Chapter 908: The Corner of the Universe

Jia Baihhe hadn't gone far before she stopped; a restriction had appeared before them.

This wasn't a natural restriction, but a man-made one.

Before Ding Huan could tear it open, the restriction automatically opened.

"Newcomers? Come in." After the restriction opened, someone actually spoke.

That tone didn't seem all that strange, as if newcomers came through here often.

Multiple divine senses landed on Ding Huan and Jia Baihhe at once; upon discovering that Ding Huan and Jia Baihhe's cultivation was low, those divine senses all withdrew.

Ding Huan swept his divine sense over and saw the speaker was a Creation Realm cultivator; judging by the aura of the Great Dao, the Great Dao he had comprehended should be considered decent.

It's just that having been in this void for a long time, his Dao charm had grown somewhat scattered—probably because his Great Dao had declined.

Behind the restriction, a colossal boulder floated in the void.

On this colossal boulder were some cultivators' temporary cave dwellings.

"Big Brother, I can sense that Elder Yi Shang went in from here." Jia Baihhe's tone was very certain.

"Let's go, we'll step in and take a look too." Ding Huan brought Jia Baihhe into the restriction.

Ding Huan had expected someone here would charge them a fee; what puzzled him was that after he came in, no one paid them any more attention.

Even the fellow who had spoken earlier left on his own.

Ding Huan brought Jia Baihhe and Yijie down onto this giant boulder.

This floating giant boulder was at least several tens of li across, with around a hundred cave dwellings on it.

Ding Huan swept his divine sense once and found that many cave dwellings were empty—no one was living in them.

With Ding Huan's divine sense, he quickly scanned and determined that there should only be twelve cultivators on this giant boulder.

The strongest among them was actually a powerhouse at the Sixth Step of the Great Dao.

However, this fellow's Great Dao charm was just as scattered.

This wasn't strange—Heaven and Earth origin qi was scarce here, and the rules of Heaven and Earth were obscure.

If one stayed here long-term, and without resources like dao veins on one's person, the collapse of one's Great Dao was inevitable.

There was also one person, in a corner of this giant boulder, whose cave dwelling restriction was wrapped up tightly.

Ding Huan didn't break open the other's restriction; from the fluctuations of Dao charm and laws around the cave dwelling, Ding Huan could sense that this fellow's cultivation wouldn't exceed the Creation Realm.

Ding Huan quite decisively raised his hand and pulled out a low-grade dao vein, tossing it onto the giant boulder.

The dense Heaven and Earth origin qi instantly dispersed, spreading across the entire giant boulder.

Sure enough, eleven people rushed over after him.

What surprised Ding Huan was that the fellow in the farthest corner of the giant boulder didn't come out.

"You actually have a dao vein?"

The speaker was the cultivator who had first helped Ding Huan open the restriction; he stared in shock at the dao vein Ding Huan had tossed onto the giant boulder, then looked at Ding Huan again.

When Ding Huan had just entered, numerous divine senses had already scanned them.

Given Ding Huan and Jia Baihhe's cultivation, by all rights they shouldn't have had a dao vein.

Generally, those who could produce a dao vein had cultivation at least at the Creation Realm or above.

Yet Ding Huan had now produced one.

And Ding Huan's cultivation, in their eyes, didn't seem high, though they couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"Would you be willing to trade your dao vein?" That strongest cultivator, the Sixth Step powerhouse, looked at Ding Huan, his tone somewhat eager.

Ding Huan was inwardly puzzled—shouldn't they just snatch it by rights?

Once you entered this place you'd be trapped; who would care about ants of their meager cultivation?

"Not for sale, not for trade."

Ding Huan said.

Hearing Ding Huan's words, everyone up here showed disappointed expressions; surprisingly, no one actually came up to snatch it.

Ding Huan spoke again: "If all of you can answer a few questions of mine, I wouldn't mind giving it away."

Hearing Ding Huan's words, that Sixth Step Great Dao powerhouse's eyes lit up, and he immediately cupped his fist and said: "Fellow Daoist, please speak."

Ding Huan also cupped his fist: "I have a friend called Elder Yi Shang; she wandered into here by mistake many years ago. Do any of you know where she went?"

"The Elder Yi Shang you speak of, I know her. She left several thousand years ago." that Sixth Step Great Dao cultivator replied.

Ding Huan frowned: "Friends, your cultivation is all stronger than hers, and you can't leave—how could she leave?"

That Sixth Step Great Dao cultivator sighed: "Fellow Daoist, you've only just arrived here, so you probably don't know the situation.

This place is called the Corner of the Universe; we all fell into here by accident. In the Corner of the Universe there are two benefits: first, you can avoid the Universe's Tribulation of Quantification; second, you can perceive the deficiencies in your own Great Dao.

There are also two drawbacks; the first drawback I think you should already know—once you enter, leaving depends on opportunity.

Second, once your dao veins run out, staying in this place you can only watch helplessly as your own Great Dao collapses and your cultivation declines.

The reason I say it's hard to leave is that there is still a chance to leave here. There's a barrier here that opens once every thousand years, and only one person can enter each time.

At its peak, this Survival Stone had several hundred people; now only twelve of us remain. The Elder Yi Shang fellow Daoist you mentioned entered the barrier three thousand years ago and left."

Ding Huan's divine sense had already swept out and sensed that the space at the far end of this giant boulder was somewhat different; there were indeed traces of a barrier.

"Is it not the case that the person chosen to enter the barrier each time isn't based on how long they've stayed here?" Ding Huan had roughly guessed some of it.

