Even a Chaos Lifeform Lost? A Bizarre Black Pagoda at the Bottom of the Illusory Spirit Abyss!

Whoosh. The moment Lu Changsheng entered the Illusory Spirit Abyss, his entire field of vision seemed to warp. The surrounding void appeared to twist as well. Everything before his eyes was distorting. "Hmm?" "This is no simple illusion. It is forcefully eroding my consciousness, forcefully pulling at my mind..." Lu Changsheng immediately realized how troublesome the Illusory Spirit Abyss truly was. Even his own mind felt faintly eroded and distorted. How many cultivators walking the Tiers to Godhood could withstand this? Very few, most likely. Yet Lu Changsheng possessed an immortal mind. How unyielding was his resolve? Terrifying though the Illusory Spirit Abyss might be, it could not shake his mind. He continued flying forward. A dead silence blanketed the abyss. There was not even ordinary vegetation, only bare, barren expanse. The ground was carpeted only with a strange, moss-like growth of deep dark green, evoking a desolate, solitary, and forsaken feeling. "I wonder if I can sense spatial power and traverse space?" Lu Changsheng made an attempt. He was long accustomed to sensing and manipulating spatial power. However, upon trying, he shook his head. It was not that spatial power was impossible to sense; on the contrary, it was exceedingly active. Yet precisely because it was too active, space here was fragile. Attempting to traverse space risked getting stranded within the void, which was exceptionally dangerous. Thus, spatial traversal was not an option in the Illusory Spirit Abyss. Lu Changsheng continued his descent. This was why it was called the Illusory Spirit Abyss. It was said that no one knew how many layers the abyss possessed. The deeper one went, the higher the chance of finding Illusory Spirit ore. Lu Changsheng searched the first layer for a long time without locating any. So he moved down. The second layer, the third layer, the fourth layer... Yet the further down he went, the more dreadful the warping and eroding power of the abyss became. Hence, greater depth brought greater peril. With the slightest carelessness, one's mind would be twisted. This Illusory Spirit Abyss was far more perilous than the Luojin Realm. No wonder so few cultivators ventured here. Quite a few had likely had their minds twisted into madness. Suddenly, Lu Changsheng came to a halt. Ahead of him stood a swordsman dressed in white. The swordsman was unreservedly releasing a torrent of sword intent. He stood quietly atop a bleak mountaintop. "A cultivator?" This was the first time Lu Changsheng had encountered another cultivator within the Illusory Spirit Abyss. The swordsman seemed to notice Lu Changsheng as well and spun around abruptly. Swish. The man fixed his gaze upon Lu Changsheng, his eyes as sharp as a keen blade. "To withstand my sword intent—not bad. It seems you are qualified to challenge my position as the Sword God!" "Come! Defeat me, and you shall be the foremost Sword God of the Sword Domain!" the white-robed swordsman said coldly. Lu Changsheng's brow furrowed slightly. The man seemed to have misunderstood him. "I have not come to challenge your position as Sword God. This is the Illusory Spirit Abyss, and I am merely here searching for Illusory Spirit ore," Lu Changsheng replied calmly. "Not here to challenge the Sword God?" "Laughable! This is clearly the Sword Domain! What nonsense is this about an Illusory Spirit Abyss? Since you are a swordsman, you must abide by our rules—there can only ever be one Sword God of the Sword Domain! Draw your sword! If you do not draw now, you may never have the chance!" With that, the white-robed swordsman ignored whatever else Lu Changsheng might say. Clang! The white-robed swordsman drew his blade. A resplendent surge of sword intent soared into the sky. Accompanied by a terrifying wave of sword qi that seemed capable of cleaving open the void, the attack arrived before Lu Changsheng in an instant. "Tier Seven to Godhood!" Lu Changsheng sensed the swordsman's strength. A powerhouse of Tier Seven to Godhood. Regrettably, observing the man's demeanor, it was evident he had completely succumbed to the illusions of the abyss. No, it was far more than merely being trapped in an illusion. His mind had been corroded; he would remain trapped in the Illusory Spirit Abyss forever. Whenever other cultivators