Lu Ping walked through the fog for three days, and the throbbing in his blood became more and more intense. He was getting closer and closer to his destination.
In these three days, Lu Ping finally understood why every time the river source opened, there would be heavy casualties among the cultivators heading to Sacred Lake of the Fallen Stars, but it still couldn't stop the endless stream of Core Forging Realm cultivators from heading there.
He had heard from the rumors that the reason was that many cultivators were competing for the 100 spots to enter the Sacred Lake.
Now, Lu Ping finally understood that the fundamental reason was not this. Spending four to five years would definitely be able to improve one's cultivation by at least one level. Although the temptation was great, if cultivators had other fortuitous encounters, they might be able to improve their cultivation by one level in four to five years. There was no need to fight to the death for the 100 spots.
But now, Lu Ping knew that because the Sacred Lake was an inevitability for cultivation advancement, most of the cultivators who came to the Sacred Lake to compete for the 100 spots had reached a bottleneck in their cultivation and could not break through. Just like the cultivator from the Western Wilderness Palace who died in the hands of Lu Ping, they wanted to break through the bottleneck of the ninth level of Core Forging and achieve a high-grade Gold Core to pave the way to the Dharma Manifestation Stage in the future.
However, this bottleneck was tantamount to a moat for many cultivators. Many cultivators were blocked at this last step and could not advance an inch, and the Sacred Lake became their last hope for a breakthrough at this time.
However, when they entered the Fog Array, they discovered that there were so many competitors. Moreover, in order to break through the bottleneck, almost everyone had brought all their belongings with them. Every one of them was a group of fat sheep that could not be fatter. As long as they killed one of them, they would be able to obtain almost all the cultivation resources that the cultivator had collected in his lifetime. Was there anything easier than this in the cultivation world?
The naked temptation made every opening of the river source a bloody hunting game. Only the strongest and the most cunning could survive and enjoy the legacy left behind by Jiao Daoren.
In just three short days, Lu Ping ambushed his opponents four times and successfully killed them twice. He was ambushed three times, and Lu Ping took advantage of the situation to counterattack. One of his opponents was killed by Lu Ping, another escaped with heavy injuries, and the last one was much more cunning. After missing his ambush, he immediately fled a thousand miles away.
The strength of these three people was not below that of the Western Wilderness Palace disciple who had died at the hands of Lu Ping. In fact, they were much stronger than that person. Otherwise, they would not have taken the initiative to attack others in the fog array.
Under normal circumstances, even though these people were very strong and few of their peers could rival them, and in any sect, they were seen as potential talents who could become Dharma adepts. However, Lu Ping was confident that without the obstruction of the fog array, it was almost impossible for these people to escape from him, unless they had some life-saving items that they had obtained from Dharma adepts.
Besides these, Lu Ping was also ambushed twice on the road. The first time, there were three people who ambushed Lu Ping, but in the end, Lu Ping killed one of them and broke out of the encirclement.
The second time, there were five people who ambushed Lu Ping, and each of them was no weaker than Lu Ping. They were also very strong. Although Lu Ping had seriously injured two of them, he was also forced to a corner by the other five. Lu Ping did not know how these people had gathered together in the fog array. Because of the fog array, he could not clearly see the strength of these people. In the future, unless he was able to personally fight with the people who ambushed him, he might be able to find out a thing or two from the way they attacked. Otherwise, all of this would be a mess.
Although the journey was not peaceful, Lu Ping's spoils of war were enough to make him forget about the hidden dangers in the fog array. He even faintly felt the urge to be dominated by greed. Almost all the cultivators who could enter this place had brought their belongings with them. Every one of them was a big fat sheep!
Besides the two low-grade Heaven-level metal-type Sky Gold Stones from the Western Wilderness Palace disciples that he had killed earlier, Lu Ping did not have the time to pick up one of the four cultivators he had killed afterward. Among the other three, only two of them had reached the Core Forging stage.
Lu Ping obtained three low-grade heaven-grade spirit items from the two Ninth Layer Core Forging Realm cultivators. One was a wind-elemental Breeze Bamboo, the other was a wood-elemental Yi Wood, and the last one was a wood-elemental spirit item called the Dream Flower Wood.
The two wood-type Heaven-grade spirit items had been found on the same cultivator. It was unknown if this cultivator already possessed two spirit items, or if this cultivator wanted to fuse the two spirit items, which were different, but of the same attribute.
If it was the latter, the Golden Elixir formed after the fusion would be of a higher grade than if he had only condensed one of the two spiritual items. After the cultivator advanced to the Dharma stage, his abilities would also be stronger than those of the same level. However, because the two spiritual items were not the same, it would be almost impossible for him to advance to the mid Dharma stage in the future.
If this cultivator really wanted to smelt these two different spiritual items of the same element, then it meant that this cultivator had already given up hope that he would be able to survive the Thunder Trial and advance to the mid Dharma stage in the future.
In addition to the three Heaven-level spiritual items, Lu Ping also obtained a Spirit-nurturing treasure from the level-eight Core Forging stage cultivator. The two level-nine Core Forging stage cultivators did not have a Spirit-nurturing treasure. In fact, among the people Lu Ping had killed, the level-eight Core Forging stage cultivator was the strongest.
