Chapter 34: Chapter 31: Breakthrough
What surprised Mu Chen was the path that followed. Not only was it full of twists and turns, but the tunnels also had nurous branches. One split into three, and three into nine, to the point that after following the Profound Old Ghost to the very end, he had no idea where he was.
Now Mu Chen finally understood why no one had managed to explore this place even after a hundred thousand years. Even if you broke the first Seal, it was nearly impossible to navigate the caves to reach the destination. The only person who had ever sensed the aura of the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit was his Master.
"Phew, we’re finally here." The Profound Old Ghost let out a long breath, stopping in front of a cave entrance and wiping the sweat from his brow.
Mu Chen clicked his tongue in amazent. "Master, I’m truly impressed. After all this ti, you can still rember such a complicated path so clearly."
"Of course. Don’t you know who I am?"
The Profound Old Ghost couldn’t help but blush, though he quickly concealed his awkwardness. In truth, he had also forgotten the way and could only rely on the aura of the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit to navigate. Naturally, he’d taken many wrong turns. Even he felt that the path they took this ti was significantly longer than his last journey to the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit’s location.
"Go on in. That’s the Sun and Moon Pool."
Hearing this, Mu Chen walked to the cave entrance. Inside, it was as bright as the Outer Realm, his vision completely unobstructed. This was a huge, circular space about a hundred zhang across. The inner walls were entirely inlaid with massive pieces of jade. The ground was perfectly flat, and in its center lay a small, circular pool a hundred ters in diater. The pool’s water was so clear it resembled a transparent mirror.
In the center of the pool, a fiery red, circular crystal and a sea-blue, crescent-moon-shaped crystal floated on either side of the water. One was like the sun, the other like the moon. This must be the reason for the na "Sun and Moon Pool."
He had heard that for the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit to mature and form its spirituality, it must be refined and baptized by ample sunlight and moonlight. But how could any sunlight or moonlight possibly penetrate such a sealed space? Curious, Mu Chen looked up, and with just one glance, he was dumbfounded.
’How can this be?’
Mu Chen was utterly astonished. Through the countless jade barriers, he could actually see the Outer Realm. At the sa ti, faint wisps of moonlight shone down from the sky, landing directly on the blue, crescent-shaped crystal and causing it to emit a cool, clear light.
The Profound Old Ghost grinned. "Surprising, isn’t it? When I first saw this, I was just like you, unable to pull myself away from the sight for a long ti. But later, after learning more about Immortal Treasures, I realized that the reason they’re called Immortal Treasures is because they possess an innate ability to change the structure of matter. For example, the Illusion Realm above your head."
"Illusion Realm?"
"That’s right, the Illusion Realm. Every Immortal Treasure possesses a certain degree of intelligence. They always choose the most favorable terrain for their own growth. However, the conditions for this ’most favorable’ terrain are extrely demanding. If the terrain is favorable but doesn’t et their growth requirents, wouldn’t they have to go through great trouble to find another place?"
"In other words, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit must be simultaneously irradiated by pure sunlight and moonlight to grow. As you know, to be directly exposed to sunlight and moonlight, it would have to be out in the open, in the Outer Realm. Otherwise, the light couldn’t shine in at all. But if that were the case, its situation would be far more dangerous. It wouldn’t take long before it was captured by humans or Magical Beasts and turned into a source of power for them."
"So, to protect themselves while also allowing themselves to grow, they comprehended a shared skill: the Illusion Realm." The Profound Old Ghost paused here to let Mu Chen digest the information.
Seeing that Mu Chen understood quickly, the Profound Old Ghost continued, "The Illusion Realm is a type of Illusion Technique, but it also transcends it. Take the cave ceiling you’re looking at now, for instance. The jade is real, and from inside, you can see a vast sky. But from the outside, all one sees are massive mountains. That part is similar to an Illusion Technique. The reason I say it transcends Illusion Techniques, however, is because it can turn the illusory into the real."
"Turn the illusory into the real?"
"Mhm. If you were to step on it from above, it would feel no different from stepping on a real mountain peak. Moreover, as long as you haven’t reached the rank of Martial Emperor, you will never be able to see through this Illusion Technique." The Profound Old Ghost clasped his hands behind his back, his closed eyes looking toward the Azure Sky above as his thoughts seed to drift to a faraway place.
"You should already know the reason I brought you here. I want you to subdue this Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit."
"But I..."
"There are no ’buts.’ It’s already impossible for
to subdue the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit. The last ti I sealed it, it developed a deep-seated hatred for . If it detects my aura, it would rather self-destruct than be subdued by ," the Profound Old Ghost imdiately cut Mu Chen off, speaking in a serious tone.
"Listen carefully to what I’m about to say. To subdue an Immortal Treasure, you must et two requirents. First, you have to make it like you. This is easy, because although they possess a high degree of intelligence, they are extrely naive, so... they’re very easy to fool. Likewise, they all share a common trait: they cannot absorb Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi on their own, so they are incredibly desperate for it."
