Chapter 1033: The Appearance of the Ancient Domain
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
His soul cultivation was only at Transcendent Mortal 9-dan at the moment. Being a soul oracle, his soul was indeed significantly stronger than most Saint realm cultivators, but it was still far too weak from being able to set up the Great Heaven Reversal Formation.
As a grade-7 pinnacle formation, it was designed with the capabilities of a Saint 4-dan Primordial Spirit realm expert in mind. While Zhang Xuan"s soul possessed similar capabilities with a Primordial Spirit, it was a pity that his soul was still too weak at the moment.
Unless… he could raise the cultivation of his soul!
Of course, there was Guild Leader Han around, and there was no doubt that he did possess a sufficiently strong soul to set up the Great Heaven Reversal Formation. However, the situation was a little different here.
The formation flags had to be planted near the lava, but this meant that the formation flags would be at risk of melting. As such, the formation had to be set up swiftly just a few moments before the burst of energies. On top of that, the activation of the formation also had to be spot-on, with only just a single second of error allowed. These two feats were something that Guild Leader Han was incapable of.
Furthermore, Zhang Xuan would only have perfect control over the formation if he were to set it up himself. If the slightest error occurred, the burst of energies could end up missing the ancient domain, thus causing his efforts to end in vain. Perhaps, they might even lose their lives due to it.
Zhang Xuan looked at the crowd and said, "I have already thought of how it could be set up, but I need to make some preparations. I will be entering the lava with Ding Ding to calculate the positioning of the flags. I might end up staying down there for quite some time, but I won"t be in any danger, so there"s no need to worry!"
He was intending to enter the lava to cultivate his soul, so it was likely that it would take a fair bit of time. Thus, there was a need for him to inform them in advance lest they dive down to look for him out of worry. That could end up being troublesome for him.
The crowd nodded.
After some discussion, Zhang Xuan"s body entered the Golden Origin Cauldron once more, and the latter plopped forcefully into the lava.
The area that was chosen this time around was some distance away from the area where the burst of energies was triggered, so they wouldn"t be in any danger.
Just like the before, the Golden Origin Cauldron stopped at around the ten-meter mark to hide from the Spiritual Perception of others. Right after all preparations were done, he was just about to draw out his soul when a thought flashed across his mind.
Hu!
An identical figure appeared in the cauldron.
His clone!
This place had the unique ability of refining one"s soul, so it was a good opportunity to his clone to raise his strength as well.
After communicating for a bit, the clone also learned about the current situation, and his eyes lit up in excitement.
Huala!
His clone drew out his soul as well and said, "I will be going down to take a look!"
After saying those words, he dived down into the lava right away.
Seeing how swiftly that fellow ran away, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly. He quickly dived down into the lava with his soul as well.
With his previous experience, he headed all the way down.
Twenty meters, thirty meters, forty meters…
In the blink of an eye, he reached the fifty-meter mark.
The higher the temperature, the greater the refining effect on one"s soul. While the heat was rather unbearable for his soul at the fifty-meter mark, it allowed his soul to grow at the fastest rate possible as well.
Where"s my clone? Coming to a halt, Zhang Xuan was just about to begin cultivating when he suddenly realized that the fellow who had left ahead of him was nowhere to be seen.
He quickly took a look around him, and only then did he realize that the other party had dived right down to the sixty-meter mark and was currently cultivating with his eyes tightly shut.
The searing heat in the surroundings flowed into the other party"s soul, refining it further, resulting in his aura growing stronger and stronger.
He was actually able to reach the sixty-meter mark? Zhang Xuan"s eyes widened in astonishment.
The soul of his clone had come from the same source as him. Despite using his full strength, he was only barely able to reach the fifty-meter marks. On the other hand, his clone was actually able to reach sixty meters.
Treating Wei Ruyan has depleted a fair portion of my soul essence, and the deposition of a fragment of my soul into the Mausoleum Tablet resulted in significant depletion as well. That fellow has been a little stronger than me from the start, and those incidents have only served to widen the gap between us. Soon, Zhang Xuan managed to make sense out of the situation, and he couldn"t help but sigh gloomily.
While he had recovered from those depletions eventually, his soul didn"t manage to return to the wholesome state it had been before.