This Spirit-nurturing treasure was a pearl that emitted a special kind of flame. Lu Ping examined it carefully. This flame was not a spiritual fire, nor was it a special kind of fire. It seemed to be a special kind of fire that had been smelted using a special method, and this pearl was the carrier of this special fire.
This Spirit-nurturing treasure reminded Lu Ping of the Seven-colored Flame that Mei Tianqin and Laozu had cultivated. It was also a special kind of fire formed by the fusion of a few spiritual fires. However, this kind of fire was still a spiritual fire, and it was a mid-grade Heaven-level fire. This kind of fire had lost all of its spirituality, but the power of this kind of fire was no less than a mid-grade Heaven-level spiritual fire.
After letting the Seven Gem Thunder Calabash swallow the two mid-grade spiritual items, Lu Ping took the high-grade spirit stones, supreme-grade spirit stones, and some spiritual herbs that caught his eye. Then, he threw the three storage treasures into the Golden House for Dabao to deal with.
At this time, Lu Ping suddenly felt that the surrounding fog array had begun to change. Just when Lu Ping was confused, his eyes suddenly lit up. He had actually walked out of the fog array and arrived at a flat area with lush water and grass.
Lu Ping's divine sense moved and found that his divine sense was like a flood that had been released. With Lu Ping as the center, it suddenly flooded an area with a radius of more than ten kilometers. The violent divine sense fluctuations brought about a gust of wind that swept out in all directions.
Lu Ping was unable to rein in his divine sense in time. Thus, he could only allow his divine sense to wreak havoc. Next, however, he abruptly turned to look at a spot two to three li away to his right. There, he saw a cultivator with a look of ridicule on his face. However, there was a look of fear in his eyes.
When the cultivator saw Lu Ping walk out from the fog array, he habitually spread his divine sense out, wanting to watch Lu Ping make a fool of himself. In the end, Lu Ping was indeed unable to rein in his divine sense in time and ended up making a fool of himself. However, in the face of Lu Ping's formidable divine sense, the cultivator could not find it funny at all.
A chilling light flashed across Lu Ping's eyes and he turned to look in several other directions. There were cultivators who had emerged from the fog array earlier and were waiting at the edges of the fog array. Additionally, when Lu Ping emerged from the fog array, all of them had turned their divine senses and gazes towards Lu Ping. Naturally, they had personally experienced the storm that Lu Ping's divine sense had brought about.
The cultivators had originally planned on using their own divine sense to attack the moment Lu Ping's divine sense went out of control. However, the moment Lu Ping's divine sense went out of control, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. The storm was simply too violent. Even though they wanted to add fuel to the fire, they had to first sit back and watch.
Lu Ping cast a cold glance at them. The faces of the two cultivators closest to Lu Ping flickered. In the end, they stood up and moved further away from Lu Ping. They were using this show of weakness to express their apologies towards Lu Ping and their respect towards the strong.
Lu Ping noticed that the cultivators who had emerged from the fog array did not move too far away from the fog array. Instead, they sat cross-legged with their backs against the fog array to cultivate themselves. Lu Ping's divine sense quickly sensed that there was an invisible wall tens of li away from them, blocking off his surging divine sense.
The invisible wall stretched far into the distance to form a large isolation zone in the centre of the fog array. Lu Ping and the other cultivators who had emerged from the fog array could only move about within the isolation zone.
The reason why the cultivators were resting with their backs against the fog array was because they were fearful of being ambushed by others while moving about. Should someone have ill intentions, the cultivators could simply roll backwards and hide within the fog array.
The space within the fog array was very peculiar. Lu Ping was simply incapable of getting his bearings. Once he entered the fog array, he would not even know where he was.
Three more days went by and the number of cultivators emerging from the fog array grew. Using his divine sense, Lu Ping could sense that there were 20 to 30 late-stage Core Establishment Cultivators gathered within a radius of tens of li. Even further away, Lu Ping's divine sense could sense an unknown number of cultivators emerging from the fog array.
At the edge of the fog array, seven to eight li away from Lu Ping, the thick fog roiled and four cultivators emerged together.
"Oh, we're finally out. Fifth Senior Brother, it seems we are not too late. The cultivators in the fog array have yet to make a move. It seems the array wall has yet to disappear. Everyone is still waiting within the isolation zone."
"Of course not. The inside of the fog array is a special space that does not differentiate between directions. In the world of cultivation, even the fastest cultivator to emerge from the fog array took five days to do so. We have only used six days in total. Compared to everyone here, we are already the fastest. Additionally, the fog array only activated 20 days ago. At present, we still have to wait for 10 more days before the invisible array wall will disappear. When that time comes, we will be able to head to the central area to find Sacred Lake Fall."
The four cultivators who emerged from the thick fog were none other than the cultivators from the Western Desolation Palace that Lu Ping had encountered earlier. However, one of them had been killed by the Koi Clan when he charged into the fog array. Thus, there were only four of them left.
Lu Ping pondered the conversation between the four of them. Even the fastest cultivator to make it through the fog array would take at least five days. However, he had only used three days to get out.
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