Inside the Battle Saint Hall, a fist-sized pill lay before Han Li, and another before Jun Weizhi. The five dark-golden pill veins on their surfaces drifted in slow, languid coils, as though imbued with life.
Every so often, a wisp of medicinal fragrance drifted from the pills. As the two men inhaled it, the bottlenecks within their cultivation gradually began to loosen.
These were two five-veined Great Sun Morning Splendor Pills refined by Wei Yuan. Pills of this tier could already be called mystic pills, capable of being stored within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Their medicinal potency was exceedingly fierce—far too potent for Han Li and the others to ingest directly. They could only sit in meditation facing them, slowly absorbing the pill qi to break through their final bottlenecks and charge toward the Dharma Idol realm.
Just then, a chime rang out. Han Li and Jun Weizhi walked out of their quiet rooms and exchanged a glance. Han Li asked, "Where is Fuyao?"
"She went out to sea and hasn't returned yet."
"We won't wait for her. The Immortal Venerable's foray into the otherworldly realm this time is likely just a preliminary exploration. Fuyao isn't adept at combat. It won't be too late to bring her in after we've scouted the surroundings."
Jun Weizhi replied, "That is the proper course."
Cultivators emerged one after another from the Battle Saint Hall, over a hundred in all, every single one at or above the Dao Foundation realm. Led by Han Li and Jun Weizhi, the group arrived before the portal at the foot of Jade Mountain.
Wei Yuan was already standing before the gateway, surrounded by his dragon guards and dharma idol warriors.
Seeing that everyone had gathered, Wei Yuan said, "I will go in first shortly. The rest of you need only follow the established protocol."
Right away, a dharma idol warrior reviewed the exploration protocol with Han Li and the other cultivators once more.
According to the plan, Wei Yuan would enter first, followed by the three dragon guards, including Longying. Once Wei Yuan had carved out a safe perimeter on the other side, the others would step into the formation in turn to receive the karmic luck blessing of the Heavenly Secret Luck Transformation Art before crossing into the otherworldly realm.
The assignment for Han Li's group of Dao Foundation cultivators was to construct defensive fortifications before the teleportation portal in the otherworldly realm, establishing a secure shelter and maintaining routine sentry duty. In this manner, they could secure a firm foothold first, advancing step by step to steadily expand their exploration perimeter.
At the same time, the data Wei Yuan had gathered during his previous foray had long since been distributed, giving everyone an understanding of the monsters in the otherworldly realm. The stronger beasts there were equivalent to the late Dharma Idol realm, so no one dared take matters lightly.
A crowd of Dao Foundation warriors came forward and began distributing equipment. Han Li and the others were more accustomed to employing flying swords, flying needles, and similar artifacts, but they had no objection to using flying-sword guns either.
Wei Yuan then tapped the air several times in rapid succession, summoning five massive Five Elements Dao Soldiers before them. Remarkably, all five commanded mid-stage Dharma Idol cultivation, each exuding a distinct aura.
Over the past several months, Wei Yuan had grasped the fundamentals of the Five Elements Dao Soldiers—a Scenery Command dao art—and had finally succeeded in summoning Dharma Idol-grade dao soldiers backed by the aura of immortal flora.
Empowered by the aura of the immortal flora, their potency had risen by a tier, placing them at the mid Dharma Idol realm.
Wei Yuan passed the control incantations down to Han Li, Jun Weizhi, and the others, instructing them to select the five strongest among them to each command a Five Elements Dao Soldier in battle. In an instant, their combat strength skyrocketed. Han Li and Jun Weizhi already possessed combat prowess far exceeding their cultivation level; reinforced by the Five Elements Dao Soldiers, they were like tigers that had grown wings, now vaguely capable of contending with late Dharma Idol cultivators.
However, because Long Wushuang had fallen and Fuyao had not returned, two of the dao soldiers were left unclaimed. Jun Weizhi and Han Li each took an extra dao soldier for themselves, leaving only the weakest one for Dugu Cangqiong.
With everything prepared, Wei Yuan took the lead and stepped into the otherworldly realm.
Yet no sooner had his front foot crossed the threshold than he stepped right back out before his trailing foot could even enter. Clutched in his hands were two black birds. With a flicker of his figure, he handed them over to Maiden Yin-Yang. Afterward, Wei Yuan stepped in and out several times in succession, returning each time with a few black birds in his grasp.
When Wei Yuan entered the otherworldly realm for the sixth time, a beam of light from above illuminated the area before the portal. The withered bough that seemed never to change across millennia was now completely bare; not a single black bird perched there anymore, waiting to offer Wei Yuan a "newbie tutorial."
Wei Yuan looked up at the sky. High above, three black birds were circling and chattering among themselves, seemingly communicating information. The sky in this world was pure darkness—a void of absolute black. The birds were small and flew a hundred zhang high; during his previous visit, Wei Yuan would never have spotted them.
