’An illusion?’
’Was everything I just saw an illusion?’
Yang An frowned. He began to recall the subsequent Cultivation Technique he had just obtained. The techniques for the early, middle, and late stages of the Visceral Stone Realm were imprinted in his mind, the mory incredibly clear.
That’s right, he had indeed just received the Cultivation Technique.
’It seems it wasn’t an illusion, then.’
’But why does this scene feel so familiar?’
Yang An recalled his ti in the Ancient Collection. Every ti he passed the Stone Stele of the Miaohua Celestial Sect, he would see scenes from the next two floors.
When he was on the Fifth Floor, he could already see Miao Ye on the Seventh Floor.
Even Miao Ye didn’t know the reason for it.
’Could it be that the reason I could see Miao Ye in the Ancient Collection was also because of that giant, winged eyeball?’
It was the sa here in this dark space. He was clearly still standing before the barrier of the Seventh Floor, but it was as if through an illusion that he had obtained the subsequent Cultivation Techniques for the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors. It seed to be the exact sa situation.
Yang An pondered. ’For now, it’s hard to say whether this is a good or bad thing, but it has certainly helped acquire so good stuff.’
Whether it was helping Miao Ye and thus obtaining the Great Brightness Buddha Golden Zen Spell and that arrow, or getting the three levels of the subsequent Visceral Stone Realm Cultivation Technique, overall, the pros outweighed the cons.
But as for what that thing was and what it would bring him in the future, Yang An had no idea.
After thinking for a while without reaching any conclusion, Yang An’s gaze turned back to the barrier before him.
Although he had already obtained the Cultivation Technique, it wasn’t through normal ans. He hadn’t even found a way to perform the visualization and was still completely in the dark.
He didn’t know how much ti had passed during the illusion, nor how much ti he had left.
With nothing else to do, Yang An began to examine the so-called Earth Spirit Stele.
The written records for the Cultivation Technique, *Mystic Path Decoded*, actually only took up a small area on the entire barrier of this floor—perhaps not even one percent of it.
And on the other side, another small area recorded the text for the *Extre Day Divine Aspect*. This Technique also ca from the Earth Spirit Stele.
Perhaps there were other Cultivation Techniques on the Earth Spirit Stele, but Yang An couldn’t see them.
He figured that because he cultivated *Mystic Path Decoded* and the *Extre Day Divine Aspect*, he could only see information related to those two specific techniques.
Yang An slowly passed through the Seventh Floor. The barrier of the eighth floor imdiately appeared, but the text on it was even blurrier than that on the seventh. The ninth floor was the sa.
By the ti he reached the tenth floor, he could only see patches of light; no text had materialized at all.
’Just how many levels does this Cultivation Technique I practice have? And where is its end?’
Even the description of the Cultivation Technique in the information box only said, "One Decoded, one Technique, Miaofa Entwined, lt Dao Ascension."
’Could it be that this Cultivation Technique truly has no end?’
Filled with intense curiosity, Yang An passed through the tenth floor and continued walking forward.
The eleventh floor... the twelfth floor... the thirteenth floor...
The further he went, barriers continued to appear, but the patches of light on them grew fewer and fewer.
By the ti he was before the thirteenth floor, he could only see the barrier, with no sign of anything related to text.
’The thirteenth floor... Has that old guy already fused with the thirteenth Dao of Destiny Technique?’
Looking at the barrier before him, Yang An thought, ’I’ve only fused with six Dao of Destiny Techniques. The gap between us is enormous.’
The further one progressed in cultivation, the longer it took, and the higher the difficulty beca, not to ntion the terrifying tribulations that existed.
Compared to his fellow disciples and the old guy, his greatest advantage was that he faced no tribulations.
But based on this point alone, if he wanted to surpass them all, he would need more effort and... resources!
Driven by curiosity, Yang An continued past the thirteenth floor, heading deeper.
The fourteenth floor... the fifteenth floor... the sixteenth floor...
The deeper he went, the more barriers he passed through, but it seed as if there was no end.
What was even stranger was that although the light from his Lighting Technique hadn’t changed, his field of vision was shrinking, and the surroundings were growing darker and darker.
Gradually, even the barriers that recorded the Cultivation Technique beca increasingly blurry.
When Yang An could no longer rember which floor he had reached, he could see nothing around him. The light on his body could no longer even dispel the surrounding darkness.
A sense of danger suddenly surged in Yang An’s heart.
Yang An frowned slightly and, without hesitation, turned and ran back the way he ca.
At the sa ti, the sound of sothing shattering suddenly echoed from all around. A piercing echo resounded in the darkness, and it was getting closer and closer to him.
But Yang An now discovered that although he was heading back the way he ca, he could no longer see any of the barriers. His field of vision remained unchanged.
It was as if he was lost in an endless darkness, unable to find the path he had taken.
The next second, Yang An unhesitatingly activated all his Techniques again, and a blinding light burst forth from his body.
But just then, Yang An suddenly felt sothing approaching him from behind. Every hair on his body stood on end in that instant.
