With a splash Liu Ping erged from the stream, gasping for breath, and quickly scanned his surroundings.
This was an underground river. The water flowed turbid and cold, winding around the gray rock walls, and leading deeper into the cavern.
The surrounding rock walls were pocked with irregularly connected caves, their destinations unknown.
Darkness enveloped everything.
Silence prevailed.
Everything felt lifeless and chilling.
Several breaths passed in silence.
A faint breeze emanated from the nurous caves, producing a soft hum. Liu Ping observed intently for several breaths, feeling a sense of astonishnt.
'Even within the realm of death, there existed hidden realms.'
Yet, upon entering this hidden realm, Liu Ping realized that the environnt was nearly identical to the real world of death he had just experienced.
'...What distinguishes reality from illusion?'
In the void, lines of small characters appeared:
[Attention!]
[You have utilized the token: spirit transmission faith talisman.]
[This token has been expended.]
[Please exercise caution while exploring the current hidden ti and space.]
Liu Ping glanced down, realizing the black talisman in his hand had vanished.
Setting down the blade he held, he began to tread carefully out of the river, traversing the entire cave as if searching for sothing.
Not much later he stood before a slightly raised rock, crouching down and brushing away the dust from the ground with his hands.
[It's a broken teleportation array.]
Liu Ping remained crouched on the ground, carefully examining the teleportation array circle.
"Indeed... This Array formation was part of the war preparations. Could it be that our world is already..."
He murmured quietly to himself.
In the ti leading up to the decisive battle between the Human Race and the Demons, nurous sects were founded out of fear of defeat and extermination by the Demons. As a precautionary asure, they established secret sanctuaries within the deep underground natural caves.
These sanctuaries, founded upon the cultivation of the six arts, compiled the most advanced defensive thods of the Human Race, serving as their last line of defense.
In the past, it was Gua Saint who had designed these underground sanctuaries.
However, it was clear that these sanctuaries were already in use and were under attack.
'Could it be that the Demons won?'
'Sothing doesn't feel right.'
Monsters encompass a variety of beings such as birds, animals, trees, flowers, and fruits that have evolved or mutated.
Demons, on the other hand, are born from the evolution of sentient beings who have strayed from the right path.
Demons are living beings; they don't fall into the category of dead entities.
Besides...
The most crucial question—
Why is everything here identical to the cultivation world?
Even the sanctuary mirrors its counterpart exactly!
It should not be possible for the entire realm of cultivation to rge with the realm of death.
After all, in countless legends, the realm of the dead corresponding to the cultivation realm is Huangquan.
Everything in Huangquan differs from the cultivation realm. According to various ancient records, there should be locations such as the Gates of Hell, the Bridge of Life and Death, the grand Tie Wei Mountain, The 18 Hells, The Forgetting River, and The Hall of Reincarnation where souls are sent to reincarnate.
But here, there are only coffins—endless coffins—and entities that devour and enslave souls.
Where lies the issue?
Liu Ping's thoughts raced through his mind, yet he couldn't grasp any clues.
"Never mind. Since this is a refuge designed by master, then these array formations... I should be able to..."
He placed his hand on the array circle, channeling his spiritual power, and probing it slightly...
A mont passed.
Light aura suddenly flashed out of the magic circle, only to vanish quickly.
Failed to activate the Formation!
Liu Ping felt a surge of excitent and whispered, "Alright!" It was true that he was only a Qi-refining cultivator, and his spiritual power was not enough to sustain the activation of the magic circle for long.
But as his cultivation level improved in the future, he would be able to control Array formation!
In addition, based on the sensation he had just experienced, Liu Ping had identified another Formation closest to his location.
He raised his head and glanced towards the front left.
Several dozen feet away in that direction, a silent, dark cave caught his attention.
Just monts ago, faint fluctuations in spiritual power emanated from that direction.
'Should I check?'
As Liu Ping contemplated, he felt a shift in the surroundings and suddenly turned his gaze to the other side.
There, he spotted seven or eight cultivators erging from another cave.
Living Cultivators!
Liu Ping's excitent surged.
These cultivators naturally also noticed Liu Ping. Perhaps they perceived him as not posing any threat, or perhaps they were preoccupied with urgent matters. Consequently, they swiftly passed by Liu Ping without stopping, hurrying away.
"Hurry! Hurry!"
"We must get there imdiately—"
These individuals were supporting a cultivator covered in blood, rushing towards the caverns while exchanging various hurried remarks.
Before long, they disappeared into the depths of the caverns, leaving Liu Ping behind.
The situation appears to be dangerously intricate. It seems that they were running from sothing.
'They can't see ?'
Yes.
Rembing suddenly, that ability that he activated.
'So this is an acting class mystery ability?'
Following his thoughts, lines of small words appeared in the air:
[You have activated a mystery]
[A Man Without a Role.]
[You will no longer attract excessive attention from anyone.]
[Remaining ti: 8 minutes.]
