Chapter 165: Change In The Inner Landscape
"Rise!" This wasn't the first time Wang Xuan had commanded the object with such authority. He had attempted to move it thrice with sheer force, but it had not budged an inch, as if it were rooted to the bottom of the pool.
He finally understood why other mortals, despite their spiritual forms entering this realm to alter their destinies, could not take this object with them.
Even he, a person who had formed a spiritual domain, couldn't move it; it was unthinkable for anyone else!
"Come forth!" He exerted his full power, his spirit form glowing brightly as he harnessed the surrounding mysterious energies for his own use, causing a tumultuous upsurge of energy around him.
Yet, the object remained immovable, like he was trying to lift a mountain!
This vessel was described as a bowl, yet it was deeper than any bowl, its insides etched with a dense array of minute characters. This stirred something within him; engravings on an item of such caliber were far from ordinary—they must represent an earth-shattering secret scripture. Perhaps it was these inscriptions that the immortals had battled over.
Digging further, Wang Xuan sensed a base that seemed akin to that of a holy grail.
"It... it has a special fragrance?" Wang Xuan was astounded. Even in his spiritual form, a medicinal scent wafted from his fingertips. It was a moment of sheer amazement; what kind of medicine could affect the spirit? He had only encountered such a phenomenon once before when he, Old Chen, and Qingmu had navigated a flying ship through thunderous clouds to harvest herbs—a lure set by the Scarlet Sorceress, a heavenly medicine!
Could it be that this object had been refined with heavenly medicine, or had once contained it, or perhaps it even had the innate ability to nurture an astonishing 'spiritual secret medicine'?
His thoughts raced with wild speculations, but one thing was certain: this was an exceptionally rare treasure.
"Rise for me!" Exhausted to the point of near collapse, Wang Xuan tried seventeen times, his spirit form feeling as if it were about to shatter, yet he still couldn't shift the artifact.
The mysterious substance in the pool had thickened into a viscous slurry, churning violently. Below, Wang Xuan found a lid made of the same material, also densely inscribed.
Finally, when he felt his spirit form was on the verge of fragmentation, he managed to nudge the lid slightly, causing it to strike the main vessel.
With a resonant thud, a mere vibration sent shockwaves through Wang Xuan, threatening to tear him apart from the inside. He recoiled swiftly, fleeing from the source of the tremor.
A hazy light blossomed, slowly unfurling where the mysterious object lay. Wang Xuan beat a hasty retreat, a primal instinct warning him of grave danger should the creeping light touch him—a touch he instinctively felt could be lethal.
What in the world was this thing?
Even at a safe distance, the pressure on his spirit was immense, as if it was on the brink of disintegration, his very soul seeming to tear at the seams.
Boom!
Under the crushing suppression, teetering on the edge of shattering, Wang Xuan’s Inner Landscape flung open unexpectedly. He had almost forgotten this place, having not entered it for a long time.
From outside, mystical energies cascaded like a landslide into his Inner Landscape, and the treasures within seemed on the verge of disintegration. "Could it be that the Inner Landscape should not be activated within the presence of these mystical treasures?" Wang Xuan had no answers.
Before his eyes, the moment the Inner Landscape was opened, the external treasures began to crack and crumble, seemingly not far from their demise.
Then, in a fleeting moment, two fuzzy orbs of light—one larger, one smaller—emerged. They were the vessel and its lid, which whooshed into Wang Xuan’s Inner Landscape in the blink of an eye.
Wang Xuan staggered back, fearful of being suppressed again by the formidable force that had nearly overwhelmed him moments ago. However, as soon as he made his exit, the Inner Landscape snapped shut!
Wang Xuan was left dumbfounded and frustrated. The vessel had brazenly barged into his sacred space, and after its abrupt intrusion, the Inner Landscape sealed itself, leaving its very owner stranded and locked out.
Standing in silence, Wang Xuan pondered his situation. Eventually, he lifted his gaze with resolve. There was no point in dwelling on the wasted opportunity to access his Inner Landscape. After all, it wasn’t as if he could never enter it again.
The most crucial aspect was that the coveted object of the immortals' desire was now in his possession. He must keep this a secret. If the likes of the red-robed demoness and the female alchemist were to learn that such a treasure had fallen into his hands, they would surely go mad with envy.
Wang Xuan scoured the remaining mystical treasures within the Inner Landscape, searching for additional fortunes. “It’s a pity,” he thought, “that I couldn't bring the fragments of the blessed land into this space. Otherwise, I could have harvested the essence-rich fluid from the pool, a substance capable of altering the vitality of flesh and nourishing the spirit.”
