Chapter 2358: Volcano

Presently, surveillance was tight, so Ling Han naturally would not make any further movements, but rather chose to wait patiently.

Not long afterwards, a rumor spread farther and farther on the mountain.

…This thieving criminal came from the line of the Desolate Eternity, and Ling Han and the other new disciples were being directly targeted as suspects.

Why had nothing happened before, and something had come up the moment they came?

Huai Jian and the others all did not bother to refute. What a joke, what would they be doing with these lowly slaves? Even Xue Ge scoffed. He only thought of these slaves as snacks for him; he would not droop so low to steal them away.

This kind of rumor naturally had no basis, but why had it spread?

Ling Han knew that it had to be those senior brothers and senior sisters that had come up with it, and their motive was to smear the names of Ling Han and the others.

The line of the Desolate Eternity had always been competitive. With so many apprentice brothers and sisters, how were they supposed to contend for favor without using some tricks?

Ling Han couldn’t help but laugh secretly. These people’s blind guess had actually hit the spot, but these people would definitely be unable to guess the real purpose that he had kidnapped these humans for.

Because two Ancestral Kings were taking turns to stand guard, Ling Han did not find any chance to do anything, so he could only continue waiting.

And as he waited, another five years passed.

A guest suddenly arrived on Divine Desolate Mountain. He was an Insect Race member, but he had taken human form. His arms still maintained the form of the Insect Race, being covered with black scales, and he did not have hands, but rather two gigantic pincers that looked like weapons forged from Divine Metal.

“So it is Junior Brother Liao Kong under Lord Underworld!” They came out to meet him, and while they were at it, introduced him to those who didn’t know who he was.

Underworld was the title of a Heavenly Venerate.

Liao Kong greeted them with a nod. “My exalted master has invited Lord Desolate Eternity over to discuss some matters, and just happened to discover a volcanic eruption, from which the Source Power of heaven and earth is flowing. It is greatly helpful for those Ninth Lotus senior brothers and senior sisters, as well as those junior brothers and junior sisters who are close to breaking through to the Ninth Lotus. He has thus commanded that I pay you a visit, and bring all of you there.”

Though the cultivation systems of the Foreign Realm and the Celestial Realm differed, certain aspects were similar.

For example, progressing from the Immortal Palace Tier to Ascending Origin Tier in the Celestial Realm, or from the Eighth Lotus to Ninth Lotus in the Foreign Realm, was a qualitative change. In the Celestial Realm, Origin Power was converted into Source Power, whose quality was far higher than Origin Power’s.

Why was it said that even if Celestial Kings did not have the power of Regulation, their battle prowess was still capable of matching Severing Mundane Tier? That was because the overall level of Source Power was higher. Otherwise, no matter how great their power, it would still be like a strong man striking others with a paper stick, completely dealing no damage.

In the Foreign Realm, this step similarly spelt a qualitative change in Spiritual Power.

The breach from the Immortal Palace Tier to Ascending Origin Tier could be executed slowly, converting Origin Power bit by bit into Source Power.

To speak in layman’s terms, that was to compress. 10,000, 100,000,000 bits of Origin Power could condense into one bit of Source Power. If the ratio differed, the quality and amount of Source Power would also be different. Naturally, the harder it was being compressed, the better.

But this kind of conversion rate was extremely slow. If one could lend assistance from the power of heaven and earth, the conversion rate would be greatly boosted.

Thus, one could break through to the Ascending Origin Tier behind closed doors by themselves, or could also venture into a natural Mystery Realm. Furthermore, the process of condensing Source Power would still be very slow even after crossing over into the Ascending Origin Tier, and it would be much faster with the help of a natural Mystery Realm.

But this kind of natural Mystery Realm did not appear randomly, but rather required a surge of Source Power from the heaven and earth, and only then could it be used by cultivators.

This kind of Source Power was actually the concentrate of Regulations. For example, the Nine Heavens Flame, to be frank, was a manifestation of Regulations of the heaven and earth, and did not have much connection to the power of heaven and earth itself.

Hearing Liao Kong’s words, all those who were at the Eighth Lotus and Ninth Lotus were all extremely overjoyed.

