Chapter 402: We are Destined

Wei Yuan continued deeper into the area based on the information he had extracted through interrogation. As he passed a crossroads, he spotted a transparent block of ice containing the frozen corpse of a human cultivator. The man’s face was contorted with terror, still frozen in the expression he had at the moment of death. It was unclear how long he had been trapped here.

This was a border marker the Hlai had set up as a warning.

Such border markers were usually imbued with warning spells as well, which was why Wei Yuan did not touch it. He concealed his aura and stepped around it.

Wei Yuan guessed that of the two following him—Mahamayuri and Zhao Fusheng—the former would likely be unable to bear the sight, while the latter definitely wouldn’t be able to stand it. By the time they smashed the border marker and triggered the alarm, he would already be in hiding. After that, all he needed to do was wait for the Hlai to engage the intruders, which would enable him to take advantage of the chaos to see what treasures lay within their lairs.

Wei Yuan pressed deeper. On the way, he encountered several more patrolling Hlai but was able to pass them all without incident.

After traveling nearly 100 li further, Wei Yuan emerged from a cave opening and found an immense underground chamber spread out before him.

At the center of this chamber was a fissure several li wide and filled with seawater. Occasionally, members of the Hlai would leap out of it. The rock walls on either side had been almost entirely hollowed out, forming dwellings that resembled a beehive. Light shone from many of these dwellings. Viewed from afar, the walls resembled surfaces studded with night pearls.

Wei Yuan hadn’t expected the Hlai’s lair to be so massive. At the very least, over ten thousand Hlai lived here, yet the Bao Clan had not provided absolutely no intelligence on this before his arrival. It seemed that their last reconnaissance mission to this location must have taken place a very long time ago.

Wei Yuan recorded the details of the underground chamber. When the time came, this intelligence would surely prove invaluable.

As he made his way through the area, Wei Yuan realized that this part of the secret realm was relatively barren. He saw virtually no valuable spirit veins or ore veins. No wonder the Bao Clan had designated this place as the trial grounds.

Just as he was pondering his next move, a terrifying aura suddenly engulfed the entire area! The sensation was cold, damp, and slimy, with the sound of the ocean’s tide echoing from all directions.

The previously calm sea suddenly churned, and flecks of light flickered beneath the waters as one Hlai warrior after another leaped out to the surface. Meanwhile, a Hlai woman drifted down from the dome above and blew her conch shell with force, causing a faint glow to emanate from the bodies of the Hlai. Their strength surged dramatically, and they all surged toward the exit!

It seemed that someone had triggered the border marker.

Wei Yuan withdrew his aura and pushed the treasure tree’s concealment ability to the limit. Then, taking advantage of the chaos, he threw out several stones and embedded them in various spots. He then closed his eyes and observed the outside world using the stones his Dao Foundation had transformed to. By doing this, he was avoiding drawing attention to himself by looking directly at his surroundings.

Within the Great Realm, the mortals split into several more groups, each studying the Hlai’s living environment, habits, population composition, and the taste of their various body parts.

Just then, intense fluctuations of mystic energy came from the distance—so powerful that this immense underground chamber trembled. A small pebble fell from the sky, striking Wei yuan on the head before rolling away.

Wei Yuan remained unfazed and continued his observation. Unfortunately, the surveillance stones he had placed in the heart of the battlefield were instantly obliterated by the mystic storm, leaving him unable to see the continuation of the three-way battle. Wei Yuan made a mental note to research how to enhance the resilience of the stones within his Dao Foundation, so they could not be destroyed so easily again.

Just then, a massive Hlai, over ten zhang in length, snaked through the air and charged toward the battlefield. The surging waves swirled around its body and its terrifying aura made Wei Yuan realize that it was a World Ruler.

But suddenly, a blue sky and white clouds appeared in the underground world. The sunlight somehow penetrated who knows how many layers of earth and shone down into the area. The scorching rays instantly caused white smoke to arise from the bodies of countless Hlai and drop them to the ground, writhing in agony.

The powerful Hlai with ocean tides wrapped around its body flew into a rage and charged into the blue sky. Then, both the sky and the sea vanished simultaneously as the two experts disappeared to have their showdown in the Beyond.

Wei Yuan had barely let out a sigh of relief when another stone fell from above, striking him squarely on the head.

Both stones had hit him in the exact same spot—was it a coincidence? Wei Yuan kept his eyes closed and held his breath, scanning his surroundings with his Dao Foundation stones. However, he could detect nothing out of the ordinary.

The Hlai’s experts were still rushing to the battlefield. The sound of the ocean tide in the air was growing louder and louder, and waves were even beginning to faintly appear. This was the Hlai’s unique army aura; at a thick enough density, it could drown an opponent outright.

