The night mist burst apart as the pitch-black sky seemed to be cleaved open by a single blade strike. Dazzling light formed a massive corridor, accompanied by a deafening roar.
The sound was so colossal that it shook many people aboard the airships until they swayed on their feet; some collapsed directly onto the deck.
The passage descended from beyond the sky, reaching almost all the way to the ground, surrounded by a vast expanse of white mist.
Soon, the dense fog began to swirl around it.
"Could this be... a dragon draws water?" a renowned figure of the fourth realm cried out in astonishment.
Such a magnificent celestial phenomenon was recorded only in ancient texts; it was virtually impossible to witness in ordinary times.
A chill ran through the scalps of everyone aboard the three airships. A legend had materialized in the real world.
Someone reacted with astonishing speed, darting straight toward the passage.
According to legend, a "dragon draws water" phenomenon might harbor "dragon blood"—a treasure beyond price capable of reshaping sinews and altering bones, drastically elevating one's physical constitution and innate aptitude.
It was a miraculous substance that ten thousand pieces of gold could not buy!
"Fool! Get back here!" an elder shouted.
Even when the phenomenon appeared, it did not always produce dragon blood. More often than not, there was nothing at all, and it was fraught with extreme danger.
"This is an atypical dragon draws water. Do not get involved!" Jin Yuan barked as well.
Under normal circumstances, nine times out of ten, a dragon draws water occurred over great marshes—a slender funnel extending straight down to a grand lake or the sea. But what was this place? A desolate, barren wasteland.
Some froze in their tracks, but the conscious spiritual light of others surged even faster.
"It isn't a dragon draws water over lakes or oceans. If good fortune has truly manifested here, it will far surpass the dragon blood recorded in ancient tomes! Even Earth Immortals would covet it; its value is beyond measure!"
With a whoosh, the first figure plunged inside.
"Ah!" he gasped.
The two who followed closely behind came to an abrupt halt and called out, "What is it?"
"There really is blood!" the man's voice trembled.
He seemed ecstatic as he lunged forward to seize the dragon blood.
"No!" A bloodcurdling scream tore from him as he struggled with all his might to pull back.
Yet he was trapped as if in a quagmire, utterly unable to break free. His conscious spiritual light blurred, dissolving beneath the glowing blood. No matter how he wailed, it was useless.
"What did you see?" the people outside shouted, retreating rapidly.
"It isn't the dragon blood from the ancient records! It's a bizarre red energetic substance... Why must heaven treat me so? Ah, there are miraculous treasures above emitting golden haze! This seems to be a passage leading to a mysterious place—"
Knowing he had no hope of survival, the immortal path expert forced himself to remain as calm as possible in his final moments to convey what lay deep within the white fog.
Then, he completely dissolved, his conscious spiritual light scattering into nothingness.
"There really is... dragon blood?"
At this moment, several elders grew fixated instead, convinced that the red substance was the mystical blood of a high-tier life-form, and that the conscious spiritual light of a third-realm perfection expert simply could not endure it.
The colossal corridor undulated along with the white mist, and then began to spin on its own, whipping up violent air currents like a tornado.
In truth, the moment it appeared, the captains of the three airships had decisively ordered course changes to steer clear.
Now, however, as it spun with wild abandon, its expanse rapidly ballooned, closing in on the lead airship.
As for the two conscious spiritual lights lingering outside the passage, they had already been sucked in.
"Flee!"
The three airships pushed their engines, altering their headings in a frantic bid to evade the unfathomable luminous passage.
*Crack!* The first airship was clipped. Its bow sheared off, suffering catastrophic damage merely by nearing the corridor; the vessel was on the verge of breaking apart.
With a tremendous crash, it was indeed ground to pieces by the expanding anomaly.
At the critical juncture, only a small number of people managed to flee atop exotic birds and flying beasts.
Another portion escaped in the form of conscious spiritual lights, permanently losing their physical bodies. Like rootless duckweed, they were destined to wither and perish sooner or later.
A fracture appeared along the hull of Qin Ming's airship, but it finally broke free of that monstrous vortex of death.
The remaining vessel fared similarly, sustaining minor damage before narrowly dodging the disaster.
Fortunately, the passage gradually stabilized and ceased its outward expansion.
A chill ran down everyone's spines. They had merely been traveling, yet such a calamity had dropped straight out of the sky.
Qin Ming could not calm the turmoil in his heart. The uncharted night mist world was simply too treacherous.
