Chapter 309: "Seven Years Have Passed"

Chapter 309: "Seven Years Have Passed"

In the following time, Chen Qiu explored the rest of the palace on his own. He found everything he needed, from the Alchemy Hall to the Armory and the Charm Crafting Hall. Most importantly, these structures were intact, fully equipped with all necessary facilities.

At first, the novelty was exciting.

But gradually, the excitement faded.

This palace was the greatest Destiny he had encountered so far, and he felt it was even greater than the Heavenly Dao Entry Set. However, the problem was that he couldn't leave this place; he couldn't return to his continent.

After a long while, Chen Qiu let out a soft sigh. He changed the bedding on the bed, sat cross-legged on it, and activated the Spirit Energy pipeline in the room. Instantly, the room was filled with abundant Spirit Qi.

He then used Spirit Stones to set up a Spirit Suction Formation.

With the limited-time Rainbow Entry "Fortune Beckons" still in effect, reducing his cultivation progress by half, he decided to cultivate first.

After all, he couldn't leave temporarily, so he might as well cultivate and see if there was any chance of a breakthrough.

Soon—

As a vast snowstorm blanketed the palace, enveloping it in a sea of white, a year had passed.

"A year has gone by," Chen Qiu murmured, standing in the courtyard with a dazed expression, gazing up at the falling snowflakes.

The snowstorm was perfect, but he didn't have the heart to appreciate the scenery. The Rainbow Entries "Fortune Beckons" and "Thousand Layer Spell" had already expired.

His cultivation had advanced from the Body Fusion Fourth Stage to the Body Fusion Peak Grand Perfection.

With the effects of "Fortune Beckons," a thousand-fold cultivation speed, an infinite supply of Spirit Qi, and a large number of Spirit Stones, his progress was rapid.

In just one year, he had reached the peak of the Body Fusion Stage.

He had five chances for a Triple Choice Ordinary Entry and five chances for a Triple Choice Supreme Entry, which were rewards for breaking through to a minor realm.

With the Ascend High (Supreme) Entry, every minor realm breakthrough not only granted him a chance for a Triple Choice Ordinary Entry but also a Triple Choice Supreme Entry.

The "Fortune Beckons" Entry not only significantly increased his cultivation speed but also allowed him one hundred chances to re-roll when choosing an Entry. During his first two breakthroughs, this Entry was still valid.

With one hundred re-roll opportunities—

He obtained two decent Entries:

-

Entry Name: Drop and Forget

Entry Grade: Purple

Entry Effect: Every week, one of your possessions will be randomly lost. In return, for each item lost, your cultivation progress will increase by 5%.

-

Entry Name: Return to Hand

Entry Grade: Purple

Entry Effect: The items you lose will return to you the next day. You will never again accidentally discard your treasures due to carelessness, unless you intentionally discard them.

-

These two Entries were chosen from the one hundred re-roll chances.

He was quite satisfied with his choices.

When selecting the first Entry, he had no other options left, and the remaining two had even more significant drawbacks. So, he randomly picked one, intending to self-destruct it.

A 5% increase in cultivation progress every week was indeed tempting.

Most importantly, at the Body Integration Stage, a 5% increase in progress was already alluring. As his cultivation improved, this 5% would become even more attractive! But the cost was the random loss of one of his possessions.

This was something he couldn't accept. Losing a Spirit Stone wouldn't be a big deal, but if he lost something like the Heavenly Oracle Umbrella, it would hurt.

He calculated that with the vast number of Spirit Stones he had, the probability of losing a Spirit Stone was the highest. As expected, for a month after obtaining this Entry, he only lost Spirit Stones.

His plan was to self-destruct this Entry once he had used up most of his Spirit Stones.

But who could have predicted that the very next month, when his cultivation broke through again, he randomly obtained the "Return to Hand" Entry? This perfectly solved the problem.

As for the other three ordinary Entries he drew, they were quite ordinary and not worth mentioning.

During this year of secluded cultivation, he thought of a way to leave this place.

That is—

Every three Supreme Entry chances could be combined to create a chance for three Supreme Entries to form a higher-grade opportunity. This combination had a 50% probability of offering a Triple Choice Supreme Entry for a major realm breakthrough, a 30% chance of a Supreme Entry ten-choice four, a 15% chance of obtaining a 'Immortal Radiance' that could upgrade any Entry to its corresponding Rainbow Entry, or if there was no corresponding Rainbow Entry, to the highest grade available. There was also a 4.9% chance of obtaining a Triple Choice Rainbow Entry and a 0.1% chance of obtaining a Triple Choice Heavenly Dao Entry Set.

