Chapter 132 - 93: Cyan Cloud Sect, One Cyan, One Cloud, One Sect, Two Branches

Chapter 132: Chapter 93: Cyan Cloud Sect, One Cyan, One Cloud, One Sect, Two Branches

The moment this thought popped into Lu Chen’s mind, he startled himself.

This didn’t just mean the Cyan Cloud Sect was far more powerful than he had imagined; more terrifyingly, even a sect this mighty eventually faced a catastrophe and vanished into the vast river of time.

This forced Lu Chen to ask himself a soul-searching question: If this catastrophe had implicated even the Thirty-Three Heavens, could his in-game character truly emerge unscathed?

With this thought, Lu Chen felt as though a monstrous tidal wave was slowly surging toward him. There was no escape, nowhere to hide.

To figure out a solution, he had been pondering in the mine for an entire day.

***

Inside the mine, Lu Chen subconsciously chewed on his fingernail, his mind racing.

This was a habit he had kept since his past life; he only did it subconsciously when faced with incredibly difficult problems.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Chen’s tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

"Any massive upheaval in the world couldn’t possibly happen instantaneously. There have to be signs," he muttered to himself.

"Given the Cyan Cloud Sect’s capabilities in the game, if they had discovered those signs, it’s impossible for them to be completely unprepared right now.

"Therefore, this should indicate that the gaming era I’m currently in is on the eve of that catastrophe.

"While the latest disciple I’ve encountered in the dungeon was indeed from the seventy-fifth generation, this doesn’t mean the Cyan Cloud Sect only passed down seventy-five generations before its destruction.

"After all, once a catastrophe strikes, the Sect absolutely wouldn’t be able to bury every disciple’s corpse in the Sect’s tomb.

"Ideally, the growth time left for me in the game should be at least a thousand years.

"A thousand years... With my current progress, even if I can’t achieve becoming an immortal, I should be close to it.

"A thousand years, a thousand years..."

Muttering these words, Lu Chen lowered his right hand. He raised his head, looking determinedly at the passage leading deeper into the mine not far away.

"The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven derives forty-nine, and humanity escapes with one. I... should still have a sliver of hope.

"As long as nothing happens to me in the game, my real-life self won’t be affected.

"My in-game self... needs to change strategies.

"Foundation Establishment. Once I complete the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment and confirm that I have the ability to protect myself from a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, I must travel outside the Cyan Cloud Sect more often. Not only to gain experience faster, but also to search for clues about that world-ending catastrophe.

"Only by knowing enough can I respond properly and maximize my chances of surviving that catastrophe..."

Having figured this out, Lu Chen immediately took a deep breath, stopping himself from dwelling on the question that sent chills down his spine.

A thousand years was long, yet a thousand years was also short. Ten years in the game equaled one year in reality. Although his in-game character had a thousand years, converted to reality, it was only a fleeting hundred years. While his real-life self wasn’t in any immediate danger, if his in-game self met with an accident, his real-life self would suffer just as badly. Therefore, the actual time left for him... wasn’t that much.

"No matter what, I must complete the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment within one year in reality, which is ten years in the game. I can’t delay this any longer," he resolved. "Time... waits for no one."

Lu Chen hadn’t expected that what started as a casual run through a dungeon to grind some experience would accidentally uncover some earth-shattering secret. This instantly shifted his mood from relaxed to incredibly heavy. Sometimes, knowing too much truly wasn’t a good thing.

Setting aside those messy thoughts, Lu Chen headed straight toward the depths of the dungeon. Cyan Cloud Secrets, a heaven-and-earth catastrophe—all of these were far too distant for him right now. He had to seize the present and increase his power as much as possible. And the most pressing task right now was undoubtedly to clear the dungeon before him.

***

Deep within the mine, after emerging from the long and narrow tunnel, Lu Chen finally arrived in a massive underground space.

In that space, an incredibly huge iron chain was deeply embedded into the ceiling, seeming to connect to something. Placed around that chain, arranged in some special formation, were a large number of various Tripod Cauldrons.

At the outermost edge were the most numerous Black Iron Tripods, numbering around a thousand. Next were the Bronze Tripods, numbering around a hundred. After that were the Secret Silver Tripods, numbering around a few dozen. Finally, placed right in the center, was a Golden Tripod.

However, that Golden Tripod was currently leaning steeply, looking as if it could topple over at any moment. Beside the Golden Tripod, a frail, emaciated corpse was shouldering it, trying its best to maintain a delicate balance.

Looking at that corpse, Lu Chen sharply detected something unusual.

The corpse’s hands had already been mostly corroded by the toppling Golden Tripod, and its knees, which were kneeling on the ground, had lost a great deal of flesh and blood, exposing raw White Bone.

Although Lu Chen didn’t know how long this corpse had maintained this cauldron-carrying posture, he knew that the corpse... was just about at its limit.

This was because a large amount of twisted flesh and blood had already gathered within the Golden Tripod, and many flesh tumors had grown around the tripod itself. It looked as if it were about to transform into a Tripod Person at any moment.

The Black Iron Tripod People were at the Qi Cultivation Third Level, and the Bronze Tripod People were at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Level. Although Lu Chen didn’t know why he hadn’t seen any Secret Silver Tripod People, he figured they had to be either at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Level or the Foundation Establishment Stage.

If this Golden Tripod were to transform into a Tripod Person, Lu Chen conservatively estimated that, at the very worst, it would be at the Foundation Establishment Stage, or perhaps... even reach a level comparable to a Golden Core.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen immediately drew his Ink Flood Dragon Sword and strode toward the Golden Tripod. If he allowed this Golden Tripod to completely turn into a Tripod Person, then even if he executed the Outer Path One Sword, he might not be able to harm it in the slightest.

The Might of the Golden Core was just that formidable.

As Lu Chen approached the area of the Secret Silver Tripods, the corpse, which had been silent all this while... slowly spoke.

"Get... out..."

These words seemed to drain a considerable amount of the corpse’s strength, causing its body to be visibly crushed a bit lower by the Golden Tripod. In turn, the twisted flesh and blood inside the Golden Tripod... increased significantly, hastening the process of transforming into a Tripod Person.

Lu Chen looked at the corpse in silence as its information instantly appeared before his eyes.

[Pang Xiao (Golden Tripod Man / Foundation Establishment Stage Magic Corpse)]

[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Ninth Level]

[Description: Gangding Peak True Inheritance, Mastery of Body Skill and partial Mountain-moving Divine Techniques, extremely dangerous.]