Chapter 404: Hermit of the Abyss of Pain (22)

Abyss of Pain.

In the starry sky, aside from spacetime disturbances like gravity, it is one of the three great planes that cannot be observed by any other means.

It is like a faint shadow in the star realm, existing, but people have never been able to see its true appearance.

Through the fragmentary information sent back by the Abyss Intelligence Officer, Luosen imagined the appearance of the Abyss of Pain countless times, but when he truly arrived at the Abyss of Pain, he was still shocked by the world before him.

At this moment, he is standing in a hidden small cave within a cliff.

Looking ahead, he can see an extremely distant view.

He sees that the distant ground is an endless expanse of urban ruins.

The broken walls and remnants that almost cover the whole land silently speak of the empire's former glory, but, deformed like melted candle wax and shining like glass, the architectural ruins also silently display the terror of high-energy war.

But whether prosperity or war, they have all become passersby of time.

Nowadays, the urban ruins are overgrown with lush vegetation of many kinds, filled with various strange creatures that are hard to describe, and from time to time one can hear sharp, hoarse, or furious roars.

At a glance, it is deep, dark, and oppressive, making one feel a heavy weight in the heart.

Looking up, the sky is gray-black, as if covered by a thick haze that never dissipates.

Occasionally, a wind blows, dispersing the haze slightly, and one can faintly see a ring of light drifting in the sky.

After carefully observing it with magic, one discovers that the ring of light is a huge city floating in the sky.

Adela said, that is the location of the core civilization of the Abyss of Pain, called Yueliangcheng.

On the ground, a ring about the size of the moon is seen; its actual diameter exceeds 500 kilometers, floating in the star realm about ten thousand kilometers above the ground, and it is the sole star‑realm city retained by the Eternal Empire.

There were once twelve such star‑realm cities, but eleven of them have been completely destroyed in war.

But just this one is enough to let Luosen deeply feel the former brilliant glory of the Eternal Empire.

And just this one is already enough for the Abyss of Pain to possess an overwhelming power that looks down on other planes.

His Natural Empire has only just gotten off the ground a sky‑city three kilometers in diameter, with a maximum ceiling of no more than twenty thousand meters, completely lacking the ability to enter the star realm.

Lifting a 500‑kilometer‑diameter city into ten thousand kilometers of space is a great miracle that the empire's arcane engineers dare not even dream of.

While he was feeling moved, Beilu Dandi's voice came from beside him.

"The Abyss really is a ghostly place!"

"Your Majesty, look over there—it seems a large flock of bat‑monsters with ghostly faces is flying in the sky!"

Luosen turned his head and looked; indeed he saw a group of flying monsters, roughly estimated to number over a hundred.

Each individual has a wingspan over five meters, its skin is bluish‑gray, it bears a pair of large thighs with sharp claws and strong muscles, and it also has an ugly, terrifying ghostly face.

They fly and dance in the sky, shrieking, occasionally swooping down to the ground and then picking up one or two prey from there.

Luosen narrowed his eyes to look closely and found that the prey seemed to be humans.

The reason I say 'seemed' is because these people look genuinely strange.

They wear no clothes, their skin is gray‑white all over, they are small‑sized, about the size of a ten‑year‑old child, their cries are extremely sharp, their movements are extremely agile, and they also have sharp claws.

They are not entirely prey either.

Because they are extremely numerous—there are two or three thousand of them— they hop about on the ground, constantly battling the ghost‑faced bat monsters in the sky, and from time to time they pull down one or two of those bat monsters from the air.

After watching for a while, he said: "It's two monster clans fighting."

Beilu Dandi nodded: "Very primitive, but also an astonishing battle. I sense that their souls are extremely strong; any one that comes out is stronger than me."

Luosen laughed: "Also stronger than me."

One can feel that the Abyss of Pain's law rings are very strong, far stronger than the Dawn Empire's half‑plane, and they constitute a truly complete 23‑law‑ring.

And the most ordinary members of the two monster clans fighting before our eyes have soul strength above ten rings, while the stronger ones possess twelve, even thirteen rings of soul.

And Beilu Dandi now has the strength of Legendary 16, equivalent to 11.8 rings, so it's no wonder she feels terrified.

Fortunately the cave is very concealed; Luosen also immediately bolstered it with the Time Law Art: Dark Current Surge and various kinds of invisibility techniques, so he does not worry about exposure.

Beilu Dandi whispered: "Your Majesty, what should we do next?"

The confidence that had surged after just obtaining the Extinction Law Sword is rapidly dwindling.

Luosen laughed: "Of course we just hide carefully and do our best to increase our strength."

"Where should we hide?"

"Right here in this cave."

The cave is small, less than five meters deep and less than three meters in inner diameter, but the floor is level, the walls are smooth, and many fine spacetime runes are engraved on them.

On the ground at the innermost part of the cave are placed some items, including food, clean water, and some simple daily necessities.

Luosen walked over, used Transformation Technique to create a simple table and chair, and then set out the food and water.

After carefully testing it and confirming it was non‑toxic, he greeted Beilu Dandi to sit down.

After she sat down, Luosen first handed her a kilogram of Sun Essence.

"Take this, carry it carefully on your person, as a source to replenish your strength."

Beilu Dandi naturally knows the preciousness of Sun Essence, and immediately tucked it away carefully.

Luosen then poured her a bowl of clean water, poured himself a cup, took a sip, and began to relate the known information.

"Our region is the Poison Mist Forest of the Abyss, with a radius of five hundred kilometers containing no human settlements."

While speaking, he pointed to the cave mouth: "In the Poison Mist Forest there are many humanoid‑non‑human monsters."

"Part are humans poisoned by high‑energy war; another part are deliberately crafted flesh‑and‑blood weapons."

