Chapter 236: Friendship that Transcends the Barrier of Species
Zhu Yao returned to ask the ghost officer Ning Yun, and as expected, little wimp had returned to Spiritual Realm. Naturally, he brought away that sealed Ghost King as well. She could not help but feel a little worried. If the bugs she saw were truly the manifestations of resentment, then she was really uncertain how long that soul-beckoning seal could last. She had to meet up with little wimp as soon as possible. But…
“Just where is that damn Spiritual Realm?” She only knew that one could enter Spiritual Realm after attaining a material body, but just how was a ghost supposed to get there? She was presently a human, so it was uncertain if she could even enter it too.
Though Ning Yun standing at the side was stunned for a moment, before pointing upwards. “Spiritual Realm is naturally in the sky.”
“Ah?” The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched, as she raised her head to look at the auroras in the sky. “The sky you speak of, can’t be referring to what’s above us, right?”
“That’s right!” Ning Yun nodded in affirmation.
Wasn’t this a little too easy? After all, they were two different worlds, was there even a meaning behind them being this close? It’s no wonder little wimp returned to Spiritual Realm without leaving behind a message for her. Spiritual Realm was just next door.
Yu Yan frowned. What that ghost said was not false, as he had just released his divine sense and had indeed sensed that there was a frail barrier up above the sky. Thus, he immediately held onto his disciple, rose into the air and flew towards the horizon.
They stopped in mid-air. Zhu Yao raised her head to look at the broad and boundless sky in front of them, and was a little puzzled why they had stopped.
“This is the place.” Yu Yan hinted that the border between the two worlds was just right above their heads.
Zhu Yao curiously reached out her hand, and simply saw that what seemed to be a boundless sky earlier, began to produce ripples similar to a water surface, spreading to its surroundings. Her fingertips even felt a tinge of icy chill.
This is water?
Why is there water in the sky? And it’s even upside down.
“I believe after crossing it, we will arrive in that so-called Spiritual Realm.” Yu Yan said with a stern look.
Zhu Yao: “…” At the very least, it was still a World Crossing Door, so how could it be randomly hanged in the sky? She felt that it was kind of unreliable.
“Let’s go.” Yu Yan said.
“But…”
“Don’t be afraid.” Yu Yan reached out his hand to stroke her head. “Your master is here.”
“…” Fine then!
For precaution sake, Yu Yan imbued the two of them with a layer of defensive barrier, before flying directly upwards.
Zhu Yao felt that something had flashed past in their surroundings, and her body seemed to be dragged by something, unconsciously pulling her forward. Things similar to streaks of flowing lights were in her surroundings, and she was flying backwards at high speeds. In a blink of an eye, the scenery in front of her changed, and the spiritual energy in the air suddenly turned richer, giving her entire body a comfortable feeling. A large, lush green field appeared above their heads, and there were even various celestial mountains floating upside down.
Before Zhu Yao could even comprehend why the mountains were upside down, she suddenly felt her head feeling heavy while her legs had turned light, as she charged towards the green field.
No wait, she was falling onto the green field!
The mountains were not upside down, she was!
“Master!” Zhu Yao flustered as she shouted out, however, it could not stop her from continuing her fall. She habitually wanted to fly up with her flying sword, only to recall that she basically did not have a transportation artifact on her at all. After that, she wanted to cast a wind type mystic art, but it was already too late…
Boom. Her head was planted into the dirt, and her face was even facing the ground.
A certain master who descended a step later: “…”
Haah. No matter what he did, he couldn’t stop his disciple’s death courting footsteps. What to do?
Yu Yan sighed. Casting an art with his hands, he materialized a strand of divine energy and pulled out his disciple who was covered in dirt. Fortunately, he had placed a defensive barrier on her, allowing her to be unscathed. Mn, other than… being a little dirty.
Zhu Yao spat out a mouthful of mud and dirt. “Puuf, master…” Can you stop trolling your disciple? What happened to the promised ‘Your master is here’? You liar!
Yu Yan cast a Dirt Removal Art on her with a calm look, instantly reverting her into a clean stupid disciple. Then, he said with a serious and stern look. “Don’t stray too far from me.”
Clearly you were the one who had his teleportation delayed alright?
He looked at her messy hair.
Yu Yan frowned. He could not help but pull down her hairband. “Sit down here.” Taking a few steps back, a wooden comb suddenly appeared in his hands. He waved her over, and looked as though he wanted to take care of her hair.
“…” Why does master carry a comb with him at all times? Your living skill toolbox is a little too complete, isn’t it?
As an expert at life, his technique was truly refined. Her hair which was like a bird’s nest earlier, under his master’s nimble hands, reverted to a bun in just a few moments. Zhu Yao shook about for a moment, it seemed to be rather firm too.
Yu Yan sized her up for a moment, and as though he was finally satisfied, he slowly said. “Done!”
Zhu Yao stood up. Raising her head, she saw a familiar blue sky above her head, and though there wasn’t a single irregularity, she knew that on the other side of the sky was the Underworld. “Master, what do you think about this Spiritual Realm?”
