Chapter 158: Heaven’s Palm Print
After a short rumination, Su Yu still could not solve the Immortal technique’s code. But there was no more time, the imminent departure was here at last.
When he arrived at the courtyard, Mo Wu was already waiting outside. Her lofty lovely figure was standing still. Under the weak sunlight, the classical beauty was slender and elegant; she was youthfully beautiful.
"Let’s go," Mo Wu whispered without turning back. She gracefully walked away to lead the way. As it turned out, she had been waiting for Su Yu. Su Yu smiled and kept pace with her. His eyes held her beautiful reflection and her delicate fragrance wafted to his nose. When they reached the assembly point outside of the Sanctum, three other people had already arrived.
The Fourth Elder stole a look at Su Yu. He closely examined his fingers and the Divine Ice Ring was no longer there. Slightly sighing on the inside, the Fourth Elder was somewhat disappointed. "In the end, it was still taken back by the Second Elder."
As Su Yu had exposed the divine artifact to the world, it would attract others’ covetous attention. If the Second Elder had not taken it back, it was inevitable that Su Yu would meet with danger. And now, any chance of that was taken care of.
Just at this point, five large birds flew in and landed. They were the Liuxian Faction’s distinctive flight transportation. That year, when one of them had descended on the Shenyue Island, Su Yu could only look up. Now, he could strike and kill one with a flex of his fingers.
Although their builds were smaller than that of the eagle which arrived at the Shenyue Island, their strengths were not that different. A mere six months, Su Yu could not help but sigh with regret at the huge disparity between now and before.
"It’s a long trip, so we’re using the eagles to travel instead. There are only five red eagles, so five of you will have to share the four eagles," The Fourth Elder coolly said while he glided onto the one with the largest build. The remaining four were up to the five disciples to allocate among themselves.
It was inevitable that two people would have to squeeze together on the same eagle. Though each eagle was not small, it was slightly crowded for two people. No one would likely want to share with another person.
Swish—
Without a word, Su Yu reacted very quickly and went towards the nearest one to claim it first. However, just as Su Yu was about to climb onto the eagle, a blast of biting cold palm force suddenly came from behind. Although it was not packed with spiritual energy, the momentum of that palm force concealed an extremely strong cold stream. Su Yu was blasted off and flew to the side about three feet away.
Swish—
A piercing noise streaked past his side at the first chance. On a closer look, the snatcher was astoundingly Tang Yixuan, the Sixth Level Holy King!
The other three people were predetermined disciples, so Tang Yixuan would not dare to snatch from them. But Su Yu was just like him, they did not have any powerful backers. If he did not snatch from him, who could he snatch from?
"Get lost!" Tang Yixuan flexed his fingers and attacked with a strong force that left Su Yu with no choice but to fall back a few steps. Feeling slightly angry, Su Yu clenched his fists. He wanted to look for another one among the rest of the eagles, but they were all taken! He was the only one left without a ride.
The Fourth Elder’s expression was calm, he turned a blind eye to the fighting. "Prepare to set off!"
Whoosh—
All the five eagles immediately flapped their wings, getting ready to fly.
Tang Yixuan coldly glanced over to Su Yu. "You got into the Abyss of Wutong by luck. You’re not fit to ride with me, Tang Yixuan!" With those words, he piloted the eagle and soared to the skies. Several other eagles also left in succession.
In a blink of an eye, all the eagles were gone. But, just above the ground, Mo Wu’s eagle was still hovering in mid-air. With both eyes closed, Mo Wu was sitting crossed-legged in meditation on an eagle’s back and her back was facing Su Yu.
"Do you want my invitation to come up?" she asked without turning to look at him.
Su Yu smiled knowingly and swiftly got up. "Thank you, Senior Sister Mo."
Mo Wu was cold and unresponsive. She piloted the eagle to catch up with the others. Until they had caught up with Tang Yixuan’s eagle, she then slightly opened her pretty eyes and swept her gaze towards Tang Yixuan. A hint of coldness burst forth in her eye. "Need my help to teach him a lesson?"
"No need! It’s a problem between us, we can solve it on our own! Someday, I will personally return his favor!" Su Yu coldly glanced at Tang Yixuan and then turned back his gaze.
Mo Wu slowly closed her eyes. "Whatever, it’s up to you." However, a hint of approval flashed in the corner of her eyes. Without any further words, she tended to her own cultivation and ignored Su Yu’s presence. Su Yu was grateful and sat crossed-legged to cultivate too.
At the Liuxian Faction, the Faction Master and several Elders had gathered together. Apart from the Second Elder who was in seclusion and the Fourth Elder had to oversee the Abyss of Wutong, the rest of the Elders were present. The Liuxian Faction Master and the others sat around a circular table.
There were four pitch-black tokens on the table, with the word "Empire" engraved on them. Looking at the four tokens, all the higher-ups present wore grave expressions. The atmosphere was heavy.
"Three of them were found in the Wolong Snowfield, the other one was found in the vast sea." The Liuxian Faction Master’s brows tightly knitted in deep contemplation.
"In the vast sea, the silver-robed guards of the Empire of Darkness snatched our Liuxian Faction’s new disciple entrants; at Wolong Snowfield, the silver robed guards of the Empire of Darkness plundered our Liuxian Faction’s precious treasures... What does everyone think of this?" The Liuxian Faction Master gloomily inquired.
The Third Elder said seriously. "In my opinion, it’s time to notify the Alliance and inform them of this matter. The tentacles of the Empire of Darkness have already reached the hinterlands of the Liuxian Faction, we no longer have a way to retreat."
