Chapter 143 - 89: Chaotic Heaven Hall, Celestial Waterfall Realm

Chapter 143: Chapter 89: Chaotic Heaven Hall, Celestial Waterfall Realm

Daochen Zhenren smiled faintly and turned to tap the Celestial Sphere. An inconspicuous celestial body suddenly magnified, revealing its shape. It was a complete oval, battered by fierce Gang Wind. A sun and moon traveled within, with a great landmass at its center. Though much smaller than the Profound Yellow world, this was no mere Celestial Star—it was a world unto itself!

Daochen Zhenren said coolly, "This realm is called the Celestial Waterfall Realm."

After Xuzhuang took his leave, Daochen Zhenren leisurely waved a hand, and the Celestial Sphere returned to a tranquil starscape.

Suddenly, a figure flashed within the great hall. A handsome man in snow-white robes walked out and asked doubtfully, "Daochen, this kid hasn’t even formed a Nascent Soul, yet you’re sending him to a Celestial Dao Field—and the Celestial Waterfall Realm Branch at that. If he gets killed, how will you answer to the Ancestral Master?"

Daochen Zhenren replied with complete confidence, "You may not be aware, Martial Uncle, but Dao Miao is no ordinary true disciple. A little pressure is what he needs to grow quickly. I know what I’m doing."

The handsome man frowned. "It had better be so. If anything goes wrong, I will report it to the Ancestral Master exactly as it happened."

「About a hundred days passed.」

Atop Chongyun Peak, Xuzhuang emerged from his cave residence alone. He closed the great doors, pointed a finger to cast a Magic Formula, and activated the restrictive seals, sealing the residence away.

He didn’t know how long this trip to the Celestial Waterfall Realm would take. After returning to his cave residence, besides making preparations for his journey, Xuzhuang had also dismissed his Daoist Children. Of course, he made sure to gift them ample resources for their cultivation.

Having sealed his cave residence, Xuzhuang was about to use an escape technique when his Spiritual Sense suddenly stirred. He took two steps, and his gaze fell upon the Celestial Pool. Through the deep, dark water, he could see a flood dragon coiled at the bottom, fast asleep.

’This lazy beast.’ Xuzhuang mulled it over for a moment before an idea suddenly struck him. ’Since I’m going to the Celestial Waterfall Realm, I might as well bring Lieyun. He’d be a useful ally.’

Having made his decision, the corners of Xuzhuang’s mouth curled up slightly. Without shouting, he began to channel his Magical Power. After circulating it for a moment, he abruptly lifted a hand and pointed.

There was no sound at all. The water in the entire Celestial Pool simply vanished in an instant, its destination unknown.

A hundred days prior, Xuzhuang had received a thorough briefing on the Celestial Waterfall Realm Dao Field from Daochen Zhenren before returning to Chongyun Peak. This Celestial Waterfall Realm Dao Field... or rather, the Celestial Waterfall Realm Branch, was somewhat different from the Celestial Stars Dojo.

The Tai Su Sect did not dominate the Celestial Waterfall Realm; they had merely placed a piece on the board, so to speak. This branch was not even considered a top-tier power within the realm, its status slightly inferior to that of the six major sects on the Divine Continent.

Therefore, taking charge of the Celestial Waterfall Realm Branch would not be as easy as one might imagine, especially since Xuzhuang had not yet formed a Nascent Soul.

Thus, after returning to Chongyun, Xuzhuang had temporarily set aside all other matters to focus on cultivating the Five Elements Escape Skill. He had now finally reached the Sixth Realm.

The Five Elements Escape Skill was an Escape Technique based on the material foundation of the Xuanmen teachings. When cultivated to a high level, it naturally produced countless wondrous effects. A minor feat like moving the water of the Celestial Pool was now exceedingly simple for Xuzhuang.

With the Celestial Pool emptied, Lieyun was naturally startled awake. He raised his head in a daze and looked around, seemingly unable to figure out where the comfortable pool of water had gone. ’Why isn’t even the ground very wet?’

After a few breaths, Lieyun jerked his head up and looked toward the bank. Sure enough, he saw Xuzhuang standing there with his hands behind his back. The flood dragon shuddered, his mind racing. He realized he hadn’t forgotten any of his master’s orders and instantly relaxed.

Lieyun shook his body, slithered to the edge of the pool, and put on a sycophantic grin. He bowed and asked, "Master, do you have any instructions for this humble beast?"

Xuzhuang asked coolly, "Lieyun, have you been diligently cultivating the ’Dragon Power Art’ I borrowed for you from Langhuan Tower?"

Lieyun answered earnestly, "Replying to Master, this humble beast has been training day and night, not daring to rest for a moment..." He trailed off and ducked his head, adding sheepishly, "Ahem... This humble beast’s Demonic Power has greatly improved recently, and I’ve even mastered a few Divine Techniques. Thank you, Master, for bestowing this art upon me."

Xuzhuang nodded. "If that’s the case, then you shall travel with me."

Lieyun was overjoyed at his words. "Yes, Master!" His serpentine body coiled around and around, quickly shrinking to about a foot in length before flying to the front of Xuzhuang’s sleeve.

