Chapter 603 - 413: The Great Lake and the Great Fish (2)

Outside the Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan slowly rose to his feet. By now, the Immortal Mansion had devoured a massive amount of the black soil, and the patch before him had shrunk considerably from its original size.

The spatial rifts, once hidden beneath the thick black clay, had now all been revealed. Only then did Fang Qingyuan realize that the two-foot-wide rift he had first discovered was not, in fact, the largest.

His cultivation had now broken through to the Fifth-Layer Golden Core, all thanks to the immense amount of black soil. However, the resources needed to advance from the Fifth-Layer to the Sixth-Layer Golden Core were even more astronomical. Fang Qingyuan estimated that even absorbing the black soil here for another two years might not be enough to meet the requirement.

Therefore, Fang Qingyuan decided to put a temporary halt to absorbing the black soil. It was time to start working on the mission Tu Wuzhao had given him.

Fang Qingyuan walked over to the largest spatial rift. He retrieved a few Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats from his Immortal Mansion, implanted a command into their divine souls, and stuffed them into the crevice before him.

After waiting a moment, Fang Qingyuan took out more Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats and sent them into the various other spatial rifts nearby. These Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats possessed an exceptionally resilient life force; as long as they weren’t instantly shredded by the spatial rifts, they would almost certainly send back the required information.

A long time later, after Fang Qingyuan had dispatched over a hundred Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats, his divine soul finally detected the signal he had left behind from the heart of the black soil ahead.

Through the thick black soil and the unknown, remnant Array, Fang Qingyuan focused on the faint imprint he had left on the Mutated Iron-Seeking Rat. When he sensed it, the tension in his brow finally eased.

Inside the Bone Cage, Xu Xuanqing’s desiccated corpse lay toppled to one side. His body was completely devoid of moisture, and his wrinkled, elderly face was etched with profound unwillingness.

Xu Xuanqing was dead, killed at the very moment his second Lifebound Talent was blossoming. At that critical juncture, Xu Xuanqing had tried to counter the Ghost Cultivator, but from beginning to end, there was one thing he never understood: every inch of space within this Bone Cage was filled with an Array set up by the Ghost Cultivator.

During his sixty years of imprisonment, the Ghost Cultivator had long since incorporated this Bone Cage into his own domain. That’s right—during those long years where cultivation was impossible, this Ghost Cultivator had already touched upon the realm of the Nascent Soul: a domain.

This was the White Bone Tomb, a domain the Ghost Cultivator had comprehended on his own. With his movements restricted and facing such a massive gap in their cultivation realms, how could Xu Xuanqing have possibly stood a chance? The only trace he left behind was that single, blossoming golden lotus.

It was a lotus that seemed to be forged from pure gold. The Ghost Cultivator was currently holding it in his hand. He carefully placed the golden lotus before him, amidst a pile of black soil that had struggled its way through the Bone Cage. Half a day later, a single drop of golden dew slowly condensed in the very center of the lotus.

Upon seeing this drop of golden dew, a look of greed washed over the Ghost Cultivator’s utterly desiccated face. He eagerly snatched up the golden lotus, raised it high before his face, and tipped it downward.

As the drop of golden dew fell into the Ghost Cultivator’s mouth, Spiritual Qi—a sensation he hadn’t felt in sixty years—began to nourish his body. A sob escaped him, immediately followed by unrestrained laughter.

"I’ve succeeded! I’ve succeeded! ’Planting a golden lotus in fire, for whom do you toil and strive?’ My long act with you wasn’t in vain! Turning a Lifebound Talent into a physical object truly consumed a great deal of my resources, but it was all worth it. This cage won’t be able to hold me for much longer!"

Within the ten-foot-wide Bone Cage, the Ghost Cultivator laughed without restraint. As he laughed, tears streamed down his face. Sixty years without seeing the light of day, with no one to talk to... He had thought his life would end in such misery, but at the final moment, the heavens had given him another chance.

For this, whether it was Xu Xuanqing or anyone else, they would all become stepping stones for his grand ambition.

Just as the Ghost Cultivator was roaring with laughter, a vicious-looking Mutated Iron-Seeking Rat abruptly appeared inside the cramped Bone Cage, meeting the laughing Ghost Cultivator’s gaze.

...

’What a troublesome Array,’ Fang Qingyuan muttered to himself. ’It seems to specialize in void constructs. It’s a pity my knowledge of Arrays isn’t profound, otherwise I might have been able to glean some useful knowledge from this ancient Array.’

