True floating land
"Now that we've decided to go out Path-Opening, when do we set off?" Li Jiusheng asked.
"The sooner the better. Something could happen to that Floating Land at any time. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can reap the rewards," Jin Jiuling said immediately.
"In that case, we'll depart tomorrow. I'll settle the affairs of the Shangqing Palace," Li Qingshan decided.
Li Jiusheng nodded, then asked, "How do I get to the Outer Domain?"
He had always lived in seclusion in the Shangqing Palace and rarely ventured into other places. The farthest place he had ever been was the Southern Ridge Deadly Land. Now, he was suddenly about to leave the Central Land and head to the Outer Domain, which inexplicably filled him with a sense of anticipation.
"In the Northern Land, my Jin Family has a teleportation portal that leads directly to the Outer Domain," Jin Jiuling said.
"Alright, then we'll head to the Northern Land tomorrow and take the teleportation portal to the Outer Domain." Li Jiusheng nodded.
"You two have come from afar and must be tired from your journey. I'll have my disciple take you to your guest rooms to rest. We'll meet again tomorrow," Li Qingshan said, then summoned a disciple to lead the way.
Jin Jiuling and the Jin Family Ancestor departed with their disciples.
Inside the Sect Master’s Main Hall, Li Jiusheng and Li Qingshan stood side by side.
"Junior brother, is it dangerous to Path-Opening?" Li Jiusheng asked.
"It depends on the direction and the area. There are dangerous places Outer Domain, as well as less dangerous areas. The direction the Jin Family invited us to Path-Opening shouldn't be too dangerous. With the two patriarchs overseeing things, there shouldn't be any major problems," Li Qingshan said slowly after a moment of contemplation.
"That's good." Li Jiusheng nodded.
"Shangqing Palace needs to develop, and its disciples need to cultivate quickly, both of which require a large amount of resources. In the Old Land, resources have been distributed over the past thousand years. If you want to obtain more, you have to take away other people's share. Shangqing Palace has only recently risen to prominence, so it cannot act openly. Therefore, going to the Outer Domain to Path-Opening and obtain resources is a good choice." Li Qingshan explained his reasons for agreeing.
Li Jiusheng nodded silently. He only needed to consider himself in his cultivation, but Li Qingshan had to consider the development of the entire Shangqing Palace.
The position of Sect Master is not an easy one to hold.
"Senior brother, are you still going to take that Little Fox with you?" Li Qingshan suddenly smiled and asked.
Li Jiusheng slowly shook his head. "This Path-Opening requires a swift and decisive approach; we won't be bringing the Little Fox along."
"Then you must comfort her, senior brother," Li Qingshan said with a smile.
Li Jiusheng did not answer, but simply walked out of the Sect Master's golden hall and transformed into a rainbow, disappearing into the distance.
The Scripture Repository Pavilion and Tea Room.
The Little Fox, dressed entirely in white, sat quietly on the bed, cultivating itself.
Li Jiusheng pushed open the door and entered. The Little Fox opened its eyes and asked curiously, "What does Li Qingshan want with you?"
"It's nothing, I just need to go out for a few days to take care of something," Li Jiusheng replied.
"I'll go with you," the Little Fox said without hesitation.
Li Jiusheng shook his head and refused, saying, "No need. I'll only be gone for a few days and will be back soon. You've just broken through to the Late Grandmaster Stage and need to consolidate your realm. You should cultivate diligently in this Tea Room for the next few days."
"You're going to leave me alone?" The Little Fox blinked its big eyes, looking at Li Jiusheng in shock.
"No more cutesy acts, I'm really not taking you this time." Li Jiusheng's attitude was resolute; he ignored the Little Fox's attempts to be cute and sat down to make tea.
"I was very good. I didn't cause you any trouble while you were exploring the Deadly Land." The Little Fox still wanted to try and win her over.
"That won't do either. We've been traveling day and night just to get to our destination, so it's not suitable to take you along." Li Jiusheng remained unmoved and calmly brewed tea.
"Hmph, I'm ignoring you." The Little Fox sulked and closed its eyes.
Li Jiusheng smiled slightly and contentedly began brewing tea around the stove.
A moment later, the Little Fox secretly opened its eyes, snuggled up to Li Jiusheng, and gently tugged at the hem of his Li Jiusheng with its tiny paws, softly saying, "I don't want to leave you~"
"You won't leave me; we'll only be apart for a few days," Li Jiusheng said firmly.
"..." The Little Fox hung its head dejectedly, knowing that Li Jiusheng definitely wouldn't take it with him this time, so it could only angrily move aside and silently cultivate.
The next morning, while the Little Fox was still cultivating, Li Jiusheng had already drifted away.
In front of the Sect Master’s Main Hall, Jin Jiuling, the Jin Family Ancestor, and Li Qingshan were already waiting.
When Li Jiusheng arrived, the Jin Family Ancestor activated his cultivation technique, enveloping the four of them in powerful qi, and they vanished in an instant.
