Chapter 269: Lost

"I wonder if the Demon Lord Heitian is actually dead or alive?"

After searching over and over again, Xu Chen finally gave up on finding the whereabouts of Demon Lord Heitian.

First, this Void is too vast, and his current soul strength is insufficient, while his Divine Sense observation range is too small, making it impossible to search.

Second, he was worried that if he actually found this great demon lord, he might not be able to defeat him, which would be even more miserable.

Therefore, after feeling that his injuries had fully recovered, he decided to temporarily abandon the idea of searching for Demon Lord Heitian, reorganized everything he had obtained since arriving in Minghuang, and decided to go outside the gap to see the situation.

At present, he did not have many Soul Beads left on him; most of those above the Fourth-Tier had been used by Demon Lord Youtong for resurrection, and the remaining ones were mostly below the Third-Tier. Of course, a few of the largest ones remained, such as the one from that bull-headed monster, which was nearly two feet in diameter and the largest Soul Bead he had obtained, as well as the strange Soul Bead with white cloud patterns left behind by the octopus monster that had brought him in.

The rest were various Minghuang items collected midway while searching for clues with Tu Jiu Lao Wuzhu and the other two, including Wangchuan Flower, Other Shore Flower, Space Crystal, and some shells, skins, bones, tendons, and membranes left behind by Nether Beasts.

In addition, there were some strange Minghuang specialties that even Tu Jiu Lao Wuzhu did not recognize, including plants, animals, and even snakes, insects, moss, and crystals.

And what Xu Chen cared about most was the skull, about a zhang in size, left behind by the bull-headed monster.

The pitch-black horn on it carried powerful spatial power.

Furthermore, the pale golden crystal between the brows was even more bizarre.

If the function of the horn was Space Impact, then the function of this golden crystal, which looked like a third eye, was Space Solidification.

Spatial rules are one of the most primary rules in heaven and earth, omnipresent.

It can be said that the foundation of the existence of heaven and earth is the spatial rule.

Therefore, not only human cultivators but also Demon Beasts, all species capable of advancing, first come into contact with spatial rules in the process of becoming stronger; for example, experts in the Danyuan Realm can perform simple Space Instant Movement.

And Spirit Realm Great Cultivators can even perform Shrinking Ground to an Inch, covering ten or a hundred miles in a single step.

However, being common does not mean it is easy to understand.

In fact, whether it is a cultivator or a Demon Beast, they come into contact with spatial rules earliest and use them the most, but being able to truly comprehend them to the point of using them as one wishes is harder than ascending to heaven.

Even a peerless expert like Demon Lord Youtong, who is comparable to a Great Vehicle Golden Immortal, does not clearly understand what the true essence of spatial rules is.

And this bull-headed monster hiding in the Di Gong of the abandoned Ancient City was actually able to advance and produce such a powerful spatial rule ability, which is extremely rare.

According to the levels, this bull-headed monster should have already surpassed the Fifth-Tier and reached a Sixth-Tier state.

Because according to the rank division of human cultivators, only True Monarchs at the Transformation to Divinity stage truly begin to touch the rules of heaven and earth.

And it is this simple comprehension of rules that allows Transformation to Divinity True Monarchs to enter a completely different class among Great Cultivators, being referred to separately as Divine Monarchs.

Because upon reaching the Transformation to Divinity stage, a cultivator's every gesture already carries the aura of rules, and every action or even every word begins to merge with heaven and earth, faintly possessing some abilities of a True Immortal; even experts in the late stage of Transformation to Divinity can perform powerful Magic Spells similar to immortal arts.

Therefore, some powerful Six-Rank Dharma Treasures are also known as Pseudo-Immortal Artifacts.

And Divine Monarchs in the late stage of Transformation to Divinity are also known as Half Immortals.

Xu Chen had an uncertain feeling that perhaps the greatest help in finding a way out this time might be this huge bull skull.

Therefore, he decided to take advantage of the time when True Monarch Guiling was in seclusion refining the Blood God Grass to study this bull head properly; perhaps there would be other gains.

However, this thing was too powerful, and taking it out would definitely cause a violent impact on the surrounding space, which might affect True Monarch Guiling's cultivation, so he decided to go out alone to find a deserted place to test it.

"Fourth Senior Brother, accompany me to walk around near the gap; I want to see if there is any news about Demon Lord Youtong!"

Xu Chen found an excuse.

Chen Yang naturally agreed immediately.

Lu An, Zhong Hui, and Wang Daolin all expressed their willingness to follow, but they were all rejected by Xu Chen, who told them to stay at the residence to guard True Monarch Guiling to avoid any mishaps midway, and stated that he would only look around the gap and return soon, and would definitely not go far.

Thinking that the area near the gap had long been thoroughly explored by a group of people working together, and as long as one did not enter the Dark Forest, there would generally be no powerful Demon Beasts or dangers, so Lu An and the others did not continue to insist.

Soon, Xu Chen and Chen Yang left the residence, set up their Escape Light, and sped toward the outside of the gap.

Over three hundred miles, it took less than an hour to arrive.

Seven or eight days had passed, and the area near the gap was the same as always, with no difference from before.

Although this was only the second time Xu Chen had come, besides the huge mountains leaning in all directions and the giant rocks like mountains everywhere, there was only the vast, gloomy, and bizarre pitch-black forest.

