This was also one of the reasons he felt compelled to brave the danger and explore the depths.
Having leaped onto a tree, Shi Qingyun bent his knees slightly, then straightened them in an instant, launching himself from the enormous tree into midair before controlling his rapid descent.
His feet slammed onto a huge boulder, and cracks rapidly spread across its surface. Using the rebound, he shot skyward.
He reached the treetops in a single leap and lightly planted his right foot on a protruding branch.
The branch bent slightly beneath his foot, then swiftly sprang straight again.
Balanced on that branch with one foot, Shi Qingyun shot into the sky like an arrow released from its bow.
Like a sharp sword, he tore through the dense, canopy-like crown overhead at tremendous speed.
The moment he emerged, an enormous rift came into Shi Qingyun's view.
The area surrounding the great rift was utterly barren, without a hint of green to adorn it. The howl of wind within the chasm reached his ears.
On either side of the great rift, enormous stone pillars stood like guards protecting it.
A sense of sacred majesty lingered in Shi Qingyun's heart.
Shi Qingyun repeatedly stepped across the enormous rocks, approaching the rift swiftly like a wisp of smoke, flickering between illusion and reality.
Before long, he landed on the ground from a boulder and swiftly withdrew the Yin-Yang Cave Heavens behind him into his body.
He raised his hands before his chest, crossed them, then pulled them apart. The two Black-and-White Rune Swords that had shattered earlier appeared in his hands.
Holding the Rune Sword, he stared unblinkingly at the rift before him.
Shi Qingyun slowly walked to the edge of the rift. The moment he approached, a fierce, chilling wind struck him head-on.
The gale whipped Shi Qingyun's hair into a frenzy and sent his robes snapping, while streams of cold air brushed against his skin.
He distinctly felt waves of icy cold burrowing through his pores and instantly coursing through every limb and bone. Only when a golden glow appeared over his body did he feel somewhat better.
All manner of eerie howls rang in his ears, like agonized shrieks produced by fierce winds striking the hard stone walls.
Despite the relentless howling winds within the rift, its walls remained smooth as mirrors.
He had no idea how long this rift had existed. Its abrupt presence deep within the Starfall Mountain Range was extremely strange.
Moreover, the walls were so straight and smooth that the rift looked as though someone had cleaved it open with a single sword strike.
Suddenly, Shi Qingyun froze as he stood examining the rift from its edge.
Ripples rose from the bottom of the rift, passing straight through the gale and instantly spreading outward. A strange sound accompanied them.
Despite the howling wind in his ears, that sound seemed to ring directly in his heart, crystal clear.
When the ripples passed through his body, he felt his heartbeat involuntarily quicken, as though those fluctuations were resonating in time with it.
A sacred aura mingled within them, and for an instant, Shi Qingyun seemed to see again the figure he had glimpsed at the cave entrance.
Shi Qingyun's blood stirred restlessly. Something at the bottom of the rift was drawing him toward it. Even the Dao Diagram in his mind trembled for a moment, shedding specks of chaos-colored light.
Yet he also detected a trace of sorrowful lament in that strange sound.
Putting all of this aside, Shi Qingyun wanted to follow his instincts and leap down to investigate the bottom.
But just as he was about to jump, a series of explosions rang out in the distance, accompanied by the sounds of mountain rocks collapsing and shattering.
Shi Qingyun stamped hard on the ground, instantly leaving a web of cracks beneath him as he changed direction.
Surging divine power flowed through his body into his feet, and he repeatedly stepped against an enormous stone pillar with his feet wrapped in that power.
Before long, he reached the top of the pillar.
Although the gale roared incessantly below, thick clouds and mist drifted around the pillar's summit. At a glance, everything was a vast expanse of white.
The thick mist concealed Shi Qingyun, leaving his figure only faintly visible within it.
He channeled divine power into his eyes and peered through the mist. On the elevated platform formed by the enormous stone pillars amid the clouds, people were fighting, and dazzling attacks exploded deep within the mist.
Splashes of color stained the clouds. The battle seemed to unfold on a canvas, their attacks becoming the scenery painted upon it.
With a single glance, Shi Qingyun spotted Shi Yi, who was currently surrounded. His eyes were far too distinctive, and divine light blazed from them.
Though many people surrounded him, there was not the slightest hint of panic on his face.
Every movement allowed him to evade his enemies' attacks effortlessly, as though he knew exactly how they would strike.
Precious Techniques and Dao arts whistled through the air, grazing past his ears and missing his head by the narrowest margin.
His attackers noticed this as well. One youth, beating a pair of white wings on his back, exchanged a glance with another winged youth beside him.
They immediately broke away from the battle and flew toward Shi Qingyun, intending to enter the bottom of the rift and seize the treasure first.
But in the next instant, Shi Yi's figure flickered several times, and he appeared beside one of the youths who had left the battlefield.
He swiftly raised a foot and stomped at the youth, illusory scales appearing across his foot.
His stomp sent ripples through the air and scattered the surrounding mist, opening a vast clearing within the clouds.
The youth was instantly hurled backward, smashing through a stone pillar, which collapsed with a rumble as he struck the ground.
Shi Yi tried to seize the opportunity to rush toward the bottom of the rift, but the people around him swiftly closed in again, wielding all manner of Treasure Artifacts to hold him back.
