Chapter 605 - 414: Abyssal Zone and Reality (Part 2)

Qiqi, however, had a pained look on her face. She’d always been averse to baffling topics like Void Arrays, and she couldn’t understand why Fang Qingyuan would willingly engage with such a headache-inducing subject.

Jinbao’s expression was much the same as Qiqi’s. The two Bear Beasts listened for just a short while before their faces twisted into masks of agony. Fang Qingyuan noticed this. After a silent, inward sigh, he let the two beasts happily go off to stand guard.

And so, in the Land of Black Soil, the man and the beast began their discussion on the secrets of the void.

.....

Three days later, Fang Qingyuan awoke from his deep contemplation. Thanks to the Confusion Insect’s explanations, his rudimentary understanding of the void had improved significantly.

By combining the knowledge he had previously gathered from human sources with the self-taught lore of the Confusion Insect, Fang Qingyuan could finally be considered to have grasped the fundamentals of the void.

Now when he looked at the spatial fissures, his perspective was completely different from three days prior. According to the Confusion Insect’s understanding, the void was structured like a thousand overlapping veils. Only a powerful Divine Sense could pierce through these countless layers to grasp ’Truth’.

This ’Truth’ was knowledge the Confusion Insect had inherited through its bloodline. As for what the ’True’ realm of the void actually was, even it did not know.

Furthermore, Fang Qingyuan learned a clear method for grading the strength of one’s Divine Sense: by probing the various spatial veils, one could determine the intensity of their own Divine Sense.

As a Golden Core Realm Demon Beast with a void-aspected bloodline, the Confusion Insect’s Divine Sense could currently only probe about a hundred layers of the void veils. It was far from being able to reach the Abyssal Zone that lay beneath the thousand veils, and beyond the Abyssal Zone was the realm of ’Truth’ spoken of in its bloodline.

After learning all this, Fang Qingyuan made a basic assessment of his own divine soul’s strength. Lacking the bonus from a void-aspected bloodline, he estimated his actual capability to be somewhere between one hundred fifty and two hundred layers.

This was mainly because Fang Qingyuan possessed a powerful divine soul and practiced a Soul Dao Technique. Otherwise, a typical Fifth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator would be even less proficient in this regard than the Confusion Insect, a Golden Core Demon Beast.

’The Abyssal Zone... and the realm of Truth?’

Fang Qingyuan committed these two terms to memory before pulling his focus back to the present. He could gather more knowledge and continue his studies after leaving the Barbaric Wilderness and concluding his current affairs. For now, he wouldn’t make any immediate progress.

"Just diving into that fissure and ending up on some unknown other side is too risky. Is there a way to get to a location near where the Ghost Cultivator is trapped? From there, we could proceed with a more solid plan."

Fang Qingyuan discussed this with the Confusion Insect. In this matter, Qiqi and Jinbao were reduced to mere background props. The two bears, who hated studying, could only play to their strengths as muscle.

The Confusion Insect scratched its chin and said:

"That’s actually possible. The structure of the void can be reconfigured. I can move the exit of this spatial fissure to a location of your choosing. However, once the originally stable fissure is altered, it will start to collapse. If you don’t come out within a certain time, Sect Leader, we’ll have to find a new, suitable spatial fissure all over again."

"That’s fine. Let’s do it. It’s much better than dropping in right on top of that Ghost Cultivator. After all these years, who knows what other nasty tricks it has waiting for me."

Fang Qingyuan voiced his surface-level concerns, but he had an ace up his sleeve that gave him confidence.

’Worst case scenario, I get trapped. I can just use the Immortal Mansion to slowly dig my way out. The Immortal Mansion has plenty of Spiritual Qi and resources, so what’s a little confinement to me?’

Seeing Fang Qingyuan’s resolve, the Confusion Insect wasted no time. It immediately activated its Innate Divine Technique and began adjusting a nearby three-foot-long spatial fissure.

The Talent displayed by the Confusion Insect filled Fang Qingyuan with longing. ’If I had a Talent like that,’ he thought, ’wouldn’t cultivating the way of the void be twice as effective with half the effort?’

