Chapter 586: Supreme Among the Three Realms, Li Baobao in Danger |
"Void Fire, its full name is Taixu Karmic Fire. You should know about Taixu, right, my lord?"
"Am I asking you, or are you asking me? One more word of nonsense and you die!"
At this critical moment, it was still trying to probe his background. This Six-Armed Evil Abomination really had too many schemes...
Xia Hong's face showed no expression, but his tone was exceptionally low and heavy. When he looked at the Six-Armed Evil Abomination, the thick killing intent in his pupils was not concealed in the slightest.
The Six-Armed Evil Abomination shuddered in fright, hurriedly suppressing the stirrings in its heart, and began to recount the details of Taixu Karmic Fire truthfully.
Void Fire, unlike ordinary flames, could restrain all soul bodies in the world. Dead souls, in particular, were most afraid of it. Speaking of this, one had to mention the greatest characteristic of dead souls: they would never perish for all eternity.
The difference between living souls and dead souls had been mentioned by the Six-Armed Evil Abomination earlier. In short, the former were newly formed and weak, while the latter were ancient and powerful.
Powerful things often enjoyed privileges. This principle could basically be applied to anything, and dead souls were no exception.
Soul bodies in the Dark Realm, under normal circumstances, could not be said to be completely eradicated. They were either suppressed, like those beneath Qishan Mountain, or devoured by other, more powerful soul bodies, turning into nourishment.
The former, being suppressed, need not be elaborated upon. As long as the Qishan Demon Lord was in a good mood, they could be released at any time. As for the latter, those that were devoured, as soon as the main body perished, they would immediately regain their freedom, and over time, they would gradually recover their spiritual intelligence.
Hearing this, Xia Hong basically understood!
Dead souls were a kind of indirect immortal species. Without special means, they simply could not be exterminated.
This basically corresponded to the situation with the Abominations in the Ice Abyss.
Most of the Abominations in the Ice Abyss were the result of self-revival. Of course, it now seemed that some had also snuck over from the Dark Realm. But the Six-Armed Evil Abomination had also mentioned earlier that dead souls from ancient times were continuously reviving in the Dark Realm as well. So, they were basically all undying and indestructible.
Void Fire was not the only method to exterminate dead souls, but it was definitely the most effective among all methods.
"This humble one hails from the Maro Heaven Kingdom in the Dark Realm. Several months ago, I served under a Rakshasa Demon General in the kingdom. The area we were garrisoning was attacked by a great sage from beyond the heavens. That great sage wielded a flaming divine spear. When he thrust his spear, he summoned a fire spanning a hundred miles, nearly annihilating our entire force. Because I narrowly escaped with my life, I remember it very clearly. That flame was almost identical to the one you, my lord, unleashed in the Ice Abyss earlier. At that time, that Demon General shouted 'Void Fire,' which is how this humble one was able to recognize it."
After hearing this, Xia Hong immediately furrowed his brows.
This answer was basically useless to him. If he had to find a use, it was probably that he now knew there was another Abomination force called the Maro Heaven Kingdom in the Dark Realm, and about that great sage...
"What realm is a great sage? And what do you mean by 'beyond the heavens'?"
The Six-Armed Evil Abomination was truly frightened now, so it didn't dare to beat around the bush anymore and answered directly: "The worlds and planes are countless, but they are basically dominated by three realms: the Great Abyss, the Dark Realm, and the Holy Yang Realm. How strong a great sage specifically is, this humble one does not know. I only know they are top-tier powerhouses of the Holy Yang Realm, roughly equivalent to the ruler of our Maro Heaven Kingdom, and probably on the same level as the Qishan Demon Lord."
So, this Six-Armed Evil Abomination's origins were not small either!
If the Maro Kingdom ruler and the Qishan Demon Lord were on the same level, and the great sage was their equal, then that meant above these three, there were likely even stronger existences...
Xia Hong briefly considered this train of thought, then quickly focused his attention on the first sentence the Six-Armed Evil Abomination had said.
