Chapter 366: Soul Search, An Enemy from Afar

Chapter 366: Soul Search, An Enemy from Afar

The 726th Blood Disciple didn't hesitate to retreat, which took Xu Yan by surprise. After all, the previous strike had been extremely powerful, and even though he had broken through to the minor achievement of the Divine Transcendence realm, blocking it had been somewhat taxing.

Xu Yan moved to intercept the 726th Blood Disciple, but the latter seemed to have anticipated this and transformed into a streak of bloody light, fleeing instantly towards the depths of the Jade Sea Abyss.

He was determined to escape, disregarding the lives of his Blood Slaves.

A heavy weight settled in the heart of the 726th Blood Disciple. One Xu Yan was already so formidable; what if there were a dozen more like him in this world?

Once they grew to their full potential, they would pose a grave threat.

News of this must be reported, and a plan to eradicate them must be devised.

Aside from Xu Yan, the other three humans and the tiger were not to be underestimated either. At the same level of cultivation, perhaps no one in the Underworld could match them!

It wouldn't be easy for Xu Yan to intercept the 726th Blood Disciple, who was single-mindedly focused on escaping, especially after the intense battle they had just fought, and Xu Yan had expended a significant amount of energy blocking that strike.

Even with his monstrous foundation in martial arts, his energy was still rapidly recovering, but he hadn't yet returned to peak condition, so Xu Yan didn't insist on stopping his opponent.

Instead, he closely followed the 726th Blood Disciple, curious to see what the Celestial Cave in the Jade Sea Abyss was all about.

The 726th Blood Disciple had reached the area above the Jade Sea Abyss and was about to enter the Celestial Cave when suddenly the world darkened, and even space seemed to freeze.

The 726th Blood Disciple's body came to an abrupt halt, unable to move even an inch, as if bound in place by the very fabric of space.

"What is this?"

The 726th Blood Disciple was utterly astonished.

A powerful expert!

Could it be that a strong ally from the Divine Realm had come to their aid?

Even if a powerful ally had arrived, they would have to restore the Divine Bridge to cross into the Spirit Realm in such a short time!

But the Divine Bridge hadn't been repaired!

A giant hand reached down, as if tearing away the very space where the 726th Blood Disciple stood.

The Great Plucking Heaven's Hand!

"Master!"

Xu Yan's body stiffened as he recognized the Great Plucking Heaven's Hand!

"My understanding of the Great Plucking Heaven's Hand pales in comparison to Master's!" Xu Yan marveled inwardly.

Upon seeing that the 726th Blood Disciple was fleeing instead of continuing the fight, Li Xuan immediately took action and captured him.

The appearance of the Celestial Cave in the Ice State had caused a catastrophe, and the Celestial Cave in the Jade Sea Abyss posed an even greater threat. The 726th Blood Disciple had severed the Divine Bridge and slain a Heavenly Venerable.

To understand the nature of the Celestial Caves, the 726th Blood Disciple was undoubtedly a valuable source of information.

And what of the Underworld?

This was why Li Xuan took matters into his own hands and captured the 726th Blood Disciple himself.

With his current strength, capturing the 726th Blood Disciple was as easy as a thought, requiring minimal effort.

The 726th Blood Disciple was stunned, but in the next moment, he found himself in front of a young man sitting casually in a chair.

Beside him stood a breathtakingly beautiful woman, seemingly a mermaid.

"You..."

The 726th Blood Disciple's face was etched with disbelief. Could there be such a powerful expert in the Spirit Realm?

An Immortal Venerable?

The blood slaves of the Underworld all possessed the strength of Immortal Venerables, so capturing one would be effortless.

But the person before him seemed far more formidable than a mere Immortal Venerable.

"The Underworld?" Li Xuan asked, his gaze fixed on the 726th Blood Disciple, his tone conveying a hint of disdain for the Underworld.

Li Xuan raised a hand and placed it on the 726th Blood Disciple's head, intending to perform a soul search rather than bother with interrogation.

This was his first opportunity to use the Soul Search secret art since acquiring it, and he had no concern for whatever damage it might inflict on the 726th Blood Disciple.

This invader was an enemy.

The 726th Blood Disciple felt his consciousness reverberating, as if it had fallen into a strange state. His memories and consciousness were being scrutinized, and he was shocked beyond measure!

Sensing something amiss, he roared inwardly, attempting to resist this terrifying force.

However, he couldn't muster even a shred of resistance.

Li Xuan's gaze remained indifferent as the 726th Blood Disciple's memories gradually unfolded before him during the soul search. But at a certain moment, a bloody light shone, and a mysterious force seemed to seal away the deepest secrets hidden within the 726th Blood Disciple's consciousness.

Puff!

In an instant, the 726th Blood Disciple turned into a cloud of blood mist and completely dissipated.

Li Xuan's eyebrows furrowed as he realized that there was some kind of seal within the 726th Blood Disciple's consciousness, protecting certain hidden memories.

Upon touching those memories, the seal was instantly triggered, causing the 726th Blood Disciple's consciousness to shatter, along with his physical form.

