NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 236: The Problematic Figure
Chapter 236: The Problematic Figure
After entering the waterfall, Xu Lian suddenly felt dizzy, and the world seemed to be spinning around him. He immediately realized that the waterfall outside was just a facade – it was actually a form of “Domain Gate Teleportation”.
Moreover, he noticed a pattern: the longer the sensation of dizziness lasted, the greater the distance he had traveled through space.
Although the difference in time was not significant, he could still detect it, mainly because he had been captured and dragged around by the Goddess of Time and the Goddess of Nine Heavens so many times… his experience was simply too rich.
This time, the dizziness lasted slightly longer, indicating that he must be very far from the Divine Barrier Waterfall now.
When the dizziness subsided, he and the chubby young Taoist found themselves standing in front of another waterfall. This waterfall was a normal one, with water flowing naturally. Obviously, the Divine Barrier Waterfall was connected to this waterfall, which was why they had appeared here.
Xu Lian looked around curiously. In front of him were huge medicinal fields, each one resembling a small continent, layered on top of each other. Each field was shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see what was inside.
The Goddess of Time had mentioned that the Divine Barrier Waterfall was a relic left behind after the fall of an ancient power from the Primordial Era-a place where cultivation resources were cultivated. It seemed that this was indeed the case.
However, he had no idea what was inside those medicinal fields. Not one to hold back his questions, he pointed at the fields and asked the chubby young Taoist.
The chubby young Taoist looked at him strangely. “Is this your first time at Divine Barrier Waterfall?”
Xu Lian nodded. “Indeed, it’s my first time. I’m not familiar with any of this.”
The chubby young Taoist explained, “There have been people who were curious enough to try to see what’s inside those medicinal fields, but they are protected by powerful restrictions. It’s impossible to enter.
“Perhaps only those at the level of Great Ability or higher could break through the restrictions.
“Unfortunately, the highest level of cultivation allowed within the Divine Barrier Waterfall is the Divine Source Realm. The Divine Source Realm isn’t exactly low, but it’s not high enough to break through those restrictions.”
Xu Lian’s eyes flickered. “What if someone brought in a treasure? Could that break the restrictions?”
The chubby young Taoist shook his head. “Don’t even think about it. No matter how good the treasure is, it requires matching cultivation to unleash its full power. There was once someone who brought in a supreme artifact, hoping to break the restrictions of the medicinal fields, but he failed.”
Alright… Xu Lian touched his head. The divine bone of the strongest deity he possessed allowed him to traverse space, conceal his cultivation, and alter his appearance, but it couldn’t unleash much power. In fact, cultivation was the foundation of everything.
“Let’s go.”
The chubby young Taoist jumped towards a medicinal field that wasn’t shrouded in mist. “This is the only unrestricted field. It’s where the Void God flowers grow. Everyone who comes here is after these flowers.”
Xu Lian followed him and noticed that this small continent-like medicinal field had a massive spatial rift running through it. “Why are there no restrictions here? Who broke them?”
The chubby young Taoist was speechless for a moment. “Why do you have so many questions?”
Still, he answered, “It’s said that the Blood Soul Sect once attacked the Divine Barrier Waterfall. Although they failed, the shockwaves from their attack reached here and damaged the restrictions in this area.”
Xu Lian was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “It seems that the Blood Soul Sect did us a favor. Everyone who comes here to search for Void God Flowers should thank them.”
The chubby young Taoist also chuckled. “Indeed. Apart from their founding ancestor who reached the Supreme Realm, the Blood Soul Sect has never produced another Supreme. At best, they’ve had Quasi-Supremes. As a result, they can’t be considered a supreme power. They don’t even have their own cultivation area, and they’ve lived a nomadic, hard life. They’ve always wanted to conquer an ancient relic to establish a holy land, but they’ve never succeeded.”
Xu Lian recalled how the Blood Soul Sect had rented several towns from the Yi Sect to raise their descendants, and how the Blood Soul Sect’s young master had personally participated in the selection process to become the royal son-in-law of the Yin Dynasty. From these two points alone, it was clear that the Blood Soul Sect’s “prestige” was far from that of a top-tier power.
Top-tier powers undoubtedly had vast territories under their control, with numerous families and countless commoners within their domains, allowing them to select talented new disciples.
Top-tier powers also had their own exclusive “cultivation resource regions” that no other power could invade, thus ensuring a steady supply of cultivation resources.
