Immortal Sequence

Shu Sheng found a spot for himself and sat cross-legged in meditation. There was still a month before the Land of Sequences opened, and he needed to use that month to raise his cultivation further.

Within the Land of Sequences, the higher one's cultivation, the greater the benefits one could obtain.

Having finally waited until someone who might know about the barrier land arrived, Ye Xuan naturally would not let the opportunity slip. Seeing that Shu Sheng had no intention of speaking, he took the initiative to approach.

"Fellow Daoist, do you know what this place is?"

Ye Xuan did not get too close, stopping ten zhang away from Shu Sheng.

Shu Sheng gave Ye Xuan a surprised look. It seemed his deduction had been correct: Ye Xuan was merely an ordinary person who had stumbled into dog-shit luck, happened to be teleported here, and noticed something unusual about the Land of Sequences.

A genius from some backwater?

Shu Sheng laughed inwardly, with no intention of paying Ye Xuan any attention.

Only the powerful sects of the Yellow Origin Realm were qualified to know about the Land of Sequences. Even if other sects were qualified to enter the Spirit Medicine Realm, they did not know about the Land of Sequences.

Thus, Shu Sheng merely cast Ye Xuan an indifferent glance without speaking, then closed his eyes to rest his mind.

Is my cultivation too low?

Ye Xuan could not quite figure out what Shu Sheng meant. Seeing that the soft approach was not working, he prepared to try the hard way. Since the world's origin had led him here, he could not possibly leave empty-handed.

"Hmph!"

Sensing Ye Xuan step within ten zhang of him, Shu Sheng snorted coldly, raised the brush in his hand, and swiftly wrote the character for "retreat" in the air.

The character swelled in the wind, sweeping up a gale as it pressed toward Ye Xuan. There was little offensive power behind it; it seemed he merely wanted to drive Ye Xuan away.

Thus, Ye Xuan merely raised his hand to break the character, then stood where he was and continued questioning Shu Sheng.

"There's no need for this, Fellow Daoist. I only want to know what this place is."

Seeing Ye Xuan easily unravel his attack, Shu Sheng's gaze sharpened. He had no intention of answering Ye Xuan's question; instead, he grew interested in Ye Xuan's strength.

He knew that although his previous strike had little destructive power, it could still push a foundation establishment middle stage cultivator twenty zhang away. Yet Ye Xuan had casually neutralized his attack with only early foundation establishment cultivation, which piqued Shu Sheng's interest.

Those who could enter the Spirit Medicine Realm were all prodigies of the Yellow Origin Realm, and the competitive spirit burned even stronger between prodigies.

Shu Sheng raised his brush again and wrote the character for "depart" in the air. At once, fierce winds rose, forming a whirlwind that swept toward Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan also saw Shu Sheng's desire to prove himself stronger, so he simply fell silent for the moment, neutralizing Shu Sheng's attacks one by one before asking his questions afterward.

Having his successive attacks neutralized only strengthened Shu Sheng's desire to win. For the first time, he rose from the ground and began gradually increasing the power of his attacks.

Forty percent, fifty percent, seventy percent, ninety percent, one hundred percent!

As Shu Sheng kept increasing the power of his attacks, his expression grew uglier.

He discovered that no matter how much strength he used, Ye Xuan could easily neutralize it.

"Since you possess such strength, Fellow Daoist, why pretend to be an early-stage cultivator?"

Shu Sheng asked unhappily. He felt that Ye Xuan was making sport of him, clearly possessing great strength yet pretending to be weak.

He had heard that many cultivators had such peculiar habits, pretending to be pigs to eat tigers for some sort of thrill. He had not expected to encounter one himself this time.

Ye Xuan rubbed his nose. What he had just displayed was only early foundation establishment strength, but his many enhancements made it seem to Shu Sheng that he was concealing his cultivation.

It seems foundation establishment late stage cultivation isn't uncommon in the Spirit Medicine Realm.

Ye Xuan thought to himself, then quietly raised his cultivation to the foundation establishment late stage.

Sensing the change in Ye Xuan's strength, Shu Sheng nodded. Sure enough, it was not that he was too weak, but that his opponent was also very strong.

This softened Shu Sheng's expression somewhat, though he still did not look kindly upon Ye Xuan.

"Could you answer my earlier question, Fellow Daoist?"

Seeing Shu Sheng's expression improve, Ye Xuan took the opportunity to ask.

"I have nothing to tell you!"

Shu Sheng said bluntly.

"It's not that I won't tell you, but that your sect's standing is too low. Since your sect doesn't even have the strength to learn about this place, I can't tell you."

In some powerful regions, the Land of Sequences was no secret. Almost every sect of any standing knew about it, but some sects could obtain the right to enter the Land of Sequences, as in Shu Sheng's case, while others merely knew about it and had no right to enter.

As for Ye Xuan, in Shu Sheng's eyes, he probably came from an even lower-ranked region. He did not even know about the Land of Sequences and had merely stumbled here by accident.

Still, to come from a low-ranked region and break through to the foundation establishment late stage so quickly, he seems to be a prodigy too. It's just a shame his sect's foundations are rather lacking. His future achievements won't amount to much.

Shu Sheng looked Ye Xuan over, a trace of regret showing in his eyes. But that regret vanished in a flash. The world had no shortage of buried talents; Ye Xuan was merely one more.

"I wonder if this would persuade you to tell me?"

Ye Xuan took out his Waning Moon Sword and offered it. With Rift the Void, he no longer had any use for Waning Moon, so it was just right for bribing Shu Sheng in exchange for some information.

The thought of obtaining information through force flashed through Ye Xuan's mind. He had no way to determine whether the other party was telling the truth or lying. It would be disastrous if he extracted false information.

"Tch!"

Shu Sheng snorted coldly and turned his head away. What did Ye Xuan take him for, thinking a single spirit artifact could buy him off? As a prodigy disciple of the Literary Dao Sect, he would have long since equipped himself with law treasures from head to toe if the Spirit Medicine Realm had not forbidden bringing them in. How could a mere spirit artifact catch his eye?

"Then what about this?"

Ye Xuan searched through his belongings, only to discover that he had nothing presentable to offer. In the end, he took out a Flawless Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill.

"Oh? A Flawless Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill? You actually have something this good."

Shu Sheng looked at the Flawless Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill in Ye Xuan's hand and spoke in surprise. This raised his estimation of Ye Xuan's sect somewhat.

A Flawless Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill was worth at least a million spirit stones. That Ye Xuan would simply offer it in exchange for information showed how wealthy he was.

Even in the Literary Dao Sect, a Flawless Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill would not be casually given to a Qi refinement or foundation establishment disciple. They had to make contributions to the sect to exchange for one.

"In that case, I'll tell you about it. Remember, you mustn't spread this information."

Shu Sheng swept a glance around and accepted the Flawless Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill with a flick of his sleeve. Although he certainly would not need the pill, he could still sell it for money. At least a million low-grade spirit stones would be enough for him to buy a decent law treasure.

"This is the Land of Sequences. Only prodigy disciples who bear an immortal sequence may enter. The Land of Sequences opens once every ten years, and the various sects send their disciples in a year in advance. The next opening is one month from now."

"Immortal sequence?"