The worlds and planes are countless, but they are dominated by three realms: the Great Abyss, the Dark Realm, and the Holy Yang Realm.
It hadn't even been a full eighteen years since the spirit bodies arrived in the Yang Realm, but his understanding of that world had always been vague. Now, he finally had a rough outline.
Although the Six-Armed Evil Abomination hadn't finished speaking, Xia Hong could infer some things from the bits and pieces. The Tribulation Body Realm's revered form required dead souls. Looking at the numerous slaughtering behaviors of the Abominations in the Yang Realm, it wasn't hard to see that they also had a great demand for living souls.
As for this newly heard Holy Yang Realm...
Xia Hong's eyes flickered slightly. He lowered his head to look at the Six-Armed Evil Abomination and asked, "Are the lifeforms that dominate the Holy Yang Realm humans or Frost Beasts?"
The Six-Armed Evil Abomination was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then subconsciously said, "This... this humble one is not clear about that. However, although there are some human powerhouses in the Holy Yang Realm, this humble one can assert that humans could not possibly be the masters of the Holy Yang Realm..."
As the Six-Armed Evil Abomination recounted in detail, Xia Hong gained a general impression of the Holy Yang Realm.
The lifeforms of the Holy Yang Realm were all born with extremely powerful physical bodies, the exact opposite of the spirit-body lifeforms of the Dark Realm. They were not divided by race, had no absolute ruler, and, like the Dark Realm, were divided into numerous major powers.
"Do you know of Lingyin Mountain?"
Upon hearing this, the Six-Armed Evil Abomination's expression froze momentarily. After thinking for a moment, it nodded and said, "If you asked about other places, this humble one truly wouldn't know. But as for Lingyin Mountain, this humble one happens to have heard of it, also from that Rakshasa Demon General. It seems the Maro Heaven Kingdom where this humble one is from has some connection with Lingyin Mountain. Legend has it that the Maro Kingdom ruler is an old acquaintance from Lingyin Mountain in ancient times."
Indeed!
Hearing this answer, a flash of understanding crossed Xia Hong's heart.
The Abominations of the Ice Abyss didn't only come from the Dark Realm; some also came from the Holy Yang Realm.
This Holy Yang Realm, its name sounded grand and righteous, but judging from the deeds of the five great masters of Dajue Temple, it was clearly not a good place either.
The Dark Realm and the Holy Yang Realm were probably two sides of the same coin. One side's beings were born with powerful soul bodies, the other side's beings were born with powerful physical bodies. Compared to humans, both seemed to have innate advantages.
And the fact that beings from both realms were so eager to descend into the Ice Abyss meant that the living souls of humans in the Ice Abyss held a strong temptation for them.
This was not good news at all!
Could the extreme cold of the Ice Abyss be the work of these two realms?
Suddenly coming into contact with such a great secret, Xia Hong felt a heavy weight in his heart, while many past confusions were also resolved. However, limited by his strength, there were still many things he only half-understood. The core matters could only be guessed at.
Originally, he had wanted to use the inquiry about Void Fire to investigate the origins of the Sacred Cauldron and even the camp system. But judging from the Six-Armed Evil Abomination's answers, it was clearly only partially informed and definitely wouldn't be able to provide much information.
"I'll spare your life for now. I will go to White Bone Mountain, but rest assured, if we encounter any danger at White Bone Mountain, I will destroy you immediately!"
Xia Hong said no more. With a cold laugh, not bothering to look at the Six-Armed Evil Abomination's expression, he directly stored it into the silver box and placed it into the Yellow Mustard Bag.
"Saving people is urgent, but the top priority is ensuring my own safety. The cultivation pills I have are enough to sustain my cultivation for five to six more days. It's only a matter of these few days anyway. I'll first raise my strength as much as possible. Seventy kilometers... I'll just slowly make my way towards White Bone Mountain!"
The results of half a day's cultivation were truly astonishing. With such high cultivation efficiency, Xia Hong was naturally in no hurry to rush over.
