txolops Chapter 346 Vast Space
Chapter 346 Vast Space
"The spatial structure here... is somewhat similar to the space inside the Void Heaven Palace where the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng was nurtured. It is independent and stable, except for the addition of this strange blood mist." Luo Ming compared them in his mind.
At this moment, the voice of Tianjing Sanren, tinged with schadenfreude and amusement, rang in his mind: "Hehe, kid Luo, you've really struck gold this time. This Sea King Sect secret realm has been sealed off for who knows how many years, undisturbed. The spiritual herbs and medicines inside are probably all ancient, some even thousands of years old!"
In the resource-scarce Chaotic Star Sea today, any one of these plants would be enough to make Core Formation cultivators fight tooth and nail for it. Once news of this place spreads far and wide, who knows how many fools with their overconfidence will flood in? And then… hehe… I'm afraid this secret realm will be filled with even more dead souls and withered bones.”
Upon hearing this, Luo Ming scanned the nearby woodland with his divine sense.
Sure enough, within a mere two hundred miles, he discovered several thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, and this was only after he had casually glanced at them without examining them closely.
"These thousand-year-old spiritual herbs are indeed an extraordinary harvest for ordinary Core Formation cultivators." Luo Ming's gaze swept over the spiritual herbs, his eyes calm and without much fluctuation.
"But for me, unless they are truly rare treasures of heaven and earth, or a few specific spiritual medicines that are directly of great use to my current cultivation, they are of limited significance."
The most urgent task is to quickly penetrate into the core area of the secret realm to explore its true secrets and any remaining legacies of the Sea King Sect. We can collect the outer areas as we go; we can't waste too much time.
Having made up his mind, he lingered no longer. With a flicker, he floated down from the stone platform, transforming into a swift yet concealed streak of azure light, skimming along the canopy of the ancient forest, and sped towards the depths of the secret realm.
Of course, if he encounters a rare, high-age spiritual herb that is right beside the path and within easy reach during the flight, he will not hesitate to grab it in mid-air, wrap it with his magic power, uproot it, and put it into the jade box he has prepared in advance. His movements are smooth and swift, without any hesitation.
Even a small mosquito is still meat, let alone a thousand-year-old spiritual herb. Even if you can't use it yourself, it's good to leave it for Mingyue Tower or exchange it for other resources.
The vastness of this secret realm once again exceeded Luo Ming's expectations.
Although he did not fly at full speed, he used his divine sense to explore the surroundings while flying, but his speed was still extremely fast. In a day, he had flown at least tens of thousands of miles away!
However, ahead lay endless ancient forests, winding rivers, and undulating mountains, seemingly without end.
The crimson sky still hung low, but its color seemed to be a bit deeper than the edges.
"Just how big is this secret realm? Could it be a small world of its own?" Luo Ming wondered inwardly.
In his view, such a vast space could not have been opened up by an ordinary Nascent Soul sect. It must have been formed naturally, but was accidentally discovered by the Sea King Sect and sealed in this sea area.
"Gah! Gah gah—!"
Just as Luo Ming was flying over a forest with strange, crimson trees growing there and a noticeably higher temperature, a piercing, noisy cry suddenly rang out from the forest below!
Immediately afterwards, a crimson "fire cloud" exploded and rushed towards him!
The "fire cloud" was actually composed of hundreds of demonic birds with dark bodies, crimson feet, wingspans of over ten feet, hooked beaks, and fierce glints in their eyes!
It was none other than the "Barefoot Fire Crow," known for its irritability and gregariousness! The lead one was exceptionally large, with a wingspan of over two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), its body wreathed in flames, and the demonic energy it emitted had reached the fifth level!
It screeched loudly, leading its flock of crows like a burning cloud of death, as it menacingly attacked Luo Ming, the "uninvited guest" who had intruded into their airspace.
Luo Ming frowned, stopped his escape, and hovered in mid-air, a hint of impatience on his face.
"The monsters in this secret realm are not weak, but their intelligence... is far too low." He shook his head to himself.
Could it be that their long period of isolation and lack of contact with human cultivators has caused them to become untamed and unable to even make a basic judgment about strength?
This wasn't the first wave of attacks he encountered after entering the secret realm.
He had previously encountered a level four "Iron Wire Python" that, despite sensing his powerful aura, still dared to ambush him. It was cleaved into several pieces by a casual sword strike, and he didn't even bother to collect the materials.
Could it be that the blood-red clouds high above this place have affected the intelligence of the monsters here?
Seeing the barefoot fire crows, led by their level-five leader, spitting out scorching fireballs and charging forward fearlessly, a cold glint flashed in Luo Ming's eyes.
"Since they're courting death, it's a good opportunity to give the little ones a good treat and let them stretch their muscles."
With a thought, the "Five Spirits Bracelet" on his right wrist flashed with a faint light.
"Buzz—"
A golden cloud of beetles, each the size of a thumb, swarmed out, buzzing loudly. It was the swarm of gold-devouring beetles that had not been used on a large scale for a long time and was already starving!
Nourished by the spiritual spring of the Void Heaven Palace and a large number of rare minerals, the golden patterns on the shells of these gold-devouring insects became even deeper, their mouthparts gleamed with a cold light, and their aura was ferocious.
"cracking--!"
At the same time, a clear, stirring bird song, filled with pure Yang majesty, rang out!
