"Realm breakthrough?"
"He went straight from the Psychic realm into the Starburst realm!"
Realm breakthroughs were crucial to a cultivator. How could the rest not be envious after seeing a peer achieve a realm breakthrough via pills?
"Did he make a realm breakthrough without digesting the pills?" Ye Que muttered after hearing all these surprised voices. It wasn"t impossible for a cultivator to break into a higher realm via pills but thorough preparation was necessary for that to happen. Moreover, the cultivator needed enough time for his body to gradually digest the pills. He had never seen anyone breaking into a higher realm immediately after consuming pills. Not even Immortal"s elixirs were that effective.
Ye Que was a person who had made numerous realm breakthroughs. Now that he had returned to his youth to start his cultivation journey again, his frame of mind had naturally returned to a neutral state. However, those caught up in the current situation naturally didn"t have the mental capacity to understand such logic. If they lose the chance to make a realm breakthrough, it may never come again.
The saying that one wouldn"t know the shape of a mountain while standing on it aptly described their current situation.
Now that someone had challenged the laws of cultivation, it was natural for someone else to seize the opportunity as well. Making a realm breakthrough without breaking a sweat? Where else would they find such a good chance?
"The ignorant is fearless!"
"Aren"t they afraid of killing themselves?"
Red Bean with her oil-paper umbrella watched as those who failed to resist the temptation search for "miraculous pills" that could help them break into a higher realm and consume them in droves.
"These miraculous pills are truly a wonder. I feel like I"m full of Spiritual Force from head to toe."
"I finally broke into the Starburst realm! d.a.m.n you, genius disciples! I"ll have you all clean my shoes for me when I return!"
"We jumped one realm after consuming one pill. What would happen if we take a second pill? Will I enter the Formless realm?"
"I don"t see any adverse effects after consuming the pill. Could this be the chance of a lifetime that heaven has bestowed on us?"
The more contemplative one was, the more calculative he would be. Soon, another possibility came to mind. They had their reservations because of how simple the realm breakthrough was and how they have never heard of such things. Even so, this was the reality. After carefully examining the Snow Mountain in their Spiritual Sea, they saw that their cultivation had indeed improved by a realm. There was no way to fake that.
Unless one possessed an iron will or a calm mind, who would be able to resist such a temptation?
Numerous disciples from small sects and Demon Race warriors from lesser tribes began consuming the miraculous pills without a word.
Ye Que shook his head at their greed for immortality and ecstatic expressions. Now, he was fairly sure that something would happen to these people. It would be odder if nothing happened. There were rules for everything in the world.
It wasn"t wrong to defy heaven but such an easy method to defy heaven simply didn"t exist. If one could so easily shatter the rules made by heaven, then heaven wouldn"t be heaven.
The disciples found their breath denser and denser after consuming the pills. It was to the point that some were gradually elevated to the Formless realm.
However, those who overdosed on joy would inevitably fall into despair!
Ye Que watched as these people began to rapidly lose their Living Qi. The faster their cultivation grew, the faster their Living Qi depleted.
The first person who consumed the pills, Lin Xibei of the Incense Fragrance Valley of Qingqiu, was initially a pretty boy with a distinguished temperament. Now, his appearance was beginning to change at an alarming rate. First, he was a young man standing tall, then an unmistakably a 40-year-old man, then a 60-year-old man conscious of death with partially grayed hair, and finally a 70-year-old white-haired old man.
Lin Xibei could still stand firmly at first but toward the end, his legs became too weak to support him properly. The vigor reflected in his eyes gradually turned into sorrow and confusion. Following a gentle breeze, he exhaled his last breath and died.
It took no more than one pill and several minutes to consume a young life.
The silver lining in the cloud was that Lin Xibei"s method of death was incredibly peaceful. In fact, he was even wearing a faint smile on his face when he died. Perhaps this was the so-called "peaceful death" in the secular world.
Those who didn"t consume the pills took a sharp intake of breath after seeing Lin Xibei"s outcome, feeling lingering fears. Subconsciously, they retreated by several meters and moved away from the wooden racks filled with miraculous pills.
"How could they bear an unearned opportunity like that? Even if they have the luck to consume the pills, they must have the luck to survive," Red Bean said expressionlessly.
"Humans are never content. Like a snake that tries to swallow an elephant, they always attempt the impossible. These people failed to suppress their greed. They have no one to blame but themselves for losing their lives." Ye Que had become immune after witnessing death too many times.
Red Bean looked at him. "Don"t you wish to elevate your realm? If we go by the norms of the Cultivation World, you have just entered the Psychic realm. There aren"t many chances like these."
"Aren"t there many?" He looked disdainful. "It"s not that hard to refine pills that improve cultivation. Compared to the ones here, I would rather trust the pills I refine myself."
He glanced at Li Xibei"s corpse on the ground. "I would feel at ease, at least."
There seemed to be no end to the ma.s.sive golden palace.
One would lose all sense of direction, as well as destination, after entering the palace.
More than hundreds of people entered the palace but the further in they walked, the smaller the group became. Some even began wondering if an enormous Killing Formation lay under their feet. One could even say that it was a Trial Formation, one meant to choose the most suitable "Predestined Master" of the Divine Tool.
It was a matter of course for the Divine Tool to seek its Predestined Master.
