Chapter 167 - 160: Far West Land

Chapter 167: Chapter 160: Far West Land

Jiang Zuo could only watch helplessly as he was bound by these chains and dragged toward the sky.

Moreover, Jiang Zuo discovered that these black chains were not entirely solid. Several of them had invaded his body, and a few others had even penetrated his Sea of Consciousness.

The black chains descending from the sky were a comprehensive, airtight trap for a target like Jiang Zuo, leaving absolutely no possibility of escape.

What made Jiang Zuo even more uneasy were the giant black eye in the sky and those black chains.

He didn’t get the sense that they were a targeted arrangement by some Great Power. Instead, they felt like they came from the Celestial Dao of this world!

The black chains that had entered his body gave Jiang Zuo the faint sense of an inescapable law.

Never mind that Jiang Zuo was at best on par with a Divine Body Cultivator right now; even if he were ten times more powerful, he would have no way to escape from the binds of these black chains.

Just as Jiang Zuo was feeling completely helpless, the Mysterious Stele in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly stirred.

It seemed to have been awakened by the black chains that had invaded his Sea of Consciousness, or perhaps it was for some other reason.

The Mysterious Stele began to spin rapidly, scattering streams of hazy gray light from its surface throughout Jiang Zuo’s Sea of Consciousness.

The hazy gray light rippled out like a wave, spreading from his Sea of Consciousness across his entire body.

Jiang Zuo’s body was immediately enveloped in a hazy gray light.

This hazy gray light didn’t give Jiang Zuo a very good feeling.

After Jiang Zuo had cultivated his Five Elements Spirit Body, his entire body was like flawless jade stone.

But as this gray light swept over him, his body became covered in layers of dust, like a pearl shrouded in grime.

However, the result of this action was also quite obvious. Both the giant black eye in the sky and the chains binding Jiang Zuo now showed a hint of hesitation.

As the hazy gray light rippled across Jiang Zuo’s body again and again, his Five Elements Spirit Body became coated in more and more layers of dust.

Finally, the black chains released Jiang Zuo and slowly retracted into the void. The giant black eye in the sky also quietly faded away, disappearing without a trace.

Jiang Zuo fell from the sky. He didn’t dare to linger for a moment, diving directly into the sea.

Jiang Zuo looked into his Sea of Consciousness. The Mysterious Stele had stopped spinning and fallen completely silent. He sensed that the stele had expended a great deal of effort this time; he feared it would remain dormant for a very long time.

After fleeing an unknown distance in one go, Jiang Zuo finally calmed down and began to walk along the seabed.

’That giant black eye was the Celestial Dao of this world. There’s no mistaking it.’

’If a Great Power had acted, they wouldn’t have been fooled so easily by the Mysterious Stele.’

’The trigger must have been the Five Elements Spirit Body. I just don’t know if it’s related to me constantly undergoing Reincarnation and milking the Celestial Dao for benefits.’

’Hmm, it probably doesn’t have much to do with me milking it for benefits. Does that mean this world doesn’t allow someone as incredible as a person with a Five Elements Spirit Body to exist?’

’Or maybe it’s not that it’s disallowed, but that the Five Elements Spirit Body has some special use for this world’s Celestial Dao.’

’That’s very likely. If it wasn’t allowed, the Celestial Dao could have just struck me down with a bolt of Tribulation Thunder and I’d have been turned to ash. It wouldn’t need to expend effort to capture me.’

As Jiang Zuo carefully recalled the terrifying scene from before, the conclusion he reached put him slightly at ease.

It would be simple for the Celestial Dao to annihilate a minor figure like him. Although this encounter was terrifying, it didn’t seem to be fatal.

However, there was no telling what kind of treatment he would have received had he actually been captured.

Perhaps the Celestial Dao was only interested in his physical body, not him as a person.

For Jiang Zuo, that would still be a dead end.

So, it was for the best that he wasn’t captured.

’Other than my Five Elements Spirit Body being covered in dust, it seems there are no other losses.’

Jiang Zuo then carefully examined the changes in his own body.

His Five Elements Spirit Body, once like flawless jade stone, had become dull and gray under the Mysterious Stele’s concealment.

But his original physical body, Divine Sense, and so on were completely unaffected.

The black chains also left no particular trace within his body.

’The Five Elements Spirit Body isn’t just being concealed; its actual effectiveness has also been greatly diminished.’

’Although I haven’t yet tried cultivating with the Five Elements Spirit Body, based on how the Water Spirit Body feels in the water, I’d say the Five Elements Spirit Body has lost at least seventy percent of its effectiveness!’

The effectiveness of his Five Elements Spirit Body had been greatly diminished by the Mysterious Stele’s actions. However, Jiang Zuo wasn’t the least bit dissatisfied.

Compared to his freedom, a slight reduction in the Five Elements Spirit Body’s effectiveness was nothing.

Besides, even with only thirty percent of its effectiveness remaining, it was by no means weak.

A Spirit Body with All Five Elements Present was not something a single-attribute Spirit Body could compare to.

He had achieved single-attribute Spirit Bodies long ago, but the eye of the Celestial Dao had only appeared when he finally had All Five Elements Present. There was undoubtedly a reason for that.

Besides, once he refined the Mysterious Stele in the future, restoring the Five Elements Spirit Body would be a simple matter.

Jiang Zuo didn’t dwell on the matter of his Five Elements Spirit Body for too long.

Even with only thirty percent effectiveness, his current Cultivation Talent was still incredibly heaven-defying.

His Cultivation speed would just be a bit slower compared to its full potential.

