Archfiend

Chapter 412: Dharmadhatu (16)

“Qi liquefaction!” Xu Yangyi’s gaze was fiery. He had only read this word in a book, but he knew it belonged to the scope of Foundation Establishment cultivators. The book hadn’t explained clearly, but he now witnessed this knowledge with his own eyes. 

“Qi liquefaction… another step into refining qi impurities, and allowing qi to become even purer. This is also the reason why the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s divine abilities are a lot stronger than a Qi Condensation cultivator’s. And once all the body’s qi liquefies… the next step taken is the formation of the core!”

Naturally, the golden core wasn’t sure to form after all the body’s qi liquefied. It was just that the admission ticket to seek the throne of Core Formation wouldn’t be gained if all qi hadn’t liquefied!

The lone droplet fell. He saw that a second was slowly forming in the air, but he didn’t know how long it would take.

He opened his eyes. Just as he did so… he sensed that his spiritual sense had become stronger again!

The increase was around a fifth. Only now did the Myriad Spirits Pill crafted from the Rootless Nine Bends Aqua display its effect. As one’s realm increased, the little and seemingly unremarkable percentage benefit on spiritual sense would gradually accumulate into an unimaginable number!

A middle Foundation Establishment cultivator’s spiritual sense was about 12,000 meters. But Xu Yangyi’s… was 12,800 meters! 

In other words, he had 800 meters more range than other Foundation Cultivators! If he then had a divine ability that had a reach of around 13,000 meters… he could nearly sweep away all same-stage cultivators!

How could you even fight someone you couldn’t see? Was a blind person challenging someone with 20/1.5 eyesight really fair?

Presently, a minor boundary advancement was like charcoal sent during snowfall. He could clearly feel that his control time for Splitting Air had increased. Although he could only use it for two or three seconds, he could assure victory with three seconds of Splitting Air’s power!

He slowly stretched out his hand, and a power stronger than initial Foundation Establishment radiated out from every inch of his body. Through his bones there was no obstruction, and through his Eight Wondrous Meridians there were no impediments. He softly clenched his fist, and a half-meter portion of space trembled in front of him.

He quietly observed for a good few seconds, and then turned his head and laughed at Rocjourney. “Fellow Daoist, what should we do now?”

Rocjourney stood at his original position like a wooden sculpture, watching the surrounding vanishing motes of spiritual light in shock. His expression was somewhat distracted, and he didn’t look at or reply to Xu Yangyi. Instead, he murmured as if his mind had wandered far, far away, “You… broke the limiter in one hit?”

Xu Yangyi said apathetically, “The Foundation Establishment limiter wasn’t as hard to break as I thought.”

But for the most part… A Thousand Li Invincible could actually be used to break the bodily limiter!

While spirit arts were all unavailable, physique arts could still be used. Although the Foundation Establishment limiter was a cage, it didn’t even last for three seconds underneath the evisceration of Splitting Air!

Rocjourney opened his mouth, but nothing was ultimately said.

Not hard to break through?

In the past, it had taken him a full five days to break through, and that was with the support of the twin sal-trees and Enihilus’s help. Only then was danger survived. But now, someone else had said that it “wasn’t hard” so easily?

His face ached with a painful heat, and an idea known as “contempt” cracked and soundlessly collapsed into a corner. 

“What to do… I’m not sure, either.” A minute later, he said in a melancholic tone, “Without a medium, there’s no way I can leave the Garden of the Twin Sal-Trees. There are only two kinds of situations that permit entry into the second level: the first, you’re allowed to by Enihilus, who’s the Realm Spirit, and second, you’re allowed by the Dream Walker. With the Dream Walker’s rise in this world, even the Realm Spirit depends on its great dream to survive. Although this Dream Walker isn’t the previous one, it’s still equal to half a creator-god.”

Rocjourney’s attitude changed a little, but Xu Yangyi hadn’t noticed.

The bearded man took a deep breath and looked all around with an icy gaze. He then looked to the massive, endless chain, and sneered as he licked his lips. “A Nightmare nest, huh…”

He paid careful attention to everything in his surroundings. The deep darkness and blackness led to an unknown place. Twisting and spinning, all was swallowed to the distant extremes of the dark, as if a hellish black hole was within.

“Fellow Daoist Rocjourney.” A few minutes later, Xu Yangyi said quietly, “Do you recognize this thing?”

With an important matter at hand, a slight expression finally appeared on Rocjourney’s face, and his Adam’s apple stirred. His fingers flipped through the air, and several wind edges cut the object. However, only a clanging sound rang out, without even a white mark left behind.

Xu Yangyi’s gaze narrowed, and a foot of azure light promptly flared out of his hand. In the next moment, numerous azure wooden vines emerged from his arm. In a flash, a wooden sword was formed, and he then slashed down on the chain!

Hum… A low hum was heard, but the chain barely trembled. It was in perfect condition!

“It’s pretty tough. It’s something that not even a Foundation Establishment cultivator can shake.” He drew his hand back and looked at the black hole pensively. “Don’t tell me that place is linked to the Dream Walker?”

Xu Yangyi studied the chain intently. He lightly placed his hand out and murmured, “Splitting Air.”

Without the full manifestation of Splitting Air’s power, the white tiger phantasm wouldn’t appear. Instead, the tiger was replaced by frenzied wind pressure! Accompanied by the chain’s rattle, the power spread from Xu Yangyi’s hand!

