280 Beyond the Heavens
The ancient opportunity flipped the mountain, moved the obstacles, and opened up the land in one go. In just a moment, the ancient opportunity hidden behind the small village appeared in front of Fang Jinyu.
Since Fang Jinyu had set up a formation in the surroundings, the villagers, who were less than a hundred meters away from the ancient opportunity, didn’t notice such a huge commotion. The families were still cooking and chatting while waving the palm leaf fan in their hands. Even the children in the village, who were running everywhere, didn’t look in the direction of the ancient opportunity.
Up until now, Fang Jinyu’s cultivation in array formation had been miraculous. With a little thought, everything in the world, including flowers and leaves, sand, and gravel, could be used to set up a formation.
With such attainments in array formations, not to mention concealing the commotion, even if a few Nascent Soul stage cultivators came, they wouldn’t be able to see or hear anything.
Soon, Fang Jinyu had already obtained the ancient opportunity at the place.
It was an ancient puppet.
It was already broken, but it wasn’t caused by the passage of time but by someone. According to Fang Jinyu’s estimations, when the puppet was complete, it could fight against at least an Incarnation stage lord cultivator!
“Thank you for saving me, Fellow Daoist!”
The puppet had the appearance of a crab, but it was missing claws. The only remaining crab claw was only half of it. Its entire body was round, like a turtle shell.
At this moment, spiritual light flashed in the puppet’s eyes.
The voice just now came from the puppet.
The puppet possessed self-awareness, and its intelligence was very high, not inferior to immortal cultivators in the slightest!
Fang Jinyu asked with a smile as he held the ancient puppet in his hand, “Then I wonder if Fellow Daoist Crab has any gifts for me?”
The crab-like ancient puppet was originally hundreds of feet tall, like a huge building. However, after Fang Jinyu cast a spell, the puppet naturally shrank helplessly.
Although Fang Jinyu’s skill in refining puppets wasn’t the same as those of the ancient puppets, they were more or less similar. Therefore, Fang Jinyu controlled one-third of the ancient puppet.
If not for that, the ancient puppet wouldn’t have been so obedient and thanked Fang Jinyu the moment it opened its mouth.
However, when it heard Fang Jinyu’s words, the crab puppet was a little stunned. After a while, the light in its eyes continued to shine.
“Fellow Daoist, what do you want? I’ve been in this world for a long time. Although I’m buried deep underground, I can still vaguely sense the changes in the weather. Especially in this area. When I was smashed here, there were no living beings in this area. The humans here were still at the stage of feasting on raw meat and blood.”
The crab puppet was retreating. Although it was asking Fang Jinyu what he wanted, the puppet’s words were indicating that it was poor and had nothing!
The only thing that could be brought out to be useful was some knowledge of ancient times and the cultivation methods of that era.
“Fellow Daoist, do you know any secret techniques or great divine powers? It would be best if it were suitable to repay the favor of saving one’s life.” Fang Jinyu also retreated.
After some thought, the puppet said, “Fellow Daoist, you’ve already reached the Great Success stage. The only thing I can do is give you the technique to transcend the tribulation.”
“The Great Success stage?” Fang Jinyu was surprised and thought, “When did the path of immortal cultivation have such a realm?”
Seeing the change in Fang Jinyu’s expression, the crab puppet said, “Fellow Daoist, although you’ve reached this realm, the way you differentiate the cultivation stages in your world might be different from the way I divide the cultivation stages in the world I came from.”
Fang Jinyu asked, “May I ask, how do you differentiate the cultivation stages in the places you come from?”
The crab puppet said, “From weak to strong, it is the Qi Condensation stage, the Foundation Establishment stage, the Core Formation stage, the Nascent Soul stage, the Incarnation stage, the Void Refinement stage, the Body Integration stage, the Great Success stage, the Tribulation Transcendence stage, and the Heavenly Immortal stage.”
After saying that, the puppet asked curiously, “Fellow Daoist, how are the cultivation stages differentiated in your realm?”
“Coincidentally, the division of cultivation stages in the Nine Desolations is somewhat similar to yours, but it’s not as complicated.” Fang Jinyu’s gaze was a little strange.
“It’s not that complicated? What do you mean?” This time, the crab puppet was undoubtedly even more curious.
Fang Jinyu said calmly, “We only differentiated it into the Qi Condensation stage, the Foundation Establishment stage, the Core Formation stage, and the Nascent Soul stage. Currently, I’m at the Nascent Soul stage.” However, his thoughts were naturally different from his indifferent tone.
“Fellow Daoist, are you joking? How can a Great Success stage cultivator reach the Nascent Soul stage?” The crab puppet was instantly shocked. After all, the path of immortality had already developed into a very systematic stage in the place where it came from. From mortals to immortals who lived as long as the heavens and the earth, and even higher realms, it was very clear.
However, it suddenly discovered that the immortal cultivators in a place comprehended the Great Success stage cultivators as Nascent Soul stage cultivators. How could it accept this?
“This isn’t a suitable place for talks. Fellow Daoist, please follow me.” Fang Jinyu’s divine sense noticed that Chi Suzi and the others were about to arrive. He stretched out his hand to smooth out all the traces of this place and pretended that the land of ancient opportunity had been emptied many years ago. After that, he turned illusory and returned to Tianling Sect.
However, Fang Jinyu’s move stunned the crab puppet.
“Gather and disperse at will? Switch between virtual and reality?”
On Mount Xiaohe, the crab puppet revealed an extremely excited human-like emotion. Afterward, it said to Fang Jinyu, “Heavenly Immortal His-holiness, please take me back to the immortal realm on account of my many contributions to the immortal realm in my early years!”
“Fellow Daoist Crab, you’ve misunderstood. Gathering and dispersing at will and transforming between virtual and reality is just an essential skill for Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the Nine Desolations.”
As Fang Jinyu said it, he waved his hand. Instantly, a stream of light transformed into a mirror, revealing the scene at an immortal sect millions of miles away.
A Nascent Soul stage Grandmaster of the immortal sect just happened to materialize and appear in the image of the light mirror.
Afterward, Fang Jinyu stretched out his hand.
The image in the light mirror immediately changed. What appeared was another immortal sect.
At this moment, in this immortal sect, there was also a Nascent Soul stage cultivator who happened to use the ability to gather and disperse freely.
“This…”
Seeing the scene, the crab puppet finally began to calm down.
“Fellow Daoist, your realm’s cultivation system is quite strange.” In the end, the crab puppet could only sigh and say it to ease the subtle feeling in its heart.
Fang Jinyu said thoughtfully, “It’s not strange. Fellow Daoist Crab, I can only say that the place you came from shouldn’t be under the jurisdiction of the immortal realm.” He had once used the method of intercepting fate to pry into the memories of Yao Zaixian and found a saying about “beyond the heavens.” It said that the sinful immortal had once sent a message from the “Boundless Realm” that the immortal realm wasn’t the only one here.
And then… It was gone.
The “Boundless Realm” isolated everything. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have become a place to punish immortals. For the sinful immortal to be able to spread the news, it was already enough for him.
The crab puppet couldn’t help but ask, “Fellow Daoist, do you mean that there is also an immortal realm in this world?”
“Fellow Daoist, you haven’t even given me your thank-you gift yet, so why are you asking about me? Even if we were to exchange questions, we have to ask each other a question!” Fang Jinyu refused to answer.
Fang Jinyu’s intention was obvious. He wanted to lure the ancient puppet.