Free Web NovelChapter 1264: Chapter 963: "Holy Land" Immortal Peak (2)
"Luck is indeed part of one’s strength." He Xun shrugged helplessly, "Who made us so unlucky? We can’t even catch the trend of the falling evil path.
I always hear stories of some prodigy encountering fortuitous events and obtaining a divine artifact, but who around us ever has such grand fortune?
Not to mention the countless Otherworlds, even on Wilderness World there are demon cultivators who number in the billions. Those with great fortune are still the minority. People like us are the majority, so don’t rush, take your time.
Take me for example, though I haven’t been favored, ever since I joined the Leisure Sect, today is already the third time I’m crossing a tribulation to advance! Once I successfully cross the thunder tribulation and report, I can gain an additional layer of cultivation technique imparting, speeding up and increasing the efficiency of essence refining."
Upon hearing that he has already advanced through three realms since joining, many people around him cast envious glances.
Jiang Yuan calculated, realizing that this guy succeeded in Foundation Establishment and became an evil cultivator upon joining Leisure Sect, then within less than a year, cultivated to the peak of Wisdom Realm, which was not very fast.
He Xun has an Earth Spirit Root but practices the lowest level Yellow Tier cultivation technique of Water Element, so a slow cultivation speed was understandable. After falling into the evil path, he started practicing "Bone-Dissolving Evil Technique," taking the shortcut by devouring essence, but his strength still wasn’t great.
He felt disdain in his heart, but of course naturally had to flatter him on the surface.
Receiving flattery, He Xun adopted a more self-important demeanor, softly advising, "There’s still plenty of time; we have to wait until dawn for Wilderness Ascension, then the Holy Land allows entry. Fellow Daoists should sit down and rest. Since fate brought us together, make sure to follow closely behind me upon entering, so you can grab a good spot."
Glancing at the system prompt indicating the small space entrance has not yet opened, Jiang Yuan hurriedly asked, "Senior, it’s my first time here and I really have no experience, the online guide didn’t say much; do I have to grab a spot in the Holy Land myself? Can you share which place is better for crossing tribulation? With so many people crossing at once, won’t there be interference?"
"Of course you have to compete for a good spot; otherwise why would I be here so early?" He Xun saw no reason to doubt. After all, during his first tribulation crossing, he was completely bewildered and knew nothing, and the damned online guide hadn’t been there himself, so what could he advise?
Moreover, many online guides are competitors, so not telling someone is quite normal.
He planned to shed his disguise when crossing the tribulation later, first get close to this guy, and then natural connections would form.
Whether needing help in the future or scouting how the other refines essence, having more friends can always yield more benefits. After all, sect members shouldn’t harm or kill each other; being careful won’t lead to problems.
So, He Xun lowered his voice, "Cultivators crossing tribulations are unlike birthing babies; once the time arrives, it cannot stop. We can slightly delay and postpone for a few days as needed. Therefore, the Sect Leader has provisioned that the Holy Land’s Immortal Peak opens once every five days; if you feel uncertain, you can wait a few more days to prepare adequately.
Upon entry, you’ll first step into a massive array; this is the most crucial aspect for protecting us during tribulations—each sect member will receive a layer of heavenly power from the array to bypass the Heavenly Dao Laws inspection.
Afterward, you must try to fly deeper and higher.
The vast Immortal Peak has numerous tribulation crossing platforms, the deeper you go, the more secluded it is and less prone to disturbance; the higher you occupy, the better the position, and fewer tribulation crossing platforms, preventing easy interference.
Though each tribulation crossing platform has a barrier, if the position isn’t good and surrounded by thunderclouds with lightning crackling everywhere, your cultivation may not be solid enough, and you might be affected. Even if the crossing fails and heavenly power protects you from fading, you’ll at least be worn out and need to heal for a while, who enjoys trouble for no reason..."
After listening for quite a while, Jiang Yuan grew more curious about the soon-to-open "Holy Land," especially the so-called heavenly power reinforcement—what precisely is it? Why can it safeguard evil cultivators for successful tribulation crossing?
He Xun wasn’t wrong; there’s still plenty of time until Wilderness Ascension, and some evil cultivators silently gathered as well.
The matter of tribulation advancement concerns everyone; they all appeared cautious as if facing an immense enemy, yet never realized an impersonator had already mixed in.
"See that, many sneaky fellows worry their identities might be exposed, so they arrive right on time. They don’t realize that once enough people enter the Holy Land, those coming later won’t get in!"
