Chapter 779: Dragon Pool and Tiger Den
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Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Chen Fei withdrew his gaze and a.s.sessed himself. His cultivation remained unchanged, still at the level of the three Divine Palaces of the Mountain Sea Realm, but the operation of his essence, energy, and spirit seemed slower than before.
It was as if a force was hindering the flow of power within his body.
With a light flick of his right finger, a burst of primal energy flashed and disappeared, leaving a fine hole in the ground.
Chen Fei’s brow furrowed slightly. If this were outside the barrier, the hole created by that flick would have reached a depth of over a hundred meters, but now it was barely a dozen meters deep.
Not only had there been some changes in the materials within the Black Divine Barrier, but more crucially, the attack power had directly weakened.
This applied not only to primal energy and mental techniques but also to the sheer strength of the physical body.
As a result, the Monster King would not gain a significant advantage within this Black Divine Barrier.
The comparison of strength among everyone, whether in the Boundless Sea or within the Black Divine Barrier, remained the same.
As for the Black Divine Barrier, such rules not only prevented those at the level of the Sun Moon Realm from entering but also ensured that regardless of the number of individuals at the Mountain Sea Realm or the Monster King’s level, they could not disrupt the Black Divine Barrier from within.
“No wonder those at the Sun Moon Realm are unwilling to enter; for them, it’s like entering a tiger’s den.”
Chen Fei raised his head. The Sun Moon Realm possessed an absolute advantage over those below the Fifth-Tier. Once they dissipated their origin and stepped into the Black Divine Barrier, no matter how strong their martial arts comprehension, there were limits to what they could achieve.
If there were slightly more monsters, they could easily be overwhelmed, which was a highly probable scenario.
Chen Fei recalled how, when the Black Divine had just entered the Boundless Sea, it was overwhelmed by those from the Sun Moon Realm who came one after another.
The rule in the Boundless Sea that limited the upper limit of power was a restriction for both humans and monsters, but in a way, it also served as a form of protection.
Zhao Ruizheng glanced back at the team and saw that Chen Fei and Tang Shouchang had already adapted to the changes within the barrier. He whispered, “The safe zone is still expanding. Let’s not hunt monsters for now. We’ll guard the perimeter of the safe zone for a day before deciding.”
Chen Fei and the others nodded in agreement, without any objections.
This had been discussed before they entered.
With numerous monsters within the Black Divine Barrier and Chen Fei and Tang Shouchang being here for the first time, it was prudent to guard the boundary for a day first and engage in a few skirmishes with the monsters to adapt.
Guarding the perimeter also came with mission rewards. Although the monsters around the safe zone had been cleared out several times by other Mountain Sea Realm warriors, new ones would still emerge.
At this time, warriors guarding the boundary were needed to repel or even kill these monsters.
Naturally, the monsters killed belonged to the warriors, so the rewards for guarding the boundary were not insignificant. If one stayed for a sufficient amount of time, the rewards could be quite substantial.
However, one couldn’t stay within the Black Divine Barrier for too long. After observing for a period of time, it was determined that one could stay for a maximum of twenty days before needing to leave the Black Divine Barrier, or else their spirit would be directly contaminated by the Black Divine.
This was something even the warriors themselves couldn’t detect; it was only discovered by those powerful individuals from the Sun Moon Realm after leaving the Black Divine Barrier.
Therefore, pioneering the Black Divine Barrier was actually quite dangerous for the Mountain Sea Realm warriors. Many issues had been discovered in the past month or so.
Of course, the Black Divine Barrier wasn’t safe now either.
During the pioneering phase, many monsters hadn’t yet reached the Fourth- Tier, making them relatively easy to kill.
Now, after more than a month had pa.s.sed, the easily killable monsters had been mostly wiped out, leaving behind only tough opponents.
Obtaining lucrative rewards was no longer as simple as it was a month ago. Thus, each option had its pros and cons, depending on everyone’s individual choices.
Zhao Ruizheng and his group arrived at the outer perimeter of the safe zone in the northeast comer, now surrounded by a towering wall.
Within the barrier, whether it was monsters or pract.i.tioners, none could fly, thus the significance of the wall became apparent.
This wall was not constructed of bricks and stones but rather of several spiritual treasures connected together. Even now, the major holy sites were continuously refining this type of spiritual treasure.
With just one requirement: st.u.r.diness.
The foundations of the major holy sites were truly profound; they could refine spiritual treasures without any pressure whatsoever. According to current trends, as the safe zone expanded, the wall would become longer and longer. Until it encompa.s.sed the entire Black Divine Barrier.
Zhao Ruizheng and his group ascended the wall, immediately seeing the scene outside.
Chen Fei’s eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze showing a hint of seriousness.
If the inside of the wall still carried a trace of vitality and dynamism, then outside the wall, it was completely silent.
Not only silent, but there were also peculiar fluctuations of spirits rippling through it.
These spiritual fluctuations were all residual souls wandering between heaven and earth, something that couldn’t be felt in the Boundless Sea before but now, after being extensively absorbed by the Black Divine Barrier, became immediately apparent.
Faintly visible, one could even see many faces drifting by, along with incomplete bodies wandering around.
