Chapter 35: The Great Anomaly

Jiuyou’s gaze locked firmly onto that Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit, his turbid, aged eyes brimming with longing.

A Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit could extend an Nascent Soul cultivator’s lifespan by one or two centuries. So what divine wonders could this ten-thousand-year variant possess?

He subconsciously clenched the three-hundred-year Life-Extending Fruit in his hand. Compared to that Seven-Colored Fruit on the sacred tree, the one in his grasp was truly like a firefly beside the radiant moon.

Jiuyou took a deep breath and forcibly pulled back his greedy stare. Unlike the other Nascent Soul cultivators who rushed to snatch the fruit, he stood still, his mind rapidly calculating.

“The Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit has caused too great a commotion… If this old man also wishes to cultivate one like it, would I first need to procure a Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree?”

His brow furrowed deeply as his fingers lightly tapped against his Storage Pouch. Earlier, he had been so consumed with thoughts of extending his lifespan that he had completely overlooked this detail.

“With the Little Green Bottle in hand, it’s not impossible. But with the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree stirring up such a ruckus, how could this old man conceal it after leaving Heavenly Abyss Mountain? By then, not only would the Life-Extending Fruit be impossible to keep, but the secret of the Little Green Bottle would likely be exposed without a trace…”

He shook his head, suppressing the thought for now, his fingers continuously rubbing together.

“I need to come up with a foolproof plan.”

Above the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree, countless surges of mana clashed violently. Each one carried overwhelming might—all clearly belonging to Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators.

Behind Blood Sea True Person, the Blood-Colored Whale-Kun Phantom swelled to a hundred zhang, radiating monstrous blood light. His palms struck repeatedly, each blow carrying the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas, pressing fiercely toward Fang Wuji.

Fang Wuji’s expression remained unchanged. Golden sword light crisscrossed through the air, forcefully neutralizing Blood Sea True Person’s every attack. At the same time, his sword tip shifted, aiming straight for the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit.

Yin Gu the Old Fiend moved like a ghost, weaving through the melee. His withered hands reached out, ten fingers like hooks, grasping directly for the fruit.

The Black Fiend Island couple flanked left and right, their yin and yang energies intertwining in perfect coordination. They actually managed to block Yin Gu the Old Fiend’s assault head-on.

Wei Kun flickered into position on the other side of the fruit. Raising his hand, he shot out a strand of dark spiritual light, trying to whisk the fruit away.

Danxia Fairy refused to be left behind. Her five-colored feathered garment fluttered as countless flower petals shot toward Wei Kun like sharp blades, forcing him to turn back and defend.

The remaining Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators were no slower. Their hands constantly formed seals, sending various divine abilities and treasures dancing through the air, colliding with each other in spectacular, overwhelming displays.

Nine figures tumbled and clashed in midair. Spiritual light exploded. Air waves churned. That stretch of sky had been thrown into utter chaos, with even space itself faintly distorting.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit changed hands repeatedly among these nine. At times, it fell into Blood Sea True Person’s grasp, only for Fang Wuji to force him to let go with a sword strike. At other times, Yin Gu the Old Fiend snagged it, but the Black Fiend Island couple would snatch it back with their combined efforts.

Every time someone got close to the fruit, the other eight would instinctively gang up on them. No one could truly pocket the fruit, and no one would let another succeed.

The fruit flew back and forth through the air, like a fatty piece of meat fought over by nine fierce tigers—each snatching and grabbing, but none able to claim it alone.

The dozen or so Early Nascent Soul cultivators on the periphery also refused to sit idle. From time to time, they threw out interference spells or launched treasures trying to steal the fruit. But they were all easily repelled by the shockwaves from the nine main combatants.

They all knew in their hearts.

With these nine cultivators possessing mid-stage combat power on the field, attempting to contend for the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit as mere early-stage cultivators would be no different from seeking death. Yet they were unwilling to simply leave. They could only hope that the nine would fight until their eyes went red and both sides suffered, so they could pick up some scraps.

For a moment, spiritual light filled the sky above the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree, and rumbling never ceased.

The nine fighters grew increasingly ferocious, their attacks becoming more ruthless. No one was willing to yield even half a step.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit spun back and forth between the nine figures. Sometimes pushed left by a palm wind, sometimes swept right by sword light. It remained suspended in midair, with no one truly able to claim it.

Just as everyone lunged for the fruit, ready to contest for it once more—

A sudden anomaly struck.

In that instant, the space around them seemed to freeze solid.