"Once you’ve earned its favor, you can slowly feed it Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. It will then naturally develop a reliance on you. Of course, this alone is far from enough. You must also satisfy the second condition: make it willingly swallow a drop of your blood and form a Master-Servant Contract with you. Otherwise, all your efforts will be in vain. Therefore, you will need to spend a very long ti taming it.
Mu Chen was secretly amazed. ’To think such a magical object exists in this world.’ No wonder that of the thirty Immortal Treasures recorded in the ancient texts, only a re four had ever been discovered. Furthermore, this Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit was a type that had never even appeared in those records. This realization made Mu Chen both incredibly excited and a bit emotional. According to the texts, every person who had ever subdued an Immortal Treasure was an Overlord who dominated their own region, and even they had only managed to subdue the ones ranked lowest on the list.
"Rember, after you go in, you will hear the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit’s cries for help. It will then teach you how to rescue it. Don’t worry about it trying to escape. Immortal Treasures are very extre; though they hold grudges, they also rember kindness with unwavering devotion. After you rescue it, take so ti to get to know it and build a bond. Then, use the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique to guide Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to feed it. Don’t feed it too much at once, just a little bit each day. I think you know how to handle that part without
spelling it out."
"Alright, I’ve told you everything I can. For the ti being, I must fall completely silent. Once I enter this cave, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit will inevitably detect my aura. When that happens, you will be categorized as an enemy of the sa rank, and you can forget about ever subduing it. Rember this, you must rember..."
As he spoke the last words, the Profound Old Ghost’s voice grew more and more ethereal and indistinct, until it vanished completely...
Shaking his head, Mu Chen could clearly feel the Extre Spirit Pearl in his mind fall completely silent. He understood that from now on, he could only rely on himself. It would all co down to this.
Taking a deep breath, Mu Chen cald himself and stepped into the cave.
"WHIMPER... WHIMPER..."
However, the mont he stepped into the cave, an extrely strange sensation surfaced in Mu Chen’s mind.
It was a desolate whimper, sounding sowhat like the howl of a wolf pup, but upon closer listening, it also resembled the cry of a baby. Although Mu Chen couldn’t understand what the sound was saying, he could clearly feel the plea within it.
"Who are you?"
Mu Chen asked, already knowing the answer. As soon as he posed the question, the whimpering sound clearly grew more anxious, the ssage it conveyed shifting from a plea to a desperate beg. Moreover, he felt an imperceptible pull, as if the voice was intentionally trying to guide him to its side.
Following this pull, Mu Chen quickly located the source of the ssage: beneath the Sun and Moon Pool.
"Are you saying you want
to go down?" Mu Chen asked the air curiously.
"WHIMPER... WHIMPER..."
At this, the voice sounded very excited and joyful. Mu Chen found it amusing. ’This Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit is pretty interesting.’ He walked to the edge of the Sun and Moon Pool, quickly stripped off his clothes, and leaped into the water, the resulting splash shattering the pool’s calm surface.
The pool was very deep. Mu Chen swam for a long ti without reaching the bottom, but the pull in his mind grew clearer and clearer. After an unknown amount of ti, Mu Chen felt that even with the lung capacity of a Peak of Nine-Ring Martial Disciple, he couldn’t hold on any longer. Just as he was about to give up, a whimpering cry ca from below his feet. The next mont, Mu Chen felt the world spin, and then everything went black as he lost consciousness.
"WHIMPER... WHIMPER..."
When Mu Chen woke up, his first reaction was to quickly cover his mouth to prevent water from entering his lungs. But the mont he covered his mouth, he suddenly realized there wasn’t a single drop of water around him.
"WHIMP!"
An anxious cry clearly entered Mu Chen’s ears. This sound ca from outside his body. Mu Chen heard it distinctly and turned his head to look, his attention imdiately captured by the object before him. In front of him stood a Jade Cylinder. Atop it rested a fist-sized, teardrop-like object. It was red and blue, with the colors spiraling from the bottom of the droplet to its tip.
That wasn’t all. The strangest part was that a small face had appeared on the surface of this droplet. It looked petite and cute, truly innocent and harmless. However, this innocent and cute little face wore an anxious expression. Looking closer, Mu Chen discovered that the red-and-blue droplet was encased in a transparent, yellow Seal.
"WHIM... WHIMP!"
Noticing that Mu Chen was awake, the innocent and cute little face on the droplet imdiately showed a joyful expression. Mu Chen was stunned for a mont. This was the first ti he had ever seen a sentient object other than Magical Beasts and humans.
"Were you the one calling
just now?" Mu Chen asked, pointing to himself as he looked at the droplet.
"WHIMPER... WHIMPER..."
An affirmative whimper answered Mu Chen. Even more human-like, the droplet spun around inside the yellow barrier of light, nodded its head quickly a few tis, and blinked its two large, sparkling eyes twice.
A subtle smile appeared on Mu Chen’s lips as he thought to himself, ’Looks like this is the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit my Master was talking about. It really is incredible.’ With this thought, Mu Chen began his first step: building a bond.
"Why did you call
here?"
Hearing this, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit first closed its eyes. An extrely formidable Spiritual Power radiated out from the cylinder, swiftly enveloping Mu Chen.
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