Chapter 703: A hundred years in the cave, one year in the world, Luo Chen who suffered a muffled loss

"Is it still not enough?"

Luo Chen rarely showed signs of impatience.

Tao Wan was full of apologies, "Sorry, little sister is dull in aptitude; even two phantom cores cannot make me go further."

Dull in aptitude?

Luo Chen shook his head; how could someone who formed a Nascent Soul at the age of three hundred be dull in aptitude?

In the final analysis, the amount of spiritual opportunity contained in the phantom cores was too small to allow a cultivator to persist to the point of comprehending the true meaning of the Dao.

What he was truly dissatisfied with was "time!"

Reaching out, amidst Tao Wan's confusion, Luo Chen said: "Let me see your phantom chess piece."

Tao Wan was puzzled, but did not resist, handing over her own phantom chess piece.

Luo Chen looked down; on the white phantom chess piece, black light was encroaching, roughly about two or three percent.

The power of the Mirage Dragon would erode the black chess pieces of those who entered the cave heaven; the deeper the erosion, the shorter the time they could stay in the cave heaven.

And now!

"Two phantom cores, one year of time, and it only eroded this much. In other words, if one cannot comprehend the true meaning of the Dao, wouldn't one have to stay in this cave heaven for decades, or even a hundred years?"

This was the main reason Luo Chen truly could not accept it!

He could not possibly spend nearly a hundred years of his time on someone else's cultivation trial.

Moreover, this was vastly different from what Tao Chaosheng had said before, that the Heavenly Origin grand competition would take at most one or two years.

Where did the problem go wrong?

While he was in doubt, he saw the hesitant expression on the woman's face opposite him.

Luo Chen asked tentatively: "After absorbing two phantom cores in succession, did you gain anything?"

Tao Wan hesitated for a moment, then slowly said: "There are some gains, it's just that I'm not sure if those things are true or false. If Daoist brother wants to listen, little sister can tell you."

It was still that plain surrounded by three mountains.

It was still the same array and bait as before.

It's just that this time, Luo Chen didn't let Tao Wan follow, but let her recuperate in the cave dwelling, coming alone to wait for the rabbit.

Standing on a hilltop, Luo Chen's gaze did not linger on the Heavenly Daoist Jiyuan Pill bait on the plain; anyway, the Heavenly Daoist Jiyuan Pill was guarded by an array and his natal magic treasure, so there would be no accidents.

He couldn't help but look around, as if searching for something.

But no matter how he looked, he didn't perceive any clues different from the outside world.

Tao Wan's words from a few days ago were still constantly impacting his mind at this moment.

"Phantom beasts are products of the Mirage Dragon's residual consciousness; they instinctively try to come back to life, reproducing the spirit of the Mirage Dragon within their bodies. Opening the Mirage Dragon cave heaven once every five hundred years is both an opportunity for us and a way to clear out high-tier phantom beasts to prevent the Mirage Dragon from resurrecting. When cultivating with phantom cores, we must exclude the influence of the Mirage Dragon's spiritless consciousness and utilize the spiritual opportunity within it..."

"From the consciousness of the phantom beasts in the phantom cores, I discovered that this cave heaven has a big difference from the outside world. That is the difference in time flow; the specific ratio is roughly..."

A ratio of one to one hundred!

Yes, it was this number that made Luo Chen restless for several consecutive days.

He never expected to enter such a secret realm that only existed in legends!

In those countless immortal myths, there is naturally no shortage of descriptions of various predestined people entering secret realms.

And these secret realms are also very different, either with countless opportunities, or extremely dangerous, or even worse, having various restrictions.

In his life, Luo Chen has encountered few secret realms, and entered even fewer.

But he also had a lot of understanding of these secret realms.

For example, the secret realm after the death of a Soul Transformation great being is not suitable for most Nascent Soul True Persons to enter, because the true meaning of the Dao left by the Soul Transformation great being will affect the Dao of latecomers; only those with similar Daos can enter it.

This kind belongs to the restriction on the Dao.

And that place where demons fell, at first glance, is full of dangers, but in reality, there are no overly harsh entry conditions.

Not to mention Nascent Soul True Persons, even Golden Core cultivators can enter it.

Even some Foundation Establishment cultivators, if they are bold enough, could completely go and give it a try.

