Chapter 475 - 216: Breaking Through to the Golden Core Middle Stage (Part 2)
Chapter 475: Chapter 216: Breaking Through to the Golden Core Middle Stage (Part 2)
"And that’s precisely why they stayed outside."
As he spoke, seven more cultivators arrived one by one from nearby.
Two of them rushed headlong into the white mist, but the remaining five all chose to stop outside.
First, they announced their affiliations and inquired about the situation. Then, they each backed away slightly, deliberately maintaining a safe distance from one another.
For Golden Core Cultivators, a distance of over a thousand zhang—more than six li—was enough to put everyone at ease.
By now, Xiao Chen had also come to understand.
’As expected, cautious cultivators were the majority. *This* was the cultivation world he knew.’
The two cultivators from before had been so bold most likely because this was the Sea of Space. The people who usually roamed these parts were no pushovers, which was why they dared to take the risk.
By now, all the cultivators active in the vicinity had gathered.
Xiao Chen noticed one of them send out a Sound Transmission Spirit Sword, apparently to report the situation. He just couldn’t tell which faction the person belonged to.
’But it didn’t matter. He was the Golden Light Wanderer now; he feared no one.’
Everyone waited patiently for about six hours.
The white mist, which had already grown to a height of over seventy zhang and covered a sea region of about ten thousand square li, finally stopped expanding.
However, it had only stopped expanding; there was no sign of it dissipating.
.
「One day later.」
City Lord Huo was the first to arrive, accompanied by True Monarch Mo Mei.
The two were even more cautious than Xiao Chen. They stopped a full fifty li away from the mist, using their Divine Sense to remotely probe the changes within the dense fog.
They then cast Investigation Techniques from afar, summoning a butterfly and a small snake, respectively, and sending them into the mist.
When no response came after a while, they calmly switched to other methods.
From start to finish, they showed no intention of getting any closer for a look.
HISS!
Taking a sharp breath, Xiao Chen silently backed away, mimicking them by putting a safe distance of fifty li between himself and the mist.
’This looks a little fishy. Why won’t even Nascent Soul True Monarchs dare to get closer?’
Before long, True Monarch Mo Mei seemed to have discovered something. Her lips moved slightly as she appeared to say something to City Lord Huo.
But everyone else was too far away, and no one dared to eavesdrop with their Divine Sense.
A moment later, City Lord Huo scanned the surroundings and announced loudly, "This anomaly has been tentatively identified as a Yin Spirit disaster. Everyone, retreat immediately! Do not linger."
His words startled the dozens of cultivators watching from the perimeter.
"HISS!"
Xiao Chen sucked in a cold breath. ’Those cultivators who rushed in earlier... they’re most likely dead by now. This is the price of recklessness.’
Though he hadn’t recognized it at first, he had indeed heard of the Yin Spirit disaster.
It was one of the most infamous maritime disasters in the Eastern Domain.
Xiao Chen had previously read about ghost mists and mirages in some Ancient Texts.
The Yin Spirit disaster was a combination of these two phenomena.
Legend had it that a Yin Spirit disaster always appeared before a relic was unveiled, especially six months to a year before a new one was discovered.
The two events didn’t need to be strongly related; they could even be millions of li apart, yet the disaster would create a mirage-like effect.
From the outside, it could easily be mistaken for a relic opening.
But once inside, one would be besieged by the Yin Spirits lurking within. For a Golden Core Cultivator who rashly entered, it was a near-certain death.
Although it didn’t sound like a situation of absolute, certain death, one had to remember that there were always the so-called "children of destiny" who could turn peril into a blessing.
That slim chance of survival was reserved for them; it had nothing to do with ordinary cultivators.
So, Xiao Chen turned and left without hesitation. He quickly put several hundred li between himself and the mist before taking a wide detour back toward the Nanlao Sea.
Along the way, he saw many cultivators from Hundred Herbs City traveling in groups toward the Sea of Space.
Back in the city, he made some inquiries. Not only had all the Talismans and Thunder Pearls effective against Yin Spirits been completely bought out, but even the new stock arriving within the next month was already reserved.
The Yin Spirit disaster was both a calamity and an opportunity.
Apparently, the mist would go through two to four phases of expansion but would eventually stabilize within a clear boundary.
Once the mirage’s maximum range had stabilized, cultivators could attempt to sweep the outer edges of the mist, hunting Yin Spirits and collecting their Hearts of the Yin Spirit.
However, that would take at least ten days, so there was no rush.
At Xiao Chen’s speed, it would only take three days to get back there.
He had a more important task to handle first: returning to his small courtyard to inspect the Storage Rings.
Just breaking the Restrictions on the five Storage Rings took him a day and a half.
Fortunately, the final haul was quite substantial.
The first item he secured was the small Cloud-Piercing Spirit Shuttle, two zhang long and two chi wide.
The Xu Family had used a custom model. It consumed thirty percent more Spirit Stones than a regular Spirit Shuttle, but in exchange, it had more space and could carry up to five people.
If Xu Gongtong’s plan had succeeded, the five of them could have returned in it together.
For Xiao Chen, however, the Spirit Shuttle wasn’t particularly useful.
After all, his Escape Techniques were just as fast, and they didn’t require Spirit Stones, which saved him money.
Still, it had its advantages. It could serve as a place to meditate and recover his True Essence during long-distance travel.
Next was the grand total of over 378,000 low-grade Spirit Stones and 2,200 Middle Grade Spirit Stones.
Ge Dongyan’s ring alone had contributed more than a third of that total.
Then again, it was precisely because the Xu Family was short on Spirit Stones that Xu Gongtong had hatched his wicked plan, ultimately reaping what he sowed.
"Wait, how is there not a single Demon Pill?"