Watching Dream Eater abruptly vanish, Wei Yuan figured she likely had other pressing matters to attend to that had nothing to do with him.
With Dream Eater gone, the shovel-wielding Dao Foundation warriors dropped their pretense. With each plunge of a spade, the Nether Soil vanished, dramatically boosting the speed of excavation.
Within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, Wei Yuan selected a stretch of the western sea. First, he elevated the seabed, then scattered all the excavated Nether Soil across it, gradually forming a small island of Nether Soil.
After digging for a while longer, daylight finally appeared ahead, and Wei Yuan at last tunneled his way out. His original position had unexpectedly been a hundred zhang deep underground; digging his way out had been no easy feat.
The Nether Cold Realm remained much the same as when he had last seen it: the sky was an endless, profound darkness adrift with colossal ribbons of light. One end of certain ribbons dangled toward the ground, bringing illumination to this realm.
Wei Yuan currently stood in a small valley surrounded by rolling ridges, with cloud-piercing mountain ranges looming in the distance.
The valley contained peculiar, twisted trees devoid of leaves, bearing only branches with tips as sharp as swords.
Putting away the Dao Foundation warriors, Wei Yuan dashed to the peak of a nearby hill and gazed up at the sky. He identified the hidden stars concealed within the deep darkness one by one, charting a star map inside Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. At the same time, he slowly swept his gaze around, recording the surrounding terrain and features into Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World as well.
While conducting these basic pre-battle preparations, Wei Yuan suddenly noticed two moving specks appear at the edge of his vision. Standing motionless, he focused his eyesight and discerned two Great Shamans flying at high speed toward his location.
Wei Yuan held still as the ground beneath his feet softened, allowing him to slowly sink into the earth.
Studies within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had long concluded that predators—including humans, Shamans, and wild beasts—were far more sensitive to moving objects. Thus, by sinking slowly, Wei Yuan would likely go unnoticed by the two Great Shamans even if they were only a few li away.
Having not visited the Nether Cold Realm in a long time, Wei Yuan happened to need some intelligence. It suddenly occurred to him that he lacked an effective means to control Shamans, whereas Dream Eater surely possessed plenty of such methods. So Wei Yuan tried calling out to Dream Eater, but received no response.
The two Great Shamans moved swiftly, skimming at low altitude and scanning the surrounding terrain as they flew. Floating about a hundred zhang above the ground, each covered one side; a single pass allowed them to monitor a corridor a hundred li wide.
Suddenly, something moved in the left Great Shaman's vision. Instantly alert, he focused his eyesight and saw a humanoid figure climbing onto a ridge dozens of li away, walking along its crest.
"Found him!" Coordinating seamlessly, the two Great Shamans first released a small bird, then split to flank and pounce on the figure from both sides.
Gleaming with a faint blue sheen, the small bird soared skyward and vanished into the distant horizon in an instant, its speed incredible. Knowing that the one who had infiltrated the Nether Cold Realm this time was Wei Yuan, the two Great Shamans were rather cautious, notifying their companions in the rear before launching their ambush.
Concealing their auras, they leaped toward the figure silently like a pair of leopards. Utterly oblivious, the figure continued walking along the ridge, looking around in dazed confusion.
Upon closing within a hundred zhang, both Great Shamans slowed their movements to ensure the ambush succeeded. At this distance, they could clearly sense the lingering aura left along the path; it was indeed Wei Yuan.
Only, this Wei Yuan possessed merely Dao Foundation cultivation, and the mid-stage at that.
Peculiar phenomena abounded in the Nether Cold Realm, and some extraterrestrial monsters wielded powers terrifying beyond all reason. The two Great Shamans simply assumed Wei Yuan had met with an accident, suffering severe injuries that caused his cultivation stage to plummet.
They touched down, approaching Wei Yuan from left and right to prepare their sudden strike.
Just as the Great Shaman on the left was about to lunge into action, his foot stepped on something. With a booming blast, the ground exploded, sending dozens of tiny flying swords shooting out—all striking his groin!