The two airships came to a halt in the far distance. Looking back at the luminous corridor, everyone fell silent. More than half a ship's passengers were gone just like that.
The three airships were not large; they were small rescue vessels, currently transporting mostly the wounded and sick. Even so, each ship had carried fifty to sixty people.
The glowing passage lingered, bridging heaven and earth.
"What on earth is that?" Qin Ming could not help but ask.
He noticed that a few elders looked upon it with burning gazes, wishing they could soar into the night sky to seek its origin.
Jin Yuan replied, "The mysterious 'dragon draws water,' or perhaps an unknown phenomenon of a similar kind."
"This..." Qin Ming was familiar with the term; it was recorded in the *Destiny-Altering Scripture*.
Furthermore, rumor had it that Cao Qianqiu had once ventured into a "dragon draws water" passage to harvest dragon blood.
"Has anyone ever investigated the true nature of this mysterious, unknown phenomenon?" Qin Ming asked again.
No matter how one looked at it, this bore no resemblance to a dragon drinking water.
There was not even a brook nearby, nor any Fire Springs upon the earth—only pitch-black darkness, a barren wasteland spanning tens of thousands of li.
Once the passage had stabilized in that area, the passengers on the two airships gradually relaxed their guard.
Jin Yuan spoke in an even tone. "People throughout the generations have studied it, speculating on its cause and truth. There are several theories."
Qin Ming's interest was piqued at once, and he asked for details.
Jin Yuan said, "The first speculation is that above these heavy dark clouds, deep within the celestial vault, hangs an unstable grotto-heaven pouring forth immortal light, showing signs of emerging into the world."
Qin Ming was astonished. That first hypothesis alone sent shockwaves through him.
In the current outer realm, not a single sect possessed the ability to elevate a blessed land into a grotto-heaven. Could one actually exist here?
Jin Yuan continued, "It is merely speculation, not to be taken as fact. Even if it exists, it would be a ruined ancient grotto-heaven, exceedingly perilous and liable to collapse completely at any moment."
Qin Ming finally understood why several renowned figures whose injuries had yet to heal looked upon it with such fervor; clearly, some wanted to risk venturing inside.
Jin Yuan warned, "I advise you all to recognize reality. In such an ancient and mysterious place, eight out of ten grandmasters would die upon entering. Even ancestral masters would find it difficult to withdraw unscathed."
Instantly, everyone was jolted back to their senses.
Jin Yuan continued, "The second theory: certain ancestral masters believe this is a divine magnetic storm that twists and tears through space. It might connect to an unimaginably distant realm, perhaps millions of li away, or even farther."
Qin Ming was lost in thought. None of these hypotheses were simple.
He recalled the thatched hut discovered within the baleful ground of Kunling, suspected to be the temporary dwelling of "Old Man Liu" after fleeing Yujing.
The master of that hut had recorded discovering a cultivator who had achieved perfection in the seven-day overlap, who had ended up stranded in Kunling on account of a divine magnetic storm.
Jin Yuan spoke again, pulling Qin Ming from his reverie.
"The third speculation is that high above the celestial vault, terrifying beings are locked in combat and have been wounded. Blood carrying immortal dao runes has streaked across the night sky and fallen here."
Qin Ming stared blankly. "Just how powerful would such beings have to be?"
Jin Yuan replied, "At the very least, they would have to be Earth Immortals!"
Predecessors across the ages believed these three explanations were closest to the truth.
Someone spoke up, "Apart from the deafening roar when the corridor first appeared, there hasn't been the slightest disturbance above the sky. I suspect the first theory applies here—an ancient grotto-heaven has destabilized. We could pilot the airships up into the sky to take a look."
Another immediately countered, "Are you mad? Didn't you hear? Even ancestral masters would struggle to escape unharmed if they fell inside."
A renowned elder said, "We can watch from a distance. If the grotto-heaven collapses, perhaps treasures of Earth Immortals, scriptures of Heavenly Immortals, or even sacred artifacts might spill out."
A crowd of people was swayed. Even Jin Yuan, a cultivator of the fifth realm, felt that observing cautiously from afar should pose no great danger.
The two airships climbed steadily, piercing through the dense layers of clouds and drawing near the pitch-black sky. Higher up, turbulent astral winds surged, causing the ships to shudder.
Eventually, they ascended high enough. Now and then, wondrous substances from beyond fell past—pure qi of the nine heavens, violent heavenly light, and strange shooting fire that occasionally left specks of brilliance against the dark night.
