Void Penetration

Fang Yu returned to his cave abode and shut the entrance. He took out a Metal Fire Stone and fitted it into the restriction's control hub beside the door, activating it, then went into the meditation chamber and sat down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes, and his Divine Thought sank into his sea of consciousness.

A pearl radiating a milky-white halo was slowly revolving there.

This pearl was called the Yuanchen Pearl. It had appeared after he broke through the "mystery in the womb" at eighteen, but it had remained completely dormant until today, when it finally underwent a new change.

As his Divine Thought settled on the pearl,

Numerous dim points of light, some large and some small, were scattered around two bright points that shone like full moons. They lay across his sea of consciousness like a multitude of stars, forming a star map.

At the same time, a piece of information naturally surfaced:

[Void Penetration: Can travel through the myriad heavens and worlds, and grotto-heavens great and small.]

Fang Yu's Divine Thought trembled slightly as it settled on the points of light one by one.

Each point was a world, but apart from the two brightest ones, none of the others responded.

The world I'm in is called the Black-Yellow Realm.

The grotto-heaven represented by the other point is called Great Scarlet Heaven.

Right now, Great Scarlet Heaven is the only one I can travel to.

Fang Yu's breathing quickened. He abruptly opened his eyes, got up, and went to the tea table in a corner of the meditation chamber, where he opened the stone box holding his Metal Fire Stones.

Inside were one hundred and eight Metal Fire Stones, neatly stacked. Together with the ten in his robes, he had one hundred and eighteen in total-everything he had saved over the years.

Fang Yu took out all the Metal Fire Stones, tucked them into his robes, and left, heading straight for the market.

He did not know whether Great Scarlet Heaven held any danger, so he proceeded on the assumption that it did. Before entering, he had to make thorough preparations.

He entered the market, passed through the square where numerous outer sect disciples had set up stalls, and arrived at the Metal and Stone Hall's shop.

Looking up at the magnificent facade, resplendent with gold and jade and wreathed in rosy light, Fang Yu instinctively felt for the Metal Fire Stones in his robes.

The Metal and Stone Hall had the best reputation, the highest prices, and the most dependable quality in the market. He had only gone in to browse once, and the exorbitant prices had scared him so badly that whenever he passed by afterward, he instinctively quickened his pace, afraid he would be charged if he walked too slowly.

Now that he was going to explore an unknown grotto-heaven world, he had to buy the best equipment and everything else.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the Metal and Stone Hall and looked at the counter to his left, where Law Artifacts glowing with spiritual light were on display.

"Fellow cultivator, are you interested in this Metal-Fire Three-Piece Set?"

A maid in a red dress walked over gracefully and asked with a smile.

"Indeed!"

Fang Yu nodded and took ninety-eight Metal Fire Stones from his robes, handing them over.

The maid was taken aback. She had only come over to greet him casually, and had not expected the "firestone laborer" before her to actually buy it.

That was ninety-eight Metal Fire Stones. An ordinary firestone laborer would have to save for at least ten years to come up with that much.

"My name is Hongxiu. How should I address you, fellow cultivator?" The maid swept a hand over the ninety-eight Metal Fire Stones and put them away. Then she undid the restriction on the Metal-Fire Three-Piece Set, took it out, and handed it to Fang Yu.

"My surname is Fang!"

As Fang Yu spoke, he took the Metal-Fire Three-Piece Set and turned the pieces over in his hands.

The three Law Artifacts consisted of a storage gourd with about one dou of space inside; a small shield called the Golden Light Shield, which could defend and protect its owner; and the Fire Cloud Ring, which could release a vast cloud of fire with astonishing power.

These three pieces were the standard set for outer sect disciples of the Metal Stone Immortal Sect. Anyone who managed to save up for all three would earn a measure of respect from their fellow cultivators.

Fang Yu had been coveting the set for a long time. Although he had saved enough Metal Fire Stones for it the previous year, he had held back because he wanted to save enough to break through to the Qi Ingestion Second Layer.

Back then, he had only thought to break through to the Qi Ingestion Second Layer first, increase the speed at which he crafted Metal Fire Stones, and pay off his cave abode loan early. It would not be too late to buy the set afterward.

After all, he did not go out adventuring; he stayed within the sect crafting Metal Fire Stones, so he had no use for the set.

Now, since he was going to explore another world, he had to buy it whether he wanted to or not. Safety came first, after all.