His plan was simple.

He would accumulate chances to draw Entries and hope to draw a Rainbow Entry or a Heavenly Dao Entry Set that could help him leave this place. There seemed to be no other way.

As for the Immortal Radiance—

He didn't have any Entry with long-distance teleportation capabilities. Even if he upgraded an Entry to a corresponding Rainbow Entry, he had no Entry to use. Most importantly, how would he know which Entry had a corresponding Rainbow Entry?

In other words—

Every three Supreme Entry combinations only gave him a 5% chance of leaving, and that was the best-case scenario. He also had to ensure that he drew a Rainbow Entry or a Heavenly Dao Entry Set that could help him escape.

"Sigh."

Chen Qiu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache. He stood in the courtyard, deep in thought, considering other solutions. This plan had a chance of success, but the probability was too low.

I must think of another way.

He had already accumulated five chances to draw the "Supreme-grade Entry" and planned to save up a bit more. This way, he could draw multiple times consecutively, increasing his chances, as he felt a bit uncertain about a single draw.

Over these days, he had considered many ideas, but ultimately rejected them all.

For instance, could he find a way to spread the news of Jiang Buying's body appearing in the mortal world, attracting Jiang Buying to cross the Void and search for him, thus providing an opportunity to leave this place? But it was unrealistic; they couldn't send out any messages.

After being forcefully stripped away by the Secret Realm, the Realm Host also lost the ability to contact other Artifact Spirits through the Realm.

Even if they could send out a message, Jiang Buying wouldn't have the strength to cross the Void.

If he did have the strength to cross the Void, then Jiang Buying's arrival would mean their demise.

Just then—

"Qiu Chen."

Not far away, Fei Long, with a look of astonishment, trudged through the snow, "Where did this snow come from? How can it snow in this place?"

"It's a function of the palace."

Chen Qiu looked at Fei Long, who was carrying a bottle of liquor, and said softly, "Weren't you in seclusion? Why are you out now?"

"Hey, it's snowing, so I released my divine sense to sense the surroundings. I found that you had come out of seclusion, so I figured you'd want to have a drink together."

"It's the perfect time for a drink in this snowy weather."

"Mhm."

Chen Qiu nodded slightly and didn't say anything more. He let Fei Long set up a table in the courtyard and place some pickled dishes and liquor, which Fei Long had plenty of in his storage ring.

This guy never forgot to take care of himself.

Another year passed.

". . ."

Chen Qiu stood by the window, looking out at the distant Void. He had gradually adapted to this environment, this perpetual daylight without the cover of night.

In this year, his cultivation had successfully reached the "Tribulation First Stage."

He had successfully broken through a major realm.

But strangely, neither the tribulation lightning for breaking through a major realm nor the tribulation lightning for a minor realm had descended. Yet, the Tribulation Stage required the baptism of lightning to advance, and without it, he couldn't break through.

After much contemplation, he decided to use his fusion kill move, "Three Thousand Thunder Surge," on himself.

This time, the tribulation was successful, and he smoothly broke through the major realm.

The only cost was lying in bed for seven months. It was his first time experiencing the power of his fusion kill move; it was quite hard and painful. It took a long time for his meridians to be recast, and they became even more robust than before.

Additionally, the Tribulation Stage cultivation progressed extremely slowly.

This was why he had only advanced one minor realm in a year.

Now, he had six chances for the "Supreme-grade" three-choice draw and one chance for the ordinary entry three-choice draw.

He planned to accumulate three more chances for the "Supreme-grade" three-choice draw, for a total of nine, which could be combined into three draws. He wasn't sure about his chances of winning the "5% probability" draw, so he could only rely on luck.

As for the ordinary entry draw, he hadn't used it either and was saving it.

This time, Chen Qiu secluded himself for even longer, a full five years.

This was the longest Chen Qiu had ever secluded himself. In those five years, he didn't take a single step outside his room, and without human control, the entire palace seemed extremely dull, devoid of any vitality.

For ten thousand years, day after day, nothing changed, and there were no ripples, as if time had stopped.

Chen Qiu's cultivation had reached the "Tribulation Sixth Stage."

By now, he had accumulated eleven chances for the "Supreme-grade" three-choice draw.