Xiahou Yong and Jiang Yiqing only had Warmth Realm cultivation. Logically, they should have died immediately upon entering the Dark Realm. But that Scattered Spirit earlier said three people ran together towards White Bone Mountain, which proved the two were temporarily safe, most likely with that Li Baobao.
He just didn't know if Li Baobao was protecting them, or if there was another reason!
"First, improve. In five or six days, breaking through to the peak of Sun Manifestation is definitely no problem. I might even have a chance to attempt the Tribulation Body..."
Having made up his mind, Xia Hong took a slight breath, looked into the distance towards the west, found the nearest location where spirit bodies were gathered, and slowly approached.
Relying on pills alone wasn't enough. Absorbing large quantities of these spirit bodies would lead to faster improvement. This place was close to Qishan Mountain. He was a bit hesitant to use the Shattering Divine Light, but using the upgraded Soul-Calming Cauldron should be fine.
And so, Xia Hong formulated a six-day cultivation plan for himself. He would slowly head west towards White Bone Mountain while exterminating and absorbing those Scattered Spirits along the way, embarking on a frenzy of improvement.
................
Damn it!
While Xia Hong was frantically improving his cultivation in the Misty Marsh Forest, seventy kilometers to the west, beneath the massive White Bone Mountain, within a boundless forest of stark white trees, Li Baobao was bitterly complaining as she was chased by a towering column of fire.
"What kind of place is this! How can there be such bizarre trees, and those soul-body creatures without physical forms? I can only damage them by manifesting my Golden Body and unleashing Tribulation Qi. But there are too many of them. With just me alone, I simply can't deal with them. This is trouble!"
Having been in this world for half a day, Li Baobao had escaped from the group of wandering spirits in the previous forest and made her way to this massive White Bone Mountain. She had also roughly figured out some patterns.
The lifeforms in this world basically had no physical bodies. Her powerful physical body, which she had always relied on in the past, was completely useless here. She could only depend on her Golden Body.
But as everyone knew, for a Tribulation Body Realm cultivator to manifest their Golden Body meant unleashing their full strength. This state could not be maintained for too long, at least not during the Tribulation Body Realm period.
When she first figured out this pattern, she had exterminated over a dozen wandering spirits and thought she could rely on her own strength to escape this world. But when she walked out of that previous forest and arrived at this White Bone Mountain, she was instantly dumbfounded.
The reason this massive mountain she was currently on was named "White Bone" was because all the trees on this mountain were stark white and extremely similar to bones—some human, some beast-like, and some species she couldn't recognize.
A mountain composed of bones was, at most, somewhat eerie. But it was utterly absurd that the mountain also contained a large number of patrolling wandering spirits. The key was that these patrolling wandering spirits were wearing armor and holding weapons, just like human soldiers.
"Fortunately, I can see them through the Boundary-Breaking Pearl in my forehead. In the Ice Abyss, the Boundary-Breaking Pearl was charged by absorbing Abominations. The spirit bodies I exterminated earlier were all absorbed by the Boundary-Breaking Pearl. So, these spirit bodies share the same origin as the Ice Abyss Abominations; they are most likely the same kind of creature. Have I come to the world of the Abominations?"
...
Li Baobao narrowly avoided the column of fire behind her. Turning her head, she saw the tens of thousands of armored and armed wandering spirits closing in from behind and both sides. Her stunningly beautiful face immediately showed a few traces of panic.
The wandering spirits she had encountered in that previous forest were basically unformed. But the wandering spirits here were not only fully formed but also wore armor and wielded weapons, clearly much stronger.
The facts were indeed so. During her escape just now, she had already clashed with some of these wandering spirits. These formed wandering spirits were more powerful, and their weapons could even injure her Golden Body.
"So many wandering spirit soldiers. Once surrounded, it's certain death. But my physical body is completely useless here. I can only rely on my Golden Body to fly, and I can't fly high or fast. How can I escape..."
Li Baobao looked up at the sky above, her expression extremely grim.
In the Ice Abyss, the ability to fly was a great advantage. Sun Manifestation Level cultivators could come and go freely amidst thousands of troops because of it. But here, it was completely ineffective. She had already tried earlier.