The terminus of the passage lay in the distance: a hazy, heart-palpitating mass of multi-colored mist of considerable scale. Even potent pupil arts could not see through it.
"Could a grotto-heaven truly have been damaged, allowing a vast deluge of immortal mist to spill from the fissure?"
The two airships hovered high in the sky, waiting for more than half a day. Nothing stirred ahead; only the colored mist and the passage's light began to dim.
"*Sigh!*"
Earlier, when the first ship was destroyed, those who escaped only as conscious spiritual lights were now gripped by profound despondency, unsure how much longer they could survive in this world.
"We're going to die anyway. Let's go explore it!" one of the spiritual lights spoke up.
"Right! Let's risk it all! If it truly is a legendary grotto-heaven, maybe there are rare treasures or mysterious substances inside that can keep us alive."
Shortly after, several of them took action.
None of the experts on the two ships stopped them. It was a choice born of helplessness; taking the gamble offered perhaps a sliver of hope.
However, as those figures drifted into the colored mist one after another, not even a ripple disturbed the surface.
Jin Yuan remarked, "They are dead. One of the conscious spiritual lights put up a considerable struggle, and I faintly sensed it. He was likely torn to shreds by terrifying forces."
Silence fell over the crowd. Indeed, such a place was not meant to be probed.
People continued waiting in the distance, hoping to see whether a collapse would occur ahead once the luminous mist faded.
Qin Ming said, "Under this endless night, a world blanketed everywhere in mist is simply too perilous. We lost an airship and dozens of lives for no reason at all."
Jin Yuan sighed as well. "The world is vast, filled with mystery, the unknown, terror, and the incomprehensible. Anything can happen."
Both men felt stirred. Amid the surging astral winds of the high heavens, they began discussing the night mist world. In truth, it was primarily Qin Ming asking for guidance, inquiring about the regions explored so far.
Jin Yuan said, "The night mist world is boundless. I suspect that even beings as formidable as Earth Immortals cannot reach its end. Do you know what the fiend civilization deep within the Plain of Divine Demise calls our realm?"
"The Eastern Lands, or perhaps Shenzhou?" Qin Ming ventured. Both names had been used in the past.
Jin Yuan shook his head. "Dongyu."
As the name implied, a mere corner of the east.
"Then what lies to our east? What is the situation there?" Qin Ming asked.
He already knew the conditions of the northern territory: beyond the endless mountain ranges lay frigid permafrost, followed by clusters of volcanoes, and farther out stretched a boundless wilderness.
After a sixth-realm expert of the Winged clan discovered an Earth Immortal playing chess with a human skin, he had fled in terror, never daring to cross north again, bringing exploration there to an abrupt halt.
"The east is extraordinarily dangerous. A massive plain is blanketed everywhere with black flames, like the nether fires of hell. Even ancestral masters dare not set foot inside. Burning perpetually without extinguishing, it stretches across hundreds of thousands of li."
Qin Ming's knowledge of the outer regions was very limited. Hearing about the east for the first time, he felt deeply shaken.
Jin Yuan continued, "Long ago, a sixth-realm expert of the Golden Roc clan flew across that black-flame region for hundreds of thousands of li. Enduring the corrosion and repulsion of mysterious runic power in the night sky, he struggled through that land of death and saw a thriving new world."
"What did that new world look like?" Qin Ming's spirits lifted.
"It is still shrouded in boundless night, but high-grade Fire Springs exist there in clusters and swathes. At the same time, that means the level of danger is extraordinarily high."
Jin Yuan explained that the sixth-realm expert of the Golden Roc clan had explored only a small patch before daring not advance any deeper, because the lords of each territory were simply too formidable.
For instance, in a single domain, a mere feudal lord could be in the sixth realm. And in those famous mountains, most were inhabited by godkin creatures or even Earth Immortals.
"There are numerous races there, all exceedingly transcendent and mysterious. Though humanoid beings exist, there are no humans."
Hearing this, Qin Ming was lost in wonder.
The Golden Roc expert had not continued exploring eastward, for doing so was utterly unrealistic.
Jin Yuan asked, "Do you know what the creatures in the east call our realm?"
"I doubt it's anything flattering," Qin Ming sighed, somewhat able to understand.
Jin Yuan nodded. "Indeed. Those beings call our territory the 'Corner of Dust'—meaning a forgotten, dust-covered nook. It's even less dignified than Dongyu."
Qin Ming truly did not know what to say.
Only after a brief pause did he ask again, "And what about the south?"
Chapter 316