novelhk Chapter 158 Walking Alone
Chapter 158 Walking Alone
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In the shadow of the endless yellow sand, three withered and dejected old men stood.
Fu Xun, covered in dust from his journey, sat down on the ground. At first, he was still concerned about cleaning himself, but now he had no desire to maintain his image.
He had been subtly trying to get information from these cultivators.
Suddenly, the gray-robed old man, who had been trapped for a thousand years, sighed and said in a rough voice, "It's been so long since any new people have come in. Is it time for another round of secret realm opening? Time is passing so slowly, day after day... At first, I was just like you, unwilling to be trapped, and always wanted to get out."
“He struggled for decades, his cultivation level kept regressing, tsk, now he’s only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm…” He glanced sideways at the cultivator with an even lower cultivation level on his right, “tsk, him, don’t look down on him just because he’s only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm now. When I first met him, he was actually at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm… He was originally a Nascent Soul cultivator! Hehehe.”
Fu Xun: "Then what about this senior...?"
The gray-robed elder, sitting closest to Fu Xun, relaxed into a more comfortable position upon hearing this: "Of course, I think the same way you do. Nobody accepted their fate at first, insisting on trying to break through that great formation. Their cultivation was depleted, and that's how it is..."
The cultivator he was talking about, who had been pretending to be asleep with his eyes closed, finally couldn't help but prop himself up and scoff when he heard this. Sand fell from his bare chest: "This place itself absorbs spiritual energy. Don't just talk about me; you're the same way."
He then pointed to the cultivator next to him with his hair tied up with a tattered rag, "And him, me, all of us trapped cultivators, aren't we all the same? Tch! We're all the same!"
His gaze passed over the old man in gray and looked at Fu Xun. "And you, young man, it's all the same..." After saying that, he continued to lie back down, his comfortable posture particularly peaceful.
At this moment, the monk with his hair tied up sat up, straightening his tattered sleeves, seemingly curious about Fu Xun, "Young man, how did you get in? What's the situation outside...?" His voice was somewhat hoarse and filled with longing.
Fu Xun felt a little sorry for them at this moment, and upon hearing this, he briefly described what was happening in the outside world.
"This junior accidentally got lost in the Mirage Snow Sea..."
The old man listened quietly, while the other two closed their eyes to rest, but their ears were perked up, listening intently.
"...My Daoist partner and I have been separated. Even if leaving this place is extremely difficult, I will give it a try!"
After hearing his story, the elders exchanged glances and felt sympathy for Fu Xun. He actually had a Daoist partner. Hmm, he seemed different from them, these old bachelors.
They were trapped here for an unknown period of time, and seeing that Fu Xun was a young man with high cultivation, they were speechless and did not know how to comfort him.
Tell me, can I get out?
Don't talk nonsense!
Everyone could only remain silent.
Looking at the increasingly scorching sunlight, I felt a pang of unease.
Fu Xun ignored what they thought and asked, "How far is this place from the central array?" He then stood up, dusted himself off, and made a move to leave.
The elderly men were surprised and all looked up at him.
The old man in gray said, "It's not far. It's a journey of ten thousand miles, but it will take a few years to get there. However, are you really going? You won't turn back until you hit a brick wall?"
Fu Xun was slightly startled. Ten thousand miles? Several years?
Just how vast is this sea of sand?
Seeing his astonished expression, the old man who had been shirtless chuckled, "Hey, we old folks were just too bored, and we didn't want to stay with those other stubborn guys over there at the great formation, so we came out to explore just how big this wretched place really is, to kill some time... We've been walking around, stopping here and there, for about three or five years..."
Fu Xun: "...So, what's the name of this place?"
The gray-robed old man said, "Huh? Didn't you say earlier? This is the real Mirage Realm..."
Fu Xun: "..."
The old man with his hair tied up stood up, patted the sand off his backside, and said, "Young man, you came from the Snow Sea, but we didn't. The people here were all accidentally locked up in from different places."
"I see," Fu Xun said, cupping his hands in thanks. "Thank you all for telling me. I've decided to go check out the great formation. Farewell."
The young man turned sharply and headed towards the center.
The figure carrying a sword walked further and further away in the sunlight, leaving only a trail of footprints.
