"Why did that fellow just jump straight down?"
"Isn't he afraid of danger?" Seeing Lu Yuan leap into the abyssal rift, Jiang Ningxian couldn't help but look worried.
Although she knew very well that he was exceptionally powerful—and at least in this world at present, no living being could threaten him—she still couldn't suppress a trace of worry. Shennongjia was simply too unusual. After entering this place, their divine senses and soul power were temporarily restricted and could not be deployed.
Furthermore, nearing that abyssal rift even suppressed the power within one's body. How could Jiang Ningxian not worry?
Naturally, had it been anyone else, she wouldn't have cared like this. But it was Lu Yuan. They had been through a great deal together, and their feelings for each other were entirely different from before.
"Fairy Jiang, you worry too much," the Spirit Monkey spoke up right then. "Although King Lu's internal power is suppressed, he possesses a physique that is incomparably formidable. Even if he cannot use the power within his body, relying on that physique alone puts him beyond anything ordinary people could ever match."
It knew Lu Yuan very well and knew he never did anything he was not confident in. Shennongjia might carry some dangers, but to truly powerful beings, it amounted to very little. Thus, it harbored little worry, possessing immense confidence in Lu Yuan.
"Fairy Jiang's care has clouded her judgment," the Nine-Tailed Fox King said as she strolled over with a smile. "She merely forgot for a moment that this is King Lu—an invincible existence beneath the starry sky, matched by none. Shennongjia is mere trifles to him; it's of no concern."
As she spoke, she stepped forward slowly, looking aloof and teasing, as if born to clash with Jiang Ningxian. As for the reason, naturally only the two of them knew.
Hearing this, Jiang Ningxian's gaze shifted slightly, and a smile surfaced on her face. She looked at the Nine-Tailed Fox King, the aura around her growing even denser than before.
Beams of radiant light surged incessantly, cloaking her in an aura that was grand and overwhelmingly powerful.
As the Holy Maiden of the Jiang clan, few among the younger generation across the entire starry sky could rival her strength. Now, for some unknown reason, she unleashed it without holding anything back, making it utterly terrifying.
Even the nearby Spirit Monkey changed color and retreated involuntarily, wondering what had just happened. To say nothing of the Nine-Tailed Fox King, who was the direct target of this pressure.
Her face turned pale, and her whole body trembled. She knew she had said the wrong thing. In her heart, she regretted what she had just blurted out; knowing full well she couldn't beat her in a fight, why did she have to mouth off?
With that thought, the Nine-Tailed Fox King lowered her head, all her coquettish charm vanishing completely. Thoroughly dispirited, like a frost-bitten eggplant, she did not dare utter another word.
At this, Jiang Ningxian withdrew her gaze in satisfaction. She could act that way herself, but that didn't mean others were allowed to comment on it.
Soon after, Jiang Haokong walked up beside them and said directly to his sister, "Sis, what was that about just now? Lu Yuan will definitely be fine."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he felt an immense pressure radiating from his sister.
Instantly, Jiang Haokong realized: his sister was angry. Though as a Divine Son he was exceptionally proud wherever he went, ready to face anyone in battle, right now, facing his elder sister, Jiang Haokong did not dare say a thing. Emulating the Nine-Tailed Fox King, he hung his head, then slunk off to the side.
Seeing this, the Spirit Monkey couldn't help but wonder what on earth was going on.
Soon, none of them dwelled on it or spoke further. They all stood where they were, watching the abyssal rift.
Meanwhile, inside the abyss.
After Lu Yuan jumped, he felt suspended in midair, plummeting downward continuously.
Below, it seemed utterly bottomless—a drop of fully ten thousand zhang. It was hard to believe such a place could exist amidst a mountain range.
Falling from an altitude of ten thousand meters would smash even an Awakened to pieces, leaving not even a scrap of their physical body behind. Lu Yuan, however, was different. His cultivation realm was in the Great Saint Realm, and his physique was terrifyingly strong. A mere ten thousand meters was nothing to him.
*Boom!*
Finally, after an unknown amount of time had passed, Lu Yuan hit the ground. Because of the immense height and the overwhelming power of his physique, the moment he landed was like a comet striking the earth, triggering a massive tremor all around.
"Down at last?"
Lu Yuan paid no mind to the impact, only looking around. Darkness—impenetrable darkness where virtually nothing could be seen. Everything around him seemed swallowed in the dark.
Seeing this, he tried to activate his abilities. The Martial Dao Heavenly Eye could not be used.
Here, aside from his physical body, no other divine ability, nor even the power within him, could be invoked at all. He was reduced almost to the level of an ordinary mortal. This place was truly too peculiar; once Awakened entered, they couldn't even use their own power.
In particular, Lu Yuan couldn't get used to that darkness. Fortunately, he could still sense the aura belonging to the Nine Cauldrons. As long as he followed that aura forward, he wouldn't go astray.
Without pondering further, Lu Yuan tracked that aura and pressed forward.
Time trickled by. He finally began to adapt to the darkness within, and his surroundings grew clearer. In short, this was the bottom of an abyss with sheer cliffs on both sides, measuring only about ten-odd meters across.
More notably, strange wisps of energy surged continuously within. Lu Yuan realized that the reason his internal power could not be used was precisely due to the presence of this peculiar aura restricting the surrounding heaven and earth. As for the specific reason, it was unclear.
Thus, Lu Yuan could only continue forward.
Just like that, another hour passed.
He finally came to a halt. Ahead of him were no longer precipitous cliffs, but an enormous expanse of flat land; standing where he was, he couldn't see the end of it.
This flat expanse seemed to have been cleared out by human hands, covered in collapsed structures left behind from who knew how long ago. Of course, that was hardly surprising to Lu Yuan. The reason he halted his steps and went no further was what he saw above.
Above those ruined buildings and the vast plain, there was actually a sky.
Yes, an expanse of sky—with clouds, purple lightning, and even a visible blood-red moon.
"Beneath the abyss lies another world?" Lu Yuan murmured to himself.
He had never imagined that an entire realm would exist beneath this chasm. Granted, once one reached a sufficiently high realm of cultivation, one could forge a world of their own. Yet what lay before his eyes right now did not seem to be of that nature.
Just what was hidden beneath Shennongjia?
Chapter 328