Chapter 135: 70: The Beiming Sea Abyss, The Endless Expanse

Leaving the riverbed cave dwelling, Qiu Changtian recalculated the time, knowing that Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu were about to arrive, so he hurriedly took a wide arc to avoid meeting them.

Then he retraced his steps according to his memory and arrived back at the entrance to this secret realm.

According to the strategy guide, one should not directly return to the central hall after reaching the entrance, but instead, wait there for two hours.

Qiu Changtian had no choice but to rest in place. After about two hours had passed, he saw a figure flash in front of him. It was a Shushan sect female disciple with an unfamiliar face who had just come through the entrance passage.

“Greetings, Marquis of Mount Tu,” Qiu Changtian hastily said.

The Shushan sect female disciple was slightly stunned, then covered her mouth and giggled,

“How interesting, how did you recognize me for the second time?”

“Due to several attacks we’ve encountered, Master Jinghua now requires fellow sect disciples to act together,” Qiu Changtian said with a smile. “Isn’t Marquis of Mount Tu deliberately defying Master Jinghua’s orders by being alone like this?”

“Oh, but just because Master Jinghua gave the order, does that mean everyone has to obey it?” Marquis of Mount Tu laughed. “Can’t we secretly disobey?”

“This is the Death Gate area. Even if one intentionally separates from the group, no one would choose the Death Gate as a trial ground,” Qiu Changtian seriously stated. “Even if one were to choose the Death Gate for their trials, ordinary disciples would enter this place trembling with fear, as if walking on thin ice. How could they possibly be as calm and collected as your grace?”

Marquis of Mount Tu was taken aback by his response, and then she fell into thought.

Having dared to enter Shushan alone, she was certainly not a fool. With her masterful Illusion Technique, most sect fortes were virtually defenseless against her.

But this man was right; she couldn’t just rely on her Illusion Technique, she had to practice her acting skills as well.

Hmm?

Wait, this guy seems to be quite clever, so maybe…

“Follow me,” Marquis of Mount Tu turned around.

The two of them left the secret realm and returned to the central hall. Then they made their way downward, discreetly circling around the Shushan sect’s trial team with the aid of concealed Illusion Techniques, all the way to the forty-seventh floor.

Passing through the Death Gate, they came to a deep-sea area.

The surrounding waters were dim and shimmering, with dark currents flowing in all directions, no seaweed, rocks, fish, or crustaceans in sight, only the impurities and bubbles rising in the water.

Marquis of Mount Tu led Qiu Changtian further on. As the depth gradually increased, Qiu Changtian could vaguely make out the contours of the seabed below.

“This secret place is built to resemble the Beiming Abyss,” Marquis of Mount Tu said leisurely. “The Mortal Realm and the Demon Realm have been separate for so long, your human kind probably doesn’t know what ‘Beiming’ is anymore, right?”

“Not exactly,” Qiu Changtian responded calmly. “There are still some records in our texts, which say that Beiming is ‘a vast and distant place unseen by mortals,’ ‘perpetually dark with neither day nor light,’ and ‘surrounded by Jiaolong, dreadfully fierce’.”

“Is that so?” Marquis of Mount Tu said, seemingly unconcerned. “That is indeed surprising.”

After traveling several miles, they arrived at a certain abyss in the sea.

Continuing their descent along the abyss, visibility became increasingly lower, until they finally landed at the bottom of the Sea Abyss.

The water pressure here was already quite strong, causing Qiu Changtian some discomfort. He noticed that the ground beneath his feet seemed to be made of fine sand, but it was compressed solid as if made of refined steel, firm underfoot akin to stony ground.

“We’re here,” Marquis of Mount Tu stated. “My journey to the Mortal Realm, infiltrating the Demon Locking Tower, was to rescue a senior member of my clan.”

Her voice paused for a moment, and she then continued,

“Have you ever heard of ‘Ying Long’?”

“Hmm,” Qiu Changtian replied, “I have heard that Jiaolong undergoes five transformations: Initially, they are ‘Water Vipers,’ which after five hundred years, if they survive, grow scales and transform into ‘Jiaolong.’”

“Another thousand years without death, and they turn red and become ‘Chi Dragons’; another five hundred years without death, they grow horns and become ‘Horned Dragons.’”

“In the end, after another thousand years of cultivation, he would grow wings and transform into a ‘Ying Long’.”

“Merely in terms of physical transformation, there’s nothing wrong with what you said,” the Marquis of Mount Tu said with slight surprise, correcting, “But in reality, the evolution of the Dragon Clan doesn’t just depend on time, but on the promotion of rank.”

“The higher the rank one aims for, the more difficult it becomes to advance. And the senior I’m about to rescue this time is probably the only Ying Long in this world.”

“According to the records in the Demon Realm, this senior Ying Long fell into the Mortal Realm ten thousand years ago and was imprisoned by human cultivators in the Demon Locking Tower, locked away in this secret realm known as ‘Endless’.”

“Endless?” Qiu Changtian asked curiously.

“It means ‘an interval without an interval’,” the Marquis of Mount Tu explained seriously, “It appears to be some kind of independent space.”

“Normal space is continuous, just like an endless plain, where you can run freely.”

“An independent space, however, is discontinuous, akin to islands in the sea; running on one island, no matter what you do, you’ll never reach another without some other means to cross the ocean.”

Feigning contemplation, Qiu Changtian asked with puzzlement,

“In that case, what are your thoughts, Marquis of Mount Tu?”

“I possess no divine skills related to space, so naturally, I can’t cross this ‘sea’,” the Marquis of Mount Tu sighed, “but there should be a ‘bridge’ over this ‘sea’; I just can’t find it, which is why I called you to help me.”

Listening to this, Qiu Changtian was stupefied. This talk of ‘seas’ and ‘bridges’, what ploy is he playing at with me?

However, as for how to reach the space where the Ying Long is imprisoned, he had already known: since he can’t “move” there, of course, he must “leap” there.

Like the Godspeed Talisman of the Water Vein that stretches for ten thousand li.

Of course, he had already given that talisman to Ling Yunpo and the others, so he had to think of another way, like perhaps…

An idea struck Qiu Changtian: When it comes to spatial leaping, isn’t that Ah Jing’s specialty?

“Ah Jing, you…” He had barely begun to speak when he heard the Kunlun Mirror interject, “It’s possible. According to the strategy, I will teleport you there.”

Then, Qiu Changtian vanished on the spot.

Marquis of Mount Tu: ???

She slowly widened her eyes, then incredulously extended her arm and waved it a few times where Qiu Changtian had been standing.

Gone.

How could he be gone?

Could it be that he found the ‘Endless’ realm?

What the hell! I’ve been searching here for ages and couldn’t find a trace, and this human brat, who hasn’t even reached the Transformation Rank, just comes along and immediately finds it???!

She stood there for a while and couldn’t help but start getting angry.

As the sky turned and the earth spun, Qiu Changtian appeared in a familiar space.

To his side was the rushing Chijiang River, and in front of him stood the towering Blade Mountain.

A massive Divine Dragon lay coiled atop Blade Mountain, its lower half pierced by Dragon Binding Chains, from which a large amount of blood flowed down the rocky surface, like a rapid waterfall’s current.

“Human?” the Ying Long said lazily, then yawned as if opening its massive mouth.

As heart-stopping energy swiftly gathered in its mouth, ready to annihilate the tiny human below in an instant, it heard Qiu Changtian suddenly say,

“Would you dare to make a bet with me, Lord Ying Long?”