This ancient domain had made use of the terrain in the surroundings to provide energy to the spirit vein. There was no way just a Dongxu Gourd could have been left behind. There had to be more to it.
Zhang Xuan nodded in realization. He turned his gaze to the others, only to see that Bi Hongyin and the others were not surprised at all.
It seemed like they were aware of this as well. That was why they were willing to help Luo Xuanqing obtain the Dongxu Gourd despite the danger.
"Yun Lianhai, I'll be counting on you then!"
Luo Xuanqing said.
"Un."
Yun Lianhai nodded without any hesitation. He activated his secret art once more, and a series of ripples rippled into the surroundings from his glabella.
After passing through the Spatial Formation that prevented them from using their powers, the area around them was even more vast. The ripples rippled for a very long time, and it was only when Yun Lianhai's body began to tremble that it finally came to a stop.
"How is it?"
"I sensed some ancient artifacts, but I'm not sure if they're treasures or not!"
Yun Lianhai said after taking a few deep breaths to recover a little.
"Lead the way!"
Luo Xuanqing said.
After confirming the direction, Yun Lianhai took the lead and began making his way forward.
Roughly ten minutes later, the group came to a halt.
"The river in the sky hasn't changed at all. Could there be a Confinement Formation here?"
Bi Hongyin asked with a frown.
The group raised their heads, only to see that the river of spiritual energy in the sky had not changed much. It was as if it had remained in the same spot for the past ten minutes.
"It's not a Confinement Formation but a distorted space!"
Luo Xuanqing said after a moment of hesitation.
Having reached Half-Dimension Sundering realm, his comprehension of space had grown even more profound. Even he had noticed that something was amiss.
"A distorted space?" Bi Hongyin was perplexed.
They had entered through a distorted space when they first arrived, but this place was completely different from the funnel they had passed through previously. How could it be the same?
"The space that we usually see is three-dimensional, but the space we're in now is like a folded ring. No matter how we walk in it, we'll always end up at the same starting point!"
Luo Xuanqing said. "Due to the distortion of space, light will bend along with it. As such, even though it looks like we're walking in a straight line, we're actually walking in circles! If we were to jump out of here, we'd be able to see that our bodies are curved instead of straight! "
Zhang Xuan nodded.
Space was distorted, and those who were caught in it would not be able to see it. It was just like how people on Earth could not see that the Earth was round with their naked eyes.
When drawing two points on a piece of paper, everyone knew that a straight line was the shortest. However, if the piece of paper was bent to form a circle, the straight line drawn before was not the shortest. Instead, it was extremely long.
This was the situation they were in right now. It looked like they were moving forward, but in reality, they were going in circles.
"Then … how do we leave?"
Yuan Xiao could not help but ask.
"Shatter space!"
Luo Xuanqing hesitated for a moment before asking.
Bi Hongyin shook her head. "The folded space isn't stable. If something were to happen to it, we could be trapped here forever."
Folded spaces were not as stable as the outside world, and they could automatically regenerate after being broken. If one used too much force here, it could completely collapse, and everyone would be crushed to dust on the spot.
It was for this reason that Saint 8-dan cultivators were unable to enter this place.
"This …"
Luo Xuanqing frowned.
He was aware of this as well. Otherwise, he would have made his move earlier instead of remaining silent all this time.
"Actually, there's no need to break through space!"
Zhang Xuan said.
"Oh?"
The crowd turned their gazes over.
"Everyone, take a look at the river of spiritual energy above us. No matter where we go, it's still hanging above us. This means that the space within it is stable and not a folded space!"
Zhang Xuan explained.
The crowd nodded.
If the river was within a folded space, it would move along with them. There was no way it would remain in the same spot forever.
"If we want to leave this place, we just have to find a way to enter the river and swim upstream!"
"That's right!"
Luo Xuanqing's eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement.
"Let's get moving then!"
Without any hesitation, everyone flew up in unison and flew toward the river.
In truth, the river was a spirit vein. As soon as they stepped into it, they immediately felt concentrated spiritual energy gushing toward them, leaving them breathing a little ragged.
Luo Xuanqing waved his hand, and a massive spatial bubble enveloped everyone within it. Only then did they feel much more comfortable. Thus, they began to slowly advance forward.
"This spirit vein could have been used to form pinnacle spirit stones, but it's such a pity that it has depleted too much of it in order to nourish this space!"
Zhang Xuan sighed.
If such a massive spirit vein had remained hidden in the mountain range, it would have been possible to form quite a few pinnacle spirit stones. However, in order to maintain the circulation of the space, it had been continuously depleted. Putting aside pinnacle spirit stones, it was impossible for even high-tier spirit stones to be produced.
Speaking of which, if pinnacle spirit stones had really been produced, they would have long been discovered and mined by the other powers. There was no way they would have allowed the Dongxu Gourd to remain until now.
"Right, I should communicate with that fellow!"
Knowing that Luo Xuanqing was protecting them, they would not be in any danger for the time being, Zhang Xuan took a look at his dantian.
