Deserved Punishment

"Which Nether Shaman realms do you know of?" "Whose realm is the closest?" "Are there any formidable figures in each realm that require caution?" "What other matters warrant attention?" ... A transparent curtain of water separated the two Great Shamans. They could see each other, yet neither could hear what the other said. Two Wei Yuans stood opposite them, interrogating them separately. Wei Yuan had made it abundantly clear: if he caught either lying, he would feed them to the sea grass. As for how he would determine a lie, that was simple enough: if the two Great Shamans gave conflicting answers to any question, one of them was inevitably lying. And whichever of them failed to prove the other was lying would also be fed to the sea grass. In this manner, Wei Yuan fired off dozens of questions in one breath. In total, he learned the exact locations of two Nether Shaman realms: Shu Li's and Xuesha's. There were two other Nether Shaman realms in this region, belonging to Feiying and Yu Yao, but their locations were kept strictly secret and known to no one. Wei Yuan's final question was why they feared the sea grass. The two Great Shamans looked at each other in dismay, then explained that across the far west of the Wu domain lay countless colossal lakes and great waters. In that region, the power of heaven and earth was exceptionally concentrated, and all forms of life were unimaginably formidable. Even the most ordinary water weed in those lakes was far beyond what an ordinary Great Shaman could withstand. In ancient times, the creatures within the lakes frequently came ashore to feed. Even the weeds from the lakebed often crept thousands of li away from the waters in search of prey. Dense and elongated like tentacles, the weeds spared no living thing in their path. Over countless generations, the Shamans' dread of these aquatic entities had been etched deep into their very bloodlines. Later, several Heavenly Shamans joined forces to boil and dry out more than a dozen great lakes near the center of the Shaman lands, utterly slaughtering the vicious creatures within. Only then did they carve out a sliver of living space for the Shamans of that realm. These two Great Shamans were descendants of tribes from the western Wu domain. Having traversed vast distances to the east to temper themselves and make a living, they had never expected to encounter the aura of an ancient horror here. Having heard this, Wei Yuan sank into thought. It seemed the seed of the ancient immortal plant Tianyu had given him back then carried a background that was far from simple. After questioning them a bit longer and seeing there was nothing left to glean, Wei Yuan reached out with a massive hand, seized the six-legged giant bear, and hurled it straight into Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. The giant bear was already gravely wounded and hovering near death. When Wei Yuan cast it into the sea, specks of gleaming light instantly flashed around it. Countless glowing little fish and shrimp surged forward, swarming the giant bear and dragging it toward the seabed. The giant bear wailed mournfully and resisted desperately. Opening its gaping maw, it swallowed hundreds of little fish whole. Yet there were simply too many of them; like a swarm of luminous fireflies, they crawled over its entire body and dragged it relentlessly down toward the ocean floor. The sea grass extended its branches and coiled around the giant bear. Moments later, crunches and grinding chewing noises echoed from beneath the waves. A plume of bloody water diffused outward, swallowed in an instant by the surrounding glowing fish and shrimp. The winged Great Shaman was scared out of his wits and shrieked, "You broke your word!" Wei Yuan nodded. "Indeed. A punishment is due." Before his words had even faded, five bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking straight onto the head of the other Wei Yuan. The strike obliterated nearly half of that Wei Yuan's face, halving his aura. He then vanished entirely, and beside him, an entirely new Wei Yuan materialized. The original Wei Yuan said, "See? Struck by five bolts of thunder. The oath has been fulfilled." The Great Shaman drew in a sharp breath, so horrified he could not even scream. With a wave of his hand, Wei Yuan threw this Great Shaman into the sea of Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World as well. Moments later, another cloud of bloody water surfaced, only to be devoured clean by the glowing little fish in the blink of an eye. Having consumed two Great Shaman dharma idols in succession, the immortal plant in the sea began to grow by leaps and bounds. Its weed fronds multiplied from a mere few to dozens, and their length stretched from just over a zhang to dozens of zhang! In terms of physical size, this sea grass had become the largest among all the immortal plants, with more than ten li of the surface and seabed under its control. Having fed on the bloody water, the symbiotic fish and shrimp rapidly bred and multiplied, numbering in the tens of thousands in the blink of an eye, swimming freely within the range of the sea grass's dominion. The sea