Chapter 438: 240. Goodbye Xu Yuanzhen

Spare parts, and spare parts for the spare parts—that counted as one approach as well, but according to Senior Brother’s advice, with this kind of method, I should have prepared more than ten of them. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that much suitable raw material…Lei Jun let out a long sigh.

Ever since Lei Jun had reached the Sixth Heavenly Realm in his cultivation, he had rarely expended such a massive amount of mana as just now.

Firing three cannons at once nearly drained every bit of his mana.

Especially the metallic rails and Fine Gold Sword Pellets used to deal with Lin Likong—they had all been specially crafted by him, large-caliber…

The situation was complicated and time was tight, so besides drawing from his own Yin Yang Sacred Body and Breathing Soil Banner, Lei Jun activated a page of the Celestial Book again to circulate Spiritual Energy, letting Yin and Yang reinforce each other, doing his best to recover his depleted mana swiftly.

Then he quickly cleaned up the aftermath.

During this period, the blurry pocket of space around the pillar of energy above Great Black Mountain’s summit had already begun to shrink and dissipate, showing signs of returning to normal.

Since Lei Jun had made up his mind, he acted without hesitation, immediately throwing himself into that area and stepping into the Void.

Shortly after Lei Jun entered, the pocket of distorted, blurry space rippled like water, then gradually calmed and returned to normal.

Even the pillar of energy above Great Black Mountain, which had pierced the sky as if connecting Heaven and Earth, began to slowly disperse.

In the distance, from the direction of Chengu Mountain, an immense Sword Qi swept toward Great Black Mountain, as fierce as a blizzard.

The blizzard halted, revealing a middle-aged scholar who appeared about fifty, with dignified features and sharp eyes.

This was the very same Eighth Heavenly Layer Great Scholar of the Youzhou Lin Clan who had earlier rescued Lin Likong.

His name was Lin Litao.

Like Lin Likong, he was a Lin Clan Elder from Youzhou, younger than Lin Likong, but his cultivation realm was even greater, making him one of the current leading core elites of the Youzhou Lin Clan.

He carried an imposing presence, his robes fluttering in the wind, yet unlike Lin Likong’s earlier disarray, his expression was just as cold and uncertain, his icy gaze sweeping across the area around Great Black Mountain.

*One upheaval after another, none of it as expected.*

*What’s even more frustrating is that beyond the incident itself, I can’t figure out the cause.*

*And now, even my kinsman, Lin Likong, has gone missing?*

*This is outrageous. Who the hell did this?*

Lin Litao scanned in all directions, finding nothing in a short span, leaving his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

……

Within the Void, Lei Jun was bathed in flickering nine-colored radiance.

Just now, in order to recover his exhausted mana quickly, he had drawn heavily upon the Breathing Soil Banner’s Spiritual Power.

Although the Breathing Soil Banner’s Spiritual Power had always been dense and enduring, it too needed time to recover its Primordial Qi after such strain.

So Lei Jun now channeled the Mixed Cavern Nine Lights of the Celestial Master Robe to bless himself.

On one hand for protection, on the other, he was conducting an experiment.

Even after entering a Foreign Land, the spirituality of the Celestial Master Robe still penetrated multitudes of voids to envelop him, giving Lei Jun more confidence.

If the Celestial Master Robe could do so, then should he encounter certain dangers in this place, the Celestial Master Seal ought to be just as effective.

Though that moderately good lot had said there was currently no danger, Lei Jun still opted to be as prepared as possible.

The Teng Snake Bone had two functions: one for stealth, the other for suddenly striking to suppress an enemy’s Spiritual Soul.

But using the latter would force the Teng Snake Bone into a dormant state for some time, disabling even its stealth function.

Out of habit, Lei Jun generally ignored that second ability.

The Teng Snake Bone’s stealth was exactly what he needed.

Besides the Teng Snake Bone, Lei Jun, ever cautious, continued to add Wind-Thunder Talismans on himself, and further derived the mystical “Night Wind.”

When the still-blurry Void Realm before his eyes gradually grew clear, revealing a distinct scene, Lei Jun knew he had entered another world.

He arrived without a sound, blending seamlessly with his environment at first contact, his silhouette untraceable.

While stealthily changing position from where he’d arrived, Lei Jun started inspecting this unfamiliar land with care.

He had left behind the snowy, frozen lands of the Northern Country; the world before his eyes was lush and green.

It appeared to be tranquil, nothing out of the ordinary.

But Lei Jun’s senses picked up a faint, desolate aura beneath the surface.

Wild and Wenhua, blessing and curse intertwined, wildness…Lei Jun studied the runes emerging from the orb, deep in thought.

He advanced cautiously.

After walking a short while and observing along the way, Lei Jun gradually gained some insight.

The flow of Global Spiritual Qi in this world was extraordinarily strange.

As if it had undergone great and widespread devastation, the Spiritual Energy Veins seemed to be severed and intermittent.

Upon reviewing the green hills and clear waters, he picked up more clues.

The hills rolled, but their rocks had odd shapes—most were low, no high mountains to be seen.

The earth had few sweeping plains; even from a distance, ravines and valleys riddled the terrain everywhere.

As for rivers, although the water surged with strength, their runs were mostly odd, with many branches and splits.

Seen from above, it would seem as if this world had been shattered, even multiple times, by a foreign force.

Where there had once been high mountains, all had been smashed and toppled.

Where there had once been plains, all had been sliced into fragments.

The rivers raged, yet even their courses had changed again and again.

It was only that all this must have happened some years ago.

With time passing, the land’s peaks and rivers had reconnected, struggling to maintain themselves, so that at the surface, those horrific scars could barely be glimpsed.

