Chapter 199: Cultivation Knows No Time

Three days later, a mysterious light suddenly rose outside the valley where Zhang Nuo was located. These rays of light twisted and tangled incessantly in mid-air before finally turning into nothingness; at the same time, the valley itself vanished from sight.

On the second day after the valley disappeared, two streaks of light appeared here. As the light faded, it revealed none other than Wu Xu and Fu Ling.

Upon hearing that there was a mysterious valley in this area, the two of them had rushed over immediately, but after flying above the valley for half a day, they could not find the place described by Xue Qianyang at all.

"Qianyang, you didn't remember it wrong, did you?"

Fu Ling raised her delicate eyebrows slightly and asked her disciple beside her.

"Master, I couldn't be wrong! I remember very clearly that it was right here, but why has it disappeared?"

Her pretty face was full of suspicion, and Xue Qianyang was also puzzled.

Fu Ling glanced at Wu Xu opposite her, only to see him looking at his son, Wu Gang, with equal confusion. After a long time, the four of them had no choice but to drive their light and fly away.

Zhang Nuo had seen everything that just happened through the Array Disk. He had to admire Chunyangzi's keen thinking; Wu Gang and Xue Qianyang had indeed brought the Sect Leaders of the two great Demon Mountains. If it weren't for Chunyangzi having repaired the Illusion Array in time, this Cave Abode would surely have been discovered by the two powerhouses.

Do not underestimate the Stone Array; while it could block Wu Gang, it might not necessarily stop Wu Xu and Fu Ling. After all, this great array had existed for too long, and without a cultivator to repair it regularly, its hallucinatory power was far inferior to what it once was.

"It's fine now! They won't come back! You can cultivate here with peace of mind!"

Looking at Zhang Nuo, Chunyangzi said with an exhausted expression. Over the past few days, he had spent almost all his effort to repair the Illusion Array. Now that he saw the Illusion Array was complete, he could no longer hold on and dove into the Sword Box.

Zhang Nuo stepped out of the Stone Chamber, arrived at the main hall of the Cave Abode, carefully collected the pile of powder that the previous cultivator had turned into, walked outside the Cave Abode, and buried it piously!

After returning to the Cave Abode, he sat down with peace of mind. Just as he closed his eyes, he felt the surrounding Spiritual Qi rushing toward him. It turned out that this seat was the place with the most concentrated Spiritual Qi in the entire Cave Abode; no wonder the original owner of the Cave Abode had sat here to pass away.

Settling his mind, Zhang Nuo sensed everything around him. After a full four or five days, he opened his eyes again. Having grasped the activity of the Spiritual Qi in the cave, he decided to begin a long-term seclusion.

Finding a few types of Pills from the Stone Chamber where he stored them, Zhang Nuo placed them in front of him, put the Nine Dragon Sword Case to one side, and the seclusion officially began!

One year! Two years! Three years! As the saying goes, there is no concept of time in cultivation. Zhang Nuo sat in the Cave Abode for three years. Cultivation is an extremely dull matter; if one wants to achieve success in cultivation, the first thing one must do is be able to endure loneliness.

For these three years, Zhang Nuo was like a wooden statue or a clay sculpture, his body motionless. Under the influence of the Nine Dragon Sword Case, the Spiritual Qi around him began to become more and more concentrated; at times, he could even feel the Spiritual Qi falling onto his body like dewdrops.

These were things Zhang Nuo would not have dared to even imagine before, especially the few bottles of Pills in front of him, whose efficacy exceeded his imagination.

According to Zhang Nuo's knowledge, there was no Pill on the Tianjiang Plain that could compare to them! Even a figure like Nanxuan Laozu had likely never heard of them.

He believed that in another three to five years, he might truly be able to make a breakthrough to the Golden Core stage. During the time Zhang Nuo was cultivating, Chunyangzi was not idle either; he would come out of the Sword Box whenever he was free to explore the Stone Chambers in the Cave Abode. The collection was quite rich.

During the three years Zhang Nuo was missing, the Nanxuan Sect was in an uproar. Zhuge Qing sent out countless disciples to search, but there were never any clues—neither hide nor hair of him!

Zhuge An was equally anxious. He had not expected that assigning a small task to Zhang Nuo would lead to such a big incident. If something really happened to Zhang Nuo, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

During these three years, the Four Great Sects had several more major battles with the Five Great Demon Mountains, but there had been no progress at all. Apart from the few demon strongholds captured at the very beginning, they had not even conquered a single Demon Mountain.

Upon learning that Zhang Nuo was missing, Nanxuan Laozu was also greatly shocked. He did not believe that Zhang Nuo would be killed by the combined efforts of Wu Gang and Xue Qianyang. But since he hadn't been killed, why didn't he return?

Everyone was baffled by everything. Sometimes Zhuge An would think that Zhang Nuo had fled in the face of battle, but if he had wanted to leave, he had had many opportunities before; there was no need to wait until this moment.

Every time the night was deep and quiet, Zhuge Qing would silently look up at the sky, recalling Zhang Nuo's face. This seemingly ordinary youth had given her too many surprises, making it hard for her to forget him.

Waking up from a trance several times, she would discover that Zhang Nuo was no longer by her side. A feeling of tipsy longing in her heart made Zhuge Qing deeply feel that she might have fallen in love with that ordinary youth.

