Seeking Immortality in a Bizarre World-Chapter 537 - 532 Empty Bizarre Realm, Lingering Spirits_1
Jia Ren inquired about the surrounding information to learn whether there were any powerful Sects or forces nearby.
"This place is known as the Wilderness, a land within the Mysterious Realm where cultivation resources are scarce. Why would the Great Sects covet such a place?"
"The most powerful Sect here is called the Kunshan Sect. It is said that there is a Body Integration Realm cultivator presiding over it, located fifty thousand li from here."
"This is your reward!"
Jia Ren casually tossed the Green Sword Magical Treasure to the person and disappeared from sight.
He hadn’t discounted the idea of asking about the Lingbao Sect or other intelligence. This person’s status was too low to access high-level information. Receiving news about the Lingbao Sect could not guarantee that it hadn’t been altered in transmission, making it unreliable. He would find out about the intelligence and current situation of the Lingbao Sect in the Mysterious Realm, but that would be an action to take after obtaining a large number of Bizarre Demons. Acquiring Bizarre Demons was the first priority upon entering the Mysterious Realm. Once that matter was settled, should trouble arise, a timely return to the Source Treasure Cave Heaven would be possible. There’s no sense in searching for intelligence and encountering danger without having secured the Bizarre Demons, ending up with nothing for the effort.
Jia Ren chose a location called the Valley of Lies. The Bizarre Demon there, the Lie Bizarre, was not weak, and he would first attempt to seal it.
On his way back, he arrived at the central area of the Valley of Lies. He made sure there were no issues and began to set up the Formation. All of the Five Treasures Chaotic Deity Array and several other defensive arrays were fully deployed. Concealing his presence, he took out the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower.
"Suppressing Demon Divine Light, unleash your full power!"
With the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower at its core, a staggering divine light burst forth, shooting in every direction. The golden light spread far and wide, enveloping everything within tens of thousands of li.
"Capture!"
The Suppressing Demon Divine Light, like an octopus, radiated a mighty suction power. Once everything was set, it swiftly converged. All the light retracted back into the thirty-third layer of the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower. If the Lie Bizarre was within this ’ineluctable network,’ it would be delivered into the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower as well.
"Nothing!"
There was no change whatsoever on the thirty-third layer of the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower, and nothing invisible was kindled by the Sacrificial Fire. This meant that the attempt to capture the Lie Bizarre had failed...
The most difficult Bizarre Demons to seal are those with no form or substance. If this were not the case, the Xuan Realm Cultivators would not have tolerated the Lie Bizarre settling in their territory, creating a desolate no-man’s land. Despite its strength, the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower still lacked the ability to seal such special Bizarre Demons. Perhaps after the Demon-Sealing Spirit Tower advanced to become a Sky-reaching Spirit Treasure, it could solve this problem. Its core, once replaced with the Zhenjie Xuanstone, demonstrated a remarkable increase in sealing abilities compared to before.
Though the attempt to seal the Lie Bizarre failed, Jia Ren wasn’t vexed. He intentionally left a metal marker on the site for easy location in the future. In facing formidable enemies later, there might come a day when the Lie Bizarre would prove useful.
The failure to seal the Lie Bizarre wasn’t a significant issue; it was still possible to head to the Bronze Strange Gate, opening the gateway to the Bizarre Realm and obtaining Bizarre Demons from within.
Jia Ren repeated the same process, taking out the Bronze Strange Gate from the thirtieth layer and anchoring it in place. Without the unknown pressure from the Source Treasure Cave Heaven, there were no problems opening the gate to the Bizarre Realm within the Mysterious Realm. Behind the bronze portal, he could see a place of darkness.
Compared to before, the Bizarre Realm was even colder and more desolate, devoid of any signs of life. Controlling chains from the Demon-Suppressing Spirit Tower that transformed into a golden net, Jia Ren swept through the Bizarre Realm, yet he didn’t encounter a single Bizarre Demon. He moved to another location and continued the search. Just like before, he didn’t encounter any Bizarre Demons. After trying more than a dozen times without discovering a single Bizarre Demon, he only saw Bizarre Objects that had arisen under the influence of the Bizarre Demons’ power.
"Where are the Bizarre Demons? Where have they all gone?"
