Chapter 177 - 106: World of Boundless Sand, Demon Sea Bronze Palace

Chapter 177: Chapter 106: World of Boundless Sand, Demon Sea Bronze Palace

Now that Xuzhuang had formed his Nascent Soul and reached the Innate Tai Su Realm, the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly was just around the corner. While it wasn’t as if time were running out, many matters suddenly required his attention.

Thus, Xuzhuang did not linger after exiting his seclusion. He departed the very next morning. Familiar with the route this time and with a Flying Escape speed far greater than before, he quickly found his way to the Golden Desert.

Xuzhuang halted his flight, hovering in the air as his gaze swept over the yellow sands below. He couldn’t say how much time had passed, yet the desert hadn’t changed in the slightest.

Each grain of sand was its own sizable ’space’. He couldn’t tell if they were naturally formed or a creation of some great Divine Technique. Even with his current level of cultivation, Xuzhuang could find no clues.

Shaking his head, Xuzhuang set the mystery aside. He circulated his profound art, formed the Magic Formula for the Tracing Technique with one hand, and pointed toward the sky.

In an instant, the colors of the world seemed to shift. The clouds drifted on the wind, and faint wisps of aura streamed from them. On the ground below, dust and pebbles stirred, also releasing an aura that rose from the dunes like heat haze, all of it converging upwards.

As if drawn by an unseen force, the two streams of aura merged into a single mass. Slowly, the blurry figure of a young cultivator took shape. As more aura continuously flowed in from all directions, the figure grew clearer. His hair was tied up with a Carefree Scarf, and he wore an Embroidered Crane White Brocade Robe. One could vaguely tell he was in his twenties.

It was only when the world seemed to have been swept clean and no more aura gathered that the still-somewhat-blurry figure of the young cultivator stopped changing.

’So this is what he looks like.’ Xuzhuang smiled and cupped his hands. "Nephew Meng, if you please."

This young cultivator was, in fact, an image Xuzhuang had created by gathering all the residual wisps of Meng Fusheng’s aura from the surrounding world. It was a projection of Meng Fusheng himself.

’Meng Fusheng’ gave a slight bow to Xuzhuang, then his form plunged toward the desert. With a flash, he disappeared.

Xuzhuang followed close behind, plunging into the desert after him. His vision flashed, and he once again found himself in that small, completely empty space.

He looked up to see ’Meng Fusheng’ already flying swiftly and without pause into the depths of the space. In the blink of an eye, the projection had passed through two barriers, leaving only a faint afterimage behind.

This aura-phantom of Meng Fusheng was a creation of Xuzhuang’s own Divine Techniques, so it would naturally not escape his control. Thus, Xuzhuang was in no hurry. With a faint flick of his sleeve, he gracefully gave chase, maintaining a distance of one to two spaces as he followed the projection’s trail deeper inside.

Every space within this Gravel World was utterly empty. As he flew, all he could perceive were shifting, hazy colors, with not a single point of reference. Xuzhuang didn’t find it tedious, however. He leisurely followed the aura-phantom of Meng Fusheng for several hours before a look of surprise finally surfaced on his face.

Xuzhuang’s form flickered as he increased his speed slightly. In an instant, he passed through two barriers and caught up to the aura-phantom. Man and phantom came to a stop together before the next barrier.

He saw that beyond the barrier, the hazy colors were gone. In their place were dense, spot-like motes of strange, variegated colors. Despite being multicolored and vibrant, they exuded a foul, corrupting presence.

Xuzhuang frowned. He called the aura-phantom of Meng Fusheng to his side and, shielding it, pushed onward.

As soon as he passed through the barrier, the colored spots came into sharp focus. He saw countless bizarrely shaped Celestial Demons clinging densely to the next barrier up ahead. They squirmed and writhed in a crowded mass, howling incessantly while fighting and devouring one another.

A strange light flashed in Xuzhuang’s eyes. ’So they really are Celestial Demons. I never expected to find Celestial Demons in this Gravel World. Could it be that Meng Fusheng was trapped by them?’

Xuzhuang had no time to think. Although he had suppressed his aura, he had not concealed his presence. A ferocious-looking Celestial Demon with a large eye on its back had already noticed him. Its eyeball swiveled, locking onto Xuzhuang’s figure. It let out an unearthly cry, and thousands of Celestial Demons instantly turned in response, their attention fixed squarely on him.

Living beings were a delicacy the Celestial Demons coveted most. When a grand feast of flesh and blood like Xuzhuang—brimming with pure energy and exuding a faint, exotic fragrance—suddenly appeared before them, how could they possibly restrain themselves? The next moment, thousands of Celestial Demons shrieked in unison and leaped up like a downpour, pouncing upon their meal.

"Hmph." A cold sneer touched Xuzhuang’s lips. He casually pointed a finger. His Magical Power instantly converted into Sword Qi as a single strand of Tai Su Sword Qi shot forth. In a flash, it sliced through the hundred-odd Celestial Demons at the vanguard, pierced deep into their ranks, and then exploded in mid-air!

In an instant, like an expanding storm, tens of thousands of strands of Sword Qi erupted from the blast, enveloping all the Celestial Demons. The Sword Qi whirled violently, scything back and forth, and a rain of severed limbs fell. Dispersed Demonic Qi filled the space as, in a mere moment, Xuzhuang slaughtered every last one of the thousands of Celestial Demons.

With his cultivation at the second level of the Nascent Soul realm, the power of his Tai Su Sword Qi was in no way inferior to an attack from a Magical Artifact or a Flying Sword. He felt no particular pride in this outcome. He waved his sleeve to conjure a strong wind, and his brow immediately furrowed.

As the gale blew away the Demonic Qi and scattered the severed limbs, the barrier behind was revealed. It was a murky, multicolored haze. Beyond this barrier, he feared, the entire next space was packed to the brim with even more Celestial Demons.

Xuzhuang pondered, ’The Celestial Waterfall Realm, though small, is its own self-contained world. It’s not like the Celestial Stars, where Celestial Demons are free to run rampant. So where on earth did so many of them come from?’

’Of course, no matter how many more there are, if they’re all just cannon fodder like that last batch, it will only be a minor inconvenience. However, the spaces in this Gravel World are seemingly endless. How many more are filled with Celestial Demons? And are there even stronger ones lurking ahead? These are all unknowns.’