Chapter 22: Suppressed Realm

Ye Yun went out this time mainly for that artifact, and also to see if there are any opportunities, and also to use the time spent subduing the artifact to brew a few batches of pills for them to use.

As soon as he left, Ye Yun began to conceal his figure and soar through the clouds; although he usually walks, he still loves the feeling of soaring, standing high and seeing far, his mind changes, always a sense of foresight, exhilarating.

Watching them leave, the others resumed their day‑and‑night cultivation, especially Du Xueqing; seeing Ye Yun and Li Yan getting close, she resolved to grow faster herself. However, Du Xueqing did not expect Li Yan to be so easygoing, handing over everything Ye Yun had taught her to Du Xueqing, and even helping Du Xueqing sense spiritual energy. In these few days, the two youngsters gradually became good friends.

On the other side, Liu Cheng had already gotten used to this; his master is like a fake—having one girl already meant he hardly had to look after himself, and now with two, he fears that in a few days they won't need him.

Of course, he only says that when teasing Li Yan and Du Xueqing; after all, Ye Yun has been good to him, and he has received the blessings only a disciple can get. This time Ye Yun helped him successfully reach the threshold of breakthrough; it looks like the breakthrough is imminent, and now everything is ready except the master's breakthrough pill.

At the same time, Ye Yun arrived at the spot, and what met his eyes was a series of caves on the ground piled with huge stones; the cave entrance was blocked by a massive stone. However, to Ye Yun that stone was no different from a piece of tofu. He stepped up to the stone and struck it with a palm; the force instantly raised dust around, filling the air as if a sandstorm. When the smoke cleared, Ye Yun was bewildered: the "tofu" turned out to be frozen tofu, quite hard, and despite his earth Immortal strength, his body was unharmed by the blow.

Ye Yun quickly realized something was off; there must be a trick. How could his strength be unable to shatter even a door‑blocking stone? This time he chose to gather spiritual energy for another strike, suspecting the stone had undergone some material transformation that made it extremely hard.

After gathering a little spiritual energy, Ye Yun attacked the stone again; this time the surrounding dust rose two meters high. Confident that it would work, Ye Yun walked straight toward the cave entrance, but his body suddenly collided with something. He used his magic to disperse the dust and looked closely.

"Damn, still not broken. Is it really that bad? When did I become this weak, unable to shatter a stone? No, it seems not that my original strength is low, but something around here is suppressing my power, causing my strength to be only about one‑tenth of normal."

Ye Yun finally noticed the oddity; this place seemed to be covered by a formation, or perhaps the artifact was affecting him. Being proficient in formations, he could not enter one without sensing it, so it must be the artifact's suppressive force. My God, what kind of artifact is this that can suppress my earth Immortal strength? It doesn't look simple—surely it's a valuable item. Well done, youngster, you have provoked my desire for a contest.

Fine, let me see how far my strength has progressed; let me see if I can subdue you using only one‑tenth of my power.

Ye Yun, having accumulated his full strength, attacked the stone gate again. This time the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuations were enormous, and the force of his punch knocked down all the trees within a certain radius, even though it was only one‑tenth of his strength and he had not used any Immortal techniques.

This time the stone gate finally gave way, and behind it was pitch black—no hand could see a finger. Ye Yun used spiritual energy to illuminate the way and found the cave quite large; although the entrance was small, the interior space was indeed vast, and the cave descended continuously, feeling very long. Even using spiritual detection he could not sense its depth—could it be that the deeper one goes, the stronger the suppressive force becomes?

If I reach the bottom, I won't become an ordinary person, right? Fortunately no mortal has descended here; even this suppressive force makes Ye Yun somewhat incredulous—an ordinary person stepping in would likely be crushed by the overwhelming suppression and unable to stand.

The farther Ye Yun walked, the stranger it felt; he constantly sensed the road had no end, and felt as if a pair of eyes were watching him from behind, giving him a chilling sensation. Yet his Divine Perception did not detect any danger, so he dismissed the horror.

Ye Yun kept walking forward, when suddenly the previously pitch‑black scene instantly brightened; both sides lit up with eerie blue glows, the atmosphere extremely strange. Ye Yun didn't think much and kept moving, but his Divine Perception sensed danger in that instant, and he subconsciously teleported forward to dodge.

Looking back, he saw that the spot where he had just stood now bore a fresh attack scar, the force so strong it had cut a one‑meter‑deep pit into the ground.