"This is... the Breathing Soil?"
Su Mu approached one of the clusters of spiritual light, took a closer look, and then his face lit up with joy.
The Breathing Soil, a legendary earth-elemental treasure, can arbitrarily alter the properties of a piece of land.
It is a treasure to use for cultivating Spirit Plant and spirit medicine.
Even the major sects don't have many of these things.
Su Mu has come this far and hasn't seen anywhere that sells it; it's something that's expensive but unavailable.
Su Mu happily pocketed the ball of Breathing Soil.
By the way, how many of these treasures can I take with me?
Su Mu looked at the clusters of spiritual light floating in front of him and was somewhat troubled. He wanted to take them all.
The problem is, I don't know if it's even possible?
Just as Su Mu was having some trouble, a piece of jade in front of him caught Su Mu attention.
This piece of jade doesn't seem like a treasure of this place, since the treasures here all float in the air. This jade looks like it was placed here by someone.
Was it left behind by the monks who reached the summit before?
Su Mu stepped forward, examined the jade, and then raised an eyebrow.
This thing looks like a phonograph.
Didn't they say no one has ever reached the summit? Then who left this thing here?
Su Mu found it a bit strange. After confirming that the thing posed no threat, Su Mu gently tapped the jade stone.
A flash of inspiration struck, and then a phantom appeared in front of Su Mu.
To Su Mu's horror, the appearance of this phantom was almost identical to that of the phantom that had just troubled him on the Immortal Ascension Steps!
"Who are you?"
Su Mu took a step back warily; the illusory figure looked far too eerie.
Two identical people, one seems to have become a spirit of the artifact, and the other remains inside this communication talisman.
"My name is Gu Jingwen, and we should both be from the same place."
The illusory figure in front of me was clearly much more lifelike than the person outside, with many more expressions.
The guy outside seemed so cold and aloof.
"From the same place, what are you talking about?"
Su Mu stared coldly at the other person. This guy's from Earth? What a load of rubbish!
"The fact that you were able to come here means you are a cultivator. You are not from the Haotian Realm, but rather a cultivator from the Youtian Realm."
It's a pleasure to see you here.
Gu Jingwen looked at Su Mu with a kind smile on his face.
Upon hearing this, Su Mu felt a chill run down his spine. What was going on? This guy knew about his background!
Although it was the first time he had heard the name Youtian Realm, he knew that it must refer to the world where Yu Guyue lived.
Su Mu involuntarily took several steps back, her heart tightening.
If his identity is exposed, he will face a manhunt from the entire Haotian Realm!
"Don't be nervous. I've already said I'm also a cultivator from the Youtian Realm, so naturally I won't do anything to you."
The illusory figure in front of him waved its hand, indicating that Su Mu didn't need to be so nervous.
However, Su Mu did not relax; he remained extremely vigilant as he watched the other party.
He wasn't at the point where a few words from the other party could lower his guard; after all, his life was at stake.
"You don't mind telling me what exactly happened, do you?"
Su Mu looked at the other person and said directly.
Upon Gu Jingwen nodded slightly and then slowly recounted to Su Mu what had happened previously.
"This Immortal Ascension Steps originally belonged to the Youtian Realm, not to the Haotian Realm, but it was unfortunately taken by them."
Gu Jingwen softly, and his words shocked Su Mu.
From the moment he learned about this Immortal Ascension Steps, he understood that it had always belonged to the Haotian Realm, but it had never been mentioned in the Youtian Realm.
" The Haotian Realm has not stated that this item was stolen by the Youtian Realm."
Su Mu said something.
"We wouldn't openly talk about something we stole," Gu Jingwen chuckled, but then his expression turned strange. "As someone from the Youtian Realm, you should know about a treasure like the Immortal Ascension Steps, shouldn't you?"
"Too much time has passed; your era is already High Antiquity times," Su Mu said dismissively upon hearing this question.