If you really want to talk about any restrictions, it's probably that Soul Transformation great beings who have already comprehended the Dao cannot enter, otherwise, they are very likely to die there like the Blood Sea Old Ancestor.

And this Mirage Dragon cave heaven secret realm, unexpectedly, belongs to the legendary kind of secret realm with time restrictions, "one day in the cave, a thousand years in the world."

It's just that the time flow is reversed.

A hundred years in the cave, only one year in the world!

The time flow ratio between the Mirage Dragon cave heaven and the Mountain and Sea Realm reached one hundred to one.

Moreover, if a cultivator is in the cave heaven, their lifespan flows normally; even after going out, it will remain consistent.

There won't be a situation where you enter at five hundred years old, one year passes outside, one hundred years pass inside, and after going out, your lifespan is still five hundred and one years. Instead, when the limit arrives, you will indeed have one hundred years less than cultivators of the same realm who experienced the cave heaven!

Why this is the case, Luo Chen doesn't know; it might be related to the Dao of the Dao mastered by the Mirage Dragon, a desolate beast.

What Luo Chen finally knew was why the Profound Heaven Sect only reserved this opportunity for new Nascent Soul cultivators!

Nascent Soul cultivators have a total lifespan of no more than one thousand years.

Subtracting the few hundred years of cultivation before the Nascent Soul, there are only a few hundred years left in total; how could they be willing to consume one hundred years for no reason?

Only new Nascent Soul cultivators, and those with particularly good aptitude who broke through to the Nascent Soul realm at a very young age, have sufficient lifespan to withstand the consumption of the Mirage Dragon cave heaven.

This is the biggest condition restriction of the five-hundred-year grand competition!

As for other factors Luo Chen speculated about, such as the state of just entering the Nascent Soul and the instinct to be close to heaven and earth, they were only a very small part of the consideration.

"No wonder in legendary storybooks, when great sects encounter unknown secret realms, they often let disciples and sect members go to test them first. If one accidentally encounters this kind of secret realm with uncertain time flow, and a high-tier cultivator whose lifespan is already not much dies instantly after going out, that would be too terrifying."

"It's just that because of this, Tao Chaosheng is simply too excessive!"

In Luo Chen's heart, he was angry because Tao Chaosheng did not inform him of the inside story of the cave heaven in advance.

Or rather, at the time when Tao Wan revealed the discovery that the time flow was different, he rarely lost his composure. That suddenly erupted terrifying momentum made the other party silent like a cicada for a time. This time, not coming to hunt phantom beasts together also had the reason of lingering fear.

One hundred years!

How many one hundred years are there in a life!

Luo Chen's life, all told, has only been cultivating for two hundred years; if he had known that one hundred years would be consumed in the Mirage Dragon cave heaven, no matter how good the conditions Tao Chaosheng gave, he could not have agreed to this cooperation.

"I don't know if other guardians know this information, or if they knew there were tigers in the mountains, yet they headed towards the tiger mountain."

"But here with me, it seems now that Tao Chaosheng kept giving me various benefits, but in reality, he had already secretly marked the price, which is this one hundred years of lifespan!"

"I, however, was careless and suffered a huge muffled loss!"

Luo Chen took a deep breath and found a stone to sit down on.

First, he operated the "Dust Origin Art" to calm himself down.

Then he began to think carefully.

First is the one hundred years of lifespan that might be consumed; anger is anger, but Luo Chen can still bear this price.

His lifespan was already far beyond his peers; when he ascended to the Nascent Soul, he reached one thousand five hundred years in one breath!

Although it is no longer like the previous few realms, where the lifespan limit increases with the improvement of small realms, it is stuck at one thousand five hundred years.

But one thousand five hundred years is also far better than the one thousand-year lifespan limit of ordinary Nascent Souls.

A few hundred years, he can bear it.

Moreover, it is not necessarily the case that so much will be consumed; as long as the phantom cores he captures are enough, helping Tao Wan comprehend the Dao earlier, he can get out earlier...

Thinking and thinking, Luo Chen's calm mood again gave birth to violent colors!

Tao Chaosheng did not inform him first, so why should he go all out for Tao Wan's matter?

This annoyance is not only because of annoyance at Tao Chaosheng's concealment, but also annoyance at his own "arrogance."

Since embarking on the path of cultivation.

For sect cultivators, he was initially in awe, in awe of the forces behind them, in awe of their powerful strength.

But as his own strength improved, he no longer feared these things.

