Chapter 125: Cloud Upper Realm

Hiss—

Flames rose above the sandy ground, and the remains of the silver-armored corpse-refiner were quickly consumed by the fire.

Yunhe stood to the side, silently watching.

Just as the flames vanished, a green light cluster the size of an egg suddenly shot out from the sand and fled desperately.

Seeing this, a disdainful smile appeared on Yunhe's frost-covered face.

With a raise of his hand, the death-sleeping cicada on his shoulder lunged forward at greater speed, then was brought back to him in the struggle.

「Little friend, spare my life! I have mistaken you. As long as you are willing to give me a chance, my 'Profound Abyss True Classic' is also a top-tier cultivation method; I am willing to impart it all, containing countless secret arts! I am willing to open my divine sense and forever serve you as master! And you don't know, do you? This old servant is not from this place; I come from the 'Cloud Upper Realm'. Don't you want to know how I came here? Don't you want to know how to go to the 'Cloud Upper Realm'. 」

Venerable Yun Ming's speech grew faster and his voice more urgent, almost about to reveal all his secrets, all in hopes of saving his life.

Thinking of how he had barely survived, escaping from the 'Cloud Upper Realm' to this place, forced into seclusion for hundreds of years due to soul injury, now he had finally survived and even mastered the way to travel between this place and the 'Cloud Upper Realm', a bright future lay before him, yet the grudges of his past enemies remained unpaid—how could he just die in a foreign land?

Cloud Upper Realm?

This was the second time Yunhe had heard this term.

Moreover, from his words, it seemed the 'Cloud Upper Realm' was a rather large place?

Could it rival the Eastern Border of the cultivation world he inhabits?

If

If Venerable Yun Ming truly mastered the method to travel between the Eastern Border and the 'Cloud Upper Realm', and the scope of the 'Cloud Upper Realm' indeed matches that of the cultivation world's Eastern Border, then.

Even though Yunhe's will was firm, hearing this he couldn't help but feel his breath quicken and his heart flutter.

He, who possesses both a demon beast body and a cultivator body, knew best what mastering such a method entailed.

Seeing Yunhe's change in expression, Venerable Yun Ming instantly rejoiced.

「At that time, with this old servant assisting the master, not to mention forming a Golden Core, even reaching the Thus: Nascent Soul, or even higher. 」

Bear!!

However, just as Venerable Yun Ming was speaking enthusiastically, feeling he had a chance to survive, a cluster of flames suddenly rose on Yunhe's hand.

With a gentle pinch, he completely crushed the green sphere, burning it to ashes.

A mocking smile appeared on Yunhe's face.

If he let the other continue speaking, he might truly be moved.

But it's a pity.

「You are simply too dangerous; cooperating with a centuries-old monster is like scheming with a tiger for its skin—too perilous. 」 Yunhe waved his hand, dispersing the ashes.

The thick corpse qi here also slowly dissipated with the wind and sand.

He swallowed two elixirs, while grasping a medium-grade spirit stone to restore his mana and controlling the formation device to retrieve those formation flags one by one.

The facts prove it.

Being cautious and preparing more is always correct.

If not used, it merely wastes a bit of time and energy; but if used, it often can save a life.

The red-ringed gold-spotted bees rolled back with the ancient bronze brick.

This time, without this ancient treasure, even if he had left a formation here as a backup, he likely wouldn't dare to clash head-on with the opponent; instead, he would choose to abandon the formation and flee at this opportunity.

「Moreover, you don't know, even without the so-called 'Cloud Upper Realm' you speak of, I can obtain resources from both realms; there's no need to take such a great risk. 」

Gazing at the ancient bronze brick, Yunhe muttered to himself again.

He didn't know whether he was speaking to the departed Venerable Yun Ming or consoling himself for losing such a great opportunity.

As he stored the ancient bronze brick into his storage ring, Yunhe's movement suddenly stalled.

His eyes flickered slightly bright.

