Chapter 610 457: Sea of Clouds, Starry Night (2)

Seeing Li Yuanjiao descend, Tulong Jian cupped his hands slightly and replied:

"Just now, a fool who didn't know better was already slain by me."

He smiled and said:

"Now that the Cave Heaven is about to appear, I expect the Great Void will be most exciting. Even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator dies, there won't be any major anomalies—it's better this way, saves us from attracting a whole crowd."

Li Yuanjiao nodded, giving the corpse a closer look. The anomaly caused by the body had been suppressed, so for the moment its cultivation level was indiscernible. As Tulong Jian approached with a cheerful smile, he asked:

"Predecessor, shall we take a walk around the island together?"

...

Li Xuanfeng was standing in midair at the edge of the island, silently holding his bow. Zhong Qian and Kan Ziyu down on the island were carefully arranging the formation, while Lin Chensheng stood suspended in the air beside them.

Since his formation was different from Li Xuanfeng's, he simply landed to the side, waiting. Zhong Qian and Kan Ziyu were wholly absorbed, when suddenly a low voice from Lin Chensheng sounded in Li Xuanfeng's ear:

"Fellow Xuanfeng, are you part of Yuansu Perfected Person's line?"

Li Xuanfeng acted as if he hadn't heard, parting his lips slightly to transmit his voice with Mana as well:

"That's right… May I know Taoist fellow you are…?"

Lin Chensheng's face was calm as he replied:

"I am the nephew of Perfected Person Hou Fu."

Perfected Person Hou Fu was the newly promoted Perfected Person of Great Owl Sunflower View, still young and in his prime, most likely to lead the Great Owl Sunflower View in the future. Lin Chensheng's status was indeed high. Li Xuanfeng nodded slightly, and Lin Chensheng continued:

"When we enter the Cave Heaven, Ziyu and I will propose that we split up. You should be careful as well, it's best to go your own way."

"Hm?"

Li Xuanfeng frowned slightly; Lin Chensheng continued to transmit secretly with a low voice:

"In such a place, staying with these people isn't a good idea. In the end, you're just likely to become someone else's stepping stone, not to mention you'll hardly get your hands on anything worthwhile…"

Li Xuanfeng was momentarily speechless, then replied:

"Thank you for the warning, Taoist fellow."

Lin Chensheng showed a hint of a smile:

"No need to be overly polite. Once we're inside, let's watch out for each other."

Li Xuanfeng nodded. The two below had already risen on the wind. Kan Ziyu spoke:

"The Great Formation is complete. All is ready. We await only the descent of the Cave Heaven."

The four exchanged a few words and then each began adjusting their breathing. Light and darkness shifted several times between heaven and earth. As the sun sank once again, Lin Chensheng suddenly spoke:

"It's coming."

Li Xuanfeng exhaled and raised his brow. Sure enough, above Qing Song Island a band of light appeared.

This light revealed a shallow arc, purple above and white below, slowly emerging from the Great Void, suffused with five colors as it spread along the arc, gradually descending.

As the arc drew nearer and nearer to the ground, its other portions slowly revealed themselves. In the clouds, faintly visible, vast undulating mountain ranges seemed to waver, flashes of light weaving among them.

"Boom!"

As a thunderous crash resounded, a drizzle of ochre-golden stones began falling from the sky, and waterfalls descended out of nowhere—first morphing from purple-gold to blue-gold, finally transforming at the lowest point into raging deep-blue gales that then thickened to bright red, flames surging, condensing into all kinds of crystal stones.

Earth, water, wind, and fire shifted in succession, countless streaks of radiance shooting out, each flying off in all directions. The sea itself churned with madness, responding by spewing forth waters of every hue.

Countless Loose Cultivators leapt upward, brawling fiercely in midair. Li Xuanfeng and the others paid them no heed—three of them shielding Zhong Qian at the center as the Great Formation roared into motion.

Strands of formation patterns lit up one after another. Li Xuanfeng heard a muffled boom, and in an instant all color vanished from before his eyes, leaving only black and white. His senses dulled as objects before him stretched endlessly, until there remained only black and white lines that flowed toward a single point in the distance.

