Wei Yuan rose calmly and said, "Let's go take a look."
Wu Li could see no expression on Wei Yuan's face, as if he were discussing a matter of no consequence whatsoever. A subtle complexity flashed through the shaman's eyes, but he still stooped his posture, trailed his floor-length robes, and took the lead outside.
Leaving the scripture court, he guided Wei Yuan toward the manor.
The layout of a shaman's manor differed somewhat from that of humans. After passing through the gate and crossing the courtyard, one was greeted first by the shrine hall. Shrines typically enshrined an Ancestral Shaman, though on occasion lesser deities were worshipped instead. As a Nether Shaman, however, Shu Li naturally paid homage to the Ancestral Shaman.
Earlier, Wei Yuan had hurried back and forth without having the chance to inspect the shrine closely. Only now did he study the Ancestral Shaman with care.
The Ancestral Shaman possessed four legs and six arms, its lower body quite massive and its upper body humanoid. Each of the six arms held a ritual implement symbolizing a different authority. It had a ferocious beast's head, flanked densely on both sides by dozens of eyes. From its back sprouted countless streamers, every single one bearing an open eye.
It was said these eyes of the Ancestral Shaman symbolized omniscience across worldly affairs; nothing could ever be concealed from its sight.
Wei Yuan looked at the statue and suddenly found the visage somewhat familiar, though he could not quite place where he had seen it before.
Yet with the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World at his disposal, Wei Yuan never overlooked such sudden whims of intuition. After searching his memories, he realized why the Ancestral Shaman's features felt familiar.
Back when his Dao Foundation was at its peak, he had several times come close to coalescing a True Dragon dharma idol, only to forcibly disperse it. While that dragon's head looked nothing like the Ancestral Shaman's on the surface, their underlying Dao rhymes were remarkably alike. In layman's terms, the two shared a similar temperament.
Wei Yuan could not say how he had arrived at such a conclusion, but once it formed, he felt more and more that it was precisely so.
Wu Li stepped before the altar and bowed respectfully nine times. Watching his back, however, Wei Yuan sensed he was not particularly devout.
Once the bows were complete, the statue of the Ancestral Shaman suddenly rose, and the ceiling lifted along with it, expanding the entire chamber several times over. As the statue ascended, the altar slid apart to both sides, revealing a deep, gloomy passageway beneath.
The passage slanted downward into the depths. Lamps were lit along one wall, their dim flames flickering and sputtering, lending the scene an eerie, unfathomable air that vanished into the distance without an end in sight.
Stepping into the corridor, Wei Yuan could not resist remarking, "Your master didn't seem poor. How could he be so stingy that he couldn't spare a few more lanterns?"
Wu Li was momentarily struck speechless.
Wei Yuan added, "How much could a few lamps cost? Is he just trying to make it dark so he can scare people? No one comes here normally anyway, so was he trying to scare himself?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Wu Li replied, "I am not privy to the master's thoughts either."
Wei Yuan gave a scoff and said no more.
Wu Li glanced at the oiled paper umbrella Wei Yuan continued to hold aloft, but said nothing.
Man and shaman proceeded down the passage, the atmosphere growing increasingly unsettling.
Wei Yuan suddenly frowned and looked around, yet saw nothing. In his senses, however, extremely minute particles were flying toward him, attempting to penetrate his body. Every one of them was refined to flying ash by Wei Yuan's protective Dao power. Because they were so microscopic, even the ash remained invisible.
Wu Li spoke up at that moment: "Be careful, my lord. There are invisible gu bugs further down, exceptionally sinister and toxic. If they inadvertently enter the body, even a perfected dharma idol cultivator cannot withstand them and will succumb to a fatal illness. Of course, with your cultivation, such petty gu bugs are naturally nothing to worry about."
Wei Yuan sneered inwardly. Had these words been uttered a moment earlier, he might have believed Wu Li had truly submitted. Mentioning it only now meant that had his protective Dao power been even slightly deficient, the gu bugs would have already invaded his flesh.
