Chapter 370: A Chance Encounter

Chapter 370: A Chance Encounter

Not long after, the celestial herb, once as clear as crystal, began to take on a hint of purple, showing signs of change. "It seems celestial herbs relish substances close to reality. There's no worry they'll perish. Sent to the void, they thrive like fish returned to the sea," Wang Xuan mused.

After mining for years and concurrently cultivating, studying various techniques, scriptures, the Slash Path Sword, stone tablet scriptures, and the Shakya Visualization Chart, he felt he was at the later stages of the ninth segment, ready to challenge the great barrier. "Wonder how it's shaking outside."

He sensed as if hitting a ceiling, always suppressed, struggling to truly advance. "Is it the realm of Xiaoyao Journey? Something peculiar. Feels like I've hit a major snag in my cultivation here."

An instinct told him breaking through to Xiaoyao Journey might require passing through the meteorite crater, a daunting task. "Does my realm, the void, and the actual environment all interconnect?" he pondered, wondering if proximity to the source of reality was needed.

The meteorite, vast and massive, lay in the dark expanse. "If it were a normal meteorite, it'd be manageable. But if it's denser than my Life Soil, I'm in trouble."

Using the Slash God Banner to boost his spirit's speed, navigating Life Soil still felt like an astronomical journey. Digging here, he advanced mere hundreds of meters over years.

"Should I bring in others to mine for me?" he considered but quickly dismissed the idea, fearing unforeseen consequences with his Life Soil.

In the crater, Wang Xuan wielded the Slash God Banner and iron pickaxe, tirelessly working. The monotony of cultivation and mining over years could wear anyone down.

"Can I just cut through an existing passage?" He pondered the risk of a bold move through the meteorite crater, its icy silence marked by patches of grey and transitions to brown and faint purple deeper in. Except for the demonic flower, radiating purity and eternal essence, everything else was lifeless.

Even without the red miasma's peak, the area still emitted a dangerous red substance. Previous attempts with just the Slash God Banner ended in retreat. "Let's try again." Now, with silver and faded gold beast skins layered for protection, Wang Xuan prepared to brave the fiery depths, hoping these layers would shield him against the harsh elements.

Wrapped like a dumpling, Wang Xuan chose his moment and then began his crossing. "Will I break through to a new world, or will I be smacked back with a blunt strike? Doesn't matter, here I come!"

Determined, he thought, as long as he didn't die, nothing was too daunting. He needed to take this risk, especially when supreme masters of this era were getting desperate, sending avatars into the mortal realm. There was no reason for him to slack off.

Transforming into a streak of light, "Wang Dumpling" charged in, facing the mild rosy glow and the occasional fall of red particulate matter. He screamed in pain, feeling an intense burning sensation as if ignited the moment he entered.

There was an instant he wanted to roll on the ground to relieve the pressure, thinking of giving up and returning to the mortal world to live a mediocre life. Yet, his nature wouldn't allow it; he wasn't one to easily give in. He wanted to persevere, to prove something to himself.

"Come on, banner, block for me! Holey beast skin, do you want to rot away or be reborn from the ashes? Don't disappoint me! Silver skin, ghostly symbols, resonate and withstand!"

Despite being in agony, Wang Xuan brainwashed himself, establishing a firm belief to push through to a land unimaginable by the outside world. "I'm forging a path, seeking a new mythological realm, akin to creating the world. At any moment, a great calamity could befall. If the immortals, Life Soil, and the Great Curtain could sense it, grant me life!"

He surged forward like a meteor cutting through the dark night sky, passing through the terrifying void channel, ascending all the way. The walls of the meteorite passage were rough, with the rosy glow growing denser and closer to "reality" upwards, those particulate substances increasing.

Such superior energy is beyond normal comprehension; even a touch is like thunder exploding or a fierce heavenly fire that could forge and burn one's spirit.

Normally, any creature venturing this deep is essentially courting death.

Wang Xuan's spirit was eroded by the light fog, his soul cracking, vision darkening, and the spiritual constructs of his internal organs nearly disintegrating, gradually blurring out.