"Huff"

Chen Qiu slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and controlled the brass pillar to observe the others' conditions. After a moment of contemplation, he resumed his cultivation, aiming to accumulate one more chance, making it twelve in total, which meant he would have four drawing opportunities.

Whether he could go home or not depended on this draw.

The Realm Host had already fallen into a deep slumber, and for him, sleeping for a few years was a breeze, with no pressure at all. As for the Bai Clan Elite, Bai Pingling, he also had remarkable composure, showing no signs of impatience. For him, secluding himself for a few years was normal.

Even Fei Long had been in seclusion the whole time, showing no signs of impatience either.

Chen Qiu had been worried about the Mock Heaven Sect members, but they remained unharmed. He sensed that his cultivation speed was increasing, indicating that these people were still spreading his fame in other continents. Initially, he thought that not being able to deliver the Shadow Emperor Fortune to the Deceptive Buddha on time would cause the Deceptive Buddha to vent his anger on the Mock Heaven Sect members, but now it seemed the situation might be better than he imagined.

He didn't think further.

Instead, he took a deep breath and continued cultivating. He had been in this palace for seven years, and in that time, he had consumed most of his spirit stones, leaving only over twenty million. If it weren't for the constant supply of spirit energy, these spirit stones would have been depleted long ago.

Seven years.

Seven years was enough to change many things.

For instance, the Bai Clan in the Heaven-reaching Continent.

Originally, with Chen Qiu's help, the Bai Clan had planned to advance into the Fourth Rank Continent, the Jiang Taiping Continent. But after Chen Qiu's absence for seven years, they ultimately remained in the Heaven-reaching Continent.

"Life is truly unpredictable."

At this moment, the head of the Bai Clan stood in the clan's courtyard, gazing absentmindedly at the clouds in the distance. Seven years had passed since they entered the Secret Realm, and the biggest regret of his life was giving the Secret Realm ticket to Chen Qiu.

He didn't know what had happened inside the Realm.

But he knew something major had occurred.

He had spent a lot of manpower and resources to find everyone who had entered the Secret Realm, and the conclusion was that in seven years, not a single person had returned. This meant that everyone, including Chen Qiu and the three Bai Clan Elites, had died in the Realm.

It's impossible! With the strength of the senior, how could he possibly stumble in a secret realm that only allows cultivators at the "Body Fusion Stage" to enter? It defies all logic!

Although he was reluctant to believe it, the incident had already occurred, and he had no choice but to accept it.

For the past few days, he had hoped that the senior would suddenly return, but as time passed, he had to face the reality that the senior had indeed fallen in that secret realm. The three Celestial Virtuosos that the Bai Clan had spent a fortune to cultivate were gone forever.

After this incident, his ambition suddenly diminished, and his entire personality became more easygoing.

He no longer possessed that strong drive.

Even a figure like the senior had met an untimely end. Was there anything eternal in this world? No matter how high his cultivation was, no matter how much higher he could lead his family, it was all for naught. One day, he too would meet his untimely demise.

It was meaningless.

No one could fight against fate. It was best to go with the flow.

At that moment, on a First Rank Continent, a deceptive Buddha named Millstone was sitting idly with a few scholars in an abandoned temple, huddled together around a fire to keep warm.

"Scholar, it's obvious that your leader isn't coming back. Do you still intend to complete his mission?" Millstone asked.

"It feels pointless now, like taking an exam when the examiner is no longer there," one."

". . ."

The scholar looked up at Millstone, then lowered his gaze to the small flames in the bonfire and said softly, "In that case, why do you still send us supplies every month?"

"It's a promise!" Millstone scratched his head in frustration. "The Demon Clan values honor. I promised your leader that I would provide for you for three hundred years, but in the end, he only gave me two strands of Shadow Soul Fortune. According to our agreement, he gave me one strand less, which means I can only support you for two hundred years."

"That's called contract spirit. The Demon Clan highly values contract spirit!"

"If you agree to something, you must keep your word. Otherwise, why make the promise in the first place?"

"It's your leader who still owes me a strand of Shadow Soul Fortune. Don't you know I have Immortal Cancer? Where has he been all these years? I almost died. Damn it!"

The scholar's expression remained calm as he picked up a piece of wood and tossed it into the bonfire, saying casually, "Are you dead now?"

"Didn't I give you that strand of Shadow Soul Fortune?"

"It's not the same!"

