Chapter 253: The Quality Plaza

During these days of free time, Seeing Qu Yanping also visited the Yuzhe Sect to exchange with Mr. Miss Kelaien; after helping him authenticate several historical artifacts that were not Heavenly Dao curiosities, he gained some opportunities for experimentation.

Beyond Heavenly Dao curiosities, many things he could actually investigate, including the current anomaly.

It was a landscape never seen before, as if entering a realm of time that never changed, boundless radiant light revealing the sacred awakening from eternity.

Not dazzling, not brilliant, not glaring, yet profoundly holy, as if stepping into the most beautiful dream.

Only after encountering the powerful beings of this world did Seeing Qu Yanping realize that his own encounters and pride were as fragile as a thin sheet of window paper before true might.

This world was far more fascinating than the Shi Huanyu Realm, and far more dangerous.

Anyone could see that the dragon shadow obscuring the sky was merely a false image, yet even this shadow made him see total annihilation within this dreamlike, gentle atmosphere.

The celestial eye, formed of mysterious runes, automatically opened from his third eye; his soul detached from his body, from time, from this world, his perspective soaring infinitely upward, following the dragon shadow above the void until he reached an ocean.

This was the ocean where all information settled; he could not control himself, like a solitary boat drifting with the wind toward the unknown, the dragon shadow ahead pulling him, yet also seeming as if he were chasing it.

Time meant nothing here; a moment was eternity; he did not know how long passed before his boat sank.

A sensation of suffocation came; he instinctively struggled, like a drowning man desperate to return to the surface.

Finally

He broke free from infinite information, his body emerging from beneath the surface.

The ocean vanished.

A sky-obscuring beast claw slaughtered immortals and gods; endless divine demons slaughtered each other.

Gods and Buddhas fell, celestial dragons wept blood; at the northernmost edge of the devastated continent, three strange stone statues stood in the void, gestating in chaos, born before heaven and earth.

A supreme demon and a sacred celestial dragon cooperated to attack these three strange stone statues.

But endless chaos pressed in, surrounding them like a chaotic prison; in their continuous clash, the demon and the dragon fell into disadvantage, then endless chaos-light illuminated all.

This vast sky shrank infinitely, trapping the demon and the celestial dragon; in an instant, a colossal hand shattered the void, forming a gigantic black palm reaching for Seeing Qu Yanping.

When Seeing Qu Yanping came to his senses, the giant stone statue was also looking at him, as if crossing through time and space,

No—it was not looking at him; this was not attacking him, but the celestial dragon and the demon near him!

He could do nothing, only watch as that terrifying giant hand, radiating the aura of total destruction, was about to crush him.

The next moment, a divine light blazed from the celestial eye, piercing through the black hand, causing it to dissolve like snow beneath the sun.

Before him lay chaos; Seeing Qu Yanping felt himself sinking again beneath the surface; vaguely, the surroundings showed countless overlapping images; when these images merged into one, Seeing Qu Yanping was astonished to find himself back at the Dongtinghu cultivator gathering.

He stood motionless until the anomaly in the sky vanished completely, then opened his palm and stared blankly at it.

A sense of urgency came over him; he desperately craved greater power—if he could not attain greater power, no matter how excellent his talent or how many opportunities he had, it was all empty talk.

He was merely an ant, unable to control even his own life and death.

That scene had pulled him out of his comfort zone; though he had been in this world only a short while, he had unknowingly slipped into a "lax" comfort zone.

Better conditions and a brighter future unfolded before him like a blueprint; though they would eventually be realized, he had nearly forgotten the self he once was.

The wastrel who once left the Qu family, pursuing power by any means necessary.

A faint smile curled at the corner of Seeing Qu Yanping's lips; he no longer fixed his gaze on the bizarre artifacts and advertisements lining the streets—what he needed most now was to accumulate strength.

Otherwise, he could not guarantee any gains from this journey to the Penglai Ruins.

After returning to the inn and slightly regulating his breath, he placed three spirit stones before him and used the celestial eye to rapidly absorb the high-concentration spiritual energy into every vein and meridian of his body.

When he finished today's brief cultivation, the time had reached 2:00 a. m.

As a Golden Core Stage cultivator, sleep was already optional; he decided to go out and gather some resources before finding an inn with a time-differential array.

Although he would eventually absorb all these spirit stones, the time until his scheduled departure to the Penglai Ruins was only a few days—he must maximize his cultivation in this limited time and enhance the power of his celestial eye technique.

Having made up his mind, Seeing Qu Yanping planned to head to the night market first.

This gathering was always bustling, no matter the hour; some cultivators said it was mainly because this was the venue for the annual Heavenly Dao Curiosity Contest, and their respective sects had many activities and internal tasks requiring them to come here.