It was due to this that his clone"s soul was able to progress way further than him.
Staring at his clone, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt a heavy pressure on his shoulders. No, this won"t do. I have to hurry up and cultivate. Otherwise, how embarra.s.sing it will be if I can"t even match up to my clone?
While the others were busy dominating their clones, he was being dominated by his clone. This was unacceptable!
Closing his eyes, Zhang Xuan focused his attention on driving his Heaven"s Path Soul Art, and the heat from the surroundings began to flow into his body. The searing heat gradually tempered his slowly dissipating soul, making it more condensed and powerful.
Gugugu!
Previously, in the Subterranean Gallery, Zhang Xuan had already gathered the soul cultivation techniques of many Otherworldly Demons to compile the Transcendent Mortal 9-dan Heaven"s Path Soul Art, allowing his soul energy to reach 34,000,000 ding.
Under the refinement of the intense heat, his soul, which was larger than ten meters, was gradually being compressed, but the might it wielded was rising swiftly.
35,000,000 ding!
36,000,000 ding!
37,000,000 ding!
…
As time pa.s.sed, the rate at which his strength rose increased faster and faster, and his aura was growing more powerful and heavier as well.
Kacha!
After some period of time, his soul finally broke through its limit and advanced from Transcendent Mortal 9-dan to Half-Saint.
I made a breakthrough? Zhang Xuan was astonished.
As he hadn"t compiled the Half-Saint Heaven"s Path Soul Art yet, he had thought that it should be impossible for him to achieve a breakthrough. Yet, who would have thought that he would be able to do it through the sheer heat of the lava?
It seemed like gauging the strength of a soul by its size wasn"t the way to go. What was more important was to refine it. The higher the purity of one"s soul, the more nimble and powerful it would be.
In a sense, this was similar to zhenqi as well.
After achieving a breakthrough, Zhang Xuan felt refreshed. Lowering his head to take a look, he noticed that his clone had already achieved a breakthrough. Furthermore, from the looks of it, it seemed like the other party had even reached Half-Saint intermediate stage.
Humph! Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xuan began flying over to the sixty-meter mark.
Previously, when he attempted to head toward the sixty-meter mark, he had felt a powerful strain on his soul, as if it would be torn apart at any moment. However, with the refinement of his soul, his soul had become far more durable than before, allowing it to withstand the intense heat easily.
Continue! Knowing that the only way he could catch up with his clone was to be strict with himself, Zhang Xuan didn"t stop at just the sixty-meter mark. Instead, he proceeded on to the seventy-meter mark.
Upon reaching the seventy-meter mark, he felt his soul quivering once more as a powerful force threatened to rip his soul apart. Not daring to advance any further, Zhang Xuan sat down and continued refining his soul.
With the enhanced rate of refinement due to the stronger heat from the surroundings, Zhang Xuan was growing stronger at a rapid rate.
At the same time, his soul managed to compress down to ten meters.
If I can compress my soul below ten meters, my strength will surely be enhanced significantly.
The ten-meter mark was a significant demarcation point for a soul. Back then, he had accidentally crushed the Huanyu Empire"s Cleansing Lake in an attempt to break through that bottleneck.
If he could use the heat to compress his soul below ten meters at this point, not only would it become easier for him to slip back into his body, his strength would also be boosted significantly.
As the searing heat circulated through his soul to refine it, Zhang Xuan felt as if someone had placed him amid the inferno of h.e.l.l. The excruciating pain that he was suffering at the moment was so unbearable that he felt as if he could pa.s.s out at any moment.
However, clenching his jaws, he forced himself to hold on. Some time later, a loud buzz sounded from his soul.
His soul had been compressed back below ten meters, and his cultivation had also reached Half-Saint intermediate stage.
I succeeded!
Zhang Xuan"s eyes lit up. He instinctively turned his gaze upward to take a look, but he realized that his clone wasn"t there. Thus, he turned his gaze downward, and he realized that the other party, at some point, had overtaken him and arrived at the eighty-meter mark. The other party"s eyes were closed, deep in cultivation. The size of his soul was only at nine meters, an indication that he had reached Half-Saint advanced stage.