In any case, he didn't hear much about High Antiquity times when he was in the Youtian Realm.
Upon hearing this Gu Jingwen fell silent, his face showing a mixture of regret and sadness.
"Then how did you come to this Haotian Realm? Has the Youtian Realm been stripped of all its Fortune?"
Upon hearing this, Su Mu briefly explained what had happened to her. As soon as she finished speaking, Gu Jingwen's expression relaxed slightly.
" In High Antiquity times, we were no match for the Haotian Realm, so many cultivators came to the Haotian Realm to seek ways to avoid having their Fortune stolen. They thought that since the Haotian Realm was so vast, as long as they could come here and hide, they would at least not be discovered."
Unexpectedly, after arriving in the Haotian Realm, the stolen Fortune of the Youtian Realm directly targeted us, attaching itself to us, causing us to be watched and relentlessly hunted down in the Haotian Realm.
Hmm? This seems a little different from what he heard before?
Previously, I heard from an old Daoist priest from the Youtian Realm that in High Antiquity times, countless cultivators wanted to attach themselves to the Haotian Realm, and were therefore deserters.
Now it seems that's not the case at all.
Upon hearing this, Su Mu's heart stirred slightly.
Gu Jingwen continued speaking, and Su Mu then understood what had happened to them afterward.
To avoid being hunted down, they tried every possible method and finally came up with the idea of reshaping their physical bodies and transferring their souls into the reconstructed bodies, so that they would no longer be attached to the Fortune of the Youtian Realm.
This was to evade pursuit.
However, this also completely destroyed their cultivation.
Some people, after some thought, sealed away some of their original Fortune on this Immortal Ascension Steps.
The Immortal Ascension Steps is a supreme treasure of heaven and earth. Although the other party plundered it, they could not control it and could only leave it here, allowing it to be used as a trial for cultivators of the Haotian Realm each time it is opened.
Since there are no cultivators in the Haotian Realm, they are unaware that the most important function of the Immortal Ascension Steps is actually for cultivators to use in their practice.
"But when I came up here, I didn't feel like I had gained any cultivation benefits?"
Upon hearing this, Su Mu immediately interrupted Gu Jingwen.
"That's because I changed the rule. Any cultivator who steps onto the Immortal Ascension Steps can easily reach the top."
Gu Jingwen explained that at that time, after much deliberation in the Haotian Realm, he secretly came to the Immortal Ascension Steps, abandoned his physical body, and took control of a portion of the Immortal Ascension Steps.
To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, cultivators on the other two paths can never reach the summit; only those who follow the path of seeking the Dao can ascend to the top.
Su Mu was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this. The other party probably hadn't expected that he, a cultivator, would almost fail to reach the summit by taking the path of chess, and was only fortunate to have finally taken the path of seeking the Dao.
According to the other party's explanation, the illusory figure outside was a portion of his divine soul used to control the Immortal Ascension Steps. However, that portion of his divine soul only followed the rule that outsiders were not allowed to ascend to the top, and did not have his own consciousness.
After hearing what the other person had said, Su Mu roughly understood the cause and effect of the matter.
The cultivators from the Youtian Realm who arrived here managed to evade their pursuit and eventually sealed away a portion of the Youtian Realm's Fortune, secretly placing it on this Immortal Ascension Steps.
Such a treasure of heaven Haotian Realm was beyond the control of cultivators in the Haotian Realm. Considering that no cultivators had ever appeared in this place, and at the cost of Gu Jingwen's death, they took control of a portion of this Immortal Ascension Steps.
When cultivators from the Youtian Realm come here in the future, they can take away the Fortune of the Youtian Realm and return it to the Youtian Realm.
It's like double insurance; as long as someone is a cultivator, they are definitely a cultivator from the Youtian Realm.
However, in Su Mu's view, this plan had many flaws.
That is to say, after so many years, there have been no cultivators in the Youtian Realm, except for the exception of Su Mu.