Seeing Qu Yanping tried asking about the nature of these activities and tasks, but most cultivators spoke vaguely; this was normal, since they were internal sect matters.

The few he could learn about were mostly strange or nonsensical competitions.

Spirit Food Glutton Contest: Spirit chefs prepare spirit food and drink that participants may eat and drink freely, but cannot use spiritual power to digest; during the contest, all spiritual power must be sealed, and competitors rely solely on physical constitution. Top ten win free meals; everyone else pays fifty spirit stones.

Yangwu Thunder Intensity Contest: All participants are anonymous cultivators; the exact rules are unknown.

Other events included: Self-Detonating Fireworks Contest, Gazing at Ancient Gods Contest, and a concert jointly hosted by the Cultivation Realm Biomedical Association and Zao Hua Fa Wang.

Seeing Qu Yanping always felt the cultivators of this world were too idle, their lives and cultivation too casual; if he had to name one word from this world that fit perfectly, it was "entertainment unto death."

But to say these cultivators had no cultivation mindset at all was also wrong—he had personally seen many cultivators, seeking to create new techniques or advance further, experimenting with all manner of bizarre items, transforming themselves into monstrous, inhuman forms, ultimately relying on resurrection to escape their states.

Moreover, cultivators here never concealed their methods during discussions; even sitting in a teahouse for an afternoon, one could overhear plenty of cultivation insights, even learn small tricks like using spells to charge a phone.

In the end, Seeing Qu Yanping could only attribute this to the cultivators here suffering excessive cultivation pressure and thus having more varied ways to relax.

"Did you hear? Mr. Light upgraded today."

Seeing Qu Yanping turned his gaze to the side, where a couple of cultivators walked past, intimately linked by the arm.

Male cultivator: "I heard someone found the materials for his breakthrough; his inner treasury updated too—now he can directly exchange spirit stones for Light Memorial Coins."

Female cultivator: "I've never understood why all Mr. Lights dislike each other, yet they all upgrade together."

Male cultivator: "Who knows? Maybe he's schizophrenic, hahaha—pfft—!"

The male cultivator spat a mouthful of blood as a lance of light pierced his heart.

The female cultivator screamed: "Who?!"

A Mr. Light clad in imperial robes passed by in a ox-drawn cart, glancing down disdainfully: "Light cannot be insulted!"

"Damn fool with this middle-schooler personality," the male cultivator cursed again—his head was instantly severed.

After the ox cart passed, the blood splattered on the street and the fallen head flowed backward in time, returning to the male cultivator's body.

"Used up the resurrection item I drew from Mr. Light #067," the male cultivator sighed helplessly: "Why isn't Mr. Light #233 listed among negative curiosities?"

"Don't talk about it—let's draw another Mr. Light. It's just a few spirit stones," the female cultivator pulled the male cultivator toward the southwest.

Seeing Qu Yanping paused briefly in thought, then naturally followed behind them at a short distance.

At night, there were more stalls selling late-night snacks, and many vendors displayed talismans and magical artifacts on carpets; though this was a gathering place for cultivators, it carried the same heavy aura of everyday life as mortal markets.

Not long after, Seeing Qu Yanping arrived at a place he had never visited before; unlike the area near his residence, this place sold mostly Western magical artifacts—boards casually displayed items with names like "Star Magic," "Time Magic," and "Dimensional Magic," each priced at 100 spirit stones.

A woman dressed as a classical mage sat inside the shop, gnawing on a watermelon, scrolling through short videos on her phone, showing not the slightest interest in running her business.

Of course, these items were not his focus—he was watching a nearby explorer-dressed Mr. Guangming crouched before a Daoist Priest's stall, carefully examining an object in his hand.

Beside them, a long line stood before a floating machine, with cultivators continuously dropping white coins into it.

"Mr. Guangming, 800 spirit stones for two ten-pulls." The male cultivator handed over a storage bag to Mr. Guangming.

"You just left and came back? Why don't you go exchange it with the weirdo currency exchange at your sect, Grand Void Gate?!" The explorer-dressed Mr. Guangming impatiently tossed a few white coins at the male cultivator.

"He went to fight you at the Forbidden Peak in the Lizi Cave Heaven." The male cultivator replied, utterly speechless.

"Madman!" the explorer-dressed Mr. Guangming cursed.

"To be fair, yeah." The male cultivator nodded, pulling the female cultivator aside to join the queue.

Meanwhile, Mr. Guangming's gaze had never left the bronze artifact before him.

'It seems you can draw resurrection items from this machine? I've heard of the Memorial Coins of Light—usually scattered only in certain Mystical Realms of Heavenly Dao artifacts, or perhaps found in the ruins of Eden.'

'Now you can just exchange them for spirit stones? And only 40 spirit stones per coin?'