Everyone felt nervous, the Empire of Darkness was outlawed in the Zhenlong Continent. It was like an invisible blade hanging over everyone’s head. If they were provoked, it would be annihilation in an instant!
"What if the Empire of Darkness decides to seek revenge ahead of time? After all, we killed four disciples from the Empire of Darkness! The one found in the vast sea had been killed by an unknown person so that could still be explained, but the three people at Wolong Snowfield were cut down by our Faction disciples!" The Fifth Elder felt apprehensive.
Everyone was quiet after hearing that. In the end, after a long silence, the Faction Master spoke again with a sigh. "If... such a day comes, we have no choice but to give up that disciple..."
After ten days, they had already crossed over a hundred thousand mountains. Traveling millions of miles on the road, the vast expanse was ten times larger than the Shenyue Island! The vastness of the Zhenlong Continent was an eye-opener for Su Yu. It was not exactly known whether the Liuxian Faction was the only power in the Zhenlong Continent.
Thinking back to the Empire of Darkness, Su Yu slightly shook his head. Outside of the Liuxian Faction, there might be other powers. It was just not known when comparing both the Liuxian Faction and Empire of Darkness which one was stronger and which one was weaker.
Shriek—
Following the eagles’ screams, the several eagles finally arrived. They had landed within a misty primeval forest. There were pale and towering ancient trees. The vicissitudes of time had changed the landscape and no one could identify its real terrain from ages ago. But, there was an imprint that not even the passage of time could erase!
And that was... a palm print!
Looked down from above, the lush green and densely primeval forest had a colossal palm print a hundred-miles wide! Where the palm print was, not even a blade of grass grew. Thus, that extraordinary terrifying palm print was easily sighted!
The Twilight Mountains of the Shenyue Island, the forbidden grounds of the Fenghuang Valley, and the Divine Ice Ancient Kingdom in the vast sea all had that terrifying palm print of destruction. But the palm print in front of his eyes was even more terrifying!
In terms of its size, it was ten times bigger than any of the previously seen palm prints! An obscure force which had passed through the eons of time had remained to this day.
The eagles shuddered and shrieked. They were hovering high in the air and were afraid to land here. In the middle of that palm print, a crack of a hundred-mile length ran through it.
Striking and startling, it was as if that terrifying heaven’s palm print had split the earth open with an earth-shattering crack! This crack was an abyss—The Abyss of Wutong! At the bottom of the abyss was the ruins of a civilization.
Perhaps the master of that civilization had become aware of the changes in the world and hid everyone underground ahead of time. But unfortunately, they still failed to escape their doom.
"We have arrived at the Abyss of Wutong. We can now land our eagles!" The Fourth Elder shouted, took the lead and swiftly descended. The rest of the people followed, the flew through the air and landed before the rift.
Viewed from above, the abyss was a hairline crack. But standing right in front of the rift, they found that their eyes could not see the other side! It was ten miles wide!
It was pitch-black inside the abyss. Some of the ferocious beings inside the darkness were also sending out horrible heart-pounding monstrous cries. Droughts of deathly strange smells from within the abyss assaulted their senses!
"We’ll rest here for a night. Tomorrow at dawn, I’ll assign you to your units." The Fourth Elder waved a hand and immediately went to check on the rest of the disciples.
Mo Wu stood still with her arms folded before the abyss. "Inside the Abyss of Wutong, there are still remnants of ancient spells. Hence, there is abundant spiritual energy here. if you have the opportunity, you must strive to join the excavation unit." These words were naturally spoken for Su Yu who was behind her, to hear.
"Excavation unit?" Su Yu was puzzled. "Don’t tell me the one hundred members of the Abyss of Wutong are divided into many units?"
Mo Wu lightly nodded with her pointed snow-white chin. "There are three units. The hauling unit must quietly bring the excavated treasures back to the Faction. As you have already seen, the Wolong Snowfield was almost destroyed. The support unit arranges the food provisions, tools, and so on. In short, they are the odd-jobs members. Finally, the excavation unit enters the abyss to dig in the ruins.
"The excavation unit is not only near the ancient spells and can absorb the spiritual energy there, but the members also have the chance to unearth treasures and hand them over to the Faction to receive ample rewards. If they find a remnant volume of a Legacy level cultivation technique, they are free to enter the Depository of Buddhist Scriptures once and receive a rare top-grade marrow cleansing elixir; If they find a complete volume of legacy level cultivation technique, they are free to enter the Depository of Buddhist Scriptures three times and receive get a divine elixir, which only the Elders can take! As for an Immortal level cultivation technique, it was only discovered once and that was Han Zhi. As you can see, he became the Great Elder’s disciple and went on to become the Tenth Elder.
"So, since you have taken the risk in coming here, joining the hauling and support units will make your trip pointless and a waste. It is only useful if you can join the excavation unit. At tomorrow’s assignment of units, you must strive for the excavation unit assignment." At the end of her speech, Mo Wu walked toward a camp where a large numbers of disciples were stationed. They were the members of the Abyss of Wutong.
The excavation unit? Su Yu stared into the depths of the abyss with deep anticipation. His purpose was to enter the Abyss of Wutong, wasn’t it? So, he had to get into the excavation unit!
With a light breath, Su Yu went to the camp. However, just as he arrived, he heard a fight! Or more accurately, it was a one-sided assault!
Ah—
Plop—
A figure came flying backward and was smashed right in front of Su Yu!