These matters were something Weisheng Zhen couldn’t quite figure out for the moment, so he set them aside and decided to listen to what Yue Bai had to say first.
That Weisheng Zhen didn’t answer was also within Yue Bai’s expectations. He paused briefly before continuing, “The finer details might change somewhat, but the major plot points you’ve written generally won’t deviate too much. So, at most, it’ll be this many more.”
He raised his hand and made a gesture indicating two. “Before the cultivation world discovers the demon race’s affairs. Of course, this timeline could also be moved up.”
Yue Bai had no idea that Weisheng Zhen and his group had already discovered the Kunlun Jade Talisman. In his view, at most within twenty years, that secret realm would be opened, and of the cultivators who entered, fewer than one in a hundred would survive. Only after the heavy casualties drew the attention of the Listening Realm would the secret of the demon race be uncovered.
Weisheng Zhen naturally had no intention of telling him about this. He nodded. “Indeed, the time is very close. But in this matter, what exactly can I do?”
Yue Bai smiled.
“You don’t need to do anything else.”
“All you have to do is enter the secret realm according to your original plot when the Southern Five Grain City secret realm opens.”
**
“Ah Yan.”
“…”
“Weisheng Zhen!”
It was only then that Weisheng Zhen, who had been lost in thought, finally heard Li Changshuang’s voice. He looked up somewhat dazedly. “Sorry, I was thinking about something and didn’t hear you calling me.”
So he also hadn’t heard Li Changshuang call him by the nickname he’d used in the modern era.
Li Changshuang shook his head to indicate it was nothing, though there was a barely perceptible note of concern in his tone. “If you find it difficult, I can accompany you into that secret realm when the time comes.”
“But this person carries many secrets, and they might work against you. It’s best to have minimal contact with him from now on.”
Weisheng Zhen nodded.
Even if Yue Bai really was someone who had also transmigrated from the modern era, based on this one conversation alone, Weisheng Zhen didn’t have a good impression of him.
He definitely wouldn’t contact him again in the future, who knew what kind of scheme this person was cooking up.
But after thinking it over, he added, “That secret realm has cultivation restrictions. Those too advanced can’t enter. By that time, you’ll be close to the Tribulation Transcendence stage, so you definitely wouldn’t be able to…”
The moment he finished speaking, Weisheng Zhen immediately realized what he’d said, but he saw Li Changshuang’s expression turn slightly puzzled. “What did you just say?”
Only then did he feel a bit relieved.
It must have been silenced.
After talking with Yue Bai, he’d actually become so careless as to let his secret slip. Fortunately, the Heavenly Dao would automatically correct or silence such things. If Li Changshuang had actually heard those words, he would have had to rack his brains to come up with an excuse to cover it up, or else face heavenly punishment.
“…What I meant to say was, I don’t think it’s a good idea, because this matter really shouldn’t drag you in. But according to what Yue Bai said, this secret realm shouldn’t appear that soon. Let’s take things one step at a time. The most important thing right now is to investigate the seal site.”
Comparing the two, the matter of the seal site was more important. Li Changshuang felt there should still be enough time to persuade Weisheng Zhen not to take such a risk, so he also nodded. “Then let’s set off now.”
More than twenty days later, aboard the jade ship.
Compared to the two of them flying on swords, traveling by jade ship was somewhat slower, but the jade ship only consumed the spiritual energy of the spirit stones embedded in it, so the two of them never had to worry about being in a state of spiritual power depletion.
If they encountered any demons blocking their path on the way to the seal site, they would have enough spiritual power and physical stamina to fight back.
After spending over twenty days aboard the jade ship, the steadily flying vessel was now nearing the vicinity of the Northern Source Continent’s border.
The demon territory lay at the far west of the entire world, separated from the three cultivation continents Huntian, Northern Source, and Unknown by a vacuum zone roughly hundreds of thousands of miles wide, known as the Barren Strip.
In the Barren Strip, not only were people scarce and vegetation sparse, but because it was perpetually exposed to the sun, even the ground resembled a parched, cracked riverbed.
Only after crossing the Barren Strip and reaching a place where some vegetation could be seen would one be considered close to the demon territory.
The seal site was located at the boundary between the Barren Strip and the demon territory, guarded by the elders of the Listening Realm, who could perform repairs at any moment if something seemed amiss.
For the first few thousand years, everything had gone according to plan until that large-scale demonic aura leak. Although it was patched up in time afterward, the culprit behind the seal’s destruction was never caught, causing the demon territory’s ruler at the time to deeply distrust cultivators. Moreover, over the millennia, an irreparable rift had grown between cultivators and demon beasts. Eventually, after negotiations with the Listening Realm, it was decided that each side would guard half of the seal.
The downside of this arrangement was,
Demonic aura leaks became much harder to detect in a timely manner, which was the main reason demons and monsters had run rampant over the past few thousand years.
As they were about to enter the Barren Strip, having cultivated for over twenty more days, Weisheng Zhen could no longer bear it. After explaining the situation to Li Changshuang, the two decided to rest briefly at the nearest town before setting off again.
Zheling City was built at the border between the Northern Source Continent and the Barren Strip. The city was vast, with a continuous barrier separating the entire Northern Source Continent from the demon territory. Inside the barrier was Northern Source territory; outside lay the Barren Strip. All cultivators traveling from the Northern Source Continent to the demon territory had to register here and leave behind a wisp of spiritual power, so that if anything happened or a crime was committed, they could be tracked down in time.
Entering the Barren Strip was somewhat similar to entering the Unknown Continent both were lawless zones, the only difference being the odds of encountering desperate outlaws, which in the latter was a hundred percent.
