Yu Sheng was not from the Taixu Spirit Hub, but he could still hear that heavy sentint from True Man Qianji’s words at this mont—an emotion too complex to simply describe with words, neither pure nostalgia nor satisfaction.
"We people of Taixu place great importance on heritage and ’roots,’" True Man Yuanling also sighed softly and turned to Yu Sheng, "But we are different from Terra’s Archaeological Association, which is also determined to trace its roots. During the annihilation catastrophe, the Terian races had a brief period of sanctuary called the ’Endless Sea.’ In that brief respite, the Terian sages known as ’Firebearers’ left behind a large amount of heritage and historical records, all said to be sealed within the ’Lost Deep Lake.’ So Terra’s Archaeological Association knows exactly what their goal is; they just need to find the Lost Deep Lake... But it’s different for us.
"The Taixu Spirit Hub was ’dug out’ by the Ancient Saints from the ashes of the great calamity, as were ninety-nine percent of all civilizations in this universe. For us, who had once turned into ashes completely, whatever the Ancient Saints dug out back then is all we have now. There is no more to learn, and even if we search the universe, nowhere would still record matters of the Taixu Spirit Hub, the things from the old world.
"My Senior Brother, Master Xuan Che’s uncle, initially also harbored unrealistic ideas, wanting to find traces of the old world, but after all these years, he has found nothing..."
"So now you should know why I rushed over," True Man Qianji said from the side, "This ti we might really have found a little ’scrap’ that fell over here from the old world."
As he said this, he raised his head and solemnly bowed to Yu Sheng once more, this bow significantly more reverent than before.
"Mr. Yu, I would like to accompany you to that Desert Exotic Realm once more, if you don’t mind?"
"That’s not a problem," Yu Sheng nodded without hesitation, "But that Exotic Realm’s situation is a bit special..."
"Special?"
The one who answered was True Man Yuanling: "Every ti the Exotic Realm opens, it changes inside, and in most cases, it’s just aningless chaos, so even if you go now, it’s unlikely you’ll see the identical desert again."
True Man Qianji’s face clearly showed disappointnt.
However, Yu Sheng suddenly spoke up: "I might give it a try; I morized the ’coordinates’ of that desert when I left, maybe I can ’open the door’ directly back to that place."
"Is that even possible?" True Man Qianji’s eyes brightened instantly (sothing inside the chanical devices in his head really lit up), "Then please, Mr. Yu!"
Yu Sheng also did not refuse, directly extending his hand into the air, while focusing slightly, he began to assign values to the ’Door’ as per usual procedures.
A phantom door quickly ford in his hand.
Simultaneously, Qianji, Yuanling, and Xuan Che all focused their gazes on that semi-transparent door, and even the Spirit Mountain Cultivators around the Giant Divine Soldier subconsciously quieted down, watching Yu Sheng’s next move.
Yu Sheng took a gentle breath, turned the doorknob, and slowly pulled open the door.
Yet at this mont, a kind of... "resistance" he had never felt before suddenly spread from the bottom of his heart, and imdiately after, he felt his hand empty.
The door, just barely ajar, vanished silently.
Hu Li’s eyes instantly widened, she subconsciously cried out: "Savior! Why is the door gone..."
Yu Sheng himself was a bit stunned, then he tried reaching into the air again, focusing even more than before, working with caution.
The sa thing happened once more: the phantom door silently annihilated just as it opened a crack.
Erin stared blankly at this scene: "...What’s going on? Is your ability malfunctioning?"
Yu Sheng didn’t speak for a mont, just frowned tightly in thought, breaking the silence only after a few seconds: "...It’s a null value."
True Man Qianji didn’t understand Yu Sheng’s ability, but he also saw that this was abnormal and quickly asked, "What does null value an?"
"It ans the destination doesn’t exist," Yu Sheng looked at his right hand, "This is really strange..."
"The destination doesn’t exist? Isn’t that even stranger than when you failed to open the door to the Black Forest the first ti?!" Erin blinked, imdiately thinking of the situation during Yu Sheng’s previous ’failed’ door-opening, "When we first tried going into the Black Forest, the failure was because of ’Dream Drifting’... But drifting shouldn’t make the destination non-existent, right?"
"But we did leave through that desert’s door back then," Hu Li also chid in, her big ears twitching in the air, "and before that, Xuan Che could also return to the Exotic Realm through the ’door’ from outside."
"...When he returned to the Exotic Realm through the door, I was maintaining the passage from the desert side, so this ’operation’ is very likely one-way," Yu Sheng said thoughtfully, "Perhaps the door-opening operation can only be conducted inside that Exotic Realm?"
Erin roughly understood Yu Sheng’s aning, she scratched her head: "So what now?"
"Of course, we go to ’Taiyou’ again, going through the ’normal route’ once more," Yu Sheng said without hesitation, his thoughts simple and direct, "First confirm whether that Exotic Realm still exists, then figure out its rules and what’s going on."