Theoretically speaking, the separation between the Three Thousand Worlds were very distinct, and breaking through these barriers were very difficult. For example, when ascending to Divine Realm from the mortal realm, one had to experience countless tribulations before they could reach Divine Realm through the Light of Guidance passageway. Not to mention, as a Black Tortoise of the God Race back then, she even had to expend an entire world’s worth of godly energy, along with the cost of her life, to forcefully open the World Crossing Door.
However, the way to cross into Spiritual Realm from the Underworld was too easy. Other than experiencing a slight delay, it was basically similar to going on a vacation, where one just had to take a car ride to reach his destination.
“Your master does not know either.” Yu Yan sighed. “I speculate that the connection between this world and the Underworld is extremely intimate, where the two worlds rely on each other. Most probably, they are a single entity in the first place.”
A single entity? But clearly the two worlds are completely different though?
“But.” Yu Yan’s tone changed. “The spiritual energy in this realm is extremely rich, and though scattered in all directions, there is hardly any difference in density to speak of.” Compared to the Underworld, which did not have a single strand of spiritual energy at all.
Rich spiritual energy, did that not mean that one could progress through their cultivation quickly as well? She wondered just what was little wimp’s cultivation level. She seemed to have forgotten to ask him about it back then as well.
Though they had already arrived in Spiritual Realm, finding a person in this vast world was truly not easy. After discussing for a moment, the two decided to first head to the nearest practitioner’s town to make inquiries.
The grass plains they were in were extremely vast, but fortunately, there was a practitioner’s town just a few dozen kilometers away. Yu Yan simply released and swept his divine sense around, and instantly found its relative position. Then, he brought his disciple and flew directly over.
That town was not huge, and was different compared to the practitioner’s towns which Zhu Yao had encountered before. There wasn’t a single concealment formation established in this place, as though they were not worried that mortals would mistakenly enter at all. Though, the sky above the practitioner’s town was really lively, with practitioners flying here and there all around, and they even brought along various spiritual beasts next to them.
Zhu Yao felt a little curious. Practitioners raising spiritual beasts was very common, but it was rare to see practitioners bringing them outside so openly. After all, most demonic beasts did not carry spiritual consciousnesses, and practitioners were generally afraid of inciting unnecessary conflicts. But it seemed that the people here had already gotten used to such a sight. Towards these spiritual beasts next to the practitioners, most of them would not even bat a glance. Furthermore, most of the demonic beasts were obediently staying next to their owners, and there did not seem to be any conflicts arising at all. Most of the practitioners on the streets seemed to be selling non-imprinted demonic beast eggs too. It seemed like demonic beasts were trending in Spiritual Realm, huh.
Zhu Yao went around to inquire information about little wimp. Strangely, the moment she spoke of the two words ‘Wang Xuzhi’, the eyes those practitioners looked at her with were really weird.
She faintly sensed that something was amiss, but after asking several more people, she still did not obtain any results.
“Are you certain that the person is surnamed Wang, and his name is Xuzhi?” A practitioner selling talisman papers repeated to confirm her question.
“Yes, have you seen him?” Zhu Yao’s eyes brightened.
He sized her up with a glance, and then, with probing intentions, questioned. “You can’t be talking about that person from Ancient Azure Sect, right?”
“Ancient Azure Sect?” The Spiritual Realm sect which little wimp was in? “I’m not exactly certain.”
“I wonder… what are you to him?” That practitioner asked.
“My s…” She was just about to say ‘son’, but after pondering for a moment, she corrected herself. “He’s my little brother.”
The moment that practitioner heard this, he was suddenly enraged. He scornfully waved her away and said. “Shoo shoo shoo, a mere Foundation dolly actually dares to make fun of this old man. Leave, don’t interrupt my business.”
“…” Why did he suddenly have a mood swing?
Zhu Yao pouted, and had no choice but to turn around and leave. Though, she did receive some useful information. No matter the case, let’s first head over to that Ancient Azure Sect and take a look there.
Information about Ancient Azure Sect was rather easy to inquire about. Just by asking a random person, she was able to find out its relative location.
She no longer dilly-dallied and immediately located her master. Then, she told him the strange things that happened earlier, and was faintly a little worried. Could that little wimp Wang Xuzhi have offended someone in Spiritual Realm?
“Furthermore, I can’t see through the cultivation levels of those practitioners. They are most likely above the Foundation stage.” She was beginning to worry about little wimp even more.
“No.” Yu Yan suddenly refuted.
“Ah?” What’s no?
He shook his head, and sternly said. “Yu Yao, the crowd of practitioners in that town, all possess cultivation levels above the Nascent Soul stage.”
“Ah? Ah!?”
Zhu Yao instantly widened her eyes. She couldn’t have misheard, right? Nascent Soul? The hell, just which Nascent Soul practitioner would set up stalls, and sell talisman papers and spiritual beasts? Her outlook of the world had received an unprecedented blow.
“With how rich the spiritual energy is in this realm, it’s normal for cultivation to progress quickly.”
But that’s a little too quick, isn’t it!?
“Furthermore…” Yu Yan continued. “I sensed a practitioner with a cultivation level above the Demigod stage residing in the town.”
“Above a Demigod?” Zhu Yao was startled. “An Earth Deity?”