He Xun gloated, "Not only did they wait much longer for no reason; despite the miraculous array in the Holy Land, it’s ultimately something set up by an Array Master, consuming vast energy. If it dilutes by the second round with insufficient energy, wouldn’t they be bewildered? Quickly, prepare yourself, we need to charge inside, quickly take out your merit token."
Jiang Yuan imitated him, holding the merit token and assuming a stance.
"Charge!"
At six in the morning sharp, amidst the Wilderness Ascension, a muffled shout came from somewhere.
Beside him, He Xun shot forth like an arrow, instantly rushing towards a mountain hilltop where a void segment leaked bright light.
Many evil cultivators clearly visiting for the first time didn’t inquire about the situation, bewilderedly watched experienced ones rush into the bright gap and vanish. Hastily following up, they were blocked by an invisible barrier, and only then hurriedly pulled out their merit tokens.
With slight delay, the hidden light spots nearby grew scarce.
As the last evil cultivator stepped in, the gap quickly closed, as if it had never existed.
"Wow!"
Jiang Yuan just rushed in when a "frog croak" sounded in his ear.
The scene opened up before his eyes; he found himself standing on a massive circular "plaza" hewn into the mountainside, with Immortal Peak right in front, visible with crisscrossing tribulation platforms.
In merely half a minute, the entrance to that small space had already closed behind him.
He thought the Wilderness Ascension was used to conceal space fluctuations; no wonder Lord Jiang, being so close, hadn’t noticed.
[Mixed Essence Array storing vast life essence: Leisure Sect evil cultivators use copious life essence extracted from refining to set up a misleading array.
When this array opens, it can envelop each evil cultivator in a layer of life essence, rendering evil cultivators’ aura completely shrouded by innocents’ life aura, thus bypassing incomplete Heavenly Dao inspections]
[Life Essence: Includes lifespan not yet exhausted.
When all living beings are born, their fate is set, known as vital lifespan. However, the Heavenly Dao has its flaws, and the world is ever-changing; some beings face many trials, dying prematurely before life ends. Evil cultivators employ "Bone-Dissolving Evil Technique" to kill and extract life essence, refining and consuming it to extend lifespan while enhancing power]
Unexhausted lifespan, Jiang Yuan had encountered before.
Back in Bamboo Mountain City, Zhao Wuji deceptively set up Corpse Nourishing Land with glimpses of Bone-Dissolving Evil Technique; wisps of pale gray lines floating in forests were the remaining lifespan. Zhao Wuji learned too little of the evil technique, couldn’t extract essence, and had to resort to killing lone cultivators, accumulating a Corpse Nourishing Land to lengthen his lifespan.
But this life essence was obviously more advanced and had broader uses, even attaching onto one’s body altering evil cultivators’ aura, preventing Heavenly Dao detection. Evil cultivators were shielded entirely by human lives!
He was internally shocked yet didn’t stop his actions. Selecting the array beneath him, he began executing Soul-Devouring Demon Skill to first destroy this harmful array!
Experienced evil cultivators who’d been cloaked in a light gloss by the array flew towards Immortal Peak, seeking suitable tribulation platforms; many first-time tribulation-crossing evil cultivators obviously hadn’t seen such a spectacle, stood on the array, marveling at it.
Jiang Yuan standing amidst these people, blended in unobtrusively.
[Lifespan +25 years]
[Lifespan +21 years]
...
Thinking about the pinpoint starlight glimmers consumed by Soul-Devouring Demon Skill, all squeezed from living innocents, his mood grew heavy. Who knows how many mortals and cultivators suffered, used their remaining lifespan and life essence, to shield these wicked evil cultivators crossing tribulation!
"Rest in peace, I’ll devour the lifespan, but it’s not for nothing; I will certainly eradicate the Leisure Sect and avenge you!" Jiang Yuan silently vowed, consuming a Clear Heart Pill suppressing his inner rage and mitigating the Soul-Devouring Demon’s adverse effects to some extent.
"Hey? What’s going on? Why did the array just extinguish?"
"Damn it! I haven’t obtained heavenly power protection yet!"
"What do we do? The gate’s closed; won’t open until we finish our tribulations, are we going to wait here idly?"
"Trouble, when those fellows start tribulation crossing, won’t the thunderclouds involve us?"
"Why are you still standing there? Quickly contact online support for help..."
...