That fellow…
Not expect his clone to be even faster than him, Zhang Xuan couldn"t help but feel a little anxious. He hurriedly dived further down as well.
Having compressed his soul back within the ten-meter mark, he was able to pa.s.s through the eighty-meter mark without any trouble.
Advancing ahead, Zhang Xuan went straight to the ninety-meter mark before he stopped to cultivate. This time, the rate at which his soul was being refined was extremely fast. Within just ten minutes, his soul had already been compressed down to nine meters as well. Knowing that his clone was bound to be faster than him, Zhang Xuan didn"t bother sneaking the other party a glance anymore. Instead, he chose to focus all of his attention on his cultivation and continued on. Twenty minutes later, his soul reached eight meters, and his soul cultivation also reached Half-Saint pinnacle, ready to achieve a breakthrough at any moment.
At his current level, the heat at the ninety-meter mark was no longer sufficient for him. Thus, he dived further down, and as he had expected, his clone was already at the hundred-meter mark.
At this moment, the other party"s cultivation was also at the same level as his, Half-Saint pinnacle. However, instead of cultivating, the other party was gazing downward, seemingly a.s.sessing something.
Perplexed, Zhang Xuan headed up to his clone"s side and looked down as well. What he saw left him slightly stunned.
There was no lava beneath the hundred-meter mark. Instead, there was a ma.s.sive barrier with innumerable buildings constructed within it, similar to what Zhang Xuan had seen earlier.
Is this the ancient domain? It is indeed below the lava! Zhang Xuan"s eyes lit up in excitement.
He had only gotten a glimpse of it earlier, so he had not been able to confirm whether what he had seen was only a mirage or not. However, with this, the doubts that he had been harboring before had finally been entirely dispelled.
The ancient domain they were looking for was indeed at the bottom of the lava.
But… given how deeply hidden this place was, how in the world did the old princ.i.p.al and the others manage to get in back then?
Zhang Xuan touched the barrier, and it felt extremely st.u.r.dy, just like the white mist barrier of the seal above. In its unopened state, it was impossible for him to break through it.
Floating along the seal, Zhang Xuan"s eyebrows suddenly shot up in alarm.
The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe…
Within the seal, there were several Otherworldly Demons that were advancing alongside the buildings. Naturally, they were unable to sense the two souls spying on them from beyond the barrier.
These Otherworldly Demons each possessed a cultivation of Saint 1-dan, and the killing intent that they exuded was strong enough to leave any man petrified in fear.
What are they up to? Zhang Xuan frowned.
In order to reach the bottom of the lava, their group had to go through so much trouble, constructing the Great Heaven Reversal Formation to redirect the force of the burst of energies back downwards, in order to pa.s.s through the lava. Yet, this bunch of Saint 1-dan Otherworldly Demons had actually been able to enter the ancient domain? How?
And what were they up to?
After making a few turns, the Otherworldly Demons soon arrived at a relatively small square in the midst of all of the buildings.
At the center of the square was a square altar with a ma.s.sive closed door on top. There was an exceptionally st.u.r.dy seal, driven by some kind of power, cast over the entire structure. Dozens of Otherworldly Demons were scattered around the structure, attempting to break open the seal.
Zhang Xuan turned his attention to the door at the center, and he immediately felt a devastatingly powerful heat being emanated from the depths of the door. Even in his current state, he could very well be reduced to cinders if he were to attempt to go close to it.
What pure energy! Could it be that the lava in the surroundings was caused by the heat emanated from the door?
Due to the extraordinary heat of the lava, their group had been thinking that the lava was linked straight to an earth core, where the Earth Core Lava could be found. However, from the looks of it, their deduction was wrong. Most likely, the hundred meters of lava was likely the product of that door!
Hualala!
While Zhang Xuan was still taken aback by this shocking discovery, a towering Otherworldly Demon that possessed an astounding cultivation of Saint 4-dan suddenly walked into the square. At his command, the surrounding Otherworldly Demons roared furiously and began launching a powerful wave of attacks on the seal.
Hong long!
A brilliant glow shone from the door, and a powerful burst of energies blasted up. At the same time, the seal grew slightly thinner.
That burst of energies… Zhang Xuan"s face darkened.
That was the very same burst of energies that had left them deeply troubled but they were planning to make use of!