These forests formed a pitch-black wall around the periphery of the gap, blocking it tightly, and even flying over it was absolutely not safe.

Because in this Dark Forest, there were not only beasts but also various powerful birds and even bizarre flying beasts.

While still far from the gap, one could hear the roars, hisses, and sounds of fighting of various Demon Beasts coming one after another.

"Junior Brother, we cannot continue to go further out!" Chen Yang reminded with a slightly pale face.

"En, let's just walk around nearby!"

Xu Chen nodded, so the two of them searched back and forth within a range of a hundred miles near the entrance of the gap, but did not find any aura left by Demon Lord Youtong.

Demon Lord Youtong did not seem to have been here.

But Xu Chen had a faint feeling, always feeling that Demon Lord Youtong would not just leave like this.

Although Demon Lord Youtong had said he would send him near the passage to leave, because of the chaotic battle between Demon Lord Heitian and Demon Emperor Baigu in the Ancient Battlefield, the fusion of the Blue Light Treasure Bottle and the Zhentian Stele caused an unprecedentedly huge explosion, resulting in both of them being injured and falling unconscious.

After he woke up, his middle dantian was destroyed, and his injuries were severe.

And Demon Lord Youtong also had some blurred memories due to his injuries, claiming that he had forgotten many things, and even forgot where the exit to the outside world was.

But Xu Chen discovered that Demon Lord Youtong's personality had changed drastically, and he seemed to be avoiding him intentionally or unintentionally, and that twisted cross-shaped mark had also appeared in his eyes.

Although Xu Chen could not judge what had happened to Demon Lord Youtong, it must be related to the Slave Seal left by Feng Feiyi earlier.

And having settled down in the last few days, while worrying about Demon Lord Youtong, Xu Chen also slowly began to understand.

Perhaps Demon Lord Youtong had already remembered that the passage to leave Minghuang was here, which was why he pushed him exactly near the gap; otherwise, it would have been too ridiculously coincidental.

One must know that this mountain wall at the Minghuang Boundary, which connects heaven and earth, stretches for an unknown number of millions of miles, and the situation is extremely complex like a maze, which even a Demon Lord cannot investigate clearly, let alone Demon Lord Youtong, whose strength has not yet fully recovered.

Therefore, after sorting it out, Xu Chen speculated that Demon Lord Youtong wanted to intentionally part ways here.

The reason why he did not enter the gap directly with him might be because he was worried about being targeted by Demon Lord Heitian again.

Or perhaps there were other reasons that could not be stated clearly.

"If you are safe, at least leave me a message so I know; although our species are different, we have been through life and death together after all, so we can be considered friends of life and death. Otherwise, even if I leave like this, I will not be at peace, which will form a flaw in my Dao heart, and I will never be able to let go for the rest of my life!"

Xu Chen stood on a bare mountaintop, looking at the vast, gloomy, and extremely cold world outside the gap, and could not help but sigh and mutter to himself.

His heart felt inexplicably sour and lost.

Although he was on guard against Youtong at all times, the relationship between the two during this period of time was actually quite good.

Most importantly, Youtong still bore the Slave Seal and aura of Feng Feiyi.

While observing, Xu Chen's gaze landed on the highest broken peak outside the gap, and for no reason, his Soul fluctuated slightly.

"Could she have been there?"

A glimmer of hope welled up in Xu Chen's heart, and he turned to Chen Yang and said, "Fourth Senior Brother, just wait for me here; I will go to that mountain peak to take a look and return!"

Chen Yang said somewhat nervously, "Junior Brother, it is better not to run around; that place is too close to the forest!"

Xu Chen waved his hand and smiled, "Rest assured, my speed is very fast; even Fourth-Rank or Fifth-Rank Demon Beasts cannot stop me. Have you forgotten the time I saved you all?"

Chen Yang thought for a moment and stopped trying to dissuade him, and after giving a few words of caution, two strange dark golden Shell Light images appeared behind Xu Chen, which flapped gently and he instantly vanished, appearing over ten miles away; after flapping a few more times, Xu Chen flickered through the Void like lightning and stood atop the ten-thousand-foot-tall broken peak.

Watching Xu Chen's magical Void teleportation, Chen Yang was shocked, happy, and envious, while also excited to the point of being bewildered.

Xu Chen's appearance was completely like a dream to him.

Recently, he had been in a state of extreme excitement and dizziness, unable to believe that all of this was real.

The millet porridge he had eaten, the Spirit Tea and Spirit Wine he had drunk, and the even more miraculous Divine Blood Paste.

He was always worried that upon waking from a sleep, all of this would only be a beautiful dream.

Especially this miraculous Junior Brother.

He was completely like a mystery, leaving one full of all sorts of doubts and confusion.

Was this still the same Senior Brother or Junior Brother from the Taiyuan Sect he once knew?

In a short six years since entering the sect, how could he have grown to be so powerful?

Also, he said that the three Elders had successively achieved Spirit Transformation and Golden Core, and the current Taiyuan Sect was already the third largest Immortal Sect in the Song Kingdom, and was also filthy rich.

When had the Taiyuan Sect ever been rich? Didn't everyone eat dry biscuits and drink cold water together, with the Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers relying on scavenging and robbing after going down the mountain to make a living?

(End of this chapter)