The two walked out of the hall and soared into the sky, with several people following close behind.
The one leading them was an acquaintance of Xiang Yun's.
"Greetings, Young Hall Master!"
Ji Yanyun and the others bowed to Xiang Yun. At the Great Wilderness Dao Field, Xiang Yun had effortlessly suppressed Ji Yanyun while at the half-step Nirvana stage, leaving them utterly convinced.
"Mm." Xiang Yun nodded and said, "Let's go."
The group immediately turned into streaks of rainbow light and shot toward the enormous mountain range in the distance.
They were not the only ones.
Figures were also arriving from every direction, all bound for the Geomagnetic Mountain Range.
Without exception, their presences were all at the Nirvana Realm.
The Geomagnetic Mountain Range was not far from Great Desolation City. In fact, it could be seen from the city itself.
The mountain range was immense, and a faint, peculiar force made the circulation of Origin Energy within the body somewhat sluggish.
In a fight, even that slight sluggishness would affect one's combat strength.
But with this little bit of geomagnetic force,
it had been unable to affect Xiang Yun even before, let alone after his mutation.
Instead, all this geomagnetic force, which even Nirvana Realm experts found troublesome, was devoured by the black hole in Xiang Yun's dantian and turned into nourishment for him.
Ji Yanyun explained from the side, "The deeper you go, the denser the geomagnetic force becomes.
"And the longer you stay, the greater its effect. Not only does your Origin Energy slow down, but your body also becomes extremely heavy.
"Even a Nirvana Realm expert's strength will drop by at least twenty percent after staying too long.
"There are also demonic beasts inside. They should be much like those in the Primordial Hall's Primordial Mountain Range, relying mainly on their physical bodies."
"A single careless moment, and even a Nirvana Realm expert could die in there, so please be careful, Young Hall Master."
Xiang Yun looked around.
He felt the World Tree seedling inside him constantly absorbing and releasing geomagnetic force. It seemed the World Tree was quite fond of it.
At Ji Yanyun's warning,
Xiang Yun nodded noncommittally.
If it was like the Primordial Mountain Range, then it would be simple.
"Don't worry."
The group descended straight into the mountains. In places where the geomagnetic force was dense, flying consumed more and more strength, so they might as well rely on their bodies to travel on foot. It might even be faster.
There seemed to be no need for a guide, either. Many figures were already heading deeper in with practiced ease.
"Roar!"
Xiang Yun and his two companions likewise turned into three afterimages and headed deeper in. Just then,
a roar rang out. A creature several dozen zhang long stood there, shaped like a tiger but covered in scales along its back, with a savage appearance. Its tail was covered in barbs, and a casual sweep sent a terrifying sound tearing through the air.
"It's a mutated Heavenly Demon Tiger, Young Hall Master..." Ji Yanyun was about to warn him to be careful and let them handle it when he saw a figure dart forward.
A fist shot out!
"Boom!"
An explosion rang out like a thunderclap, and an overwhelmingly tyrannical force poured down. The Ji Family members heard only a ringing in their ears.
Then they saw the Heavenly Demon Tiger before them burst apart with a bang, turning into a bloody mist.
The next moment,
a terrifying suction suddenly emerged around Xiang Yun, devouring all the bloody mist.
"Uh, what were you about to say?"
Xiang Yun looked at Ji Yanyun, who was somewhat embarrassed and hurriedly said, "Nothing. I was just making a fuss over nothing!"
But inwardly, he was secretly shocked. If he had fought it, he would have needed at least dozens of grueling exchanges. The Heavenly Demon Tiger's physical strength had already reached the Nirvana Realm.
Its toughness was no weaker than a Nirvana Golden Body.
Yet Xiang Yun had smashed it apart with a single punch?
He knew that breaking through to the Nirvana Realm would certainly bring about a transformation, but wasn't Xiang Yun's transformation a little too outrageous?
In other words,
if Xiang Yun wanted to, he could kill him with one punch now, and only two or three days had passed.
The gap was far too enormous!
The next stretch of the journey made Ji Shan, Ji Yanyun, and the others question their lives even more.
