As Yan"Er hovered around her master, she sensed that the Horizon of the Heavens was now quietly absorbing the desolate energies from the surroundings and that it was quietly evolving its strength. The Horizon of the Heavens was a sentient divine artefact and had fully divine harmonized with Lu Qingyun. When its strength grows, so will Lu Qingyun."Should I tell master about this?"
"Oh no, I"ve promised Big Sister Keqin not to tell master about the Horizon of the Heavens or anything that is related to it." Yan"Er had suddenly remembered her promise to Qin Keqin.
After making up her firm mind to keep this matter a secret, she began to hover after Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue.
Yin Shisi began to share with them on what she knew about the origins of the Endless Abyssal Sea.
Lu Qingyun and Ouyang Xue were listening attentively as they were curious to know everything about this place and this may prove crucial to their survival.
"I think that our Little Yan"Er here has just confirmed the rumors that this place is indeed the origin of the desolate force or else she will not have called this place her home." Yin Shisi said matter of fact.
"That is right!" Yan"Er could not help chirping in. "This is my home!"
Lu Qingyun frowned lightly at the interruption, "Your home is now inside my inner spiritual sea now."
"That is my second home, master." Yan"Er chuckled.
"Whatever." Lu Qingyun muttered.
Yin Shisi scanned the surroundings with her superior divine sense as she said, "It is really difficult to imagine that this place was the source of all desolate energies. From what I can sense here, it is more like the life force energies of all the Celestial Realm is acc.u.mulated here."
Lu Qingyun said with a hesitate look at his surroundings were surrounded by a great lake and many waterfalls, "This place is so beautiful. It is difficult to imagine that it is the source of all the desolate energies."
"But this place seems a little odd." Yin Shisi smiled bitterly.
"Why did you say that?" Ouyang Xue asked curiously.
Lu Qingyun was also looking at her and was silently asking the same question as Ouyang Xue.
"It is supposed to be a dangerous place, a place for lucky occurrence to happen or a final resting place for the unlucky cultivators. Yet this place seems so serene. It is a little too fishy." Yin Shisi said quietly.
Lu Qingyun muttered, "That is so true. It is a little too peaceful around here. So peaceful till I didn"t think that there are any dangers around here."
Ouyang Xue said, "I have a question. How do we get out of this place?"
Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi: …
"I didn"t think of it." Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly and he was looking at Yin Shisi.
Yin Shisi said with a fl.u.s.tered look, "Don"t look at me like this. I don"t know too."
Then the three of them had a sheepish look on their countenances.
Lu Qingyun muttered, "That mean that we are struck here forever?"
Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue: …
"How do those people that have exited the Endless Abyssal Sea leave this place? They didn"t give any accounts?" Lu Qingyun smiled weakly.
"There are only a few that have talked about it but it is quickly dismissed as a tall tale." Yin Shisi said after a short ponder. "Since the Endless Abyssal Sea is so rarely encountered, it is of no interest to anyone."
"It is of no interest to anyone except for those that are struck inside." Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. "Tell me about some of the tall tales."
"I only remember an account of an old cultivator that had once entered the Endless Abyssal Sea. His story was quite a fantastic adventure and I doubt that you will want to hear about it. But in the end, he managed to exit the Endless Abyssal Sea when he was caught in a storm and the next thing he knew, he was already back in the Nine Celestial Fraternity." Yin Shisi said quietly.
Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "This does sound a little hard to believe. Surely there must be a portal that can exit this place somewhere. Don"t worry, one day we will find it."
Ouyang Xue asked quietly, "What if we never find it?"
"Then we can only blame our bad luck and be in this place forever." Lu Qingyun sighed softly.
Yin Shisi smiled shyly, "Maybe we can start a new life here even. This isn"t such a bad idea after all."
Ouyang Xue shyly averted her eyes when Yin Shisi had made the suggestion while Lu Qingyun was smiling awkwardly, "It is still too early to say. Maybe the portals that leads to the outside are actually everywhere. We only need to do explore the vicinity a little more thoroughly."
"Yan"Er, do you know the way out? Isn"t this your home?" Lu Qingyun tried a last desperate effort.
"Way out?" Yan"Er looked a little perplexed.
From her expression, it was obvious that she did not know and Lu Qingyun did not ask further.
All of a sudden the bank of the lake was foaming and erupting, startling them; they could see that the waters of the great lake was now rippling and bubbles were foaming above it.
Lu Qingyun was startled, "What is going on?"
