Chapter 782: Extraordinary Fate [Second Update]

According to Er Gouzi, out of boredom it returned to the Eastern Wasteland, preparing to uphold justice and save the common people from misery.

But it soon found the Eastern Wasteland too evil to save, so it went to Buried Immortal Valley to clear its head.

Then, on a sudden whim, it went straight into Buried Immortal Valley, intending to check whether there really were Immortals buried inside.

But to its utter surprise, after wandering around Buried Immortal Valley for a long time, it stumbled into a Killing Array, filled with Void Fissures, extremely dangerous.

Generally speaking, Void Fissures allow one to quickly traverse regions, but if they are the kind of fissures thin as needles or swords, they pose an extremely terrifying crisis for any Cultivator.

Once scraped by such a fissure smaller than a Flesh Body, no matter how powerful the Flesh Body, the Void Fissure would forcibly tear away a chunk of flesh and blood, teleporting it to another region.

So Er Gouzi was in a panic at the time. With no choice, it detonated several hundred Dharma Artifacts on its body, forcibly blasting those tiny, dense Void Fissures into a clump, then dove in headfirst, and in the blink of an eye, appeared here on Ascension Road!

"Sigh, who would have thought that this Divine Venerable, brilliant for a lifetime, would be like a wolf fallen onto the Immortal Path and bullied by people. These past few months on Ascension Road, this Divine Venerable has truly lived too miserably!

"Borrowing a little food from someone gets me hunted down. To avoid relieving myself anywhere, this Divine Venerable painstakingly climbs up a tree to pee, and still gets hunted down. This world is truly too evil! Tell me, is there any justice left?" Er Gouzi bemoaned itself, then finally looked at Xu Que and Jiang Hongyan, hoping to hear some comfort from the two.

Xu Que and Jiang Hongyan exchanged a glance, shook their heads slightly, and smiled bitterly.

As Er Gouzi said, it had stumbled into this place through a Void Fissure, which proved there was no entrance to Ascension Road inside Buried Immortal Valley—it was just this fool blundering its way in by accident.

So now, they had no way to use the route Er Gouzi took to return to the Four Continents!

After all, the Void itself is an ethereal yet profound existence; almost no one can fully grasp it.

Logically speaking, if Er Gouzi could reach Ascension Road through a Void Fissure, Xu Que and Jiang Hongyan should also be able to return through Void Fissures, but the problem was that even if they forcibly tore open the Void, they had no way of knowing which direction the Four Continents lay.

If they recklessly dove in headfirst, it would be like leaping into a vast ocean—without direction, they could only let the currents carry them away, and in the end no one would know where they'd wash ashore.

"Damn it, what are you two looking at? Hurry up and comfort this Divine Venerable!" Seeing the two say nothing and just stare at each other, Er Gouzi couldn't stand it any longer and started cursing.

Jiang Hongyan smiled faintly and said nothing more.

Xu Que couldn't be bothered to deal with Er Gouzi either. He had thought this idiot might bring good news, but in the end there was still no way back to the Four Continents—what use are you, really!

"Hey, kid, don't go silent on me, let's do a freestyle! YO! YO! I'm looking up, above the Moon… Damn, sang the wrong lyrics! Hey hey hey, don't walk away, where are you going? To eat? Wait for this Divine Venerable!"

……

In the end, Xu Que and his group continued onward along Ascension Road.

Since they were already here, they couldn't come back empty-handed. If they happened to gain some harvest, that would be a Great Fortune / Opportunity!

However, Ascension Road had been open for so many years that any Creation worth having had long since been taken, mostly.

The entire Ascension Road looked desolate. Apart from the relatively abundant Spiritual Energy, there was nothing special, but traces of great battles could be seen everywhere—perhaps over some minor conflict, or perhaps because some treasure really did appear, people had fought fiercely!

Along the way, Xu Que hadn't seen even a single Spirit Grass, let alone any Creation.