These two points were essential for any top-tier power.
Clearly, the Blood Soul Sect lacked these characteristics, so they couldn’t be considered a top-tier power. At best, they were a second- or third-tier power.
The chubby young Taoist led Xu Lian to the entrance of the spatial rift.
Xu Lian noticed that hundreds of people had already gathered here. “Why aren’t they going in?”
“They can’t. The Rift Valley won’t open until there are a thousand people.”
The chubby young Taoist lowered his voice and explained, “Although the Rift Valley has no restrictions, obtaining the Void God Flowers here isn’t easy. There are three tests to pass.
“The first test is at the entrance. There are thousands of sharp gates that rise and fall intermittently. It’s dangerous, and you have to make it through. If you don’t, you will be cut by the gates. Out of a thousand people, there are bound to be some with bad luck or insufficient strength who die at the entrance.
“The second test comes after you pass through the gates. There’s an altar, and only those who obtain a teleportation token can use it. There are only one hundred tokens each time, so only one hundred people can go through. Those who don’t get a token will have to leave and wait for the next time the Rift Valley opens, when another thousand people will gather.
“The third trial comes after using the altar. You’ll be teleported to where the Void God Flowers grow. However, each Void God Flower is guarded by a beast with a strength comparable to the Return to Void Realm. Don’t think about defeating the beast – just find a way to get the flower, whether it’s stealing or fighting. It’s every man for himself”.
Xu Lian frowned. He hadn’t expected it to be so troublesome. “Why are there these trials?”
“…” The chubby young Taoist was beginning to regret teaming up with this clueless rookie. Why did he have so many questions?
Since the Rift Valley hadn’t opened yet, the chubby young Taoist decided to indulge him. “It has to do with the origin of this place. It’s said that this place is a relic left behind after the fall of an ancient power from the Primordial Era. It was a place where the ancient power cultivated resources. The disciples of that ancient power had to pass through these trials in order to obtain cultivation resources.”
Xu Lian finally understood. “So we are essentially participating in the same process that the disciples of that ancient power went through to obtain their resources?”
The chubby young Taoist nodded. “More or less.”
Xu Lian thought of another question… He needed about five hundred Void God Flowers, but the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands were only willing to give him one hundred. That’s why he had come here. But why were these people here?
Did their respective factions also refuse to give them Void God Flowers? Or were they all rogue cultivators with no support and no Void God Flowers?
That didn’t seem likely. Rogue cultivators without any backing would find it nearly impossible to reach the Divine Source Realm.
No matter how talented a rogue cultivator was, it was pointless without cultivation resources. Even if they tried to compete for resources, they couldn’t match up against the disciples of major powers who carried treasures and had protectors accompanying them… How could they compete?
Xu Lian immediately asked, “Everyone here has reached the Divine Source Realm. There can’t be many rogue cultivators, right? Did their families or sects not provide enough Void God Flowers?”
“…” The chubby young Taoist stared at him in disbelief. “Where did you crawl out from? How do you know nothing?”
Xu Lian smiled. “I’ve been in seclusion with my master, concentrating only on cultivation. This is the first time I have ventured out.”
The chubby young Taoist shot back, “Then why didn’t your master give you Void God Flowers? Why are you here?”
“…” Xu Lian felt like he had met his match. “My master passed away, and my senior brothers and sisters divided his legacy and cultivation resources. I’m weak, so I couldn’t compete with them. I had to find the Void God Flowers on my own…”
Is that really true? You’re not lying to me, are you? The chubby young Taoist gave him a skeptical look. “There are four main types of people who come here to compete for Void God Flowers.”
“The first type are those with some background, but not a very deep one… that is, their faction can provide cultivation resources up to the Divine Source Realm, but for resources beyond that, they have to fend for themselves.
“The second type is those with very deep backgrounds. They don’t lack Void God Flowers at all, and they’re just here to gain experience. After all, in cultivation you have to go through life-and-death struggles to gain deeper insights.
“The third type are those with deep backgrounds, but there are too many talented people in their factions, so they don’t get much attention. The Void God Flowers they’re given aren’t enough, so they have to find their own.
“The fourth type is those who are in charge of gathering cultivation resources for their factions. They specialize in gathering resources from unclaimed regions.”
Xu Lian felt as if the clouds had parted and everything became clear. He finally understood what kind of people were exploring these unclaimed relics. It was a mixed bag of all kinds of people.