A Not Small Price

Wang Li had encountered many ruthless individuals, but very few who were as harsh on themselves as this one.

Fortunately, from what he knew, entering from the western and southern edges of the White Bone Continent was indeed the best choice.

"Alright."

The woman in the red garment with gold speckles seemed to harbor no suspicion about He Lingxiu's answer. She looked kindly at the six cultivators and said, "Then, we'll proceed as you suggested."

The six cultivators showed no displeasure. They all nodded slightly to the woman as a gesture of respect. Then, five of them calmly stepped into the activated teleportation array and vanished.

The remaining cultivator adjusted the teleportation array. In just a few dozen breaths, he reactivated it, nodded to the woman, and said, "It's ready."

The woman nodded. She remained still, while the tall, thin male cultivator who had been closely following her stepped into the teleportation array first.

A breath later, the woman seemed to finally relax. She said to He Lingxiu, Wang Li, and the others, "You all go ahead."

Wang Li and He Lingxiu remained silent, their movements unhurried.

Both were sharp enough to realize that the woman's actions confirmed she and the tall, thin male cultivator shared some special cultivation method or artifact that allowed them to transmit information across an astonishing distance.

It was only after the tall, thin male cultivator had teleported first and confirmed the destination was safe that she felt completely at ease letting everyone else go.

For Wang Li and He Lingxiu, having companions who were so cautious was naturally a good thing.

Amidst flashes of profound light, Wang Li, He Lingxiu, three young cultivators, and the woman in the red garment with gold speckles all appeared near the tall, thin male cultivator who had been the first to use the teleportation array.

A unique, indescribable desolate aura, characteristic of the chaotic continent, instantly enveloped them.

This aura stemmed from the sparse population and the thin spiritual energy, so different from continents like the Lesser Jade Continent or the Evil Water Continent.

But more than that, it was the presence of greater dangers mixed within the thin heaven and earth spiritual energy.

For instance, the demonic aura emanating from exotic beasts and plants, and the stench of decay from powerful demonic creatures that had died.

These scents, combined with the sky-obscuring dense forests and the ubiquitous decaying bones within them, clearly reminded the cultivators present that they had left the domain of cultivators and entered a paradise for demonic beasts, a hiding place for rogue cultivators, and the territory of evil sects. In the Chaos Lands, where Dao Precepts held no sway, slaughter and death were commonplace.

Wang Li's expression was no different than before he entered the teleportation array.

He swiftly scanned the surrounding dense forest and also observed the expressions of everyone around him.

Including He Lingxiu, all the cultivators beside him appeared remarkably calm.

He believed half of He Lingxiu's words; he was skeptical about her claim of never having been to the White Bone Continent.

As for the people around him, even if they hadn't been to the White Bone Continent before, they had likely traveled within the chaotic continent.

Before entering, Wang Li had maintained a taciturn demeanor in front of these people, but now he spoke first.

He looked directly at the woman who had arrived last via the teleportation array and asked, "Senior, are you certain you wish to accompany us all the way into the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain?"

Faced with his question, the seemingly amiable woman showed no surprise. She merely replied gently, "As long as it helps save those three, my meager cultivation is of no consequence."

"Hmm, alright." Wang Li was slightly taken aback but said nothing more.

He didn't forget to glance at the expressions of the surrounding cultivators.

He Lingxiu's expression remained unchanged.

The tall, thin middle-aged male cultivator looked at him intently. The other three young cultivators, apart from a slight hint of confusion, showed no particular change in their expressions.

This suggested that these three young cultivators might not yet know that the woman was a Golden Core cultivator.

In the cultivation continents governed by the Three Sages' Dao Precepts, higher cultivation offered greater advantages. However, this was not necessarily the case in the chaotic continent.

Because in the chaotic continent, a cultivator's greatest enemy was often not another cultivator.

Take the White Bone Continent as an example. According to accurate records in the Cultivation World, the White Bone Continent was originally a marshland spiritual ground.

A marshland spiritual ground in the Cultivation World is a swamp with an astonishing amount of spiritual energy.