At the same time, in the cave where the Demon Emperor was rebuilding his physical body, Wang Ji and the others were also waiting bitterly. Watching the phantom shadow of the Demon Emperor's split soul gradually becoming substantial, hope was rising in their hearts.

As for Zhang Nuo, they had long forgotten him. His figure had not been seen in several major battles; perhaps he had already fallen into the Stone Array, or perhaps he had left the Nanxuan Sect on his own because he sensed that things were going wrong.

Regardless of whether Zhang Nuo was dead or alive, as long as he had left the Nanxuan Sect and left this battle, their pressure would be reduced a little. They had a deep memory of that battle; the combined efforts of the Sha Po Lang were not to be underestimated.

Zhang Nuo, who was in the midst of cultivation, knew nothing of all this. His entire heart and mind were focused on cultivation, and the temptation of the Golden Core stage, in particular, made him unable to extricate himself.

Currently at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, Zhang Nuo already possessed three Spirit Seas. Once the impact to the Golden Core was successful, the fourth Spirit Sea would open! By that time, his body's storage capacity for Spirit Power would be comparable to that of an average Golden Core Late Stage cultivator.

Generally speaking, most cultivators could only open a second Spirit Sea upon reaching the Golden Core stage, and would only open a third Spirit Sea after reaching the Golden Core Late Stage. That is to say, many Golden Core Late Stage cultivators only had a third Spirit Sea, while some exceptionally gifted cultivators might possess four Spirit Seas.

Calculated this way, Zhang Nuo would have a head start in terms of Spiritual Qi. Coupled with the strangeness of the 'Shangqing Sword Art' and the sharpness of his Magic Treasure, theoretically speaking, he could contend with Golden Core Late Stage cultivators even at the Golden Core Initial Stage!

As for why he was a Dual Spirit Sea Cultivator from the beginning, Zhang Nuo had once asked Chunyangzi, but the answer the other party gave was very general. With Zhang Nuo's aptitude, it was impossible to have two Spirit Seas upon Foundation Establishment. In the end, Chunyangzi attributed all possibilities to the 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect'.

Perhaps because Zhang Nuo was the host of the Spirit Insect, there was something of the Mysterious Heaven Spirit Insect in his blood, which was why he had opened the second Spirit Sea!

This day, Zhang Nuo finished his cultivation and let out a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he saw Chunyangzi standing in front of him with a look of confusion on his face.

"Senior, what happened?"

"I discovered another thing in the Cave Abode. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing?"

Looking at Chunyangzi's expression, this matter seemed far from simple.

"What kind of thing would make Senior so troubled?"

Zhang Nuo became interested as well. The things in this Cave Abode were too attractive to him; there were many things he had never seen before. Because he had been cultivating during this period, he hadn't specifically studied them.

But Chunyangzi was different. He studied everything in the Cave Abode every day. He hadn't expected that after more than three years, a rare treasure could still be discovered in this Demon Cave Abode!

"Follow me!"

Chunyangzi shook his head and helplessly led Zhang Nuo toward the side of the Cave Abode. When they reached the end, he waved one hand against the stone wall, and the entire stone wall immediately moved inward. Slowly, a small Stone Chamber appeared before Zhang Nuo's eyes.

"There is actually a secret room here!"

Looking at everything in front of him in surprise, Zhang Nuo exclaimed. There were too many secrets in the Cave Abode; if it hadn't been discovered by an expert like Chunyangzi, he probably would never have known in his entire life.

"I discovered it by accident too. This secret room is hidden very cleverly. If I hadn't seen some clues left by the previous owner of the Cave Abode, I would have been helpless!"

Looking at everything around him, Chunyangzi was deeply moved. This secret room could not be discovered from the surface at all, and even Divine Sense was isolated from it.

As soon as the Stone Chamber was opened, Zhang Nuo only felt a cold, sinister aura coming from inside, making even the hairs on his body stand on end.

"Why does this aura feel a bit like Yin energy?"

Zhang Nuo had felt the existence of Yin energy in the Trial Ground before.

"It's not like it! It is!"

Chunyangzi's expression was ugly. He himself was a strand of Remnant Soul, so he was even more sensitive to Yin energy!

"There is actually Yin energy existing here. What kind of background did the owner of the Cave Abode have?"

"Go in and see for yourself!"

Glancing at Chunyangzi, Zhang Nuo felt that he was extremely wary of the things inside the Stone Chamber, so he didn't ask any more questions and stepped into the Stone Chamber.

The space inside the Stone Chamber was not very large, but it gave people a gloomy feeling. A glance revealed a square crystal floating in the center of the Stone Chamber, which was one foot square. The whole body emitted cold air.

Inside the crystal, a black butterfly was frozen. This butterfly was the same size as a normal butterfly, but its whole body was as black as ink. If one didn't look closely, one would think it was a drop of ink spilled into the crystal.

The Black Butterfly seemed to have been in a deep slumber; no matter what movements Zhang Nuo made, it showed no reaction, and after looking at it for a long time, he still could not figure out what kind of butterfly it was.

Leaving the Stone Chamber, Zhang Nuo asked Chunyangzi:

"Senior, what is the story behind the Black Butterfly frozen inside the crystal?"

"Now that it has come to this, perhaps it is time for you to know a few things about the Underworld!"

With a long, lingering sigh, Chunyangzi began to recall matters concerning the Underworld.