“It shouldn’t be!” Yu Yan frowned. “Without a divine body, his abilities are most likely incomparable to an Earth Deity. However, he is indeed above a Demigod.”
“Then why hasn’t he ascended yet?” Wasn’t it said that after the Demigod stage, one had to ascend?
“This is also a problem which your master is unclear of.” Theoretically speaking, that was indeed the case. However, after inspecting with his divine sense, that person indeed did not carry traces of having faced any tribulation, in other words, he couldn’t have his body remodelled into a divine physique by the Light of Guidance. “It seems like the Heavenly Dao has allowed existences with cultivation levels above the Demigod stage to reside in this world.”
“…” This Heavenly Dao is a little too easy-going, isn’t it? Putting aside the heaven-bending bug, did mortals have to be this heaven-bending as well? In this world, where Demigods could be found anywhere and Nascent Soul practitioners numbered more than dogs, how the hell was she, a mere Foundation practitioner, going to survive here!?
Was it too late to regret now?
After finding out the laws of this world towards a practitioner’s cultivation level was especially lenient, her master said that he would release the suppression of his own cultivation level. Naturally, Zhu Yao raised both of her hands in approval. He was a High Deity in the first place, and in order to prevent bringing down the Light of Guidance, he had been suppressing his cultivation level to the Demigod stage. In the world they were in now, it was evident that the upper limit of a practitioner’s cultivation level was extremely lenient. Thus, he no longer had the slightest of worry.
With a higher level teammate, Zhu Yao’s chances at victory in battles would be higher. After finding a quiet place and setting down a few formations, Zhu Yao sat at the side and watched her master slowly release the suppression.
In order to prevent himself from releasing over the limit and end up ascending instead, Yu Yan raised his cultivation level a step at a time. First, he raised up to the Profound Deity level. Then, the Gold Deity level. And then, he raised it to the Ink Deity level before stopping. He explained. “I faintly sense the loosening of the Heavenly Dao. I’m afraid that if I raise it any more than this, I will bring down the Ascension Lightning Tribulation.”
It seemed like the limit of this world was the cultivation level of an Ink Deity.
“Let’s go to Ancient Azure Sect.” Yu Yan stood up.
“Alright.” Zhu Yao nodded. Walking over, she sized up her master whose body was emitting out an even purer aura than before. With a wave of his hand, he summoned his divine sword, and when he turned around, his ink-black hair swept passed Zhu Yao’s face. A strange feeling instantly rose in the depths of her heart. “Master, why I do feel that… you have gotten a little shorter?”
Yu Yan turned to glance at her, and then reached out his hand to stroke her head. “Don’t be nonsensical.”
“…” Was it just her imagination? But her master was a head taller than her, so his hair clearly shouldn’t be able to touch her.
Yu Yan instantly rose into the air on his sword, and then flew in Ancient Azure Sect’s direction.
Zhu Yao however kept feeling that something was amiss. The sky was already beginning to darken, as the sun was slowly setting in the west.
Yu Yan’s sword flying speed however suddenly slowed, while the huge figure in front of her was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eyes.
“Master!” Zhu Yao exclaimed, as she pulled onto the person in front of her.
His figure shook. Like a punctured balloon, the sword shook about. Sometimes it would go up high, while sometimes it would go down low.
“Master, what happened?” Don’t scare me, hey.
The sword shook for a few moments, and then it lost control and fell downwards. She had no choice but to take over in mid-air, and was able to barely land safely on the ground. She tensely hugged onto the person in front, and what she was holding onto with her hands was… a child of about five years old in age. This was… her master?
This was not logical!
Why did he suddenly turn into a child, hey!?
“Master, master!!!” Zhu Yao’s heart clenched in an instant, as she worriedly called out a few times.
Responding to her was a set of light and gentle breathing sounds.
Zhu Yao: “…”
She cupped his wrist, found out that his pulse was normal and his breathing was stable. Other than turning small, there wasn’t anything irregular about his body.
He was just purely… sleeping!
Zhu Yao’s face darkened. Was this the after-effects of releasing his cultivation suppression? It seemed like he couldn’t be woken up for quite a while.
Presently, she had no choice but to head towards Ancient Azure Sect for now. Heaving a deep sigh of relief, she resigned to her fate and carried her miniature master.
Just as she was about to continue forward.
Suddenly, ┗|｀O′|┛ Ouu~~, a black figure leapt out of the forest. A gigantic demonic beast suddenly blocked her path.
Zhu Yao’s heart clenched, and at that moment, she suddenly felt like cussing at its mom. Did it had to be so coincidental? She was just a Foundation trash, hey!
Wait a minute! Calm down! Thinking about it, ever since she became a dragon, a large half of the demonic beasts carried feelings of friendship towards her that transcended the barrier of species. It might be the same for this one too?
Zhu Yao felt slightly relieved from the depths of her heart, as she sternly stared at this demonic beast. We’re friends, right? Right, right?
That demonic beast walked forward a step at a time, and then…
Ahmu. It swallowed both master and disciple in an instant!
“…”
What happened to the promised friendship that transcended the barrier of species!? -Faints!-