Compared with them, who had been to the Geomagnetic Mountain Range before, Xiang Yun seemed more like a local, moving like a fish in water.
Ji Yanyun noticed that whether Xiang Yun was walking or fighting, he had his own techniques.
Some of his particular strides and methods of exerting force saved an extraordinary amount of effort.
Ji Shan asked in puzzlement, "Young Hall Master, you seem very familiar with this..."
"This is nothing. Once you join the Primordial Hall, you'll understand. Every year, the Primordial Hall's disciples have to go into the Primordial Mountain Range and fight."
"The restrictions on the body there are much greater than here. Plenty of disciples die in every trial."
In a few simple words, Xiang Yun described an exceptionally brutal trial within the Primordial Hall.
"In particular, anyone who wants to become a personal disciple of the Primordial Hall must enter the Primordial Mountain Range a certain number of times and also bring back a certain number of vicious beast corpses."
Xiang Yun and his two companions moved quickly. The figures around them grew increasingly dense, causing the vicious beasts in the area to become scarce, much to Xiang Yun's regret.
The power within these vicious beasts was abundant, no less than that of a thousand Nirvana Pills.
A discussion among some Nirvana Realm experts traveling together made Xiang Yun raise an eyebrow slightly.
"I heard the Dao Sect sent people this time too. I think it's those two sisters from the Dao Sect."
"That's normal. The Dao Sect sends people here from time to time. Their cultivation techniques are special."
"Don't worry. The Dao Sect usually only takes one spot, and its people are quite reasonable."
The Dao Sect?
Xiang Yun hadn't expected even the Dao Sect to send people this time. Was it for the Great Desolation Body or the Earth Emperor Scripture?
Those were the only two things Xiang Yun could think of that were connected to geomagnetic force.
He wondered whether Ying Xiaoxiao and Ying Huanhuan had come. Thinking of the Dao Sect's pair of sisters, he had only met them twice.
At both sect exchanges, his opponent had been Ying Xiaoxiao.
Naturally, he had suppressed her outright.
Afterward, he had proposed a wager: if he could defeat every Dao Sect disciple of his generation, would the Dao Sect give him a chance to comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture?
Unsurprisingly, he had been refused.
What kind of thing would it be to let a disciple of another sect comprehend their own sect's ultimate art?
After that, the Primordial Hall had stopped seeking exchanges with the Dao Sect.
Wasn't visiting the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace easier on the eyes?
Ji Shan had heard it too and said regretfully, "Looks like there'll be one less spot again."
That was the Dao Sect, after all.
"You're practically the host here. Don't you have any privileges?"
Xiang Yun looked at Ji Shan and asked in puzzlement.
The Geomagnetic Mountain Range was under the Great Desolate Dynasty's direct administration. As a member of its direct line, didn't Ji Shan even have a spot?
Ji Shan gave a wry laugh. "Everyone who comes is at the Nirvana Realm, and their standing in the Great Desolate Dynasty isn't low either."
"If our Ji Family tried to claim all the spots, we'd provoke everyone's anger. Young Hall Master, you also know how the sects treat dynasties like ours..."
Xiang Yun nodded slightly. Indeed, sects did place somewhat more importance on their direct-line dynasties, but not all that much.
Sects didn't care which family governed a dynasty. They had only one demand: obedience to the sect's rule.
Besides, the families that could remain standing in these dynasties all had some connection to a super sect, more or less.
Perhaps their backers were even fellow disciples.
The palm and the back of the hand were both flesh.
Once the current ruler of a dynasty provoked everyone's anger, the sect would at most deliver a relatively fair judgment rather than favor either side.
"It doesn't matter. You'll have your spots."
Xiang Yun spoke as though it were only natural. There were eight spots anyway, so what was wrong with his side taking three?
Wouldn't they still have five?
"We're here!"
Boom!
A rumble rang out.
A bolt of lightning flashed past, its silver light shining on Xiang Yun's body. He looked into the distance, where an enormous valley lay.
The valley was like a giant basin filled with silver liquid, and above it, banks of dark clouds bombarded the liquid below without restraint.
Boom!
Under the lightning's bombardment, the liquid immediately surged into waves.