A streak of crimson gold fire shot out from Luo Ming's sleeve, unfurling in the air and transforming into a magnificent spirit bird—the Zhiyang Bird—with feathers as red as burning gold and long, elegant tail feathers!
"Cheers!" As soon as the Zhiyang Bird appeared, it let out a cheerful cry, flapped its wings, and fearlessly charged towards the hundreds of fire crows!
With a spit, it unleashed a cloud of pure Yang fire—a dense, golden-red flame radiating terrifying heat—that swept across the densest part of the fire crows!
Wherever it passed, the air distorted, and the fireballs spewed by the low-level fire crows crumbled upon contact, like small splashes of water encountering a giant wave!
"Caw—!" The level 5 fire crow leader felt the pure yang pressure emanating from the fat sun bird, which made its soul tremble. The fierce light in its eyes was immediately replaced by fear, and it screamed and tried to turn around and hide.
However, under Luo Ming's control, the Gold-Eating Insect swarm had already silently dispersed, like a well-trained army, surrounding the Fire Crow flock from all directions and blocking most of their escape routes!
The crimson-gold fiery cloud collided violently with the flock of fire crows!
"Boom boom boom!"
The battle was almost a one-sided massacre. In just a few dozen breaths, the level 5 leader let out a final, unwilling cry as a condensed pillar of crimson-gold fire from the Fat Sun Bird pierced its skull, its demon core was snatched out, and the remaining fire crows were devoured by the Gold-Eating Insect swarm.
Luo Ming nodded slightly as he watched the battle end quickly.
He waved his hand and retrieved the Fat Sun Bird into his spirit beast bracelet, allowing it to digest the demon core. He then waited until the Gold-Eating Insect swarm had almost cleaned up the battlefield before retrieving it.
Having done all this, Luo Ming didn't even glance at the ravaged battlefield below. His figure transformed into a streak of light once more, continuing his flight deeper into the secret realm. The battle just now was merely a minor interlude for him.
Just as Luo Ming released the Fat Sun Bird and the Gold-Eating Insect to easily annihilate the flock of Barefoot Fire Crows that were foolishly rushing towards him, in another area of the secret realm tens of thousands of miles away from him, the atmosphere was tens of thousands of miles away, filled with solemnity and killing intent.
Two figures stood facing each other, a hundred feet apart.
A man of unusually tall stature stood there, his upper body covered in dark red scales, his muscles bulging, and a ferocious dragon's head prominently displayed on his neck! It was none other than the infamous transformed venomous dragon from the outer seas!
The other person was a cultivator dressed in the standard white robes of the Star Palace, with a refined appearance, a long beard, and the look of a middle-aged scholar. His aura was deep and his eyes were sharp, with starlight faintly flowing around him; he was none other than the Ninth Elder of the Star Palace!
At this moment, his face was slightly pale, and there was a barely perceptible palpitation hidden deep in his eyes. His gaze kept glancing at the two people not far to their side.
There, a pitch-black crack, about ten feet long and only a few feet wide, with constantly twisting and tearing edges and a deep, empty interior, hung abruptly in mid-air like a hideous wound.
The space around the crack was extremely unstable, as if it would collapse and expand at any moment, emitting terrifying spatial fluctuations that made one's soul tremble.
"Hmph!" The Poisonous Flood Dragon let out a deep, thunderous snort, its fierce, bell-like eyes fixed on Elder Xinggong, its killing intent undisguised. However, it did not advance any further, seemingly extremely wary of the spatial rift.
Elder Xinggong took a deep breath, suppressing the lingering fear in his heart. He shifted his gaze from the spatial rift back to the poisonous dragon and said in a deep voice:
"Poisonous Dragon, you saw it yourself just now. The spatial structure of this secret realm is exceptionally fragile and extremely unstable. If you and I were to fight with all our might as before, we would likely be torn apart and devoured by this out-of-control spatial power before a victor could be determined, resulting in our mutual destruction!"
Just moments before, the two had an unexpected encounter in this area. Enemies meeting again are bound to be hostile. The venomous dragon recognized him as an elder of the Star Palace, and the Ninth Elder of the Star Palace also recognized this transformed venomous dragon as the ferocious demon who had clashed with the Star Palace in the past.
Without exchanging any pleasantries, both sides immediately unleashed their most powerful and secret magical treasures.
However, the result was beyond their expectations.
When the foul-smelling poisonous cloud spewed by the venomous dragon collided violently with the magic weapon activated by the Ninth Elder, unleashing earth-shattering power, the space at the center of the collision seemed unable to withstand the impact of the two Nascent Soul level forces, and suddenly twisted and collapsed violently!
Immediately afterwards, the terrifying spatial rift tore open without warning, like a greedy maw, instantly swallowing up most of the power from the collision between the two!
In that instant, both the Poisonous Flood Dragon and the Ninth Elder felt the chilling aura of death close at hand! The suction force and destructive fluctuations emanating from the spatial rift made them have no doubt that if they were drawn into it, even those with a Nascent Soul body would have no chance of survival!
Upon hearing this, the venomous dragon's scaly face twitched, its eyes flashing with ferocity, clearly showing its extreme resentment. However, it had personally experienced the terror of the spatial rift just now and knew that what the old man said was true.
In this eerie secret realm, the spatial barrier seems unusually weak. If the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator is not carefully managed, it could cause the space to collapse, and everyone would be doomed.
Let reading always be a chapter faster than others.