Chapter 440: Deep into the Mysterious Realm

The Dao Heart Projections of Huang Xu and Kong Xu could extend their perception up to twenty miles away.

After cultivating for decades in the Dao Seed Realm, they had fostered powerful souls and wills. Across the entire world, among individuals under sixty years old, their combat prowess ranked among the best, second only to patriarchs of the most powerful clans, such as Zuoqiu Cangwu.

Yao Qian, known as "Thirty-Mile Snow," had a Dao Heart Projection of this caliber when he was in the eighth heaven of the Dao Seed Realm. However, he was alone, while Huang Xu and Kong Xu were the Inao brothers, working together with perfect synergy.

The Void Imprint, a technique they cultivated, was rumored to have been comprehended from an ancient realm located in the Sacred Heart Layer of an underground immortal mansion. One imprint floated in the sky, while the other was branded upon the earth. It contained unfathomable martial arts mysteries.

"They must have only recently broken through to the eighth heaven of the Dao Seed Realm," Li Weiyi thought. "Their internal Qi is still unstable, but each of them already possesses the strength to contend with cultivators in the ninth heaven of the Dao Seed Realm."

Li Weiyi conceded that he was not their match at present, but his escape abilities were among the best for anyone below the Longevity Realm. He held a Swiftness Talisman between two fingers and pressed it against his chest.

"Whoosh!"

The talisman emitted a layer of yellow radiance, enveloping both him and Yu'er. Their speed surged instantly.

This particular Swiftness Talisman, infused with the ancient character for "movement" from the Six Jia Secret Blessings, was far superior to those crafted by other six-star Spirit Cultivators. The burst of speed it provided was even greater than that of a typical ninth-heaven Dao Seed Realm cultivator. Yet, Huang Xu and Kong Xu could match this speed without the aid of any talismans. The difference was that they would expend a significant amount of internal Qi, whereas Li Weiyi merely consumed pre-prepared talismans.

In the Netherworld of the Departed, severe depletion of internal Qi meant a very long recovery process, accompanied by various dangers. No one dared to allow themselves to fall into a weakened state.

Kong Xu's cultivation method involved an ethereal, cloud-like movement, with light streaming and shadows blurring, making his speed exceptionally swift.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

From his Zutian, Fengfu, and Qihai, ancient swords of the Ninth-Grade Hundred-Character Weapon type flew forth, each imbued with a different power: lightning, karma fire, and heavenly light. The Heavenly Light ancient sword, originating from his Qihai, was expelled from his mouth like a bright beam of light. The ancient scriptures inscribed on all three swords became fully visible, unleashing a fierce surge of energy that formed three torrents of sword qi. These torrents arced through the air for several miles, cutting off Li Weiyi's escape route.

Such an aggressive attack was highly conspicuous, with the surging Qi and brilliant light visible from a great distance. Yet Kong Xu remained fearless, unafraid of drawing out the monstrous departed spirits from the Netherworld of the Departed. This was because he was well aware of how catastrophically the army of departed spirits had been defeated in the Lingxiao Living Realm.

Employing the "Front" character secret art, Clear Void Cicada Chasing Steps, and the movement abilities of his Governor's Robe, Li Weiyi's footwork became erratic and his body seemed illusory. He dodged the incoming flying swords more than a dozen times.

When further evasion became impossible, he swung his Myriad Things Staff-Spear, clashing head-on with the swiftest lightning ancient sword.

"Boom!"

The crimson-gold flame armor Li Weiyi had manifested around himself shattered from the sword's overwhelming power. His arms throbbed as if they would burst, his fingers felt numb and weak, and he was sent flying sideways seven zhang, causing a large section of the ground to visibly indent where he landed.

He dared not linger for even a moment. He once again activated the Governor's Robe's spatial teleportation, covering several miles and widening the gap between himself and his two pursuers.

Huang Xu, who pursued on the ground, cultivated a heavy and stable path, like the earth itself, and possessed formidable strength. He could effortlessly hurl boulders six to seven meters tall and weighing hundreds of thousands of jin. Even from several miles away, Li Weiyi could hear the powerful hum of internal Qi circulating within Huang Xu.

"Sirs, if you continue this pursuit, you'll delay the Divine Sect's crucial evacuation," Li Weiyi shouted, his voice carrying. "Can you truly bear the responsibility for that?"