Until they wandered about, passing through a stretch of open grassland, and arrived before a waterfall.

This place bore no trace of Cultivators, perfectly peaceful—green mountains and clear waters, with a few Seven-Colored Butterflies fluttering past from time to time.

"Oh? There's a cave behind the waterfall!" At this moment, Er Gouzi pointed at the waterfall and said.

Xu Que and Jiang Hongyan turned to look, and sure enough, a small cave entrance was hidden within the waterfall—nearly impossible to notice without careful observation.

"This place doesn't seem to have been visited by anyone. Let's go in and take a look—maybe we'll really find something!" Xu Que couldn't help but grow interested, and said to Jiang Hongyan.

Jiang Hongyan nodded slightly and stepped forward to follow.

Er Gouzi also hung back, cautiously observing—if any dangerous situation arose, it would definitely be the first to turn tail and run.

Yet the cave was unexpectedly peaceful. Xu Que walked at the very front, didn't even see any Formation, and stepped inside smoothly.

Then, a cool breeze blew toward them, carrying a refreshing, heart-penetrating freshness that made one feel clear-headed and refreshed.

"Hmm?"

At this moment, Jiang Hongyan followed close behind, seemingly also feeling that cool breeze, and looked somewhat astonished.

Her gaze quickly surveyed the cave, then suddenly landed on the small lake in the middle of the cave, and she said in surprise: "This seems to be… Spirit Soul Marrow. How could there be so much of it here?"

"Spirit Soul Marrow?" Xu Que was also startled, and looked toward that milky-white lake.

"Ding, Spirit Soul Marrow detected. Would you like to extract it?"

The system prompt immediately sounded in his mind, and an interface popped up before his eyes.

【Spirit Soul Marrow】: Condensed from the Essence of Heaven and Earth, requiring a specific mountain-and-water configuration to gradually form over long periods of accumulation.

Effect: Cultivating with this item can clear the mind, simultaneously increasing Divine Soul Power and Dao Rhyme cultivation speed by 30%, and further consolidating them! Additionally, this item can be used for Alchemy!

"Oh, this is actually a good thing!" Xu Que's eyes lit up at once.

This must be luck—on this Ascension Road, which had been trodden by countless people, they had casually wandered around and actually found such a place, possessing so much Spirit Soul Marrow, and clearly never discovered before.

"Looks like Buddha was right—young lady, your Fate is truly extraordinary!" Xu Que said with a smile, looking at Jiang Hongyan.

Jiang Hongyan smiled faintly: "Your Fate is also extraordinary!"

Xu Que was stunned for a moment, then realized—Jiang Hongyan must be referring to his Throwing Shoes to Ask the Way move from back then!

But the problem was, he hadn't activated his Luck Halo now, so finding this place was most likely still because of Jiang Hongyan's heaven-defying Fate!

"Little fellow, this place is the best spot for Closed-door Cultivation. With so much natural Spirit Soul Marrow, it's enough for us to cultivate for decades. I can also use this to condense that Divine Soul that was taken from me back then!" Jiang Hongyan said calmly, a faint smile always on her face, showing not the slightest emotional fluctuation at finding a Supreme Treasure.

As if all of this before her were perfectly ordinary things.

Xu Que was also somewhat tempted. If he went into Closed-door Cultivation here, within two or three years he would surely be able to break straight through to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, and his Dao Rhyme would grow ever stronger. By then, even facing the Holy Emperor who possessed two Immortal Artifacts, Xu Que would have no fear at all!

However, given his personality, having come to a place like Ascension Road—full of countless unknown possibilities—he clearly couldn't sit still. If he didn't stir up some trouble, he'd feel uncomfortable all over!

"Awooo, kid, you actually found such a great place, 666, this Divine Venerable is going down for a swim! Doggy Paddle swim!" At this moment, Er Gouzi sneaked in through the cave entrance, and the moment it saw that lake of Spirit Soul Marrow, it immediately got excited and shouted as it charged forward.

……

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