Chapter 306 : Outer Domain
The strange spirit beasts in the stone chamber were merely a small interlude, and everyone didn't pay them much attention. However, the Nine Abyss Sect disciple they had unexpectedly captured could guide them, so they quickly continued forward.
The cultivators moved swiftly, and after roughly one or two quarter-hours, they finally saw a glimmer of daylight.
"We've reached the exit!" someone exclaimed in a lowered voice with excitement, unconsciously quickening their pace.
This underground stone chamber was very quiet; they had encountered almost no one along the way. Even when they did encounter others, as long as they weren't suddenly appearing from behind a stone wall like before, the group could detect them in advance and resolve the situation preemptively. Thus, they had proceeded smoothly all the way here, with only enough vigilance remaining to first extend their divine sense to investigate before leaving.
Fortunately, there were no guards on the surface, so the cultivators, disguised as Nine Abyss Sect disciples, went up successively—not being of the same faction, hundreds of people gathered in one place would create too much commotion, so everyone had agreed to part ways once they reached the surface.
Qingyu needed to lead the Xuanqing Sect disciples, while Zhu Baiyi would lead the Crimson Blood Sect disciples. One righteous path, one demonic path, originally like water and fire, they should have been the first to part ways. However, Zhu Baiyi clearly had no intention of separating. She privately pulled Qingyu aside and said: "Too much dispersal isn't good either; there'd be no one to look after each other in case of trouble. My cultivation is reasonable; may I accompany you?"
It's unknown how Qingyu responded, or perhaps she didn't respond at all, knowing she couldn't shake off Zhu Baiyi.
The two sects' people jumbled together, and Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue also had no immediate plans to leave. The group was almost the last to exit. Upon emerging, they were immediately shocked by the scenery outside.
It wasn't that Nine Abyss Sect's scenery was particularly beautiful; what they saw could only be described as bizarre—looking around, except for the gloomy white sky, everything else was black. Black mountains, black trees, black rocks, black flowers and grass... No one had ever seen such a landscape, making them wonder if even the water flowing through this place was black.
Jiang Mo, with limited experience, bent down to break a wild grass blade at her feet. Taking a look, she discovered that even the fluid flowing from this grass was black. This made her draw in a cold breath, hastily throwing the grass away, suspecting it might be poisonous.
The system seemed to guess her concern and automatically scanned and analyzed: "Host, rest assured, that grass isn't poisonous. It's just been invaded by a dark force, which is why it displays blackness." Fearing Jiang Mo might not understand, it added another explanation: "It's like those stunted spirit herbs on Merperson Island, all affected by their environment."
Jiang Mo thought to herself: No matter how stunted the spirit herbs on Merperson Island were, they still looked more normal than this.
Of course, Jiang Mo wasn't the only one shocked by the surroundings, but some people were more worldly and had vague conjectures about this place. For instance, Sect Leader Zhu looked around and remarked with feeling: "I never expected Nine Abyss Sect would build their sect in the Outer Domain."
The so-called Outer Domain naturally didn't refer to another world outside Xuantian Continent, but rather to the extreme western region.
Over eighty years ago, Mingzong Mountain in the west had produced a Canglán Secret Realm, attracting people from all directions. At that time, everyone had experienced the barrenness of the western region—not in terms of money or material goods, but spiritual energy. The further west one went, the thinner the spiritual energy became, with the extreme western region being almost devoid of it. Because of this, in the vast western territories, there were still many mortals, but cultivators were extremely rare.
No one had imagined that cultivators would establish a sect here, neither righteous path nor demonic path. Yet Nine Abyss Sect was uniquely independent, actually establishing their sect here—something no one had anticipated.
No one doubted Zhu Baiyi's words, but Qingyu still asked: "How do you know this is the Outer Domain?"
The Sect Leader pointed around and explained: "I've been to the Outer Domain before. Such peculiar scenery—where else would you find a second such place?"
This was indeed true, but there was another strange point. It was said that the extreme western region had thin spiritual energy. Though they had never been to the Outer Domain, many had visited Mingzong Mountain years ago. Mingzong Mountain already had little spiritual energy, so logically, there should be even less here. Why, then, did they not feel any issues with the thinness of spiritual energy while here?
Despite these doubts, the group temporarily had no time to investigate. Zhu Baiyi's reflections took only a few breaths' time. Then she solemnly said: "Regardless of where this is, it's Nine Abyss Sect territory. We shouldn't linger; let's go."