The Great Shaman froze for an instant before shooting violently into the sky with a bloodcurdling shriek!
The Great Shaman on the other side was startled, and when he turned his head, a blinding swath of thunderous lightning filled his vision!
Bolt after bolt of lightning merged into a thick pillar of thunder that blasted away nearly half the Great Shaman's life in an instant. Wei Yuan bombarded him relentlessly for ten breaths, smashing down over a hundred lightning bolts before finally halting.
Meanwhile, the Great Shaman vaulted into the sky found four chains wrapped around him, each held by a Dao Foundation warrior. This kind of Immortal Binding Rope was a common Daoist art that could also be used in the Nether Cold Realm.
In midair, the Great Shaman manifested his true dharma idol: a six-legged giant bear, its hindmost two legs and lower body now mangled beyond recognition. This dharma idol was clearly possessed of boundless strength; even gravely wounded, its desperate thrashing yanked all four Dao Foundation warriors off the ground, on the verge of breaking free.
Yet at that moment, eight more Dao Foundation warriors appeared. Six threw out chains to bind the giant bear, while the remaining two began casting the Water Blade Art against its wounded groin.
Letting out an earth-shaking howl of agony, the giant bear could hold out no longer and plummeted from the sky. Ten Dao Foundation warriors pulled their chains taut, pinning him securely to the ground, while the other two Dao Foundation warriors continued their slicing, carving off bits and pieces now and then.
After enduring over a hundred lightning strikes, the Great Shaman before Wei Yuan had recognized the reality of the situation and lay prostrated on the ground, begging for mercy. This Great Shaman possessed a handsome male human face and a pair of wings on his back. By now, the feathers on his wings had been completely annihilated by lightning, leaving only bare wing stumps and wingtips.
Wei Yuan hauled the two Great Shamans together and sat down across from them. As he scrutinized them thoughtfully, a faint, wispy shadow emerged above his head.
A sudden chill seized the two Great Shamans, as if something was glaring down at them. It felt as though something far more terrifying than death was about to happen; an indescribable, colossal dread nearly froze them in place!
The shadowy three-headed bird within the moon merely poked its head out, took one glance, and retracted itself in utter disinterest. It seemed that, just as before, it was only interested in human dharma idols.
Wei Yuan was not discouraged, however, and instead asked the immortal plants if any of them wanted a late-night snack.
Most of the immortal plants were equally disdainful, but the aquatic immortal plant deep on the seabed expressed its craving, releasing a wisp of its aura for the very first time.
Wei Yuan swept his divine sense over it and saw an aquatic weed appear deep on the seabed, sporting about four or five stems that swayed continually beneath the water. It looked like an ordinary seaweed, except that countless strange creatures of varying sizes swam back and forth among its stems and leaves. Many bean-sized little fish could even emit light, faintly illuminating this underwater area.
Though the seaweed appeared harmless, Wei Yuan knew that this creature fed on raw flesh.
Among the little fish swimming around it, one would suddenly go missing as they swam. Fortunately, the symbiotic little fish were numerous, and the seaweed exercised restraint, so they would not be eaten clean anytime soon.
Seeing that Wei Yuan intended to feed it, the seaweed dropped all pretenses of gentility.
Recalling the origin of this seaweed, Wei Yuan's heart stirred. He brought out a trace of its aura and let the two Great Shamans sense it. As if encountering a natural predator, both Great Shamans began to shiver violently, their fear scarcely less than when facing the shadow in the moon.
"If the two of you can tell me something of interest, I will spare you and let you leave the Nether Cold Realm," Wei Yuan said.
The winged Great Shaman gritted his teeth. "Despicable humans, your words cannot be trusted at all!"
Right then, a voice rang out beside them. "Humans indeed cannot be trusted, but a promise made by me is never broken."
The two Great Shamans turned their heads and saw another Wei Yuan appear, walking over to stand before them. He said, "If you do not believe it, I can swear an oath as well: if there is any falsehood, may five bolts of thunder strike me down."
Chapter 530