Millstone's expression turned serious. "The contract was made between me and your leader, so that strand of Shadow Soul Fortune must come from him. Since he gave me one strand less, I can only support you for two hundred years. Almost eight years have passed, and there are only 192 years left."

"As for the strand you gave me, that's between the two of us and should be calculated separately."

"And let me tell you, your leader might truly be gone. I know you've been waiting, believing that he wouldn't die. In fact, among all the people I've seen, your leader ranks in the top three in terms of potential and fortune."

"He was a peerless genius."

"But—"

"Even more talented geniuses have died before my eyes. In this era, no one is immune to death. Waiting endlessly is pointless. It's better to do something more meaningful."

"What do you consider meaningful?" The scholar lifted his head and asked softly. "Establishing a sect? Or going to a secret realm for cultivation? Or improving your cultivation?"

"For example, teaching your mute brother to speak."

"I'm not mute."

The scholar's brother, who had not spoken in a long time, suddenly shook his head.

"You can speak?"

Millstone looked at the scholar's brother, a hint of astonishment flashing in his eyes. Then, his expression turned peculiar as he said, "Your pronunciation is clear. Since you can speak and aren't stuttering, why have you remained silent all this time?"

"What's your brother's name?"

The scholar didn't reply. He merely patted the dust off his clothes, stretched lazily, and said, "Alright, I'm going to work now. I'll come back to chat with you next time."

"Next time, bring some liquor! It's so cold, how can we survive without some alcohol? Bring some braised meat too! Don't come empty-handed next time, damn it! Did you hear me?" Millstone shouted after the scholar's departing figure.

"I heard you."

The scholar waved his hand impatiently without turning back. Accompanied by his bearded brother, he descended the mountain path.

"Brother, I believe Brother Qiu hasn't died," the scholar's brother said after they had walked halfway down the mountain.

"I know," the scholar replied, waving his hand. Then, he turned to his brother, "You've already spoken twice today. Don't speak anymore."

The scholar's brother nodded and obediently followed behind him, being unusually well-behaved.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the scholar paused and looked back at the towering peak behind him. After a brief moment, he continued forward, his expression unperturbed by the raging blizzard.

Scholar was just his alias.

He had other aliases, like White-Robed Scholar, and even his real name.

But his brother had never had a name.

His brother was born a "Nameless One."

Born without a name, he could never possess one. The Heavenly Dao Decree would never sound for his brother because he simply had no name and could never be listed on the decree.

As for why he wasn't mute but didn't speak, that was a long story. In the past, his brother had been talkative, but at some point, they realized that every time he spoke, they might encounter misfortune shortly after.

This was a matter of probability.

The probability was not small, and the more he spoke, the greater the misfortune they encountered.

Even the time he was severely injured and his cultivation regressed in Daxia Country was after his brother had repeatedly reminded him to be careful and urged him to take care of himself. Since then, his brother had mostly stopped speaking, only uttering a few words when he couldn't hold back.

"Especially when others call him a mute, he can't help but clarify."

As for why he felt the need to do so, he wasn't sure, perhaps it was because of his status as a "Nameless One."

"Nameless One" wasn't a Codex Entry, but rather an identity marker, one that couldn't be known by others. Otherwise, when encountering misfortune, they would be affected together.

If his younger brother hadn't told him about being a "Nameless One," the bad luck triggered by his brother wouldn't have affected him.

This was also why he hadn't told Duke Qiu Chen.

Sometimes, he wondered if Duke Qiu Chen's fortune could withstand it, but after thinking about it, he decided against it.

It wasn't necessary.

During his time in Daxia Kingdom, he had only seen his younger brother with this "identity marker." Over the years, after traveling through countless continents, he had always wanted to find a second person with this "identity marker," but he had never encountered one.

Only his younger brother.

He didn't know if this special trait was good or bad, but at least for now, it was still manageable.

"It's true."

Inside the temple.

The Deceptive Buddha gazed into the distance at the scholar and his companion on the mountain road, letting out a soft sigh without speaking. Chen Qiu had been missing for seven years, and yet, not a single person from Mocking Heaven Sect had left or betrayed the sect. Instead, they diligently carried out the tasks assigned by Chen Qiu.

This was simply an incomprehensible behavior.

Most importantly, almost everyone in Mocking Heaven Sect firmly believed that Chen Qiu wasn't dead; they believed he was trapped somewhere and would return soon. Day after day, they held onto this unwavering faith.