That Sixth Step cultivator nodded: "Indeed so. Each time the barrier opens, the people on the giant boulder all line up to enter the barrier.

In the end only one can enter; this lucky entrant is neither the first in line, nor the last, nor the strongest—it's all down to luck."

Ding Huan gave a cold laugh.

Most barriers are naturally formed, yet this barrier was clearly arranged by man.

If you said it was about luck, he absolutely wouldn't believe it.

He guessed no one here would believe it either.

However, everyone only had one path to walk, and could only choose to believe that they could leave after entering the barrier.

"Then each time the barrier opens, which kind of person is mostly chosen to enter? Is it the lower the cultivation, the better?"

"Not necessarily. Sometimes it's those with low cultivation, sometimes those with high cultivation. One thing is certain—anyone who dares to snatch and fight on this Survival Stone... basically won't be chosen by the barrier.

Not only that, for those who commit offenses, their Great Dao collapses and dissipates very quickly."

Hearing this, Ding Huan finally understood.

No wonder it's so harmonious here—even knowing he had a Dao Vein, no one came to snatch it.

It's because the rule here is that snatching and fighting are forbidden.

"This Dao Vein is yours." Ding Huan said to that Great Dao Sixth Step cultivator,

then turned and walked toward the barrier location.

"Many thanks, Dao Friend." This Great Dao Sixth Step cultivator was overjoyed, quickly gathered the Dao Vein Ding Huan had left on the giant rock, and returned to his own cave dwelling at top speed.

He was going to go into closed-door cultivation to recover his strength.

The rest watched enviously at this fellow who had obtained the Dao Vein; as for Ding Huan's action, no one paid it any mind.

After all, how many newcomers who come here wouldn't go observe that barrier?

Even those who did pay attention to Ding Huan, most wanted to see if they could trade a Dao Vein out of him.

"Big Brother, I feel this place is not simple. These people seem to be deliberately penned up and raised like livestock." Jia Baihe said in a low voice.

Ding Huan smiled: "You think the people here don't know? They all know their own situation. It's just that besides this barrier, there's no other path here, so they can only choose to believe."

Ding Huan stood at the edge of the giant rock, his divine sense landing on that void location with traces of the barrier.

A full half a time-chen passed before Ding Huan withdrew his divine sense and said: "Baihe, you and Yijie enter my world in a moment. This barrier is not simple; I plan to go in and take a look."

This barrier was even more complex than the one entered outside. Ding Huan estimated that even he would need to spend some time to open it.

But Ding Huan very much liked this kind of barrier.

His involvement with barriers hadn't been long; for him, the more challenging the barrier, the more it could raise his barrier level.

"This Dao Friend, you plan to break open this barrier?"

Before Jia Baihe and Yijie could enter Ding Huan's world, a blue figure had already landed beside Ding Huan.

Ding Huan calmly sized up the blue-robed cultivator before him.

Besides them, there had originally been twelve people on this giant rock.

Just now when he took out the low-grade Dao Vein, eleven people had come out—even that Great Dao Sixth Step powerhouse had come out.

Only the fellow right before him hadn't come out.

It's just that fellow's cave dwelling had restrictions, and Ding Huan hadn't forcibly broken through the restrictions on the other's cave dwelling, that's all.

Now that this fellow had taken the initiative to appear before him, Ding Huan was somewhat surprised.

The previous eleven people all had somewhat scattered Dao Rhythms, and their Great Dao foundations were all unstable.

Only this blue-robed cultivator before him had condensed Dao Rhythms, and an extremely solid Dao foundation.

Not only that, the Great Dao confidence radiating from the other's entire body, even Ding Huan could sense it.

Trapped in this godforsaken place, yet still possessing Great Dao confidence—this was indeed not simple.

Ding Huan suspected that even that Great Dao Sixth Step cultivator with scattered Dao Rhythms, facing this fellow, might not necessarily be able to win steadily.

Here the rules of heaven and earth were obscure, and the world's Yuan Qi was even more scarce. How had this fellow managed to make his Great Dao so condensed, and even still progressing constantly?

"Who might you be?" Ding Huan didn't answer the other's words, but calmly asked a question.

"Lei Chou." The blue cultivator's tone was unhurried, though this time he did cup his fist in a salute.

Ding Huan didn't even need to sweep with his divine sense to feel that the killing aura on Lei Chou was extremely heavy; this fellow's entire body's Dao Rhythms were permeated with this killing aura.

Coupled with the Thunder-attribute Laws Ding Huan sensed, Ding Huan was certain this Lei Chou was a Thunder-attribute cultivator.

A Thunder-attribute cultivator carrying such a dense killing aura—it was evident this fellow was a killing maniac.

"Oh, how long have you been here?" Ding Huan asked.

"Seventeen thousand years." Lei Chou answered.

Ding Huan said inwardly, good fellow.

Having been in this place for seventeen thousand years, and the killing aura on him still so heavy—how many people had this fellow killed before coming in?

This fellow's killing methods were probably different from his.

He, at least, took down opponents through the Gene Killing Laws and various Poison Dao Laws.

This fellow had come straight through mountains of corpses and seas of blood by Thunder-system means. Such a thick killing aura indicated the other greatly enjoyed this killing process.

"You're called Lei Chou—is it because you hold a great grudge?"

Hearing Ding Huan's words, Lei Chou was somewhat displeased.

He had come to inquire of Ding Huan, intending to seek cooperation.

The result was that one question of his Ding Huan hadn't answered yet, yet Ding Huan had already asked him so many questions first.