Chapter 930 - 297: The Collapse of the Dao and the Cataclysm

Luo Tianxing’s expression froze for a moment, then he smiled faintly and nodded.

"Let’s hope so."

"Alright, I’ve delivered the item and passed on the message. It’s time for the old man to leave."

"Remember, when Chongming exits seclusion, remind him to head to the Seven Sages Mountain Secret Realm as soon as possible."

"The existence within the Secret Realm is also a grand opportunity for him."

The Thunder Pool stone carving was obtained by Zhang Daoqi from the outer Chaos, and the Thunder Monster derived from the carving has the ability to manipulate Chaos Thunder, making it quite a formidable existence.

In Luo Tianxing’s view, if Shen Chongming could truly carry it around, he wouldn’t need to reach Nascent Soul Perfection in the future; he could roam freely throughout the Cangmin Sea Region.

After giving all the instructions, he then stood up and left Yunshui City, heading towards Hidden Dragon Mountain.

Zhili County.

The entire sky was covered by blood clouds, which had engulfed this void for nearly a year.

During this time, the common people and cultivators of Zhili County had long since fled thoroughly.

As the host of this blood ritual, Qi Buyu from the Southern Border was now sitting cross-legged in the void below the blood clouds, guiding the blood ritual’s power to slowly infiltrate the earth below.

As the power of the blood ritual continued to penetrate, the land within a thousand miles of Zhili County withered in plants, the mountains and rivers lost their color. The earth was a gray-black expanse.

Carefully observing, one could find gray-white phantom figures constantly emerging from the gray-black land within a thousand miles.

These figures bore wooden expressions and wandered aimlessly around like ghosts. Occasionally, when two encounters, brief clashes would break out, leading to a brutally fierce melee.

The victor would completely devour the vanquished...

"The Earth Spirit Nether Soil is a place of soul rotation for a small world’s living beings, and now that the Earth Spirit Nether Soil has been forcibly transformed, even though it is now under the extraction of a Dao Source, this world is considered completely destroyed."

On a barren mountain on the outskirts of Zhili County, a delicate figure with full silver hair watched the ghostly Zhili County ahead, muttering softly.

Beside her, Shen Chongzhen looked with a solemn expression at those phantoms wandering on the gray-black earth.

"You mean, these are the souls of living beings?"

Zhou Xuan nodded: "You could also call them ’ghosts’."

"Among the many cultivation systems of the Seventy-Two Cangmin Realms, there’s one called ’Ghost Cultivation.’ In this system, they rely on their soul body state and instinctively devour each other, gradually growing stronger, developing intelligence, and stepping onto a path different from other cultivation systems."

"Of course, some Ghost Cultivators are Golden Core or Purple Mansion, or even Nascent Soul Realm Immortal Dao Cultivators, who, after their physical form is destroyed, cannot find a suitable body to possess in time, and are forced to convert into Ghost Cultivators."

"In short, the methods of Ghost Cultivators are very strange, and their strength is considerable."

"If you ever have the chance to encounter them, you will understand."

Upon hearing these words, a hint of yearning flashed across Shen Chongzhen’s face.

Over this period, following Zhou Xuan around, he had been exposed to and learned many things about the outside world.

He suddenly realized that the cultivation realm outside of Yangnao Land was so fascinating.

Various peculiar races of small worlds, bizarre and magical cultivation systems, those filled with unknown Secret Realms and forbidden areas—all stirred his desire to explore.

"The Earth Spirit Nether Soil is about to manifest. I wonder if there will be an accompanying Mysterious Nether Ice Flame."

"Later, I’ll have to trouble you to go in and take a look."

Glancing at Shen Chongzhen before her, Zhou Xuan hesitated slightly before speaking.

The Earth Spirit Nether Soil, being the spirit of Yangnao Land, forms a special domain during transformation, which greatly suppresses a cultivator from the realm outside Yangnao like her.

If she were to recklessly enter, she would be attacked by all the ghosts within the domain.

But Shen Chongzhen is different; he is a native of Yangnao Land and won’t be affected by the spirit domain’s restrictions.

This is also why Zhou Xuan brought Shen Chongzhen to Zhili County this time.

"It’s a small matter, leave it to me."

Shen Chongzhen patted his chest and smiled.

Seeing him like this, Zhou Xuan, after pondering for a moment, still spoke with some worry: "As I told you before, the Mysterious Nether Ice Flame is extremely Yin and Cold. If you’re not careful and its power invades your body, it will be very difficult to refine and separate."

"It might cause you to suffer for a while."

"Would you... like to reconsider?"

Shen Chongzhen looked at her with firm eyes and shook his head: "No problem, all I know is that the Mysterious Nether Ice Flame is important to you."

"You..." Meeting his passionate gaze, Zhou Xuan blushed, glared at him with some resentment, and sighed: "You’re probably a fool, aren’t you?"

"What if I told you that, with your cultivation, being contaminated by the Mysterious Nether Ice Flame might result in death? Would you still go?"

Shen Chongzhen was taken aback for a moment, then immediately took out his Communication Stone.

Zhou Xuan was puzzled upon seeing this: "What are you doing?"

Shen Chongzhen replied seriously: "I’m going to bid farewell to Ah Die and Ah Niang, telling them that their unfilial son won’t be able to care for them in their old age."

Zhou Xuan was astonished, then quickly snatched the Communication Stone from his hand with a reddening face.

"You..."

Holding the Communication Stone in her hand, looking at Shen Chongzhen’s earnest expression, her feelings were so complicated that she didn’t know what to say.

Shen Chongzhen, however, just smiled faintly, took the Communication Stone back from her hand, and stored it into his Storage Bag.

After getting along for a year, he had come to understand a bit about this proud and cold daughter of the heavens from the Ice God Palace.

On the surface, she was proud and aloof, but in reality, she was just an inexperienced young girl with a kind heart.

If acquiring the Mysterious Nether Ice Flame truly posed a mortal danger, she would never ask him for help.