To instill such strong conviction in one's subordinates was not something that could be achieved by creating a single miracle. It required countless miracles to make them believe without a doubt in the occurrence of the next miracle.

However, based on his experience, being missing for seven years was essentially the same as being truly dead.

Even if he wasn't dead, he might be permanently trapped somewhere. Perhaps he would emerge thousands of years later, but by then, even if he did come back, it would be no different from being dead. Everything would have changed.

As for him, he didn't care. After all, his Immortal Cancer had been resolved, and his cultivation had fully recovered. He chose to stay in the First Rank Continent solely to fulfill his promise to Chen Qiu. Without his presence, the other Deceptive Buddhas wouldn't treat the members of Mocking Heaven Sect so generously.

There were only 192 years left, just a blink of an eye in his long lifespan.

The only troublesome thing was that he couldn't enter closed-door cultivation or deep sleep; he needed to ensure he remained awake every month. This was the most annoying part, as it meant he couldn't have uninterrupted cultivation.

"Senior."

Fourth Rank Continent, Jiang Taiping Continent, the leader of the Maan Clan stood atop a mountain peak with a complex expression. It had been seven years since he had received any news from the senior. No matter how hard he tried using the Sound Transmission Talisman, he couldn't locate Chen Qiu's position.

He had once sent someone to the Heaven-reaching Continent to inquire about Chen Qiu's situation with the White Family.

He learned that Chen Qiu had entered a secret realm called "Drunk Life, Dream Death," which had a limit on the highest Body Fusion cultivation level allowed, and since then, Chen Qiu had never returned, and his fate was unknown.

He didn't believe that the senior would die in a secret realm of that level.

He spent a considerable amount of resources to find historical information about this secret realm and discovered that it wasn't too difficult. It was unreasonable for a secret realm of this difficulty to cause the senior's demise.

But no matter how much he refused to believe it, it had been seven years since he had heard from the senior.

He specifically sought out a Divination Master from the Divination Sect, hoping to calculate the senior's current state of life and death. However, the Divination Master's results were chaotic, making it impossible to deduce anything, and it was unclear whether the senior was dead or alive.

After a long while, the leader of the Maan Clan, Badan, let out a soft sigh and prepared to return to the Fifth Rank Immortal Realm. He really wanted to find the senior and tell him about the recent major events, especially that Zhao Yishi's cultivation had successfully advanced to the Essence Refining Stage.

He then returned to the Immortal Realm, as many things had happened there during his absence, making it challenging for him to handle. He wished the senior were still around.

The senior would surely have a solution.

Fifth Rank Immortal Realm.

House of Wei, a woman in a long skirt was soaking in a hot spring, listening to her subordinate's report while her brows furrowed slightly.

This woman was the Duke Wei.

The middle-aged woman in armor standing by the hot spring was her confidant.

Her arch-nemesis, the Qi Sect, had suddenly given up their attempts to annex her territory seven years ago. They even proactively sought peace without any conditions and completely changed their usual style, becoming extremely low-key and restrained.

They no longer oppressed the surrounding forces but instead closed their mountain gate and went into closed-door cultivation.

It seemed like they were focusing on development.

Although the two forces had made peace, she knew the crippled leader of the Qi Sect very well, and this peace was only temporary. A battle was inevitable in the future, so she had been collecting intelligence on the Qi Sect all these years.

The biggest change in the Qi Sect was that they seemed to have become wealthy.

Their expenses had increased significantly, and the spiritual energy in the Qi Sect had become much denser. It was evident that they had extended the duration of their Spirit Suction Formation, and their procurement of strategic resources had also increased.

However, the Qi Sect seemed to be cautious about others discovering their newfound wealth. They were careful with their spending, and the increase was only around 50%, which was difficult for ordinary people to notice. But she was extremely familiar with the Qi Sect, so she naturally detected this fluctuation.

"Suddenly became wealthy?"

The woman soaking in the hot spring frowned after a long period of thought and said, "Could it be that the cripple also went to repay his debt?"

"That's not right. I don't think there's a concept of Immortal Men repaying their debts."

The sudden increase in wealth in House of Wei was because she, as an Immortal Fairy, had gone to repay her debt and received a substantial "Favor Repayment Blessing." But why had the Qi Sect suddenly become wealthy without any signs? She wasn't sure.

However, based on her understanding of the crippled leader of the Qi Sect, it was most likely related to deception and trickery.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end