Outside the black soil, Fang Qingyuan bustled about. He muttered to himself while trying to pinpoint the location of the surviving Mutated Iron-Seeking Rat.

At this point, Fang Qingyuan had also dragged Jinbao out of the Immortal Mansion to help. Jinbao’s belly was currently round and bloated, though, from who knows what it had just eaten.

Because of the remnant Array, Fang Qingyuan’s idea of digging straight through from the outermost layer of black soil was no longer feasible. As an Array left behind from the sealing of the Ink Flood Dragon, some of its functions were still active in the very center of the black soil.

Previously, when Fang Qingyuan had tried digging, he would inexplicably find himself on the other side. After this happened several times, he knew he couldn’t dig into the innermost layer of black soil at all.

No wonder that Ghost Cultivator was trapped inside. Neither Fang Qingyuan nor the Ghost Cultivator could do anything about an Array meant to seal the remnants of the Ink Flood Dragon.

’Do I have to go through the spatial rifts, just like the Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats?’

Fang Qingyuan felt a rare hesitation about this path. His instincts screamed at him not to take the risk.

’Well, since I’m not an expert in void Arrays, could I bring in a professional for help? Oh, no, that won’t work. This involves a Ghost Cultivator; the fewer people who know, the better. So, an outside expert is out. But what about an expert beast?’

’I remember that Black Bear under Bear Wind’s command, the one called Confusion Insect... he seems to be skilled in Void Techniques. Maybe I should call him over to take a look?’

Outside the black soil, Fang Qingyuan watched Jinbao’s diligent efforts as he fell into deep thought. These spatial rifts were generated too unstably. Even if the Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats could pass through unharmed, it didn’t mean he could do the same.

Besides, the situation on the other side of the rifts was unknown. If he could get in but couldn’t get out, and ended up trapped by the Array himself, it would be a complete farce.

So, it was best to have that Golden Core Black Bear named Confusion Insect come and scout the path. Only then could he proceed to the next step. It would be brainless to have such help available and not use it.

With this in mind, Fang Qingyuan took out the Unity Hammer and continuously sent his thoughts into it.

This Unity Hammer, a Magical Artifact intended for the Foundation Establishment Stage, originally had a maximum communication range of just over a hundred li. But now, the distance between Qiqi and Fang Qingyuan was at least a thousand li, so he had no choice but to push it beyond its limits.

Thus, after Fang Qingyuan successfully transmitted his thoughts, he discovered that this Second-Order Lower Grade Magical Artifact was overwhelmed and severely damaged.

’Fine. I’ll have to find a Third-rank Magical Artifact next time,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. He stored the damaged Unity Hammer in his Immortal Mansion and patiently awaited the arrival of Qiqi and the others.

「Three days later.」

As the form of the Wind Breath Returning Soil Beast faintly appeared, Fang Qingyuan stopped his efforts of sending more Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats into the rifts.

Over these three days, Fang Qingyuan had sent another thousand Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats into the rifts, gaining a basic understanding of all the rifts in this Land Realm.

Meanwhile, inside the Bone Cage, the Ghost Cultivator was growing paranoid. The moment that first Mutated Iron-Seeking Rat had fallen into the cage three days ago, he had been stunned and had immediately launched a detailed investigation.

Unfortunately, the Ghost Cultivator was utterly clueless about the Space Law; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been trapped here for so long. At this moment, the unlucky Mutated Iron-Seeking Rat was imprisoned in a Small Bone Cage, letting out miserable squeals. SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

The noisy shrieks made the Ghost Cultivator’s expression darken further. After Xu Xuanqing, another living thing—a Mutated Iron-Seeking Rat—had fallen in. In the preceding decades, this would have been completely unimaginable.

The Ghost Cultivator began to review the events. How had Xu Xuanqing entered this place back then? He, too, had fallen in just as abruptly.

While the Ghost Cultivator was lost in thought, an illusory rift suddenly flashed in the mid-air at the center of the Bone Cage. THUD. Another Mutated Iron-Seeking Rat dropped in.

This time, the Ghost Cultivator understood completely. Two Mutated Iron-Seeking Rats falling in one after another—there had to be a Cultivator controlling them from behind the scenes.

At this realization, a very complicated expression appeared on the Ghost Cultivator’s face.