Free Web NovelChapter 2080: Chapter 2078: Speculations
Lu Ye walked to the window, lifted the hanging red curtain, and looked outside. He saw beams of colorful light weaving and moving around, like schools of fish, with new beams continuously being created as others faded away. The outside world appeared bizarre and fascinating.
"What is this..." Lu Ye showed a look of surprise.
Jiu Yan said, "This sedan is moving at an incredibly terrifying speed..." She then shook her head, "No, it shouldn’t be called moving; it should be called traversing space. What you see is merely a phenomenon caused by its spatial traversal."
"Where is it going?" Lu Ye asked.
"I don’t know." Jiu Yan also wanted to understand where exactly it was heading, but up until now, she had no clues.
Lu Ye walked to the other window and observed, finding the situation identical. He felt a surge of astonishment; while inside this sedan, he couldn’t feel any signs of movement. The space within was extremely stable, as if it were merely a secluded compartment.
Recalling the terrifying power the Spectral Sedan Chair suddenly unleashed earlier, Lu Ye’s heart raced. Could this... perhaps be a supreme treasure?
But looking at the stellar space, the number of supreme treasures was limited. Why had he never heard of such a treasure before? Jiu Yan clearly had no knowledge of the Spectral Sedan Chair either.
But the current situation was that he and Jiu Yan were trapped here.
"The origin of this Spectral Sedan Chair should be the same as that of the ox demon; they both come from a place called Star Abyss." Jiu Yan suddenly spoke. Such a conjecture was not surprising because the ox demon recognized the Spectral Sedan Chair and actively tried to board it.
"Senior Sister, do you know of Star Abyss?" Lu Ye asked.
"I’ve never heard of it." Jiu Yan shook her head, "Actually, I’m more curious about the sudden appearance of the portal on Jade Sword Island."
When the incident on Jade Sword Island occurred, Lu Ye, along with Luan Xiao’e and Yann Miao, were the first to arrive, and Jiu Yan followed afterwards, so she wasn’t aware of the previous events.
Lu Ye sighed, "It was related to the Insect Race. They conducted a mysterious ritual on Jade Sword Island, sacrificing two Sun Blaze level cultivators and all the island’s cultivators to open that portal. They also used a clay pot-like object, which I had never seen before."
"What did it look like?" Jiu Yan asked.
Lu Ye immediately described it carefully, and Jiu Yan listened with confusion, evidently not knowing what that clay pot was.
"So, the portal was opened by the Insect Race, and two Sun Blaze lives were sacrificed as the price!"
"Make that three, because the third one was injured by me and sent back to Merfolk Island. I had planned to interrogate him thoroughly later."
Now trapped in the Spectral Sedan Chair, there was no chance to ask anything.
"The Insect Race paid such a huge price, and they specifically chose Jade Sword Island. Could this be related to the major phenomenon arriving?" Jiu Yan speculated in disbelief.
"I’ve thought the same. The Insect Race clearly knows something, but we currently have no way to verify. The portal they opened on Jade Sword Island should be connected to Star Abyss, and those who came from Star Abyss seemed to have a peculiar strength."
Lu Ye was unsure about the other two, but as for the ox demon, even Jiu Yan was no match for it. Such terrifying strength was almost unrivaled.
Jiu Yan said, "That ox demon must have forged a Dao foundation; that’s why it’s so powerful."
"Forged a Dao foundation?" Lu Ye raised his eyebrows.
In the shadow, Jiu Yan’s bright eyes glanced at him, "You and Ma Bin are close. Haven’t you ever asked him about Dao foundations?"
Ma Bin had forged a Dao foundation. Previously, it was damaged, and he spent several years recovering on Three Worlds Island.
"No, I haven’t." Lu Ye shook his head. He had never asked Ma Bin about this aspect and was not familiar with the concept of a Dao foundation at all.
Jiu Yan sighed, "On the cultivation path, reaching the Peak Sun Blaze is the pinnacle, as it’s been since ancient times. Countless cultivators have reached their limits and can go no further. While there are ancient rumors that cultivators must forge their own Dao foundation after Sun Blaze for further progress, there are no unified standards or specific cultivation techniques for forging a Dao foundation. Hence, there are methods like the Out-Of-Body Incarnation Method, Inner Core Technique, or various other methods. These are what Sun Blaze practitioners turn to when they can advance no further."
"But Ma Bin forged his own Dao foundation?" Lu Ye asked in shock.
"Yes!" Jiu Yan nodded, "That’s why he’s so powerful."
"And what about you?"
"If I knew how to forge a Dao foundation, I wouldn’t have cultivated incarnations; I wouldn’t..." Jiu Yan shot him an annoyed glance, stopping mid-sentence, and changed the topic, "Looking at this stellar space, including Ma Bin, there are not more than three who have successfully forged their own Dao foundation, and each had unique encounters that others cannot replicate."
Lu Ye finally understood why, despite also being at Peak Sun Blaze, Ma Bin’s strength surpassed others. It was because of this.
As for what unique encounter Ma Bin experienced to successfully forge his own Dao foundation, Lu Ye didn’t know. This elder was from the era before the Nine Provinces, with a long life and naturally had his own unique encounters.
Immediately following this, Lu Ye realized something else, "What about Charng Feng? Does he count among the three who forged Dao foundations?"
