Chapter 126

Lu Fang opened his eyes from cultivation, a flash of brilliance darting through his pupils; after these Qiba days, he had consumed twenty strands of scholarly qi and now stood at the threshold of the Sixth Rank realm, faintly sensing it.

Perhaps the next breakthrough will come from a single insight, a single opportunity—but that opportunity might never come in his lifetime.

The threshold to breaking through is always this hard, harder still.

Of course, if you have enough celestial treasures and rare elixirs, you can force your way through.

Lu Fang absolutely had the means to force a breakthrough, for over these past days, though he had used twenty strands of scholarly qi, he had gained even more—this was the benefit of the Great Zhou Literary Gazette’s widespread distribution.

It could continuously provide him with vast quantities of scholarly qi.

“Fourth Sister!”

Lu Fang rose and walked helplessly to a corner of the room, where a mattress lay; Zhou Yiyi was sprawled on it, snoring loudly, drool dripping from his lips, surrounded by numerous books and materials on demonic arrays.

He was utterly speechless.

Fourth Sister was truly reading—every time he saw her, she was either eating or sleeping; he had never once seen her open a book.

He hadn’t noticed before, but now Lu Fang increasingly found her unreliable.

Zhou Yiyi blinked sleepily, wiped drool from his mouth, and frowned. “What? Is it time to eat?”

Lu Fang’s eyelid twitched. He smiled bitterly. “Fourth Sister, your appetite is incredible—you wake up and immediately want to eat. Are you sure you can even understand these books and materials on demonic arrays?”

“Didn’t I already tell you?”

Zhou Yiyi rolled over irritably and closed his eyes again.

Lu Fang sighed. “Fourth Sister, you did say you could understand them in ‘half a month,’ but Qiba days have passed already—are you certain you can decipher these ancient Fanwen ? If you really can’t, I can find someone—”

Zhou Yiyi yawned. “Pfft. Demonic arrays? They’re just ancient sacrificial arrays.”

Lu Fang’s eyes lit up. “Fourth Sister, you understand them?”

Zhou Yiyi nodded, smiling confidently.

“There’s nothing in this world I can’t understand. This so-called ‘demon’? It’s simply a way to communicate with some powerful, ancient existence through unique rituals, gaining immense power in return.”

Lu Fang froze, frowning. “What do you mean? Powerful ancient existence? Do such things even exist?”

Zhou Yiyi shrugged. “What’s so strange? Let me ask you—how did the Lesser Upper Realms come to be?”

Lu Fang replied instantly. “The Lesser Upper Realms form when powerful energy fluctuations collide, splitting space and opening into realms beyond.”

Zhou Yiyi nodded. “Exactly. As far as I know, there are countless such Lesser Upper Realms. Some we’ve discovered and can enter; others are undeniably real, yet we cannot reach them.”

“But we can use all kinds of sacrificial rites to communicate with the powerful beings within them, gaining their bizarre, miraculous abilities.”

Lu Fang, though surprised, thought for a moment and nodded in agreement—but then asked his lingering question: “Still, how can these powerful beings not die? Do they live that long?”

Even the longest-lived plant or beast spirits barely survive a few thousand years.

Zhou Yiyi said, “Strange? First, no one can confirm whether immortal races even exist. Second, because the Dao in each Lesser Upper Realm is incomplete, their environments vary wildly.”

“For example, the Sixth Rank Lesser Upper Realm you entered last time.”

“There, fortune could attach itself to all things—that’s common. Other realms might have time slow down—or speed up.”

“Or space could be layered infinitely. Or some beings in a realm might exist in an entirely different form.”

Lu Fang nodded. “Then… could it be that Ling’er’s biological parents vanished and ended up in the underground palace within the Buddha Realm Trial Grounds because someone performed a ritual for some such existence?”

“Yes.” Zhou Yiyi picked up a page from the cluttered floor. “The Flame Clan suspects that Wan Juan once used Lita’s blood as an offering to sacrifice to a powerful being named ‘Cheng.’”

“For some reason, the ritual may have failed—or succeeded. That’s why the three of them disappeared.”

Lu Fang asked urgently, “Then the underground palace the ascetic saw is real. How do I find it? He said it could move.”

Zhou Yiyi thought a moment. “Nothing here details the exact method. There’s no record of the specific ritual steps Wan Juan used—only speculation.”

Lu Fang frowned. “So there’s no way to find the place?”

Zhou Yiyi shook his head. “When did I say it couldn’t be found? Didn’t that guy Mo Fen try to take Lu Ling? He wanted to use her blood to create an object linked to that being.”

“Creating such an object is extremely difficult.”

“They might drain her blood dry and still fail, because such a medium has limited durability—and the Buddha Realm Trial Grounds themselves are time-limited.”

“But I’m different.”

“With just one drop of Lu Ling’s essence blood, I can make this object. Wear it, and whenever you draw near, your connection to Lu Ling’s bloodline will strengthen.”

Lu Fang gave a thumbs-up. “Fourth Sister, you’re amazing.”

Zhou Yiyi lifted his chin haughtily. “Obviously. Now you don’t doubt my abilities anymore? But I still wonder, little brother—will you really break through when the time comes?”

Lu Fang smiled. “Fourth Sister, just wait and see. By the way, if I find that underground palace and encounter that hidden powerful being, how do I rescue someone—or break the seal?”

Zhou Yiyi pondered. “I’m not certain. I don’t know the exact nature or abilities of that being.”

After a pause, he sighed heavily. “If you want my advice, I suggest you don’t enter the underground palace. It’s unknown—and extremely dangerous.”

“With your current strength, you could easily die there.”

Lu Fang fell silent. After hesitation, he said, “Still, I must go. If I do nothing, Ling’er may never be happy again.”

“Besides, I’ve thought about it—the Buddha Realm Trial Grounds resemble a Lesser Upper Realm, and access is restricted by rank.”