'But why has Mr. Guangming been staring at this stall's artifacts all along?'

The moment Seeing Qu Yanping formed this thought, a dragon's roar, like thunder, echoed from the sky.

Winds and clouds shifted, heaven and earth dimmed; thunder rolled from high above.

A purple-gold divine dragon, a hundred zhang long, shimmered with violet light as it circled and soared through the sky, its roar shaking the heavens.

"A true dragon?!"

Another dragon—and this one's aura was countless times stronger than the wounded blue dragon he had seen before!

The dragon had clearly suppressed its divine aura, yet even so, the pressure radiating from it rendered him unable to use even a speck of spiritual energy.

It rode the clouds and mist, flying straight toward this place.

Seeing Qu Yanping's spirit tightened—but then he saw the dragon shrink rapidly, finally transforming into a tall, muscular young man.

He stood tall, two heads taller than an ordinary man; his long purple hair stirred in the wind, emitting a faint violet glow, and his eyes sparkled like stars.

A peerless powerhouse!

He had felt this aura before! Through the vision of his Heavenly Eye technique, he had once "felt" this profound cultivation that shattered space and void—power only gods and immortals possessed, and—

This aura was unmistakable—it had been present in that great battle! This was a great figure who had survived from ancient times!

Before Seeing Qu Yanping could recover from his fear and awe, the young man swiftly passed before him, stirring up a gust of wind.

"Oh? Isn't this 067? Haven't seen you in days—how weak have you gotten?" The purple-robed youth spoke like a reckless delinquent, his overwhelming aura completely suppressed, his demeanor slovenly and insolent.

"Old man heard you leveled up. Give me three hundred memorial coins." The purple-robed youth tossed a storage bag onto the ground: "Here, eat up."

Mr. Guangming 067 visibly froze, staring blankly at the storage bag on the ground.

Seeing Qu Yanping's eyes widened—could these ancient beings really hold such high status?

【Inside the Chat Group】

Yi Leina: "Here, eat up, hahaha."

Yi Leina: 【Image】

It showed Su Lin crouching on the ground, and the insolent dragon tossing down the storage bag from above.

Weigong Shilang: "Does this scene—"

Ye Fan: "You were supposed to restore your persona, not surpass it. @Purple Gold Divine Dragon"

Kleine: "Suggest the admin prioritize the greater good. (Laugh)"

Xiao Yan: "Suggest the admin prioritize the greater good. (Laugh)"

Zhang Chuyan: "Suggest the admin prioritize the greater good. (Laugh)"

Su Lin: "I will."

【The Genesis of Light】

Seeing Qu Yanping felt he might die here today.

Boundless light, boundless heat erupted from Mr. Guangming—Seeing Qu Yanping saw only blinding white, then lost all perception; heaven and earth became nothing but pure white.

His Heavenly Eye activated automatically, yet within this endless expanse of Bai Mang, he could see nothing—not fate, not trajectories, not origins.

"If you want to fight, take it to the cosmos. Don't cause chaos in my humble Dongtinghu."

After a solemn voice spoke, the Bai Guang gradually faded; colors returned to heaven and earth, night remained, but the sky above was cloudless, dotted with countless stars.

Had Lord Dongting intervened? Of course—he would have been pulled into that power the moment it erupted.

Seeing Qu Yanping looked ahead and saw the entire queue scatter.

"There's another Mr. Guangming over at Zui Xian Pavilion too."

Cultivators gradually departed; only a few bold ones remained in line, while many others gathered around to watch.

At this moment, the purple-haired youth and Mr. Guangming acted as if nothing had happened, crouched before the fat Daoist Priest's stall, carefully examining its various artifacts.

Only now did Seeing Qu Yanping understand why the Western world's puppets 【Mr. Guangming】 could each be called 【Heavenly Dao Artifacts】: not only were they mobile treasuries capable of crafting resurrection spells, but their own power was terrifyingly immense.

The purple-haired youth stroked his chin: "Aren't these items from our Dragon Tomb? Where the hell did you get them, you fat bastard?"

"You eel? Of course I raided your ancestral graves," the fat Daoist Priest replied with a fake smile.

How dare he?! Seeing Qu Yanping, watching from the crowd, was stunned by the fat Daoist's words.

"Woof! You're the one who fucked this fat bastard!" A dog demon, taller than a man, walked upright in red shorts, shouting at the purple-gold dragon: "Where'd you come from, you eel? Get out of the way—Dog Lord's here to inspect the goods."

"Aowu! A dead dog and a dead fat man—a perfect match!" the purple-gold dragon cursed, then snatched up the artifact: "Took it from my ancestral tomb, right? Then it's back where it belongs."

Su Lin watched this scene, silently rose, and walked away—being near these three was bad luck.

Script? These three had no script.

(End of chapter)