Xuzhuang smiled faintly, raising his hand to let the creature crawl into his sleeve. Then, with a flick of his robes, he instantly vanished into the clouds using his escape technique.

Although Xuzhuang’s Five Elements Escape Skill wasn’t a particularly profound Daoist art, at the Sixth Realm, it was far beyond the mundane. Borne by the cloud qi, a single movement carried him hundreds of miles. In just a few breaths, he arrived at the Cloud Palace.

There were no Daoist Children waiting outside the Cloud Palace this time. Xuzhuang strode inside and found the main hall sealed shut, but the doors to the Chaotic Heaven Hall were open. He headed straight for it.

Inside the Chaotic Heaven Hall, everything seemed unchanged. However, to Xuzhuang’s surprise, Daochen Zhenren was not standing beneath the Celestial Sphere.

Xuzhuang pondered for a moment before stepping into the Chaotic Heaven Hall. The Celestial Sphere in the center of the hall suddenly moved. The starscape shifted abruptly, and the Celestial Waterfall Realm once again magnified. Several Crimson Gold Celestial Rings began to spin faster and faster, rotating dozens of times in the blink of an eye before a golden light flared up in front of Xuzhuang.

—

Although the Celestial Waterfall Realm was not as vast as the Profound Yellow world, it was a world in its own right, its size far beyond that of any ordinary star.

The reason it was named the Celestial Waterfall Realm was due to a peculiar phenomenon within its borders—

In the Celestial Waterfall Realm, there was no natural rain or snow. All the water vapor between heaven and earth, upon rising into the sky, would follow a strange law, gathering in specific locations before forming immense Celestial Waterfalls that descended from the heavens.

The Celestial Waterfall Realm had five Great Celestial Waterfalls, sixteen slightly smaller Celestial Waterfalls, and countless even smaller ones. These waterfalls were the sole source of moisture in the realm’s water cycle. Life existed only in the lands graced by the Celestial Waterfall Blessings; beyond them lay nothing but thousands of miles of barren, scorched earth.

Furthermore, because the Celestial Waterfalls were too powerful for mortals to approach, and because each one was a Blessed Land brimming with Spiritual Qi, they gradually became places where cultivation sects established themselves.

Of course, proper cultivation sects would not simply monopolize a Celestial Waterfall and disregard the life and death of all other beings. Thus, most waterfall-based sects would channel the water vapor from the falls, creating clouds and rain to expand the reach of the Celestial Waterfall Blessings.

As the Celestial Waterfall Blessings expanded, the stretches of dry, dead land between them gradually shrank, and life slowly spread across the Celestial Waterfall Realm.

Of course, the Celestial Waterfall Blessings had their limits. When they could expand no further, a system of territories formed: the lands of the five Great Celestial Waterfalls became domains, the lands of the sixteen lesser waterfalls became provinces, and the lands of the small waterfalls became prefectures and commanderies.

The distribution of the Celestial Waterfalls was surprisingly regular. The five domains were all located in the center of the realm, where the Celestial Waterfall Blessings were most concentrated. As a result, one couldn’t find even a hundred meters of barren land or desert between them.

Beyond the five domains lay the sixteen provinces. These provinces occasionally bordered one another, and even when separated, the gaps were no more than a few miles of barren land or a dozen miles of desert.

As for the distance between the sixteen provinces and the various prefectures and commanderies, that was an arduous journey of anywhere from dozens to hundreds or even a thousand miles.

At this moment, in a stretch of cracked, barren earth—a wasteland so desolate there wasn’t a single blade of dry grass or a thorn to be seen, let alone any sign of life—the dead silence was broken by several figures.

Several cultivators with wrapped headscarves and strange attire were each wielding Qimen Magical Artifacts as they surrounded and attacked a woman.

The woman was also quite peculiar. Her features were exceptionally beautiful, yet her face was more expressionless than that of the most rigid person. Even while being besieged and in constant peril, her expression did not change in the slightest. Her skin seemed to glow with a jade-like color, giving her an inhuman feel.

A robe-clad cultivator who commanded flying daggers shouted, "Xue Yuren, are you not going to surrender? If not for our Young Master taking pity on a beautiful woman, do you really think you could have escaped Fenglan Province?"

Xue Yuren struggled to hold on under the siege, but the color on her exquisite face still did not change. She said, "I would rather be a shattered jade than an intact tile."

The robe-clad cultivator sneered, "You want to be shattered jade? That depends on whether we agree to it."

He shouted an order, and his accomplices intensified their attacks. The robe-clad cultivator then took a lasso-like rope from his pouch. A cruel smile spread across his face as he swung it in his hand, preparing to throw it.

Suddenly, a pillar of golden light that stretched from earth to sky flashed past. The brilliant radiance was so blinding it forced everyone to shut their eyes. By the time they recovered and hurriedly opened them, the golden light had vanished. A young Daoist had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. He wore a sword as a hairpin, his long hair draped wantonly over his shoulders. Dressed in wide robes and a fluttering Crane Robe, his heroic features and transcendent bearing seemed to belong to another world. He stood in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back, seemingly oblivious to the people below. He gazed with great interest at the flowing clouds in the sky, which resembled a series of Celestial Rivers.