The three lazy bums shook their heads helplessly and lay back down.
But I felt a little uneasy.
The young man's resolute expression was determined to move forward, and his tall figure carried the noble spirit of "though there are thousands of people, he alone will go."
It makes a rustling sound when it rolls over while lying down, and occasionally it makes the sand crunch.
Suddenly someone said, "Ah, youth is indeed a blessing. He has a Daoist partner. Such a young Nascent Soul cultivator is likely to become the future leader of the righteous path..."
"Yes, he is truly a chosen one, but unfortunately he is too unlucky."
"Those people over there are very radical, and they've gone mad year after year. I wish him good luck."
After chatting for a while, the group lay back down, and this time there was no more sound of sand being turned over.
Two days later, the young man stumbled after three figures in the direction he had left.
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In this spiritless realm, even if you stay there and do nothing, your spiritual energy will be consumed over time, because there is no other source of spiritual energy besides spirit stones and resources to replenish it.
Moreover, this place itself absorbs spiritual energy, silently using cultivators as nourishment to support the operation of this realm.
If they don't leave, they'll only be waiting to die.
Although he didn't ask about the others, Fu Xun had already guessed that in such a repressive environment, if one's willpower wasn't strong, inner demons could easily fester.
Imagine being trapped for hundreds or thousands of years, barely noticing the passage of time except for day and night. It's not surprising that people would go mad over time.
Let alone a year, or even ten years, he didn't want to stay even a day longer!
With his cultivation level, he could have survived here for thousands of years, but how is that possible? To be separated from his family and never see them again in this lifetime?
Thinking of this, Fu Xun would hold the gourd in his arms every night, stroking the gourd tassel. Occasionally, he would take out a plain piece of wood and use a dagger to carve toys, and he would also be lost in thought.
It's been a year. Has Leng Huan left Xuehai?
Has Xiaoyundu grown up?
As time went on, he remained determined to leave.
About two years later, when the secret realm was about to end, he hoped that Leng Huan could leave the secret realm with the child.
Then I was determined to get out.
Except for the fear of getting lost in the dark, Fu Xun never stopped moving forward. Spiritual power was extremely precious to him, and he relied solely on his physical body to walk.
Four years later.
In the heart of the desert, lies the Devil City.
With a buzzing vibration, the central array was impacted, the attack rebounded, and the cultivators on the periphery all took cover.
"not good!"
Hearing the noise from afar, Fu Xun stopped ten miles away. Before him lay a landscape of Yardang landforms eroded by wind and sand, with towering sandstone formations obscuring the naked eye.
A sweep of divine sense revealed that someone was activating a large formation. At this moment, sandstorms swept through the center of the Devil City, triggering the formation and unleashing a fierce gale that swept across half a mile around.
Fu Xun suppressed his excitement and instantly appeared in the center. He blended into the crowd of onlookers, and noticed that several of the cultivators at the front were completely different from those he had encountered before!
Their robes were clean and tidy, their faces were spirited, and their cultivation levels were... five Nascent Soul cultivators and one Deity Transformation cultivator. They were also cultivators who had only recently entered the sect!
Like Fu Xun, they might even have entered in the same batch!
The commotion just now was from a Nascent Soul cultivator's attack, but now... the scene is completely quiet.
Once the gale subsided, the old cultivator in front of Fu Xun, who looked like a beggar, spoke first: "Tsk tsk tsk, I told you this formation is powerful, but you newcomers just wouldn't listen."
Another person chimed in, "Yes, everyone here in the central area wants to get out, but we can't rush it! This matter needs careful consideration..."
"No new people have come here for thousands of years. Now that you've finally arrived, why not discuss things carefully before taking any action?"
Fu Xun listened to their discussion, his eyes quickly sweeping over the various cultivators around him.
Some watched indifferently, some were expectant, and some were frenzied.
"Hahaha, finally someone's here again! With new strength, we'll definitely be able to get out!"
---go out!
Everyone was taken aback.
Most of those who stayed here were studying the great formation and forming alliances to break it. Don't be fooled by the fact that there are only a dozen or so cultivators who are now dreaming of breaking the formation. When the plan was first proposed, there were quite a few people!
Now, some have fallen, some have given up, some have gone mad, and there are not many left who remain true to their original aspirations...
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