...
"Little wench, stay! You can't escape White Bone Mountain. Abandon your physical body, stay by Madam's side as a maidservant, and live forever without perishing..."
What was even more critical was that what was chasing her from behind wasn't just that army of wandering spirits.
A stooped old man in a red robe was speeding towards her through the air. The old man held a dark red iron folding fan in his right hand, which he kept fanning towards Li Baobao.
With each fan of the old man, a column of fire would fly out from the fan, heading straight for Li Baobao's Golden Body.
Li Baobao had been running frantically for a long time. Her Golden Body was already somewhat weakened, and her dodging movements were starting to become a bit distorted. The continuous columns of fire kept coming. Although she dodged most of them, she was still hit from time to time.
That flame clearly had a strong restraining effect on the human Golden Body. Flames had already attached to many areas of Li Baobao's Golden Body, and the fire was still spreading, clearly having the tendency to spread to other areas.
"My eighty-zhang Golden Body has been burned down to less than sixty zhang. It's already weakened by almost thirty percent. This time, I'm truly finished. Why did I have to go to Great Xia for no reason? That Blood Pool must have been tampered with by the Fiend Dragon. To think it inexplicably sent me here..."
Li Baobao's heart was now filled with regret. Her earlier investigation into the situation at Red Dragon Lake was not originally aimed at Great Xia, but because she was worried that the revival of that Fiend Dragon would bring disaster to Mo'ao Chuan.
The subsequent discovery of gold and the conflict with Xia Hong were purely accidental. She understood the importance of gold deeply. As the princess of Wei Bo and the next feudal lord, it was natural that she couldn't let Great Xia monopolize it.
Furthermore, in her view, Great Xia, at its current stage, did not have the strength to monopolize such a large batch of gold.
Of course, it was too late to say anything now!
"Those two Xia people fell unconscious not long after entering. Looking at it now, hiding them on the outskirts of White Bone Mountain might have actually saved their lives. If I had brought them into White Bone Mountain with me, it would have been a dead end..."
Li Baobao's heart darkened as she shook her head slightly.
Another column of fire shot from behind. Sensing she had no strength left to dodge, a look of despair appeared on her face. She directly turned her body and fully released her Golden Body.
"Since I can't escape anyway, I'll fight!"
Triple-Element Tribulation Qi burst forth from within the Golden Body. Li Baobao turned and fiercely drew her sword. The Golden Body also condensed a sky-blue sword shadow that suddenly met the column of fire.
Whoosh...
The column of fire was split in two. Surging Tribulation Qi abruptly shot out. The red-robed old man, caught off guard, was forced to halt momentarily.
The front ranks of the wandering spirit army were even worse off. First struck by the Tribulation Qi shockwave, then slashed by the Golden Body's sword shadow, dozens of wandering spirit soldiers in the front row were instantly turned to dust along with their armor.
Of course, "dust" was just a figure of speech. They were merely spirit bodies. After being split, they just turned into countless points of light, which were then completely absorbed by Li Baobao's Golden Body.
"Daring to put up a futile resistance even at death's door!"
Seeing that the mouse she had been toying with actually turned to resist, the red-robed old man flew into a rage. Raising the iron fan in his hand, he swept it down fiercely.
Boom...
Fierce flames flew out once more.
And Li Baobao's Golden Body, which had just mustered its strength to slash with a sword, now had no remaining strength to resist. She, however, seemed resigned and simply closed her eyes, waiting for death.
Thump...
However, the expected pain did not arrive as anticipated.
"Hurry, come with me! Crimson Flame is only one of the Seven Demon Generals under the Jade Pass Human Demon. If the other demon generals arrive, we'll be dead!"
Instead, a clear, crisp, and lively female voice was the first to reach her ears.
Li Baobao looked up at the girl who had suddenly appeared before her, her expression momentarily stunned. After carefully examining the girl's face, she inexplicably felt a strange sense of familiarity.
"Haven't I seen this face somewhere before?"