Chapter 1436: Fusang

"Ah!"

"Oh!"

"Don't look!"

All three women cried out in surprise as the strong wind whipped their skirts upwards.

Normally, long skirts wouldn't be affected by such a wind. But moments ago, due to the heat, Zu An had helped them shorten their dresses. Now, in their mini-skirts, the wind was an entirely different matter.

The three women frantically tried to hold down their flying skirts, glaring at Zu An with a mix of shame and annoyance. Zu An wanted to claim he hadn't seen anything, but with their level of cultivation, how could he possibly have missed it? Marilyn Monroe's iconic scene from his past life had left a deep impression on the world, and Zu An never expected to witness such a sight himself one day. He was about to explain, but the steady flow of blood from his nose betrayed him, prompting a torrent of criticism from the three women.

Finally, Zu An had to surrender: "I'll go closer to those Golden Crows in the sky and check things out." With his Wind Fire Wheels, he could move around much more easily. With that, he mounted his Wind Fire Wheels, left the tornado, and ascended into the sky.

The three women no longer bothered to scold him; instead, they watched his figure with growing concern.

As Zu An soared upwards, he felt his body grow hotter and hotter. For a moment, he even imagined himself as Icarus from Greek mythology, flying too close to the sun, his wings burning away, leading to a fatal plunge. Fortunately, his body was exceptionally strong. He continuously circulated the Gluttonous Sky Devouring Art, absorbing the intense heat radiating onto him and cleverly expelling it. He kept flying higher and higher. In the eyes of the three women, his figure grew smaller and smaller until, with their current eyesight, they could barely make him out. Yet, Zu An found himself still incredibly far from the Golden Crows, a chilling thought striking him: could these Golden Crows truly be as distant from this planet as the sun?

He suddenly realized he seemed to have never left the planet's range before. In his previous life, he had seen satellite photos of Earth, but in this world, he had never experienced a similar vantage point—not even though he could fly!

With this thought, he gritted his teeth, deciding to continue upwards and try again. With his current cultivation, his breathing had long become self-sustaining, and combined with his robust body, the vacuum of space would struggle to harm him in the short term. He wanted to use this opportunity to see what this world was truly like.

He continued flying upwards for a while. By Zu An's estimation, he should have long since breached the atmosphere, yet the sky above still seemed endless.

Just then, fierce astral winds suddenly erupted around him. As the wind swept past, his entire skin began to crack. He was greatly alarmed and immediately circulated the Primordial Chaos Scripture to repair himself. He was about to grit his teeth and push further upwards to try again.

To his surprise, streaks of purple lightning suddenly surged around him. Many even subtly revealed phantom images of figures and palaces. The terrifying pressure made the hair on his body stand on end. He knew very well that if struck by such lightning, his soul would likely be annihilated on the spot. Terrified, he dared not continue, immediately using his Great Wind technique to retreat. The surrounding astral winds were noticeably weaker, but even so, a bolt of lightning still struck him.

Zu An's body convulsed, and he nearly plummeted from the sky. Without hesitation, he circulated the Gluttonous Sky Devouring Art to expel the lightning from his body, simultaneously frantically absorbing Primordial Qi to repair himself. The lightning's power was significantly weaker than what he had felt moments before, suggesting his timely retreat. Had he continued upwards and been truly hit by those bolts, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

When Zu An flew back into the tornado, the three women were startled to see his scorched face. Just as they were about to ask what had happened, Zu An's head tilted, and he collapsed directly from the air.

The three women rushed to catch him, no longer concerned about physical proximity.

Yun Jianyue examined the scorched marks on Zu An's body, and her expression suddenly changed. At that moment, Yan Xuehen also looked up at her: "The aura of heavenly punishment lightning!" Yu Yanluo was confused, but the two women had no time to explain, quickly circulating their cultivation to heal him.

A little while later, Zu An slowly regained consciousness, feeling as if his head, arms, and indeed his entire body were nestled in soft clouds. A refreshing, delicate fragrance wafted to his nostrils. His heart stirred, and he immediately understood what was happening. For a moment, he was so comfortable that he didn't want to get up.

"You rascal, stop pretending! I saw your eyes move." At that moment, Yun Jianyue lightly tapped his head, though not with much force.

Zu An then sheepishly opened his eyes: "I was just worried about making you all awkward by waking up."

Yun Jianyue scoffed, "At a time like this, you're still thinking about trivialities. What exactly did you encounter just now?"

Zu An put away his joking expression and gravely recounted what had just happened.

After listening, Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue wore strange expressions. "Should we scold you or laugh at you? You're a Grandmaster, yet you lack such basic common knowledge. Forget you, even an Earth Immortal cannot break through that barrier in the sky."

"Even Earth Immortals can't?" Zu An was shocked.

"Otherwise, why do you think it's called 'ascension to immortality'?" Yan Xuehen explained. "The cultivation world actually has records of this. The higher you go, the more you encounter astral winds and heavenly lightning that can obliterate both body and spirit. Countless exceptionally talented individuals throughout history have tried, but none have succeeded. Some even suspect that this world is actually a cage."

"The reason we didn't stop you earlier was that this is a secret realm, not a complete world. We thought perhaps the laws of heaven and earth here might be incomplete, making it less dangerous. Who knew you'd be so reckless, charging in even after encountering astral winds and heavenly lightning?" Yun Jianyue's tone was a mix of reproach and concern.

Zu An gave a wry smile. He wasn't from this world, and his rapid power growth meant he hadn't followed the methodical progression of cultivators here, leading to gaps in his common knowledge.

"But even so, I didn't get close to those Golden Crows. Could it be that they are already legendary immortals?"

The three women froze. They suddenly realized something terrifying: although the fierce beasts they had dealt with so far were powerful, it hadn't been difficult to overcome them with their combined strength. They had subconsciously equated the Golden Crows' strength with the previous monsters. But even if they were all fierce beasts from Yi's heroic journey, it didn't mean their power levels were the same. Moreover, based on previous information, these Golden Crows might be the ancestors of the Demon Emperor and his kin. If the Demon Emperor was an Earth Immortal, how weak could his ancestors be? At this thought, their expressions darkened, and the atmosphere instantly grew heavy.

At this moment, Yan Xuehen suddenly shook her head slightly. "I don't think so. If they were already immortals, their power would be far beyond our ability to handle, making this a suicidal mission for us. Shun wouldn't give us an impossible task."

"That's not necessarily true," Yun Jianyue sneered. "Perhaps he intends for us to die."

Yan Xuehen frowned, "Who in the world would do something so self-defeating?"

"Come to our Sacred Cult, and I guarantee you'll see something new every day of the year," Yun Jianyue scoffed at her naivete.

"He still relies on us to help him get revenge or escape," Zu An said gravely, believing Shun wasn't that kind of person. "In any case, we've come this far. Let's go to Tang Valley first and see the situation."

The three women knew this to be true and raised no objections.

However, their spirits were no longer as triumphant as before; instead, they felt incredibly heavy. Even Zu An's usual interest in the women's smooth legs was diminished by ten percent.

After an unknown period, the surrounding wind gradually subsided. Yu Yanluo suddenly pointed into the distance: "Look there!" Everyone followed her gaze and saw a colossal divine tree, reaching majestically into the sky, breathtakingly beautiful.