Wei Yuan had initially thought such gu bugs were what the world beyond the heavens called bacteria and viruses. But on closer reflection, he realized they were entirely different. Viruses and bacteria had virtually no mobility of their own, whereas these microscopic gu bugs moved hundreds or thousands of times faster.
If such gu bugs ever entered that world beyond the heavens, it likely would not be long before that world met its doom.
The further down they traveled, the denser the microscopic gu bugs became. A few emerged bearing immense strength, striking Wei Yuan with enough force that he could faintly feel the impact. Such power was equivalent to someone shattering a thousand-zhang peak with a single punch.
Wei Yuan grew solemn, and the cultivators from the Palace of Grand Beginning sheltered beneath the umbrella readied themselves for battle.
After descending for about the time it took an incense stick to burn, the passage finally leveled out. Soon, an immense subterranean cavern opened before Wei Yuan's eyes. He stood upon a platform at the cavern's apex, looking out over the expanse below.
Beneath lay an endless abyss, fathomlessly deep. Even with Wei Yuan's divine sense, the bottom remained out of reach. It grew increasingly freezing the further down one probed, until Wei Yuan's divine sense was numbed with frost, compelling him to halt his exploration.
"Is this the Heavenly Abyss?" Wei Yuan asked.
"No, this is not the true Heavenly Abyss," Wu Li replied. "It can only be called a slight projection of the Heavenly Abyss cast into this world. For now, it is only as large as what you see."
Wei Yuan's brows knit slightly. He thoroughly disliked people who spoke in half-truths. Those who liked to flaunt that they were cleverer than others tended to die rather quickly. For instance, Wei Yuan was already contemplating finishing Wu Li off or tossing him into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World once he outlived his usefulness.
Wu Li added, "You will understand once you follow me. Remember—you can only jump!"
With that, Wu Li stepped to the edge of the platform and leapt, throwing himself straight into the chasm.
Wei Yuan was at a loss for words, thinking it rather foolish if Wu Li intended to trick him into suicide this way. Just then, Wu Li's voice drifted up from the abyss below: "Jump down! Only by jumping can you enter the Heavenly Abyss!"
Judging by the sound, the distance was not too great. Wei Yuan retrieved a long thread, handed one end to two dharma idol warriors, gripped the other himself, and leapt over the edge.
If there were any ambush or trap, a single thought from Wei Yuan would allow the two warriors to haul him back up.
After leaping, Wei Yuan suddenly noticed his surroundings shifting. It felt as though he had passed through a film of water, arriving in a completely different realm.
The spatial layout here was remarkably wondrous; this mysterious space would manifest only if one attained a certain falling speed.
Wei Yuan's feet now rested upon a tract of deathly still earth. Surrounding him, black, sword-like crags pierced into the sky, some towering thousands of zhang high. The sky held neither stars nor sun nor moon, only an endless, vast void.
He stood upon a teleportation array whose runes still flickered with faint light.
Wu Li stood waiting just outside the array and said, "Activating this teleportation array will take you back to the shrine hall."
Wei Yuan said coolly, "For the sake of your own life, don't play mysterious next time. Say everything in full."
A cold sweat broke out across Wu Li's back, and he repeatedly promised to do so. He then pointed toward the open wilderness and said, "The Heavenly Abyss is over there. Go and see for yourself, my lord. I cannot approach it—approaching means death for me."
Still holding his umbrella, Wei Yuan paced forward at an unhurried stride, covering ten-odd zhang with each step—neither sluggish nor rushed.
Emerging from the valley, Wei Yuan's vision abruptly widened, stretching across a hundred li. In the distance among the wilderness lay a colossal entity, its spine rising higher than mountain peaks hundreds of zhang tall.
Ahead stood a familiar figure, who smiled at Wei Yuan and said, "You've finally arrived. Come, let's go take a look at the little fellow over there."
The moment he clearly saw the face, Wei Yuan was visibly shaken. It was Hongye!
At this moment, Hongye was arguably even more terrifying than during his prime; there was no telling what a man at the end of his lifespan might do. Though he still appeared gentle and friendly, Wei Yuan never trusted appearances.
Hongye chuckled helplessly. "Still as cautious as ever. That's good, though—at least you won't be as easily duped as I was."