He continued to draw energy from his surroundings, depleting only a tenth at most. To his relief, he found that the mystical treasures ceased to crack and had stabilized. With the closure of his Inner Landscape, this place was saved from destruction.
Safe for the moment, and planning to return in the short term, he considered bringing Zhao Qinghan and Grandmaster Ma into this realm, provided he could ensure safety outside.
Wang Xuan walked toward the exit, unworried about being ensnared by any trapping nets—the celestial treasure was not on his person.
As expected, he traversed the passage without incident. Along the way, the imagery of Earth Immortals exploding, the Golden-winged Roc disintegrating, and the Thousand-Handed Deity shattering imparted a somber reflection on the path of cultivation—full of temptations and tribulations.
Returning to his physical body, Wang Xuan opened his eyes to find the black and white altar quiet and the mystical energies diluted. The pathway had vanished.
Grandmaster Ma poked his large head over, eyes gleaming mischievously, silently inquiring about any fortunes gained. Now, even if Wang Xuan were to shoo him away, the Grandmaster seemed unlikely to leave. In less than ten days, he had consumed over a dozen spiritual herbs, including four demon fruit cores. He considered Wang Xuan a commendable human—quite the horse keeper, a perfect steward.
Although Wang Xuan noticed something amiss in Grandmaster Ma's eyes, he was blissfully unaware of the creature's true thoughts. Had he known, he might have seriously considered the prospect of barbecuing Pegasus wings for a meal!
Suddenly, a shiver raced down Wang Xuan's spine as he sensed a familiar presence—the extraordinary spider—but its life force was rapidly fading. "Move, quickly!" he bellowed, vaulting onto the back of his steed.
Grandmaster Ma responded with lightning speed, his wings beating powerfully as they shot into the sky.
Hovering mid-air, Wang Xuan pushed his psychic senses to their limit, scanning the terrain below. His intuition was correct; something was amiss. Three humans were rapidly approaching, their prowess evident by their recent kill of the formidable spider, marking them as extraordinary beings in their own right.
"Fly towards the sunrise!" Wang Xuan urged, clutching the beast's neck to steer it, for Grandmaster Ma had yet to detect the approaching threat.
One of the pursuers drew an arrow, notched it to his great bow, and took aim at the mighty Grandmaster Ma.
It was clear to Wang Xuan that despite their foray into the extraordinary realm, these assailants were intent on seizing the treasures of the Hidden Land. They had trailed back from its depths, determined to cut off their escape.
"That mist can transform a person’s constitution, marrow, and organs," one of the attackers remarked coldly. "Extracting it from someone immediately could grant us a share of that transformative power."
"Has the one fleeing captured the mist?" wondered another.
"I'll bring them down," declared the archer, as blinding radiance emanated from his weapon. The arrow, imbued with secret forces, streaked across the sky like a rainbow piercing the sun, trailing a long tail of energy as it flew towards Grandmaster Ma.
The Grandmaster was in despair, flapping desperately, arcs of electricity tracing its path, veering sharply to avoid the relentless volley of arrows that sought to close off all escape routes.
The explosion of sound when an arrow narrowly missed was terrifying, a sonic boom that sent tremors through the air as the energy ripples from the arrow's wake were palpable in their intensity.
Grandmaster Ma strained for distance, evading several extraordinary arrows that could have blasted it apart, but some secret arrows were unavoidable.
As it dodged one, another arrow aimed for its belly—its light brilliant and deadly, the kind of projectile that could tear a mountain peak asunder.
Every arrow that flew was of a secret make, etched with extraordinary runes and imbued with a stunning force by the archer. Such arrows were unstoppable by mere mortals.
Wang Xuan, using his psychic domain to anticipate the attack, swung himself off the saddle and clung to a horse's leg, dangling in mid-air. His chest glowed, unleashing a burst of thunderous energy in a desperate attempt to block the incoming arrow.
However, the runes on the arrow blazed with power, piercing through his electric barrier with only a slight dimming of their luminescence.
His body shimmered with a pale golden sheen as he grasped a short sword, slashing at the terrifying arrow speeding towards him.
Clang!
The sharp blade, meeting the mystic runes, cut through the arrow, diverting its trajectory to graze past the horse’s belly. A mere foot away from a clean miss, the runes on the arrowhead activated, slicing through Grandmaster Ma's hide and leaving a foot-long gash from which blood poured freely.
Below, having cleaved the secret arrow, Wang Xuan faced a lethal crisis. As the severed head of the arrow flew by, the remaining shaft, now a deadly projectile, turned and plunged into his chest with a sickening thud.