"He naturally doesn’t include Fellow Brother Charng Feng. Though his strength is great, it still falls within the limits of Sun Blaze."
"That doesn’t seem right." Lu Ye showed a puzzled expression, "In comparison, doesn’t that mean Senior Ma Bin’s strength is inferior to that ox demon?"
Back then, Ma Bin was besieged by Charng Feng and others, resulting in damage to his Dao foundation. In contrast, when they fought the ox demon four-on-one this time, initially, they had no way to deal with it, and even the power of the sword gourd was ineffective. The sword gourd was an affiliated treasure, yet the ox demon could take it without a scratch, such terror.
His strength seemed to be much higher than Ma Bin’s.
Jiu Yan spoke, "Even among those who have built a Dao foundation, there is still a distinction in strength. That ox demon comes from the Star Abyss, and there must be something mysterious within the Star Abyss!"
Throughout the entire stellar space, including Ma Bin, there are fewer than three cultivators who have built a Dao foundation; yet, this time, three unexpected guests from the Star Abyss have appeared, all of whom have built Dao foundations, so this is obviously no coincidence.
This undoubtedly means one thing: the Star Abyss likely has a method for building a Dao foundation!
This is also why Jiu Yan, trapped here, remains calm and composed; she even harbors some anticipation because the Spectral Sedan Chair comes from the Star Abyss and is highly likely to take her to the Star Abyss. If that happens, her future path, trapped for many years, will have hope.
If this is true, then it presents an opportunity for her.
However, she did not expect Lu Ye to be involved!
Lu Ye felt Jiu Yan’s thoughts and vaguely perceived her anticipation; yet currently trapped in the Spectral Sedan Chair, whether or when they can break free is still unknown!
Reflecting on earlier events, the sudden appearance of the red vortex stirred the Constellation Palace at the depths of the All Phenomena Ocean, its projection suppressed the gateway, under the cover of the supreme treasure’s power; the strength of the three formidable enemies quickly weakened, thus granting the Sun Blaze of All Phenomena Ocean a chance to deal with them.
The weakening of their strength was evidently related to the suppression of the gateway; the ox demon was panicked at that time and tried to leave through the gateway, but unfortunately failed.
Since he couldn’t leave, logically, nothing else should be able to come through the gateway.
But in reality, the Spectral Sedan Chair arrived...
Just before the Spectral Sedan Chair arrived, the projection of the Constellation Palace faded to an almost invisible degree, inexplicably giving the impression that the Constellation Palace deliberately allowed it to come.
Why did the Constellation Palace let the Spectral Sedan Chair come? Was it unable to resist? Or could the arrival of the Spectral Sedan Chair benefit the stellar space?
Lu Ye was unsure.
Later, the Spectral Sedan Chair took Jiu Yan away, obviously due to the strength involved; because before such a change in the Spectral Sedan Chair, it radiated its power throughout the All Phenomena Galaxy, and at that time, Jiu Yan’s strength was the strongest in the All Phenomena Galaxy.
As for himself... pure accident. He sensed that the retaliation of the Spectral Sedan Chair was something he could not resist at all, but for some reason, at the instant the red ribbon touched him, the Spectral Sedan Chair didn’t kill him but pulled him in.
The current situation is quite clear.
As long as nothing too drastic happens inside the Spectral Sedan Chair, it should be safe, and there is a good chance it will take them back to the Star Abyss. This can be inferred from the ox demon’s previous reaction.
The Star Abyss... what kind of place is it?
Why can the cultivators from the Star Abyss easily build a Dao foundation?
Perhaps these doubts can only be clarified after truly reaching the Star Abyss.
Since they’ve arrived, they should stay at ease. In the coming days, Lu Ye will nurse his wounds and cultivate, while Jiu Yan silently sits in the corner, each not interfering with the other, with only occasional casual chats to pass the time.
One day, while honing his Soul Suppressing Secret Technique in meditation, Lu Ye suddenly opened his eyes because some unusual sounds emerged from the ever-silent Spectral Sedan Chair.
It was as if something was sliding, making a rustling noise.
Yet, following the sound, there was nothing to be seen.
"Come over!" Jiu Yan called out to Lu Ye.
Of course, she had noticed such an obvious movement.
Lu Ye’s heart warmed.
Though Jiu Yan had tried to act indifferent since being trapped in the Spectral Sedan Chair, and seldom had useless communication with him, she still showed concern when something happened.
The Spectral Sedan Chair had been silent, but today it suddenly reacted again, which was clearly abnormal.
Lu Ye hastened to Jiu Yan’s side.
Just as he stood in place, the tightly closed carriage door suddenly opened, followed by a red ribbon swiftly retracting, with a figure entwined at the ribbon’s end.
That person had a baffled expression, evidently still clueless about what had happened, as the red ribbon threw him to the ground, rolling several times before stopping.
He immediately stood up, activated his Mana, and vigilantly scanned his surroundings.
With a boom... the open carriage door closed again.
In the corner of the confined space, standing beside Jiu Yan, Lu Ye made eye contact with this suddenly appearing fellow, who immediately showed a hostile face and summoned a formidable-looking magic treasure: "Fellow Daoists, without grievance or enmity, why attack sneakily?"