Jia Ren’s expression turned unpleasant; this was a first-time occurrence. Previously full of confidence, he hadn’t expected to not encounter a single Bizarre Demon. Is the Bizarre Realm empty? So, where did all the missing Bizarre Demons go? To the Sealed Land? Or does it have to do with the Sinful Denizens? For some reason, Jia Ren had an ominous premonition.
Afterward, through repeated attempts, he finally... found a single Bizarre Demon. It was a Bizarre Demon resembling a snail with incredibly slow movements. Its bizarre ability was to... slow down the action of everything in its vicinity. Once touched by the Bizarre Demon’s power it released, the movement speed of any object would drop to... one percent. The speed of thought was affected similarly.
Could this be... the Slow Bizarre?
It was still in the Bizarre Realm, having not left. Could it be because... its speed was too slow, and it didn’t manage to leave with the others?
The Slow Bizarre was deposited on the seventeenth layer. Its lethality was not high, but the Bizarre Demon power it produced when burned was abundant, not even slightly inferior to the Longevity Bizarre. Such high-quality Bizarre Demons had always been Jia Ren’s favorite targets.
After sealing the Slow Bizarre, he tried dozens more times but never encountered another Bizarre Demon. Even so, Jia Ren still had no desire to enter the Bizarre Realm.
He couldn’t guarantee that all Bizarre Demons had vanished. Those that had disappeared were corporeal Bizarre Demons; there could still be intangible ones, such as the Oath Bizarre, Lie Bizarre, and Silent Bizarre. Compared to corporeal ones, these kinds of Bizarre Demons were the most troublesome. Take the Oath Bizarre, for example. Both the Bizarre Alliance and the Sinful Citizen Bloodline wanted to use it to bind oaths, so its ability must be terrifying indeed. If an oath were violated, the consequences would surely be dire. He suspected that the more people used the Oath Bizarre to swear oaths, the stronger it became.
Beyond this, there was a special type of Bizarre Demon in the Bizarre Realm, which was also the most terrifying one. It would grow stronger with each person who knew of its existence. This type of Bizarre Demon was the most horrifying because it couldn’t be killed; the only way to deal with it was to kill all those who knew about it and forget its name. No one could guarantee that such things didn’t exist in the Bizarre Realm, or whether entering it would trigger a death edict, causing one to die without knowing why. He would never take such a risk!
"Alas, the plan to seal Bizarre Demons in the Bizarre Realm has fallen through."
"What should I do? Is sneaking into the Sealed Land the only way?"
Jia Ren hadn’t forgotten that he still had a World-Devouring Sentinel. Back then, he had used the World-Devouring Sentinel to smuggle himself from the Sealed Land to the Mysterious Realm; now, he could use the same method to enter the Sealed Land. A large number of Bizarre Demons had mysteriously disappeared in the Mysterious Realm, and a great tide of Bizarre Demons had erupted in the Sealed Land; it was impossible that the Bizarre Demons in the Sealed Land had also vanished.
"It seems I must revisit the Sealed Land!"
"I wonder if Yang Shengwu is still alive? What’s the situation in Lingyuan City?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Jia Ren thought of Yang Shengwu. Because of Yun Niang’s matter, Yang Shengwu coexisted with a Wish Bizarre. As merely a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, he definitely wouldn’t have survived to this day. However, with the power of the Wish Bizarre, his lifespan would be far beyond that of an ordinary person; perhaps there might still be a day when he could see his old friend again. By returning to the Sealed Land, he could also seal that Wish Bizarre.
It seems a return to the old grounds is unavoidable!
Jia Ren retracted the Formation he had set up, activated his Escape Light, and left the Valley of Lies. He successively used the Five Metals Divine Escape, achieving a stunning Escape Speed. After reaching the Lianxu Stage, his body was filled with ample Spiritual Power, and he could even receive the reinforcement of the world’s energy. His Escape Speed was unparalleled, not inferior to using a short-distance Teleportation Array.
Jia Ren didn’t take a Teleportation Array. Based on the map he had obtained, he made several adjustments and headed towards the territory belonging to the Lingbao Sect. Although he was on his way to the Sealed Land, he would still have to pass through Lingbao Sect’s territory en route. Since that was the case, he naturally wanted to take the opportunity to inquire about the Lingbao Sect and confirm whether his familiar martial brothers were safe.