BUZZ!
His Heart trembled violently, and he suddenly felt as if he were plumting downward.
And beneath his feet, the reflection that had been cast in the darkness as if on a mirror’s surface had vanished at so unknown point.
An icy chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He felt as if he had plunged into a frozen cavern, as if even his very soul was being frozen in that mont.
Yang An’s mind reeled in shock as he found himself completely unable to move.
Not only that, but even the light emanating from his Techniques seed to be swallowed by the darkness.
’My Techniques... they’ve failed!!’
In the darkness, it seed as if sothing had opened its massive, blood-red maw and was about to swallow him whole. The sense of crisis in Yang An’s heart grew ever stronger.
But just then, he felt a powerful, invisible pressure coming from all directions, about to crush him into a pulp. Yang An’s heart trembled, but everything around him suddenly brightened.
BANG!
Yang An instantly crashed onto the ground. His rear end received a solid kiss from the earth, and he looked up in confusion.
"Your two hours are up!"
He Tou had a smile on its face, no more than three feet away. Saliva dripped from the side of its long beak, which was rather disgusting.
’Was that the old monster’s doing, or...’
Yang An wasn’t sure. But he had indeed felt an intense sense of crisis just now. What was it, hidden in the darkness, that was about to reach him? He had no way of knowing.
Having inexplicably returned to the Heavenly Respect Pavilion, Yang An was still a bit out of it.
Seeing him remain motionless, He Tou’s face filled with contempt, and then it gave another sinister smile.
"Little disciple, it doesn’t matter that you didn’t get the Cultivation Technique. Kill them, and you’ll have everything!"
"..."
Although it was clearly trying to bewitch Yang An, the voice coming from its beak instantly sobered him up.
’Didn’t get the Cultivation Technique?’
’Oh, right, right, right!’
Yang An imdiately put on a dejected expression and slowly rose from the ground.
It seed all of his actions in front of the Earth Spirit Stele had been under their surveillance.
After entering the illusion, he had obtained three full levels of the Visceral Stone Realm Cultivation Technique. But in the old monster’s eyes, he had just been staring blankly at the barrier of the Seventh Floor the whole ti.
Naturally, Yang An wasn’t foolish enough to reveal the truth, especially since he couldn’t even explain what had happened in there himself.
"This disciple thanks you, Master!"
With a look of disappointnt, Yang An bowed helplessly to Elder Life Crane, then took his leave from the Heavenly Respect Pavilion.
Watching Yang An’s departing back, He Tou chuckled slyly and turned to look at Elder Life Crane.
"Old guy, what did you just see?"
"I saw nothing," Elder Life Crane said, his expression calm.
"No! There was still a full stick of incense worth of ti left! You old coot, you must have seen sothing. I know you too well."
"I’m telling the truth. I saw nothing."
"Then why did you let the kid out early, you old coot?"
"Although I saw nothing, he certainly did. I want to see what exactly he is capable of seeing."
"But he’s going to die sooner or later. He didn’t even get the Cultivation Technique this ti. What you want to see might co to nothing."
"No matter. That’s what makes it interesting."
"Fuck you!"
"..."
After leaving the Heavenly Respect Pavilion, Yang An quickly returned to his residence.
The mont he got back, he collapsed onto the floor, his breathing a little ragged as he recalled what had happened right before he left the Earth Spirit Stele.
’In that last instant, I could feel it—I was so close to death!’
It seed like he was just a hair’s breadth away, but he returned to reality at the most dangerous mont.
Yang An instinctively felt that there was sothing fishy going on, and it was probably related to the old guy.
Since they could spy on his every move within the Earth Spirit Stele, they must have also seen what happened to him at the end.
But in the end, they still let him out, not letting him die.
’Did they not want to die in there? Or was there another reason?’
Yang An had no way of guessing.
Letting out a long breath, his mind gradually cald. Yang An wasted no more ti, getting up to begin his ditation. He took out the set of Array Magical Artifacts from his at Burial Talisman, preparing to refine his Mana.
’If I’m too weak, I’ll know nothing. I won’t even be able to control my own life and death.’
’Rather than guessing blindly, it’s better to wait until I’m stronger to investigate.’
Although he had the subsequent Cultivation Technique for the Visceral Stone Realm, his Mana had yet to reach the Perfection level of the Late Stage Primordial Feeding Realm. He still needed more ti.
The Elixir he had gotten last ti on Wuwei Peak had allowed his Mana to refine quickly enough to break through to the Late-stage of Primordial Feeding.
But there had only been one of those pills. The Elixirs he had on hand now were all ones whose effects were already very weak for him.
However, Yang An didn’t intend to waste them. He took out all the Elixirs that could accelerate Mana refinent and swallowed them all.
With the Array Magical Artifact to assist his Mana refinent, plus these Elixirs, it was still faster than relying solely on himself to refine Mana.
’Visceral Stone Realm!’
Yang An slowly closed his eyes, focusing all his energy on charging toward the Visceral Stone Realm.
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