Upon returning to the Native Realm, Wei Yuan immediately inspected his body. Forcibly escaping in that manner could not come without a price; normally, sustaining damage to one's cultivation or Dao Foundation was standard.
Sure enough, thirty threads of karmic luck had vanished from his sea of consciousness.
Lingering fear gripped Wei Yuan's heart. The Nether Cold Realm was truly perilous beyond measure. Once he steadied his mind, he recounted his ordeal in the Nether Cold Realm to Zhang Sheng. After listening intently and asking a few detailed questions, Zhang Sheng said, "What about the soil and rocks you dug up? Manifest them so we can take a look."
Near Jade Mountain, on an open patch of ground, a pile of soil and rock sat emitting wisps of chilly mist. Wei Yuan manifested a small mound of it, and the temperature within several rods plunged drastically, as cold as the depths of winter.
"This soil..." Zhang Sheng scooped up a handful and examined it carefully, yet could not glean much from it. Thus, he called Ji Liuli and Sun Yu over as well.
The three studied it together. In the end, it was Sun Yu, with his broad knowledge and experience, who concluded that the soil was rich in the power of Everlasting Silence, making it a variety of Nether Soil. Certain rare spirit herbs could be cultivated using this earth. In the hands of ordinary cultivators, it might not be worth much, but to the Hall of Jianmu and the Monastery of Creation, who specialized in nurturing spirit flora and medicinal ingredients, it was exceptionally precious. The Hall of Xuanming also had a great demand for it.
Although the soil in Wei Yuan's hands was not a physical substance, what spirit plants required was the power of Everlasting Silence contained within—a form of extremely high-grade heaven-and-earth primordial energy. Whether the soil possessed a physical body did not matter.
After explaining, Sun Yu asked, "Is there more? I need some for experiments to see if I can cultivate a few new varieties."
"There is." Wei Yuan manifested another large heap.
Without a word of fuss, Sun Yu slipped off his Daoist robe and wrapped the soil inside, even sweeping every stray particle that had spilled onto the ground into the fabric without leaving a single speck behind. Only when all the soil was completely wrapped and bundled tight did Sun Yu break into an enriched, contented smile.
Seeing his expression, Wei Yuan asked, "Is this soil very expensive?"
"Not really. If you exchange for it at the Hall of Merits, it only costs one liang of immortal silver per qian," Sun Yu said casually.
Wei Yuan did not think much of it at first, until he caught that final unit of measurement. An instinctive calculation in his head jolted him into realization. He had just handed Sun Yu several dozen jin of soil—wouldn't that be worth several thousand liang of immortal silver? No wonder this martial uncle had quietly stripped off his supreme-grade Dharma artifact robe just to bundle dirt.
Seeing Sun Yu's fulfilled grin, Wei Yuan could hardly bear to hold back. "If Martial Uncle wants more, I still have plenty."
"No, no, this is plenty," Sun Yu replied, smiling with the contentment of modest riches.
Wei Yuan found it awkward to mention that he still had several thousand jin stored inside his Dao Foundation—mostly stone, and the stone contained even more of the power of Everlasting Silence.
However, these rocks and soil from the Nether Cold Realm lacked physical form. Though Wei Yuan could manifest them, they could not stray too far from his person, meaning he had no way to hand them over to the Palace of Grand Beginning in exchange for immortal silver.
When even dirt was this valuable, describing the Nether Cold Realm as a land overflowing with treasures was an understatement. Seeing that he still had ample time, Wei Yuan promptly prepared to enter the Nether Cold Realm once more.
After Ji Liuli and Zhang Sheng each shared crucial advice on what to watch for during exploration, Wei Yuan set off again.
The moment he entered the Nether Cold Realm, Wei Yuan discovered that his surroundings had completely transformed. He now stood in the center of an enormous basin, enclosed on all sides by cliffs hundreds of rods high.