Everyone remained silent, briefly determining the direction before following Zhu Baiyi.
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How large can a sect's territory be?
Very, very large!
Jiang Mo hadn't experienced other sects, but just considering Xuanqing Sect, it had over a thousand spiritual peaks of various sizes, taking at least half a day to traverse by flying sword. How large would a demonic path sect be, on par with the three major righteous path sects? Setting aside other demonic sects, at least Nine Abyss Sect, which had come to stake out territory in the Outer Domain, had no competition, so their territory was naturally as expansive as possible.
Although Jiang Mo's group was eager to leave this place, they were not reckless enough to fly openly on swords—most of them were righteous path cultivators, and even the demonic cultivators from Crimson Blood Sect practiced cultivation methods quite different from Nine Abyss Sect. If they rashly took to the skies, they might as well be targets. So for safety's sake, they all obediently walked on the ground.
But measuring a sect's territory on foot was truly too vast; even with cultivators' pace, they couldn't walk out in a short time. Moreover, this was someone else's territory; to leave, they had to be cautious and keep a low profile.
Of course, this caution and low profile didn't include Zhu Baiyi. With her cultivation, boldly entering and exiting wouldn't be a problem.
However, she herself was unwilling to leave, choosing to stay obediently with everyone else, even seeming less anxious than the others.
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Nine Abyss Sect's territory was vast, but the number of people seemed fewer than imagined. Although the group intentionally avoided crowds, they had been active in Nine Abyss Sect territory for four or five days without encountering many people. Until they passed through the wilderness and traversed a black forest, they finally saw a simple small town in the distance.
The Outer Domain seemed to begrudge even sunlight falling on this land. After traveling through endless blackness for days, anyone would feel oppressed, so everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon finally seeing signs of human habitation.
Some immediately exclaimed happily: "We've finally emerged! There's a small town here; we must have left Nine Abyss Sect territory, right?"
In everyone's understanding, no sect would establish towns within its boundaries, so they naturally assumed they had left Nine Abyss Sect. However, this process was unexpectedly easy—back on Merperson Island, everyone had thought that if they fell into Nine Abyss Sect territory, they would have to fight their way out. Yet the journey had been surprisingly peaceful; apart from walking until their feet blistered, they had barely encountered anyone.
Everyone's spirits relaxed, though some cautioned: "The Outer Domain originally had little human habitation. This small town's proximity to Nine Abyss Sect surely indicates a deep relationship. Everyone should still be careful."
Others acknowledged this, but their spirits remained relaxed, until they approached the town.
This was indeed a simple town, harmonizing with its surroundings, still full of blackness. Black houses, black soil, black plants... Even the complexions of the people coming and going had a greenish-black tinge.
The moment they saw these people, everyone became alert—who among them hadn't dealt with Nine Abyss Sect before? And who, having dealt with Nine Abyss Sect, didn't know that after practicing their cultivation methods, disciples' complexions took on a greenish-black hue? So this town had no outsiders; it was still filled with Nine Abyss Sect disciples.
Some immediately grew suspicious: I wondered why we hadn't encountered people before—are all the nearby Nine Abyss Sect disciples gathered in this small town? But establishing a town within the sect, what kind of peculiarity is that?
No one knew what peculiarities Nine Abyss Sect had, but since the group had already arrived at the town entrance and appeared before those people, there was naturally no reason to retreat. So after some hesitation, everyone still followed behind the two elders, feigning composure as they entered the small town.
Surprisingly, although the town was simple, it was complete with all necessities, including inns and restaurants.
From the ghost ship incident until now, nearly half a month had passed. At first, everyone had been stranded on a deserted island and lost their spiritual power, experiencing undeniable hardship. These days, having finally left Merperson Island, their situation hadn't improved much—with black mountains, black soil, and black grass, the rest of them, like Jiang Mo, worried everything might be poisonous, so they were cautious everywhere.
Now, having finally reached a place with human habitation, complete with inns and restaurants, their taut nerves inevitably relaxed. Even though they were still within Nine Abyss Sect, not yet out of danger, many people developed certain ideas.
Someone touched their disguised face and quietly suggested: "Why don't we stay at an inn for the night before continuing?"
After speaking, they somewhat regretted it, knowing the suggestion was foolish and risky. But what they hadn't expected was that Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu thought only briefly before agreeing, then led the group directly toward an inn in the small town.