True Man Qianji stepped forward imdiately upon hearing this: "I’m willing to go with you all—please ask True Man Yuanling to prepare an Immortal Boat for us..."
"Oh, that’s not necessary," Yu Sheng waved his hand, "I ant there’s no need for the Immortal Boat—I can still directly open the door to Taiyou’s mine."
As he spoke, he casually swiped through the air beside him, and a door almost instantly ford and opened.
Not far on the other side of the door stood a stunned Su Yun—she was currently leading people to stand guard at the mine entrance.
"Master?" In less than a second of surprise, Su Yun quickly ran over. Although she didn’t understand how a door suddenly appeared in front of her, she clearly saw her master standing on the opposite side of the door, as well as another important figure at the scene. She hurriedly saluted through the door, "Junior Su Yun greets True Man Qianji... and Senior Brother, Mr. Yu... what brings you here?"
True Man Yuanling hadn’t anticipated Yu Sheng would open the door so suddenly, but he quickly responded, stepping forward to address Su Yun, "How is the ’entrance’ situation? Any changes?"
Su Yun hastily nodded in reply, "No changes. Just now, we checked the ’Critical’ location; it’s still the sa."
"Hmm," True Man Yuanling nodded, "Mr. Yu and the others want to check the Exotic Realm beneath that mine again, and True Man Qianji will also go—don’t be nervous, just continue to guard the surroundings."
"Yes!"
"Then let’s head over now," Yu Sheng glanced back at the group beside him, "You all go in first, I’ll be the last."
Xuan Che responded by being the first to walk through the door, followed closely by Luna and Hu Li. True Man Qianji paused slightly as he arrived at the door, looking up in puzzlent at the illusory door held by Yu Sheng, while the gears and devices in his head creaked and clanked, "...What’s the principle behind this?"
Yu Sheng felt he was hearing that question frequently lately...
Just as everyone passed through the door, and Yu Sheng prepared to lead Erin over, True Man Yuanling suddenly spoke, "Hold on a mont."
Yu Sheng stopped imdiately and turned around, "Ah, do you want to co too?"
"I’m not like Qianji, who can transform into a thousand forms and co and go as he pleases," True Man Yuanling stroked his beard and then took out an ancient mirror from his bosom, "Take my Lingxi Mirror with you and have Qianji carry it. I want to use him to see what the Exotic Realm truly looks like."
"Alright."
Yu Sheng nodded in agreent, then took the "Lingxi Mirror" handed over by True Man Yuanling and stepped through the door.
The next second, he was above Taiyou, before the mine ramp leading to the entrance of the Exotic Realm.
Everyone began preparing to enter the Exotic Realm.
Xuan Che was explaining sothing to Su Yun not far away, who handed so self-made Gastric Health Pills to Xuan Che. Luna was inspecting her blade, dismantling and assembling her arm joints with clinks and clanks, while Hu Li took out a baked bun from his tail, devouring it quickly with both hands.
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True Man Qianji was still marveling at the surroundings, looking back once more at where he had co from, while checking the paraters recorded by the chanisms within his own body, "Incredible... truly incredible, as if one really just crossed through a door without any signs of spatial movent..."
Yu Sheng approached True Man Qianji and handed him the Lingxi Mirror, "True Man Yuanling asks you to help hold this."
"...I figured he’d be curious about the situation inside the Exotic Realm as well." True Man Qianji was not surprised at all, smiling as he accepted the ancient mirror and casually placed it to his side, allowing it to float nearby.
He then raised his hand, tapping on the transparent crystal stone casing on his chest a few tis before directly removing that casing.
Yu Sheng was astonished to see him grab his iron-gray heart, surrounded by nurous gears and shafts, directly from his chest and then carefully adjusted the intricate structures on the back of the heart.
True Man Qianji’s expression remained calm, as if this were a daily routine, while Yu Sheng felt a chill in his own chest, instinctively recalling so unpleasant mories and curiously asking, "What are you doing?"
"Opening the Heart Acupoint," True Man Qianji replied without lifting his head. "This heart is refined with special techniques, endowed with unique functions that allow for the exploration of various deceitful and abnormal places. This heart has nine acupoints, with seven used for daily purposes, and the other two manually activated, enabling Primordial Spirit Void and communication between reality and illusion."
He paused for a mont, then looked up at Yu Sheng, noticing the bewildernt on his face, and explained further, "Oh, it’s similar to the ’umbilical cord’ technology of the Boundary Land Special Service Bureau—except it’s not as universally applicable and cannot be used on individuals with low cultivation levels."
"Umbilical cord?"
"Exactly," True Man Qianji laughed, placing the adjusted heart back into his chest, "Communication with the outside world is severed in the Exotic Realm, and my body is just one of many incarnations. Without so preparations, the mont I enter the Exotic Realm, this body would beco a pile of scrap—Yuanling asked to carry the Lingxi Mirror to make use of my ’Heart Acupoint’..."
Yu Sheng finally understood, "Oh, I get it now; it’s like piggybacking on your capability."
"...That taphor is quite ingenious."
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