Runes churned within his Double Pupils, and their power seemed ready to erupt, but he quickly suppressed it.
Having assessed the situation, Shi Qingyun lingered no longer. He had no interest in getting involved in their grievances.
While no one was watching him, he leaped from the enormous rock and plunged toward the bottom of the rift.
Such chaos was perfect for fishing in troubled waters.
Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your support.
Chapter 51: The Ninth-Rank Dao Platform
Shi Qingyun fell like a meteor, plunging at tremendous speed against the howling gale.
Light blazed from Shi Qingyun's body as the fierce winds within the rift struck him like blades of cutting energy.
They collided with the golden light covering him, instantly producing a metallic clang, clang.
The farther he descended, the fiercer the winds became. Divine power surged swiftly through his body, and runes appeared across his skin, barely holding them back.
As he continued falling, he discovered that the gale had suddenly vanished.
Everything around him had fallen silent, without the slightest howl of wind. He guessed that the wind existed only in the middle of the rift, presumably to prevent anyone from approaching its bottom.
Without dwelling on it further, Shi Qingyun controlled his body and swiftly descended toward the bottom.
Just as Shi Qingyun was about to slam into the ground, runes appeared beneath his feet. With a boom, he instantly halted his descent.
The waves of air stirred up around him surged outward, scattering the white mist rising from the bottom of the rift.
Hovering in midair, Shi Qingyun took a single step and appeared over a patch of level ground.
The moment his feet touched down, wisps of white mist wound around his legs, radiating a chill.
Shi Qingyun's body instantly stiffened upon touching the white mist.
At the same time, masses of white mist in the distance flowed toward him as though they possessed awareness.
Ice began forming wherever the white mist touched Shi Qingyun, spreading at an alarming speed.
He was just about to summon his divine power to resist it when he discovered that even his divine power and blood seemed on the verge of freezing.
Startled by this, Shi Qingyun hurriedly manifested his Yin-Yang Cave Heavens, while a mysterious aura radiated from his body.
Black and white streams of qi spilled from his Cave Heavens and coiled around his body. Yin-Yang Qi also suffused his blood, absorbing the bone-piercing chill.
Under the effects of his Yin-Yang Cave Heavens and Yin-Yang Dao Body, the ice covering him swiftly dissipated, falling to the ground in fragments.
Shi Qingyun immediately used the Eight Directions Step to leave that spot, not daring to linger. Two Cave Heavens hung behind him like twin lamps.
They shone brilliantly in the dim depths, and he began running through the white mist with his Yin-Yang Cave Heavens behind him.
He swiftly approached the source of the fluctuations. Wisps of white mist occasionally coiled toward him along the way, but fortunately, his Lunar Cave Heaven always devoured them as they drew near.
Shi Qingyun's body became a sharp sword, cleaving the white mist that filled the bottom of the rift in two.
A perfectly straight path appeared along the bottom, though it lasted only a short while before the white mist rising from underground filled it again.
Unbeknownst to him, after he passed, countless intricate runes appeared on the smooth walls of the rift, spreading in the direction he had taken.
Feeling the increasingly powerful pressure filling the air, Shi Qingyun knew his destination was close. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; he was finally almost there.
After another short stretch of running, the pressure weighing on him suddenly intensified, forcing Shi Qingyun to slow his steps.
Holding the Black-and-White Rune Sword, he began advancing one step at a time.
Sure enough, before he had gone much farther, an immense platform appeared before Shi Qingyun, almost blocking the entire bottom of the rift.
Bracing himself against the pressure, Shi Qingyun quickened his pace and reached the foot of the platform to examine it up close.
The platform before him had nine tiers, each inscribed with all manner of complex and profound runes.
Within those runes, Shi Qingyun sensed a power identical to the pressure weighing on him. It must have been left behind by whoever had built the platform.
The thought startled him. Nothing more than a trace of aura, worn away by the passage of years, was already exerting such immense pressure on him.
That person's cultivation realm was beyond anything the present Shi Qingyun could imagine.
Using the Eight Directions Step, Shi Qingyun circled the platform and discovered an enormous, peculiar groove on each of its four sides, though he had no idea what they were for.
Standing before the lowest tier of the Dao Platform, he felt that every rune upon it seemed to contain some mysterious power.
Viewed from such close range, the runes seemed to come alive, swimming across the Dao Platform as countless insights into cultivation poured into his mind.
The Dao Diagram in his mind vibrated wildly, faintly threatening to burst out of his body. A single glance made him feel as though he were facing the Great Dao itself.
Laws and order appeared so clearly before him that he could swiftly advance his attainment simply by cultivating here for a while.
"The Dao essence within these runes is so rich!"
"Unfortunately, this isn't the path I want to walk."
Looking at the towering platform, Shi Qingyun shook his head in awe and slight regret. If he could cultivate beneath it, who knew how quickly he could comprehend the Dao?
Although he could not follow the Dao of the person who had left these runes, they would still offer him a great deal of guidance.
But it was only a passing thought. How could he possibly move such an enormous platform? Besides, the densely engraved runes made him wary of tampering with it.
Shi Qingyun stopped looking at the runes. His most pressing task now was to find the treasure here.
Before you continue