Barely had he said that, a gigantic translucent feminine form had risen from the crystal clear lake. She was ten times their height and was monstrous. Her entire body was almost a see through translucent color.
Lu Qingyun quickly flashed his divine sword while Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue also had their swords ready to face this new threat.
But all of a sudden Yan"Er had flown up to the gigantic feminine form and she was shouting excitingly, "Mother!"
Lu Qingyun was startled. "Did Yan"Er just call this monster her mother?" The image of the golden roc and this feminine monster did not seem to mix together…
Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were equally surprised but they did not put down their guards.
Lu Qingyun was shouting panicky, "Yan"Er, come back quickly! It is dangerous!"
But Yan"Er continued to fly up to the face of the feminine form as she called out excitingly, "Mother! Mother!"
The monstrous feminine form had her waist up the lake by now and her voice emitted to everyone. "Child, you have managed to attain nirvana now. Continue to evolve well." She did not actually speak but her voice was emitted in the minds of Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue.
Yan"Er nodded excitingly, "Mother, Yan"Er I will. I have a name now and that is Yan"Er!"
"Yan"Er, my child. You have grown well." The monstrous feminine emitted.
"It is all thanks to my master that I am growing up good! I am now a cultivator as well." Yan"Er proudly said.
Lu Qingyun muttered, "Erm, they know each other?"
The monstrous feminine form had turned to Lu Qingyun and his group as she emitted, "Welcome cultivators to the Endless Abyssal Sea. You must have many unanswered questions. First of all, I am the guardian spirit of this place and this is my sanctum. You may call me the Endless Abyssal Sea."
Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were all stunned. She had actually called herself the Endless Abyssal Sea. This could only mean one thing. She was the embodiment of the entire Endless Abyssal Sea itself!
"You are the first to visit my inner sanctum and disturb my rest. Usually this place is off limits to outsiders. It is only because of Yan"Er that you are here in this place." The monstrous feminine form added. "You may put down your weapons first. You won"t be able to defeat me."
Lu Qingyun laughed weakly as he lowered down his sword, "I wasn"t thinking of fighting you anyway."
"Master, you are actually thinking of fighting Mother with your new sword art." Yan"Er pointed out.
Lu Qingyun: …
"Yan"Er, whose side are you on?" Lu Qingyun muttered awkwardly.
Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue had also lowered their swords as they stared at the guardian spirit of the Endless Abyssal Sea.
The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea said wordlessly in their minds, "You may cultivate in this place in peace. This place has the wondrous effect of purifying your profound strength and will be beneficial to your cultivation progression. You will not have another chance like this again. After that, I will send you out."
Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were all looking at one another with a wondrous look. This was indeed a most lucky occurrence that they had and they had the opportunity to cultivate within the most inner sanctum of the Endless Abyssal Sea!
The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea seemed to know their thoughts and she continued, "All the past mistakes in your cultivation can be reverse here. All the impure profound energies that have c.u.mulated can now be purified. Your profound energies will be cleansed to its purest state and your cultivation progression will be smoother in the future."
Lu Qingyun was extremely delighted to hear that. It was because he had made several mistakes in his cultivation practice in the past. This was a perfect chance for him to solidify his cultivation foundation again.
Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were also thinking the same as they looked excitingly at each other.
The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea pointed to a nearby mountain with a splendid waterfall, "You may cultivate in that place until you are ready to go back. I shall await here. In this place, you have no need for food or water. You can cultivate as long as you want to."
Then she turned to Yan"Er to say, "It is also your lucky occurrence that you have returned to the origin of your birth. Let your mother renews your strength for you. You will be the finest among my many children."
Yan"Er was delighted, "Thank you mother!"
Lu Qingyun was quietly looking at Yan"Er as he thought silently, "Yan"Er has a mother. This is such a good feeling. I am an orphan…"
But he was soon scratching his nose, "Wait a minute. Yan"Er is a golden roc but her mother isn"t. This doesn"t make any sense at all. Yan"Er, she isn"t your mother. You must have made a mistake somewhere…"
He was about to tell her that when he looked up at the monstrous figure of the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea and heaved a heavy sigh. "I don"t want to die yet. Sorry, Yan"Er. You got to acknowledge this mother of yours for now until I am strong enough to be able to fight her."
It was only later that he knew that the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea was the life-giver of all the desolate beasts and the spiritual herbs of the Celestial Realm. For Yan"Er to call the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea as her "mother" was more of a symbolic acknowledgement of her life-giver creator than true mother.