The basin floor had its own undulations, but the ground was exceedingly hard. The small hillock Wei Yuan had occupied was nowhere to be seen, and the cave he had dug had naturally vanished without a trace.
Scanning the surroundings, Wei Yuan finally confirmed that he was standing squarely within the footprint of that Outer Domain entity. Had he not witnessed that monstrous claw coming down with his own eyes, he might well have mistaken this for a natural basin.
Although only thin clouds drifted across the sky, Wei Yuan calculated the forthcoming weather just to be safe. It was a very simple minor technique, and the result was equally straightforward: no rain, light breeze.
Wei Yuan blinked. Why did this technique feel so bizarre?
Still, he chose to trust Dream Eater for now. Even if the weather forecast was inaccurate, it hardly mattered; Wei Yuan possessed plenty of methods.
Before re-entering the Nether Cold Realm, Wei Yuan had also crammed three new Daoist arts. The first was the Thick Earth Shield Art. The second was the Shadow Concealment Art, which allowed him to turn into a wisp of shadow, hide inside an object, and use its aura to mask his own. The third was the Radiant Sun Heavenly Light Art, an advanced version of the Flashing Light Art capable of momentarily simulating the brilliance of the sun.
Wei Yuan dared not linger in the basin's center. Remembering the countless shadows that had scurried in all directions when the colossal claw descended, he knew the Nether Cold Realm was actually quite bustling.
Right away, Wei Yuan cast the Shadow Concealment Art and slipped inside a small pebble. The pebble then lifted off, skimming low as it flew toward the edge of the basin.
In the dim environment, a small pebble flying close to the ground was utterly inconspicuous. Its only drawback was speed, moving at barely half of Wei Yuan's normal flight. After a prolonged, sluggish glide, the pebble finally reached the cliff base, then rose along the sheer face, taking quite some time before reaching the summit.
Just as it was about to crest the cliff edge, a long saber silently slashed right past Wei Yuan's head!
Wherever the blade passed, it left a slowly dissipating black wake. It was an exceptionally brilliant strike that had already stirred the heaven-and-earth primordial energy; even Feng Tingyu's saber arts were only on par with this.
Had the pebble risen just a head's height higher, it would have been sliced clean in two!
Startled, Wei Yuan pulled in his aura completely. The pebble dropped with a light clatter onto the ground at the cliff's edge.
"Huh? I clearly felt something coming up. How did I miss? What is this rock?"
A hand reached over, picked up the pebble, and examined it closely.
A pair of pale amber eyes appeared before Wei Yuan, their pupils marked with strange, meandering patterns. By human standards, her face was extraordinarily beautiful, though a few metallic lines ran across her cheeks, lending her an eerie, mysterious air.
She studied it for a while without discerning anything unusual. Still unsatisfied, she drew the pebble gently across her blade, slicing it in two.
Even split open, it remained an ordinary pebble. Wei Yuan hid inside one of the halves.
Another voice sounded nearby. "It's just an ordinary pebble. Perhaps something down there noticed our presence, tainted the rock with a trace of its aura, and tossed it up to test the waters. We've been exposed now, so that creature has probably gone into hiding. Let's go and ambush somewhere else. With a celestial beast roaming about, prey will be plenty."
She nodded, casually tossed both halves of the pebble back into the basin, unfurled three pairs of wings from behind her shoulders, and flew off alongside the other figure.
Amid a dizzying blur, Wei Yuan fell back down into the basin.
He cursed silently in his heart. After all the trouble it had taken to fly up, someone had carelessly chucked him right back down, meaning he had to make the flight all over again. Hiding inside a stone and manipulating it with Dao power was grueling work, far more exhausting than flying on his own.
Wei Yuan emerged from the half-stone, intending to possess another pebble and fly up from the same spot. Those two were most likely setting an ambush elsewhere and would not keep watch over the same location.
Just as Wei Yuan was about to move, his hair suddenly stood on end! Around him, loose stones and clumps of dirt drifted into the air one by one!
