Misty Canyon I

He poured spiritual power into it to refine it, leaving his own aura and divine sense on the treasure. Even from far away, he would retain a faint connection with it. The mist would affect the range of that connection, but as long as he kept within a safe distance, there should not be any major problems.

After finishing the first one, Li Dalong continued crafting the second. With the experience he had gained from the first, the second was much easier, and his efficiency improved. Its grade and length increased as well: the second reached the level of a top-grade spiritual artifact and was five kilometers longer.

Next, Li Dalong crafted ten more in one go, only stopping after he had used up all the materials he had prepared. He now had twelve rope treasures, along with twelve high-grade flying swords to pin between each pair of ropes. Connected together, they reached a staggering total length of 415 kilometers.

With his preparations complete, he began replenishing the spiritual power and divine sense he had consumed crafting treasures nonstop, so he could descend into the Misty Canyon in peak condition.

Once his spiritual power and divine sense had recovered, Li Dalong used a flying sword to secure the first rope treasure to a rock beside where he stood. Then he set up an illusion array and a killing array to conceal the spot, mainly to prevent anyone from damaging it after he descended.

When everything was in place, he began making his way down along the cliff face. Although he had already scanned this initial stretch with his divine sense, he had always put staying alive first, so he remained cautious and descended rather slowly. At the same time, his divine sense kept sweeping his surroundings.

Once he had paid out the entire first rope treasure, he used a top-grade flying sword to pin another, new rope treasure to the cliff face and continued downward.

He extended the ropes downward one after another. After he had paid out the first five rope treasures, the cliff face began to change. The rock was no longer smooth like a mirror, and uneven patches began to appear.

When he finished paying out the seventh, protruding rocks resembling platforms appeared on the cliff face. There was even a relatively shallow natural cave. Apart from that, there was nothing; everywhere within the range of his divine sense was shrouded in the same dense mist.

At this point, Li Dalong truly began worrying about Zhou Xue's predicament. He had descended so far, yet he still had no idea how deep this canyon was. With her Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, after falling such a great distance through an endless sea of mist, was she even still alive?

Ah! All I can do is give it my best and leave the rest to heaven!

He continued exploring downward as he thought. Once he had paid out the ninth rope, changes finally began to appear. Soil began showing up on the small platforms that occasionally jutted from the cliff face. Although it was only a thin layer, it lifted Li Dalong's spirits. This was a new development, suggesting that he should be nearing the bottom.

As he continued downward, the protruding platforms on the cliff face grew more numerous and larger. Within the range of his divine sense, he even found a huge stone platform covering at least a thousand square meters.

When the eleventh rope was nearly paid out, scattered plants began appearing in his divine sense. But these plants were strange. They had no leaves and consisted entirely of slender strands, like the weeping willows on the Blue Planet in winter.

They were also a milky white very close to the color of the mist. The spiritual power within them was quite concentrated, though. In the outside world, they would qualify as treasures of heaven and earth.

Still, these things held little appeal for Li Dalong. He left them alone to avoid letting new complications sprout from the branch.

He continued downward. Just as the twelfth rope was nearly paid out, Li Dalong's divine sense suddenly penetrated the mist, revealing what seemed like a new world beneath it. There was gentle light, mountains, water, trees, and grassland. His divine sense could not reach the boundaries of this world.

The discovery made Li Dalong breathe a sigh of relief. The rope was almost gone; if he had made no progress, he would have had no choice but to turn back for now. Just as he was about to lose hope, he had been given a welcome surprise.

Now he faced another problem. He had used up all his rope treasures, but there was still some distance to go before he passed through the mist. How could he mark the way to ensure he could find this route when he returned?

He had no suitable materials on hand to craft more, and doing so here would be inconvenient.

What now? Then this is the only way. Li Dalong took out a flying sword and first pinned the tail end of the final rope treasure securely to the cliff face. Then he took out another flying sword, infused it with spiritual power, and drove it into the rock. Holding the sword, he continued descending, carving a deep sword mark down the cliff face as he went.

Once he had passed through the mist, he pinned the flying sword to the cliff face. Repeating his earlier trick, Li Dalong set up another array around the sword to protect it.

The array also served as a marker he had left behind, making it easier to find the spot when he returned.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. He marveled at how extraordinary the Misty Canyon truly was. This mysterious mist was astonishingly thick, and he had not discovered where it came from. Stranger still, the dense mist separated the canyon and the Demon Beast Forest into two different worlds.

Without lingering over these thoughts, Li Dalong began searching for Zhou Xue in the area around him, paying particular attention to any traces left on the ground.

He reasoned that after Zhou Xue jumped, she would have reacted as anyone normally would in a panic and controlled her flying sword as she descended. Thus, she should not have landed too far from this central point.

There was a strong possibility that Zhou Xue had exhausted her spiritual power before reaching the bottom.

After combing the area, Li Dalong finally discovered a patch of ground nearly ten li to his left where the soil differed from its surroundings. Nearby branches also showed signs of having been broken. He immediately flew over to investigate.

This should have been where Zhou Xue landed. She must have had little spiritual power left when she fell here, which was why she had broken branches and struck the ground heavily enough to churn up the soil.

Judging by the surroundings, Zhou Xue had still been all right when she came down. The scene held only these few traces she had left herself, with no signs of anything else. She had been safe at the time.

But so much time had passed since then that he did not know how she was doing now. He could only use this spot as the center and search in every direction.

This world was truly strange. The light was gentle, and although it was not very strong, he could still see ten li away. Yet he had been here for some time, and apart from trees and other plants, he had not found a single animal or insect.

The concentration of spiritual energy within the canyon rivaled that of a spirit-gathering array set up with high-grade spirit stones. With spiritual energy this dense, any animals living here would have long since become demon beasts.

Li Dalong also felt that something was deeply unsettling about the canyon. He needed to find Zhou Xue as soon as possible.

Choosing a direction, he began searching ahead within a radius of two hundred li. He changed directions several times in succession but found nothing. Apart from plants, he discovered no living creatures at all.