The First Layer

This caused both the old and young cultivators to look at him with some surprise.

They all thought to themselves: Buying so many doesn't seem like he intends to raise them all at once. Could it be that this Rogue Cultivator plans to find a secluded spot outside and cultivate them himself?

Ignoring their surprised looks, Lin Xiao bought what he needed and left decisively.

There wasn't much going on before, but now that I've bought a bunch of cubs and hay, I need to hurry up and take care of things here so I can get the ranch up and the herds ready.

After all, the stingy storage system for live animals containing cubs wouldn't let him store them for too long.

Suddenly things became much busier, and Lin Xiao, who was no longer aimlessly wandering around, began to quicken his pace.

He didn't wander around the nearby Wind and Snow City, but instead followed Qingle's map and hurried on his way.

A day later, he was slightly shocked by what he saw.

He hadn't Chongxiao Domain before, and he was a little confused about what Qingle meant by the first and second floors. He only understood the meaning after he came here in person.

So, the Chongxiao Domain really does have clouds?

Moreover, judging from the context, it seems there's more than one level; the place he's in should be the first level Qingle mentioned.

I have no idea where the second floor is, how to get there, or what it's like...

Before him appeared a layer that looked very much like clouds. The clouds moved slowly, but when he stepped onto them, he found that the clouds were actually solid and he didn't step into thin air as he had expected.

This is actually a cloud layer that you can walk on!

He squatted down and touched it with his hand. The texture was a bit strange. It wasn't as soft as cotton as he had imagined, nor as hard as stone. Instead, it felt more like muddy ground.

Lin Xiao tried digging at the cloud-covered ground like he was digging through soil, and indeed, he managed to dig a small, shallow pit just like he was digging through soil. But the next second, the ground would immediately surge and fill the pit he had dug out, restoring it to its original state.

It's actually quite fun.

He tried several more times to pry open the clouds, hoping to see what lay beneath – whether it was simply covering the muddy ground or something else entirely.

No matter how hard he tried to dig, the opening he made was only a meter or two deep at most. Below were still clouds. He even used Law Technique but could not completely pry open the clouds to see what was underneath. The clouds would always fill the gap back in as quickly as possible.

The exact thickness of these clouds is completely unknown.

Since he couldn't find out, Lin Xiao decided to stop wasting his time and instead ask a local later.

He stood up, dusted off the non-existent Cloud Mud from his hands, and continued on his way.

He really needs to get out and about more; otherwise, he wouldn't have known that the Chongxiao Domain in the Immortal Cultivation Realm was such a place.

Surprisingly, various plants were growing on these clouds.

However, their appearance is somewhat different from ordinary Spirit Plant. From towering Dashu to shrubs and grasses, no matter what size or type of Spirit Plant, their surface looks as if it is wrapped with a layer of white spider silk or covered with a layer of fine white cotton velvet.

Its appearance is unlike any other conventional plant; at least, it's not found in the Mysterious Extreme Domain or the Northern and South Spirit Domain and North Spirit Domain. One can immediately tell that it's a product of the Chongxiao Domain, and perhaps it should be called a specialty of the Chongxiao Domain.

I wonder if the Netherworld Domain and the Great Wilderness Domain also have such distinctive specialties.

Lin Xiao casually picked a very ordinary grass that was otherwise "unique to Chongxiao Domain". He found that the distinctive white cotton velvet on it faded and disappeared in an instant, leaving only a bare green grass sitting quietly in his hand.

The green grass looked as if its life force had been absorbed by something, losing its former vibrancy and becoming withered and droopy.

He was somewhat surprised, and picked a few more plants around that didn't look like the same variety, but they were all the same.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao guessed that there must be some special method or tool to properly preserve the plants from this Chongxiao Domain.

Otherwise, if all the herbs wilted as soon as they were picked, their medicinal properties would surely be greatly reduced.

Lin Xiao continued walking, intending to find a town to find out more about the situation.

Before he could find the first town after entering the clouds, he would occasionally encounter several people traveling in the direction he had come from.

Most of these people were not highly skilled, and some even had their families with them and were dressed very warmly, clearly preparing to head to Wind and Snow City.

Many of them, whose cultivation levels were extremely low, carried only a Storage Bag, probably not very large, and had many large and small bundles on their shoulders and in their hands. They looked like locals who had lived here for a long time, but were now forced to leave due to some problem.

If it were just one or two people doing this, it wouldn't be so bad, but most of the people we encountered on the way to Wind and Snow City were in the same situation, making it hard to miss.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao couldn't help but feel curious, so he stopped the family he happened to meet and asked them, "Fellow Daoist, excuse me for bothering you, but what has happened to you with your family?"

The male master, whose cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Late Stage, immediately pulled his wife and children behind him with a wary expression when he saw Lin Xiao approaching. Hearing Lin Xiao's question, his expression relaxed slightly, but he still protected his wife and children as he replied, "Senior, you are probably not a native of Chongxiao Domain. You may not know this, but Chongxiao Domain experiences a large-scale disaster every five hundred years, called Cloud Burst."

"While high-level cultivators might be able to withstand the Cloud Burst, it's tantamount to annihilation for us low-level cultivators. Therefore, whenever the Cloud Burst approaches, we begin to migrate, temporarily leaving the Chongxiao Domain, and returning after the Cloud Burst subsides."

Although the male homeowner couldn't discern Lin Xiao's cultivation level, he was not too worried, considering that the highest level among his family of three was only himself at the Qi Refining Late Stage, and his child wasn't some prodigy with exceptional talent or physique. In the Chongxiao Domain, low-level cultivators were more numerous than weeds.

"May I ask what exactly this Cloud Burst is? What are the circumstances surrounding its outbreak?" Lin Xiao asked.

The male cultivator shook his head. "I don't know. Most Qi Refining cultivators like me don't know the situation. We've only heard about it in the city. Migrating once every five hundred years is a custom among low-level cultivators in our Chongxiao Domain, but I really can't explain the specifics."

"How high must one's cultivation level be to withstand this Cloud Burst?" Lin Xiao then asked.

The male cultivator shook his head again. "I don't know the specifics. I've only heard that most Nascent Soul Venerables don't leave, and some Golden Core seniors don't leave either, but some do. I'm not sure."

After answering, the male cultivator glanced at Lin Xiao with slight unease, afraid that his lack of knowledge might have angered him.