entered, they would be attacked by these corrupted wanderers. They were known as the "Lost Ones"—those who had lost themselves forever within the Illusory Spirit Abyss. The terrifying sword intent and sword qi cascaded toward Lu Changsheng like an overwhelming deluge. Yet the moment it reached him, it ground to a halt. A faint white light manifested before Lu Changsheng, standing like a wall across his path. Crack! The streams of sword qi began to fracture and disintegrate, ultimately annihilating into nothingness. The sword intent met the same fate. Both were blocked entirely by the white radiance. This was Lu Changsheng's Illusory Realm. How could a mere cultivator of Tier Seven to Godhood overcome his Illusory Realm? With a single thought, Lu Changsheng could suppress him instantly. "Very well. Allow me to grant you release..." Seeing the white-robed swordsman reduced to such a state, Lu Changsheng knew death was a mercy. Thus, Lu Changsheng pointed a finger from afar. Squelch. A soft sound echoed. The white-robed swordsman shuddered violently. Immediately after, a brief flash of clarity seemed to return to his eyes. Yet it lasted only a fraction of a breath. In that single breath, the swordsman understood his predicament. "Thank you..." A smile crossed the white-robed swordsman's face. Lu Changsheng had granted him relief. It was an act of benevolence. Otherwise, he would have remained lost in the abyss for all eternity. The swordsman's body rapidly disintegrated. In the blink of an eye, he was reduced to dust. "Hmm?" Lu Changsheng beckoned with his hand. The swordsman had possessed a spatial treasure. Lu Changsheng swept it with his consciousness. "Oh?" "I've finally found Illusory Spirit ore, and quite a substantial amount, too." A faint smile appeared on Lu Changsheng's face. Inside the spatial treasure were roughly ten thousand jin of Illusory Spirit ore. That was worth about a hundred contribution points. It seemed the swordsman's mind had actually been quite formidable; he must have spent a very long time in the Illusory Spirit Abyss to amass this much ore. Unfortunately, he had still failed to resist the erosion of the abyss in the end, his mind steadily twisting until he became a Lost One. "Illusory Spirit ore." Lu Changsheng retrieved a piece of the ore. Natural striations ran across its surface. A close look made it seem as though one's very consciousness might be drawn inside. It was exceptionally eerie. Yet this was precisely why Illusory Spirit ore was so sought after. These natural veins possessed the power to warp a cultivator's consciousness and mind. When refined into magic treasures or integrated into arrays, their potency was immense. Sadly, the upper layers yielded very little ore. Lu Changsheng continued downward. The fifth layer, the sixth layer, the seventh layer, the eighth layer, the ninth layer... Lu Changsheng made his way all the way to the ninth layer. This was already exceedingly deep. No one truly knew how many layers the abyss contained. It was said that chaos lifeforms had once entered the Illusory Spirit Abyss, yet even they had failed to reach the very bottom. The deeper one traveled, the more terrifying the mental distortion became, until even chaos lifeforms could not endure it. From the fifth to the ninth layer, Lu Changsheng encountered a few more Lost Ones, all of whom he eliminated. He also obtained more Illusory Spirit ore. Yet in total, it only amounted to three hundred thousand jin. That was equivalent to three thousand contribution points. Lu Changsheng had not come here merely to earn a paltry three thousand points. He wanted far more. And the deeper one ventured, the more abundant the Illusory Spirit ore became. "The power of the ninth layer is already frightening. Typically, only cultivators at Tier Nine to Godhood can venture this far. Going down to the tenth layer will make the mental erosion even more severe, posing a danger even to ordinary Tier Nine powerhouses." "However, my mind is immortal. Furthermore, how mighty is my Illusory Realm? Though it has transitioned from illusory to real, it still easily fends off attacks on the mental plane. Therefore, I can proceed further." Lu Changsheng carefully examined his condition. His mind was completely unaffected, bearing no pressure whatsoever. In that case, what reason had he to hesitate? Onward! Lu Changsheng descended further, entering