He dispatched many Abyss Intelligence Officers, but the most important are just three: Adela, Patelnaluosi, and Liv.

This cave was prepared by Adela, the related information also came from her, and naturally it is the most reliable.

After introducing the basic situation, Luosen then answered Beilu Dandi's question.

"This cave is also very hidden, its supplies are ample; as long as we don't provoke trouble, no one will come to bother us."

Beilu Dandi let out a sigh of relief and asked again: "How long do we need to cultivate?" "Stay as long as you can, raise your strength as much as possible, until this place is exposed."

Beilu Dandi nodded to show she understood, but immediately became worried, because she didn't know how to cultivate.

Just as she was about to ask, Luosen had already taken out the cultivation method.

"This is the cultivation method for the High-energy Law Ring, from the imperial family of the Eternal Empire, called the Eternal Heart."

"After becoming proficient, the cultivation efficiency is still quite good. If luck is on your side, you could reach the 20-ring in about 1500 years."

"20-ring. Can't it go higher?"

Luosen shook his head: "For the High-energy Law Ring cultivation, the 20-ring is the watershed. Before, it relied on effort; after, it still relies on talent."

"According to my observation, your limit is the 21-ring. Reaching the 20-ring takes 1500 years, and the 21-ring alone takes another 800 years."

In the Eternal Soul cultivation method, the 20-ring is called the "Transcendent Limit."

Before the 20-ring, one is mortal; after the 20-ring, one becomes an outstanding transcendent.

Among the hundreds of millions of cultivators in the Eternal Empire, roughly only one in three million breaks through the limit.

"." Beilu Dandi unconsciously scratched her scalp.

"Your Majesty, won't that be too long? After all, you are the lord of the empire; you can't always stay in a cave."

Luosen smiled: "You're right, 1500 years is indeed too long."

"So, I will always guide you in your cultivation. That way, once I reach a certain number of rings, you will quickly catch up."

"Alright, Abyss time is extremely precious; let's start cultivating now."

After saying that, he began to take off Beilu Dandi's clothes.

Beilu Dandi startled: "Your Majesty?"

"Did you forget what I just said so quickly?"

"I guide your cultivation, and when I guide, I need a comprehensive, clear understanding of your soul's operating condition."

"Because the power of the High-energy Law Ring is extremely fine, there cannot be any interference."

"He will not only guide her cultivation, but also strengthen her time talent, forging her into his first guard."

"Oh~ oh, I had the wrong idea, Your Majesty."

Luosen chuckled: "It's not completely off the mark; if you're interested, we can also enjoy ourselves a bit, after all cultivation is boring."

This is one of the main reasons he brought Beilu Dandi along, because she can fight and has charm; having her company during cultivation prevents it from being too dull.

Beilu Dandi has already absolutely obeyed Luosen, so naturally she does whatever he says.

Thereafter, the two lived in the secret mountain cave of the Abyss, leading a hermit-like life.

The Joyful One Talanaya was not mistaken; with the double aid of a source substance and a light-radiant scepter far beyond ordinary people, Luosen's power increased at breakneck speed, even exceeding what the Joyful One had predicted by quite a bit.

In less than two days, he regained the soul of the 13-ring.

Afterward, he progressed rapidly, gaining roughly one ring every half a month on average.

Beilu Dandi was much slower, but Luosen's soul-fusion style guidance was superb, and her absolute cultivation speed was astonishingly high.

In the blink of an eye, the two had stayed safely in the cave for seven months.

Luosen directly rose to the peak of the 20-ring, stuck at the Transcendent Limit.

And Beilu Dandi also reached the 17-ring.

According to Adele's information, even in the former Eternal Empire, reaching a soul strength of 20 rings is already a very outstanding achievement.

Looking across the entire Eternal Empire's spellcasters, one could already rank among the top 1000.

If placed in the current Abyss of Pain, one could even make it into the top 200.

So, only then did Luosen let out a slight sigh of relief.

"This way, I shouldn't be easily crushed by Abyss powerhouses. When facing the Joy Apostle Liv, I also won't have to tread on thin ice."

Adele is 21 rings, Patelnaluosi 20 rings, Liv only 17 rings, and they are already no match for Luosen.

Next, the goal is to find a way to break through the transcendental limit and strike at the final three rings.

Luosen clearly felt the difficulty of advancing to the final three rings.

He estimated that breaking through 21 rings isn't too hard, needing only three months, but 22 rings would take five months, and the final ring might take over a year.

Originally, he planned to go all out and directly reach 23 rings.

But that morning, he had just finished a day of cultivation, and while relaxing with Beilu Dandi, his heart suddenly twitched slightly.

Immediately afterward, he saw a time vision.

A youth covered in wounds traversed the jungle and reached the base of a cliff.

When the youth found himself with no way out, he inadvertently discovered a cave on the cliff and then desperately climbed up the cliff.

When he had climbed halfway, pursuers appeared not far away.

The pursuers were three mages standing on floating disks, wearing azure robes that shimmered with flowing light.

Upon seeing the youth on the cliff, they immediately shouted, "Traitor!"

The vision abruptly ended.

Luosen wondered in his heart, "Are they mages of the Dawn Tower Eye?"

But this information came from Liv.

Liv told him that the Dawn Eye is a mage organization in the ruins, with considerable strength, and it is said to also have deep roots in Yueliangcheng.

Its emblem is an eye looking down from the sky onto the ground, similar to the chest insignia of the three mages.

The days in the cave were truly dull, but now that a variable has appeared, Luosen suddenly felt a sense of anticipation.

He smiled at Beilu Dandi, who was crying out in front of him, and said, "Sweetheart, there'll be some excitement to watch later."

(End of chapter)