With the experience he just had, Liu Ping found himself more trusting in this ability.
as he walked into the cave a calm feeling washed over him.
After traversing a dark and damp passage, it didn't take long before the path suddenly widened.
Two practitioners stood guard at the entrance of the cave.
They were clad in armor and held weapons in their hands, their expressions serious and tense.
Strangely, as soon as Liu Ping appeared, their faces contorted with disdain.
"Qi Refining Realm..., only high-level cultivators are allowed In this place. Your cultivation is not sufficient to enter," one of them stated.
"Forget it, just take a spiritual stone from him and send him off through the other teleportation formation to bypass this area," another individual said.
Liu Ping obediently took out a spiritual stone and handed it over.
One of the cultivators accepted the spiritual stone, impatiently pointing to the other side and activating a technique.
Liu Ping followed the direction that was being pointed at.
He observed a distortion on the rock wall, and a hole opened in the void, revealing the scene inside.
'The array formation... This is truly the underground secret sanctuary used to keep the last ember of humanity alive' he thought to himself.
With a courteous nod to the two cultivators, he entered the opening.
As soon as Liu Ping walked in, he saw several bonfires burning on the empty rock platform.
Cultivators sat in groups around the bonfires.
When Liu Ping appeared, many gazes flickered towards him with curiosity. But the next mont, all attention shifted away from him.
"Just a kid in the refinent stage..."
Soone murmured softly. People continued with their activities, paying no further attention to Liu Ping.
In the void, lines of small characters appeared swiftly:
[You are protected by the twelve-layered war formation.]
[The spirit-locking spell on you is isolated.]
[Note: If you stay here for two hours and twenty-nine minutes, the tracking spell on you will disappear."
Liu Ping breathed a sigh of relief.
'Finally, good news.'
He rolled his eyes and swiftly landed in the center of the field.
There, a magical scene unfolded before him—
A colossal humanoid monster towering in the sky, wielding a massive bronze hamr, paced back and forth anxiously.
With every step it took, the entire ground trembled slightly.
The cultivators were observing the monster.
"This monster is quite rare."
"Indeed, I wonder what provoked it."
"Fortunately, we only need to hide underground and don't have to face this guy."
Liu Ping listened to the discussion, his gaze fixed on the monster.
With his keen eyesight, he could clearly see that the monster's strength far surpassed that of a cultivator of the Divine Reflection ...
It wasn't a demon, nor was it a devil.
Even the demon on his heels wouldn't be its match...
A chill ran down Liu Ping's spine.
He made his way to a corner and found a spot by a bonfire. Two Qi Refinent Realm cultivators, a man and a woman of similar strength to Liu Ping, were already seated around the bonfire.
When Liu Ping approached, the male cultivator was engrossed in conversation with the female cultivator, and neither of them looked up.
The male cultivator sighed, "I was out searching for materials. I never expected such a thing to happen. I had to abandon my plans and co here to seek refuge. It's really unfortunate."
Liu Ping inquired, "May I ask, what has happened?"
The male cultivator glanced at him but remained silent.
Liu Ping then turned to the female cultivator and said humbly, "Miss, I am also seeking refuge here. I'm not aware of—"
However, the female cultivator ignored him and continued the male cultivator's words, "I was in the midst of my cultivation when it happened. I imdiately ca here to seek refuge, I hope it doesn't take long this ti."
Liu Ping shifted his attention to the male cultivator and smiled, "Fellow Daoist, could you please provide more details?"
Liu Ping took a deep breath and spoke up, "Fellow Daoist, what do you think happened?"
His voice carried a sense of urgency, finally drawing the attention of the two cultivators.
However, the female cultivator quickly interjected, "Also, since we're all Qi Refining cultivators, why don't we introduce ourselves and share our experiences?"
The male cultivator imdiately turned towards the female cultivator.
"I am Hong Tao," the male cultivator introduced himself with a fist over his chest.
"I am Zhao Chanyi," the female cultivator followed suit with a fist gesture.
"I am Liu Ping. It's a pleasure to et you both," Liu Ping said, offering his introduction with a respectful fist gesture.
"It's a pleasure to et you, Friend Hong," the female cultivator smiled warmly at the male cultivator.
"Fairy Zhao, would you mind discussing cultivation thods, particularly foundation-establishnt techniques?" the male cultivator asked with a friendly smile directed at the female cultivator.
"Of course, but I'm not sure where Friend Hong has been searching for materials," the female cultivator replied.
"I know the location. Since we're both Qi-Refining cultivators, we can go together later and watch out for each other" the male cultivator suggested.
"That sounds like a plan" the female cultivator agreed with a nod.
The two cultivators engaged in their discussion with enthusiasm, while Liu Ping stood there, feeling ignored.
'This is quite sothing...'
'It's the first ti since I entered the world of cultivation that I've been ignored to this extent.'
Liu Ping took a mont to steady himself, exhaling slowly as he lowered his hands.
Is this what they call "a man without a role"?
'Sothing feels... off.'
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