Chapter 483: Ascending is Hard, Falling is Easy

After landing, Hua Changxi did not rush to survey her surroundings; instead, she stood amidst a profusion of blooming flowers, lifted her head to gaze at the dead, void-like black sky above, her eyes deep and contemplative.

Previously, flying upward from the roots toward the divine tree met with layer upon layer of obstacles; yet descending along the roots downward proceeded without hindrance.

Within the space of the divine tree, ascending was arduous, while falling downward was easy.

Considering that the divine tree pierced the Nine Heavens above and connected to the Nine Netherworlds below, could she not assume that ascending to the Nine Heavens was difficult, while plummeting into the Nine Netherworlds was easy?

Hua Changxi withdrew her gaze, her thoughts churning.

She had heard much about the Nine Netherworlds, encountered many cultivators who had descended there, and had herself ventured into the Nine Netherworlds several times; yet, regarding those who had ascended to the Nine Heavens or any matters concerning them, she had neither heard nor witnessed anything to this day.

"It seems that no matter where one goes, moving upward is never easy, while falling downward happens in the span of a single thought."

After uttering this sigh, Hua Changxi reined in her mind and began to examine her surroundings.

The Fusang Divine Tree was deeply rooted in the Tang Gu of the Nine Netherworlds, tempering extraordinary heavenly fires; the Undying Divine Tree locked the Spring of Elixir with its roots, nurturing spiritual herbs and rare treasures.

Tang Gu blazed with intense fire essence, capable of scorching the heavens and boiling the seas; the Spring of Elixir surged with boundless vitality, moistening the universe.

Standing in the Spring of Elixir, a place utterly different from Tang Gu, and gazing upon the strange flowers and exotic herbs covering the ground, Hua Changxi's face was filled with awe at the depth of this sacred land.

Whether Tang Gu or the Spring of Elixir, compared to secret realms, they were hardly inferior; in fact, the quantity and quality of resources they nurtured even surpassed those of most secret realms.

Weaving through the exotic flowers and rare herbs, Hua Changxi occasionally harvested some uncommon spiritual plants and flowers, soon arriving before a stone stele inscribed with the characters "Spring of Elixir."

The stele stood in the center of the widest part of the emerald spiritual spring.

As far as the eye could see, the emerald spring wound and coiled, twisting through nine bends and eighteen turns; it not only covered every inch of land within sight but also extended endlessly toward the unknown lands at the horizon.

Clearly, this emerald spiritual spring was the Spring of Elixir.

The Spring of Elixir was not stagnant; it flowed slowly, its surface rotating with a strange rhythm, forming numerous tiny whirlpools.

These whirlpools did not devour all things; rather, they seemed to breathe. With every contraction and expansion, specks of green luminous dust rose from the spring, merging into the air to become nourishment for the surrounding rare treasures and exotic herbs.

Hua Changxi chose to explore the area west of the stele, where spiritual herbs and flowers grew most densely, advancing slowly along the Spring of Elixir.

At first, she assumed this Spring of Elixir had naturally formed from the accumulation of underground spiritual energy; but after walking along it for a while and witnessing green spiritual rain occasionally fluttering down from the void above, each drop brimming with immense vitality, she suddenly realized that this spring was not born of the earth but originated from the Undying Divine Tree.

It was the vitality-laden spiritual liquid condensed among the branches and leaves of the divine tree, falling to the ground to become a spring.

As she moved farther away from the stele, the surface of the Spring of Elixir gradually narrowed.

At the stele, the spring's surface was vast as a lake, spanning nearly a thousand meters in diameter; yet after Hua Changxi had explored westward for an hour, the Spring of Elixir had shrunk into a winding trickle, no more than a few meters wide, appearing as though it might dry up at any moment.

After that, Hua Changxi could proceed no further.

It was not that the path ended, but that gray mist lay ahead, obscuring all vision; even her divine sense could not penetrate it for exploration.

Hua Changxi condensed a ball of raging flame at her fingertips and flung it fiercely into the mist; the flame was instantly swallowed by the gray fog, stirring no reaction whatsoever, before vanishing into complete silence.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's eyes darkened slightly; after a brief moment of thought, she turned back and proceeded to explore the south, north, and east directions, using the stele as the center.

Both south and north of the stele were identical to the west: once the surface of the Spring of Elixir narrowed to merely a few meters, the gray mist blocked the way.

However, east of the stele was vastly different.

Hua Changxi had walked eastward for only a few li when the scenery before her changed—a gray boundary stone platform loomed prominently, its form identical to the formation eye platform of the Artifact Saint Palace!

In the center of the stone platform, a black-green alchemical cauldron hovered silently, emitting an ancient and mysterious aura.

Hua Changxi's gaze lingered on the alchemical cauldron for only a moment before shifting to the human-shaped stone carving on the platform; almost the instant her eyes touched the statue, a heavy solemnity surged within her eyes, and her chest felt somewhat suffocated.

She knew that those human-shaped stone carvings were once living people; they had used their own bodies as sacrifices to transform into stone statues, guarding the formation eye solely to seal away the energy of demons and monsters.