After a long while, the Confusion Insect, looking utterly drained, said:

"I’ve reconfigured the fissure’s exit. It now opens up one li from the original spot. I can sense that the new location is also an area where the Void Law is weak. Sect Leader Fang, you can enter now. But because the stable structure has been altered, the fissure will collapse in seven days. So please, Sect Leader, return as soon as you can."

Fang Qingyuan studied the Confusion Insect intently. Using his Mind Divine Techniques, he confirmed the creature was being sincere. Only then did he relax and call over Jinbao and Qiqi.

"Jinbao and Qiqi, you’re with me. Confusion Insect, you’ll wait for us out here. Whether we succeed or fail, I will be back by the sixth day. If anything happens to us, go find your ancestor immediately. You also need to get word to Tu Dai’Er at my sect."

The Confusion Insect readily agreed to all his instructions. It then watched as Fang Qingyuan leaped into the spatial fissure first, followed by Qiqi and Jinbao.

Once it was the only one left, the Confusion Insect quietly concealed its body in another fissure. It then extended its Divine Sense, silently observing its surroundings for any activity.

...

The sensation was like riding in a Long-distance Teleportation Array, but ten times more nauseating. Even with Fang Qingyuan’s powerful physique, he felt an unbearable urge to vomit.

Traversing a spatial fissure with one’s physical body, without a Teleportation Array to stabilize the void, was an experience that would have likely crushed a less durable Cultivator into a bloody pulp on the spot.

The ordeal only strengthened Fang Qingyuan’s resolve to master the Void Law. Once he found his footing, he immediately summoned the Eight Sceneries Red Dust Lamp, which cast a protective red glow several yards around him.

His eyes took in the scene. Instead of the swarming black soil he expected, he found himself in a place that looked like a cavern deep within a mountain.

And there, standing silently, was a stone stele.

A pair of THUDS followed as Qiqi and Jinbao tumbled out of the air in a sorry state. But the two beasts were nothing if not durable; the chaotic void passage had merely caused Jinbao to let out a loud WRETCH and vomit.

Her face pale, Qiqi spotted the stele and cried out in pleasant surprise,

"Another stone stele! Is this part of the same set as the other three I found?"

Fang Qingyuan cautiously scanned his surroundings. The space wasn’t large, only about twenty or thirty feet across. The walls were made of some unknown stone that emitted a faint, shimmering glow, keeping the chamber from being plunged into total darkness.

Aside from the stone stele in the center, the chamber also contained a Meditation Cushion, a few stone chairs, and a square table.

On the table sat a small, three-legged cauldron, cyan in color. Above it, three sticks of incense were burnt halfway down.

The space looked like a meditation chamber. ’But why would it be here, inside the Land of Black Soil?’ he wondered.

Sensing no immediate danger, Fang Qingyuan carefully placed a hand on the central stele and poured his Divine Sense into it. The next moment, a long stream of images flooded his mind.

He saw a Cultivator dressed in the distinct robes of the Qi Yun Daoist Sect. The images showed the man meditating and cultivating in this very chamber. He would periodically leave for a time and return with a few more transparent, crystal-like stones.

In the very center of these Crystal Stones was a blot of ink as dark as an abyss, giving off an ominous air.

As the scenes progressed, the number of Crystal Stones the Cultivator acquired dwindled. In the beginning, he returned with a dozen or so each time. In the final few scenes, he came back with only one or two.

In the final image, the Cultivator went out and returned empty-handed, without a single Crystal Stone. He then sat in quiet contemplation for a long time before waving a hand to extinguish the incense in the small cauldron. With a flicker of movement, he vanished, never to return.

The vision ended there. Fang Qingyuan felt dizzy; absorbing so much information at once had been quite a shock.

After revealing this information, the ancient aura emanating from the stele faded, just like it had with the previous three.

This raised several questions. ’Who was the original master of this place? Is he still alive? What did he leave behind? And most importantly, are any of those Crystal Stones he worked so hard to collect still around?’