"He was very strong."

Li Xuan's heart trembled slightly. For the 726th Blood Disciple's consciousness to shatter in an instant under his soul search, it was clear that the person behind this all was far more powerful than an Immortal Venerable.

"The Blood Master of the Underworld?" Li Xuan mused.

Although he hadn't been able to probe the deepest secrets within the 726th Blood Disciple's consciousness, he had still gained a significant amount of useful information.

The Underworld seemed to be another world.

The 726th Blood Disciple was either a servant or a disciple of the Blood Master of the Underworld, and above the Blood Disciples were the Blood Children.

As for the Blood Master, they were shrouded in mystery. Li Xuan had only caught a glimpse of this name in the 726th Blood Disciple's memories, and their appearance might have been among the core secrets that were lost when the 726th Blood Disciple's consciousness shattered.

"The Underworld's Celestial Cave?" Li Xuan muttered to himself.

The 726th Blood Disciple had planned for a long time to reach this day, but in the end, he had failed.

"An enemy from beyond our world," Li Xuan sighed.

The Celestial Caves were cavities in the very fabric of the world, formed when external forces eroded the cracks in this world.

There were varying sizes of Celestial Caves; the smaller ones were mere holes, like the one Xu Yan had discovered in the Black Pool of the Jade Sea.

On the other hand, the massive Celestial Caves boasted expansive spaces.

And the Jade Sea Abyss had once been the site of a rift in the world, so when the power of the Underworld seeped in, it transformed into a Celestial Cave.

"Is Mei Wu also from the Underworld?" Li Xuan wondered.

The Celestial Cave in the Ice State had already been sealed by him, preventing Mei Wu from entering.

"It seems that the Great Realm is facing an external threat. The Celestial Caves are passages for foreign enemies to invade, but while they can infiltrate our world through these caves, martial artists from our realm cannot enter their territory and can only defend our own lands."

Li Xuan's thoughts turned to the small stone house in the Wu Kingdom's imperial palace and the being that had been sealed within. Was it the owner of the Great Book, or a powerful invading enemy?

Logically speaking, it seemed more likely that it was a powerful invading enemy that had been sealed within this world.

Who had sealed it? The owner of the Great Book?

If it was a sealed powerful enemy, why wasn't there a strong guardian watching over it?

Could it be that the owner of the Great Book had sealed this enemy but perished in the process, and no one else knew that a formidable foe was sealed within?

Li Xuan recalled how the Wu Emperor had mentioned that mysterious voice, saying that it had sounded like a madman, a deceiver... Moreover, that voice seemed to know that cultivation was impossible in the Borderlands and was also quite familiar with the Great Realm.

From this perspective, it didn't seem like an external invading enemy.

"The truth will be clear once I find that voice," Li Xuan thought.

The intense battle was drawing to a close, with Meng Chong displaying his divine abilities to slay countless Blood Slaves.

Su Lingxiu, feeling that they had honed their skills sufficiently, also began to strike with lethal force.

Fang Hao and Chi Mao followed suit.

"Let's go to the Jade Sea Abyss," Li Xuan instructed.

Whoosh!

The flying boat transformed into a streak of light, speeding towards the Jade Sea Abyss.

Wu Tiannan and the other Spirit Realm experts heaved a sigh of relief and quickly followed suit.

A massive black vortex appeared in the Jade Sea Abyss, and through it, one could see the surging blood waves beneath.

"This is..."

Wu Tiannan and the others gazed upon it with trembling hearts, feeling a sense of dread that made them hesitate to enter.

"Master!"

Xu Yan approached the flying boat and spoke respectfully.

"Mhm."

Li Xuan nodded but did not immediately enter the Celestial Cave below.

Boom!

The battle finally came to an end, with Meng Chong, Su Lingxiu, Fang Hao, and Chi Mao returning to the Evergreen Pavilion's flying boat.

"Let's go in," Li Xuan said.

The flying boat shimmered with thunderous light as the array activated, entering the Celestial Cave below. Once inside, they discovered that this Celestial Cave was much larger than the one in the Icy State.

Moreover, at the bottom of the cave, blood waves rolled, seemingly formed by a sanguine, corrosive aura that had tainted the seawater.

Wu Tiannan and the group of Spirit Realm experts stood at the edge of the cave, hesitating to step inside.

Boom!

The blood waves surged, filling the air with sanguine aura, threatening to dye the flying boat crimson.

Li Xuan raised his hand, and amid the thunderous roar, the blood waves began to condense and clear, rolling back upwards as the seawater returned to the Jade Sea.

At that moment, three blood-red pearls appeared in the Celestial Cave.

Hellblood Pearls!

"These are valuable treasures that can enrich one's essence blood!" Su Lingxiu exclaimed.

Li Xuan nodded. Indeed, the Hellblood Pearls were treasures that, when used appropriately, could enhance one's essence blood, restore essence blood loss, and even amplify physical strength to a certain extent.

If combined with other spirit herbs and refined into pills, the effects would be even more potent.

The Hellblood Pearls were likely related to the abundant sanguine energy within the Hell, hence their ability to condense into blood pearls.