The speed at which the patriarch traveled was unimaginable.
A thousand miles away, arrived in an instant.
The Jin Family Ancestor led the three of them as they soared through the sky, the land, mountains, and rivers beneath their feet shrinking countless times, leaving them behind one by one.
In half a day, having traversed at least hundreds of thousands of miles, they arrived in the Northern Land of their Old Land.
This is the Jin Family's territory.
The Northern Land are desolate, with thousands of miles of red earth, sparsely populated, and most areas filled with yellow sand and dust.
The Jin Family Ancestor did not linger and quickly traversed the Northern Land.
Despite the long journey, he knew the area well and quickly found the Jin Family's secret location.
In the center of a barren mountain, there is a valley where several earth veins converge, forming a natural Formation.
The Jin Family experts used this as a foundation, modified it, and built a Teleportation Array connecting to the Outer Domain.
Only the founder can activate this Teleportation Array.
With a deafening boom, even before the Jin Family Ancestor arrived, his primordial spirit power, spanning thousands of miles, crashed down, instantly activating the Teleportation Array. Ripples spread across the mountain valley, forming what appeared to be a mysterious and dazzling galaxy, vast and ever-rotating.
"This is the Teleportation Array that my Jin Family spent hundreds of years building, with the combined efforts of several generations of ancestors. What do you think? Not bad, right?" Jin Jiuling proudly introduced.
"Indeed, the person who built this Teleportation Array has a very high vision and extremely strong skills in Formation. By utilizing the power of heaven and earth, they have accomplished a great deal of engineering. Very impressive." Li Qingshan, as the founder, could see the ingenuity at a glance and praised them.
"I have activated the Teleportation Array. We will not linger any longer and will proceed immediately to the Outer Domain." Without hesitation, the Jin Family Ancestor streaked across the sky like a meteor, crashing directly into the center of the Teleportation Array.
Buzz!
In an instant, the Teleportation Array surged with enormous waves, various runes and Formation flashed, illuminating the entire mountain valley in a dazzling display, followed by billowing fog.
Li Jiusheng watched as the surrounding scenery gradually changed from clear to blurry, and finally to complete darkness.
However, the darkness did not last long. A gust of wind and snow swept in, and Li Jiusheng opened his eyes, seeing a world of ice and snow through the thick fog.
This place is completely different from the Old Land.
In the Old Land, the four seasons are distinct.
But the area was bitterly cold, with heavy snow falling everywhere, turning the world into a vast expanse of white.
Snow falls on earth.
Heavy snow blanketed the mountains and fields, and as far as the eye could see, the surrounding mountains and rivers were covered in ice and snow.
Li Jiusheng focused his attention on the ground beneath his feet, where he saw another Teleportation Array, shimmering with a sharp light that melted the ice and snow, revealing its Teleportation Array form.
"Let's go, we're already in the Outer Domain." Jin Jiuling took the lead and stepped out of the Teleportation Array.
Li Jiusheng followed, inhaling the biting wind and snow with each breath. Almost instantly, his mouth, nose, and face were covered in a chilling white mist.
"The temperature here is frighteningly low." Li Jiusheng circulated his internal energy, his blood and qi surging and flowing powerfully, dispelling the cold, and only then did he feel his body warm up.
"It's because this area is too cold, with the temperature remaining constant year-round, that no one lives here. There aren't even any wild animals. The glaciers stretching for miles can't generate any resources, so nobody cares about this corner of the world. Placing the Teleportation Array here is the safest option," said the Jin Family Ancestor.
"How far is this place from the Old Land?" Li Qingshan asked. It was also his first time leaving the Old Land, and everything around him was new to him.
"It's at least 500,000 li away from the Old Land," the Jin Family Ancestor replied.
Li Jiusheng clicked his tongue in amazement. A Teleportation Array had carried them across 500,000 miles in a short time; such speed was enviable.
"Where is that wasteland?" Li Jiusheng asked.
"If we continue south, it will be about a million miles. This territory does not belong to our Old Land. Our ancestor's passage is too imposing. We should keep a low profile and travel in our physical bodies to avoid causing trouble," said the Jin Family Ancestor.
The four of them braved the biting wind and snow, traversing the void with their physical bodies, avoiding any display of power to prevent attracting trouble.
The Jin Family Ancestor is in front, Li Jiusheng and Jin Jiuling are in the middle, and Li Qingshan is at the back.
The four continued onward, passing through this frigid and snowy land, heading south, passing massive mountain ranges and winding rivers.
On the way, Li Jiusheng absorbed Spiritual Qi from Outer Domain, wanting to see how it differed from his Old Land.
"Except for being a bit more volatile, the Spiritual Qi from Outer Domain is no different," Li Jiusheng murmured to himself.
He also wanted to see how the Dao that arose Outer Domain differed from that on the Old Land.
But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that there is no difference.