Now, however, with his cultivation vastly improved and his divine senses powerful, he had locked firmly onto the three black birds. He reached out, and a long flying-sword gun appeared in his hand. Raising the weapon toward the sky, he fired three consecutive shots. Almost simultaneously, three flying swords streaked through the night sky, striking down the three black birds. Wei Yuan did not let the carcasses go to waste either, carrying them back and handing them to Maiden Yin-Yang once more.
When he passed through the portal for the seventh time, not a single black bird was to be seen. Wei Yuan searched the surroundings repeatedly, confirming that no more birds were appearing, before advancing a short distance and coming to a halt to keep watch.
At that moment, the teleportation portal blazed with azure light. Longying and the civil and military dragon guards led three dharma idol warriors into this realm.
After a brief moment of acclimation, a faint azure glow arose around Longying and the others as they channeled their karmic luck for protection. Distinct ripples stirred across the azure light—some invisible force was relentlessly battering against them.
Upon entering, Longying and his companions immediately split into pairs and fanned out. Wei Yuan had already marked three locations: two sat roughly two zhang higher than the surrounding terrain, while the third was the ruins of a house. The house's roof was gone, leaving only crumbling walls and rubble, but it could at least provide cover. Moreover, the native architecture of this world was likely more effective at defending against its monsters.
Upon reaching the designated points, the three dharma idol warriors began digging earth to erect defensive works, while Longying and the other two dragon guards kept watch nearby. Wei Yuan moved a hundred zhang ahead, standing in the darkness to monitor the nearest cluster of buildings.
Once the two strongpoints on the left and right were mounted with rotary sword cannons, they would provide crossfire covering the open ground in front of the portal. The third strongpoint was constructed directly before the teleportation portal to prevent monsters from charging at it.
Once the initial fortifications were completed, the three dharma idol warriors remained behind to hold the position, while the dragon guards caught up with Wei Yuan, advancing toward the nearest cluster of buildings in a loose formation.
After advancing roughly a hundred zhang, a beam of light suddenly fell from above like a stage spotlight, illuminating a little girl on the ground. She had an oversized head and long hair draping over her shoulders, carrying a backpack from which hung a fluffy toy rabbit.
The little girl skipped along toward the buildings, seemingly oblivious to Wei Yuan and his companions.
As she moved, the beam of light traveled with her. Within its illuminated circle lay an impeccably smooth street lined with sleek benches whose styles were wholly unlike anything in Great Tang, as well as flowerbeds bursting with vibrant blossoms.
Yet once the illuminated circle passed, the benches vanished without a trace, the pavement fractured, and the flowerbeds collapsed entirely into heaps of dirt.
After the little girl walked several dozen zhang, the pillar of light abruptly vanished, and she disappeared along with it.
Wei Yuan had witnessed a scene like this during his previous visit, except that time it had been a boy.
Wei Yuan raised a hand and pointed forward, continuing their approach toward the buildings. As they drew close, another pillar of light beamed down from the sky. Within the circle of light, the little girl reappeared, walking alongside a white wall and occasionally waving to someone outside the illuminated ring.
Suddenly she stopped, looked back, her face radiant with delight. A large hand reached in from beyond the light, steady and warm. The little girl rested her small hand in its palm, a scene of touching warmth.
Then the little girl's expression abruptly shifted to sheer horror. Letting out a shriek, she spun around and bolted! The large hand froze in midair, its complexion turning a ghastly blue-black as long claws grew from the fingertips and large, dark patches mottled its skin.
The circle of light followed the little girl, disappearing into the buildings. But the blue-black hand, covered in lividity, did not vanish. Instead, it pulled an entire body out from the darkness. Dark-yellow eyes locked onto Wei Yuan. With a roar, it dropped onto all fours and charged straight at him!
Wei Yuan retreated swiftly while firing continuously with his flying-sword gun. One high-powered flying sword after another blasted into the monster, each strike tearing away a small chunk of its black body.
As Wei Yuan fell back thirty zhang, a torrent of flying swords flew in from each flank, slamming into the beast and checking its charge.
Wei Yuan then retreated further until he was level with Longying. Longying also wielded a high-powered flying-sword gun, each sword carrying the full force of an early Dao Foundation cultivator's strike.
Though the firing rate of the flying-sword guns in Wei Yuan and Longying's hands could not match a rotary cannon, it was still impressive. The immense kinetic impact made it difficult for the monster to advance. Yet the beast pressed stubbornly forward against the deluge of flying swords, forcing its way through a hundred zhang until virtually all its flesh had been stripped away, leaving only a bare skeleton.
At last unable to hold out, it let out a wail, collapsed to the ground, and moved no more. Its body swiftly disintegrated into sand, and a strand of grayish-black qi drifted upward. Wei Yuan flashed forward and waved a hand, gathering that strand of Dao profound qi.
A victory in the first encounter, and it had been incomparably easier than last time.
Right then, the portal blazed with azure light. Han Li and the others led the hundred Dao Foundation cultivators through the teleportation gate, arriving in this otherworldly realm.
Chapter 753