But Jiang Zuo didn’t lack longevity, so a slightly slower speed was of no concern.

’What I need to worry about now is whether the Mysterious Stele’s concealment effect will be lost when I reduce my age.’

He was currently thirty-three years old, which wasn’t that high. It would be fine even if he didn’t reduce his age.

But in the future, he would probably still need to reduce his age.

If reducing his age restored the Five Elements Spirit Body to its full state, Jiang Zuo would no longer be able to use that method.

After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Zuo immediately ran some tests.

’Thank goodness!’

’Reducing my age by ten years only weakened the concealment effect by a tiny bit. It’s almost negligible.’

’I estimate I’d have to reduce my age by at least five hundred years for the weakening of the concealment to become noticeable.’

’But by then, I should have more or less completely refined the Mysterious Stele anyway.’

Jiang Zuo had already reverted to a young man in his early twenties.

He breathed a sigh of relief at the test results.

’After more than a hundred years of effort, I’ve finally obtained an excellent Cultivation Talent, just as I wished.’

’There’s nothing left for me in the Mortal Territory. It’s time to begin the true path of Cultivation.’

’There are many Loose Cultivators in the Cultivation Realm, but from what I saw at the Xu Family Marketplace back then, being a Loose Cultivator is extremely difficult. Even finding a suitable place for Cultivation is a problem.’

’With my talent, the denser the Spiritual Qi, the better.’

’In the Cultivation Realm, any place with even slightly dense Spiritual Qi has long been occupied by sects of various sizes. To obtain better cultivation resources, I still need to join a sect.’

’I’ll find a large sect to join. A large sect has more people and more resources, which will make it easier for me to lay low and hide!’

Jiang Zuo quickly made his decision.

He immediately headed straight for the western edge of the Mortal Territory.

Along the way, Jiang Zuo considered whether he should make another trip to the Ancient Beast Forest.

He hadn’t started his Cultivation yet, so he could still venture deep inside.

Once he began his Cultivation, he would never have the chance to enter it again.

However, after a moment’s thought, Jiang Zuo decided against it.

Although more than a hundred years had passed since his last visit to the Ancient Beast Forest, the Black Lotuses there should have grown a new batch of seeds.

However, since the current time wasn’t a multiple of fifty years, the chances of the Black Lotuses still having seed pods were slim.

Jiang Zuo had almost no need for Black Lotus seeds; he would only pick them to trade or give to others.

The ones he had planted previously in the Pet Beast Spirit Garden had already taken root, sprouted, and grown in the central lake.

However, they had only produced black lotus leaves. As for the flowers and seed pods, after more than a hundred years, there was still no sign of them.

If the conditions for them to flower and bear fruit were too harsh, there was no point in Jiang Zuo planting any more.

And if they could flower and produce seeds, Jiang Zuo wouldn’t need to go to the Ancient Beast Forest anymore; he would be self-sufficient.

Along the way, Jiang Zuo took a moment to check on the situation inside his Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

The few extraordinary saplings he had transplanted were all growing well.

Over the years, Jiang Zuo had also been continuously introducing various plants and animals into the Spirit Garden to establish an ecosystem.

The ones that had reproduced the most successfully were a flock of Seated Mountain Eagles.

Over the past hundred-plus years, they had already produced more than ten generations within the Spirit Garden.

The first generation of Seated Mountain Eagles was now approaching the end of its lifespan.

Xiaoqing still had that same sluggish appearance. Although its Cultivation had increased somewhat, its size remained largely unchanged.

The one that had changed the most was, of course, Great Black.

Ever since obtaining the two drops of blood left by the giant turtle over a decade ago, Great Black’s transformation had been ongoing.

In just over a decade, Great Black had already broken through to become a second-rank Spirit Beast.

But strangely, its body had actually shrunk after the breakthrough.

It was originally a size larger than a fierce tiger, but now it was gradually showing signs of reverting to its original size.

Jiang Zuo didn’t understand the reason either. If he had to guess, he felt that the two drops of blood from the giant turtle weren’t ordinary blood; rather, they had illuminated the path of growth for Great Black.

After breaking through to become a second-rank Spirit Beast, Great Black’s lifespan increased significantly.

It was originally over two hundred years old, with nearly half its life gone. Now, it had received a huge life extension and had become much younger again.

...

「Ten years later.」

The Cultivation Realm, the Far West Land, on the western edge of the human Ancestral Continent.

Because of his grudge with the Divine Wood Sect, Jiang Zuo didn’t know if he would be discovered if he got too close to them.

Going all in, he simply ran to the Far West Land, a world away from the Divine Wood Sect.

The Divine Wood Sect was located in the eastern part of the human Ancestral Continent, occupying East Divine Mountain.

Under normal circumstances, it would be next to impossible for Jiang Zuo to run into a disciple from the Divine Wood Sect in the Far West Land.

To do this, Jiang Zuo spent a full ten-plus years on the road.

And even then, he had deliberately gotten himself hired by a merchant caravan midway through the journey, using their Teleportation Array once, just to make it to the Far West Land within ten years.

Jiang Zuo chose to come to the Far West Land not only because it was far from the Divine Wood Sect, but also for another very important reason.

The Far West Land bordered Demon Beast Territory, and there were many sects here with Beast Taming branches.

The largest of them, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, was even one of the Ten Great Sects of the human Ancestral Continent.

Jiang Zuo had come specifically for the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect.

As long as he joined the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, he could become a Beast Tamer, practice Beast Taming openly, and once again start earning Beast Taming Reputation.