Fang Yu hung the gourd at his waist, stored the Golden Light Shield inside it, and slipped the Fire Cloud Ring onto his ring finger. The maid named Hongxiu saw him out.

As he walked along the market street, he keenly noticed envious gazes falling from time to time on the gourd at his waist and the Fire Cloud Ring on his hand. He immediately assumed an indifferent expression.

Sure enough, as soon as he wore the outer sect disciple's three-piece set, the way his fellow cultivators looked at him changed. Those envious gazes, tinged with a hint of jealousy, were truly a pleasure.

It feels good to be a cut above the rest!

The thought surfaced in Fang Yu's mind, making him feel as though he were walking on air. His gaze rose slightly as he looked at the roadside vendors.

"I still have twenty Metal Fire Stones on me. I'll keep ten for emergencies and exchange the rest for spiritual talismans."

The goods sold by fellow cultivators at market stalls were much cheaper than those in shops. The firestone three-piece set, for example, could cost over twenty Metal Fire Stones less.

But most were secondhand goods passed off as new, and some were handmade. Only heaven knew what their quality was like.

If he were buying them purely to show off, he would certainly have bought them from a stall. But he was about to transmigrate a second time, to an unknown world, so only genuine goods would put his mind at ease.

As for consumables like spiritual talismans, he could buy those from the stalls.

"Two each of Fireball Talismans, Golden Sword Talismans, Water Arrow Talismans, Earth Wall Talismans, and Spring Renewal Talismans!"

"Coming right up! Ten Metal Fire Stones altogether!"

After buying ten spiritual talismans of various attributes from a stall specializing in them, Fang Yu summoned a cloud platform and returned to his cave abode.

"Everything's ready. Time to transmigrate!"

Fang Yu went into the meditation chamber and checked the Law Artifacts, spiritual talismans, and Metal Fire Stones in his storage gourd. Once he had confirmed that everything was in order, he took a deep breath and used his Divine Thought to communicate with the Yuanchen Pearl in his sea of consciousness.

In an instant, he vanished from the meditation chamber.

Great Scarlet Heaven.

In a mountain forest.

Fang Yu warily observed everything around him. Only after quite some time did he determine that there was no danger.

This place doesn't look much different from the Flaming Mountain region. It's perfectly ordinary... Wait, no...

Fang Yu murmured to himself and spread out his Divine Thought. He discovered what seemed to be a faint trace of Spiritual Qi in the air around him.

"This is a spiritual land!"

Fang Yu murmured, his newly relaxed nerves tightening again.

A spiritual land was the foundation of an immortal sect. At the Metal Stone Immortal Sect's Flaming Mountain, for example, Spiritual Qi could only be gathered from the Flowing Flame Fire within the mountain.

An outer sect disciple like him, at the peak of the Qi Ingestion Realm's first layer, needed six days to gather a trace of Spiritual Qi and craft it into a Metal Fire Stone for storage, to supply cultivation for himself and others.

Thus, every spiritual land was bound to be occupied by a powerful immortal sect. Yet the concentration of Spiritual Qi here was even greater than at Flaming Mountain, and...

"That's not right! How can this Spiritual Qi be so clean? It only has a small amount of impure Qi in it!"

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was divided into nine tiers and thirty-six grades. Flaming Mountain's Flowing Flame Fire ranked at the sixth tier, middle grade, and the Spiritual Qi gathered from it was enough to cultivate to the Dao Foundation Realm.

To hold on to that spiritual land, the Metal Stone Immortal Sect had lost six Dao Foundation patriarchs in battle over three hundred years, and an unknown number of great Qi Ingestion Late Stage cultivators. Yet the Spiritual Qi here was so pure that it resembled the Spiritual Qi in the upper-three-tier spiritual lands that, according to legend, only Purple Mansion Aristocratic Clans could occupy.

"I actually transmigrated into a Purple Mansion Aristocratic Clan's spiritual land. If I'm discovered, they'll certainly beat me to death and return my Dao directly to heaven."

Fang Yu's nerves tightened even further. He hurriedly withdrew his Divine Thought, no longer daring to probe at will for fear of alarming the local cultivators. He was terrified and felt an urge to transmigrate back immediately.

Don't be afraid. My Void Penetration can take me back anytime, anywhere. Even if I really am discovered, I can return in an instant.

He took several deep breaths and decided to investigate the situation here before deciding whether to transmigrate back. This was an upper-three-grade spiritual land, after all. If he could cultivate here for a day, it would be worth many days of cultivation in his cave abode at Flaming Mountain.