"Although this world is divided into Old Land outside the Outer Domain, it is essentially the same. The Great Dao originates from the same source, so there is no difference," said the Jin Family Ancestor.
Upon arriving in the Outer Domain, even the amiable and approachable Jin Family Ancestor of the Jin family became serious.
He took the lead in flying, only slightly higher than the mountains, unwilling to be high in the sky looking down on all living beings.
"There was once an ancestor who came to the Outer Domain without restraining his aura. His passage disturbed many living beings. In the end, that ancestor was ambushed, surrounded, and killed. His body was eaten clean, leaving only a skeleton, which was even taken back and used as a vessel. It was a gruesome sight." Jin Jiuling revealed a past event with a regretful tone, which also explained why the Jin Family Ancestor was so low-key.
"Are people from Outer Domain hunting down the ancestral masters of the Old Land?" Li Jiusheng asked solemnly.
"Yes, we can't let them know we come from the Old Land. Once they find out, trouble will ensue. Many powerful forces from Outer Domain want to understand the Old Land thoroughly and are constantly trying to invade Old Land. Whether it's its geographical location or the mysterious Heavenly Emperor City, it's all enticing these powerful forces from Outer Domain. If it weren't for the Forty-Nine Sea-Supporting Purple Gold Beams, the Old Land wouldn't be as relaxed as it is now," Jin Jiuling said.
"Even with such strict precautions, someone still managed to take advantage of the situation. Wasn't the beginning of the Southern Ridge Deadly Land caused by Outer Domain?" the Jin Family Ancestor said.
Suddenly, both the Jin Family Ancestor and Li Qingshan became serious. Their patriarchal auras covered the auras of Li Jiusheng and Jin Jiuling, and they descended on a mountaintop.
"What happened?" Jin Jiuling asked immediately.
"A powerful patriarch is approaching; it is not advisable to engage in conflict," the Jin Family Ancestor said solemnly.
Li Jiusheng frowned and watched silently.
In the distance, a withered and emaciated humanoid figure flew in. He was hunched over, with a head full of sparse white hair and an extremely pale face, like a corpse that had been dead for several days. There was no vitality in his body, except for a brilliant light emanating from between his eyebrows, where a huge primordial spirit with black blood flowing through its body was exuding a terrifying aura.
The patriarch swept past, his aura undisguised and terrifying. Wherever he passed, the void shattered, and the sun and moon lost their light, as if he were a black hole absorbing all the surrounding light sources. Only his withered and wrinkled brow emitted a terrifying Heavenly Light, like a long night lamp guiding his way.
"This is an old, decaying, and dead ancestor," the Jin Family Ancestor said solemnly, gazing at him silently.
The old, decaying, and dead patriarch passed through this area without noticing them, and continued on his way.
Li Jiusheng stared at his departing figure and was shocked to discover that the ancestor's physical body had already decayed, and the back of his head had been hollowed out, leaving no brain, only a decaying and deteriorating massive primordial spirit oozing thick black blood.
"He is dead, his physical body has decayed, but his primordial spirit seems unwilling to disperse, stubbornly residing in his former body. But how could a dead body bear such immense Primordial Spirit Power?" Li Qingshan said softly. He had also seen the patriarch's gruesome state and immediately guessed the reason.
"Judging from his aura, he was definitely a master who had gone very far within the Ancestor Realm. But unfortunately, he has completely decayed by now. It's fortunate that we weren't discovered just now, otherwise, facing an ancestral master who has been dead for who knows how long and is only left with obsessions, we would have had to use many methods." The Jin Family Ancestor said with relief.
"It's truly pitiful that such a powerful patriarch has fallen to such a state," Jin Jiuling sighed.
"Death is death. Having only obsessions without the means to achieve them, what chance do you have? You'll only become neither human nor ghost, wandering aimlessly through this world. Know that lifespan is predetermined, and cannot be forced. Don't be fooled by his current imposing aura; his primordial spirit is already oozing black blood, indicating that both his physical body and primordial spirit are decaying. Before long, he will drop by one realm at a time. When all his spiritual matter dissipates into the world, that will be the end of his life. With his physical body and primordial spirit completely destroyed, even the legendary supreme beings cannot reverse his fate. It's as if he has no afterlife," Li Qingshan said.
"Pay close attention, everyone. We're getting closer to that wasteland, and the strange things we might encounter are just the beginning," the Jin Family Ancestor said solemnly.
Only after the decaying ancestor had completely disappeared from sight did the group resume their journey.
As before, they flew at low altitude, concealing their momentum, and raced for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Finally, they saw the Floating Land.
"This... really is a wasteland." Li Jiusheng said in surprise upon seeing it.
Having traveled millions of miles to arrive here, what comes into view is a colossal object, suspended between heaven and earth.
It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, all of which are obscured by this behemoth.
"What a peculiar place! A continent is suspended in the sky. Is this really formed naturally?" Li Qingshan was also quite surprised and wanted to find out why this continent was suspended in the sky.
At first glance, there's no support at all.