Everyone’s eyes went wide. Whether it was the nine Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators locked in battle, the early-stage cultivators lying in wait on the periphery, or the Golden Core Cultivators hiding even farther away, not daring to approach.

All of them stopped moving simultaneously. Their bodies stiffened in place, unable to move even a single finger.

Time had stopped.

This was no hallucination, no misperception. It was a genuine, tangible stillness.

That force was irresistible, undefeatable, as if the entire world had been put on pause in that single moment.

But only for that one moment.

The next instant, everyone snapped awake at the same time.

“What… just happened?”

Someone cried out, their voice trembling.

In that fleeting moment, whether Nascent Soul grandmasters or Golden Core cultivators, all had felt an irresistible force firmly lock their entire bodies, rendering them completely immobile. The strength of that power was so immense that it didn’t even allow them to entertain the thought of resistance.

“Could it be that the appearance of the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit… and those Nascent Soul old freaks fighting so violently triggered an ancient prohibition around the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree!”

Someone immediately speculated.

No sooner had the words fallen than a low, resonant hum echoed through heaven and earth again.

The hum wasn’t loud, yet it seemed to ring directly in the depths of everyone’s soul, shaking them until they felt dizzy and disoriented.

At the same time, everyone felt the surrounding space begin to warp and shift.

Above the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree, a dazzling golden radiance appeared out of nowhere, dyeing the entire sky gold. Someone looked up, and in their pupils, a phantom image of magnificent palaces reflected—

Terraced buildings and towering pavilions, majestic and awe-inspiring. Even the smallest palace was as vast as a giant mountain. Jade halls and gem-studded towers, soaring eaves and upturned corners, resplendent and magnificent, shrouded in immortal mist.

That complex of palaces was actually suspended upside down in the sky, like the legendary celestial court overlooking all the cultivators below.

For a moment, everyone was stunned by this sudden change.

This was a vision that had never appeared in tens of thousands of years.

No one knew what had happened, nor what would happen next.

And then, before everyone’s very eyes—

The Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit vanished into thin air.

Without the slightest warning, without any mana fluctuation, as if an invisible hand had plucked it from this space. Completely, cleanly, leaving no trace.

Everyone, including Jiuyou, was dumbfounded.

Where had the fruit gone?

No one had seen how it disappeared. No one knew where it had gone.

Jiuyou’s face darkened. His Divine Sense swept outward, yet he couldn’t sense even a trace of that fruit’s aura. It had simply evaporated into nothingness, as if it had never existed at all.

Just then, he suddenly felt the surrounding space twist even more violently.

That force grew stronger and stronger, more and more irresistible.

It seemed that the chaotic battle among those nine had truly triggered some ancient prohibition within Heavenly Abyss Mountain that had lain dormant for ten thousand years.

“Damn it…”

Jiuyou cursed under his breath, his expression turning extremely ugly.

“Those old bastards could fight all they want, but triggering an ancient prohibition dragged even this old man into it. I should have known to stay farther away…”

Before he could finish, space abruptly shifted.

A powerful pulling force surged from all directions, wrapping around his entire body, dragging him into a sea of chaos. Jiuyou instinctively tried to circulate his mana to resist, but found that force utterly undefeatable. He could only let himself be tossed about.

He didn’t know how long passed.

Or maybe only a single moment had gone by.

Jiuyou only felt his figure spinning endlessly through the air. When his feet once again touched solid ground, he snapped his eyes open.

Divine Sense instantly swept across his surroundings.

He found himself, somehow, inside a peculiar maze. Above and below, front and back, left and right—everything was encased in golden stone blocks. Those blocks were entirely golden, their surfaces smooth as mirrors, faint spiritual light flowing across them. Yet he couldn’t tell what material they were made of.

Jiuyou didn’t act rashly.

If those old freaks fighting earlier could trigger an ancient prohibition, then if he recklessly destroyed these stone blocks, who knew what deadly thing he might set off?

His brow furrowed tightly. He took out the Communication Jade Slip linked to Canfeng from his Storage Pouch and probed it with his Divine Sense for a moment.

No response.

Within the jade slip, he couldn’t sense even a trace of Canfeng’s aura, as if he and Canfeng weren’t even in the same space.

“What… happened this time?”

Jiuyou muttered to himself, putting the jade slip back into his Storage Pouch. His gaze swept vigilantly around him.

The golden maze was silent, only the sound of his own breathing echoing through the empty corridors.