The basin's center abruptly swelled upward, and the ground split apart, spewing vast swathes of deep-blue rainbow radiance straight into the heavens!
Countless earth dragons surged forth, rapidly spreading toward the basin's perimeter. Wherever the earth dragons passed, shafts of blue rainbow light erupted skyward, obliterating anything they touched into nothingness. Even the full-force strike of an Immortal Monarch could hardly boast greater power!
Seeing an earth dragon materialize in the basin's center and race toward his feet in an instant, Wei Yuan was horrified. Abandoning all attempts to conceal his presence, he shot into the sky at top speed!
In that split second, how could Wei Yuan fail to understand? Those two had seen through his disguise long ago, only feigning ignorance so they could throw him back down. They must have known the rainbow light was about to erupt and wanted to use the power of heaven and earth to destroy him.
Though Wei Yuan was flying with everything he had, the rainbow eruption was simply too swift, reaching his feet in the blink of an eye. Wei Yuan was so terrified his nascent divinity nearly boiled over—how could he dare touch even a fraction of such primordial might?
In desperation, two slender golden cauldrons appeared under his arms. He triggered them a fraction of a heartbeat apart, one firing downward and the other horizontally.
Amid thunderous booms, Wei Yuan felt as if he had been booted skyward, rocketing over a hundred rods up, and then slapped across the sky, hurtling another hundred rods horizontally, evading the jetting rainbow light by the narrowest of margins.
Before he even hit the ground, Wei Yuan sensed something rapidly closing in. His perception was keen enough to border on a divine ability, and without a second thought, a long immortal sword appeared in his grip as he slashed ferociously toward the approaching presence!
Where the sword fell, nothing was there.
Yet Wei Yuan sensed that the entity had abruptly vanished the instant before the blade struck, inevitably leaving behind a wisp of Dao power. It was the very shamaness who had tossed him back into the basin.
Her movements were elusive and bizarre, as if she could traverse the void itself, making her nearly impossible to guard against. Wei Yuan had wanted to bait her into an open clash, but she refused to bite, proving herself a master hunter.
After a moment's thought, Wei Yuan chose not to dwell on it. Turning around, he flew into the distance. Moments later, he dug a cave in a small valley between two hills, quietly laid down his marker, set up a defensive array, picked up a few small objects nearby, and returned to the Native Realm.
Not long after Wei Yuan departed, two figures appeared where he had placed the marker. One was the shamaness with three pairs of wings; the other was a tall, straight-backed, exceedingly youthful Shaman Scholar.
The Shaman Scholar said, "He probably never imagined we could track down the place where he buried his marker. After all, we hold that treasure in our hands."
The shamaness surveyed their surroundings. "He set up an array. Cautious enough. Let's first see what he stored here to determine his Dao Foundation type and preferred arts, then lie in ambush right here to give him a nasty greeting when he returns!"
"Hmph, a mere human dares step into the Nether Cold Realm? We'll make sure he never goes back."
The shamaness reached out and touched the array Wei Yuan had left behind, activating it. A passage of text appeared before them:
"A cage holds a number of chickens and rabbits. Counting heads, there are thirty; counting feet, there are eighty. How many chickens and rabbits are there respectively?"
The shamaness froze, then burst into uncontrollable laughter. "They truly are of the same lineage, unable to come up with any new tricks! But this guy is far worse than his elders—even my cat could solve a problem like this!"
The Shaman Scholar shook his head as well, deeply concerned for Wei Yuan's intellect.
The shamaness casually wrote down two numbers and entered them into the array. Suddenly, a brilliant sphere of white light rose before their eyes, blazing like the midday sun!
The Radiant Sun Heavenly Light Art!
Both shamans possessed razor-sharp senses; in an instant, piercing pain struck their eyes, blinding them completely. Immediately after, Dao power surged as the entire array detonated, engulfing both shamans and blasting them away like broken ragdolls!
The input port left by the array was never meant for an answer—it was designed to trigger the explosion the moment someone touched it.
Chapter 202