Wang Xuan spared a glance at the outer layer of pale gold beast skin, noticing it wasn't burnt at all. Instead, a mysterious golden mist flowed around it, and the two large holes seemed to resonate. "Even this beast skin hasn't been burnt. As a human, how can I shrink back? I'm still sheltered by it. How can I be worse off? Charge again!"

With his mouth dry and tongue scorched, feeling on the verge of explosion, Wang Xuan still refused to retreat, hoping a bit more endurance would see him through. He was driven by a desire to reach the true source, fueled by an unwillingness to give up and an endless curiosity about what lay beyond this mysterious path. Was it ancient, or had his spirit forged this route through its unique journey?

"Why is this path so long!" he lamented, nearly driven to madness by the burning. His spirit felt like vomiting blood, its so-called spiritual strands curling from the heat, smoking, and the flesh of his spirit cracking and blackening.

At this moment, Zhang Daoling, Fang Yuzhu, the Red Garment Demon Lord, and others were not faring well either, each feeling as though they were on the verge of catastrophe. Their vital energies were in turmoil, a situation not experienced in many years.

"Ugh..." Old Zhang staggered, finding that even pressing a mirror against his face was futile. He sighed, "I finally understand the difficulties of womanhood. Is this what morning sickness feels like? Life has truly brought me to experience it all."

The Red Garment Demoness glared at him fiercely before bending over with a slender waist and vomiting.

"Vomiting becomes a habit after a while. I felt the same the first time I drank celestial blood," the ancestor of the Ming Blood Sect said.

But his wasn't just vomiting; it was an outward spray, almost as if he was doing it on purpose, making it unbearable for everyone else.

Fang Yuzhu was also overwhelmed, covering her mouth. Her cheeks, as delicate and translucent as mutton fat jade, tightened. Her beautiful eyebrows furrowed as she vomited repeatedly, not even the golden bamboo boat could shield her.

"This time it's different, unstoppable. If the previous times were minor quakes, this is a major one, akin to breaking through a minor level versus transcending a major realm," Zheng Yuantian said, his face deathly pale, even his silver mask cracking in places.

Even they were affected, with their realms starting to slip!

Boom!

Seven masters, along with two ghostly kings, charged towards that decaying meteorite, entering its core, for they had suddenly sensed something there.

There were remnants of crystals that were almost real!

While contending against the violent quakes, not wanting their spiritual progress to fall, they rushed forward, vying for the crystals. It was surprising that they hadn't discovered it earlier; it had been entirely shaken loose.

Then, a massive explosion occurred, seemingly piercing through the void itself.

"I've devoted myself to arduous cultivation, faced tribulations, braved deadly challenges, and comprehended the supreme scriptures, forging a new path of myths. Am I... delirious now? Where have I ended up?" Wang Xuan felt as if he was being consumed by a fire, teetering between life and death, unable to discern how much time had passed. A sword halo surrounded him externally, while internally, he circulated the stone tablet scriptures, his soul resonating, almost to the point of confusion.

"Should I keep going?" he wondered, realizing that he was now close to the snow-white, immortal flower, indeed having traversed a long and arduous path.

Boom!

Suddenly, near the flower, a section of the stone wall exploded, and several figures stumbled out.

"I'm in agony, what kind of accursed place is this?!" Old Zhang yelled, his body emitting red light, looking as if he was caught between the desire for immortality and the brink of death, smoke rising from him.

Bang!

Not far from Wang Xuan, the Red Garment Demoness fell, her long dress nearly burnt away in an instant. She quickly performed some kind of sacrificial dance to counteract the red substance but still found it unbearable.

"Has the grand dream merged with reality?" Wang Xuan was astonished, as the Red Garment Demoness actually ran up close to him and started performing a celestial dance.

"Is it you?!" The Demoness, unable to bear it any longer, her body radiating rosy light, rushed towards him, intending to grab Wang Xuan's beast skin clothes. Her crystalline arms and snow-white legs were nearly scorched.