Yet by following the pathways of Spiritual Energy Veins, it was plain this world had suffered a great calamity.

With each step, Lei Jun’s suspicions only grew.

This land was truly vast.

It wasn’t as huge as the Mortal World beyond, but it far exceeded any other Cave Heavens he had visited—it was much, much larger.

*Did Senior Sister and Lin Che, perhaps Lin Feng, come here before…?* Lei Jun wondered to himself.

The whole way, he saw no sign of human life.

Lei Jun sped up gradually.

After traveling a bit farther, he uncovered more clues.

Here and there were remnants of ruins.

These were not the ordinary villages or cities of mortals, but more akin to the private cave mansions of cultivators.

Traces of Wenhua Qi still lingered, and it was because the Wenhua Qi had not yet fully vanished that the remnants had survived at all.

It seemed these ruins originated as the residences of Confucian Cultivators.

Lei Jun examined the toppled walls and shattered eaves, realizing these homes had been destroyed by overwhelming force.

That wild aura, too, floated forth.

Even after so many years, Lei Jun could still sense the brutal, dominating force within.

It was different from the Taoist inheritance of the Great Void Temple, but the destructive power was similar, bringing to mind the Martial Tao True Meaning of a top Martial Arts Expert.

Blessing and curse turn in wildness…Lei Jun understood.

With insight so keen now, his perception nearly supernatural, Lei Jun made out even more details.

This Martial Tao True Meaning was not only fiercely domineering, but also seemed to target and destroy the Confucian Orthodoxy with great specificity.

When two adepts of similar cultivation matched blows, the Martial Artist gained an extra edge.

But that wasn’t without issues.

Martial Artists cultivating this school of Martial Tao would themselves pay a greater price.

*Longevity…* Lei Jun frowned in thought.

Domineering, powerful, deadly.

But it seemed to intertwine with Demonic Qi Evil Miasma; much like the Blood River and Great Void Temple heritages, it too had a fatal flaw—it could corrupt one’s temperament.

As far as Lei Jun knew, the Great Tang Dynasty currently had no such Martial Tao inheritance.

Still, there were similar legends in certain ancient texts.

Because Martial Tao True Meaning suppressed it, the Literary Splendor Talent here was faint and diluted.

When Lei Jun later studied that Literary Splendor Talent more carefully, he found that the local Confucian Orthodoxy was also distinct from that of the Great Tang.

“…In the Celestial Book Starry Sky, the script that Saturn Earth Radiance asked about before—the literary intent behind that, how does it feel so similar to the path of Confucian Studies here?” Lei Jun’s heart stirred slightly.

Yet for now, his top priority was to find Senior Sister Xu Yuanzhen, and confirm his route back out, so Lei Jun did not linger long to ponder these matters.

He carefully noted all relevant clues, then moved on.

This place was truly expansive, and although Lei Jun had drifted about for a long time, he sensed he had touched only the smallest fraction.

More ruins akin to the toppled Confucian remnants turned up.

But as time wore on, Lei Jun gradually mapped out the stops and starts of the Spiritual Energy Veins here.

He followed those veins, seeking areas where Spiritual Energy clustered thickest.

After quite a while, Lei Jun’s eyes suddenly flashed—he stared into the distance.

In the sky at the edge of sight, there was suddenly a patch of stark blackness.

It looked as if someone had painted the heavens and earth with heavy black ink.

The darkness was not real ink, but a portion of cloud even deeper and heavier than that—utterly black.

Thunderclouds.

Yet at this moment, those thunderclouds were silent and still, like a massive dark glacier, frozen amid Heaven and Earth, suspended halfway in the sky.

Seeing this, Lei Jun let out a long breath.

“You inch forward so damn slow, it’s annoying.”

Almost at the same instant, a chill, indifferent voice spoke, yet the cadence was sharp and urgent, like rain striking jade pans.

Hearing that familiar voice, Lei Jun smiled faintly, “I don’t want to be slow either. To be honest, I’m actually pretty anxious right now, but I figure the more tense things get, the less I dare to act rashly and lose my head.”

Up close, the landscape was even more bizarre.

Aside from the glacier-like, silent thunderclouds hanging in the sky, on the ground directly below, a vast sea of Nine Abyss True Fire burned blazing green.

Within the green fire, it looked as if something was being refined.

The owner of the voice was not as before, seated atop the dark thunderclouds above.

Lei Jun peered more closely; right in the center of the thundercloud glacier, a petite figure sat cross-legged, as if frozen within.

Clad in a Purple Robe, swathed in a pitch-black cloak, with delicate features but no expression at all.

This was none other than Senior Sister Xu Yuanzhen, whom he had not seen for some time.

“How did you find me here?” she asked evenly, “Did Lin Che from Jiangzhou help you?”

Lei Jun, “That’s right, Lin Che wanted to seal up or destroy this world’s path back to the Great Tang Realm for good, so Little Senior Sister and I came to check on things.”

“Pointless self-inflicted misery.”

Xu Yuanzhen’s previous comment was about Lin Che; her next question was, “So, Xiaotang is outside fighting Lin Che and his group? Who’s with them?”

Lei Jun gave a rough report, “The Tang Imperial Court claims some experts will come, but they haven’t shown up yet, and I don’t know who it’ll be.”

Xu Yuanzhen’s expression remained unchanged, “Xiaotang has formed her Divine Court already? Then nothing major will happen. With her temperament, suffering a few minor setbacks will actually do her good.”

Lei Jun, “Senior Sister, you right now?”

Xu Yuanzhen, “As you can see, I’m in seclusion.”

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