Those who l.u.s.ted over riches were all dead. Those with weak minds about cultivation had also pa.s.sed away peacefully.
Those who remained became more vigilant.
After walking out of the hall containing the enormous tree and pills, they reached a sudden steep slope at the end of the gilded pa.s.sageway. The path began to stretch downward. Even the color of the pa.s.sageway faded from golden into an intense blue.
Shortly after, a thick vapor hit them on the faces. The roof of the pa.s.sageway also began to turn transparent.
Ye Que and Red Bean continued to bring up the rear. Neither of them was desperate. Just because one walked quickly didn"t mean that one would obtain the Divine Tool. If it were that easy to conquer the Divine Tool, it wouldn"t be called a Divine Tool.
When they looked up, they saw that the pa.s.sageway seemed to be reflecting a transparent crystal. Pale blue-colored seawater seemed to be flowing outside the crystal, with all sorts of grotesque marine creatures swimming carefreely and willfully in it. They set off the pale blue-colored radiance bouncing off the seawater by contrast. It was a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
After a school of small seven-colored fish swam past them, a humanoid fish abruptly appeared outside the crystal. The crowd couldn"t get a clear look at the fish at first but after nearing the crystal, they saw a devastating beauty under a head of beautiful blue hair. Moreover, the humanoid fish that was naked from head to tip turned out to be a mermaid.
As if they had noticed people walking past, more and more mermaids gathered. All of them wore faint smiles and seductive gazes. They appeared somewhat pitiful and bewitching. Their every frown and smile was destructively attractive.
Before Ye Que and Red Bean made it there, there were already young disciples unable to move away from the mermaids. Each time someone stopped, a mermaid would instantly cross the crystal and slowly walk up to the person.
Ever since they stepped foot into this golden palace, Red Bean had always remained in front of Ye Que. She rarely ever turned her head around. Yet, when they came to this area, the girl unprecedentedly turned around and looked at Ye Que. After mulling over it, she said, "Those fish."
"You"re not allowed to look at them."
"Not even a single glance."
Red Bean"s sudden order in the middle of their walk caught Ye Que off guard and for a moment, he couldn"t recover his senses. "What"s wrong?"
"I said you"re not allowed to look at those fish." Red Bean abruptly widened her cold eyes.
"Why not?" Ye Que looked confused.
Red Bean stared at his face for 10 seconds before spitting out a word.
"Disgusting!"
Having said that, she looked like she was still ill at ease. She turned around again and said, "If you dare look up, I will annihilate you immediately."
She cast him a sidelong glance as if she was declaring her ownership. "I"m the one who saved your life, so you must obey me."
Ye Que immediately balked at her words. "Since when am I yours? I"m a human, not an object! Much less your pet! I will look at whatever I want, thank you very much. What can a silly little girl do about it?"
Before he could express the words he wanted to say—the word "I" had just left his mouth—he found an umbrella next to his mouth. The tip of the umbrella was emitting a frosty glint and the canopy was emanating a murderous aura.
"Shut up!"
Subconsciously, Ye Que raised his hands to indicate that he had surrendered. He even put on a complaisant expression as if to say, "You"re the Madam; your word is final. If you say I"m not to look up, I wouldn"t dare to look up even if you give me all the courage in the world. I wouldn"t look up even if you beat me to death. The one who looks up is a dunce."
Just like that, two weirdos appeared in the one-meter-long crystal pa.s.sageway. Taking the lead was a girl holding an oil-paper umbrella at such a low angle that her face was obscured. Behind her was a youngster gripping a shabby wooden stick with his back arched and head lowered. He resembled a little old man. Unexpectedly, he didn"t even look up once when faced with such splendid scenery.
"Men who are not promiscuous are wasting their youth and yet, I have never done so in the past. Now that I"ve regained my youth, I"m not even allowed to take a peep. What a pitifully dull life," Ye Que muttered with his head lowered. He was such a sorry sight, not at all resembling the Demon-slaying Asura. He was basically a walking punching bag.
Environments could transform people.
Ever since he returned to his youth, his mentality had gradually meshed with his current ident.i.ty. Sometimes, he even wondered if his hundred-year experience was nothing more than a dream and that the current him had merely woken up.
He had just walked out of the crystal pa.s.sageway when the sound of clashing swords pierced his ears.
A curtain of light stood at the end of the crystal pa.s.sageway. After crossing the curtain of light and taking no more than a hundred steps, the path abruptly ended. What awaited was a cliff. The only thing was that there were more than 10 chains hanging down the cliff.
Looking down from the end of the pa.s.sageway, a sea of steles stretched on as far as the eye could see. It was as if there was no end. One could vaguely see script or drawing carved on each stele.
The first wave of the crowd who reached the end of the pa.s.sageway had already climbed down the chains and entered the forest of steles. The sound of clashing swords drifted from the direction of the steles. Two disciples of the Cultivation World, one wielding a saber and the other a sword, had somehow gotten into a battle in front of a stele.
Ye Que looked at the endless steles and said, "Be careful. There"s definitely something wrong with those steles."
"You"re the one who should be careful." Without turning her head, Red Bean gently leaped down the cliff without even touching the chains. Yet, she didn"t crash straight to the ground. The oil-paper umbrella in her hand seemed capable of controlling the wind. She along with her umbrella fell gently like a blooming dandelion.