Wei Yuan still regarded Hongye with suspicion.
Hongye sighed in resignation. "No need to put on an act. I know you can open a portal and flee back to your mindscape world at any moment. What do you have to fear, then? Let's go. Remaining here imposes a heavy burden on me; I cannot stay long."
Only then did Wei Yuan draw a little closer and ask, "Are you truly Hongye? How do you prove it?"
Hongye retorted crossly, "Did you ever figure out which one was my child?"
Only then did Wei Yuan believe this truly was Hongye.
Hongye stepped forward, and their surroundings suddenly shifted. In the blink of an eye, he stood dozens of li away, yet Wei Yuan remained several zhang beside him.
Wei Yuan was secretly awed. To carry him across such a distance without him sensing the slightest anomaly proved Hongye remained as unfathomable as ever.
They were still several li from the monster, yet it already loomed as massive as a mountain. It measured over three thousand zhang from head to tail and stood several hundred zhang tall, covered in a glossy black carapace beneath which were pairs of jointed legs.
Near the ground, dense bristles sprouted from the shell, with black mist constantly writhing in and out of the fur.
Wei Yuan was instantly reminded of the terrifyingly colossal monster he had seen upon first arriving in the Nether Cold Realm. Compared to that one, this beast could almost be considered petite, yet it still towered like a mountain. At this moment, a faint azure gleam shimmered across its carapace, sending an instinctive pang of alarm through Wei Yuan's heart.
Hongye smiled faintly at Wei Yuan and said, "Congratulations. This is your greatest harvest from taking over Shu Li's realm: a juvenile extraterrestrial fiend!"
A realization flashed through Wei Yuan's mind like lightning. "You were the one who left that book in the scripture court!"
Hongye offered an appreciative nod. "Clever indeed, to figure it out so quickly. But the contents of that book should prove very useful to you in the future. Shu Li could never have written it."
Wei Yuan's expression turned as dark as could be. It was during the very time he had been engrossed in reading that the Patriarch Boundary Stone's domain expanded into the grand hall, destroying the spiritual pivot and replacing Shu Li's realm. One did not need to think twice to know how much trouble this entailed.
Then again, Wei Yuan had originally intended to use the Patriarch Boundary Stone's domain to destroy Shu Li's realm and eradicate a major enemy once and for all. Thinking of it that way made him feel slightly better.
Sure enough, Hongye looked at Wei Yuan, his voice deepening: "Now that you have taken over Shu Li's realm, you have also inherited his responsibilities. From this moment forth, you are responsible for guarding and suppressing this fiend. Your domain has already encompassed this extraterrestrial fiend and begun to suppress it, and it has memorized your aura.
"So don't even think about uprooting the boundary stone and fleeing. The Western Regions are Shattered Lands; once it breaks free from suppression, it will follow the karmic trail straight to Qingming. You certainly wouldn't want an extraterrestrial fiend looming over your head every single day."
"Is there an extraterrestrial fiend only in Shu Li's realm, or do other realms have them as well?" Wei Yuan asked suddenly.
Hongye replied, "Suppressing fiends from the Heavenly Abyss is our destiny as Nether Shamans, and our realms are the tools we use to suppress them. Every Nether Shaman must suppress an extraterrestrial fiend upon establishing a realm, choosing one according to their abilities. Without this suppression, the fiends of the Heavenly Abyss would have long since torn the Nether Cold Realm away from our world and devoured it.
"Not just the Nether Cold Realm—the Desolate Realm and the Wind Realm are the same. Nor is it limited to our Shamans; the Frost Snow Realm and Kuimu Realm of the Vast Sea Liao Clan are no different.
"More than half the energy of this world's major races is spent resisting the erosion of the Heavenly Abyss. Were it not for this, our world would have been assimilated by the Heavenly Abyss long ago, and you and I might well be two fiends right now."
"Why have I never heard of any of this?" Wei Yuan asked. "Could the immortals of our human race be ignorant of it as well?"
Hongye chuckled derisively, mockery coloring his face. "Of course they know! They simply don't let you know, that's all."
Chapter 640