Chapter 697: News of the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation

Chapter 697: Chapter 697: News of the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation

Xu Yunfan’s gaze didn’t linger on the man’s departing back. His Divine Thought had already unfurled, silently blanketing the entirety of Divine Sky Mountain and even parts of the Nine Immortals Mountain.

The Nine Immortals Mountain was the foundation of the Primordial Sect. Nine Heaven-Reaching Immortal Mountains floated above a vast sea of clouds, bathed in countless rays of rosy light, their Spiritual Qi so dense it was almost tangible.

One of these mountains was wreathed in Thunderbolt and shrouded in a purple haze. A majestic complex of palaces stood upon its peak—this was the recently established Divine Sky Mountain.

His current domain.

The sight today was a world apart from what it had been fifty years ago, when Xu Yunfan first took charge of the peak.

Spiritual Mist flowed through the mountains, where Spiritual Birds and Strange Beasts could be glimpsed.

Figures of Cultivators, some riding Magical Artifacts and others streaking by as Escape Lights, zipped between the mountain paths and cloud bridges. The peak was more than ten times as bustling as it had been in the past.

Inner Sect Disciples practiced Thunder Techniques in the square before the Dharma Transmission Hall, their flashing bolts of lightning drawing waves of applause.

Outer Disciples toiled diligently in the Medicinal Herb Gardens and Spirit Fields, cultivating Spirit Plants.

Steward Disciples hurried to and fro, managing the peak’s many complex affairs.

The clear sound of Daoist teachings echoed from within the Scripture Pavilion, while an endless stream of disciples gathered before the Scripture Pavilion. In the Artifact Refining Workshop and Alchemy Rooms, the furnaces burned ceaselessly, emitting rumbles and the scent of herbs day and night.

All of this prosperity was due to the one who resided at the peak.

Divine Sky True Monarch, Xu Yunfan.

His earth-shattering feat of attaining the Daoist Golden Core, his power in standing against True Monarch Qing Yuan and Wisdom Sun Bodhisattva, and his glorious battle records from joining forces with True Monarch Dong Ming to invade the Aitira Realm had long since spread throughout the Primordial Sect and the entire Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm.

As one of the Primordial Sect’s Nine Great Immortal Mountains, Divine Sky Mountain’s status was revered, and its appeal had soared.

Countless disciples, drawn by his fame, flocked to the mountain. Some sought protection, while others yearned to study under the True Monarch, hoping for the slightest chance to become a True Inheritor of the Great Dao.

Xu Yunfan’s Divine Thought swept over the increasingly prosperous scene, but his heart remained largely unmoved.

’Having many disciples and a flourishing peak are reflections of strength,’ he thought. ’The disciples of the Primordial Sect are nothing if not practical.’

Still, Xu Yunfan hoped to expand his own Dharma Lineage.

He could clearly sense that as the number of disciples cultivating the Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture grew, his own understanding of the Laws governing the path of Thunder Techniques deepened.

In a sense, under the unique pyramidal structure of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, the True Techniques cultivated by his disciples all served to nourish his own cultivation.

He needed them to manage mundane affairs, gather resources, maintain his domain’s operations, and even serve as future assets or as his eyes and ears.

His mind, however, was already far beyond this superficial prosperity.

He withdrew his Divine Thought. On the Jade Table before him, his formless Divine Thought coalesced once more, sketching out the phantom image of a remote, abyssal land. It was a place of churning, deathly silent waves of blood and the wails of endless, resentful souls, containing within it a deep and ethereal Netherworld.

The Sea of Suffering Reincarnation.

It was a place known to every Cultivator in the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm through legend and rumor.

This was especially true for those who had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. A Foundation Establishment Daoist Master had to enter the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation to undergo five lifetimes of rebirth.

From what he knew of the other Great Realms in the Boundary Sea, this feature was unique to the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm.

Legend claimed it connected the Yin-Yang Realms—a blurred zone between life and death. There, time and space were in chaos, the Laws were bizarre, and the air was filled with auras that dissolved Spiritual Light, the Soul-Eroding Yin Wind, and all manner of terrifying entities condensed from eons of accumulated resentment and Death Qi.

There were even rumors that a Golden Core True Monarch had once ventured deep inside, only to never return, their True Spirit trapped for eternity in the Sea of Suffering, never to find release.

Xu Yunfan didn’t believe it.

But it was undeniable proof of the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation’s extreme danger.