the tenth layer. Boom! In the tenth layer, the power of mental erosion surged drastically. Yet to Lu Changsheng's mind, it felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze, leaving no impression. At moments like this, the cultivation system of the Heaven Realm displayed its unique advantage. Daluo Golden Immortals possessed immortal minds. Their mental fortitude was extraordinary, fully capable of withstanding such pressure. Lu Changsheng began searching for Illusory Spirit ore on the tenth layer. Sure enough, he found some. "A whole hundred thousand jin?" "Not bad. A solid haul." Lu Changsheng was quite pleased. His total haul had now reached four hundred thousand jin. He continued descending—to the eleventh layer, the twelfth, the thirteenth... all the way to the fifteenth. Lu Changsheng's Illusory Spirit ore broke past the one-million-jin threshold, reaching 1.1 million jin. That was eleven thousand contribution points. Yet this was still not enough—far from it. So he pushed downward still. The fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth... Finally, even Lu Changsheng's immortal mind began to feel a slight strain. Yet that was of no concern; he immediately deployed the Illusory Realm. With the Illusory Realm walling off the outside world, his mind returned to absolute tranquility. By the twentieth layer, Lu Changsheng's stored Illusory Spirit ore had reached an astonishing 2.6 million jin. Suddenly, Lu Changsheng jerked his head upward. "Is that... a Lost One?" Upon entering the twentieth layer, what had he seen? A Lost One. Only this Lost One radiated a terrifying aura. With just a slight perception of that presence, Lu Changsheng felt his entire being tremble. Yes, that trembling was primal fear. It was not fear born of his mind, but of his flesh particles. It was the pure physical pressure of a body that surpassed any powerhouse Lu Changsheng had ever encountered. "A chaos lifeform..." Lu Changsheng's heart jolted in shock. He found it hard to believe. Could he truly be looking upon a corrupted chaos lifeform? Was such a thing even possible? Even a chaos lifeform had become lost within the Illusory Spirit Abyss. This was the stuff of legends, yet Lu Changsheng had actually run into one. Rumors held that even chaos lifeforms could not reach the bottom of the abyss. Rumors held that chaos lifeforms would become lost here. Yet those had always been mere tales. In reality, very few people had ever witnessed a chaos lifeform lost in the abyss; most spoke only from hearsay. Now, however, Lu Changsheng was seeing one with his own eyes. Even such exalted lifeforms could succumb. This Illusory Spirit Abyss was simply too perilous. "What on earth lies within this abyss? A chaos lifeform wouldn't lose itself here just for Illusory Spirit ore..." Lu Changsheng murmured under his breath. He watched the distant chaos lifeform. The entity wandered aimlessly through the twentieth layer. A single glance confirmed it was entirely lost to madness. Lu Changsheng had never seen a chaos lifeform before. He wished to observe it more closely. Perhaps there were treasures upon its person that would grant immense rewards if obtained. Yet scheming against a chaos lifeform was far too audacious and perilous. Even if it was a Lost One, it remained a genuine chaos lifeform. Swish. Suddenly, the chaos lifeform whipped around, having apparently detected something. Its gaze locked straight onto the direction where Lu Changsheng was concealed. "Discovered?" Lu Changsheng's heart tightened. He knew the entity had spotted him. Decisive as always, Lu Changsheng immediately prepared to flee. Yet the chaos lifeform struck. It threw a single, simple punch. Rumble! It was pure physical might. With that single fist strike, the void shattered instantaneously. The entire twentieth layer of the Illusory Spirit Abyss seemed to cave in. Yes—collapse! A single punch from a chaos lifeform caused the entire twentieth layer to collapse. This vastly exceeded Lu Changsheng's expectations. "What?!" Lu Changsheng's pupils contracted. The twentieth layer was collapsing, and that terrifying force had locked onto him, leaving no path of retreat. He might step back, but he could not possibly evade the strike. Every fiber of his being trembled. An extreme sense of danger erupted within his heart. He sensed instinctively that if this fist landed upon his body, he would die! With his current physical form, he could never withstand it. Even fusing all of his flesh avatars would not be enough. Such was the might of a chaos lifeform. Even though it was a mindless Lost One, Lu Changsheng could not endure a single punch from it. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance. "Cloud Palace!" In the next instant, a colossal palace materialized. The Cloud Palace—a chaos supreme treasure! Lu Changsheng slipped inside in an instant. As the twentieth layer collapsed, the horrifying compressive force sought to crush the Cloud Palace and tear it to shreds. Simultaneously, the chaos lifeform's fist slammed into the structure. Bang! A muffled thud rang out. The Cloud Palace trembled slightly. Ripples of shockwaves expanded in all directions. Yet the Cloud Palace remained utterly undamaged. Evidently, it had withstood the punch of the chaos lifeform! "As expected of a chaos supreme treasure! It truly lives up to its reputation by blocking an attack from a chaos lifeform!" Seeing this, Lu Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he possessed the Cloud Palace. In truth, the Cloud Palace was the very reason he had dared to venture so deep into the abyss in the first place. With it, his safety was guaranteed should any mishap occur. Still, even though the Cloud Palace could withstand a chaos lifeform's attacks, Lu Changsheng had no desire to wage a war of attrition against such a monster. "Go!" Lu Changsheng spurred the Cloud Palace, swiftly escaping the twentieth layer and descending into the twenty-first. "I made it out..." Arriving in the twenty-first layer, the destructive forces receded. The chaos lifeform's aura vanished entirely. Fortunately, he had the Cloud Palace; otherwise, this encounter would have spelled certain doom. Though the twentieth layer had collapsed, it would restore itself after some time. Such was the peculiar nature of the Illusory Spirit Abyss. Even after a collapse, it could recover; otherwise, with space so fragile, the abyss would have disintegrated long ago rather than enduring for eons. Yet Lu Changsheng could not fathom why a chaos lifeform would lose itself in the twentieth layer. Was the twentieth layer truly deep enough to be considered the depths of the abyss? Surely it wasn't so potent that even a chaos lifeform couldn't withstand it? Lu Changsheng could not be certain. He had remained enveloped within his Illusory Realm all this time. He had no clear sense of how potent the abyss's mind-twisting power truly was on the outside. The Illusory Realm isolated everything, including the mental corruption, leaving Lu Changsheng inside completely unscathed. "Let's test it." Lu Changsheng pulled back a fraction of his Illusory Realm. He wanted to perceive the mind-twisting force of the twenty-first layer for himself. Yet the moment he exposed himself, he felt his mind being warped. Even with his immortal mind, he felt it directly distorted. Shock stirred within Lu Changsheng's heart. "My mind is immortal and formidable in its own right. For the external force to distort my mind like this, its power must have reached an unimaginable level." "No wonder even a chaos lifeform was lost in the twentieth layer. From the twentieth layer onward, entering probably risks having one's mind warped even as a chaos lifeform. It's extraordinarily hazardous." "Yet my Illusory Realm seems capable of isolating everything, completely unaffected by the abyss. If that is truly the case, I could descend even further..." A gleam flashed in Lu Changsheng's eyes. Just how deep was the Illusory Spirit Abyss? What lay at the very bottom? Many chaos lifeforms had failed to reach the bottom. Beyond the twentieth layer, every step was perilous, carrying the risk of becoming trapped forever—just like the wandering chaos lifeform on the twentieth layer. Still, that was only a passing thought. He had not forgotten his true purpose in coming here: to gather Illusory Spirit ore. Thus, Lu Changsheng began a thorough search of the twenty-first layer. The search bore fruit immediately. Moreover, the ore was everywhere. It seemed that starting from the twentieth layer, every tier held vast deposits of Illusory Spirit ore. Naturally, Lu Changsheng mined it aggressively. Rumble! This time, he harvested three hundred thousand jin of ore. Then he proceeded downward: the twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth... all