The mystic storm in the distance grew increasingly fierce, and Wei Yuan couldn’t help but marvel a little. He hadn’t realized that the young island lord and Mahayamuri Buddha Mother were this powerful.

It was at this moment a stone—no, a rock the size of a watermelon fell down from the sky, hurtling straight toward Wei Yuan’s head.

Wei Yuan finally realized that something was amiss. He looked up and saw a Hlai woman floating several zhang above him.

She had long blue hair and a massive conch shell hanging from her waist. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she tossed an even larger rock up and down in her hand. It seemed that the two smaller stones that had struck him earlier had also been thrown by her.

There was nothing Wei Yuan could do about this. The treasure tree’s concealment ability was a godlike technique against cultivators who relied on their perception to perceive their surroundings, but it was useless against someone who happened to see him with the naked eye.

With a plop, the Hlai woman spat out the pearl she had been holding in her mouth. Her pupils narrowed into vertical slits as she stared intently at Wei Yuan, licking her lips with her long tongue.

Wei Yuan sighed. Hlai women were known for their lewd and ferocious nature. A fierce battle was inevitable.

In the blink of an eye, another storm of mystic energy erupted, shaking the entire underground chamber. In the distance, Zhao Fusheng and Mahayamuri Buddha Mother, both of which were locked in a grueling battle of their own, stiffened in alarm. They wondered who was the person who unleashed such devastating power. It would appear that the waters of this underground secret realm were even deeper than they had predicted.

Many familiar names flashed through their minds, but Wei Yuan’s was not among them.

The battle inside the underground chamber grew increasingly fierce. With one hand, Wei Yuan unleashed the Rushing Water Blade spell and swung it wildly in all directions, sending the Hlai members scattering in every direction. With the other, he frantically stuffed powder sticks everywhere. He moved as swiftly as the wind and lightning, leaving a trail of continuous explosions in his wake. He was singlehandedly turning the vast Hlai city upside down.

The Hlai woman pursued him relentlessly from behind, only to see Wei Yuan hold out a small round barrel. She instinctively caught it, and the barrel exploded in her hand. A soul-shaking devilish noise reverberated in the underground chamber, instantly turning her vision black and causing the Hlai members to collapse all around her.

Wei Yuan was pleasantly surprised to find that the Devil Noise Bomb seemed particularly effective against the Hlai. So, he hurled over ten Devil Noise Bombs in quick succession before using his mystic energy to seal his own ears.

Amid the chaos, Wei Yuan also lit an authentic version of the Devilish Spirit-Eroding Incense and stuck it in a windless corner.

By the time the Hlai woman had recovered from the excruciating pain in her primordial spirit, she saw that most of the city had descended into chaos. Many members of the Hlai were even killing one another in the smoke, and quite a few had been injured by their own people’s spells. By then, Wei Yuan had already vanished without a trace.

Her pupils once again turned into golden vertical slits. Her vision was a sea of pure blue, barring one single red figure sneaking into a cave, intending to escape.

With a piercing cry, she rallied all nearby Hlai experts and charged into the cave together. But just as they entered, the cave entrance behind them suddenly exploded, causing a massive section of rock to collapse and completely block the entrance. At the same time, an explosion occurred farther ahead and blocked their path forward as well.

Immediately afterward, flying-sword mines detonated one after another within the cave, and countless flying swords whizzed back and forth, instantly splattering the cave walls with the blood of the Hlai!

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan was inside the mountainside on one side of the cave and using his Rushing Water Blade spell to dig his way forward. The rear entrance had originally been sealed with a rock from his Dao Foundation only, but after the hidden mines exploded, the entire section had been blocked by the collapsed debris.

Feeling reassured, Wei Yuan patiently continued digging forward. According to the topographic map he had when he first entered the underground chamber, digging another fifty zhang would lead him into another natural cave, from which he could then escape.

Outside, the storm of mystic energy hadn’t ceased for a single moment. Zhao Fusheng and Mahayamuri Buddha Mother were only putting on a better and better fight as time passed, displaying profound reserves of mystic energy.

In a relatively secluded corner, Wei Yuan had just emerged from a rock wall when suddenly, he froze and locked eyes with a certain familiar-looking ferret.

The Shadowless Flying Ferret suddenly took two steps back and hid something behind its back. Meanwhile, Wei Yuan flashed it an insincere smile and gestured to the ferret, signaling an exchange.

To his surprise, the Shadowless Flying Ferret flatly refused to trade, then snatched up the object it was hiding and ran away.

Unfortunately, it had just disappeared when it reappeared less than one zhang away from his original position. It was a rather pointless effort.