Throughout this ordeal, the thunder at his heart shattered most of the runes bursting from the arrow shaft, and his body radiated a golden light—a manifestation of the secret power of the Golden Body Technique.
Yet the arrow shaft penetrated his chest, a testament to the extraordinary might it carried. The runes, although partly destroyed by the lightning at his chest, were not entirely nullified by his mortal form.
His advanced seventh layer Golden Body Technique did wear away some of the runes on the shaft, but not all.
The archer on the ground, his black hair loose and wild, eyes cold and detached, commented, "Even a broken arrow is certain to shatter its target!"
The other two extraordinary beings nodded in agreement. The gulf between mortals and the extraordinary was insurmountable; such an arrow could not only kill a man but if a line of Grandmasters stood together, it could blast them all in a single shot!
In the sky, blood rained down as the rune-etched metal arrow shaft pierced through Wang Xuan’s chest, burrowing into his flesh and lung, delivering a grievous blow.
This was the gravest injury Wang Xuan had suffered since embarking on the path of cultivation; his very organs were pierced through.
Despite the moment his Golden Body Technique's defenses were breached, he quickly activated a body technique from the five-page golden scripture, causing his five viscera to resonate, their brilliance soaring as they ground away many of the runes on the arrow shaft embedded in his flesh.
Nevertheless, the shaft that penetrated him still bore remnants of secret power, tearing several gashes in his lungs, the severity of the injury was extreme.
Clenching his teeth, Wang Xuan swung himself back onto his horse's back. Agonizing pain triggered coughs, and he spat out mouthfuls of bloody froth — blood that had seeped into his lungs. For the first time in his life, he suffered such a heavy blow, nearly losing his life to an archer’s skill.
The horse, a formidable demon in its own right, beat its wings desperately, crackling with arcs of electricity as it soared towards the heavens and away into the distance.
At this moment, the eyes of Grandmaster Ma were bloodshot with rage and gratitude. It knew that had it not been for Wang Xuan's intervention, it would have been shot dead.
"That's somewhat interesting; he wasn't blown apart. The short sword in his hand is far from ordinary, capable of effortlessly severing secret extraordinary rune arrows," commented an extraordinary being from the ground.
"Indeed, it's beyond my expectations. His physique is strong, almost as resilient as our own," remarked the bow-wielding man, his gaze icy as he drew his great bow once more. "He's out of my precise range now. Switch to explosive arrows, and let's send him on his way. We won't be needing his flesh any longer!"
Clearly, his inability to fell the flying horse or obliterate the young man had sparked a fire within him, his urge to kill undulating wildly.
Several arrows tore through the sky, each one more terrifying than the last. No matter how the Grandmaster Ma attempted to evade, it was impossible to avoid them all.
Wang Xuan unleashed his thunder, striking at the unavoidable arrow, resulting in an explosion akin to igniting a keg of gunpowder, causing a horrendous blast.
He quickly turned, lying flat against the horse's back, resigning himself to fate.
Fortunately, the thunder Wang Xuan had summoned was cast far enough to prematurely detonate the arrow. Had the arrow closed in any further, the strike, akin to an extraordinary being's full-force blow, would have undoubtedly obliterated both him and Grandmaster Ma.
The demonic horse, Grandmaster Ma, surged with a frenzy, expending every ounce of strength in its escape. As the explosion swept over them, searing pain scorched Wang Xuan's back. The extraordinary runes burst into light, shredding his armor and battle garments to tatters.
Once more, his Golden Body Technique faltered. His back was a mangled mess of flesh, with ribs nearly exposed in places, but he was grateful that, this time, his internal organs had been spared. Grandmaster Ma fared hardly better; one wing was punctured through, bloodied, and one of its hind legs bore a ghastly wound — not fatal, but grievous.
"Seems I've gone a bit soft; half a year without killing, and now I've let even a mere mortal escape," the man on the ground lamented as he lowered his great bow, shaking his head in disappointment.
"It's just a mortal. If we cross paths again, he'll be crushed with a flick of the wrist," another one of them declared dismissively.
"Ah, but that short sword of his, that's a fine treasure. I hope we meet him again soon," the third remarked, his eyes sparkling with a cold mirth as the trio disappeared into the forest.
In the sky, Wang Xuan coughed up blood, his body ravaged by wounds for the first time to such an extent. Glancing back towards the land that almost claimed his life, he fixed his gaze on their receding figures, and vowed, "You are pushing me to step into the extraordinary realm. Our reckoning will come soon!"
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