Cultivation Online

Chapter 2538: Returning to Heavenly White Valley

"T-This must be some kind of misunderstanding! There’s no way some rude bastard like that could be the owner of the stairway!"

The blacksmiths refused to believe it, even though it was coming from a Divine Blacksmith.

"If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try using the stairway!" said the Divine Blacksmith.

The blacksmiths swallowed nervously before they approached the door and knocked on it, trying to enter it one by one.

However, the Nameless Stairway remained unresponsive to all of them.

Seeing this, the Divine Blacksmith suddenly pointed at one of the cultivators who had been waiting for the blacksmiths to finish and said, "You wanted to climb, right? Do it now."

Although the cultivator had already intended to climb, it still felt strange to be ordered around in such a manner. Yet, there was nothing he could do but silently nod and follow the Divine Blacksmith’s command.

When the cultivator reached the door and knocked on it, the Nameless Stairway opened for him, leaving the blacksmiths it had ignored completely stunned and speechless.

The next moment, the cultivator entered the stairway and disappeared inside.

Just as the door began to close, one of the blacksmiths suddenly shot forward and slipped into the stairway before it could fully shut.

"He went inside!"

However, a second later, the door opened again, and the blacksmith who had tried to sneak in was ejected like trash, leaving a trail of blood in the air.

The other blacksmiths gasped in shock and hurriedly rushed to catch him. After examining his condition, they sighed in relief upon discovering that he was not dead and had suffered only superficial injuries.

"How does the treasure differentiate us?" one of the blacksmiths suddenly questioned aloud.

The Divine Blacksmith, who had just consumed a recovery pill, responded with a grim expression. "Most likely through our association’s identification symbol."

Just as every faction possessed a distinct symbol that identified both the organization and its members—a symbol its members were required to carry on their bodies—the Indestructible Steel Association had something similar. Every blacksmith under its banner bore the same identifying symbol.

"So are you saying that unless we remove our symbol, which is akin to leaving the association, that we would not be able to use the new Stairway to Heaven?! That’s outrageous! Who the hell does that man think he is?!"

"He basically just declared war on the entire association! Even if he’s the owner of the stairway, he won’t get away with this!"

Soon, news that the owner of the new Stairway to Heaven had been identified began to spread, and Yuan’s name began echoing throughout the Nine Heavens again.

Meanwhile, Yuan and Mu Xuelian made their way to the Heavenly White Valley upon arriving in the Eighth Heaven.

"Lord Shiva asks why you’re bringing her to this place," Mu Xuelian said as they traveled through the endless mountain valleys.

"You’ll find out soon enough."

Eventually, they arrived at the location.

Yuan created a hole in the ground, revealing the tunnel he’d covered up before.

"Let’s go."

Without explaining, Yuan entered the tunnel with Mu Xuelian following closely behind.

Some time later, they arrived at the underground cavern with the massive sealed gate.

"What do you think?" Yuan turned to look at Mu Xuelian, but Shiva had already taken control and was staring at the gates with wide eyes.

"These inscriptions... It’s the language of Eternals!" she muttered.

"So, do you recognize this place?" Yuan asked. "Is it where your friend is sealed?"

"..."

Shiva fell silent for a moment before shaking her head, "I don’t recognize this place."

Yuan raised an eyebrow and said, "Really? There’s an Eternal sealed inside."

"I don’t sense an Eternal inside, though," Shiva quickly responded, which puzzled Yuan even further.

"What do you mean? I spoke to them the last time I was here. They even shared a technique with me."

Yuan approached the gate and shouted loudly, "Hey! Remember me? I have returned!"

"..."

Silence.

Yuan wondered if the Eternal was slumbering, so he struck the gates like he did last time, but instead of using his sword, he kicked them with so much force that it shook the entire cavern.

"Wake up! Or do you want to stay sealed?!"

"..."

Still no response, as if the Eternal inside was no longer there.

"As I said, I don’t sense any Eternals inside," Shiva said. "Even if they are sealed, I should be able to sense them."

"How is that possible? Don’t tell me someone else freed them?" Yuan pondered out loud.

However, the only other person who knew this location was Bai Sulan, as she was with him at the time of the discovery. But he also had no reason to believe that Bai Sulan had any capability to unseal the Eternal.

"You said the Eternal gave you a technique, right? Let me see it," Shiva suddenly asked.

Yuan was about to agree, but he stopped himself. Even he did not know why—perhaps it was simply a gut feeling.

"Instead, why don’t you teach me your language?" Yuan said a moment later. "I understand a little of it, but not enough to comprehend the technique."

Shiva narrowed her eyes at him, sensing his distrust. However, she did not complain and simply said, "Fine. I will teach you our language."

The next moment, she shared with him a translation of their language into the human tongue.

Yuan took a few minutes to digest the information. Then, he sat down and closed his eyes to study the technique given to him before by whatever was sealed behind the gates.

A few minutes later, his eyes opened, shock flickering within.

’I’m truly glad that I did not give this technique to her!’ he cried inwardly, realizing that he’d just dodged a bullet.

"So? What did you learn?" Shiva asked him after seeing his expression.

Yuan turned to look at her with a perplexed expression, debating whether he should tell her. After all, the information was too catastrophic to fall into the wrong hands.