Chapter 186 - 185: Great Evolution (2) [Bonus]
Nothing.
The Great Evolution returned a vision of absolute, unyielding void. There was no great fortune awaiting him in the pocket realm. But equally, there was no absolute disaster. The Heavens had completely removed their hand from the board.
A mere prediction, Lin Yuan mused, his deep purple eyes slowly opening, glowing with a steady, terrifying light. But a profound one. It means my fate here is not dictated by heavenly luck or misfortune. It is dictated entirely by my own blade.
Knowing that no predetermined disaster awaited him gave Lin Yuan the absolute will he needed to confront Chu Kuang.
He stood up, his robes falling perfectly into place.
"Jin Rou," Lin Yuan said, his voice echoing in the quiet cavern. "Remain here. Cultivate. Do not step outside this illusion until the preliminary round ends."
Jin Rou scrambled to his feet, bowing deeply. "I will obey, Senior Lin. May your Dao shatter the heavens."
Without another word, Lin Yuan utilized the Immortal Cloud Step, his body dissolving into translucent mist as he phased directly through the solid stone of the mountain, stepping back out into the dreary, silver-lit desolation of the pocket realm.
He expanded his divine sense, and he did not have to search for long.
Approximately fifty miles away, moving swiftly through a canyon composed of jagged, white quartz, were two cultivators from the Chu Province.
They were Chu Ming and Chu Hua, a man and a woman, both radiating the distinct aura of the Early Stage of the Spirit Severing realm. They rode atop low-flying spiritual shuttles, their eyes scanning the treacherous terrain below.
"This is completely pointless," Chu Hua complained, her voice laced with boredom and irritation. She absentmindedly played with a jade pendant hanging from her sword hilt. "We have scoured this quadrant for three days. There are no more Golden Diting rats hiding here. They have either been captured, or they have fled to the northern boundaries."
Chu Ming, a stern-faced man with a heavy scar running down his cheek, frowned deeply. "Keep your complaints to yourself, Junior Sister. You know how impatient Young Master Chu Kuang has become. He has already consumed two cores, but his foundation requires at least three more to safely bridge the gap to the transcendent stage before the tournament officially begins."
"I am aware of his needs," Chu Hua sighed, steering her shuttle around a massive quartz stalagmite. "But the Golden Diting cultivators are surprisingly stubborn. The last one we caught endured for an entire hour before his mind finally broke. The screaming was giving me a headache. And even then, he wasn’t even one of the cultivators who brought a Golden Immortal Beast into the battlefield."
"Their brotherhood is a pathetic liability," Chu Ming scoffed, his eyes cold and devoid of empathy. "They value the lives of their martial brothers. It makes them easy to manipulate, but tedious to interrogate. But we must press on. If we return to the main camp empty-handed again, the Young Master will not hesitate to use us as sparring partners to vent his frustrations. I have no desire to be on the receiving end of his halberd."
Chu Hua shuddered slightly at the thought. "Fine. But if we catch another one, I am not dealing with the interrogation."
They flew in silence for another few miles, their arrogance wrapping around them like an impenetrable shield. They were Chu elites. In their minds, they were the undisputed masters of this realm. They were 2v1 against any stray Lower Division cultivator they might stumble upon, and both sat firmly at the Spirit Severing stage. There was nothing in this canyon that could threaten them.
Until the space directly in front of their rapidly moving shuttles violently fractured.
Wooooom!
Without a sound, a figure stepped out from the void, floating perfectly still in the center of the narrow quartz canyon, completely blocking their flight path.
Chu Ming and Chu Hua swore loudly, violently ripping their shuttles to a halt, the sudden deceleration sending a shockwave of displaced air echoing through the gorge.
They looked up, their Qi flaring defensively.
Standing before them was a man in pristine black and white robes. His hands were clasped casually behind his back. His face was impossibly flawless, yet it radiated a cold authority that immediately set their spiritual seas on edge.
Chu Ming’s eyes narrowed, then, recognition dawned on him.
"You..." Chu Ming said, a harsh, mocking laugh bursting from his lips as his defensive posture immediately relaxed. "You are the joke from the Zhao Province! The one who invoked the Ascension Clause! Lin Yuan, was it?"
Chu Hua let out a delicate, cruel sigh, resting her hand on her hip. "We are out here hunting for mythical beasts, and instead, the Heavens drop a peasant in our lap. What are you doing out of your hole, Zhao trash? Did you finally realize you only have one token, and you decided to come deliver it to us out of sheer despair?"
Lin Yuan did not rise to the bait. His deep purple eyes analyzed the two Early Stage cultivators with the precision of an executioner verifying his targets.
"You belong to Chu Kuang’s direct retinue," Lin Yuan stated, his voice a smooth rumble that seemed to physically vibrate the quartz walls around them. It was not a question.
"We do," Chu Ming boasted, puffing out his chest. "And you are standing in our way."
"Excellent," Lin Yuan said softly. He unclasped his hands from behind his back, letting them fall loosely to his sides. "I have a message to deliver. You will take me to Chu Kuang’s main camp immediately."
For a moment, the two Chu cultivators just stared at him. Then, they burst into uproarious, genuine laughter.
"Take you to the Young Master?" Chu Hua giggled, wiping a tear from her eye. "Are you insane, or just incredibly stupid? If we bring a Lower Division rat to the main camp, he won’t even bother drawing his halberd. He will crush you with a single pulse of his domain. You are at the Early Stage, boy. The exact same realm as us. What makes you think you have the right to make demands?"
A/N: Second bonus Chapter for reaching 200 power stones