"They say the City of the Giant Eye was built by a predecessor who explored the abyss. He slew a monster that emerged from the depths, gouged out its eye, embedded it into the cliff face, and hollowed out the stone to build a city."
"That giant eye can peer into the extreme depths below, effectively monitoring any unusual movements in Cangwu Abyss."
The trio slowly descended beside the City of the Giant Eye, their hearts struck by unspeakable awe.
"A single eyeball, and it's already on such a scale."
"It really boggles the mind how massive that monster from the depths of Cangwu Abyss must have been."
The moment their bodies crossed the eighty-thousand-zhang mark, Xiao Heng felt his strength diminish by several degrees once more.
"Even the late Qi Condensation stage can no longer gain a foothold here."
"Only with Foundation Establishment strength can one barely continue descending."
The pressure exerted by the abyss was beginning to show in earnest.
"The third layer isn't as vast as the Forest of Spirit Whispers. It only stretches between eighty thousand and one hundred thousand zhang deep."
"Yet its danger is several times higher."
As they continued to descend, Xiao Heng and the others heard a faint rumbling sound carrying from far below.
Xiao Heng peered into the distance. In the vast white mist, two colossal figures seemed to stand suspended in the empty air, clashing with bladed weapons in hand.
"The third layer, Puppet Gorge."
"Two ancient, colossal stone-cast puppets are fighting in this region."
"The two puppets exist in a strange state between illusion and reality. If you fly close to examine them, they look like phantoms that cannot be touched."
"Yet their impact on the surrounding area is very real."
"The puppets stand nearly twenty thousand zhang tall, and their strength is said to be close to Dao Integration."
"Even from far away, one can be injured by the shockwaves from their clash."
*Boom! Boom!*
Amidst the hazy white mist, the silhouettes of the two stone puppets drifted in and out of view.
The three stared blankly at this fantastical spectacle, lost in thought.
Only after a long while did Xiao Heng speak up. "All right, let's keep heading down."
"Prudence above all else."
During their descent, they had to stay constantly alert to the movements of the two giant stone puppets, evading potential energy shockwaves.
On top of that, the strange creatures emerging from the mist grew increasingly formidable.
Consequently, their pace slowed even further.
It took them a full two days before they finally reached the lower boundary of Puppet Gorge.
"The fourth layer lies right ahead."
"The good news is that the Medicine King Cauldron seems to be not far below."
Xiao Heng channeled his Small Medicine King Cauldron once again, sensed for a moment, and let out a long breath of relief.
"Even so, we cannot let our guard down," Zhang Haobo said with a slight frown via voice transmission.
"All right, hurry up. I can hardly wait to see that treasure!" Su Xiaomei curled her lip and took the lead into the fourth layer.
Between the third and fourth layers, there was no resting outpost for cultivators.
Only a bright red line carved into the cliff face marked the boundary.
"The fourth layer, Lost Labyrinthine City."
"Between one hundred thousand and one hundred and thirty thousand zhang underground."
Sensing his condition, Xiao Heng frowned slightly.
Having the equivalent of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator's cultivation stripped away out of thin air had begun to produce a perceptible impact on him.
Changing their flight path, they no longer descended vertically, but instead flew at an angle toward the center of the Lost Labyrinthine City.
Countless architectural ruins floated scattered in midair.
It was as if an apocalyptic disaster had struck, leaving battered fragments of wreckage strewn everywhere.
No skeletons. No leftover belongings.
Only the corpses of buildings lay quietly in this space, silently recounting what had once transpired.
The silence all around was terrifying.
The repetitive scenery of rubble imparted an oppressive gloom.
Xiao Heng and the others could not help but brace their spirits.
For within the Lost Labyrinthine City, not only could unknown creatures composed entirely of stone leap out at any moment to attack, but ill-intentioned cultivators also lurked in secret to launch ambushes.
The presence of the Immortal-Suppressing Force, combined with the chaotic ruins, provided them with the perfect cover.
If they held their patience until stone beasts surrounded a target, striking only when both sides were bloodied, their chances of success grew immensely.
Furthermore, down in the depths of the abyss, the omens that usually accompanied a cultivator's death hardly manifested.
Fleeing far away after a kill was enough to leave no trace behind.
Indeed, quite a few cultivators had vanished without a trace inside this Lost Labyrinthine City.
As Xiao Heng and his companions ventured deep into the ruins toward the location of the Medicine King Cauldron, they were, unsurprisingly, attacked by two separate waves of cultivators.
However, the assailants were merely petty scoundrels.
Back in the Chaoyuan Sect ruins, Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo had managed to pull back unscathed despite being besieged by tens of thousands of faceless, blood-visaged cultivators.
Why would they take people like this seriously?
Without breaking a sweat, they easily slaughtered them.
After wiping out two groups and displaying their strength, things finally quieted down considerably.
"Seems like we have a tail behind us," Zhang Haobo warned.
"I'll go slaughter them." Su Xiaomei raised her eyebrows, a flash of red glinting in her eyes as she moved to turn and strike.
"Don't! We're here to find the Medicine King Cauldron, not to go around killing people," Xiao Heng quickly urged her to stop.
"Drawing attention will only work against us."
"We just need to shake them off."
With that, the three abruptly accelerated.
They twisted and turned through the ruined debris.
After spending the better part of a day, they finally shook off everyone tailing them.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Haobo formed a hand seal to conceal everyone's aura, and then they headed straight for the Medicine King Cauldron.
Flying like this for nearly half a day, they finally arrived at the sensed location.
"Huh?!"
Xiao Heng scanned their surroundings in bewilderment, yet saw no sign of any Medicine King Cauldron.
"It should be right here."
"Let's split up and search around."
Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo nodded, then fanned out.
Shortly after.
"Nothing?"
Xiao Heng's brow furrowed deeply.
"That shouldn't be."
Refusing to give up, Xiao Heng searched the area once more.
Still, he came up empty-handed.
Su Xiaomei took her Small Medicine King Cauldron from her storage ring, held it in her hand, and sensed with it again.
The result remained entirely unchanged.
"What do we do?"
After several fruitless attempts, the three gathered back together to confer.
"Something is strange."
"My senses clearly tell me the Medicine King Cauldron is right here, yet there's not a trace of it."
Xiao Heng looked around, his face full of perplexity.
"Perhaps it's hidden away," Zhang Haobo said, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.
With that, he stirred his spiritual power and hurled a blade of spiritual energy toward the spot where the cauldron was sensed to be.
As if striking something, the air warped.
The spiritual blade vanished silently into nothingness.
Shortly after, the rippling scenery returned to normal.
"Whoa! It really is!" Su Xiaomei clapped her hands in excitement, flying toward that anomaly.
Yet as though the previous ripple had been a mere illusion, she passed right through without the slightest obstruction.
Refusing to believe it, Su Xiaomei tried back and forth several times, but the result was the same every time.
"This is infuriating! Just what is going on?!"
Xiao Heng was far steadier. He carefully reached out to touch the nonexistent boundary with his hand.
"The Small Medicine King Cauldron is the key to entering the Medicine King Cauldron."
Xiao Heng grew contemplative.
"This Small Medicine King Cauldron... can it hold people?" he suddenly asked.
Chapter 398