the way to the twenty-ninth layer. The deeper he went, the firmer his Illusory Realm remained, and the more ore he gathered from each layer. By the time he finished scouring the twenty-ninth layer, his total stock of Illusory Spirit ore exceeded ten million jin! And it was still climbing. If he kept going down, the quantity would reach a terrifying figure. Down on the twenty-ninth layer, the ore had scarcely ever been mined. Chaos lifeforms who came to the abyss did so to uncover what lay at the bottom; none cared to mine ore. Now, Lu Changsheng was reaping all the benefits. From the twenty-first layer onward, he had not encountered another lost chaos lifeform. It seemed that lost chaos lifeforms were rare after all. Under normal circumstances, any chaos lifeform sensing their mind being warped would turn back rather than press on toward the bottom, naturally avoiding such a fate. Though he was descending deeper, Lu Changsheng found himself in less danger. "Forward." Lu Changsheng stepped into the thirtieth layer. Boom! At that moment, the boundary of his Illusory Realm rippled like the surface of water, sending outward circle after circle of waves. "This is... the mind-twisting power?" Lu Changsheng stared at his Illusory Realm. Outside, a terrifying corruptive force was trying to seep inside to warp his mind, only to be turned aside by the barrier. The force could not penetrate. Yet mental power was inherently formless. For it to stir tangible ripples across his realm was proof of just how dreadful it had become. In this instant, Lu Changsheng hesitated. Should he continue descending? With such terrifying force pressing against the exterior, if his Illusory Realm ever failed, his mind would be warped in an instant. He wouldn't even be able to flee. He might even become a Lost One. At that point, even taking his own life might prove impossible. And if he became a Lost One, because he would not truly be dead, he could not "revive" in the Heaven Realm. That would be the worst conceivable fate. "Let's see how much Illusory Spirit ore the thirtieth layer has first." Lu Changsheng considered that even if he chose to leave, he should take the thirtieth layer's ore with him; he couldn't leave empty-handed. Thus, he began searching the thirtieth layer. The discovery startled him. Illusory Spirit ore was virtually strewn across the entire ground. Deeply astounded, Lu Changsheng did not hold back and began harvesting in earnest. One million jin, two million jin, three million, four million, five million... Lu Changsheng was genuinely shocked. Ten million jin! In the thirtieth layer alone, he harvested ten million jin of Illusory Spirit ore. Adding this to the ten million jin gathered previously, he now possessed twenty million jin in total. That was worth two hundred thousand contribution points! If the thirtieth layer held ten million jin, what about the thirty-first? What about the fortieth? Lu Changsheng could hardly imagine it. He had originally thought amassing a hundred thousand contribution points on this excursion would be the absolute peak. He had never imagined the depths of the abyss would harbor such an abundance of ore. Hardly anyone had ever mined here, leaving all of it for him. On second thought, this was only natural. The abyss was the primary source of the ore. Given enough time to accumulate, even the first layer would hold vast reserves, but it had been plundered over and over until nothing remained. Those who could reach the thirtieth layer were all chaos lifeforms who had no interest in mining. Accumulated across countless eras, an immense mountain of ore had formed, and now it all belonged to Lu Changsheng. Thus, Lu Changsheng pressed on to the thirty-first layer. It yielded more than ten million jin as well. Then came the thirty-second layer, the thirty-third, thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth... Every layer held at least ten million jin, with some yielding fifteen million. By the time Lu Changsheng finished sweeping the thirty-seventh layer, his total haul had exceeded one hundred million jin! That was equivalent to one million contribution points! One million points earned through his own strength alone. Last time, slaying Dark Domain lifeforms in the Heaven Prison had relied on Liu Qing. This time, it was entirely his own capability. However, when Lu Changsheng set foot onto the thirty-eighth layer, everything changed. "Hmm?" In the thirty-eighth layer, Lu Changsheng discovered a pitch-black pagoda. The pagoda was obsidian from top to bottom. It stood silently within the space of the thirty-eighth layer, mysterious and eerie. "After so many years, someone has finally arrived..." An unfamiliar voice drifted out from the pagoda. Lu Changsheng could not tell what language was spoken, yet he instantly understood its meaning. Moreover, when he reflected upon it, the voice had not entered through his ears; it had sounded directly within his heart. Lu Changsheng's expression changed drastically. "Retreat!" Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Changsheng moved to withdraw. He had already secured one million contribution points, which was more than enough. This black pagoda was far too bizarre, situated at the deepest reaches of the abyss where even chaos lifeforms could scarcely tread—and those who could would be the pinnacle among them. Lu Changsheng had no desire to take reckless risks. He pulled back with explosive speed, seeking to leave the thirty-eighth layer and return to the thirty-seventh. Just then, a terrifying suction force seized him, preventing him from retreating back to the thirty-seventh layer. The pull originated from the black pagoda. "Won't let me leave?" Lu Changsheng acted decisively. "Cloud Palace!" Instantly, the colossal palace manifested within the space of the thirty-eighth layer. Lu Changsheng dove inside. The suction force fastened onto the Cloud Palace as well. "Oh? A chaos supreme treasure?" The voice sounded from the black pagoda once more, tinged with a hint of surprise. After all, chaos supreme treasures were not something just anyone could possess. Many chaos lifeforms did not own one. Yet a mere cultivator on the Tiers to Godhood possessed a chaos supreme treasure. "Suppress." A dazzling, eerie light erupted from the black pagoda, engulfing the Cloud Palace in an instant. Immediately, the Cloud Palace was rendered immobile. Shock washed over Lu Changsheng. This was the Cloud Palace—a chaos supreme treasure! How could it be suppressed so easily? Yet regardless of his shock, the Cloud Palace was truly pinned down; no matter how he urged it, he could not break free of the black pagoda's restraint. "Yield." The pagoda's eerie light drew inward with immense force. The massive Cloud Palace was swallowed whole into the black pagoda. Lu Changsheng remained hidden inside the palace. He looked outward. He understood full well that he was now inside the black pagoda. Within the pagoda was an internal space. No—it was far more than an internal space. This was... a world! A genuine, complete world! Lu Changsheng could easily tell whether it was a true world. He possessed an Illusory Realm of his own, and it had even transitioned from illusory to real, yet even so, it was not a true world. It was not yet fully perfected. Only when fully perfected would it become a complete world, allowing Lu Changsheng to become a World Master! Even so, this did not prevent him from recognizing what a true world was. Standing within a genuine world, Lu Changsheng felt immense shock. A single black pagoda contained a complete world within it. This was utterly incredible. Could this be the handiwork of a Realm Lord? Only a Realm Lord seemed capable of such methods. Yet a Realm Lord controlled a world; the world was the Realm Lord. Even a Realm Lord would not casually place a world inside a treasure. Just what was the origin of this black pagoda? Rumble! Suddenly, Lu Changsheng's Cloud Palace shook violently. Simultaneously, that unfamiliar voice echoed in his mind once again: "I give you ten breaths. If you do not emerge from your chaos supreme treasure, I shall break it open." With that, the voice fell silent. Lu Changsheng's thoughts raced. One breath, two breaths, three breaths, four breaths, five breaths... As time slipped away, the moments remaining to him dwindled. The other party possessed terrifying supernatural abilities, capable of suppressing even the Cloud Palace. If they truly intended to breach it, they could likely do so without much trouble. Lu Changsheng now understood that this being was vastly more powerful than an ordinary chaos lifeform. Continuing to hide within the Cloud Palace served no purpose. Whoosh. Taking a single stride, Lu Changsheng stepped out from the Cloud Palace.