Before the formation of the White Bone Continent, this marshland possessed a naturally formed spiritual vein. This spiritual vein not only released an immense amount of spiritual energy normally but also, at certain times, erupted like a fountain, spewing out spiritual energy dozens of times the usual amount.

The extremely dense spiritual energy could even form astonishing spiritual energy rain within a radius of several miles.

Each formation of this spiritual energy rain would attract a large number of demonic beasts and quite a few cultivators, naturally leading to fierce battles.

After hundreds of years, when that spiritual vein finally disappeared, the marshland was piled high with corpses. The remains of an astonishing number of demonic beasts and cultivators accumulated there. Coupled with the topographical changes caused by the battles, a large amount of water vapor in the marshland dissipated, eventually transforming it into a continent covered in dense forests.

Even so, most areas of this continent were still composed of countless accumulated bones, hence its name, the White Bone Continent.

After the spiritual meridians vanished and the spiritual energy was cut off, many carrion-eating demonic beasts and cultivators seeking materials for refining artifacts continued to arrive. The sustained battles and further deaths brought about more complex vital energy. Without sufficient heaven and earth spiritual energy to dilute it, the White Bone Continent naturally developed numerous spiritual poisons.

Some spiritual poisons were not a threat to high-level cultivators. High-level cultivators could easily expel invading spiritual poisons through True Essence cleansing or special purification methods. However, some spiritual poisons posed a greater danger to high-level cultivators.

The Vile Barrier Spiritual Poison in the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain of the White Bone Continent posed no harm to cultivators below the Fourth Level of Foundation Establishment. However, for cultivators above the Fourth Level of Foundation Establishment, it was an incurable potent poison.

Any cultivator above the Fourth Level of Foundation Establishment who entered the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain and became infected by this spiritual poison would find their spiritual sense instantly cut off from their True Essence, rendering them unable to mobilize their True Essence. Subsequently, their True Essence would rapidly mutate under the effect of this spiritual poison.

This mutation would kill these poisoned cultivators in a very short period.

Besides this Vile Barrier Spiritual Poison, there were two other types of demonic beasts in the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain that were extremely disadvantageous to high-level cultivators.

One type of demonic beast was called the White Bone Demon. They were formed from cultivators who had perished on the White Bone Continent. The cultivation of these White Bone Demons ranged from the Third Level of Foundation Establishment to the Fourth Level of Golden Core. They were unaffected by spiritual poison, and the more intense the spiritual energy fluctuations from a cultivator, the more they were attracted.

Another type of demonic beast was the Nether Bone Worm. These were low-level demonic insects whose attack power was equivalent to that of cultivators at the Second or Third Level of Qi Refining. However, in the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain, their numbers were astonishingly large.

These Nether Bone Worms were particularly sensitive to the Core Qi of Golden Core cultivators and the Nascent Soul aura of Nascent Soul cultivators. As soon as Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivators entered the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain, swarms of Nether Bone Worms would appear.

Therefore, for cultivators with even a slight understanding of the White Bone Continent and the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain, the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain was a death trap that cultivators above the Fourth Level of Foundation Establishment could not set foot in.

For a Golden Core cultivator to enter such an area, there was only one possibility: they had to destroy their own cultivation beforehand, suppressing their true power to below the Fourth Level of Foundation Establishment.

The woman's earlier words, "As long as I can save those three, my meager cultivation is nothing," served as a definite answer to Wang Li.

She was certainly going to destroy her cultivation to enter the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain.

For a cultivator at the Second Level of Golden Core to destroy their cultivation and suppress it to below the Fourth Level of Foundation Establishment, they would still undoubtedly be much stronger than the vast majority of cultivators at the Third Level of Foundation Establishment.

For her personally, the price to enter the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain was rather steep.

However, for the safety of the entire Sect, as long as the matter could be accomplished, such a sacrifice would be worthwhile.

Wang Li understood this well. After all, for the benefit of their Sect, many cultivators wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice their lives, let alone their cultivation.