Instead, he began to disdain these sect cultivators cultivated in greenhouses.

Especially the inferior character of the younger generation of the Profound Heaven Sect, which fueled his sense of contempt.

But now, reality has given him a heavy punch.

The younger generation may not have deep schemes, but the older generation of sect cultivators are all human spirits; how could he take advantage of them?

"In the future, when dealing with these old guys, I must think twice before acting and weigh the pros and cons clearly."

After calming down, Luo Chen analyzed what he paid and what Tao Chaosheng paid, and found that the other party had indeed calculated to the extreme.

If he works hard enough, helps Tao Wan comprehend the Dao earlier, and leaves the Mirage Dragon cave heaven, he will lose at most a few decades of lifespan.

And the large amount of soul essence, withered source fire marrow, pills, the identity of an external guest of the Heavenly Peak, and the use of the Heavenly Origin Alliance's manpower and material resources to collect massive resources for him... these benefits added together are barely enough to hire a Nascent Soul True Person to run around for decades.

Just letting Luo Chen do those things himself and collect those resources would take about that much time, and even require extra energy and encounter extra incidents.

"Forget it, I'll talk to that old thing when I get out!"

Luo Chen spat out a mouthful of turbid air and continued his previous thinking.

Since you are here, be at peace!

He could not let decades of good years flow away for no reason.

In this world, spiritual energy is scattered and distributed, not very suitable for Qi cultivation.

And because he has to guard Tao Wan, it leads to him not being able to release his Nascent Soul true form like the other party, merging with heaven and earth without any guard, and attempting to comprehend the Dao.

Thinking of having to guard that stupid and clear woman, Luo Chen again had a kind of disgust of having eaten a fly but having to swallow it.

He shook his head violently, forcibly suppressing the disgust in his heart.

"It is difficult to improve the realm significantly, but minor adjustments are no problem; the second layer of the Nascent Soul is just around the corner."

"For the remaining time, I must spend more effort on myself."

"Fire Phoenix Raging Plains, Flame Dragon Descending the World, these two fourth-tier spells, their proficiency can be improved."

The Mirage Dragon cave heaven is vast, and cultivating here is extremely convenient.

It's not just spells!

There is also the transformation of the Withered Glory True Fire; with the Heavenly Daoist Jiyuan Pill, Luo Chen can completely take the final step at any time, as long as he wants.

In addition, the refining of that White Tiger puppet, the refining of the restrictions of the Penglai Octagonal Pavilion...

Finally, Luo Chen even set his mind on the "Soul Splitting Art"!

His main soul has reached the limit of the current realm and can completely differentiate another split soul.

Back then, Han Zhan started practicing the "Soul Splitting Art" in the Foundation Establishment stage, strengthened his soul foundation in the Golden Core stage, and after forming the Nascent Soul, possessed nine major split souls in just a hundred years.

Luo Chen has the assistance of miraculous pills like the Great Soul Pill; it is not impossible to reach that step!

"Step by step!"

Helplessly, Luo Chen formulated the next action plan.

Life is like this; you will always suffer some losses inadvertently, but you still have to live.

Not only live, but live better and better, making those who made him suffer look at him with admiration, regret endlessly, and even pay the price!

"Here, this is the third phantom core."

A fourth-tier phantom core was thrown in front of him, and Tao Wan hurriedly caught it.

She wanted to say something, but the other party had a look of "strangers stay away" and raised a protective array.

Blocked outside the array, Tao Wan opened her mouth and gave a bitter smile.

Sure enough, after she revealed the biggest secret that the time flow was different, she should have foreseen this result.

But what could she do?

The Tao family has been down and out for a long time and simply cannot cultivate loyal servants of suitable realms. Hiring Nascent Soul True Persons from outside, not to mention whether the conditions are suitable, just in terms of strength, they are completely inferior to Luo Chen.

Grandfather concealing it from the other party and tricking him in was also a helpless move.

At present, the other party is still willing to hunt phantom cores for her, which is already an immensely upright gentlemanly act.

It can only be said that grandfather indeed did not misjudge the person.

Only her and the other party's subsequent getting along, from having finally become familiar before, has now become estranged again.

"Forget it, I can only comprehend the true meaning of the Dao earlier, so that he can leave this cage earlier."

Tao Wan smiled bitterly, held the phantom core tightly, and entered the simple cave dwelling. ===== CHAPTER 704 =====