「No, it's not completely without opportunity. 」

He immediately swept his sleeve, recalling the red-ringed gold-spotted bees, mobilizing the little remaining mana, enduring the pain in his body, and rushed toward the previous stone cave.

Stone cave beneath the Gobi beach.

Once again he came before that pool of water.

He looked inside.

The pool water flickered with a faint blue glow, making the bottom indistinct.

「He has never left this place; telling him this is the Tianling Mountain Range raises no suspicion, yet he still wanted to enslave me, otherwise he would have to kill me—obviously to keep it secret, so fewer people know this location. 」

This indicates that the method he knows is very likely in this pool.

Back then, the Golden Core cultivators of the three demonic sects discovered the 'Ice Crystal Green Lotus', but because the 'Ice Crystal Green Lotus' is too fragile and precious, they would not disturb the pool.

Precisely for this reason, Venerable Yun Ming was able to wait for the arrival of Yunhe and these Foundation Establishment cultivators.

「Moreover, he insists on retrieving the 'Cloud Wing Feather'. This indicates that this object is also related to the method allowing him to return to the 'Cloud Upper Realm'. 」

Having thought this through, Yunhe no longer hesitated.

He unleashed the Xuanwu Bracelet.

With a 'plop', it fell into the pool.

After confirming there was nothing amiss, he also jumped into the water.

Upon contacting the pool water, Yunhe felt a bone-chilling cold that pierced his heart; he immediately prepared to circulate the 'Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture' to part the water, but discovered his injuries were actually slowly healing!

Only then did he stop moving, merely employing the 'Water Escape Technique' to avoid suffocating.

Don't let the pool's small size fool you; beneath it lies a separate cavern.

The space beneath the pool is not small, yet very deep, and due to the water's special nature, spiritual sense is restricted, unable to sweep to the bottom.

After submerging for the length of time it takes to finish a cup of tea, Yunhe finally reached the pool bottom.

Upon seeing what lay beneath the pool, he was stunned.

「A teleportation formation? 」

As a cultivator who had just begun to study formation arts, he had indeed seen the outline diagram of a teleportation formation.

However, the teleportation formation outline diagrams he had seen were all hexagonal, whereas this one is octagonal.

On the contrary, the grooves on it are roughly the same as those of the teleportation formations he knows.

"What is the purpose of this thing?"

Yunhe took out that peculiar "cloud feather".

He tried to infuse it with magical power.

Immediately he felt a suction coming from the feather, and as he infused magical power, the feather's downy, cloud-like "fibers" gradually expanded, also emitting a peculiar rhythm.

The surrounding water seemed, under this rhythm, to briefly exhibit folds and twists in its flow.

"Space?"

Placing the feather near the octagonal teleportation formation produced no unusual occurrence.

This left Yunhe somewhat baffled, like a monk trying to grasp his own head, and he finally had to retrieve the feather again.

He walked around the teleportation formation once.

"Although my formation skill is not great, judging solely by the formation patterns and the distribution of the spirit stone grooves, there should be no problem."

However, to be safe, he still made a rubbing of the formation's pattern.

"Is this the method for traveling between the Eastern Border and the Upper Cloud Realm that Venerable Yunmeng spoke of?"

It should be about ninety percent correct.

"But we still need to figure out how to use this teleportation formation first."

Moreover.

Venerable Yunmeng obviously fled here; even if the other side truly is the Upper Cloud Realm, what if he teleports over and happens to run into cultivators lying in wait for Venerable Yunmeng?

Although Venerable Yunmeng has been in seclusion for at least a hundred years, even if there are enemies waiting there, it's impossible for them to keep watch that long.

But after all, there is still that possibility.

"Rashly going to an unfamiliar place is not because I can't make it in this realm."

"However, no matter what, it can also be considered a retreat."

With that thought, Yunhe swam upward.

Returning to browse the Qingzong Sect's classics to see if he could find any information about teleportation formations, the Upper Cloud Realm, and the cloud feather.