Huang Xu and Kong Xu were already in full pursuit, employing every technique they had. The longer they chased, the more alarmed they became. Their opponent far exceeded their estimations; with the Governor's Robe and the Swiftness Talisman, he was practically impossible to pin down. His Dao Heart Projection could not be suppressed, and their long-range attacks proved ineffective. Only days earlier, the two of them had teamed up to defeat and kill one of the Nine Great Priests of the Jiuli Temple, a formidable nine-star Spirit Cultivator. Yet today, apprehending a mere six-star Spirit Cultivator was proving to be this challenging. As the pursuit continued, they grew increasingly uncertain. In the outer regions of the Netherworld of the Departed, their cultivation allowed them to act with impunity. However, as they ventured deeper, the horrors of the Netherworld demanded caution from any human cultivator.

"If we capture you," they thought, "why would we return to the Divine Sect? The resources and treasures on your person alone would be enough to support our breakthrough into the Longevity Realm."

"Once we achieve longevity, the vast world will be ours to explore freely."

Huang Xu and Kong Xu clearly understood that, after the Yin Corpse Dao Implantation, the Inao Sect had become a pariah in the Lingxiao Living Realm, with nowhere left to hide. Even if they fled to the Eastern Sea islands or Daozhou, they would not find true peace. The human forces of the Lingxiao Living Realm would relentlessly pursue them, uprooting them completely.

With a twenty-mile Dao Heart Projection, escape was exceedingly difficult. In this desperate pursuit, Li Weiyi ran for hundreds of miles before he was finally able to temporarily shake off his two pursuers, his internal Qi severely depleted. The web of skin between his thumbs and forefingers was bleeding, his arms were aching and numb, and his entire body felt as if it were falling apart.

"Master... did we get away?" Yu'er's timid voice came from his back.

"I think so!"

Li Weiyi's activation of the Governor's Robe had severely depleted his internal Qi. However, his pursuers had continuously projected their Dao Heart and used their artifacts for long-range attacks, meaning their internal Qi consumption would have been even greater.

"When I cultivate my spiritual power later," Yu'er declared, "I'll definitely teach them a lesson for Master!"

"No need, no need," Li Weiyi quickly replied. "It won't come to Yu'er having to intervene."

Daring not to linger, Li Weiyi took out the Evil Camel Bell and began to shake it.

"Ding-ding-dong-dong."

As the bell chimed, wisps of nethermist seeped out from it. Within the thick nethermist, two colossal, semi-ethereal camels materialized. They stood three to four meters tall, emanating a strange yet profound aura.

On this dark and decaying land, Li Weiyi dared not easily use his jade boat for flight, as the underground was also fraught with unpredictable dangers. The aura of the Evil Camel Bell, however, harmonized with the environment and could deter some malevolent departed spirits and fiends, keeping them safe from harassment. Li Weiyi had Yu'er ride one camel by herself, and, concerned she might be scared, he released the seven little ones to play with her. From his interspatial bag, he pulled out a handful of thousand-year spirit herbs and placed them into the cloth bag Yu'er carried on her shoulder. "Feed them these," he told her, "and they'll listen to you."

With everything arranged, the two ghostly camels galloped eastward, one following the other. Yuzhou was his destination. With the trump cards he now possessed, if his courage was inferior even to Yang Qingxi's, how could he ever hope to reach the pinnacle of martial arts?

Li Weiyi sat on the back of the trailing camel, using his spiritual power to activate the Dao Ancestor's Taiji Fish and weave a mist-like Time Cocoon. He then performed the Jade Void Breathing Method, and the ten springs within his body surged simultaneously, rapidly replenishing his severely depleted internal Qi. The wounds on the web of skin between his thumbs and forefingers quickly healed and scabbed over.

After recovering almost completely, Li Weiyi took out a Phoenix Blood Leaf. He then used his internal Qi to grind it into a fine powder, absorbing it into his Zutian, Shenque, and Fengfu. The essence of the leaf then circulated with his internal Qi through his Trace Meridians and Chord Meridians, transporting it throughout his entire body. He raced against time to refine and absorb it. Each Phoenix Blood Leaf required a full day and night to be completely absorbed.