The Eighth Lotuses here had all reached the peak stage, and were about to step into the Ninth Lotus. They were just in need of the Source Power of heaven and earth to temper themselves.

“Then, let’s set out immediately,” Zi Shuang and the others all said, seeming to be in a great rush.

That was because the surging of Source Power from the heaven and earth had a time limit. It was unknown how many more years they would have to wait once they missed it. Moreover, the volcanic eruption this time around having such great amounts of Source Power surging out did not mean that it would once again erupt many years later.

This would all depend on luck.

“All right!” Liao Kong nodded. Actually, he, too, wanted to go there as soon as possible.

Everyone immediately set out. Liao Kong had come as commanded by a Heavenly Venerate, so he naturally had made some preparations. With a wave of his hand, a great river of the underworld appeared out of thin air, with only a single tiny raft floating in the river.

“Please board the ship,” Liao Kong said, and was the first to leap onto the raft.

Everyone leaped over one after another. Liao Kong steered the ship, and the small raft instantly rode the winds and broke waves, being astonishingly fast. Moreover, the river was also continuously extending forwards. Merely a day later, the great river had reached its end, and the small raft stopped.

They had already arrived at the foot of a great mountain, and the great mountain was presently gushing with lava. Black flames burned the skies, and it was as if the skies were about to melt.

“This is Golden Clouds Mountain!” Zi Shuang exclaimed in shock. “Even if we came via Transference Portal, we would need as long as three years’ time!”

Yet now? In just a single day, they had arrived at their destination.

Everyone all looked enviously at Liao Kong’s hands. He had already stowed away that great river and tiny raft.

“This is the treasure that Master has lent to me, and I will be returning it to exalted Master later,” Liao Kong said smilingly.

As expected, only a Heavenly Venerate would have such heaven-defying ways. This was really too shocking.

“Everyone, the two lords Heavenly Venerates treat all the citizens of our realm equally. Thus, they did not consider this natural Mystery Realm as their private property. Hence, when we ascend the mountain, we will still encounter other cultivators,” Liao Kong said seriously.

“To obtain the Source Power of heaven and earth, it is inevitable that there will be competition. The two lords Heavenly Venerates have expressed that they would definitely not interfere, and we would have to depend on ourselves for everything.”

Huai Jian and the others all showed hints of pride in their expressions. Which of them was not a prodigy? Especially those disciples that had joined later—they were all monarch stars at the very least, so how could they possibly fear competition?

Even if they encountered a Ninth Lotus Third Leaf elite, and were no match for the other party, they could still flee calmly. It would not progress to the point where they would lose their lives.

“Let’s set out, then.”

Everyone was filled with anticipation. Though they had come to this kind of Mystery Realm, it was not definite whether they would be able to attain the mystical power of heaven and earth or not. All that would have to depend on their individual luck.

Practically everyone acted alone. Resources were limited, so it was natural that they would all be going it alone.

Meanwhile, Ling Han advanced up the mountain together with Hu Niu and the other women.

Little Terror was still roughly the size of a puppy, and with Bewitching Maiden Rou holding it in her arms, it looked completely like an adorable pet. The little guy was forced into submission under Ling Han’s authority.

This was a mountainous area that extended endlessly into the distance. That volcano that was presently bursting with lava was the main peak. It was rumored that there was supreme pressure there, and only an Ancestral King would be able to reach the peak. Hence, there was no need to even think about climbing to the summit.

…The Source Power of heaven and earth was surging out together with the lava. If one could reach the summit, and occupy the crater of the volcano, it would be much too easy to obtain the Source Power of heaven and earth.

Heavenly Venerates naturally could do so, but did not choose to, naturally because they could not be bothered.

If the disciples of a Heavenly Venerate did not even have this kind of competitive awareness, they had best scram earlier.

The eruptions of the volcano had no pattern to them. At times, the lava would spurt towards the east; at other times, it would be directed north. Sometimes, it would gush very near, and at others, it would be spraying very far. Hence, it was needless to think of standing guard somewhere in wait.

Xiu, as the volcano erupted, a massive molten rock streaked through the skies, and then fell towards Ling Han and the others.

Peng! This was a gigantic rock, and was still burning with fiery flames, but one could still see that this was a black rock filled with Primal Chaos.

“F***, a Chaos Source Rock!”