Although the Barren Strip was vast and sparsely populated, some cultivators still stationed themselves there after all, even though relations between the cultivation world and the demon territory had deteriorated considerably over the past thousand years, only a fool would turn down easy money.
Currently, there were as many as seven major registered trading posts in the Barren Strip, all dealing in business related to demon beasts. Demon beasts would often visit these trading posts to purchase items from the cultivation world.
But those trading grounds were extremely chaotic, and incidents of murder for treasure were all too common.
Zheling City, however, was the nearest safe city, functioning somewhat like a checkpoint where everyone had to pass inspection when entering or leaving.
The two planned to rest here for three days and, in the meantime, inquire whether anything unusual had recently occurred between the Barren Strip and the demon territory.
Although the jade ship had space as large as a villa, spending days in the same place at most lying on the deck to enjoy the view during the monotonous cultivation routine still made Weisheng Zhen feel like his bones had grown stiff. Now that he had finally disembarked, even though the air he breathed was scorching hot, he felt like he could weep into the wind.
Like he’d just been released from prison.
The city was so much better.
Weisheng Zhen thought to himself as the two of them, having changed their appearances, quickly arrived at the most luxurious inn in Zhelin City.
Cultivators who could travel to and from the demon realm naturally possessed considerable strength Nascent Soul cultivators were as common as dogs, and Soul Severing cultivators were everywhere. The cultivation levels of Weisheng Zhen and Li Changshuang were actually somewhat unimpressive in this city.
The city prohibited flight, so everyone had to walk or take carriages within its walls.
Because of the need to defend against occasional disturbances from the demon realm, the city lord of Zhelin City was one of the elders of Liusen Pavilion in Yuanbei Prefecture, with a cultivation level at the mid-Duojie stage.
Following the customary protocols of social interaction, and since Lingjie had also said they would open convenient doors for the six of them, Weisheng Zhen and his companion sent a visiting card to City Lord Wu immediately after settling in.
The city lords naturally knew about the escape of the prisoners not only that, but if they detected any unusual activity, they were also required to help intercept. However, investigating the seal site was classified information, so Weisheng Zhen and his companion used the pretext of searching for the escaped prisoners to have a brief meeting with City Lord Wu.
City Lord Wu probably hadn’t expected that the first to arrive in his city would be two juniors. Although he thought they might just be there to scrape up some merit and looked down on them somewhat, he still briefed them on the recent situation.
“No unusual activity has been detected in the city for now, but the demon realm is unsettled. Over the past two months, the number of fallen demonic beasts launching nighttime raids on Zhelin City has doubled. My relationship with the Hentian Prefecture side is decent, and after looking into it, I found that it’s not just our Zhelin City even Yi’an City, which guards the barrier on their side, has experienced similar situations to ours.”
“Although those demonic beasts aren’t particularly powerful, I reported the matter to the Pavilion Master following proper procedure. Does Lingjie have any instructions regarding this?”
“Not yet.” Li Changshuang shook his head.
City Lord Wu understood.
These two juniors didn’t know anything at all they really were just here to coast through.
Well, none of this had much to do with them. He’d just do them the courtesy and let them leave; at most, he’d have someone keep an eye on whether their spiritual energy showed any problems.
“In that case, since the two young friends are going into the Restricted Ground, you might as well help this old man deliver the messages Lingjie has sent over these past few days to those old fellows at the seal site.”
This aligned with their itinerary, so Li Changshuang didn’t refuse. City Lord Wu quickly produced a ball of light from his mustard-seed space and handed it to Li Changshuang.
“Those old fellows have been repairing and guarding the seal for at least nearly two thousand years. Also, because the seal site is in the Restricted Ground, sparsely populated and with little entertainment on ordinary days, their temperaments might be somewhat, peculiar. But you probably won’t stay long just give them the message and that’s all.”
“Oh, right.” City Lord Wu seemed to recall something and took out quite a few immortal jade discs from his mustard-seed space: “These immortal jade discs are a fine invention that only came out in the past hundred years. Those old fellows have never seen them and wouldn’t know how to use them. If their attitude is decent, take a little effort to teach them.”
Weisheng Zhen immediately got the distinct impression of going to visit lonely old people, and his sense of responsibility instantly surged to the max.
They noted down everything City Lord Wu had instructed them. Just as Weisheng Zhen and the other were about to leave, City Lord Wu suddenly thought of something and added a word of caution: “The demon territory has been somewhat turbulent lately. You two are unfamiliar faces, so be careful not to wander into the demon territory. Otherwise, even with my abilities, it would be difficult to bring you back out of there in one piece.”
The City Lord’s warning came just in time, effectively curbing Weisheng Zhen’s restless intentions.
Back at the inn, Weisheng Zhen initially intended to lie down and rest, but after staring at the ceiling for a long while until dusk began to color the sky he still couldn’t force himself to fall asleep.
His sleep quality wasn’t even as good as it had been on the jade ship, where he’d dozed off the moment his head hit the pillow.
Weisheng Zhen decided to go for a walk downstairs.
The two of them were staying in a twin room, and besides each room having its own door and window, a shared sitting area separated the two chambers in the middle.
As he passed by Li Changshuang’s door, he sensed the barrier formation within his room, but Weisheng Zhen had no intention of calling him along, so he only paused briefly at the threshold before quickly moving on.
Zheling City wasn’t like Manyun City. Though it was also quite chaotic, a city lord with an iron fist kept things under control, and no one dared to cause trouble openly within the city walls.
Weisheng Zhen wasn’t in the mood to stroll around either. He casually found an empty spot outside a bookshop, set a few books on the table as a pretense, and planned to eavesdrop, hoping to catch some useful information.