A sensation like an electric shock blasted through Li Xuanfeng's mind. Then suddenly darkness, followed by a burst of silver-white light.

The ground beneath him vanished. Li Xuanfeng saw an endless cloud sea stretching beneath his feet, the starry expanse of ten thousand fathoms high above, starlight sparkling, remote mountains rising and falling in silence.

'Qing Song Cave Heaven?'

He immediately glanced about, finding Zhong Qian and the others standing close by, all wearing expressions of awe. Lin Chensheng murmured:

"This should be Qing Song Temple…"

Looking up at the sky full of stars, he marveled out loud:

"Indeed, within Qing Song Cave Heaven the stars do not move…"

As he spoke, the others all looked up intently. Sure enough, every star here was fixed, as if pinned eternally in the sky—utterly motionless, unlike the stars in the real world, which ever drift and intertwine.

Li Xuanfeng's gaze rested upon the seven bright stars forming a dipper at the sky's edge. He spoke softly:

"Within this Cave Heaven… there is no sun or moon? Only stars?"

"That's right."

Lin Chensheng responded, scanning the cloud sea below for something, trading a look with Kan Ziyu. Together, they cupped their hands and said:

"We're in the Cave Heaven now. Each seeks his own fortune—we shall part ways here."

Their words took Zhong Qian by surprise. He seemed to want to say something, but Li Xuanfeng also cupped his hands and took his leave. Zhong Qian could only nod:

"Take care, everyone!"

Parting from the group, Li Xuanfeng slung his Golden Bow on his back and flew north for a short while, pausing for a few breaths to consider, his eyes casting down to the sea of clouds below.

"I wonder what lies beneath."

Forming a spell in his hand, a golden shield of light appeared around him. Only then did he carefully descend, testing his way down. All about him white mist billowed, touched with the hue of bright moonlight. After a few breaths, the clouds before him finally began to thin and disperse.

"It seems one enters straight into high altitude."

Pushing out from beneath the clouds and beholding the vista, he was stunned.

Below—a boundless sea of clouds. Overhead, still the starry vault ablaze with fallen light. Mountains in the distance, undulating endlessly—nothing looked any different from what he'd just seen above.

Li Xuanfeng looked up. The seven stars that resembled a dipper, visible above before, were now inverted. If there were any difference, it was only this.

Li Xuanfeng paused, realization dawning at sketchy last:

"This place has no real earth at all. Beneath the clouds… is another stretch of starry sky."

He conjured a wind spell and rode the air forward, suspicion rising in his heart:

"If that's the case, if there's a treasure above… shouldn't there be another matching one below?"

Suppressing this question, he wasted no time in this empty expanse. Fixing on a distant mountain range, he rode the wind that way.

"Boom!"

Having flown for the better half of an hour, a thunderclap boomed from the horizon. Li Xuanfeng glimpsed several figures in the distant cloud sea locked in mortal combat.

Their attire varied; some faintly bore the insignia of maritime sects. In the center, a man held two great bronze bowls aloft, purple lightning roiling within them, unleashing bolts of Mysterious Thunder onto those encircling him.

The group around him, some wielding longswords and some forming spells, were each dressed differently—but together they surrounded and attacked him. One, clad in a golden robe, gripped a blade in each hand, face twisted and fierce as he barked:

"Miao Ye, hand over that Cloud Sinking Treasure Pearl now! Don't waste time here!"

The man in the center showed no fear, only grinned, pushing the bronze bowls to their limit. Purple light flooded forth, but the surrounding crowd, though working together, refused to reveal their trump cards—dragging out the stalemate by force.

The blade-wielding man's face grew ever uglier with impatience—unwilling to waste time, but unable to bear leaving the treasure.

Li Xuanfeng had no wish to get involved, nor to arouse suspicion by flying directly past. He intended to slip into the mist and circle round. Unexpectedly, that Thunder Magic Cultivator with the bronze bowls called out with a laugh:

"Situ Chen, you'd best hurry—if you tarry, everything will be snatched away by others!"

Li Xuanfeng abruptly halted. Narrowing his eyes at the dual-blade-wielding man below, he pondered, fingers slowly reaching behind him to unstrap the longsword from off his back.