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!! In the next second, Splitting Air was unleashed everywhere from the cracks of Xu Yangyi’s palm! Unfortunately, the chain wasn’t cut. Rocjourney’s gaze flashed, and his head swiftly tilted to the side. All he heard was a whooshing sound beside his ear, and a slight chill followed on his cheek.

“Sorry.” Xu Yangyi offered the apology but didn’t look at Rocjourney, instead mumbling to himself as he observed the chain.

Rocjourney stroked his face in shock. Afterwards, he looked at the trace of red on his fingertips, lost in thought.

“Fellow Daoist Rocjourney.”

“Mhm… eh?” Rocjourney kept his eyes on the blood, many complex feelings in his heart. He replied out of habit, “What?”

“Someone’s been here.”

“Mhm…” Rocjourney was still immersed in his somewhat tangled thoughts, not having yet been pulled out. He casually affirmed he’d heard Xu Yangyi again, but then suddenly looked at the demon slayer. “What did you say?!”

Xu Yangyi didn’t reply, but rather licked his lips. His gaze was like a sword, and he used his index finger to powerfully swipe. As he raised his hand… 

There was actually a nearly frozen drop of blood on it!

“That’s…” Rocjourney inspected Xu Yangyi’s finger. “Blood?”

Xu Yangyi slightly furrowed his brows. Rocjourney’s reaction really wasn’t what he was expecting. The latter always seemed to be a little absent-minded, but he didn’t know why… He waved his hand, and azure light followed along the chain. Wherever the light went, drops of dark blood were vaguely visible all along the chain’s length.

Everyone understood what this meant.

Someone had come here!

Moreover, it hadn’t been long ago! Perhaps… it was right before the two of them entered!

“Who is it… Who?!?!” Slightly losing his self-control, Rocjourney looked all around and said in disbelief, “Impossible… we definitely didn’t let anyone else in! How could there be anyone else besides us!”

Xu Yangyi expressionlessly looked at the hell-black space ahead. After ages, he said in a quiet voice, “Regardless of who… we’ll know once we head in. Let’s move!”

Swoosh! He became a streak of azure light. Rocjourney gritted his teeth and immediately followed behind.

Their flying speed wasn’t fast, and they hadn’t activated their protective qi covers, either. In this darkness, a protective qi cover was as eye-catching as a moth in the night. Plus, the blood just now reminded them of another matter.

If someone could reach this second level… then what had injured them?

Perhaps… there were other things in this passage!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Two black figures silently flew in the darkness. Roughly an hour later, Xu Yangyi abruptly stopped.

“What?” said Rocjourney.

“Something’s here.” Xu Yangyi took a deep breath, his gaze like fire. “Something big… It’s over 200 meters in size and sphere-shaped.”

Rocjourney’s brows knitted together and he cast his senses for a few seconds. “I don’t feel it yet.”

“It’s about 14,000 meters ahead,” Xu Yangyi said suspiciously, “And… it’s a living creature.”

14,000 meters?

Rocjourney deeply eyed Xu Yangyi. His spiritual sense extended for 13,000 meters at most… It could be said that Xu Yangyi’s extra thousand-something meters was a cultivator’s thread of life and death!

Xu Yangyi didn’t continue talking. His finger gently flicked out, and an unseen qi ray softly fired away. Once it was 3,000 meters away from them, the ray exploded with a bang.

Boom!!! Azure light illuminated the passage. Deathly calm shortly followed.

Rocjourney’s and Xu Yangyi’s qi were restrained to the limit. Solemnly, they looked at the blackness ahead. After ten minutes passed, a slight rustle echoed. Very soon, the sound of squall-like flapping wings rang out! A thousand-meter-sized stretch of black mist, with thousands and thousands of green dots of light inside, suddenly brightened in the darkness!

Bang bang bang! This black mist frantically rushed towards where the light brightened. Xu Yangyi’s and Rocjourney’s spiritual senses were already coalesced to the utmost. Under the glittering azure light, they saw everything clearly.

The black mist… was bats!

Pitch-black bats! They were different from ordinary bats, even larger! Each one was no less than half a man tall! Furthermore, their bodies were even slimmer, surprisingly almost humanoid. Rather than say they were bats… it would be better to say that a horde of vampires had revealed themselves!

They were many in number, and in this several-hundred-meter-tall passage, they swept up a black cyclone!

“Those…” Rocjourney gasped coldly, “are Nightmares…”

Xu Yangyi’s gaze stilled. “Is there any connection to the Dream Walker?”

Dumbstruck, Rocjourney looked at the screeching, seething black cyclone. His voice was incredibly solemn. “The most terrible thing about the Dream Walker… is that it can turn anything in a dream into a reality. No matter how unreasonable something is dreamt, and no matter how weird… Nightmares are monsters that it creates!”

He couldn’t help but fall back a step. The awful sea of bats in front of him caused a chill to grow at the bottom of his heart. “Me and Enihilus have been dealing with the Dream Walker for centuries. Naturally, I know many of its characteristics. It in itself has no offensive capability. It’s just like the queen of a bee colony. What’s terrible are the worker bees that circle it—they’re the most dangerous, sent out by the Dream Walker to this passage.”

“So many Nightmares… The Dream Walker turned this place into a nation of nightmares long ago…” he gritted his teeth, finished speaking, and turned to Xu Yangyi. “Fellow Daoist… what do we do now?!”

Xu Yangyi coolly looked at the sea of bats in front of him. Several seconds later, he opened his mouth, and a pitch-black sword flew out. Following a soft cry, the Animus Armament was already gripped in his hand.