Seeing that its teleportation had failed, the ferret cradled the object in its front paws and tried to run on its hind legs. However, after just two steps, it tumbled headfirst to the ground, and its aura depleted rapidly as it gasped for breath.

Wei Yuan was stunned. Despite its small size, the Shadowless Flying Ferret was a top-tier spirit beast. This particular specimen had even attained sentience and was just a hair’s breadth away from being classified as an immortal beast. If it truly wanted to carry something, hauling an object weighing several thousand catties would be as easy as lifting nothing at all. In fact, according to the information provided by the Bao Clan, this ferret had once stolen 8,000 catties of spirit ore from the treasury in one go.

The object the ferret was holding was no bigger than a pine cone—how could it be so heavy that even it couldn’t move it?

Speaking of which, the object fell to the ground and vanished into the rock in the blink of an eye, like a lump of iron sinking into water.

Wei Yuan immediately sent a mental message: “Let me try.” Then, he locked onto the object with his perception. He discovered that it was still sinking deeper and deeper into the rock and showing no signs of stopping. Acting decisively, Wei Yuan drew the Crimson Night Slayer of Immortals to carve a deep hole in the ground, then filled it with powder sticks and ignited them with his Dao energy.

Amid a deafening roar, a deep pit rapidly formed in the ground. Wei Yuan leaped into the pit, stabbed another hole with his sword, filled it with powder sticks, and triggered yet another explosion. After repeating this process several times, he was able to blast a pit several zhang deep into the ground. By now, the depth of his hole had surpassed that of the object, so Wei yuan thrust his sword horizontally and carved out a narrow opening. He reached inside and just managed to catch the object.

As soon as the object was in his grasp, Wei Yuan’s hand suddenly dipped visibly, and his hand bones even cracked audibly. Wei Yuan urgently tapped into his physical potential, his blood surging through his veins, and only then was he able to pull his arm back. When he opened his palm to look, he found that he was holding a deep blue pearl. He didn’t know what material it was made of, but it was unbelievably heavy. It weighed as much as tens of thousands of catties.

Seawater rippled inside the pearl. As he held it in his hand, Wei Yuan visibly felt his Dao energy deplete as well. Wei Yuan finally understood what was going on with the ferret. Not only was the pearl too heavy, it naturally absorbed Dao energy and mystic energy. To hold it was equivalent to continuously casting Dao spells. Although the ferret was a powerful spirit beast, even it couldn’t hold it for too long.

It was at this moment the Shadowless Flying Ferret approached, gazing longingly at the pearl. Wei Yuan handed it over, but the ferret let out a cry and took a step back, appearing both eager and afraid.

Wei Yuan thought for a moment and said, “How about I keep it for now, and we’ll discuss it after we get out?”

To his surprise, the ferret nodded. Astonished, Wei Yuan asked, “You understand me?”

The ferret responded with a vague thought, the gist of which was that something as simple as human speech could be understood by any living creature.

Wei Yuan didn’t call it out on the fact that most spirit beasts learned human speech only after they were captured and tamed by humans. Only a few immortal beasts possessing telepathy or similar innate mystic abilities could understand human speech without having to learn it.

With a flick of his perception, the pearl appeared within the Great Realm. It instantly transformed into a colossal pearl 100 zhang in diameter, plummeting from the sky and crashing into the ground, creating a massive crater with only a small portion of it protruding above the surface.

Upon landing within the Great Realm, its weight was no longer merely tens of thousands of catties. It had swelled to tens of millions of catties!

The fact that the pearl could be stored within the Great Realm indicated that it was also an immortal object.

Seeing the pearl vanish into thin air, the Shadowless Flying Ferret panicked and searched frantically for it. Wei Yuan explained, “I’ve temporarily stored the pearl in my sea of consciousness. Once we get out, we’ll find a way to meet up, and I’ll give it back to you then. You can’t take it now anyway—it’d just end up benefiting someone else.”

“Then I’ll follow you,” the ferret transmitted back in a thought.

Wei Yuan shook his head. “I still have several major battles ahead of me. If you follow me, you’ll get dragged into the danger. One of those battles is against the monk—he’ll try to grab you the moment he sees you. Oh, you probably don’t know what a monk is, do you? They’re what us humans call ‘bald thieves’. Long story short, they’re humans with no hair on their heads.”

Considering the ferret’s limited vocabulary, Wei Yuan tried to put things as simply as possible. It was unclear whether the Shadowless Flying Ferret understood his words, but someone else certainly did.

A monk in cyan robes stepped out into the open and looked emotionlessly at Wei Yuan, saying, “You have a deep understanding of Buddhism, benefactor. Indeed, you share a destiny with the Buddha.”