He flew for over a hundred thousand li, encountering large-scale wars between four Sects along the way. The Markets he passed were mostly affected by the wars; even if he wanted to use Teleportation Arrays to hasten his journey, it was impossible. The map from the Le Family wasn’t accurate enough. When he encountered the Qihuang Marketplace en route, he stopped there.
The Qihuang Marketplace had its Formation activated, fortifying its position. People could only leave, not enter. However, this wasn’t a challenge for Jia Ren. White light flickered at his fingertips as he used the Ban-breaking Finger, which hadn’t seen use in a long time. A portion of the Marketplace’s Formation temporarily malfunctioned, allowing him to enter unimpeded. He found a sundries shop and bought a map for three thousand Spirit Stones.
Affected by the war, a sense of panic permeated the Qihuang Marketplace.
"There are too many cultivators and too few resources. The struggle for resources is becoming increasingly severe."
"The density of the Mysterious Realm’s nature’s spiritual energy has dropped by thirty percent compared to a thousand years ago."
"Even the top Sects are engaged in hidden struggles. When will this ever end..."
One could occasionally hear the anxious conversations of cultivators.
The concentration of Spiritual Energy in the Mysterious Realm was constantly decreasing, a trend especially noticeable after cultivators entered an explosive growth phase. The Lingbao Sect was a prime example. Initially, anyone who joined the Sect would receive a Spiritual Treasure. Later, this changed, and only True Disciples were bestowed with Spiritual Treasures. Secret Realms that were previously unrestricted for disciples now required Sect contributions to enter. All this proved that the cultivation resources available per person were dwindling, and there simply weren’t enough to go around.
Even the Lingbao Sect, which controlled the most resources, and the oldest Sects were affected. Smaller Sects and families, receiving fewer resources, felt an even greater impact. Frequent wars and conflicts over resources were not surprising. Human greed grows with Cultivation Level, and appetites gradually increase. If this situation persisted, the Mysterious Realm’s nature’s spiritual energy would continue to dwindle, eventually turning it into a land scarce in spiritual energy and resources, perhaps even... a world at the end of the Dharma Age.
Jia Ren had no intention of lingering in the Qihuang Marketplace and quickly left. After he departed, Escape Lights faintly emerged outside the city, gradually encircling the Marketplace.
Choosing to avoid conflict doesn’t guarantee safety. Without enough strength to guard resources, you become prey in the eyes of others; it’s no surprise that wolves and tigers are attracted.
This was exactly the dilemma facing the Lingbao Sect.
Jia Ren followed the map, using the Five Metals Divine Escape to hurry on his way. A day later, he finally arrived at the territory of the Lingbao Sect. He walked through a Market and came to a teahouse, intending to gather information about the Lingbao Sect. Hearing people discussing the Lingbao Sect from a distance, he approached to inquire.
"It’s best not to discuss the Lingbao Sect too much; the Dao Masters of the Xuantiandao Sect wouldn’t be pleased."
Jia Ren was startled and hurriedly asked, "Isn’t this Lingbao Sect territory?"
"Fellow Daoist, your information is outdated. This place changed hands ten years ago; it’s now in the possession of the Xuantiandao Sect."
Xuantiandao Sect?
Jia Ren was momentarily taken aback upon hearing the familiar name. He hadn’t forgotten the grudges between the Xuantiandao Sect and the Lingbao Sect; the Xuantiandao Sect had been aggressive, wanting to swallow the Lingbao Sect whole. Grand Ancestor Taiyuan had feigned death in a ploy that resulted in the demise of Xuantiandao Sect’s newly advanced Mahayana Cultivator. Subsequently, Taiyuan had remained in seclusion, and the Lingbao Sect had suffered heavy losses.
Have two hundred years passed? Has the Xuantiandao Sect made a comeback already?
They truly are relentless!
Jia Ren then recalled the Thousand Mechanism Poison Lock that someone had deployed in the Tianling Secret Realm. If I hadn’t discovered it, I would have definitely fallen victim to it. I’ve long wanted to retaliate, and now, it seems opportunity has knocked!