grass grew rapidly, soon reaching a certain mysterious threshold. It then transmitted a mental impression to Wei Yuan, which was actually a spell specifically meant for the Nether Cold Realm. This spell could create a gateway, briefly linking the mindscape world directly to the Nether Cold Realm. Monsters from the Nether Cold Realm could enter the mindscape world, and living beings from the mindscape world could enter the Nether Cold Realm. However, the mindscape world was fundamentally different from the Nether Cold Realm after all. Without a Dao Foundation as an anchor, ordinary mortals entering the Nether Cold Realm faced certain death. The same held true for lesser monsters from the Nether Cold Realm entering Wei Yuan's Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. Previously, those dharma idols and Dao Foundation warriors were essentially parts of Wei Yuan's dharma idol and could manifest directly within the Nether Cold Realm. The mortals in Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, however, could not—not even the Master and Vice Master of the Battle Saint Hall, who had already formed Dao Foundations. Wei Yuan surmised this was likely because those mortals were reincarnated from human souls, whereas Shaman souls, upon entering Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, were completely shattered by a mysterious force and recombined to generate human Dao Foundation and dharma idol warriors. Thus, the former were semi-independent individuals, while the latter were intrinsically part of Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. For now, this was the only explanation Wei Yuan could conceive. The appearance of the Gate of the Many Realms had rendered Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation and dharma idols extraordinarily intricate, showing gradual signs of slipping beyond his control. Upon receiving the spell offered by the sea grass, Wei Yuan tested it on the spot. After several attempts, he successfully cast it, and a profound, shadowy gateway appeared before him. The size of this gateway was adjustable, anywhere from one chi to several zhang. Looking through it, one could see into the interior of the world on the other side, an extraordinary sight. Wei Yuan then summoned both the Master and Vice Master of the Battle Saint Hall to the vicinity of the gateway, bestowed karmic luck upon them, and ordered them to step through the gateway to test it. The Vice Master was exceptionally gifted as well as valiant and bold. He took the lead in stepping through the gateway, entering the Nether Cold Realm. The Master lagged a step behind, cautiously extending a magic treasure twice to probe ahead, then testing it with his hand. Seeing that all was well, he finally stepped into the Nether Cold Realm. The instant the two laid eyes upon this unprecedented panorama of heaven and earth, both froze in awe. Gazing up at the celestial vault and contemplating the world, the spiritual power within them began boiling like scalding water, showing signs of sudden enlightenment in a mere heartbeat! Wei Yuan bestowed two more streaks of karmic luck upon them. The pair then sat cross-legged where they were, looking up at the sky together. Wei Yuan also looked toward the sky, but while he could perceive those hidden stars, the two at the Dao Foundation stage shouldn't have been able to see them. They hadn't even seen the hidden stars; merely sensing the operational laws of heaven and earth in the true world was enough for them to begin comprehending the Dao? What kind of talent was this? For a moment, Wei Yuan couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy. Grunting inwardly, a sense of rivalry arose within him. Naturally unaware of Wei Yuan's thoughts, these two men—who had stepped from a dharma idol into the true world for the first time—experienced their Dao Foundations continually crumbling and reforming, actually rising in grade step by step! In particular, the Master, whose natural talent was mediocre, had originally forged a Dao Foundation in the shape of a golden immortal sword, which could not even count as an immortal foundation. Now, not only did lightning begin to flicker upon the immortal sword, but it multiplied from one to two, from two to four, and in the blink of an eye became eight golden lightning swords! If this Dao Foundation were placed in the world outside, it would rank near the very top even among immortal foundations. The Vice Master was already extraordinarily talented, his Dao Foundation being a white jade spirit serpent, undeniably an exotic spirit beast immortal foundation. Now that this white jade spirit serpent manifested in the Nether Cold Realm, it actually began to shed its skin. A new little serpent crawled out from within, possessing two claws, each with three digits. Seeing this, Wei Yuan suddenly recalled that there were seven other people in the Battle Saint Hall who had forged Dao Foundations, their grades varying from Heaven Foundation down to Mortal Foundation. Wei Yuan promptly summoned all of them to the edge of the gateway. After bestowing karmic luck upon them, he had them all enter the Nether Cold Realm in one breath.