Chapter 831: Nine Heavens Cultivator

Yan Buji covered his left eye, the Mutant Force still surging in his flesh and blood. He stood on a barren hill at the edge of the battlefield, watching the demon race and human cultivators fighting in the distance, the booming of spirit cannons shaking the earth.

"The Sage wants 'high-quality Dao dissipation'……" He murmured softly, "But whose benefit are these cultivators' deaths serving?"

"Five-domain cultivators?!"

"Capture him!"

Yan Buji's face darkened; he hadn't expected to run into a demon race patrol right after coming out—what a coincidence?!

Without a word, Yan Buji shot off like an arrow from a bow, fleeing as swift as a gale. His speed was like lightning, as if wind stirred beneath his feet. His figure darted through the forest, swift and agile like a hunting leopard.

However, the demon race cultivators behind were not intimidated by Yan Buji's speed. They pursued relentlessly, never letting up. These demon cultivators were agile in form and swift in action, likewise displaying astonishing speed and stamina.

Yan Buji ran while glancing back at the pursuers. Seeing the demon cultivators draw nearer, his heart tightened involuntarily. He knew well that their strength was not to be underestimated; if they caught him, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Fortunately, the pill Yan Buji had taken had just finished digesting, restoring his mana; in that instant he employed the Instant Movement Technique again, vanishing right before the demon cultivators' eyes.

Thus, Yan Buji repeatedly evaded on the demon race continent, soon reaching the border of the Otherworldly Race continent.

Gazing at the smoky skies, Yan Buji furrowed his brows.

"That shouldn't be—how could the demon race develop spirit guns and cannons superior to those of humans?"

However, Yan Buji knew that spirit guns and cannons had little potential; no matter how exquisite the technique, they could not escape their fatal flaw.

Perhaps it was because human cultivators, having just faced the demon race's systematic use of spirit guns and cannons in war, were dazed; given time to find a countermeasure, they would easily break the demon formations.

Suddenly, three streaks of light swept across the horizon at extreme speed; were it not for Yan Buji's Martial Immortal perception being keen, they would hardly be noticeable. The three wore moon-white Daoist robes, their sleeves embroidered with nine-layer cloud patterns, their auras inwardly restrained yet faintly exuding an aura transcending this world.

"Cultivators of the Nine Heavens!"

Yan Buji's eyes narrowed; he had heard that the Nine Heavens were the dwelling place of other wise races besides humans and demons, though human cultivators also existed there, but their appearance at the battlefield's edge now must be suspicious.

He restrained his aura and silently followed.

The three Nine Heavens cultivators did not join the battle but flew straight to a desolate mountain range in the northwest. Yan Buji followed from afar and soon saw them stop before a broken cliff.

The leading cultivator took out a jade talisman and pressed it into the void.

"Hum!"

Space trembled, clouds and mist surged, and a bronze gate carved with stars flickered in and out of the gale.

Yan Buji's heart jolted. Legend said a gale band separated the Nine Heavens from the Five Domains, and only the Heaven Gate could pass; the gate's location was always hidden and shifting, so even though Yan Buji possessed the Yu Dao Dao Mark, without guidance he could not find it.

The three formed hand seals and chanted, a clear light rising around them as they flew straight into the Nine Heavens gale capable of shredding magical treasures, passing through the gate's slit.

"Is that the Yu Dao Immortal Accumulation that can connect to the daytime layer?"

Yan Buji narrowed his eyes, secretly noting the tremor of the Yu Dao ripples spreading around when that bronze gate opened.

As the three disappeared, Yan Buji also appeared at the spot they had previously occupied.

"The spatial disturbance hasn't faded yet; if using the Heaven Gate Law...." Yan Buji began counting on his fingers.

In no time, Yan Buji calculated the corresponding spatial node; seizing the moment while the spatial disturbance had not yet dissipated, he immediately activated the Yu Dao Dao Mark within him, invoking the Dao Mark's power to forcefully unleash the Heaven Gate Law forward.

"Boom!"

He stepped out, leveraging the spatial disturbance left by the three Nine Heavens cultivators; relying on the Heaven Gate Law's ability to traverse space, he actually tore open a rift.

In an instant, waves of gale surged from the spatial rift; the gale, like a blade, instantly carved dozens of blood lines on his body, but his Martial Immortal physique healed in the blink of an eye. He hesitated not, leaping into it.

"Gale band! Indeed it is the Heaven Gate node linking to the Nine Heavens!" Yan Buji's eyes brightened; at once his mana and Immortal Essence surged, driving his divine abilities and profound arts to forcefully charge into the gale band.

The instant he passed through the gale band, Yan Buji's vision suddenly opened up.

Here there is no day-night cycle; the firmament is forever fixed at the indigo hue of dawn just before light appears. Above the sea of clouds, countless inverted mountains float, the tallest peak's summit bearing a city built of white jade, shining brightly in the heavenly light.

Daytime layer!

Yan Buji hid in the shadow of a floating island; from afar he saw the three Nine Heavens cultivators already stepping onto the rainbow bridge linking to the main peak, the two guards at its head examining their jade talismans.

He was pondering how to blend in when a sudden scorching sensation came from his bosom.

"Huh?"

He reached in and pulled out a broken jade tablet, a spoil taken from the defective zone of the Sun-Moon Palace earlier; he had only thought its material special and pocketed it. Now the tablet resonated subtly with the restriction at the city gate.

"Interesting……"

Yan Buji grinned, tied the jade tablet to his waist, and swaggered toward the rainbow bridge. Sure enough, the guards saw the tablet flash and did not stop him, not even giving him a second glance.

Within the city, all buildings were carved like crystal; the cultivators walking the streets were at least of Nascent Soul stage, their auras deep and settled—clearly natives of the Nine Heavens. Yan Buji followed the three from afar, eventually arriving beneath an octagonal stargazing platform.

"Reporting to Elder, the lower realm war proceeds as planned." The leading cultivator knelt on one knee, "Within three days, the Dao fruits of the fallen cultivators will be enough to fill three Heaven-Nurturing Pearls."

On the stargazing platform, a white-haired Elder slowly opened his eyes, raising his hand to toss three glazed pearls. Inside each pearl was sealed a blood-red vortex, clearly the cultivators' essences condensed to the extreme.

"Has the Sage noticed anything over there?" the Elder asked in a deep voice.

"They are busy mending the heavenly Dao's rifts, having no spare attention for us."

Yan Buji clung to the eaves, hearing clearly, and suddenly realized!

Nine Heavens cultivators were actually gathering the Dao fruits of the fallen in secret!

And the Sage's so-called "mending of heaven" was likely merely a facade!

"Who's there!"

Suddenly, the Elder turned his head sharply, twelve golden streaks flying from his sleeve, transforming into chains that sealed off all of Yan Buji's retreat!

At the critical moment, the jade tablet at his waist exploded violently, a violent spatial vortex sucking him in. In his final instant, he saw the Elder's shocked and furious face, and the heavens far away suddenly darkening.

Something is devouring the light of the daytime layer!

Yan Buji staggered, his eyes turning as he vanished along the spatial rift created by the exploding jade tablet!