The fellow who had dived into the Dongxu Gourd had assumed an extremely comfortable posture and was lying down in the midst of the Dongxu Gourd.
"Since that fellow has absorbed my blood essence and acknowledged me, it means that I've already tamed it!"
Seeing how arrogant the Dongxu Gourd was, Zhang Xuan frowned. With a thought, he began driving the Dongxu Gourd.
Tzzzzz!
Under his control, the Dongxu Gourd began spinning in the air.
Spatial energy reminiscent of a beehive flowed through his body.
Huala!
With a single sweep of the spatial energy, the Heaven's Path zhenqi in his dantian immediately caved in, creating a depression.
"What's going on?"
Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
It had taken him a great deal of effort to recover his zhenqi, so why would a huge chunk of it vanish with just a wave of the spatial energy emanating from the Dongxu Gourd?
"No, it's not vanishing. Rather, the spatial energy here has changed, allowing it to accommodate more zhenqi …"
Zhang Xuan swept his gaze across the area, and he was stunned.
It was not that the zhenqi in the area that the Dongxu Gourd had swept through had evaporated. Instead, the space around it had warped, allowing it to accommodate more zhenqi.
"If I could set up a ring-shaped space like the one I saw earlier in my dantian, not only would I be able to accommodate more zhenqi, I would also be able to draw more zhenqi from it at a much faster rate …"
A thought surfaced in Zhang Xuan's mind.
The ring-shaped space that they had walked through earlier might have seemed bizarre, but once he cleared his mind, things became much simpler.
If he could set it up in his dantian, not only would he be able to accommodate more zhenqi, he would also be able to drive his zhenqi nonstop to temper it. More importantly, he would be able to draw more zhenqi from it at a much faster rate!
"If I can draw out all of my zhenqi in an instant, I might be able to execute an ocean technique …"
Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.
The reason he was unable to cultivate and execute the Ocean Serpent Sword at the moment was due to his lack of cultivation, but more importantly, the rate at which he could draw out his zhenqi was simply too slow.
For example, no matter how fast the flow of water was, there was still a limit to how much water could flow out within an hour. However, it was a different story for a river that was several dozen meters wide.
Even a single breath would be countless times more than the previous one.
The amount of zhenqi required for the Ocean Serpent Sword was far greater than that of the Sea Severing Sword. If he could set up such a spatial space, he might really be able to execute the Ocean Serpent Sword!
"Let me give it a try …"
With such a thought, Zhang Xuan began controlling the Dongxu Gourd based on his understanding of spatial laws.
Tzzzzzzz!
Sensing his zhenqi, the gourd began revolving slowly, and layers of space were released from it, forming a beehive within his dantian.
"It seems like I'll need some time to complete it …"
Knowing that due to the limitations of his cultivation, even with the help of the Dongxu Gourd, it would still take him quite a bit of effort to construct a ring-shaped space, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
Even though the Dongxu Gourd was still looking rather unwieldy, the fact that it was able to move it without any resistance meant that it had already been tamed.
"It'll be fine as long as it doesn't cause any trouble. However, I don't have enough zhenqi at the moment, so I need to find more spirit stones …"
Seeing that the folded space in his dantian was being constructed layer by layer, reminiscent of a beehive, Zhang Xuan sighed helplessly once more.
While his zhenqi was already sufficient after cultivating the Saint Ascension Decipher, the amount of zhenqi required to fill up his dantian would increase significantly.
Making a rough calculation, the amount of zhenqi required had increased tenfold!
In other words, he would need to convert more spirit stones into zhenqi and infuse it into his dantian.
He was already poor in the first place, so where in the world could he find so many spirit stones?
"If it comes down to it … I guess it's not a bad idea to look for a lightning tribulation …"
A thought surfaced in Zhang Xuan's mind.
Back when he was attempting to push for Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle, the lightning tribulation had appeared, and he had absorbed a huge portion of it. If he were to face another lightning tribulation, he might just be able to gather sufficient zhenqi in his dantian.
"I should discuss with Brother Luo about allowing me to observe him when he faces his lightning tribulation …"
Zhang Xuan nodded as he made up his mind.
After the previous incident, the energy harnessed by ordinary lightning tribulations was no longer of much use to him anymore. If it came down to it, he would just have to pay Luo Xuanqing a visit and try to find a way to get some of it back.
"Look, what's that?"
While Zhang Xuan was deep in thought, a voice amid the crowd pulled him back to reality. Raising his head, he saw that the bubble had already flown to the end of the river, and a towering mountain range had appeared before his eyes.
The mountain range was not real. It was more like a painting hanging on the horizon, or a mirage. It felt ethereal, as if one could only admire it from afar.
"That's the highest realm of painters, World in Painting!"
Luo Xuanqing said with a grim expression.
"World in Painting?"
"This realm surpasses the level of Evocative Vividness. Even humans are able to enter the world in the painting," Luo Xuanqing explained.
Zhang Xuan nodded. He took a closer look at the painting, and all of a sudden, he froze. "Why does the mountain range in the painting seem so familiar? It seems to be the one that the Qingtian Emperor asked me to decipher … "
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