But when you looked closely, they all disappeared, as if everything was just an illusion.
“No need to pay attention to those residual souls, but if any clear and visible ones appear, they need to be eradicated.”
A person appeared in front of Zhao Ruizheng and his group. Judging by his attire and the late-stage Mountain Sea Realm cultivation, he was one of the supervisors of this section of the wall, to some extent serving as the temporary commander of Zhao Ruizheng and his group.
“Elder!” Zhao Ruizheng and his group saluted.
“It’s still some time before the residual souls transform into monsters, and even when they do, they’re very fragile, easily killed with a single blow,” Zhao Tianyue questioned.
“Yes.”
Luo Xiaofeng nodded, his voice deep. “That was the case before, but recently, there have been new changes in the barrier. These residual souls sometimes don’t directly transform into monsters but instead become ‘Evil Monsters ‘, and they appear as Fourth-Tier ent.i.ties.”
“Evil Monster?” Zhao Ruizheng and his group were surprised; they hadn’t heard of this before.
“It was just discovered in the past few days. If you’re planning to leave the city, the gatekeepers will also inform you,” the supervisor added.
Luo Xiaofeng’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the scene outside the wall, murmuring, “This barrier has been constantly changing, seemingly adapting to the rules of our Boundless Sea.”
His expression was grave, and the longer he stayed within the barrier, the heavier the oppressive feeling became.
Even though Luo Xiaofeng would go out for a trip every ten days, the gloominess still lingered in his heart, unable to be dispelled.
The problem wasn’t with Luo Xiaofeng’s spirit; the main issue lay with the Black Divine Barrier. Here, pract.i.tioners could clearly perceive the power possessed by the Black Divine.
Zhao Ruizheng and his group exchanged glances, but remained silent.
“Alright, I’ll leave this section of defense to you. If you’re proficient in formations and can expand the area outward, that would be even better!”
Luo Xiaofeng turned to Zhao Ruizheng and his group, a slight smile on his face, then headed towards other positions. His task was to patrol the area and prevent any accidents from occurring.
“Nowadays, being able to set up purification arrays is the best,” Zhao Tianyue said with a hint of envy in his eyes.
Purification arrays were the formations set up within the city walls, capable of preventing the Black Divine Barrier from absorbing residual souls, and preventing monsters from being born within such areas.
However, the purification array was a Fourth-Tier formation, and among Fourth-Tier formations, it was considered extremely difficult.
Most pract.i.tioners in the Mountain Sea Realm were proficient in several formations, varying in skill level.
But besides having a profound foundation, only those with sufficient depth could quickly grasp it. Other pract.i.tioners in the Mountain Sea Realm would have to spend a significant amount of time learning it to possibly master it. Chen Fei’s proficiency in formations was quite average; he only knew a few simple formations. However, with the panel, even the most complex formations could be simplified for Chen Fei to learn.
Therefore, Chen Fei obtained the complete set of methods to learn the purification array yesterday and successfully simplified it.
However, to truly be able to set up the purification array, even with the panel simplifying the process, Chen Fei would still need several months. After all, this was an advanced Fourth-Tier formation.
Chen Fei was just being cautious. If the situation within the Black Divine Barrier remained stable several months later, he would specifically come in to set up the formations.
There was nothing quite as satisfying as setting up formations compared to fighting and killing.
Although the purification array conflicted with the entire Black Divine Barrier, every rune had to be meticulously placed to avoid being impacted by the Black Divine Barrier.
But compared to the countless monsters in the mountains, it was undoubtedly much easier.
This was the power of knowledge!
Chen Fei and his group dispersed, each monitoring a section. If there were any issues, they would immediately alert the others.
Chen Fei looked at the residual souls outside the city wall, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing. He could see the faces of many old and young, even many residual souls showing intense emotional changes.
In this world, there was no concept of reincarnation; there were only powerful pract.i.tioners seizing bodies or reincarnating using their own soul.
Seizing bodies had its drawbacks; it was nearly impossible to surpa.s.s the original realm unless one found a body with exceptional apt.i.tude. However, at least memories were preserved, without the mysteries of fetal development.
On the other hand, soul reincarnation inevitably involved a stage of memory loss, and whether one could reawaken memories later was a major question.
The advantage was that there was no barrier between the soul and the body, and apt.i.tude was excellent from the initial stage.
Many pract.i.tioners approaching death often chose soul reincarnation. However, this method was not guaranteed to succeed; in fact, failure was the most common outcome.
Chen Fei withdrew his gaze from outside the city wall and conjured several illusory figures, instructing them to keep watch while he closed his eyes and began practicing the purification array.
The normal way to practice the purification array was to condense runes and connect tens of thousands of them flawlessly.
But Chen Fei simplified it; his method involved sketching the runes with his soul, which could improve his proficiency.
Learning the purification array early would reward him with knowledge.
After a few hours, the light inside the Black Divine Barrier began to dim. As the sun set in the Boundless Sea, night fell within the barrier as well.
Chen Fei suddenly opened his eyes, sensing the thickening aura of silence outside the city wall.
The faces of the residual souls, once showing a range of emotions, now all twisted into grimaces of hatred.
The aura of evilness acc.u.mulated, layer upon layer, surging towards the city wall.