Within the Time Cocoon, five days later, he had fully refined five Phoenix Blood Leaves. Li Weiyi's skin developed a metallic sheen, resembling gold and bronze, and the major tendons in his body emitted low phoenix cries, indicating a significant increase in his physical strength. His tendons and skin now possessed 30% of the strength of a Longevity Body. This progress allowed his tendons and skin to catch up with the tempering of his bones.

"Now, with just my physical strength," Li Weiyi mused, "I could challenge some cultivators in the seventh heaven of the Dao Seed Realm. If I were to experience another fierce battle like the one just now, my hand wouldn't be torn, and I could handle it with much greater ease. The Dragon Seed in my Fengfu is approaching the peak of the fifth heaven of the Dao Seed Realm, and its combat power can rival the strongest cultivators in the seventh heaven of the Dao Seed Realm. My spiritual power, at the peak of a six-star Spirit Cultivator, grants me combat power no less than that of a peak seventh-heaven Dao Seed Realm cultivator. Only by employing the 'Fight' character secret art or the Six Manifestations of Karma Burning can I combine all my strength to contend with an eighth-heaven Dao Seed Realm cultivator."

Li Weiyi recognized that his current limitation lay in his martial cultivation realm. Advancing a realm required time for comprehension and accumulation; it could not be achieved overnight. For this journey to Yuzhou, regardless of whether he acquired Phoenix Blood Leaves, he decided that afterward, he would seclude himself for a period of Dao comprehension. By utilizing the vast collection of scriptures and true classics within the Lingxiao Palace, he would strive to condense a Dao Fruit as soon as possible. Once he successfully cultivated a Dao Fruit, even if it were only the Dragon Seed Dao Fruit of his Fengfu, he would no longer fear any opponent below the Longevity Realm.

The Netherworld of the Departed knew no daylight. However, in certain regions they passed through, the celestial darkness would recede, revealing the moon and stars. The light from the moon and stars carried an eerie, dim yellow hue, instilling a sense of decay and oppression. The entire world felt like a deceased entity, utterly devoid of vitality. Powerful internal Qi fluctuations occasionally emanated from the horizon, sounding like thunder crossing the sky, indicating strong individuals were in pursuit. Li Weiyi suspected that the major human factions of the Lingxiao Living Realm had already pushed into the darkness, intending to counterattack the Netherworld of the Departed. However, without dispelling the dark forces between heaven and earth, sunlight could not penetrate, allowing all manner of bizarre phenomena to proliferate, even affecting human nature itself. Even if they conquered it, they would be unable to restore its vitality. Only if someone acquired the nine pages of the Book of Light and Stars, currently held by the Inao Sect, and comprehended its power, could the darkness be dispelled and the departed lands of the Netherworld be transformed back into a living realm.

The Netherworld was a desert, the Living Realm an oasis. It was easy for an oasis to become a desert, but incredibly difficult for a desert to become an oasis.

"Master, look! These seven have grown quite a bit again," Yu'er called out from the back of the front camel, seeing that Li Weiyi had opened his eyes and stopped cultivating.

Even an adult like him, who had endured countless perils, felt oppressed in the Netherworld of the Departed, let alone a little girl with the mind of a four- or five-year-old. Li Weiyi retracted the strange luster from his skin, jumped off the camel, and picked her up. "You've been riding for a day and a night," he asked. "How are you feeling? Are you tired?"

"Mmm."

"What does 'Mmm' mean?"

Yu'er's round eyes glanced around, and she whispered, "Master, why is this world always so dark? Yu'er is a little scared. I always feel like something is following us."

Li Weiyi was startled by her words and dared not dismiss them. He immediately circulated internal Qi to his eyes and ears. He observed and listened. In the Netherworld of the Departed, one could not easily unleash spiritual power or Dao Heart Projections over a wide area, as doing so would expose one's location and strength. Although he considered it possible that Yu'er's fear of the dark was causing illusions, he couldn't rule out that her perception might allow her to detect dangers he couldn't.

He found nothing amiss. Li Weiyi spread his cloak on a relatively flat patch of ground and took out various foods and spring water. Yu'er was clearly hungry. Her eyes widened, and she quickly grabbed a shimmering green spirit fruit, taking a bite. "Master," she exclaimed with muffled joy, "when did you get so much food? You're so thoughtful! I thought I was going to starve again." Over the past month, Li Weiyi's focus on cultivation had often led him to neglect regular mealtimes. Yu'er had become accustomed to often going hungry, sometimes for three meals a day, or even nine meals over three days.