Whether it was the Blood Slaves or the Blood Disciples, each possessed a natal blood pearl cultivated from the Hellblood Pearls.

The bottom of the Celestial Cave was a pale red, as if covered by a thin membrane, through which one could vaguely see beyond the cave.

However, this membrane was a heavenly barrier that even Li Xuan's current Void Breaking Realm couldn't penetrate to escape this realm.

After all, he had not truly transcended the heavens and the earth.

"The bottom of this Celestial Cave doesn't seem very large. It seems like the space within was formed later," Fang Hao remarked in surprise.

Indeed, the bottom of the cave wasn't very extensive, similar in size to the one in the Icy State. However, the heavenly barrier here seemed somewhat weaker, as strands of sanguine energy continuously seeped into the cave. Over a long period, this erosion had resulted in the massive size of this Celestial Cave.

"Is the absence of unchanging energy here indicative of this Celestial Cave being different from the others?" Xu Yan asked as he examined the cave.

"Very likely," Meng Chong agreed. "Moreover, I feel that this sanguine energy seems to have a certain auxiliary effect on the cultivation of the physical body. Unfortunately, it's of no use to my current physical state."

"What do we do now? Will more Hellblood Disciples come to the Spirit Realm?" Fang Hao asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

After all, he was a native of the Spirit Realm; it was his homeland.

Although he had stepped down as the leader of the Myriad Ages Alliance, the organization still held him in high regard.

"Let's seal it then," Li Xuan said after scrutinizing the area beyond the bottom of the cave without seeing anything specific. However, he knew that this Celestial Cave was something the 726th Blood Disciple had planned for his advancement to Blood Child without informing anyone else.

Fearing that someone might steal his glory, he had kept this Hellish Celestial Cave a secret.

All they needed to do was seal it, and unless the opponent was too strong, it would be difficult to discover.

"I lack an eye-type divine ability," Li Xuan mused to himself. He decided to take some time to create a few eye-type divine abilities, such as the Divine Eye, Fierce Golden Eye, and Eye of Illusory Breaking.

As for whether they could be cultivated, that would be up to his disciples to figure out.

"Master, please seal this Celestial Cave!" Fang Hao requested respectfully.

"Mhm."

Li Xuan nodded and waved his hand. Threads of unchanging energy emerged and instantly transformed into a massive seal, encapsulating and concealing the bottom of the Hellish Celestial Cave.

The area was thoroughly veiled.

"There's nothing of value here. Let's go!"

The flying boat departed from the Celestial Cave and headed towards the Black Pool in the Jade Sea. Li Xuan glanced at the Celestial Cave that Xu Yan had discovered. This cave was too small, and it would take an unknown amount of time to expand it.

Moreover, after being sealed by Fang Hao, the expansion process had become incredibly slow, making it almost impossible to enlarge.

With a wave of his hand, Li Xuan cast another seal, thoroughly encapsulating this cave.

Not long after Li Xuan left the sealed Celestial Cave, a tiny eye appeared at the bottom of the small cave, as if trying to see something.

However, it couldn't perceive anything, and the eye blinked in confusion, even questioning its own vision. It blinked a few times, then widened its gaze, but still saw nothing. Eventually, it closed, filled with incomprehension.

The Divine Bridge had collapsed, and the path to the Divine Realm was cut off.

The changes in the Jade Sea Abyss left the Spirit Realm experts, including Fang Hao, feeling apprehensive.

"Are there other places in the Spirit Realm that could pose a similar danger?" Wu Tiannan asked gravely.

"We should investigate all the notorious dangerous locations in the Spirit Realm," Xin Mengrou suggested.

With the presence of powerful experts, they could seek their help to seal any potential threats.

Thus, they turned to Fang Hao.

After all, Fang Hao was a disciple of a powerful master, and the Myriad Ages Alliance revered him. Naturally, he would be concerned about potential crises in the Spirit Realm.

"Master, I wish to explore the Spirit Realm and uncover any other potential dangers!" Fang Hao requested respectfully.

"Go ahead," Li Xuan nodded.

If there were latent dangers in the Spirit Realm, Fang Hao would worry even after going to the Divine Realm. It was better to directly explore the Spirit Realm and resolve any hidden threats.

That way, Fang Hao could go to the Divine Realm without any lingering worries.

"Junior Brother, let's split up and try to finish the investigation as soon as possible," Xu Yan suggested.

The Spirit Realm was connected to the Inner Realm, and if the Spirit Realm was in peril, it might affect the Inner Realm as well. However, the Inner Realm's overall strength at this stage was far weaker than that of the Spirit Realm.

"Alright!" Fang Hao nodded.

Xu Yan, Meng Chong, and Fang Hao left immediately, and Chi Mao returned to the Beast Clan to make arrangements and participate in the search for potential dangers in the Spirit Realm.

Wu Tiannan, Xin Mengrou, and the other Spirit Realm experts also departed, mobilizing the power of the Superlative Spirit Sect to search the entire Spirit Realm. They would personally investigate any unusual places or rumors.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end