daylight robbery?”
After his stroll earlier, he had grasped the overall value of this information.
The cultivator put the jade tag out cleanly for Gu Qing Shan to see and sincerely replied: “This one is a special edition information, so it’s worth a lot more compared to other people”
He silently sent his voice: “I have information regarding the Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation as well, this alone is worth 6,000 spirit stones”
“Really? Are you trying to pull my leg?” Gu Qing Shan doubtfully asked.
That cultivator patted his chest in pride: “I can guarantee this is original information, precious intel that could only be read by paying, definitely not the kind obtained through copying the efforts of others——- if you don’t believe me, you can check it right here after you buy it before you leave”
Gu Qing Shan nodded.
If the other party was so insistent, he felt assured that this information would be worth the money.
“Deal”
Gu Qing Shan paid the spirit stones.
The spirit stones he currently had were still the same that he received as an allowance from Shifu back in Bai Hua sect, as well as the monthly expenditures he received while staying in Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace.
These spirit stones had been doing nothing but staying in his Inventory Bag, it had been a very long time since he last used this type of currency.
Fortunately, spirit stones seem to be the common currency between cultivation worlds, so the other party easily handed him the jade tag after he received the spirit stones.
The cultivator boasted confidently: “You can read it right here; I can guarantee that you’re not losing anything!”
Gu Qing Shan smiled.
He’s that confident?
So he stood right there and infused his inner sight into the jade tag.
Two pieces of information appeared in his Thought Sea.
This place is the Heaven Pillar World – house to the Heaven-supporting pillar.
Both the {Mahesvara King} realm and Sumeru Lord realm Tribulations are conducted here.
The {Mahesvara King} realm Tribulation would only be conducted once every thousand years.
All cultivators within a thousand years who attempt to face this particular Heaven’s Tribulation would be transported to the Heaven Pillar World, bypassing the limit of Space and Time.
Gu Qing Shan’s current location was the wilderness a bit further away from the Heaven Pillar World’s central city.
All cultivators attempting to break through {Mahesvara King} realm must travel to the Heaven Pillar World central city and wait for a cultivator who is facing their Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation.
Those cultivators would then become that cultivators’ subordinates, following that cultivator’s lead while escorting them to the summit of Mount Sumeru, where they would pass the Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation.
Once that cultivator successfully faced their Tribulation and became a Sumeru Lord realm cultivator, the other cultivators who escorted them to the summit of Mount Sumeru would also finish their own {Mahesvara King} realm Tribulation.
They would then become {Mahesvara King} realm cultivators.
——-for that reason, this is said to be the joint Tribulation of the {Mahesvara King} realm and Sumeru Lord realm.
This is without a doubt, the most dangerous Tribulation that any cultivator had faced since the beginning of their cultivation.
And there was another more serious issue.
——-the Heaven-supporting pillar that connected the Heaven Pillar World and Mount Sumeru had been broken.
Because of that, the trials and tribulations that must be faced on the path had become unpredictable and unfathomable.
A total of 5 cultivators in a row had lost their lives while attempting to scale Mount Sumeru during their Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation.
And basically, all the cultivators who escorted them had died as well.
In a tea cup’s worth of time, Gu Qing Shan had finished reading through the information.
With a heavy heart, he nodded and told the cultivator: “Your information truly is worth that price”
The cultivator then grinned and loudly declared: “Naturally, we’ve always operated with sincerity and trust, only then would we have repeat customers”
Gu Qing Shan released his inner sight across the lively marketplace towards a certain direction.
Sure enough, he found a city.
Heaven Pillar city.
In the middle of this city was a gigantic stone pillar that reached into the sky, but it was cut off right beneath the clouds.
This was the legendary Pillar To Heaven.
According to the jade tag, in the ancient past, it once connected heaven and earth, leading directly to the summit of Mount Sumeru.
No one knows why it was cut off.
While Gu Qing Shan was observing it, he suddenly noticed something.
In a split second, the entire marketplace vanished, every cultivator had disappeared without a trace, returning it all to silence.
Three swords appeared from the void of space.
Gu Qing Shan wielded the twin swords Heaven and Earth without hesitation to protect himself.
All the surrounding spirit energy fluctuation vanished.
His surroundings returned to silence.
A gust of cold wind blew across the ground, howling sorrowfully.
Gu Qing Shan kept his hands on his swords and slowly took a step forward.
He had entered a state of combat.
What exactly… happened?
Gu Qing Shan released his inner sight into his surroundings.
—–there was nothing.
It was as if those people had evaporated in the blink of an eye.
Within this barren wasteland, other than some rocks and dirt, there was nothing but some sparse, dried grass.
Gu Qing Shan observed the multitudes of footsteps as well as the marks left from the kiosks on the ground and found himself even more confused.
Those cultivators were clearly here just now.
And so were their items.
Why did they all disappear without any warnings?
Gu Qing Shan felt cold sweat dripping down his back.
All of a sudden, he regained his senses and hurriedly reached for the Inventory Bag on his hip, only to find it missing.
Gu Qing Shan froze.
My Inventory Bag had been stolen.
—-I am a sword cultivator, but someone managed to steal my Inventory Bag without me noticing.
That person’s strength must be terrifying!
Since that’s the case, if that person wanted to kill me…
No.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head.
My spirit sense didn’t react for even a single bit.
Not even the Soul Shrieker is able to kill me without a sound or presence.
Most likely, this was an ability that exists specifically for the sake of stealing.
He silently stood still, going through every detail since he first entered the marketplace, then pinpointed a certain moment.
The cultivator who sold the information received my spirit stones, then put the jade tag into my hand.
If it was a thief, the only person who came into contact with me was the information broker cultivator.
He’s the most suspicious person.
As Gu Qing Shan thought of this, he recalled something else.
He scowled, muttering to himself: “This sensation… isn’t it a bit familiar…?”
…
At the same time.
Heaven Pillar city.
Inside a luxurious palace.
A certain beautiful porcelain-like little girl was holding Gu Qing Shan’s Inventory Bag, lightly waving her hand over it.
The inner sight lock on the Inventory Bag was instantly removed.
The little girl began counting her spoils.
“A bunch of kitchen utensils…”
“Spirit stones”
“Strange, why aren’t there any cultivation-type inheritance?”
“…Quite a few Technological-type items as well, unfortunately, useless to take back to our world”
The little girl’s immature voice spoke up again and again, then she suddenly stopped.
She was holding a large white brick that barely fit in her hand.
The little girl’s expression became stern.
Although she appeared stern, anyone who saw that would only think of her as cute—– because she was too young.
“This is a mega-size jade tag made by Qin Xiao Lou… I recall he said that he gave it to Qing Shan…”