However, before leaving.

He noticed that at the corner of the pool bottom, several ice crystals of varying sizes, a pale blue, had condensed, shimmering with the pool water and appearing somewhat extraordinary.

"Ice-blue crystal."

He was familiar with this thing.

He also immediately understood that the water in this pool is ice-blue liquid, a kind of fluid that can heal wounds and aid growth and recovery.

And this "ice-blue crystal" is also a rare spiritual object that can speed up wound healing and additionally restore magical power.

In critical moments it can also preserve life.

He gathered every single ice-blue crystal from the pool bottom, leaving none behind.

Only then did he finally swim upward.

"Let this place remain unknown forever."

Boom—!!

Arriving at the Gobi, he gazed at the place continually emitting roars and collapses, and only left satisfied after the cave entrance had completely collapsed.

However, this disturbance is hardly anything for the vast Gobi.

Such collapses also frequently occur on the Gobi sands, attracting no attention.

As for the three Golden Core cultivators of the Demonic Sect,

"Now it's not easy for them to come over."

He arrived at the place where his senior sister Liu Tianhong was settled.

Dozens of red-ringed gold-spotted hornets immediately swarmed forward; the formation had not been tampered with, indicating this place is relatively safe.

He briefly checked on Liu Tianhong, who remained unconscious.

Yunhe simply sat cross-legged beside her.

While regulating his breath to recover, he also organized the storage bags of Blood Phoenix Pavilion and Wu Ying.

First, naturally, a large quantity of spirit stones, estimated at no less than five thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Moreover, most of them are actually medium-grade spirit stones, which helps make up for his shortage of spirit stone reserves.

Next are some spiritual artifacts, magical artifacts, jade slips, and so on.

He sorted them by category and stored them away.

Spiritual and magical artifacts are considered "stolen goods," not convenient to use directly.

Waiting for an opportunity to sell them all for spirit stones, he estimates at least several thousand low-grade spirit stones.

What's more regrettable is that the set of flying knives from Blood Phoenix Pavilion, having been severely gnawed by the red-ringed gold-spotted hornets, has greatly diminished in value.

"But no matter what, this trip, even if it yields only spirit stones, is not a loss."

Moreover, he also obtained a stalk of "ice-crystal blue lotus."

This will increase his chance of successfully breaking through to Golden Core by at least ten percent, possibly more.

After calculating the gains and losses,

He began to examine the jade slips one by one.

Some demonic secret arts still interest him greatly, for example Blood Phoenix Pavilion's "Blood Sacrifice Evasion Technique"; if it weren't interrupted by the "Heart Worm Technique," Yunhe estimates he wouldn't be able to catch up.

And what he valued most, undoubtedly, was the corpse sect's techniques of refining and controlling corpses.

If we could make use of the Heavenly Capital Gu Corpse, then from now on, even when facing a true early Golden Core cultivator, we wouldn't be so passive.

Fortunately, the one possessing Yun Ming Venerable is the Silver Armor Refined Corpse; if he had possessed the Heavenly Capital Gu Corpse instead, we might as well just wait for death.

Thinking of this, Yunhe still felt a lingering fear.

At the same time, he also realized that he must leave enough backup measures on the corpse to guard against any mishap.

Perhaps Hei Mu had left many backup measures on the Silver Armor Refined Corpse, but the new handler, Yunhe, simply didn't know about them, nor would he know how to use them.

But this lesson, he has taken it to heart.

One must leave what is out in the open for use in controlling the corpse, and also leave what is hidden in the dark, to prevent certain old ghosts from forcibly seizing it and boosting their strength.

Immediately settling his mind, he placed the Jade Slip on his forehead and began to read it slowly.

Yao Shou Shijie.

Huanhu Dao.

Splash—

The pattering rain washed over the small island, washed over the lake surface.

It brought a hint of coolness.

It also brought waves of restless urge.

———

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(End of chapter)