Yet he had a compelling reason to go.

For within that place lay something essential for his cultivation path to advance.

The Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit.

Xu Yunfan glanced at the growth rate of his Daoist Cultivation on his Attribute Panel.

It took roughly a year just to increase his Daoist Cultivation by two points.

Having grown accustomed to an extremely fast cultivation speed, he now found this tortoise-like pace unbearable.

If he hadn’t needed to lie low for the past few years to let the intense scrutiny on him die down, he would have made his next move long ago.

’Honestly,’ he mused, ’if I had rashly left the Primordial Sect’s territory back then, I might have been ambushed and besieged in the very next moment.’

’The Thunder and Fire Heroes are established. The Yang has reached its apex; the Yin cannot be absent for long.’

Xu Yunfan calculated inwardly, his gaze profound.

’The Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit contains the mysteries of the Supreme Yin and Cold and of Life and Death Reincarnation. It can form a perfect balance with my Divine Sky Supreme Yang Thunderbolt, where Yin and Yang complement each other, and lay the final cornerstone for constructing my Minor Circulation.’

This was the crystal-clear understanding of his own cultivation path he had reached after fifty years in seclusion refining the Red Sun Dao Fruit.

Refining the Red Sun Dao Fruit had caused his Thunder and Fire to feed each other, making their power skyrocket. His Daoist Cultivation had soared, and he had already touched the very limit of the Early-Stage Golden Core.

But this power was of the Supreme Yang and Firm, and it urgently required the power of the Supreme Yin to bring it into harmony.

Without the Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit to harmonize his Yin and Yang and form a cycle, not only would it be difficult to truly enter the Mid-Stage Golden Core, but over time, the excessively violent Power of Thunder and Fire might even backfire, leading to an unstable Golden Core and the risk of his Grotto Heaven shattering.

’As long as I can obtain and successfully refine this Dao Fruit, my Yin and Yang will merge, the three Dao Fruits will form a cycle, and my Minor Circulation will be complete. Then, it will be a natural step to elevate my Grotto Heaven, entrust it to the void, and enter the Mid-Stage Golden Core Realm.’

But the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation was no welcoming land.

Its dangers were far beyond those of any ordinary Secret Realm.

The dangers within were unfathomable, and the records left by predecessors were incomplete. Many entered, but few survived, and the information they brought back was fragmented at best.

Only veteran True Monarchs who had lived for over ten thousand years were likely to know what truly lay within.

The incomplete records from past explorations were pieced together from scraps of information left behind by countless who had perished and the few who had luckily escaped. They mentioned blood waves that corroded bone and the wails of a myriad of spirits; they recorded chaotic, inverted vortexes of space-time; they warned of rampant Heart Demons and endless illusions. There was even mention of a Bitter Sea Qiu Long deep within the Sea of Suffering—a creature condensed from ancient resentment, monstrously fierce, and suspected to be symbiotic with, or at least related to, the Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit.

But this information was fragmented and contradictory, making it difficult to discern fact from fiction.

Xu Yunfan mulled it over, wondering if he should seek an audience with True Monarch Pu Du. As a top-tier Mid-Stage Golden Core master in the Primordial Sect, he was sure to be familiar with the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation.

The only problem was that he had no idea what True Monarch Pu Du might ask for in return. After all, it was a tradition in the Primordial Sect: to gain something, one must first be prepared to lose something.

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Yunfan temporarily dismissed the idea of visiting True Monarch Pu Du. Instead, he summoned Lu Chuan and Chu Chengnan to ask them about the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation.

「Seven days passed in a flash.」

With a slight stir of his Divine Thought, two Sound Transmission Talismans transformed into streaks of light and shot out of the hall.

A moment later, Chu Chengnan and Lu Chuan entered the main hall, one after the other, and bowed in salute.

"Greetings, Divine Sky True Monarch!"

the two said in unison.

Xu Yunfan raised a hand, gesturing for them to rise, and got straight to the point.

"I intend to make a trip to the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation and need to understand its intricacies. You have both experienced five lifetimes of reincarnation, so you should have some insight."

Hearing this, Lu Chuan and Chu Chengnan instinctively glanced at each other, both seeing the undisguised envy in the other’s eyes.

To achieve the rank of Golden Core in a single lifetime was an act of peerless genius, no matter where one looked.

Lu Chuan was the first to speak, his expression respectful, yet with a hint of careful consideration in his tone.